Class, J ^ 5 5 g | ik_ Co]pg]it"N _ COPYRIGHT DEPOSJOi GPO ' IB-LE STUDIES A Home and -^ Sunday School Cyclopedia FORMING A USEFUL COMBINATION OF BIBLE HELPS EMBRACING A CAPTIVATING NARRATIVE OF THRILLING SCENES AND EVENTS IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS ALSO THE GOSPEL STORY IN VERSE AND THE Authorized Analysis of the Books of the Bible WITH Four Thousand Questions and Answers Explaining Bible Difficulties PRINTED IN CONVENIENT FORM FOR MARGINAL NOTES, THE WHOLE BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED FOR PERSONS OF ALL AGES, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN OUR HOMES, SUNDAY SCHOOLS, SOCIETES OF CHRISTIAN WORKERS, ETC. by HENRY DAVENPORT NORTHROP, D.D. Author of " Bible Talks," Life of Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon, Etc. Embellished with more than 250 Superb Engrauings NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., 239, 241 AND 243 AMERICAN ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA. •£ , 1896, ^ ^ cr # G3AI303«S31dO0OAU PREFACE. THE BEAUTIFUL STORIES of the Bible never lose their charm. They are always new, captivating and soul-stirring. The young read them with eager delight, yet no greater than that of the old. The great French writer, Victor Hugo, said the narratives of the Bible were for every mansion and cottage, and one of our greatest American statesmen said that unless the lessons they teach are learned by the masses of the people there is no future for the Nation. The young are in the springtime of life, and it is easy to plant in their hearts the noblest truths and principles. They are the hope of our country, and our new and attractive works, beautifully illustrated, ought to be put into the hands of every one of them. It will be handled with ever-growing interest, read over and over again, and the thrilling truths and beautiful lessons it contains will never be forgotten. This volume is very comprehensive, beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelation. The first pages are fragrant with Eden's floral bowers, and the last pages sparkle with the waters of the River of Life. The fascinating story of one event follows that of another until the whole Bible history is told in language choice and plain, and suited to every age. Let the story of Joseph in Egypt be read by every fireside. He was truthful, diligent ; noble, and he dared to do right. Everywhere the Bible Story teaches the weightiest lessons. Majestic Moses is seen as the great leader and lawgiver of the Hebrew nation. He is pictured in his little life boat, at the burning ^ush, and on stormy Sinai, " whose rolling thunders jar the world." That great captain, Joshua, passes the River Jordan with his valiant host, and soon we hear the shout of victory. Gideon with his little army; Jephthah performing his rash vow; Samson vanquishing the lion and carving the gates of Gaza; and Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz — the story of each is fully told. Then comes the charming account of the little boy Samuel who gave sign in childhood of what the man would be. The life of that strange monarch, King Saul, was full of startling incidents and ended in a tragedy. David, the Shepherd Boy, next appears upon the scene. Solomon is depicted in his dazzling glory ; the Temple rises in grandeur and beauty before our eyes, and then comes that strange man of the desert, the Prophet Elijah, who boldly rebuked public corruption. One after another the Hebrew Kings and the thrilling events associated with their names are fully described. Every reader is delighted with the graphic stories of the Jewish Captivity ; of heroic Daniel in Babylon ; of that young patriot, Nehemiah ; of Queen Esther, saving her people. How eagerly the world reads the Charming Story of Bethlehem — the story of the angelic choir ; of the wondering shepherds who heard the heavenly anthem of Peace and Good-will ; of the Holy Child laid in the humble manger; of the burning Star that lighted iv PREFACE. the Wise Men of the East to the feet of the infant Prophet, Priest and King ; and the thrill- ing incidents connected with His early life. As He grew up His hands were browned with honest toil, and He was a King without the crown or purple. In simple yet vivid language the captivating story is continued, and the interest grcws at every step as the striking scenes are unfolded — such as the Expulsion of the Money- changers from the Temple ; the beautiful discourse to the woman of Samaria ; the delivery of the famous Sermon on the Mount, containing the grandest truths ever spoken; the stilling of the storm-tossed Sea of Galilee and the Rescue of Peter from a watery grave; the calling of the hardy fishermen to throw the Gospel Net and catch the kingdoms of the world ; and those noble deeds of love and mercy that gave healing to the sick, sight to the blind, hope to the desponding and life to the dying. How simple are the New Testament Parables, yet how sublime are their thoughts and beautiful their lessons. It has been well said that they are " Jewels in Words." The Closing Scenes in the Life of Christ depict the most startling tragedy known in history. In graphic pen-pictures the scenes of the Crucifixion are portrayed, and these are followed by the rending of the tomb and the sublime ascension. It would not be possible for human pen to depict more vividly those majestic events, ac once awful and fascinating, which form the closing part of Christ's life upon earth. Then follows by a full account of the Lives of the Apostles. The graphic story embraces the brilliant career of the Apostle Paul, his stripes and persecutions ; his perils and sufferings, his thrilling shipwreck and last days at Rome. The author of this delightful volume has followed closely the Bible narrative, using largely the exact language of the Holy Scriptures. In no instance has he departed from the meaning of the Sacred writers, yet making explanations in simple language where /er needed. The work will be found especially valuable to Parents and others desiring to instruct the young in the Truths of Religion. Special attention is called to the Vast Gallery of Superb Illustrations which this great work contains. These are new, and are the masterpieces of the world's most famous artists. The Emblematic Engravings teach the most striking truths of the Bible in a manner not likely to be forgotten. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The Story of the Creation. PAGE The Story of the Creation — What was Made on Each Da} — Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden — The Serpent Beguiles Eve — Cherubim and a Flaming Sword — Cain Kills his Brother Abel— A Mark Set Upon Cain 17 CHAPTER II. The Story of the Flood. The Story of the Flood— The World Grown Very Wicked — Noah Commanded to Build an Ark for the Saving of His Family — Every Living Thing on the Dry Land Destroyed — Noah Leaves the Ark and Offers Sacrifice — - The Tower of Babel — Confusion of Tongues and Scattering of the People 25 CHAPTER III. The Story of Abraham. The Story of Abraham — Destruction of Sodom and Story of Lot — Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away — Abraham Offering up Isaac — Journey of Abraham's Servant — Isaac and Rebekah — Isaac Obtains a Wife from a far Country . . 33 CHAPTER IV. The Story of Esau and Jacob. The Story of Esau and Jacob — Birthright Sold for a Mess of Pottage — Two Kids from the Flock — Jacob Obtains the Blessing of Isaac — Dream of the Ladder and Angels — Jacob Visits Laban— Leah and Rachel — Serving Fourteen Years to Obtain Rachel for a Wife — Happy Meeting of Jacob and Esau .... 49 CHAPTER V. The Story of Ta=tt« The Stoty of Joseph — a Boy m a Pit — Sold Away into Egypt — The Coat Dyed with Blood — Telling the Meaning of Dreams — Wearing the King's Ring — Famine in ail Lands — Joseph's Brethren in Egypt- -Jacob and Benjamin • • • 9t CHAPTER VI. Joseph and his Brethren in Egypi Joseph and his Brethren in Egypt — The Feast in the Palace — Story of Benjamin — The Cu;- in the Sack — The Plea of Judah — Joseph Mak^s Himself Known to his Brethren - Jacob's Journey to Egypt — A Home in a Fa-- Country — The Blessing of Joseph's Two Son- -Jacob's Death and Burial — Last Days oj Joseph 7* CHAPTER VII. The Story of Moses. The Story of Moses— The Little Lifeboat- Adopted Child of Pharoah's Daughter— Cruel Treatment of the Israelites in Egypt— Mosei Slays an Egyptian — At the Burning Bush — Aaron's Rod Becomes a Serpent — The Tet Plagues — The First-born of the Egyptians Slain — Feast of the Passover — Tbp Hebrew? Pass Through the E.ed Sea — Pharaoh and his Host Drowned — The Song of Triumph . . "jg CHAPTER VIII. From the Red Sea to Sinai. From the Red Sea to Sinai— The Bitter Watsi* Made Sweet — Bread from Heaven — A Flo**. of Quails — Water from the Rock in Horeb — Battle with the Amalekites— The Ten Com- mandments Spoken from Sinai — Story of the Tabernacle and its Services — The Scapegoat Sent into the Wilderness . . . - . io? CHAPTER IX. Wanderings in thf Wilderness. The Golden Calf — Moses Angry and Breaks th« Tables of the Law— The Glory of Mount V %n CONTENTS. Sinai — Numbering the People — The Pillar of Fire — The Israelites Murmur — Punishment by Fire — A Strong Wind Brings Quails for Food — Spies Sent to the Promised Land — The Brazen Serpent — Story of Balaam and Balak — Death of Moses — The People Mourn Thirty Days . CHAPTER X. 119 The Story of Joshua. Story of Joshua — Arrival of the Israelites at Jordan — Crossing the River — Rahab and the Spies— Capture of Jericho — Battle at the City of Ai— Achan Stoned for Theft— Men in Old Clothes — A Furious Hailstorm — Joshua's Great Victory — The People Choose "Whom they will Serve 135 CHAPTER XI. The Story of Gideon. The King of Moab Slain — Deborah Judges tfoe People — The Host of Sisera Scattered — Gideon and the Angel — Choosing an Army — Three Hundred Warriors — Trumpets and Pitchers — A Great Victory — Gideon's Wicked Sou — Capture of a City — Abimelech Killed by a Young Man 152 CHAPTER XII. The Story of Samson. Jephthah and his Daughter — An Angel Comes to Manoah — Birth of Samson — The Slain Lion — Honey from a Strange Source — A Hard Riddle to Guess — Jackals in the Corn — Samson Breaks his Bonds — The Giant Loses his Strength — The Cunning Trick of Delilah — ■ Pillars of the Temple Fall — Death of Samson 166 CHAPTER XIII. The Story of Ruth. A Famine at Bethlehem — Naomi Returns from Moab — Ruth Cleaves to her Mother-in-law — Gleaners in the Harvest Field — Ruth at the Feet of Boaz — The Shoe Given to a Neighbor —Ruth Becomes the Wife of Boaz . . . .174 CHAPTER XIV. The Story of Samuel. The Story of Samuel — Hannah's Prayer — The Boy Hears a Voice Calling Him — Sudden ) PAliJ- Death of EH— Trouble with the Philistines— The Ark Carried Away — A Great Victory — Samuel Sets up a Stone — The Israelites Want a King 181 CHAPTER XV. The Story of Saul. Story of Saul— A Vial of Oil— Saul is Made King — Israel's Army — War with Amalek — The King's Disobedience — The Torn Mantle — An Evil Spirit — The Shepherd Boy and his Harp — David is Pursued — Saul and the Witch of Endor— The Last Battle— Death of Saul— What Was Done with the King's Body . . .191 CHAPTER XVI. The Story of David. The Story of David — Anointed by the Piophet — The Sling that Slew a Giant— The Enemy Routed- -Saul's Anger Against David — Jona- than's Friendship — The Wanderer — Saul Spared by David — Abigail Sends a Present and Becomes David's Wife — What Happened at Ziklag — Startling News from the Field of Fettle 2t» CHAPTER XVII. The Reign of David. The Reign of David — W;.. with the Philistines — The Ark Brought to Jerusalem — David and Uriah — Nathan's Rebuke — Parable of the Ewe Lam1 - The Dead Child— Rebellion of Absa- lom—David's Flight— A Great Battle— Death of Absalom — David's Grief— A Kk- and a Stab — Terrible Pestilence — David Yields his Throne to Solomon aaj CHAPTER XVIII. The Story of Solomon. The Story of Solomon — David's Choice of a King — The Anointing — Building the Temple — The Ark Placed in the Holy of Holies — The Dedication of the Lord's House — Solomon . Punishes Wrong-Doers — Dispute About a Child — Visit from the Queen of Sheba — A Magnificent Throne — Horses and Chariots — Sin of Idolatry — Solomon's Proverbs — The Fool and Wise Man — The Virtuous Woman . 238 CONTENTS. v« CHAPTER XIX. The Story of Elijah. PAGE The Story of Elijah— Fed by Ravens— The Widow's Cruse of Oil and Barrel of Meal — Story of the Dead Child— The Prophet on Carmel — Rain in Answer to Prayer — Under the Juniper Tree — Elijah on Mount Horeb — Naboth and his Vineyard — The Arrow that Smote Ahab — Ahaziah Comes to the Trone — Jehu Anointed King — Death of Jezebel — Elijah Taken up into Heaven 257 CHAPTER XX. The Story of Elisha. The Story of Elisha— Salt in the Water— War Against Moat) — The Prophet's Chamber — The Woman of Shunem — Restoring a Dead Child — A Terrible Famine — Vessels of Oil — Iron Made to Swim — Story of Naaman — Sin of Gehazi — A Young Man's Vision — Stoning of the High-Priest — What Happened in Syria — Elisha's Last Words and Death — The Syrians Defeated— Parable of the Thistle and Cedar . 273 CHAPTER XXI. Two Prophets and a King. Two Prophets and a King — Jonah Sent to Nine- veh—A Prophet Cast into the Sea— The Great Fish— A Good King in Judah — The Temple Purified — A Royal Feast— The Sickness of Hezekiah — Babylon and Assyria — Message from the Assyrian King — Isaiah Gives Cour- age to the Jews — A Wonderful Vision . . . 287 CHAPTER XXII. The Story of Daniel. The Story of Daniel — Captivity of the Jews — Three Hebrew Youths — The King's Great Image — The Fiery Furnace — Handwriting on the Wall — Weighed and Found Wanting — Daniel's Enemies — In the Den of Lions — A Remarkable Vision 298 CHAPTER XXIII. Return from the Captivity. Return from the Captivity — Rebuilding the Temple — King Darius — Ezra Arrives at Jeru- salem — Too Much Wickedness— Wives Taken from the Heathen— Arrival of Nehemiah — PAQS The Walls Rebuilt— The Enemy Thwarted— Ezra Reads the Law — Story of Queen Esther — A Great Feast — Queen Vashti — The Jews in Danger — Haman's Wicked Plot — Esther Saves Her People — Haman Hanged .... 311 CHAPTER XXIV. The Story of Job.. The Story of Job — Sons, Daughters and Great Possessions — Satan Among the Sons of God — Messengers Bring Startling News — Job Afflicted with Boils — A Visit from Three Friends — Job's Grievous Complaint — Better Days at Last — Presents and Congratulations — Increase of Riches 331 CHAPTER XXV. The Story of Bethlehem. The Story of Bethlehem — A Roman Emperor — Zacharias in the Temple — An Angel Brings a Message — Birth of John Foretold — An Angel Appears to Mary — Elisabeth Visits Her Cousin — The Child Named John — Joseph and Mary at Bethlehem— Birth of the Child Jesus— The Angels and Shepherds — Scene in the Temple — Happy Old Simeon — Good News for the World — The Anthem of Peace 339 CHAPTER XXVI. What Followed the Baptism. Story of John the Baptist — Jesus on the Banks of the Jordan — The Temptation in the Wilder- ness — The Fishermen Become Disciples — The Miracle in Cana of Galilee — Wine from Water — Jesus in Jerusalem — Buyers and Sellers Driven from the Temple — Words of Jesus not Understood — The Man Who Came by Night — Discourse to Nicodemus 357 CHAPTER XXVII. Jesus Returns to Galilee. The People of Samaria — The Woman at Jacob's Well — The Water of Life — In the Synagogue at Nazareth — Hatred of the Jews — Healing the Son of a Nobleman — Casting Out a Devil — Wonderful Cures — Jesus Calls Peter and An- drew — Discourses Upon the Law and Provi- dence — A Lesson from Birds and Flowers — House Built on the Rock — A Leper Healed— The Widow's Son Raised to Life 367 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. Jesus Teaching and Healing. PAGE Jesus Dines in the House of a Pharisee — Mary Magdalene and Her Box of Ointment — Cure of the Man Sick of the Palsy — A Cluster of Parables — What the Kingdom of Heaven is Like — Story of the Prodigal — Publicans and Sinners — A Woman Healed — The Daughter of Jairus— The Troubled Sea Calmed— The Man Possessed of Devils — Followed by a Multitude — The Twelve Apostles 381 CHAPTER XXIX. Marvellous Works and Words. Fhe Man at the Pool of Bethesda— Trouble With the Pharisees — Plucking Corn on the Sabbath — David Eating the Shew-Bread — Death and Burial of John the Baptist — Feeding a Multi- tude — Storm on the Sea — Jesus Walking on the Water — Rescue of Peter — A Mother's Appeal for Her Daughter — The Deaf and Dumb Man — A Blind Man Healed — Peter Called a Rock — The Mount of Transfigura- tion — A Lunatic Cured 399 CHAPTER XXX. Last Visit of Jesus to Galilee. Lesson from a Little Child — The Unjust Steward — Money Found in a Strange Place — Feast of Tabernacles — Pharisees Angry — The Man Elind From His Birth — Ten Lepers Healed— Jesus Blessing Little Children — The Good Samaritan — Jesus at Jerusalem and Bethany — The Raising of Lazarus — Two Blind Men Receive Their Sight 411 CHAPTER XXXI. Last Days in the Temple. Jesus at Bethany — Anointing in the House of Martha, Mary and Lazarus — Entry into Jeru- salem — Road Strewn With Palm-Branches — Children in the Temple— The Man Who Had a Vineyard — Disputing With the Pharisees — The Tribute-Money — The Fate of Hypocrites — The Poor Widow — Vivid Picture of the Sec- ond Coming 433 CHAPTER XXXII. Jesus Betrayed and Arrested. A Plot to Put Jesus to Death — Feast of the Pass- i?AQ» over — Preparations for the Last Supper — Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciples — In the Garden of Gethsemane — A Prayer of Agony — The Traitor's Kiss — False Witnesses — Jesus Before the High-Priest — Denial of Peter- Sorrowful End of Judas — Jesus Before Pilate — A Furious Mob — The Purple Robe and Crown of Thorns 445 CHAPTER XXXIII. The Story of the Crucifixion. Story of the Crucifixion — Bearing the Cross — A Prayer for Enemies — The Earthquake and Darkening of the Sun — Veil of the Temple Rent — The Burial — The Angel and Women at the Tomb — Surprise of the Disciples — Jesus at Emmaus — Again in Galilee — The Great draught of Fishes— Solemn Charge to Peter — Jesus at Bethany — The Ascension — Awe- Struck Disciples Appear in the Temple . . 456 CHAPTER XXXIV. The Story of the Apostles. Casting Lots for Another Apostle — Choice of Matthias — Wonders on the Day of Pentecost — The Tongues of Fire — Peter's Remarkable Sermon — Thousands of Believers — The Lame Man Healed — Two Apostles in Prison — Story of Ananias and Sapphira — Prison Doors Thrown Open — Choosing Seven Deacons — Story of Stephen— The First Martyr— Simon the Sorcerer — Philip in Africa — A Man in a Chariot— A Queen's Treasurer Baptized . .47c CHAPTER XXXV. The Story of Saul. The Story of Saul— The Bright Light from Heaven — A Persecutor Changed to an Apostle — Story of Barnabas — Jews Attempt to Kill Saul — Story of Peter and Dorcas — Peter on the Housetop — A Remarkable Vision — Simon the Tanner and Cornelius — Martyrdom of James — Peter's Escape from Prison — Herod's Speech — A Beautiful City — A Notorious Wizzard — The Apostles Suffer Persecution — Paul Stoned by a Mob — Success of the Gospel 484 CHAPTER XXXVI. Paul's Second Journey. Paul and Barnabas Separate — The Young Man Timothy— Paul and Silas at Philippi— The CONTENTS IX House of Lydia — Casting Out an Evil Spirit — Locked Up in the Old Prison — An Earth- quake—The Jailor's Fright— Leaving Thes- salonica by Night — At Berea — Arrival at Athens— Paul Preaching on Mars' Hill— The City of Corinth -Story of Gallio— A New Preacher from Egypt — Aquila and Priscilla — Apollos Preaching in Greece . . 501 CHAPTER XXXVII. Paul's Third Journey. Journey Through Little Asia — At Ephesus and Corinth — Wizards and Deceivers — Diana's Gorgeous Temple — Wild Uproar at Ephesus — The Apostle Travels in Greece — Story of Eutychus— A Sad Parting— The Gospel at Tyre — Paul at Jerusalem — A Furious Mob— Paul Bound with Chains- Scene before the Council — An Infamous Plot— Paul Finds Friends in His Danger . 514 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Paul at C^esarea and Rome. Paul Sent by Night to Caesarea — The Roman Governor Felix — Wicked Drusilla — A New Governor — Paul Before King Agrippa — A Pointed Sermon — Two Years in Prison — Plot to Take the Life of Paul— The Voyage to Rome — Furious Storm — The Ship Wrecked — Escape of All on Board— A Deadly Viper — Astonishment of the Heathen — Miracles of Healing — Paul's Arrival at Rome— A Noble Martyr — The Apostle John — Won- derful Visions 529 New Testament Story in Verse 545 Helps to the Study of the Bible Four Thousand Questions and Answers on the Old and New Testaments . . . , Frontispiece Adam and Eve Driven Out of the Garden of Eden 19 Adam Tilling the Ground 20 Cain and Abel Making an Offering to the Lord 21 The Death of Abel 22 The Peaceable Fruits of tbe Spirit 23 Brotherly Love 24 Noah Building the Ark ........ 26 Return of the Dove to the Ark 28 Noah and His Family Leaving the Ark , 29 Noah's Sacrifice After the: Flood 30 The Builders of Batel Scjtttered ?i Abram Entering the Land of Canaan .... 34 The Egyptian King Taking the Wife of Abram 35 Melchizedek Blessing Abram 37 "As the Stars, so Shall be Thy Posterity " . . 38 The Destruction of Sodom Foretold to Abra- ham 40 Lot and His Family Fleeing From Sodom . . 41 Departure of Hagar and Ishmael 42 Abraham Offering Isaac 44 Abraham's Servant Meeting Rebekah . ... 46 Isaac Welcoming Rebekah • . 47 Isaac Blessing Jacob 51 Jacob's Vision of Angels 52 T acob Meeting Rebekah 54 _,aban Hiring Jacob 55 Jacob Wrestling With the Angel ..... 56 Meeting of Jacob and Esau 57 Joseph's Dream of the Sun, Moon and Eleven Stars 60 The Shepherd and His Flock 61 Joseph Sold by His Brethren 62 Joseph Interpreting Pharoah's Dreams ... 66 Joseph Proclaimed Ruler of Egypt 68 The Cup Found in Benjamin's Sack .... 75 Joseph Makes Himself Known to His Brethren 77 The Sons of Jacob Burying Their Father . . 81 Embalming the Body of Joseph 83 Pharaoh's Daughter Finding Moses .... 86 Moses Brought Before Pharaoh's Daughter . • 87 The Israelites Made to Work Hard in Egypt • 88 Woses Slaying the Egyptian „ 89 , x PAGE Moses at the Burning Bush ....•.„ 90 Aaron's Rod Changed to a Serpent 92 The Feast of the Passover 96 Departure of the Israelites From Egypt ... 97 Pharaoh's Host Destroyed in the Red Sea . . 99. Moses Bringing Water From the Rock . . . 104 Aaron and Hur Holding Up the Hands of Moses 105 Moses Receiving the Tables of the Law . . . 107 The Setting Up of the Tabernacle in the Wil- derness 109 Outside View of the Tabernacle no The Ark of the Covenant n 1 Furniture of the Tabernacle ,12 The Laver 113 Sending the Scapegoat Into the Wilderness . 114 The High Priest Offering Incense on the Golden Altar . . . . 115 The Way to the Promised Land 1 r 7 The Fountain in the Wilderness 118- The Israelites Worshipping the Golden Calf . 12c* Moses Destroying the Tables of the Law . . . 121 Mosos Bringing the New Tables of the Law . 12? The Spies Returning From Canaan .... 124. The High Priest in Full Dress 126 The Brazen Serpent 128 Balaam Met by the Angel of the Lord . . . 129 Balaam's Sacrifice on Seven Altars 130 Moses Rehearsing the Commandments to the Children of Israel 132 The Lord Appearing to Moses and Joshua in the Pillar of a Cloud 133 Moses Giving His Charge to Joshua .... 137 Rahab and the Spies 138 The Hebrews Crossing the Jordan 13c- The Angel Appearing to Joshua . ..... 141 Falling of the Walls of Jericho 142 Joshua Capturing the City of Ai 143 The Inhabitants of Ai Witnessing the Defeat of Their Army . 145 Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still . 14} Joshua Dividing the Land 149 Gideon's Offering Burnt by Fire from the Rock 156 Gideon's Victory Over the Midiauites . , . 159- A Woman Casts a Stone Upon Abimelech . . 162 ILLUSTRATIONS. 3i* PAGE Abimelech Slain by His Armo. arer . . „ 164 Jephthah Meeting His Daughter 167 Samson Slaying the Lion . 169 Samson Caught and Bound by His Foes . . . 172 Ruth and Naomi 175 Ruth Gleaning in the Fields cf Boaz ... 177 The Lord of Hosts 179 The Harvest Time 180 The Young Samuel Brought to EH .... 182 Hannah Visiting Samuel 184 The Call of Samuel „ . . 186 The Destruction of the Hagarites 194 Saul Tearing the Robe of Samuel 196 David Playing the Harp Before Saul .... 197 Saul and His Men Searching for David ... 198 Saul and the Witch of Endor 200 Saul Kills Himself by Falling on His Sword . 201 Samuel Anointing David at Bethlehem . . . 204 David Slaying Goliath 206 Saul Casting the Javelin at David 208 The Covenant Between David and Jonathan . 211 David Spares the Sleeping Saul 214 Abagail's Present to David 217 Peace and Joy 219 The Name of the Lord 220 David Anointed King Over Israel . . . . „ 222 David Bringing the Ark to Jerusalem With Great Rejoicing . 224 David Mourning the Death of His Child . . 226 David Pardoning Absalom 228 Shimei Casting Stones at David ...... 230 David Instructing Joab to Number the People 234 A.n Angel Goes Forth to Smite the Land . . 235 David Builds a New Altar 236 Solomon is Crowned King 240 The Judgment of Solomon 244 Husbandmen of Ancient Palestine Going Forth to Work 245 The Ark Brought Into the Temple by Solomon 247 Solomon Dedicating the Temple 248 The Ark and Furniture of the Temple . . . 250 The Queen of Sheba "Visiting Solomon . . . 251 Kings Bringing Gifts to Solomon 253 Solomon's Picture of the Fool and the Wise Man 254 The Virtuous Woman 255 Elijah Fed by Ravens 258 Elijah Raising the Widow's Son 260 Elijah Slaying the Prophets of Baal .... 262 Elijah at the Mouth of the Cave 263 The Death of King Ahab 265 The Body of Jezebel Eaten by Dogs .... 267 Elijah Taken Up into Heaven 269 Thanksgiving unto the Lord 271 The Path of Wisdom . 272 PAGB Elisha Causing Iron to Swim . . . . . 27f Naaman at the Door of Elisha ...... 279 The Stoning of Zechariah 281 Defeat of the Syrians by the Israelites . . 283 Cleansed from Unrighteousness 285 The Sun and Shield 286 Jonah Sheltered by the Vine 289 The Molten Sea 29c Hezekiah Cleansing the Temple 201 The Lips of Isaiah Touched with a Coal from the Altar 293 The Vision of Isaiah 296 The Jews Led into Captivity 299 Daniel Refusing to Worship the Image . . . 302 Daniel Interpreting the King's Dream . . . 304 Daniel Touched by the Angel 306 Thorns in the Field of the Slothful .... 309 Summer and Winter Shall Not Cease .... 310 The Return of the Jews from Captivity . . . 312 Building a New Temple 314 Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem .... 318 Nehemiah and His Workmen 320 Two Pages of an Ancient Scroll of Scriptures . 322 Queen Esther Crowned . . 324 The Treasures of Winter 329, "Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace " . . 33c The Messengers Telling Job of His Losses . . 332 Job and His Three Friends 334 Job Visited by His Relatives „ 335 Christmas Carols 337 The Joys that are Unseen 338 The Angel Appearing to Mary 341 Zacharias Writing a Name for the Child . . . 343 Simeon Taking the Child in His Arms . . . 347 Wise Men of the East Presenting Their Gifts . 349 Killing the Male Children Under Two Years Old .35a Jesus Working at the Trade of a Carpenter . . 353 The Sure and Steadfast Anchor 355 Beautiful Garments 356 The Temptation on the Mountain 359. The Water Turned into Wine at Cana of Gali- lee 361 The Money-Changers Driven From the Temple 363 Christ Talking to Nicodemus ...... 365 Jesus and the Woman of Samaria ..... 368 "Follow Me and I Will Make You Fishers of Men " 374 Fall of the House Built on the Sand .... 378 Mary Anointing the Feet of Christ in the House of Simon the Pharisee 382 The Enemy Sowing Tares by Night .... 385 Finding the Hidden Treasure 386 The Return of the Prodigal Son 388 The Beggar Lazarus at the Rich Man's Gate . 389. XII ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Christ Raising the Daughter of Jairus . . 393 Good Trees Bring Forth Good Fruit . . . 397 Joy After a Night of Weeping 398 The Burial of John the Baptist 402 Christ Feeding the Multitude 404 The Transfiguration 409 Jesus Teaching Humility by a Little Child . 412 "Whereas I Was Blind, Now I See" . . . 415 Jesus Blessing Little Children 419 Robbers Lying in Wait 421 The Priest and Levite Passing by the Wounded Man 422 The Good Samaritan 423 The Good Shepherd Dividing the Sheep from the Goats 425 The Raising of Lazarus 428 " Suffer Them to Come unto Me " . . . .431 The Bread That Cometh Down from Heaven 432 Mary of Bethany Anointing the Feet of Jesus 434 Christ's Entry into Jerusalem 436 The Children in the Temple 438 Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciples . . 445 Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane . . .447 Judas Betraying Jesus With a Kiss .... 449 Peter Denying Christ 452 They Cried, " Crucify Him ! Crucify Him ! " 454 Christ Sinking under His Cross on the Way to Golgotha 457 Simon Compelled to Help Jesus Bear the Cross 458 The Crucifixion of Christ 459 The Burial of Christ 461 The Angel and Women at the Empty Tomb 463 Jesus Convincing Thomas of His Resurrec- tion 466 The Ascension of Christ 468 PAGE Tongues of Fire Resting on the Disciples . 472 Peter Healing the Lame Man at the Gate of the Temple 474 Stephen Stoned to Death by His Enemies . 480 The Sanhedrim in Session 483 Saul Struck to the Earth on His Way to Damascus 485 Peter's Vision on the Housetop 491 Peter Delivered from Prison by an Angel . 493 Antioch 500 Ancient Ships 507 Paul Preaching on Mars' Hill 509 Hall of Pillars— Ruins of Karnak, Egypt . 512 Demetrius Raising an Uproar at Ephesus Against Paul 518 Paul Bound with Chains 523 Paul Conveyed into the Castle 525 The Solitary Places Made Glad 527 The Glory of the New Jerusalem .... 528 The Strong Supporting the Weak .... 532 The First Christians at Rome Reading Paul's Letter 534 The Shipwreck of St. Paul 540 St. Paul's Arrival at Rome in Chains . . . 542 The Annunciation 547 Worship Him that Made Heaven and Earth 555 Show Me Thy Ways, O Lord 561 Consider the Lilies 569 Christ at Gadara 579 As the Earth Bringeth Forth Her Bud . . 583 The Children 587 The Ten Commandments 589 Cause Me to Hear Thy Loving Kindness . 593 The Ten Virgins 597 Remember the Sabbath Day 601 Thou Shalt Guide Me with Thy Counsel . . 605 CHAPTER I. B. C. 4004. The Story of the Creation — What was made on each day-— Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden — The Serpent beguiles Eve — Cherubim and a Flaming Sword — - Cain kills his brother Abel — A mark set upon Cain. On the third day God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear : and it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. Then he made grass, herbs and trees to grow out of the land. The earth was now becoming very beautiful, and was last getting ready for the living creatures that were to dwell in it. Grass, trees and flowers covered all the dry land, and the herb, bearing seed, and fruit-trees with fruit upon them had begun to grow. I> was a strange, silent world yet. No voice of any animal was heard in it, no singing of birds or humming of insects, no sound of any b'ving thing, only the waving and rustling of tne beautiful trees, and the noise of streams, waterfalls, and the waves breaking on the shore. On the fourth day God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night : he made the stars also. God set them in the firma- ment of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. So now there were die sun by day and the moon and the stars by night LONG time ago ? there was no liv- ing thing on the earth. No grass, flowers, shrubs nor trees grew as they do now, and there were no insects, fishes, birds or beasts of any kind. There were no men, women or children, and no houses, villages or cities such as we see now. There was darkness •everywhere. Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. He saw that the light was good, and he divided the light from the darkness. The light he called Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. On the second day God made the firma- ment, or the sky, and called it Heaven. Under this sky there was only water, cover- ing all the earth ; there were no fields, valleys or mountains, nothing but a great ocean. a 18 THE STORY OF THE CREATION. shining down out ol the sky upon this beautiful, green, silent world. On the fifth day God made fishes and all creatures that live in the water ; and he made birds to fly in the air ; so that the earth was no longer without living things in at. When he had made them, he blessed them, so that there should be a great many of them, and that all the sea should be filled with living things, as it is to-day, and that there should be birds flying everywhere over the earth. On the sixth day God made all sorts of beasts and cattle, great and small, and insects, and everything that lives on the land, except birds, which had been made on the fifth day. Man and Woman Made. Afterwards, on this sixth day, when all these living things had been made on the earth, when birds were flying in the air and fishes were swimming in the sea, when green grass and herbs were growing, and flowers were blooming, and fruit-trees were laden with their fruit, and all things were ready for people to live and be happy here, then God made the first man and the first woman on the earth. God made man in his own image, after his own likeness. He formed him of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul. God put the man that he had made into a garden where there grew every tree that is pleasant to the eye and good for food. And he called the man Adam. Then God said, It is not good that the man should be alone ; I will make a help- meet for him. So all the birds and beasts and living things that had been made were brought to Adam that he might give them flames ; but among them all there was no One that could be a companion to him — nothing that could speak to him, or help him in anything he wanted to do. Then the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept : and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof ; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought he? kt'jo the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Then God blessed them, and told them that they and their children were to fill the earth with people, and that they were the masters and owners of everything on the earth. All the other things that God had made he gave to the man and woman to be theirs. He said to them, Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing thatmoveth upon the earth. God gave them the herb bearing seed and every kind of fruit for their food. To the animals he gave the gr iss and green herbs for their food. God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. When the seventh day came, God made no more new things. He rested from his work ; and he blessed the seventh day, and called it holy. The Garden of Eden. To Adam and his wife was given all thi. beautiful new world where everything was very good. They lived in a garden called Eden, which was the most beautiful part of it all. In this garden God had made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the eye and good for food ; and there was a river flowing through it to give them water. Adam was put into this garden to dress it and to keep it ; and he had his wife to help him. There they were glad and happy ail THE STORY OF THE CREATION. 19 the time, for they were good, and did not know anything about being evil. God gave them one command. He told them there was one tree in the garden that they must never eat the fruit of. Every other tree they might eat the fruit of when- ever they chose ; but if they ate of that tree, they should surely die. This tree was spoke to the woman. He looked like a serpent, and said to the woman, Has God indeed said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden ? The woman answered and said, We may eat of the trees of the garden ; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. ADAM AND EVE DRIVEN OUT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN. m the midst of the garden, and it was called die tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That meant that if Adam and his wife ate the fruit of it they would then not only know how to do evil things, but they would often wish to do them. Now Adam and his wife had an enemy. Satan hated them. One dzy he came and Then the serpent said, Ye shall not surely die. He told the woman that the fruit oi that tree would make them wise, and that God did not want them to be wise. The woman was persuaded. She took some of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and ate it ; and then she gave some to Adam, and he also ate it. 20 THE STORY OF THE CREATION. When they had eaten it they were no longer good and pure ; they had disobeyed God, and knew now all about sin and wicked- ness. They did not want to meet God now ; they were afraid. When they heard his voice in the garden they tried to hide them- selves. But they could not hide from God. God called to Adam, and said to him, Where art thou ? And Adam said, I heard What is this that thou hast doner Ttu. woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. God then spoke to the serpent, and said that he was cursed for what he had done; that he should creep along the ground in the dust always ; and that there should be hatred between Satan and the people in the world. Satan should always hate them and ADAM TILLING THE GROUND. thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked ; and I hid myself. Then God said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat ? The man answered and said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord Gocl said to the woman, try to do them harm ; but that some day One should come into the world to over- come Satan. Then God said to the woman, that she must in future have a great deal ot sorrow and pain. Her sin would be pun- ished, and her life would be made unhappy because she did not obey God. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife. THE STORY OF THE CREATION. 21 and hast eaten of the tree, of which I com- manded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it : cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust tnou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Death had now come into the world him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man ; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. The Two Brothers. After they left the garden, Adam and Eve had two sons : the eldest was called Cain v and was a tiller of the ground ; but the CAIN AND ABEL MAKING AN OFFERING TO THE LORD. And Adam called his wife's name Eve ; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin, and clothed them. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil : and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever : therefore the Lord God sent younger was called Abel, and was a keeper of sheep. Now both brothers made offerings to the Lord: Cain offered of the fruits of the field and Abel of the firstlings of his floclc And the Lord had respect unto Abel and tc his offering. But unto Cain and his offerings he had not respect. At this Cain became very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen ? If thou 22 THE STORY OF THE CREATION. doest well shalt thou not also receive a reward ? But if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And Cain talked with Abel, his brother ■ and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done ; the voice of thy brother's blood THE DEATH OF ABEL. crieth untt me from the ground? Cursed art thou from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its fruit. A fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid ; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth ; and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, No, it shall not be so. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him, should kill him. So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain became the father of a numerous family who, like him, did not fear the Lord ; and he builded a city, and called it after the name of his eldest son, Enoch. This was the first city ever built. And God gave to the first parents another son, and Eve called his name Seth, for God, said she, hath appointed me another son, instead of Abel whom Cain slew. And to Seth also was there born a son, and he called his name Enos. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. And God gave Adam man) sons and daughters, and all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years. One of his descendants was Enoch who lived sixty and five years, when Methuselah was born to him. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years when he died. His son Lamech lived seven hundred and seven years, and he called his son Noah, saying, The same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil ot our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. And the sons of Noah were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Men now be- gan to multiply fast upon the face of the earth. tm^SKKgM^MKfUKMISKA me*** jaiii«r-4j - 111 ii'^ ' 'F :; '' -&' THE PEACEABLE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 2 3 BROTHERLY LOVE. 24 CHAPTER II. B. C. 2347. The Story of the Flood— The World Grown very Wicked— Noah Commanded u Build an Ark. for the Saving of his Family — Every Living Thing on the Dr^ Land Destroyed — Noah Leaves the Ark and Offers Sacrifice — The Towek of Babel — Confusion of Tongues and Scattering of the People. GREAT many years passed away, and by this time there was a multi- tude of people in the world. They had be- come very wicked, and were all the time growing more so. And God looked upon the earth, and he saw that the wicked- ness of man was very great, and that the thoughts of his heart were only evil. He was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth ; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air ; for I am sorry that I made them. There was only one man amongst them all at this time who pleased God, and his name was Noah. He found grace, or favor, in the eyes of the Lord ; for he was a good man, and would have nothing to do with the sinful deeds of all the people who were living in those days. He walked with God, and he had brought up his children wisely and well. So God spoke to Noah, and told him what he was going to do. He said, Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy by drowning everything that breathes ; and everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will take care of you^ and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives. Noah Builds the Ark. Then he told Noah to make a very large ^oat, or ship, called an " ark," which should float upon the water when God should send down his great rain upon the earth. And into this ark of wood Noah and his family were to go, with two of every sort of living creature — fowls, and cattle, and creeping things — that they might be kept alive. And abundance of food was to be put into the ark for them all. Noah believed everything that God had said to him, and he began at once to make the ark, as he had been told, He and his sons cut down a great many large trees, and then he got carpenters tc help him to saw them into planks or boards s and to fasten them together. And all the time the ark was being made (for it took a great many years to build) Noah preached to the people, and warned them. He told them that God was going 25 26 THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. to drown the world for their wickedness ; but they did not believe what he said. They went on eating and drinking and pleasing themselves, and doing everything just as usual. Noah told them that they were in danger, but they only laughed at aim. And so year after year passed away. and curiously-built house in the optn fields. There was no sign of any flood yet ; the sun rose every morning and set every evening, and the people went on just in their old ways, not believing that any change was coming. Then the Lord said to Noah, Come into the ark, you and all your family ; NOAH BUILDING THE ARK. Noah still worked hard at the ark, which was to save him and his family from the great flood of waters, and he still went on preaching and warning his neighbors. At last the great ark, which had taken a hundred and twenty years to make, was quite finished, and was looking like a huge for you have walked uprightly before me in the midst of a wicked people. And take with you two and two of every beast, and bird, and creeping thing. For in seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth ; the rain shall last for forty days and forty nights ; and every living thing that I have made THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. 27 1 will destroy from off the face of the earth. Noah went into the ark with his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives. And God made to follow him into that place of safety two and two of every sort of living creature that was upon the earth. After that, God himself shut the door. God still waited seven days, as he had said, to give them time to repent ; for he is slow to anger, and he does not like to be obliged to punish. But they took no heed ; these last seve days were spent just like all the rest, and at last came the time for the flood . A Forty Days' Rail. Then the rain came down — such rain as has never been seen upon the earth, either before or since. It poured down night and day, for forty days, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the rivers and streams overflowed their banks. God, who had said to the sea, So far shalt thou go, and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed, now commanded the sea to spread over the earth again, to help in the work of destruction. The water came rush- ing into the houses, and the frightened people fled to the upper rooms. But there was no escape ; the waters mounted higher and higher, and the upper rooms were soon reached and flooded, and all who were in them were drowned. Some climbed up into high trees ; but before long the top branches were reached, and those who were clinging there, drenched with rain and sick with fear, were swept away into the flood. Some, no doubt, tried to escape in boats ; but that tremendous rain and the rushing flood quickly overturned them, and the despairing people sank in the deep water. And so the flood prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, till at last all the high hills were completely covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing ; and every man, and every woman, and every child. All, all were drowned. Eight Persons Saved. But where was Noah ? Safe in the ark. As the flood rose, so the ark rose too, float- ing securely upon that great mass of waters. Just eight persons were saved, and no more; there were only eight among all the people on the earth who believed that God would do as he had said. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that were with, him in the ark; and God made the rain to cease, and he caused a wind to pass over the earth, to help to dry up the waters. Every day the water became less and less but it was a long time yet before the earth was dry. When half a year had passed away ; the ark rested on the top of a high mountain called Ararat ; and little by little the waters sank lower and lower, till at last all the tops of the mountains were seen. Noah wanted very much to know if the earth was getting dry again ; for though there was a window in the ark, it was so placed that he could not see anything out of it except the sky. He could open it, how- ever ; and so one day he took a raven and let it out through the window. But the raven did not come back ; it flew backwards and forwards over the water, and rested on the top of the ark, but it would not go intc it again. Then Noah sent out a dove, which is a verv gentle bird — very different to the wild and fierce raven. But the dove found no tree upon which she could perch ; and no place where she could rest, so she flew back to the ark. And Noah was 28 THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. watching for her, and when he saw her come back- he put out his hand and took her come back quite so soon this time. She remained away till the evening ; and when RETURN OF THE DOVE TO THE ARK. gently in through the window. After this Noah waited one week, and then he sent out the dove again. The gentle bird did not she returned to the ark, what do you think she had in her beak? An olive leaf that she had plucked off a tree. Noah was THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. 29 pleased to see it, for he knew by this that the flood of waters had almost gone Yet again Noah waited a week ; and once more he sent out his little dove. But she never came back again. Then Noah took off the covering of the ffk and looked out ; and, behold, the ground ■was dry. How he must have longed to go out, and to walk about again on the fresh and beautiful earth. But much as he longed to do so, he did not attempt to leave the ark till God should tell him he might. God himself had shut the door, and Noah would not open it without his leave. So he waited pa- tiently there eight weeks longer, till at last the joyful order came. God said to Noah, Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you. And bring out with you every living thing that is with you in the ark — birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing. How glad they must all have been to tread on the soft green grass again, after having been shut up in the ark for a whole year. It was like a new world now. But what a solemn thought it was, that since Noah had last put his foot upon the ground, every soul except himself and his family had been drowned in that flood of waters. All his acquaintances and his neighbors were dead. A.s Noah thought of all this he felt thankful to God for his great deliverance. He builded m altar — that is, he made a heap of stones — and upon this heap, or altar, he offered a | sacrifice to the Lord. And God was pleased ; and he blessed Noah and his sons, as he had blessed Adam and Eve in the beginning. And he told Noah that he should be master over all the beasts, and over every living thing upon the earth. Also, he now gave him permission for the first time to eat flesh. He said, Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you ; even as the green herb have I given you all things. Afterwards God made a very gracious promise to Noah and to his sons. He said to them, I will never again destroy the earth by a flood of waters ; but as long as the world lasts, seed-time and harvest, and cold NOAH AND HIS FAMILY LEAVING THE ARK. and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. And I will give you a sign that I will remember my promise. I do put my bow in the cloud, and when I bring a cloud over the earth, the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And you shall look at it, and I will look at it and remember the promise I have made you. In those days people lived a great deal longer than they do now. Noah was six hundred years old at the time of the flood, and he was nine hundred and fifty when he 30 THE STORY OF THE FLOOD died. The sons of Noah who went forth out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. When Noah and his three sons, with their wives, had come out of the ark, they had again to begin and dig the ground, and to take care of the sheep and cattle, as they had done before. The ground that had been three sons — Shem, Ham, and Japheth — ana told to them what should happen to their children's children in the far-off time in the future. He blessed Shem, and he blessed' Japheth, and he told them that they should both be prosperous and great nations; but he cursed Ham for his sin, and said that his noah's sacrifice after the flood. ru.sed because ot Adam's sin still brought forth briers and thistles ; and though the earth was once again so fresh and beautiful, Noah and his sons had to work hard for their daily food. Noah was a husbandman or farmer. He dug the ground, and sowed corn, and gathered in the grain at the time of harvest. One day Noah spoke to his family should not be great, but should be mean and despised, and that he should be "a servant of servants." At first the children of Ham, like the chndren of wicked Cain, seemed to prosper. One of his family was called Nimrod, and he became a very great man. He was a great hunter and a great builder, and he made THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. 31 himself a kind of king. He built a great ;nany cities, and he ruled over them. Then there was Canaan, another of Ham's family. He had a number of children, and they were very rich, and their country was very pleasantly situated ; but yet, like all the descendants of Ham, they were wicked. God's curse was upon them, and they did not prosper in the end. The country where Canaan had settled down was called after his name — the land of Canaan ; and by-and-by you will hear how God took away that beau- tiful land from the wicked children of Ham, and gave it to some of the family of Shem. A High Tower. The world soon began to be filled with people again after the flood, and everybody spoke the same language. Now, as you know, a great many diff- erent languages are spoken, and the people of one country cannot understand the people of another country, unless they have first, with much trouble and difficulty, learned to speak in the same language. But at the time of which I am telling you all spoke alike. As men began to increase in number, so they began to get careless and wicked again. They seemed quickly to forget God, and only cared to follow their own sinful inclinations. At first the people stayed near where the ark had rested, but as their families grew up, and more and more children were born, some of them began to journey further on till they came to a plain, or flat country, called the land of Shinar ; and there they lived. After a time they said to one another, Let us build a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven ; and let us make a name for ourselves, so that we may not be scattered abroad, or separated from each other. This they agreed to do. But there was no stone in that part of the country, so they were obliged to make bricks for building the city and the tower. When they said that they would build a high tower which should reach to heaven,, they did not mean that it was possible it THE BUILDERS OF BAEFX SCATTERED. should reach to the place that we mean by heaven-^where God lives ; they only intended it to be so very high that it would look as if it reached to the skies. Perhaps they thought, too, that this tower would be a place of safety for them if another flood were to come upon the earth. The plain of Shinar was a very busy place now. The people worked hard at their brick -making, and at their building ; and all the time they were thinking what a grand place of safety it wouW be. And all the 32 THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. time God was watching them ; and at last he came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men were building. God not only looked at the city and the tower, but he looked into the people's hearts, and he saw how nuch sin and pride and disobedience there was there. So he would not let them finish their work. The Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language ; and now that they have begun to do this, they will stop at nothing, but will do whatever they have set their minds upon. Let ui, make them all speak a different language, that they may not understand each other any more. And God did so. The people wero busy at work, as usual, one giving orders here, another arranging things there — here some were asking what they should do next, and there some were explaining how things were to be done — when, all at once, they found that they could not understand each other. They had never heard any language but their own before, and now every one was speaking what appeared to be nonsense to the others. They at once left off building ; for how could the workmen understand what the master was telling them to do ? And how ^ould the builder explain his orders to the masons, when he was speaking in a language they had never heard before ? There was great confusion in the land o Shinar that day, and great astonishment. Their plans were all upset, they could not make each other understand, and there was so much confusion, disorder, and worry, that they called the name of the tower Babel, which means "confusion." And now the people began to separate from each other, and to spread themselves over the country. They wanted to keep together, but God scattered them. When their language was confounded, they did not wish to remain with those whom they could not understand. Some took their families and went in one direction, and some went in another direction, till they were all scattered. And thus it came to pass that the city and the high tower, which they thought would make them a name and make them famous, remained unfinished. The people had been living without God, and had been working against God ; so he rose up to stop them, and to bring their work to nothing. Some of the families stayed quite near Babel, and others wandered farther off and settled by the sea. Afterward some o' *he children of these families wandered into r «ew lands and went everywhere. CHAFHTER III. B. C. 1996. The Story of Abraham — Destruction of Sodom and Story of Lot — Hagar Am Ishmael Sent Away — Abraham Offering up Isaac — Journey of Abraham's Servant —Isaac and Rebekah — Isaac Obtains a Wife from a far Country. the day of his death. Two hundred and N Ur of the Chaldees lived a man whose name was Terah. This Terah had three sons, namely, Haran, Nahor, and Abram. Now Ha- ran and Nahor worshipped idols, of which the moon- god was the chief. So did also all the people of the land ; but Abram knew she true God, and worshipped him only. Haran, son of Terah, had a son, Lot by name, and two daughters, Milcah and Iscah or Sarai ; and Milcah became the wife of Nahor, and Sarai the wife of Abram. After a while God appeared to Abram, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and go into the land that I shall show thee. Then Terah departed from Ur of the Chaldees, taking with him Abram, and Sarai his wife, and Lot his grandson, and all that he had. Westward he travelled till he came to Haran. Because the land was rich and fertile, and good for the feeding of flocks and herds, and because he himself also was now old and feeble, Terah would go no farther. So he abode in Haran, and Abram and Lot with him, till 9 five years old was he when he died. When Terah was dead, God spake again to Abram, saying, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a 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 in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abram rose, and took with him Lot, his brother's son, and their two households, and all their sheep and oxen — many thousands in all — and went into the land of Canaan. Where Abram Pitched his Tent. And having come thither he pitched his tent for the first time in Sichem, in the oak- grove which was called the oak-grove of Moreh. While he sojourned at Moreh the Lord appeared unto him, and said, This is the land which I promised to give to thee, and to thy children after thee. Then Abram built an altar and offered sacrifices unto the Lord. From Moreh he went to Luz — there also he built an altar — and from Luz he journeyed into the south country. But while he dwelt there, there was a grievous famine in the land, and he was constrained to go down into Egypt. Now as Abram came near to the borders of Egypt, he began to fear for his life. Sarai his wife was a veiy fair woman, and h.nd they could water the sheep. This was so there would be no waste of the precious water. And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came up with her father's sheep, for she took care of them. And when Jacob saw Rachel, he drew near, and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel and wept for joy. And he told her that her father was his uncle, and that he was Rebekah's son. And Rachel ran and told her father. Laban's Two Daughters. When Laban heard that Jacob, his sister's son, was near, he ran to meet him, and threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And Jacob told Laban what he had come for. Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh ; and Jacob stayed with him for the space of a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, Because thou art related to me, shouldst thou work for me for nothing ? Tell me what shall thy wages be? Laban had two daughters : the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender- eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well formed. And Jacob loved Rachel. So when 64 THE STORY OF ESAU AND JACOB. Laban asked what wages he would take, he said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy younger daughter. Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man. So stay with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days, so great was his love for her. whom he had wed ; and he went at once to Laban, and said, What is this thou hast done to me ? did I not serve with thee for Rachel ? Why hast thou played me such a trick ? Laban said, It is not the custom of our country to give the younger before the first- born. Be true to Leah, and thou shalt have Rachel also, if thou wilt serve me for another JACOB MEETING RACHEL. And Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for the time is up that I said I would serve thee. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. And in the evening he brought in Leah, closely veiled, so that her face could not be seen, and Jacob took her for his wife. In the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah seven years. And Jacob did so, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel for a wife, for there was no law in those days to prevent a man from having more than one wife. And Jacob loved Rachel far more than he did Leah, and stayed with Laban even another seven years on her account. God gave children to Leah ; but Rachel had no children, THE STORY OF ESAU AND JACOB. 55 and her heart was sad, and she was very- jealous of her sister. But at last God heard her prayer, and gave Rachel a son. And she called his name Joseph. By this time Jacob had become a rich man, and had flocks and herds of his own. And Laban's son spoke ill of Jacob ; and home of Isaac, his father. And on the way a company of angels met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, This is God's host And he called the name of that place Mahanaim, which means Two hosts, or camps, Jacob was still afraid of his brother Esau and had sent messengers to speak with hini LABAN HIRING JACOB. Laban was not the good friend to him that he had been. And God told Jacob to go back to his own country. So Jacob put his wives and his sons on camels, and took all the flocks and herds, and everything that he owned, and left Laban, and went back to the and to offer him rich gifts if he would be at peace with him. The messengers brought word that Esau was on his way to meet Jacob with four hundred men. Jacob was in great fear, and prayed to God to save him from the hands of his brother who hated him 56 THE STORY OF ESAU AND JACOB. so. He said, I am not worthy the least of thy mercies, and of all the kind care thou hast given me. But save me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me. One night Jacob was left alone, and there came an angel, who wrestled with him till the break of day. And when the angel saw for as a prince thou hast power with God and with men. The word Israel means, A prince of God. And Jacob said to the angel, who was in the form of a man, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Why dost thou need to ask my name? And he blessed him then and there. And Jacob called the name of JACOB WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL. that he could not throw Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh and put it out of joint. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And Jacob said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And the angel said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. The angel said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel : the place Peni-el : for I have seen God face to face, and my life is saved. The word Peni-el means, The face of God. When Jacob raised his eyes, he saw Esau coming with his four hundred men. And he went out in front of his wives and children, and bowed down to the ground seven times on his way to his brother. And Esau ran THE STORY OF ESAU AND JACOB. 57 to meet him, and fell on his neck and kissed him ; and they both wept together, and all the past was forgiven. Then Esau raised his eyes, and saw the women and children, and said, Who are those with thee ? And Jacob said, The children which God hath given thy servant. And they all bowed down before Esau. Then Esau said, What face, and to know thou art pleased with me, is as if I had seen the face of God He said God had been good to him, and he had enough and to spare, and he urged Esau so strongly to take his gifts, that Esau did so. And Esau went back to Seir, where he lived ; and Jacob went on his way. And God told him to go up to Bethel and dwell THE MEETING OF JACOB AND ESAU. meanest thou by all this drove which I met ? Jacob told him they were sent as a present to him. Esau said, I have enough, my brother ; keep what is thine own. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight (that is, if thou art good friends with me), then take the present I bring. For to have seen thy there for a while, and build there an altar to the God who came to him when he fled from his brother Esau. Now Rachel when she left her father's house stole some of the images that she had been wont to worship. And when God told Jacob to go up to Bethel he said to his household, and to all that were with him, 58 THE STORY OF ESAU AND JACOB. put away the strange gods that are among you, and let us go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God, who helped me when I was in distress, and took care of me on my journey. And they took their earrings from their ears, and gave them and the idols to Jacob, and he buried them in the ground under an oak tree which was near Shechem. And they came to Bethel, and Jacob built an altar there and gave praise to God. It was here that Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under an oak. God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him, telling him his name should not be called Jacob any more, but he should be called Israel. And a promise was given to Jacob that he should be the father of nations, and would have kings for his posterity. Then God said to Jacob, The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy children after thee will I give the land. And God went up from Jacob in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in that place; it was a pillar of stone, and he poured oil on it. Ana Jacob called the name of the place where God talked with him Bethel. The meaning of the name Bethel is, the house of God Jacob had been blessed and he set up the stone and poured oil on it to mark the place where the promise was made to him that nations should come from him. As they went from Bethel, they came near to a place called Ephrath — where Bethlehem now is. And there God gave Jacob and Rachel another son. And his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a stone on her grave, to mark the spot where she lay. Jacob came back to Hebron, to the land where Isaac his father dwelt, and made his home there. And Isaac lived to be one hundred and eighty years old, and then he died, and Jacob and Esau buried him. CHAPTER V B. C. 1729. The Story of Joseph — A Boy in a Pit — Sold Away into Egypt — The Coat Dyed with Blood — Telling the Meaning of Dreams — Wearing the King's Ring — Famine in all Lands — Joseph's Brethren in Egypt — Jacob and Benjamin. ACOB had twelve sons. The young- est two were Joseph and Ben- jamin, whose mother was Ra- chel. Jacob's sons were shep- herds ; and Jo- seph too, as soon as he was old enough, was sent out into the fields lo heko his brother to feed the flocks. Now of all his sons, Jacob loved Joseph the most. He was the child of Rachel whom Jacob dearly loved; and also Joseph was more upright and true than his elder brothers. When he was with them out in the fields he saw them doing many wrong things, and he thought their father ought to know it. So Joseph told him of all their wicked conduct, and this made therr dislike him very much. Besides this, they had another reason for hating him. Their father Jacob, to show how much he loved his favorite son, gave him a coat of many colors. This was a mark of very great distinction and honor, and it is supposed also to have been a sign that the person wearing it was intended to be his father's heir. AH these things made Joseph's brothers so angry and jealous that they could not speak peaceably to him; they hated him, and were rough and unkind to him, Joseph's Strange Dream. One night Joseph dreamed a very strange dream, and he told it to his brothers. He said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed. I thought we were all in the field binding sheaves, and, lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright ; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and bowed low to my sheaf. Joseph's brothers were very angry when they heard this dream, and they said scorn- fully, Do you indeed think that you will reign over us ? and do you really suppose that you will have the mastery over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. After this he had another strange dream which he told to his brothers. He said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more ; and, behold, the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars, bowed down to me. Joseph told this dream to his father as welV as to his brothers ; and his father rebuked him gently, and said, What is this dream that you have dreamed ? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow down ourselves to you to the earth r" 59 60 THE STORY OF JOSEPH. And his brorhors envied him. But his father thought a great deal about this dream and the strangeness of it, and wondered what it could really mean. You Vnow, when people have large flocks of sheep and goats and cattle to take care of, they are obliged to take them from place to place to get fresh grass for them to eat. So, he answered, Here am I. And Jacob said. Go, I pray you, see whether it be well with your brothers, and well with the flocks ; and bring me word again. With a light heart, Joseph set. off to do his father's bidding. How little could either of them know, when he left his father's tents that day, that he would never return to that t oseph's dream of the sun, moon and eleven stars. after a time, Joseph's brothers took their father's flock to Shechem ; to feed them there. One day Jacob said to Joseph, Your brothers are feeding the flock in Shechem. Come, and I will send you to them. Jacob never thought there could be any danger, and Joseph was not afraid. He was quite ready and willing to go wherever he was sent, so home any more ; and that years and years would pass away before he should again see that dear father's face. Without any fear of coming evil, Joseph passed on, out of the vale of Hebron, till he came to Shechem; but his brothers were nowhere to be seen. He wandered about in the fields, looking for them, but he could not JACOB IN THE HOUSE OF LABAN THE STORY OF JOSEPH. 61 find them. At last a man saw him as he was wandering about, and asked nim, For what are you looking ? Joseph answered, I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, I pray you, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are gone from here ; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. But while he was still a long way off. his SHEPHERD LEADING HIS FLOCK. brothers saw him as he was crossing the valley to meet them ; and at the sight of him, wearing the coat of many colors, all their bitter, jealous feelings grew more.strong. They hated him, and now their only wish was to kill him. So they began to plan how it was to be done. They said one to another, Look, this dreamer is coming. Come now, therefore, let us kill him and throw him into some large pit or hole, and then we will say that a savage animal has eaten him ; and we shall see what will become of his dreams. All of the wicked brothers agreed to this plan except Reuben, the eldest. He was shocked at the thought of killing his young brother. So he said to them, Do not let us kill him. Shed no blood, but throw him into this pit that is here in this lonely place in the wilderness ; and do not let us hurt him. For Reuben intended to take him out of the pit again secretly, and to take him back to his father. After they had cast Joseph into the pit, they coolly sat down to eat bread. But Reuben had gone away. The others were still sit- ting near the pit eating their meal, when they looked up and saw a company of Ish- maelites, with their camels, coming that way. They had with them some spices and balm and myrrh, which they were carrying down into Egypt to sell there. And now a fresh thought came into the minds of these cruel men ; and Judah said to his brothers, What good will it do us if we kill our brother, or if we leave him in this pit to starve to death? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and do not let us hurt him> for after all he is our brother. And his brethren were content to do as Judah had said. So they lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and when the Ishmaelites passed by, they sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the Ishmaelites took him, and carried him into Egypt to be a slave. 62 THE STORY OF JOSEPH. Some time afterwards, when his brothers were out of sight, Reuben went to the pit to draw up poor Joseph, and to take him back to his father again. He looked in, and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit ! In great distress and grief he tore his clothes. In that country it is a sign of great sorrow and he might not think they had done anything to Joseph. This is what they did. They took Joseph's coat of many colors, and they killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood. Then they carried the coat, all covered with blood, to their father, and said to him, We found this ; do ycu JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN. mourning to tear the clothes ; and Reuben showed by this how bitterly he grieved. He went at once to his brothers, and said to them, The child is gone — he is not in the pit ; and I, what shall I do ? where shall I go ? And now they began to consult together what lie they should tell their father, so that think it can really be Joseph's coat or not ? When Jacob saw it, he knew it at once, and a terrible pain came into his heart. He said, It is my son's coat ; a wild beast has devoured him : Joseph is without a doubt torn in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put a THE STORY OF JOSEPH. 63 coarse kind of cloth, called sackcloth, upon him (to wear sackcloth is another sign of grief) ; and he mourned his beloved son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him ; but he refused to be comforted. He said, I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. At last the Ishmaelites with their captive boy, and their camels, laden with spices, arrived in Egypt. Now Joseph was a very handsome youth ; and Potiphar, who was an officer of King Pharaoh, and captain of the guard, thought he would like to have him for a servant. So he bought him from the Ishmaelites., who had carried him down into that country. And the Lord was with Joseph, so that he became a very prosperous man ; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. But what a change this was for him! Instead of the robe of honor — the coat of many colors — he now wore the dress of a slave. Instead of being in the position of the favorite son of a rich and powerful chief, he was now a servant in a strange land. And instead of being free to look after his father's flocks in the green valleys and on the steep slopes of beautiful Canaan — he himself a young shepherd chief — he now had to wait upon the orders of his master, and could only go where he was sent. Joseph Promoted. 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 served him faithfully ; so Potiphar made him overseer — that is, gave him charge — over his house ; and all that he had he put into Joseph's hands. From the time that he had made him over- seer in his house, and over all that he had, 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 Potiphar left the whole management of everything to Joseph, without even taking the trouble to look after him, foi he knew that Joseph was faithful and upright. But it came to pass after these things that his master's wife, who was a very wicked woman, tried to make Joseph as wicked as herself. She was deceitful, and would do things behind her husband's back that she would not do if he were near; and she wanted Joseph to be deceitful too. But he would not listen to her; for he feared God t and he was true to his master. Many times she tried to tempt him into sin; but he said to her, My master trusts me. He has given into my charge every- thing that is in the house, and he has been very kind to me. How, then, can I deceive him? it would be a great wickedness, and a sin against God. Accused by a Woman. His master's wife became very angry at last, and she determined to get him into trouble and disgrace. So one day, as soon as Potiphar. her husband, had come into the house, she went to him and said, The Hebrew servant whom you have brought unto us is not as good as you think him to be. When you were out he came and was very rude to me, and mocked me; but when I cried out, he was frightened and ran away When Potiphar heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, After this manner did your servant behave to me,, he was exceedingly angry. He never thought that his wicked wife was telling him what was untrue; he believed all that she 64 THE STORY OF JOSEPH. said, and so he was determined to punish Joseph. He took him, and put him into the prison which was in his house. It was a place where the king's prisoners were bound ; and he was there in the prison. Once more, you see, Joseph was suffering from the wickedness of others. He had done nothing wrong, he had bravely done the right, yet now he was punished as a wrong-doer. He was bound with heavy chains ; and the iron chains that were round his feet hurt him very much ; and his heart was sad. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy. The keeper of the prison treated Joseph with kindness, so that before very long his chains were taken off, and he was allowed to walk about. Then, when the keeper of the prison saw how perfectly he was to be trusted, he gave into Joseph's care all the other prisoners that were in the prison ; and whatever they did there he was the doer of it. Two More Prisoners. Nine long, weary years passed away, and Joseph was still a prisoner. Though he was so much trusted, yet he was not allowed to leave the prison ; he was still in disgrace — still suffering from the wicked lies of Poti- phar's wife. Now it happened oae day that the king of Egypt was very angry with two of his servants. The chief butler and the chief baker had provoked the king so much that he told Potiphar to take them away to prison. Potiphar, therefore, brought them to Joseph, and ordered them to be bound with chains, and told him to be sure and keep them safely. The chief butler and the chief baker had been for some time in prison, when they both had a dream in the same night. Each of them had a different dream ; and when they awoke they could not help thinking about it, and it made them feel very miserable. When Joseph came in to them next morning, as he was always accustomed to do, to give them their food, he noticed at once that they were looking very much cast down. So he asked Pharaoh's servants, saying, Why do you look so sad to-day? And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to tell us the meaning of it. And Joseph said, God sends dreams, and he can show you what Oey mean ; so tell me, I pray you, what it is r ou have dreamed. A Vine With Three Branches. And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me. And on the vine were three branches ; and it seemed as if these branches began to bud and to blossom. Then clusters of grapes grew on them, and the grapes were quite ripe. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand ; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into the king's hand. This was the butler's dream. And when Joseph heard it, he knew at once what the meaning of it was ; for God gave him wisdom, and the power to explain or interpret dreams. And Joseph said to the chief butler, This is the meaning of your dream. The three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will take you out of prison, and will let you go back to your place in the king's house. And you shall give the cup of wine into Pharaoh's hand again, as you used tc do when you were his butler. But do remember me when it shall be well with you, and show your kindness to me, I pray you ; and tell Pharaoh about me, so that I may be taken out of this prison. For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; THE STORY OF JOSEPH. 65 -ind here also I have done nothing that they should shut me up in a place like this. Three White Baskets. When the chief baker saw what a happy meaning there was to the butler's dream, he was in a great hurry to tell about his own ; and he said to Joseph, In my dream, I thought that I had three white baskets ■on my head. 1 n the top basket there were all manner ot cakes, and of baked meats, for Pharaoh ; and the birds came and ate all the ■cakes and baked meats out of the basket that was on my head. Joseph told him the meaning of his dream. He said, The three baskets mean three days. In three days Pharaoh will take you out of prison, and will have you hung up on a tree; and when you are dead, the birds will come and will eat your flesh off you. Just as Joseph had said, it all came to pass. Three days after he had explained the mean- ing of the dreams, it was Pharaoh's birthday ; and the king made a great feast for all his servants. Then he sent for the chief butler and the chief baker out of prison ; and when they came before him, he forgave the butler, and said that he might wait upon him as he had done before: so the butler gave the cup »>. r ain into Pharaoh's hand. But the king would not forgive the chief baker. He ordered him to be hanged, just -as Joseph had told him he would do. The butler was a very ungrateful man. 'He quite forgot Joseph ; he quite forgot the ■earnest request that he would mention Joseph to the king, and get him taken out of prison. M onth after month the poor prisoner waited, hoping that some one would come to set him free ; but he waited in vain God had not forgotten Joseph, though he chose to try his patience by keeping him so 3ong in prison. In his own good time he 5 prepared the way for setting the prisoner free; and this was how he brought it about. Two full years had passed away since the ungrateful butler had left the prison (where Joseph had now been shut up for more than eleven years), when one night Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had a very strange dream. The Fat and Lean Cows. He thought he was standing by the river Nile, which runs through the land of Egypt ; and, behold, there came up out of the river seven very nice-looking fat cows. In that country cattle are very fond of standing quite up to their necks in water, both because of the heat, and also to protect themselves from the flies and insects. These cows that Pharaoh was watching in his dream began to feed in a meadow. Afterwards he thought he saw seven other kine, or cows, come up out of the river; they were very thin and ugly, and they stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river. And the thin, ugly cows ate up the fat, nice-looking ones. Then Pharaoh awoke. But he slept again, and had another strange dream. This time he thought he saw seven ears of corn come up upon one stalk, full of good grain. And, behold, seven thin ears, all shrivelled and withered with the east wind, sprang up after them. And the seven thin ears ate up the seven good and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and. behold, it was a dream. Sends for Joseph. In the morning his spirit was troubled. He felt that his dreams must have a meaning, and he longed to have them explained to him. So he sent for all the wise men of Egypt, and for the men who studied secret arts, and who pretended to understand dreams ; but when the king had told them 66 THE STORY OF JOSEPH. his dreams, not one of them could tell him die meaning of them. At last the butler thought of Joseph. He felt ashamed and sorry that he could have forgotten him so long, and that he had not kept his promise to him. He spoke to the youug man, an Hebrew, servant to Potiphar, the captain of the guard ; and we told him our dreams, and. he explained to us the meaning of them. He said that I should be the king's butler again, but that the baker would be hanged. And it all happened JOSEPH INTERPRETING PHARAOH S DREAMS. king, and said, I do remember my faults this day. Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker. And we dreamed a dream in one night. J and he ; each of us had a different d: Q am. And there was there with us a exactly as he had told us. When Pharaoh heard this, he ordered some men to go quickly and bring Joseph to him. So the)' went in haste and took him out of prison, where he had been so long. Then he shaved off his beard, and cut his hair short, in tht way the Egyptians were accustomed to dc ; THE STORY OF JOSEPH. 67 and he changed his garments, to make him- self fit to appear before the king. Then, when he was quite ready, they brought him to Pharaoh. And the king said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to tell me what it means. But I hear that you are able to explain the meaning of dreams. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me — I cannot do it of myself; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. What the Dreams Meant. And Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams. And Joseph said unto the king, Both the dreams have the same meaning ; and God has showed Pharaoh what he is going to do. The seven good kine are seven years ; and the seven good ears of corn are seven years ; the dream is one. And the seven thin kine, and the seven thin ears of corn, are also seven years— seven years of famine. This is what God is going to do, and what he has shown to Pharaoh. There are going to be seven years of very great plenty in all the land of Egypt. But afterwards there will come seven years of famine. And all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land ; for it shall be very grievous. And the reason that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, is because God will certainly bring it to pass ; and he will do it soon. When Joseph had finished explaining about the dreams to Pharaoh, he began to advise the king what to do. He said, Let Pharaoh look out a man who is very prudent and wise, and let him be set over the land of Egypt. And while the seven years of plenty last, let him be careful to gather up all the food of those good years that come, and save up corn for Pharaoh. So, when the seven years of famine come, there will be food for the peopk ; and the land will not be destroyed with famine, even though no com will be growing in the fields. Made Ruler of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to his servants, Where can we find such a wise man as Joseph? for the Spirit of God is in him. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Because God has showed you all this, I know that you are more wise and prudent than any one else. So I will set you over my house, and all my people shall be ruled as you advise. And you sha. t be greater than any other man in my king dom, except myself. Here was a great and wonderful change for Joseph. In the morning he was a prisoner and a slave ; before evening came he was like a prince— honored and trusted by the king, and made the greatest man in all that land. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand ; and he gave him beautiful garments to wear, and he put a gold chain round his neck. He also made him to ride in a very grand chariot- one of his own carriages— and they called him the Father of the country. And the king said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. By this Pharaoh meant that he gave Joseph the. power to do exactly as he liked in all that land, and that no one was to attempt to disobey his orders. As another mark of his favor, the king gave Joseph a wife out of one of the chief families in Egypt ; so he now had a happy home in the country where he had been a slave. And all the people showed him the same respect and reverence that was due to a great prince ; for King Pharaoh had made 68 THE STORY OF JOSEPH. Joseph ruler over the whole land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he was made ruler of Egypt. And as soon as he had gone out from the presence of Pharaoh, he went through all the land of Egypt about the king's business. He did not neglect the work that was given him to do; and as he and cities he stored up the grain that he had collected out of the fields round those cities. And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number. During those years of plenty, two little sons were born to Joseph, and this was a JOSEPH PROCLAIMED RULER OF EGYPT. had before been faithful and true in little things, he now showed himself to be equally upright and honest in great things. While the seven years of plentiful harvests and abundance of food lasted, Joseph was diligent in gathering up all the spare corn over all the country. In each of the towns great happiness and delight to him. He called the name of the first-bciii Manasseh, which means "forgetting; " for God, he said, has made me to forget all my troubles and sorrows. And his second son he called Ephraim, which means "fruitfulness • " for, he said, THE STORY OF JOSEPH. t>y God has greatly blessed me in the land of my affliction. The seven years of great plenty were at an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. The dearth, or scarceness of food, was not in the land of Egypt only, but in all the surrounding countries also ; yet it was only in Egypt that there was corn for making bread. A Great Famine. The people had nothing to eat, so they went to Pharaoh, and cried to him for bread — they told him they were starving. And Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, Go to Joseph, and whatever he says to you, do. Then the people took their money to Joseph, and he opened the storehouses, and sold corn to all the Egyptians. And the famine was very grievous. People also came from other countries to buy corn, because the famine was so sore. What do you think was happening in the land of Canaan all this time — in the land where Jacob lived ? The famine was there too ; and th= sons of Jacob were in great dis- tress about it. They did not know what to do, or where they should go for food ; and they were afraid that their wives and their little children would all be starved to death. But Jacob said to his sons one day, Why do you look one upon another ? Why do you stand still doing nothing ? Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt ! Get you down to that country, and buy food for us, that we may live, and not die. So it was decided that Joseph's ten brothers should go down to Egypt to buy corn. But Jacob would not let Benjamin, his young- est son, go down with them, for he said, Perhaps some harm might befall him. When his brothers arrived before Joseph, they did not know him. They never once thought that this was the brother they had sold, more than twenty years before, for twenty pieces of silver. He was only a young lad then. Now they saw before them a very handsome man, with his hair cut and arranged in the peculiar way that the Egyptians were accustomed to wear it. He was also dressed like an Egyptian, and he was called by another name, which the king had given him, to make the people forget that he had come from another country, and was not really an Egyptian. Besides all this, he was the lord of the land ; so no wonder they did not know him. But Joseph knew them in a moment! Yet he would not tell them who he was, for he wanted to prove them, and to see whether they were better men than they were when he was at home with them. So when his ten brothers bowed down very humbly before him, with their faces to the earth, he spoke roughly to them, and said, Where do you come from ? And they answered, From the land of Canaan, to buy food. The Brothers Tell Who They Are. As Joseph saw them bowing down before him, he must nave remembered the dream which he had dreamed as a boy, and how angry they were with him when he told them about it. He thought that they were all binding sheaves in the field, and that his sheaf stood upright, while theirs bowed down to his sheaf. Now the dream had come true. But Joseph still went on speaking roughly to them, and pretending not to know them. He said, You are spies ; you have come from our enemies, to see how poor the land is, and what harm you can do us. And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are your servants come. We are all the sons of one man ; we are true 70 IIi T £ STORY OF JOSEPH. men : your servants are no spies. Joseph oretended not to believe them. He said, Nay, but you are come to see how poor and starved the land is. Then the ten brothers thought that if they were to tell this great lord who they were, he would be more likely to believe them. So they said, Your 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, Now I shall see whether you are spies, or if you are true men. By the life of Pharaoh you shall not go away from here, except your youngest brother come down. Send one of you, and iet him fetch your brother , and all the rest of you shall be kept in prison til* he comes. By this I shall know whether you are speak- ing the truth, or whether you are spies. In Great Distress. When Joseph had said this, he ordered them all to be taken to prison ; and he kept them there for three days. On the third day, Joseph had his t_A orothers brought before him, and he said to them, This is what you must do, and then you shall live ; for I fear God. If you are true men, then let one of your brethren be bound in the prison ; and all the rest may go back to your country, and carry corn for the famine of your houses. But bring your youngest brother unto me ; so shall your words be proved to be true, and you shall not die. When the men heard this they were greatly distressed. They could not bear the thought of leaving one of their number behind, in an Egyptian prison, while they returned to Canaan ; and besides this, they doubted very much if they would be able to persuade their father to let them bring Benjamin down. And now, in their trouble and sorrow, they remembered again the wicked deed they had done, more than twenty years before, and they said one to another, We are indeed guilty about our brother Joseph, because we saw the anguish of his soul when he begged us to spare him ; and we would not hear. It is because of what we did then that all this distress is come upon us now. And Reuben answered them, saying, Did I not speak to you, saying, Do not sin against the child ; and you would not hear ? And now God is punishing us for it. The brothers did not know that Joseph could understand them ; for they had been speaking in Hebrew, and he had been speak- ing to them in the language of Egypt, and had made a man, called an interpreter, explain to them what he had said. But when he heard their words — when he heard them speak in the familiar language of his dear old home — and when he found that they were sorry for their wickedness, his heart was so much touched that he could not keep back his tears. He turned away front them and wept. Money in the Sacks. He did not wish to make them unhappy, but he was determined to find out if Benjamin were safe. So presently he went back to them again, and talked with them a little. Then he took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes. Before the brothers set out on their home- ward way again, Joseph told some of his servants to fill their sacks with corn, and secretly to put back into each man's sack the money which each of them had brought to pay for the corn. He also gave hem plenty of food to eat while on their journey. Thus did he unto them. Then the men put their sacks upon their asses, and departed. THE STORY OF JOSEPH. 71 It was with very heavy hearts that they journeyed back to Canaan again. They had bad news to take to their poor old father ; and they had already saddened his life so much, that it was a great distress to them to think that the tidings they would bring would cause him more sorrow. As they journeyed on they came to an inn, and there they stopped for a time to rest. And as one of them opened his sack, to his great surprise he saw his money there, for it was in the sack, lying on the top of the corn. He said to his brothers, My money is given back ; and, lo, it is even in my sack. And they were greatly afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God has done unto us ? At last they came unto Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, The man who is the lord of the land spoke very roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country And we said unto him, We are true men - we are no spies. We be 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 country, said unto us, This is the way that I shall know that you are true men : leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone; and bring your youngest brother unto me : then I shall know that you are no spies, but that you are true men. So will I give youi brother back to you again, and you shal buy and sell in the land. Jacob's Grief. These were very sad tidings for poor old Jacob. Simeon was a prisoner in Egypt, and he would not be set free till Benjamir. should be sent down. When they hac finished telling him everything they began tc empty their sacks, and to put away the corn which was so scarce and so precious intc some safe place. And, behold, every man's bundle cf money was in his sack, and when they saw it, both they and their father were very much afraid. And Jacob their father said unto them, You have bereaved me of my children. Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin away All these things are against me. Then Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Kill my two sons, if I do not bring Benjamin back to you safely. Deliver him into my hands, and I will bring him back to you again. My son shall not go down with you. Jacob said ; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the way in which you go, then you will brinj- down my gray hairs with sorrow to thi grave. CHAPTER VI. B. C. 1600. Joseph and his Brethren :n Egypt — The Feast in the Palace — Story of Benjamin — The Cup in the Sack — The Plea of Judah — Joseph Makes Himself Known to his Brethren — Jacob'? t ourney to Egypt — A Home in a Far Country — The Blessing of Joseph's Two dons —Jacob's Death and Burial — Last Days of Joseph. HE famine was still sore in the land of Canaan, as well as in Egypt and in many other coun- tries ; and with all their care, the corn that Joseph's broth- ers had brought out of Egypt could not last long. After a time it was all eaten up, and they were again in danger of starving unless they could go down to Egypt to buy more. But they knew it was useless to go unless they took Benjamin with them. At last their father Jacob said to them, Go again, buy us a little food. And Judah said to his father, The man did very solemnly declare to us that we should not see his face except our brother be with us. If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go down ; for the man said unto us, You shall not see my face except your brother be with you. So their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this. Take some of the best fruits of th' land, and carry down a 72 present to the man. Take a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds. And take double money in your hand : and the money that you found in your sacks, take it all back again ; perhaps it was by some mistake — some oversight — that it was returned. Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man. And God Almighty give you mercy before the man. that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. At last they were all ready to start. They took Benjamin, and kissed their father, and their wives and little children, and bidding them all good-bye, they went down into Egypt. Once again they stood before Joseph. They went, as before, to the place where he- was selling the corn ; and when Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them, his heart went out in great love to his young brother, and he longed to put his arms round his neck. But he would not speak to any of them yet ; he wanted to prove his brothers still further. Besides, this was the time for serving out the corn to the people ; and as Joseph was always faithful in doing his duty, and attend- ing to his business, he still went on with his work, and would not leave off till noon, when he would go home to dinner. But Joseph spoke to his chief servant or JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. 7S steward, who managed his house, and said to him, Bring these men home, and make a feast for them ; for they shall dine with me to-day. And the steward did as Joseph commanded him, and he brought the men into Joseph's house. Do you think they were pleased at being taken into that grand house ? No ; they were very much afraid. When they remem- bered how roughly the lord of Egypt had spoken to them before, and when they remembered that their brother Simeon was still shut up in prison, they could not feel safe or at their ease. They said to each other, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in here. It was put there on pur- pose, that the man might find an excuse for taking away our asses, and for making us his slaves. A Present for Joseph. They were so frightened and unhappy about it that they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, - and talked with him at the door of the house. And the man said to Joseph's brothers, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks : I had your money. Joseph came at last ; and when they saw him, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth. And Joseph spoke kindly to them, and asked them how they were, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke ? Is he yet alive ? And they answered, Your servant our father is in good health ; he is yet alive. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you told me? He could not refrain from bless- ing Benjamin, for he loved him so much. He said, God be gracious to you, my son. Joseph in Tears. When Joseph said that, he was obliged to hurry quickly out of the room. He wanted some quiet place where he could weep by himself without being seen ; so he entered into his chamber, and wept there. In a little while he went back to his brothers again. He made a great effort not to give way to tears any more, but to be cheerful ; and he ordered his servants to get the dinner ready. Set on bread, he said. So the servants spread the feast. Joseph sat at a table by himself, as he was always accustomed to do. And the Egyptians wh^ were with him sat at another table by them- selves ; for they would have thought it a dreadful thing to eat bread at the same table at which a Hebrew was sitting, even though he was the governor over all that land. At a tiiird table Joseph's brothers were placed. Joseph made them all sit down in proper order before him. The first-born, Reuben, first ; then Simeon ; next to him Levi ; and all the others according to their ages ; and Benjamin last of all. The men wondered how it was that this lord of Egypt could tell about their ages. It was a happy party in that room that day. Joseph's brothers had lost all their fear of the ruler of the land, when they found how kind he was to them. And they enjoyed the feast too. For this was a time of grievous famine, and they had often of late not had even enough to eat ; and it had been a very long time since they had seen such plenty, and had sat down to such a feast as this. It is often the custom in Eastern countries 74 JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. for the giver of a feast to send some of the nicest dishes, which are before himself, to the guest whom he wishes most to honor, or of whom he is most fond ; and sometimes he chooses some dainty morsels out of the dishes to put upon his friend's plate. Just in this way Joseph sent nice things from his table to his brothers. But to Benjamin he sent five times as much as to any of the others. He showed plainly that Benjamin was his favorite. It did not at all displease the others that the lord of Egypt should like Ber.jamin best ; »o they ate and drank, and were merry with him. As Joseph watched them he must Lave seen that they were not jealous of Henjamin's larger portion, as they had been, years before, of his own coat of many colors. The Cup in the Sack. The day after that feast in Joseph's house the eleven brothers were to return home. But before they left, Joseph commanded his steward, who had the charge 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 again. And put my cup — the silver cup out of which I always drink — in the sack of the youngest, and his corn money also. And the steward did everything exactly as he had been told. Can you guess why Joseph had ordered his silver cup to be put in Benjamin's sack ? He wanted to find out if the brothers would take Benjamin's part when they should see him in trouble and difficulty. He also wanted to see if their hearts were as hard and unfeeling towards his dear old father as they were when they sold him to the Ishmaelites. As soon as the morning was light the men were sent away laden with corn. No doubt they felt very thankful and happy at being on their homeward way again, with all their number complete — Simeon restored to them, and not one left behind this time. When they were gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his stew- ard, Go quickly after the men, and when you have overtaken them, say unto them. Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my master's cup ? It is very wrong of you to have done this. So the steward ran after Joseph's brothers, and very soon came up with them. Then he spoke to them, just as Joseph had desired him to do. The Cup Found. The brothers were greatly distressed to think that Joseph could have supposed they would act so ungratefully and wickedly. They knew they were innocent, and so they said, Why does my lord say such words ? God forbid that your servants should du such a thing! You remember that when we found the money returned in our sacks we brought it again to you out of the land of Canaan ; so do you think we should steal out of your lord's house either silver or gold ? If you can find the silver cup with any one of us, then let that person die ; and all the rest of us will be slaves to my lord And the steward answered, No, you shall not all be slaves ; only he with whom the cup is found shall be my servant. The brothers felt so sure that no cup would be found amongst their things, that as quickly as possible they untied their sacks and put them on the ground and opened them. And the steward began to search in every sack. He examined Reuben's first, and all the others afterwards in regular order ; till last of all he looked in Benjamin's sack, and there the cup was found. It was a terrible shock to all the brothers — - a bitter sorrow and surprise. They tore 76 JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. their clothes in sign of great sorrow, and returned to the city. And Joseph said unto them, What thing is this that you have done ? Did you not know that I should be certain to find out your wickedness ? Then Judah spoke. It was he who had promised his father to take care of Benjamin, and to bring him back safely or else to bear the blame for ever. So now he sorrowfully answered, What shall we say unto my lord ? what shall we speak ? or how shall we clear ourselves ? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. He is punishing us for our sins. Behold, we have come back to be your slaves, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. And Joseph said, God forbid that I should do so : but the man in whose sack the cup was found, he shall be my servant ; and as for you, go back in peace unto your father. Then Judah said, Now therefore, I pray you, let me remain here and be a bondman to my lord, instead of the lad ; and let the lad go home again with his brothers. For how could I go up to my father if the lad be not with me? I could not bear to see hi~ great sorrow, for I think he would die of griel. Joseph Tells Who He Is. At Judah's words Joseph could no longer refrain himself before all those who stood by him, for many people were in the room besides Joseph's brothers. He cried out, Let every one go out of the room. So all the Egyptians left the room, and no one was there when Joseph nade himself known to his brethren. He had yearned over them with exceeding tenderness even while he was appearing to treat them harshly, yet it was but to try whether they were really sorry for the sins of former years. Joseph could not keep back his tears when he made himself known to his brethien_ He wept aloud — so loud that all the Egypt- ians who were in the house heard him. And Joseph said to his brothers, I ami. Joseph ; does my father yet live ? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were terrified at his presence. He saw how much afraid they were, and- that because of their great surprise and fear they had not a word to say ; so he spoke to them most lovingly. Come near to me, I pray you, he said. And they came near. Then he said to them, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me ; for it was God's doing. He sent me before you to preserve life, that people should not die of starvation. For these two years has the famine been in the land, and yet there are five more years to come, during which there shall be no ploughing nor harvest, for no corn will grow. And God sent me before you to save food, that your lives might be saved by a great deliverance. Jacob Receives Good News, Make haste, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt : come down unto me, do not delay. And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen ; and you shall be near unto me, you and your children, and your children's children, and your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. And I will take care of you there, and will feed you,, lest you and your household and all thai you have become very poor, for there are yet five years more of famine. Once more the sons of Jacob are on their way from the land of Egypt to return to their father's house. A strange joy and thankfulness are in their hearts ; for Joseph JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. 77 >is not dead nor pining away in cruel slavery, and they have glad tidings to take back to their patient, sorrowful father. We may be sure they made all the haste they could, and journeyed as fast as they were able to go, till they came into the land of Canaan, and reached their father's house. Then they Then they told him all the words of Joseph, and gave him all the loving messages he had sent. And when Jacob saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And he said, It is enough — I believe it now; Joseph my son is yet alive. I will go and JOSEPH MAKES HIMSELF said to him, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And the heart of Jacob fainted. The sudden news brought him no comfort, but only revived again more keenly the memory of his great loss ; for he did not believe what his sons said. It seemed too good to be true. KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN. see him before I die. He and his sons made every preparation for their departure as quickly as possible, and then, taking everything that belonged to them, they left the vale of Hebron, where they had lived for so many years. They had not gone very far when they 78 JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. came to Beer-sheba, which was on their way to Egypt. Here it was that Jacob's father and mother, Isaac and Rebekah, had lived so long ; and Israel rested here that night, an 1 offered sacrifice unto the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he answered, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of your father. Fear not to go down into Egypt ; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt ; and I will also surely bring you up again. And Joseph shall put his hands upon your eyes. Then 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 them. 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. It was a large p irty — nearly seventy persons — for there were his sons, and his sons' sons with him, and his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his household. So they came at last into Egypt. Joseph Hastens to Meet his Father. Goshen was the name of the place to vvhich they had come, and where Joseph had said that their home was to be. As soon, therefore, as they had arrived, Jacob sent Judah to Joseph to tell him they were come. As soon as Joseph heard the good news, he ordered his chariot to be got ready at once ; for he was in great haste to see his dear old father. It was not long before Joseph reached the land of Goshen where hi ; father was, and presented himself before him. And Joseph fell on his father's neck and kissed him, and he wept on his neck a 3-ood while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face. I am con- tent not to live any longer, because you are yet alive. Now Joseph had to be very careful not to make the Egyptians jealous or angry, by his bringing down such a large number of his family into their famine-stricken country. He knew the king would welcome them ; but he feared the people might not be pleased. So Joseph said unto his brethren, and to all his father's house, I will go to Pharaoh, and will speak unto him and say, My brethren and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me. And the men are shepherds, for it has always been their business to take care of cattle ; and they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have. Then Joseph explained to his brothers that the Egyptians did not like shepherds at all. They were partly afraid of them for one reason ; for some warlike shepherds had once come into their country, and had fought against them, and burned their cities, killing the men, and taking the women and children to be slaves. Besides this, the Egyptians had a great dislike to and contempt for people who lived in tents, and who led a wandering life. For most of the shepherds in that part of the world were obliged to wander about from place to place, to find pasture-land enough to feed their cattle. Pharaoh Welcomes Jacob. And Joseph said to his brethren, Pharaoh is sure to call for you ; and it shall come to pass when he shall ask, What is your occu pation? that you shall say, Your servants' trade has been about cattle, from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers. Then he will let you dwell in the land of Goshen : for every shepherd JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. 79 is an abomination unto the Egyptians. After this, Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh. And now, when Israel, halting upon his thigh (or walking lame, as we say), was brought into the king's presence, he lifted up his hands and blessed the king ; for he could not forget what great kindness his darling son had received at his hands. They Settle in Goshsn. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old are you ? And Jacob answered and said unto the king, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been. I have had much trouble and sorrow, and I have not lived as long as my fathers have done ; they were much older than I am when they ended the years of their pilgrimage. When Jacob had spoken to the king, and told him in those few sad words how full of trial and grief his life had been, he blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, even in Goshen, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph took care of his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household ; and he gave them bread enough for all their families, and for their little ones. Many years passed away, and Jacob was still living peacefully in the midst of his family in the land of Goshen. And God blessed him and his sons, so they had great riches ; and they grew and increased in number exceedingly. And Jacob lived in Goshen, in the land of Egypt, seventeen years. But the time was drawing very near now when he must die. He felt that he had not long to live, and he was quite ready for his pilgrimage to end ; but he could not bear the thought of being buried in Egypt Canaan, the land of promise, was very dear to him ; and there it was he wished his body to lie. So he sent for his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found grace in your sight, make :ne a solemn promise, I pray you, and deal kindly and truly with me. Bury me not, I pray you, in Egypt ; but I will lie with my fathers in the cave of Machpelah in the land of Canaan ; and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and shall bury me in their burying- place. And Joseph answered, I will do as you have said. Soon after this Jacob became very ill ; and some one told Joseph, saying s Behold, your father is sick. Joseph's Two Sons. When Joseph heard this he took his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and left his home at once to go to his father in Goshen. Then they told Jacob, saying Behold, your son Joseph is come to see you. Now the eyes of Jacob were dim for age, so that he could not see; but he knew that others were in the room with him besides Joseph. Perhaps he had remarked the sound of strange footsteps when Ephraim and Manasseh came in with their father, for Jacob asked, Who are these ? And Joseph said unto his father, They are my two sons, whom God has given me in this place. And Jacob said, Bring them, I pray you, unto me, and I will bless them. And Joseph brought them near to his father, who kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see your face again ; and, lo, God has shown me your children also. Then Joseph took away his sons from 80 JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. their dying grandfather's loving embrace, and he bowed himself before his father, with his face to the earth. But now the blessing was to be given, and Israel was to lay his hands upon the heads of the two lads. So Joseph took them both, and placed them before his father in such a mariner that Jacob's right hand might rest on the head of Manasseh, and his left on the head of Ephraim ; for he wished the best iblessing to be for Manasseh, his first-born. His Hands Were Crossed. Though Jacob could not see, yet he knew what Joseph had done. He did not do, how- ever, as Joseph wished ; for he crossed his hands, and placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger son, and his left hand on Manasseh 's head. And he blessed them, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads ; and let them grow into a multitude in the mids' of the earth. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the first- born ; put your right hand upon his head. But his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it. Manasseh also shall become a people, and he also shall be great ; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his family shall become a multitude of nations. Thus Israel blessed the two sons of Joseph that day ; and he said to them, In the time to come, when people shall give a blessing to those to whom they wish well, they shall say, God make you as Ephraim and Man- asseh ; for you shall be rich and prosperous. Jacob's Dying Words. And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die ; but God shall be with you, and shal! bring you again into the land of your fathers. And Jacob called his sons unto him, and said, Gather yourselves together, even all of you, that I may tell you that which shall happen to you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, you sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father. So Jacob's twelve sons came as he desired them to do, and gathered round his bed to hear his dying words. He spoke of each of his sons, beginning with Reuben his first-born ; and the)' all stood silently round him, listening very intently to his last words. He spoke of their faults too. He said that Reuben had lost the right of the eldest born, because he had been very wicked, and because his character was weak and uncertain. He strongly blamed Simeon and Levi for their cruelty in Shechem, and said that their families should suffer for that evil act, and should not be as strong and great as they otherwise would have been, but that they should be divided and scattered. But of Judah he prophesied great things. He said, Judah, you are he whom your brethren shall praise. There was much that was very noble in" the character of Judah, as we have seen ; and Jacob said that he should be a great chief among his brethren, and that his father's children should bow down before him. Moreover, it was of the family of Judah that the Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, should be born ; so his tribe was honored far beyond all others. And to Joseph, or rather to his two sons, was given the birthright that Reuben had JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. 81 lost by his sinful folly. For Jacob had said, Your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. To each of his twelve sons, by turn, Jacob told what should befall him in the far-off years. And after he had done that, he Abraham bought for a possession of a burial- place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife ; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife ; and there I buried Leah. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons — when he had ex- plained to them all that he wanted them ta THE SONS OF JACOB BURYING THEIR FATHER blessed them all ; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. And he charged them, and said unto them, I am going to die : Bury me with my fathers in the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, in the land of Canaan, which 6 do — he gathered up his feet into the bed, and died. Then Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physi- cians to embalm his father's body. The Egyptians had a way of preserving 82 JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. bodies from decay. They used certain drugs and gums and spices, and used them so skillfully that to this day there are Egyptian mummies to be seen which are more than three thousand years old. An embalmed body is called a mummy. So the physicians, whose special duty it was to attend to this work, embalmed the dead body of the aged Israel. And his sons, and the Egyptians also, mourned for him seventy days. But Joseph had not forgotten the promise he had made to his dear old father. He had not forgotten how eagerly he had desired to be buried in the cave of Machpelah ; and Joseph was very anxious to carry out his wishes as soon as possible, yet he would not go without the king's permission. The King Allows Him to Go. So when the seventy days were past Joseph spoke unto the house of Pharaoh (that means to the king's family, or to the chief persons in his household), saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me make him a very solemn promise ; for he said to me, Lo, I die : in my grave which I have digged for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father, and I will come back again. And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, according as he made you swear. Why did not Joseph speak directly to the king himself, as he had always done before? Why did he now, for the first time, make his request to Pharaoh through some of the king's family ? This was the reason. Joseph was accus- tomed to dress and to wear his hair in the same way that the Egyptians did. They always shaved off the beard and all the hair that grew cii their faces. But when they were in mourning for a relative, they were obliged to let the hair grow on their faces again ; for they were not allowed to shave then. Now it was not considered respectful or proper for the Egyptians to appear before their king unshaved ; so Joseph would not venture before him till all the mourning was ended, and till he might shave the hair off his face as before. As soon as Pharaoh had given Joseph leave to go, he went up to bury his father. And with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders (or chief persons) of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt. All the house of Joseph went too, and all 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 Joseph both char- iots and horsemen — an armed guard to watch over them in case they should meet with dangers on the road — and it was a very great company. The Funeral March to Canaan. There were Egyptian warriors, officers or the king, gentlemen of the court, and men of the highest rank in the land of Egypt, all doing honor to the memory of Jacob by accompanying his sons and grandsons on- their funeral march to Canaan. They came at last to the promised land, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation. For seven days they mourned and wept, because the great shep- herd chief was dead. And the people of Canaan looked on in wonder. Seventeen years before, they had seen Jacob setting off in Egyptian wagons, with all his sons, and all his possessions, to go and live in the land of Goshen ; now his dead body was brought back with much love, and great honor, to be JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. 83 buried with his father and his grandfather. Then the sons of Israel buried their father in the land of Canaan, as he had commanded them. When this solemn duty was done, Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all those who went up with him to bury his father. But Joseph's broth- ers were not at ease. They were afraid, now their father was dead, that Joseph would your brethren, and their sin ; for they did unto you evil. And now, we pray you, for- give the sin of the servants of the God of your father. When Joseph heard this message he wept. His heart was so true, and so tender and loving, that he could not understand how it was that his brothers did not believe in his complete forgiveness. And his brothers EMBALMING THE revenge himself upon them for all their cruelty and unkindness to him when he was a boy. They said, Joseph will hate us, and he will certainly punish us for all the evil which we did unto him. So they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Your father did command us before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray you now, the trespass of BODY OF JOSEPH. went to him, and fell down before his face ; and they said, Behold, we are your servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not; for am I in the place of God ? He meant to say, Do not be afraid of me ; only fear God. But as for you, though you thought to do me evil, God meant it for good, that many people might be saved alive during that time of famine. Now therefore fear you not ; I will take care of you and of your little ones. 84 JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN IN EGYPT. And he comforted them, and spoke kindly to them. And Joseph lived in Egypt, he and all his father's house. And God blessed him there, and prospered him, and he saw his grand- children and great-grandchildren growing up around him. But when he was a hundred and ten years old, he said unto his brothers, I am dying; and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of tb ".=, 'and into the land which he promised to /Vbtaham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Joseph Buried in Canaan. And Joseph made the children of Israel promise that when the time should come for them to leave Egypt and return to Canaan, they should not forget to take his dead body with them, and to bury him in the promised land. God will surely visit you, he said, and you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died. And they embalmed him and put him in a coffin in Egypt. But they did not bury him there. Faith- ful to their promise, they waited till they should leave the country where they had already lived so long. They little knew how long it would be before they should see the beautiful land of Canaan. They little thought that bitter sorrow and trouble and slavery were before them, and that the Egyptian people, who were now so kind, would most cruelly . oppress them. But God was very good to them. He never for one moment forgot them, neither did he forget his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When the right time had come, he took them out of the hands of those who were so cruelly ill-using them, and brought them out of the land of Egypt with a strong arm. The account of the journeyings of the children of Israel from Egypt to Canaan is a very strange and wonderful story. When at last, several hundred years after Joseph died, the children of Israel reached the land of Canaan, they buried him in Shechem, in that parcel of ground which Jacob had bought for a hundred pieces of silver, and which he afterwards gave to Joseph as the one portion more than his brothers had received. So the last wish of Joseph was fulfilled, that he should be buried in the land of Canaan. MIRIAM THE PROPHETESS MOSES BRINGING WATER FROM THE ROCK CHAPTER VII. B. C. 1571. The Story of Moses — The Little Lifeboat — Adoftel Child of Pharaoh's Daughter — Cruel Treatment of the Israelites in Egypt — Moses Slays an Egyptian — At the Burning Bush — Aaron's Rod Becomes a Serpent — The Ten Plagues — The First-born of the Egyptians Slain — Feast of the Passover — The Hebrews Pass through the Red Sea — Pharaoh and his Host Drowned — The Song of Triumph. HEN Joseph and all his brothers were dead, and Pha- raoh and all the Egyptians who had known them wer" dead too, then a new king ruled over Egypt. He was also called Pharaoh, for that was a name given to all the kings of Egypt beside their own names. This Pharaoh forgot the good that Joseph had done for the Egyptians, and he did not like to see the families of the children of Israel becoming so large, and living in the best part of Egypt. When Jacob came from Canaan with his sons, and their wives, and their children, there were seventy people altogether. Now there were thousands and thousands — the families had grown so many and so large. Pharaoh was jealous of them. He said, I cannot have so many of these Hebrews, or Israelites, in the land. So he set them to very hard work, and treated them most cruelly, for he thought this would make them weak, and then they would die. But he could not destroy the people in this way. so he tried another plan. He told the nurses who went to help the mothers to take care of their little children, to throw all the boy-babies into the river Nile as soon as they were born. The nurses did not obey this wicked law, but saved all the babies alive that they could. At this time there lived a good man and his wife, who had one daughter named Miriam, and a little boy three years old, named Aaron. He was born before the king made this cruel law. Then another child was born; it was a little boy. He was such a beautiful baby that the mother said, I cannot throw him into the river. Hiding the Little Boy. For three months she took great pains to hide him, so that the Egyptians should not know that she had a little child. At the end of that time she could hide him no longer, for he was bigger and cried louder; and she was sadly afraid that he would be discovered. What can I do? she said. Must my little babe be thrown into the river ? She soor? thought what she would do. There grew upon the banks of the river Nile a large reed or rush called papyrus. This was useful in many ways. A kind of paper was made from it ; our word paper comes from papyrus. It was also used for making such things as we make of wicker-work. 85 86 THE STORY OF MOSES. The mother thought, I will make a cradle- boat for my baby to lie in when I put him into the river. So she took the leaves of the papyrus, and plaited them into a cradle. When this little ark or boat was made, she covered it all over on the outside with a kind of pitch, so as to keep the water out. Very to the river, and placed it among the tall rushes which grew on its banks. She dared not stop to watch it herself, but she told hei daughter Miriam to stay near the place, and see what became of it. Soon Miriam saw a lady and her maids coming along. She was a princess, the pharaoh's daughter finding moses. likely the mother filled the inside with some- thing soft, and made it as comfortable as she could. The mother with mauy tears and prayers lifted the child from her bosom, and laid him in this strange cradle. Then she carried it daughter of Pharaoh the king. As she passed by the river-side, the lady saw some- thing like a tiny boat among the rushes. She told one of her maids to draw it out and bring it to her. When she opened it, she saw in it a lovely THE STORY OF MOSES. 87 ■babe. As she and her maid looked, the tAild cried. No wonder ! for all the faces one; she knew that it was one of the Hebrew children that had been put there, so that it MOSES BROUGHT BEFORE PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER. were strange to him, and it was his mother's face that he wanted to see when he awoke. The princess was sorry for the poor little might not be killed according to her father*s order. This beautiful boy shall be my child, she said; I will take care of him. 88 THE STORY OF MOSES. Just then Miriam came up to the princess ; she did not tell her that she was the baby's sister, but she asked, Shall I go and call you a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may take care of the child for you ? The princess ,told her to go. lans did see the babe, for they would not harm him. He was to be treated, not as a Hebrew child, but as a young prince; he was to be like a son to Pharaoh's daughter. When he was old enough, his mother brought him to the princess, and she called THE ISRAELITES MADE TO WORK HARD IN EGYPT. So Miriam went and called the child's mother. When she came, Pharaoh's daughter said, Take this child, and nurse it for me; and I will pay you for your trouble. So the mother took the baby home with her. Now. she need not be afraid if the Egypt- his name Moses, because she said, I drew him out of the water. The word Moses- means " drawn out." Moses lived at the court of Pharaoh until he was forty years old. He was taught in all the learning of the Egyptians, as if he THE STORY OF MOSES. 89 were indeed the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and riches and honors were given him. And now came the time when he must choose between two things, whether he would suffer affliction with his own people or enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. For if he still dwelt in the king's court, he must needs do as they of the court were wont to do, following evil ways, and bowing king. One day he went to look at them, as they were working in the hot sun, bending under their heavy burdens. There was a- poor man who had such a great weight to carry that he could not move fast; so the Egyptian taskmaster, who was put over these men to make the work, hit him hard. This cruel deed vexed Moses. And he looked this way and that way, and when MOSES SLAYING THE EGYPTIAN. down to false gods. And because he had faith, believing in the things that were unseen, he chose the hard lot of the people of God rather than all the riches and honors that would have come in due course to the son of Pharaoh's daughter. But Moses did not forget his brethren the Israelites, who had to make bricks, and build cities, and work very hard indeed for the he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together, and he said to him that did wrong, Where- fore omitest thou thy neighbor? And he said,. Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared 90 THE STORY OF MOSES. and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh into the land of Midian and 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 daughters, 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, to be his wife. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and on a certain occasion he drove his flock into the MOSES AT THE BURNING BUSH. 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 deliv- ered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us and watered our flock. And he said unto his inner part of the desert, and came to the mountain of God on his way towards Horeb And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, but was not consumed And Moses said, I will go and see this grca sight, why the bush is not burnt. THE STORY OF MOSES. 91 And when the Lord saw that he went for- ward, He called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he answered, Here I am. And he said, Come not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground ; I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said to him, I have surely seen the affliction of my people in Egypt and I 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 out of that land into a good and large land, into a land flowing with milk and honey. Come now therefore, and I will send thee to Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. The Rod Becomes a Serpent. But Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh? And that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? God answered, Certainly I will be with thee, and thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, hath sent me unto you. But Moses answered and said, Behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice, for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared to thee. And the Lord said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. And the Lord said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. And the Lord said, Put forth thine hand and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it was turned into a rod again, That they may believe, saith he, that the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob hath appeared unto thee. And further the Lord said 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 snow. And the Lord said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And the Lord said again, If they will not believe these two signs nor hearken to thy voice, then take water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land and it shall become blood. And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said to him.Who hath made man's mouth, or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say. In Egypt Again. Moses however entreated, and God appointed his brother Aaron to be his spokesman. Then Moses took his wife and his sons and returned to the land of Egypt, for God had told him to return and that all the men were dead who sought his life. And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went and met him in the mount of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord, who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went, and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken, and Moses did the signs in the sight of the people. 92 THE STORY OF MOSES. And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. After Moses and Aaron had told the Israel- ites that God would deliver them from the Egyptians, they went to Pharaoh, and said, The Lord God of Israel saith to you, Let had their own God, but as he did not own him as the true God, he would not obey his wishes. He found the work that the Israel- ites did so valuable, that he was not willing to part with them. He was quite as cruel as that King Phar- aoh who ordered all the little boy-babies to be thrown into the river. He made the Israelites to work harder than ever, for he AARON S ROD CHANGED TO A SERPENT. my people go that they may serve me. Then Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice, to let Israel go ? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Pharaoh, you see, neither knew nor cared anything about the true God ; but he, as well as all his people, worshipped many animals — such as bulls, serpents, and crocodiles. As the Egyptians had their false gods that they worshipped, so he thought. that the Israelites said it was because they were idle that they wanted to go away. He told the taskmasters not to give them any straw to make their bricks, as they used to do ; but to let them go and get the straw for themselves, and they were to make just as many bricks every day as they had done before they had to find the straw. So the poor people went looking about for straw, and the taskmasters said to them. JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER AND THE HEBREW MAIDENS RUTH AND NAOMI THE STQRY OF MOSES. 93 Come, make haste ; finish your daily tasks ! But they could not finish them ; so the task- masters beat them. When they complained to Pharaoh, he only said, You are idle, you are idle ! God, 'however, saw their trouble and sorrow, and heard their groaning. He said to Moses and Aaron, Go again to Pharaoh, and take your rod with you. Throw it down before the king, and it shall become a serpent. Then Moses and Aaron did so. When Pharaoh saw the rod changed into a serpent, he said, My wise men can do the same. He called them, and they threw down their rods, and they became serpents too ; but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. Story of the Plagues. The next day Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said, The Lord God of the Hebrews says, that if you will not let his people go, he will send terrible plagues over your land. Pharaoh did not heed ; so God sent the ■first terrible trouble, or plague, upon Egypt. God said to Moses, Tell Aaron to stretch his rod over the river Nile, and over all the streams and ponds, and the water shall be changed into blood. Ard Aaron did so ; and all the waters were turned into blood, and all the fishes in the river died ; and instead of water there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. This plague lasted seven days. At the end •of that time, God said that he would bring another plague upon the land of Egypt, if Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go. Pharaoh did not heed ; so God told Moses to say to Aaron, Stretch forth your rod over the rivers, the streams, and the ponds, and cause frogs to come up out of them, and cover the land. This was the second plague. When Aaron did so, the frogs came up and went everywhere. All places were full of them : not only out-of-doors, but in-doors too. They were even in their bedrooms and their beds, in their ovens, and in places where they kept their food. This was so unpleasant, that Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, Pray to your God to take away the frogs, and I will let your people go. So they asked God to take away the frogs and God made them die out of all the houses and the fields ; and the Egyptians put them together in heaps. Lice and Flies. When this trouble was over, Pharaoh would not keep his promise to let the Israel- ites go, so God sent the third plague. Aaron stretched out his rod over the dust of the land, and it became lice. These creeping insects came upon all the Egyptians, and upon their beasts too. Still, Pharaoh was not sorry. Then God sent a fourth plague — a griev- ous swarm of flies, so that the whole land was corrupted because of them Pharaoh now said to Moses and Aaron, Ask God to take away the flies, and I will let the people go for a little way into the wilderness, to wor- ship God. And Moses prayed to God, and God took away the flies ; but neither at this time also would Pharaoh let the people go. Then God sent the fifth plague, which was a murrain, or fearful disease among the cattl&, so that a great many horses, and asses, and camels, and oxen, and sheep died. But only those belonging to the Egyptians died. God took care of the cattle of the Israelites, and they did not lose one. Still Pharaoh heeded not, so God sent the sixth plague. This was very sore pimples or boils, which came upon man and beast, 94 THE STORY OF MOSES. and which caused great burning- pain. Even after this Pharaoh still was self-willed, and would not obey God's command. So God sent Moses and Aaron to tell him that the next day he would send a dreadful tempest of thunder and lightning, and hail, and rain. So fetch in all your servants and cattle out of the fields, lest the hail kill them. Then those Egyptians who feared God brought their servants and cattle in ; but those who did not care for what God said, left them to stay out in the fields. A Frightful Hail-storm. The next morning, God sent a terrible nail- storm. This was the seventh plague. It thundered very loud and long, and the lightning was like fire running along the ground. It was an awful sight, and the large stones of hail knocked down and killed all the men and beasts who were in the fields. The trees were bent, and many were broken in this fearful storm, and the barley, and the flax, and many green herbs besides, were torn to pieces by its fury. But there was no storm in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh was frightened at the loud long thunderings, and at the fierce lightning., so seldom heard and seen in Egypt ; and he said to Moses, Pray to God for me, it is enough, for I will let you go and ye shall stay no longer. And Moses did so, but when Pharaoh saw that the danger was passed, that it thundered no more, and that the hail ceased, then he said, I will not let the people go. Ground Covered with Locusts. Now God sent the eighth plague. He made a strong east wind blow, which brought locusts in such large numbers that no one could see the ground, it was so covered by them. This wao a dreadful plague. A locust is an insect something like a grasshopper, only very much larger. These insects soon eat up all that is green. They will come in large flocks, hiding the light of the sun like a thick cloud, as they fly along. When the locusts settle, they very soon eat up every blade of grass, all the leaves and young shoots off the trees, and everything else in the way of fruits and vegetables. When they fly away again, the country looks brown, as if it was burnt with fire ; for all the grass is eaten, and the trees look bare as they do in winter, for every leaf is gone. Now God sent to the Egyptians these locusts, larger than they had ever seen before, and in such vast numbers too that the whole ground looked daik with them. They soon ate up everything that the hail had left, all the herbs, all the fruit ; and there remained not any green thing throughout all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron in great haste, and said, I have sinned against the Lord and against you ; forgive me I pray this once, and ask God to take away this great evil. Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh's presence, and prayed to God to take away the locusts. And God sent a strong west wind, which blew the locusts into the Red Sea, where they died ; there was not one left in all the land. Darkness that Could be Felt. But this sorrow of Pharaoh was only pre- tence ; he was sorry to have the locusts, but he was not sorry for his cruelty, nor for his sin in breaking his promise ; and again he said, I will not let the people go. Then God sent the ninth plague. For three days and nights he covered the whole land of Egypt with a thick darkness ; it seemed as if they could feel it, it was so thick. THE STORY OF MOSES. 95 Their lamps gave no light, and for three days they could not see each other. No one moved from his place, no one could work all that while ; every one was too frightened to do anything. The Israelites had light in all their dwell- ings, which showed the Egyptians most plainly that the darkness was sent as a punish- ment to them for their cruelty to God's people. Pharaoh now was willing to let the people go ; but he said, You shall not take your herds with you. Moses said, When they went they must take all that they had. Then was Pharaoh very angry, and he would not let them go. Now God sent a tenth plague over the land of Egypt. Nine fearful plagues had already swept over the land of Egypt, and Pharaoh was still obstinate and self-willed. But the time was now coming for him to obey the command of God, and to let the Israelites go. The First-born Slain. In the middle of the night the tenth awful trouble came, for in that hour of stillness and of darkness, God smote all the first-born of the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, to the first- born of the captive that was in the dungeon ; and all the first-born of the cattle. Every Egyptian household was awaked from its sleep to see the dying pain of its best beloved one, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. An exceedingly great and bitter cry of fear and grief was heard throughout all the land of Egypt — all were mourning for their slain ones. They could not see the hand that dealt the blow, but they knew that it was given by the God of the Israelites, for their many cruelties to his people. In great alarm, in the middle of the night, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Rise up, and go away out of my land, you and the Israelites. Go and serve the Lord as you said. Take youi flocks and herds and be gone, and bless me also. The proud king was so much humbled now, that he asked them to bless him. He begged that he might not be under the wrath of that mighty God, whose power was so great, whose displeasure was so terrible. The Egyptians, too, prayed the Israelites to make haste and go away ; or, they said, We shall all be dead men. They willingly gave them all that they wanted, and all that they asked for, so anxious were they to have them go. Getting Ready to Go. But how could the Israelites leave the land of Egypt at such a short notice, and in the middle of the night too ? They were all ready to do so, though it was in the middle of the night. While every household in Egypt was awake, mourning for its dead, every household in Israel was awake keeping a feast. Moses had told them to prepare for the journey, for on that very night God would make Pharaoh consent to let them go God had said, Tell them, I will pass through the land of Egypt, about midnight, and all the first-born, both of man and beast, in the land of Egypt shall die; but I will pass over your houses and not smite your first- born. You must kill a lamb and sprinkle its blood on your doorposts : then, when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not destroy you. You must all of you stay in-doors that night and eat a feast, while the Lord is passing through the land to destroy the Egyptians, This feast is to be called the feast of the Passover. You must keep it every year as the day comes -96 THE STORY OF MOSES. round, and you must eat it then as you will eat it to-night. Then God told them to take the lamb, whose blood they had sprinkled on the door- posts, and to roast it whole. Each family Egypt soon turns bad, and it is not proper that part of a sacrifice to God should be spoiled and become corrupt. The lamb was to be eaten with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs ; first of all to THE FEAST OF was to have its Passover lamb. It was to be a lamb without disease or fault of any kind. After they had eaten as much as they required, they were to save none of it till morning, but burn with fire what was left. This was because meat in a hot country like THE PASSOVER. remind them of the heavy and bitter bondage that they had suffered in Egypt. It was to teach them, too, that sin corrupts and spreads like leaven, and that, like the bitter herb, it is a bitter and an evil thing. They were to eat it with their girdles 97 98 THE STORY OF MOSES. tightened round their waists, with their shoes on their feet, with their staves in their hands, and to eat it in haste, so as to be ready at a moment's notice when the order came to start on their journey. While the Israelites were thus eating that Passover feast, the order came for them all at once to leave the land of Egypt, where they had lived so many years. They were -pite ready to go; not one moment did they wait ; and the Egyptians, who before were so anxious to keep them, now almost thrust them out of their land. This going out of the Israelites from Egypt is called the Exodus— the word "exodus" means departure, A Vast Multitude. How many Israelites were there, do you think, who left Egypt under Moses? It is supposed about three millions of men, women, and children. If you counted a thousand every day, you would be more than eight years counting this great multi- tude. When Jacob came from Canaan to settle «n Egypt, his sons, and daughters, and grand- children, were but seventy persons altogether; now, notwithstanding their hard bondage, they had increased to this large number. God showed them the way out of Egypt. He went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. The cloudy pillar sheltered them from the hot rays of the sun by day, and the fiery pillar gave them light by night. After they had Journeyed for three days, they came to the borders of the Red Sea, and there they encamped, or set up their tents, and rested. By this time Pharaoh and his servants said, Why did we let the Israelites go from serving us ? What shall we do without -.heir labor ? Let us go and make them come back to their work. Then Pharaoh gave orders to his servants to get ready the war chariots, for he said, I and my soldiers will go after the Israelites and bring them back. So they made ready all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and overtook the Is- raelites as they were encamped by the sea. Great was the terror of the Israelites as they saw these armed men coming towards them. They had no arms themselves, so they could not fight them. They were sh"t in by the mountains on the one side, and by the Red Sea on the other, so they could not run away from them. There seemed no way in which they could get out of their hands. Overtaken by the Egyptians. In their distress they cried to God and he heard them. He said, You can do nothing, you need do nothing ; I will do all. Feai not, stand still, and see the salvation of God ; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to- day, ye shall see again no more for ever. It was about evening when the Egyptians overtook the Israelites. They felt so sure that they could not get away from them r that they pitched their tents near to the place where the Israelites were encamped, and waited till morning meaning then to drive them back again to their slavery in Egypt. The Israelites were trembling with fear r when all at once they saw their pillar of fire move through the air and come between' them and the Egyptians. Now it was a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud both at once. To them it was a pillar of fire giving them light, but to the Egyptians it was a pillar of cloud, covering them with darkness. The Egyptians could not see the camp of the Israelites all night, for the thick cloud hid them from their sight. Still they thought that they were safe in their power; they THE STORY OF MOSES. 99 r-ould not climb the mountains, they could not walk over the sea. Now, what happened? Moses, at the command of God, stretched out his rod over the waters of the Red Sea, and they divided, and the sea was|like a >vall on the right hand and on the left. Then a strong east wind began to blow, which dried up a pathway Then they came to the spot where they thought the Israelites were staying, and they found them gone. And the Egyptians pur- sued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians PHARAOH S HOST DESTROYED IN THE RED SEA. for them through the sea. Now, Moses said, Go forward; so this vast host began Its journey through this wonderful road to the land on the opposite side. It is supposed that the sea was eight miles wide in that part where the Israelites crossed. It was not until morning when the Israelites had nearly all reached the further side, that the Egyptians became aware of what had taken place. through the pillar of fire and of the cloud and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels, that they drave 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 unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon 100 THE STORY OF MOSES their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his 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, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them ; 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 unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 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 that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians : and the people feared the Lord, and believed the the Lord, and his servant Moses. So obstinate, self-willed Pharaoh, who was 6ent on having his own way, found it was of no use to strive against what it was right for him to do. He found the truth of the words, He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. The Israelites were full of gratitude as they looked at the dead bodies of their ene- mies now lying upon the sea-shore. Now they could hurt them no more ; they need never fear the Egyptian again. They might well feel that it was a great work that the Lord had done for them. The news of this mighty deliverance spread abroad into the distant countries through which they had to pass, and other nations feared to injure a people who were so clearly under the special care of God. Moses and the Israelites sang a song of thanks to God for helping them in this time of great need. It was all about God's good- ness : it began and ended with, Sing ye to the Lord, ibr he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. CHAPTER VIII. B. C. 1491. Prom the Red Sea to Sinai — The Bitter Waters made Sweet— Bread from Heavek. —A Flock of Quails — Water from the Rock in Horeb — Battle with the Amalek- ites — The Ten Commandments Spoken from Sinai — Story of the Tabernacle and its Services — The Scapegoat Sent into the Wilderness. AVING left the spot at which they crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites went into the desert southward, towards Horeb. This was not the direct way to Canaan — the land promised by God to Abraham and to his children ; but first of all, before going there, the Israelites were to visit the place where Moses saw the burning bush. There they were to worship God, and he would then direct them what to do next. For three weary days they travelled on, but they came to no well of water. That which they had brought with them from their last resting-place was all gone, and now they were ready to die of thirst. In this cold country we do not know what it is to suffer from thirst as those do who live in hot countries where water is scarce. For three days the Israelites had toiled on, with the scorching, blazing sun above them, and the burning sands of the desert beneath their feet. No sound of streams gladdened their ears, no green tree or grass delighted their eyes. On, this vast multitude moves in silence, when at last they see green trees and bushes. Now they know that water is near. How they rush on to the streams, which are life to them, and the whole multitude stoops to drink. But, hark! what is the meaning of that loud, wild cry of pain and disappointment? Brave men groan aloud ; the mothers weep for their children, whose sufferings are worse to them than their own ; the little ones dash down the water with a moaning cry. But why? The water is so salt and bitter that they cannot drink it. The streams only mock the agony of their thirst, for they see water, but they loathe to taste it. They had been used to the sweet water of the Nile, which is some of the finest in the world. No wonder they were disappointed. But they murmured, instead of praying to God. He had helped them through worse troubles than this, and they should have trusted in him now. They grumbled to Moses, and said, What shall we drink? The Water Made Sweet. The Lord had pity on their suffering, and showed Moses a tree which he told him to throw into the waters, and then the bitter taste would be taken away, and they would be fit to drink. The name of the place where these bitter waters were was called Marah, for Marah means "bitter." The next day the Israelites moved on to 101 £02 FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. Elim, and there they rested under the shade of beautiful palm-trees, and there they found an abundance of sweet water. When the Israelites had been out of the land of Egypt for about a month, they found that they had eaten up nearly all the corn and other food that they had brought with them. They were now in the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. They could buy no food in the desert, nor did any corn grow there. As they had before suffered thirst, so now they began to feel the pain of hunger. So they grumbled again. They said, It would have been better for us to have died in Egypt, than to come to this desert to die of hunger. Our first-born had better have been slain with those of the Egyptians, we had better have been drowned with our enemies in the Red Sea, than have come to this trouble. Then they began to think of the bread and meat they had eaten in Egypt, but they for- got how hard was their slavery there. Now they were free men, on their way to the land promised to their fathers. It was not brave of them to think so much of the difficulties by the way, and it was very faithless and foolish of them not to trust God, when he had helped them so often. A Large Flock of Quails. God was grieved that they should mur- mur, yet he had pity on their wants. He sent them both meat and bread. That very evening a vast flock of quails came up and covered the camp and the Israelites were able to catch them in great numbers. They were most likely going to Egypt to feast in the cornfields, for this was about the season when corn was ripe. Now the Israelites had plenty of meat, and they could also dry the flesh of the birds that they did not want for present use, ready for a future day. This was done by stripping off the skin with the feathers, and putting the body of the bird into the hot sand for a little while, when it would be dry and keep good some time. This is the promise the Lord made, and we are also told how he kept his word. The Lord said unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you ; and the people shall go out and gather some every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in : and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. And Moses and Aaron said unto 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 aq;ainst us ? The Ground Covered with Bread. And Moses said, The Lord siidll gi* j you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morn- ing bread to the full ; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him : and what are we. Your mur- murings are not against us, but against the Lord. And Moses told Aaron to say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord : for he hath heard your murmurings. As Aaron spoke unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked towards the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord said unto Moses, 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 FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. 103 be filled with bread ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. In the evening the quails came up, and covered the camp : and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew was dried up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar-frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna ; for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the ■bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord hath com- manded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer (about five pints) for every man, according to the number of your persons ; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and ..gathered some more, some less. And when they measured it, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack ; they gathered every man accord- ing to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwith- standing 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 every morning, every man according to his eating; and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. The Manna Lasts Two Days. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man : and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord : bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe ; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade. 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, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. Some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws ? See, for that 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. The Israelites called the name of this bread "Manna," because they did not know what it was. The word manna comes from "man hu," the Hebrew of "what is this?" The manna was very nice ; it was like meal and honey when eaten raw, but when cooked it had a taste of fresh oil, a flavor much liked by the Israelites. God did not wish the Israelites to forget how he had fed them in the wilderness, when they reached Canaan. He said, Save a measure full of manna, that it may be kept for future generations, to see the bread where- with I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt The supply of manna never failed until they reached the land of Canaan. God gave them day by day their daily bread. A Fountain in a Rock. At last the Israelites left the wilderness of , Sin, and came to a place called Rephidim. Here again they wanted water, and instead of being patient, and waiting for God's help, they began to blame Moses. They said, 104 FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to kill us, and our children, and our cattle with thirst? Then Moses cried to God, and said, What shall I do ? the people are almost ready to come water, so that the people may drink. Then Moses went with the elders of Israel to the rock in Horeb, and smote it, and waters flowed from it in refreshing streams down to the place where the Israelites had MOSES CRINGING WATER FROM THE ROCK. stone me to death. God said, Go in before the people, and take with you the elders of Israel ; and take the rod with which you divided the Red Sea. I will go before you, and show you a rock in Horeb which you shall smite with vour rod, and out of it shall set up their tents. This water lasted them for the whole time that they remained in that neighborhood, which was more than a year. The rock which it was thought was struck by Moses, is to be seen by travelers at the present day. FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. 105 Then came a people called the Amalekites, and fought against the children of Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to a brave man whose name was Joshua, Choose men, and go out and fight with Amalek ; to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. Joshua did as Moses had said. He chose some brave tired, and they brought a stone for him to sit on ; his hands were heavy, and so Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on one side of him and the other on the other side. This they did until the sun went down. Am. Joshua and his men overcame Amalek. God was displeased with Amalek for making war against the children of Israel AARON AND HUR HOLDING men and went to fight Amalek ; and Moses, Aaron and Hur, Miriam's husband, went to the top of the hill where they could see the battle in the valley below. When Moses held up his hand the chil- dren of Israel were successful and the battle vvas in their favor, but when Moses let down his han^ 1 Amalek prevailed. Moses was UP THE HANDS OF MOSES. and he said the time would come when the Amalekites would be destroyed and no one would remember them. Then Moses built an altar to remind the people that God had said he would punish the Amalekites for their wickedness. Now when Jethro, the priest of Midia./, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that Goc 106 FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. had done for the children of Israel, he took Zipporah, Moses' wife, and his two sons Gershom and Eliezer and brought them to Moses. And Moses went out to meet his father- in law and kissed him, and hearkened to his voice, and did all he said. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who .hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods ; for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. And Jethro, Moses' father- in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God : and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in- law before God. At the Foot of Mount Sinai. And Moses by Jethro's advice chose able men out of ail Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons : •the hard cases they brought unto Moses but every small matter they judged themselves. And Moses let his father-in-law depart ; and he went his way into his own land. The Israelites next came to the desert of Sinai or Horeb, and there they encamped before the mountain. This mountain is about three miles in length, and it has two summits or peaks ; one is called Mount Horeb, the other Mount Sinai ; but Mount Sinai is by far the highest of all the mountains in the whole of that district. This was the place where Moses saw the burning bush, and here they were to wait, while God made known to them his will, and gave to them their laws as a nation. Here r too, it was that God gave the laws which we call " The Ten Commandments." Most likely the Israelites pitched their tents in a large plain on the south of Mount Sinai ; from this place all the vast host of Israel would have a good view of this grand " Mount of God." The ground here, oppo- site the mountain, rises, and they could pitch their tents, row above row, while Sinai would seem like a lofty pulpit from which God's words would be uttered in the hearing of every ear. God told Moses now to tell the people that if they would but obey his voice, then he would make them his special care, above all people. Moses told the people these words of the Lord, and they sent for answer, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. Now they had agreed to do as God bid them, and God had agreed to take particular care of them, and to make them his own people. This was an agreement or covenant, in which God said that he would do certain things if they would do certain things. We are quite sure that the Lord would always keep his covenant, but we shall soon see h<~ easily the Israelites broke theirs. Thunders and Lightnings. God now said, In three days I will come down in sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai, so tell the people to get ready for that day. They must bathe their persons, they must wash their clothes, for I am holy, and they must put away all uncleanness. They must set bounds all round the Mount, so that no man nor beast may be able to go up FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. 107 the mountain, for it is to be kept sacred while I appear there. Then the people did as the Lord directed ; and on the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the Mount. Now they heard ihe sound of a trumpet both loud and long, came down from heaven upon it in the fire; and the smoke was like that of a furnace, and the whole of this huge granite mountain shook. Again the trumpet sounded long, and the sound grew louder and louder. Then the voice of God said to Moses, TelJ the people to beware how they come too MOSES RECEIVING THE TABLES OF THE LAW. and all the people trembled in their tents. They felt that God was there. Moses said to the people, Come from the camp to the bottom of the mountain, to meet with God. They came and stood there before the Lord. Now the whole mountain -seemed altogether to smoke, for the Lord near ; for if they only touch the mountain, they must instantly die for their rashness, they must be stoned or thrust through with a dart. So Moses went to the people, and told them all these words. Then God spoke to the people, saying, I am Jehovah, who brought you out of the 108 FROM THb RED SEA TO SINAI. land of Egypt ; you shall have no other gods but me. Some nations have many gods that they worship, but we know that they are not true gods ; for there is but one God who made all things in heaven and in earth, and his _aame is Jehovah. Must Not Worship Idols. God also said that no one was to make any image, or the likeness of anything, to bow down to it and worship it. First of all people made idols ; not that they thought the idols were God, but they thought that God would be worshipped through the idol ; and at last they forgot about God, and worshipped only the idol. People like to wor- ship what they can see ; so the Persians, for instance, thought, God is great and glorious, and bright and pure, what is most like him ? They thought fire was, which gives light and heat, so they worshipped God through the fire, but before long they forgot God and worshipped the fire, and the sun, and other things beside. God then told the people, that they must not take his name in vain, for he would hold the man guilty who did so. Again, God said, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you may work, but the seventh. day is the Lord's day, in it you shall rest. You may do no work on that day; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servants, nor your cattle. The Sabbath is like a sacred holiday, a rest- time given to all men by God himself. The next commandment that God gave was, Honor your father and your mother, that you may live long in the land which the Lord your God will give you. The Bible says a great deal about obedience to parents, and respectful behavior to them. God here gives a promise to those who obey this com- mand. It shows how much he thinks of right conduct to parents. It will go well with the obedient child, but it will go ill with the child who dishonors his parents. Thou Shalt not Kill. Thou shalt not kill, was the sixth com- mandment that God gave. We must not give way to anger, for is not that one of the first feelings that lead on to murder? It is a very shocking thing to kill a man, but it is also a shocking thing to have angry, quarrel- some, unloving feelings in the heart The seventh commandment teaches as to be modest and pure in our thoughts and feel- ings. How sad it is to hear loud rough tones, or to see bold rude looks. Do you not love the drooping snowdrop, which has no stain upon its pure white flower ? We should try to be like that in its modesty,, sweetness, and purity. We may often learn lessons from the beautiful flowers. In the eighth commandment God said, Thou shalt not steal. He who takes the very least thing belonging to another, without his knowing it, is a thief. Perhaps what you take may never be missed by men ; but it is none the less stealing. It is far .better to suffer by going without, than to have every- thing you want, if you get it dishonestly. A mother who had a large garden full of fruit and flowers, always felt quite happy to let her children play in it anywhere. She said, " My children will never pluck the flowers, nor eat the fruit without leave, for if they find any fruit dropped from the trees they always bring it to me to ask if they may have it." Again, God said, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. That means, that we are not to say unkind things of others. We must not tell tales of our companions ; we may say all the good we THE SETTING IIP OF THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. 109 no FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. know of people, but we must not talk their faults so as to injure them. of A; am. We Must not Covet. God spoke ; he said, You must not covet anything belonging to your neigh- bor. That is. you must not long to have your neighbor's eoods. Before, God had said, You must not steal, now he says, You must not even wish to get away your neigh- bor's things from him. When God had spoken these ten command- ments, the Israelites felt that they could bear the awful sc^ne no longer. Perhaps at OUTSIDE VIEW OF THE TABERNACLE the end of each command, the thunder pealed anew, and the trumpet sounded again, and the mountain smoked afresh. So terrible was the sight that even Moses said, I exceed- ingly fear and tremble. The people moved farther away from the mountain and stood afar off. They said to Moses, Do you speak to us, and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die. So the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was, to hear what other laws God had to give to the people. For rather more than eleven months the hosts of Israel were encamped in the plains of Horeb. During this time laws were given them, which separated them from all other nations. God was their chosen King. Now they were under his law, for they had said. All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. They were told in what order they were to march when they journeyed, and also- when the different tribes were to encamp. The kind of animals that they might eat was- also shown them ; these were called clean animals, and those that they were not allowed to eat were called unclean. At this time a regular service for the wor- ship of God was established, and the tribe of Levi was set apart to be the priests or min- isters of religion. The tabernacle, too, was set up. This was a kind of palace-tent for their King Je- hovah, who by his covenant with them said that he would dwell among them, and a bright cloud was always to be seen resting over the ark in the holy of holies in token of his presence. God told Moses how this tabernacle was to be made. It was to be made so that it could be easily taken down and put up again like a tent, for this was necessary, as the Israelites had to carry it about with them through all their desert wanderings. This tabernacle was divided into two parts by a veil or curtain of costly make. The innermost part was called the holy of holies ; nothing was kept there but the ark of the covenant. This ark, or chest, or box, was made of hard wood, which was covered all FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. Ill over with p^e gold. The top of it was called the mercy-seat ; two angels made of pure gold overshadowed it with their wings. This ark was chiefly made to hold the two tables of stone, upon which God wrote the Ten Commandments. Other precious things were put there, such as a golden pot full of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. No one ever went into this iioliest place where the ark was but the high priest, and he only went once ^ w ^mS every year. This was on the great JpF^ *- day of atonement, when he went to J=j sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice fll before the Lord, thus to make an ;p~ atonement for his own sins, and g? = the sins of the people. The other part of the tabernacle iEl outside this curtain, was called the a. holy place ; there the priests daily j 3fi ministered. In this there was a IR- [ golden candlestick, or rather lamp- ijjh ---- stand, on which were placed seven sjjp lamps, the lights of which were kept %'_ , * burning with purest oil. fe There, also, was a table covered over with gold, upon which were kept loaves of bread, one for each tribe of Israel. This bread was called shew-bread, it was changed every week, and the stale loaves, or biscuits, were eaten only by the priests. Here, too, just in front of the curtain which hid the holy of holies, was the golden altar of incense. On this was burnt sweet smelling woods and gums, ^o that a sweet odor was always going up towards God. The prayers of good people are like sweet incense, as they go up from earth to the throne of God in heaven. This tabernacle was furnished with spoons, basins, dishes, covers, and many other things all made of pure gold. It was like a dwell- ing-house with its furniture, and not merely a place of worship. It was built to show that the Lord God would dwell amon^ them as their King. Bread and meat and wine were offered there, part of which was burnt or poured in sacrifice as God's portion, and m III----- THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. part went for the use of the priests, wno were the servants of God's household. The tabernacle stood in a large court, which was enclosed by poles and curtains, like a wall all round, but was open at the top to the sky. Just at the entrance of this court was the large altar of burnt-offering, where the animals killed for sacrifice were 112 FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAi. burnt, and between this altar and the entrance to the tabernacle was the laver or fountain made of brass where the priests washed their hands and feet, while they were about the service of God. The whole of the tabernacle, with its cere- monies and sacrifices, pointed to good things to come, when all these would be done away with. Many of the sacrifices work, and the high priest put off his splendid robes, and only appeared in his plainest dress, for it was a day of humbling before God, on account of sin. First of all, as Aaron and the priests were sinful men as well as the people, they had to offer a sin-offering to God for their own sins, before they could offer one for the sins of the people. This done, Aaron took two young goats t FURNITURE OF THE TABERNACLE. were to teach them to look forward to the time when Christ would come, and offer up his life for man's sin. I cannot tell you now of all the many sacrifices that God appointed. I have told you of the passover lamb, now I will tell you about the sin-offering, on the great day of .atonement. On this solemn day thf* people did no and brought them before the altar. These were for the sin-offering of the people. One goat he killed, and took its blood into the holy of holies, and sprinkled it on the mercy- seat before God. Then Aaron laid his hands upon the head of the live goat, and said over all the sins of the people, and, as it were, put them upon the head of this goat. Then, he sent the goat away into the wilderness, bear- FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. 113 tng with it all the sins of the people. This was to teach the people that God having pardoned their sins, would remember them against them no more. This points to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. Besides the sacrifices and offerings at special times, there was a lamb offered every morning and evening for their daily sins ; so when they saw the smoke of the sacrifice ascending they must have felt how constantly they needed to be forgiven. All the animals that were offered were to be quite free from any blemish, or spot. And the Lord said to Moses, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur. of the tribeof Judah : and I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowl- edge, and in all manner of work- manship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timbrr, to work in all manner of work- manship. And in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God The Cloud over the Mercy-seat. After the tabernacle was finished, God did not call Moses on Mount Sinai again, to speak with him, but he called him into the tabernacle. For God came into the taber- nacle in a cloud over the mercy-seat and spoke with Moses there. And God told Moses to bring Aaron and his sons to the 8 door of the tabernacle to consecrate them, that is, make them priests. Then Moses brought them and he called all the people, that they might come and see what the Lord commanded him to do. And while they stood around the door c r the tabernacle he took Aaron and his sons and washed them with water ; and he put on Aaron the beautiful garments that had been made for him. Afterwards he poured oil upon his head and anointed him. He took Aaron's sons also, and put their garments upon them and offered up sacrifices to God. So Aaron and his sons were made priests, to THE LAYER. stay at the tabernacle and burn incense and offer up sacrifices for the children of Israel. Before this time other men might offer up their own sacrifices, as Abel, Noah and the Patriarchs had done. But now that God had chosen Aaron and his sons to be priests, no one else might offer up a sacrifice ; every man must bring his offering to the tabernacle, and let the priests burn it for him upon the altar there. The priests werecommanded to offer up two lambs every day, one in the morning and the other in evening, for the sins of all the peopie of Israel. But God told Moses that, if any 114 FROM iHE RED SEA TO SINAI. man wanted to bring an offering for his own sins, alone, he might bring an ox, or a sheep be pleased with it, for an offering, not because the blood of animals could take SENDING THE SCAPEGOAT INTO THE WILDERNESS. or a goat to the door of the tabernacle and lay Jus hand upon it and kill it, and God would away sins, but it served as a shadow and type of the sacrifice of Christ, who poured out his 115 116 FROM THE RED SEA TO SINAI. blood unto death, in order to take away the sins of the world. The priests were to dismiss the people with a blessing saying to them : The Lord jless thee, and keep thee ; the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee ; the Lord lift up his countenance "upon thee and give thee peace. Among the sacred seasons of the Israelites the most prominent were: the Sabbath day, the Pass- over or Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks and of the First Fruits; the Feast of Taber- nacles, the great day of Atonement, the Sab- bath year, and the Year of Jubilee. Beautiful Garments. The garments of the priests, whlrh desig- nated their office, were not worn by the Levites. The priestly garments were very simple; the chief article was a tunic, made with sleeves, held together by a linen girdle, and extending from the neck to the ankles ; •the material and the color, white linen, were symbols of purity and holiness. In addition to this official garment, the high priest wore a blue robe or coat, adorned on the hem with pomegranates and bells of gold ; the former were symbols of the Word, and the bell was a symbol of proclamation. He also wore an ephod attached to the shoulders, made of costly materials of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet; the breast-plate was attached to it in front, by means of rings and chains, made of gold. This breast-plate was adorned with twelve precious stones, on which the names of the twelve tribes were engraved ; it was a memorial implying that the high priest, as the highest mediator of the old covenant, should always bear the people upon his heart. A small plate of gold was, besides, attached to the priestly mitre bearing the inscription : Holiness to the Lord. The people had now remained an entire year in their tents, the law was given, the tabernacle was erected, the priests were already occupied with their official duties, and the period of departure was near at hand. After the number of men who were able to bear arms had again been taken, and the second passover had been celebrated, the Lord gave the appointed signal : the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle and guided the people in their journeying. The tabernacle was then taken down by the Levites, and set up again after a three days' journey in the wilderness of Paran, where the children of Israel encamped. And, whenever the ark was lifted up, Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered ; and let them that hate thee, flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel. The tabernacle stood always in the middle of the camp, the tents of the Levites were next, and the tents of the other tribes were farther off, but on every side of the taber- nacle. And they kept their tents in the same place until they took them down to go on their journey again. THE WAY TO THE PROMISED LAND i 17 'HE FOUNTAIN W THE WILDERNESS. 118 CHAPTER IX. SOURING the time Moses was up on Mount Sinai, speaking with God about all those things told in the last story, the Israelites were very uneasy because he did not come back. He had been gone for forty days, when the people came to Aaron, and said, Where is Moses? We cannot tell what has become of him : we are afraid he is dead. Make us, therefore, an image in the likeness of God, that we may worship before it. Aaron was afraid to tell the people how wicked this was, and he said, Bring me your golden ornaments. Probably he hoped the oeople would not be willing to part with A'hat they liked so much, and then he would not be obliged to make them an image. But the people were determined to have a like- ness of a god, so they took off their orna- ments, and brought them to Aaron. B. C. 1490. The Golden Calf — Moses Angry and Breaks the Tables of the Law — The Glory op Mount Sinai — Numbering the People — The Pillar of Fire — The Israelites Mur- mur — Punishment by Fire — A Strong Wind Brings Quails for Food — Spies Sent v ! o the Promised Land — The Brazen Serpent — Story of Balaam and Balak — Death of Moses — The People Mourn Thirty Days. Then Aaron made of them the likeness of a calf or bull in gold. The most famous of the gods of Egypt was worshipped under the form of a bull, so Aaron thought it would please these people if he made for them a likeness of their own great God in the same form. Thus they broke the second command- ment, where God says, that they were not to make the likeness of anything, to bow down and worship it. Is it not wonderful that they forgot it so soon? One would have thought that they could never have looked up to the great mountain before them, with- out thinking of the solemn words that God had so lately uttered from its heights, amidst thunder, and lightning, and earthquake, and the loud trumpet, whose voice awoke the echo of the mountains round. They Worship an Image. When the image was set up, then all the people came before it, and offered sacrifices and feasted. While they were doing this, God said to Moses, Make haste and go down to the people, for they are sinning. Then Moses went, and he took in his hand the tablets of stone, which were the work of God, and the writing on them was the writing of God, engraven on the tablets. As he came near to the camp, he saw the people dancing 119 120 WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. round the calf; then he felt very grieved and very angry, and he threw down the tablets, on which God had written his laws and his covenant, and broke them at the bottom of the mount. The breaking of these tablets showed how the people had broken God's laws and the in the fire, ground the ashes to powder, and then threw the dust into the water that the people drank. They must have thought what a poor god it was, if it could be served so. Then Moses said, Who is on the Lord's side ? Let him come to me. So all the Levites came to him. Now Moses said, THE ISRAELITES WORSHIPPING THE GOLDEN CALF. covenant that they had so lately made with him, when they said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. Before this time, when they had done wrong, God had not punished them ; but now they had agreed to be under his laws, and because they had broken them they must suffer the consequences. First of all, Moses took the calf, burnt it Take your swords and kill those who have been chief in this sin. And the Levites killed three thousand men. Then Moses went back to the mountain, and prayed tc God to forgive the people their sin. Afterwards God told Moses to get two more tablets of stone, like those which he had broken. On these God wrote the same WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 121 laws that he had written on the first tablets. Moses was away in the mountain with God just as long the second time as he was the first. During those forty days he did neither eat bread nor drink water, for God kept him alive without the need of food. When he came down to the people, they looked at his face, and the skin of his face been the reflection of God's glory upon his face. We grow like to those with whom we live, in thought and feeling ; if we keep good company we shall be like our companions. Moses had been in glorious company, and some of that glory was shared by him. After this God commanded Moses to num- ber the people. He was told to find out how MOSES DESTROYING THE TABLES OF THE LAW. shone, and they were afraid to come near him. Then Moses put a veil over his face to hide its brightness, while he talked to the people of all the things that God had shown him, when he was up in Mount Sinai. What was it that made Moses' face shine so brightly ? You know that he had been with God in the Mount, and it must have many there were from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel. The families were numbered according to their heads. All those that were numbered by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war were six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty. MOSES BRINGING THE NEW TABLES OF I HE LAW. 122 PANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 123 At length the pillar of fire began to move, which was an order from God for the Israelites to leave the desert of Sinai, and march onwards towards Canaan. They always knew when God wished them to move forward, and when it was his will that they should stay at any place, by the moving or resting of this wonderful pillar. It was a good thing that God chose when they should go or stay, for if Moses had done so, they would have been sure to have grumbled. The old people would have wanted to stay still in one spot, the young ones would have wanted to move on too fast; some would have liked one place, and some another ; but all would have been discon- tented. Now God, through this fiery pillar, fixed all their movements, and the people knew that it was their guide. For three days they journeyed till they came to the wilderness of Paran, and then the pillar rested ; so they set up their tents. At this place they began to complain. This grumbling, unthankful spirit displeased God, after all he had done for them. They did not like the hardship and weariness of a desert life, and said, How hot the sun is here, and how the sand scorches our feet! How dull it is in this still desert, and how- uncomfortable to be always moving about from place to place! They had many hard- ships, certainly ; but they were now on their way to the Promised Land, where they would have a beautiful and settled home. What Became ot the Grumblers. God heard their murmurings ; and he did not pass them over now, for they were under his laws, and he punished them for their sin. He sent a fire, which burnt many of those who had grumbled most. Perhaps this fire was lightning, which struck them dead in a moment ; perhaps it was the hot desert wind, called the simoon, which breatrted its scorch- ing breath upon them, and they died. The Israelites called this place Taberah, or " the burning," because of the sad end of some of their number. When the Israelites left Egypt, a great many of the lowest of the people went with them. They are called the " mixed multi- tude," and they were mostly the very lowest of the low. They were very often the first to begin to grumble, and to leave the worship of God, and were a constant trouble to the Israelites. At the very next place of encamp- ment when they left Taberah, these people again began to murmur. What is the matter now ? They do not want for water, for the streams from the smitten rock still follow them They do not want for bread, for God has never 'once forgotten to rain down the manna from heaven. They Cry for Meat. They cry, We want meat. We remember the fish that we did eat in Egypt freely; the refreshing cucumbers, the cooling melons, the pleasant onions ! We have nothing but dry food here ; we are tired of having only this manna. It was not only the mixed multitude who grumbled. They began, and the sin spread like a disease, as all sin is, through the camp. Soon Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent ; and the Lord heard, too. God told Moses to say to the people, You ask, Who shall give you flesh to eat? I will. You shall eat flesh; not for one day only, nor for two days, nor for five days, neither for ten days, nor for twenty days, but for a whole month, until you hate the sight of it. Then God sent a strong wind, which brought them quails. These birds came in very, very large numbers, and they flew so 124 WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. low that the people caught them easily. Now they had flesh in abundance ; but God had not given it them in love, but in punish- ment. It was a year since they had eaten meat, and now they ate so much that it made them ill — so ill that a very great many people died. God knew what was the best food for them to eat in the desert, and they would be land which God promised to your fathers : go up and take it ; do not be afraid of the people who live in it. But, the people said, We had better send twelve men before us — - one man out of each tribe — to search the land, and bring us word again by what way me must go up, and into what cities we shall come. HLVLLtl. H. THE SPIES RETURNING FROM CANAAN. ^.lite sure that he would supply all their real wantj. Whenever they tried to have their own w«jy, they always got intu trouble ; but they were sIo\v to learn that God's ways are best. After this th^y went on marching and resting, until at Just they came to the southern border of the land of Canaan. Now. Moses said, ya^i are in sight of the So twelve men were chosen to spy out the land. They left the camp early in Septem- ber, and came back about the middle oi October. They were gone forty days, and they brought back with them some of the fruits which grew in the country to show their countrymen. How delighted they must have been to see the figs, and the grapes, and the pomegranates, which they were told WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 125 grew in rich abundance in this land which was to be their own ! There was one large cluster of grapes, cut from the valley of Eschol, which they looked at with great surprise. It was carried by two men on a pole, partly because of its great size, ond partly to keep it from being bruised. The twelve men said, We came unto the land where you sent us, and indeed it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. They meant to say, it is a land where there is plenty of food and grass for our cattle, so we shall have plenty of milk ; and there are a great many wild bees which store large quantities of honey from the flowers. The Giants of Cam in. When the people heard this good account of the land, they longed to go and take it : then the spies said, Though it is a fruitful land, yet the people who live in it are like giants, and they have strong cities with walls all round them. This frightened the people, but Caleb, who was one of the twelve spies, said, Do not be afraid: we are well able to overcome the land ; let us go up at once to take it. And Joshua said the same. Then the other spies said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. The people, when they heard these words, actually wept from disappoint- ment and fear. They began to murmur aeainst Moses and Aaron, and said, Oh that we had died in Egypt ! oh that we had diea in the wilderness ! We had better return to Egypt : let us appoint a captain to take us back again. Then Joshua and Caleb said, Do not act so foolishly and wickedly : the land which we passed through to search is an exceedingly fruitful one. Do not be afraid of the people who live there, for the Lord is with us to keep us from harm, but he is not with them: you need not fear them, The mean-spirited people would not listen to these two brave men, but took up stones to stone them to death. All at once the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle, in sight of all the people, so they knew that God was going to speak to them by Moses, This was what God said to these faithless 1 cowardly people, Because you have forgotten how I delivered you from your enemies in Egypt, and have helped you through all difficulties by the way; because you have not believed that I would still help you, to conquer all your other enemies, and give you the land that I promised you, none of you that are grown up men and women shall ever see this good land You shall wander for forty years in the wilderness, as the men were forty days in searching the land ; a year for each day shall you wander about in the wilderness, until all that are twenty years old and more shall be dead. Joshua and Caleb, who spoke the truth, shall go in, and so shall your little ones, who you said would be sure to be killed by the inhabitants. After forty years I will give the land to them, but not to you; you are not worthy of it. The ten men who spoke evil of the land,, and who discouraged the people, were struck dead by God's displeasure on the spot, buJ Joshua and Caleb lived on. In Great Trouble. And now the people mourned greatly They had something to grieve over now, and they found, by their doom to wandei forty years in the desert, with no hope of seeing the good land, what an evil and bitten thing it is to sin against God. Thirty-eight years after God had sentenced the Israelites to wander for forty years in the wilderness, they came to Kadesh, where Miriam died and was buried. Here they suffered greatly for want of water. With THE HIGH PRIEST IN FULL DRESS. 126 WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 127 great impatience and folly they wished themselves dead, and acted just as their fathers had done at Rephidim. They scolded Moses and Aaron for bringing them out of Egypt, and behaved very badly. Then God said to Moses, Take the rod, make all the people come together ; then do you speak to the rock which is before your eyes, and water shall come out of it for the people to drink. So Moses and Aaron gathered the people together before the rock, and Moses said, Hear now, ye rebels ; must we fetch you water out of this rock ? Then Moses lifted up his hand and smote the rock twice, and the water came out abundantly. Then God said to Moses and Aaron, You have not honored me before the people, so you shall not lead them into the good land which I have given them. Moses lost his temper, and spoke angrily to the people. God told him to speak to the rock, but he hit it twice. He said, Must we fetch you water? when it was only God's power that could bring water out of the rock. So, for his impatience and unbelief in God, in which Aaron joined, these two great men were not allowed to lead the Israelites into Canaan. Death of Aaron. Very soon after this the Israelites came to Mount Hor. Here, God told Aaron, was the place where he would die. Moses and Aaron, and Eleazer, the son of Aaron, went at God's command to the top of this bare and rugged mountain. All the people stood below, and watched these three as they v/alked up this dreary height — they knew that only two out of the three would ever come down again, that their high priest was gone up to die. When they reached the top, Moses took off the priestly robes from Aaron and put them upon his son Eleazer ; then Aaron gave one look at the tents of Israel in the plains below, one long look towards the Promised Land, whose distant hills he could just see, and then Moses and Eleazer heard his last words, and Aaron died. For thirty days the whole congregation mourned for their lost high priest. At last the fiery pillar moved again, and they journeyed round the coasts of Edom. Here they were much cast down because of the troubles of the way. They had not yet learned the lesson of patient trust, and again they grumbled. They longed for other bread than manna, and spoke against God and against Moses. A Plague in the Tents. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that a great many died. There were a great many pois- onous creatures in the desert; but we never hear of their being bitten until now. God had always taken care of them, and kept them from this as well as other dangers ; but now, for their sin, he let the serpents follow their nature and bite the people. Perhaps the serpents were called "fiery" because their color was yellowish or bright. Perhaps it was because of the burning pain which followed their bite, or the raging thirst which people felt from the effect of poison in their blood. The people very soon confessed, their sin, and begged Moses to pray to God to take away the serpents from them. And Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, Make a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten shall feel well again, when he looks at it. Moses did so ; and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. And the children of Israel set forward and i28 WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. pitched in the plains of Moab, near the river Jordan by Jericho. And when Balak, king of Moab, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, he was sore afraid of the people, and sent messengers unto a prophet named Balaam in Meso- ootamia, to call him saying : Behold there is whom thou cursest is cursed. And they departed and came to Balaam with rewards. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them ; thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed. Therefore Balaam said unto the princes of Balak : Get you into your land, for the Lord refuseth to THE BRAZEN SERPENT. a people come out from Egypt, behold, they .over the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me ; peradventure I shall pre vail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land ; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he give me leave to go with you. But Balak sent again princes, more honorable and with richer gifts ; and God said to Balaam : Go with them ; yet the word which I shall say to thee, that shalt thou do. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 129 because Balaam loved the wages ot unright- eousness, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. And the ass saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand ; and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field ; and Balaam smote the ass to turn her into the way. But the Angel of the Lord stood in a path, and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam : What have i done unto thee, that thou has smitten me these three times ? And Balaam said to the ass, because thou has mocked me; I wish there were a sword in my hand, for then I would kill thee. Then the Lord opened the BALAAM MET BY THE ANGEL OF THE LORD. shut in by vineyard walls on each side. And when the ass saw the Angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall ; and he smote her again. And the Angel of the Lord went further and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the Angel, she fell down under Balaam; 9 eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand ; and Balaam bowed himself and fell flat to the ground, and said to the Angel of the Lord, I have sinned ; now therefore, if it displease thee, I will return. And the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, Go with the men, but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, shalt thou speak u 130 WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 131 So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. And on the morrow Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into a high place that thence he might see the utmost part of the people. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. And Balaam did as Balak had spoken ; and they offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and he said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, the king of Moab, from the mountains of the earth, saying. Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed, or how shall I defv, whom the Lord hath not defied? The Anger of Balak. And Balaam seeing the vision of the Almighty and falling into a trance, said again, I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not nigh ; there shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the princes of Moab and overthrow all the sons of tumult. Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his. And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together, and said to Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times ; therefore now flee thou to thy place. And he sent him away without any of the silver and gold which Balaam wanted so much. Notwithstanding, Balaam afterwards craftily advised the Moabites and Midianites to entice Israel to practice idolatrous' rites ; this plan was so successful, that a plague, which the Lord sent, destroyed 24,000 of the people. Hence the Lord commanded Moses to make war against the Moabites and Midianites and they slew their kings and people ; and Balaam also they slew with the edge of the sword. The Last Days of Moses. Moses knew that he could not lead the people into the land of Canaan. He must die as the Lord had said, for he had sinned at the rock. He feared the Israelites would not think how they had been led through the desert. He talked to them for the last time and brought back to their minds all the things God had done for them. He asked the Lord to choose a man to take his place, lest if they had no guide to lead them they might be lost as sheep with no shepherd. The Lord said Joshua should lead them. Moses told the people they must keep the laws of God and teach their children to do so at all times ; and they must talk to them of God, so that they would learn to love him. And when the Lord led them into Canaan: and gave them all the great cities that they had not built, and wells that they had nofe digged, and vineyards and olive trees which they had not planted, they must think of the Lord and how much he had done for them. He had led them for long years and fed them, and their clothes had not grown old and their feet had not been sore by the way. He had brought them out of that place to this good land full of streams, where the wheat grew and grapes and all sorts of fruit. They should not want. They would find brass and iron if they dug in the ground and could make tools and all sorts of things for their use. Their flocks and herds would do well in that land, and they would grow rich, but they must not think they had gained all these things by their own might. They must keep in mind that the Lord their God had given them all. If they did not serve him, but 133 MOSES REHEARSING THE COMMANDMENTS TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. 133 took other gods, they would be served in the same way as he meant to serve the nations that lived in sin. Moses told them they must soon cross the Jordan and the Lord would lead them. The people of the land might try to keep them out but he would make them win. Though they had sinned in the desert, he was still their God. found there. The people of Canaan had set up their false gods on hills and under trees in all parts of their land. They had built altars and burnt up their own children on them. Moses told the children of Israel that they must pull down all these places and break the false gods. And if one of the men of the land should try to make them THE LORD APPEARING TO MOSES AND JOSHUA IN THE PILLAR OF A CLOUD. The land of Canaan was a place of streams. Egypt had one river, the Nile, which flowed over its banks once a year so that the fields near it bore much fruit. But the soil far off was dry, and men had to carry water to it, so that the grass and plants might grow. In Canaan rain fell and grain and grass grew well, and vines and all sorts of fruit were kneel down to these false gods, he must be stoned to death. If there was a poor man among them, they must lend him what he needed and the Lord would bless them. They must keep some cities where one who had killed a man by- chance might hide. If he had meant to kill the man for hate, then he must be put to 134 WANDERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS. death. But if the thing was done by chance, and the friends of the dead man chased him to kill him, he might fly to one of these cities. When he reached the gate, he must tell the guard what he had done. Then they would give him a place to stay. If the friends of the man whom he had killed came to ask for him, they would not give him up, as he had not meant to do wrong. But if a man •who meant to kill came there, they were not to let him in, but he must be put to death for his sin. When they lived in the land each man must take the first of his grain and the first fruit that was ripe and bring them to the Lord's house. The priest would take these gifts and set them down in front of the altar. The man must say, I have brought the first fruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And he must pray to the Lord and leave all his gifts there for the use of the priests. The priests were to have no fields to raise grain or fruit of their own, so the first fruits of the land must be brought to them each year. Stones and Clay. Moses told them that on the day they should go over Jordan they must raise a great pile of stones, and on these they must smear soft clay, and write all the laws of God on this clay. When it grew hard, all who went by could read the law of God on it. Moses told them that if they kept the law of God, he would bless them and all that "was theirs. Their foes would flee from them. But if they sinned, their fields should not bring forth grain, for locusts should eat it, and their vines would not bring forth grapes. He would send plagues on them and foes who would not spare them but would make them slaves. And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die : call Joshua, and present yourselves in the taber- nacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation. And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud : and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho ; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession : and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people ; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people : because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah- Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin ; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet thou shalt see the land before thee ; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel. And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed : I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the Lord died. CHAPTER X. B. C. 1451. ^tory of Joshua— Arrival of the Israelites at Jordan — Crossing the River — Rahab and the Spies — Capture of Jericho — Battle at the City of Ai — Achan Stoned for Theft — Men in Old Clothes — A Furious Hailstorm- The People Choose Whom they will Serve. -Joshua's Great Victory— MONG the chil- dren of Israel that came out of Egypt there was a certain Hoshea, the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim. Moses had seen that he was valiant and skillful, and when the Amalekites came out against Israel at Rephidim, to slay them on their •journey to Sinai, Moses appointed him to be captain of the host. So he went and defeated the Amalekites in a great battle; and after that Moses called him by the name of Jehoshua or Joshua, which is, being inter- preted, The Lord's Salvation. And when Moses went up into the moun- tain of Sinai to receive the law from God, Joshua went with Aaron and the elders so far as it was lawful for them to go; and while he was in the mount Joshua waited for him. From the day when Moses came down from the mount Joshua became his minister, attending on him continually, and dwelling in his tent. Also he was one of the seventy judges whom Moses appointed to do justice among the people. Very zealous was he for the honor of his chief; for when two of the seventy, Eldad and Medad by name, tarried in the camp, and prophesied there (but the rest prophesied in the tabernacle), he said, My lord Moses p forbid them. But Moses answered, Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them! In the second year after the departure oil Israel from the land of Egypt, the people approached to the borders of the land which the Lord had promised to their fathers to give them ; and they pitched their camp in the wilderness of Paran. Then Moses, as we have seen, chose twelve men, one out of each tribe, that they might go as spies and see the land what it was, and the people that dwelt therein, whether they were strong or weak, few or many, and whether they dwelt in tents or in strongholds. Be of good cour- age, he said to them, and bring of the fruit of the land. They Went Through all the Land. And the time at which the men were sent was the time of the first ripe grapes. Joshua was chosen from the tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb from the tribe of Judah. So these twelve men went throughout the land from the wilderness of the south to Mount Lebanoi? in the north. And when they came to the 135 136 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. brook Eshcol (which is near to Hebron) they cut down one of the clusters of grapes, and carried it upon a staff between two. Also they brought figs and pomegranates from the land. The time which they spent upon their journey was forty days. And when they came back to the place whence they had come, and showed to the people the fruits which they had brought, thus they said to Moses, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey ; and this is the fruit of it. But the people that dwell in the land are strong, great and mighty nations — the Amalekites in the south, and the Amorites in the mountains, and the Canaanites by the sea and by the banks of Jordan, and the children of Anak that are giants. We are but grass- hoppers in their sight and in our own. But Caleb said, Let us go up at once and possess the land ; for we are well able to overcome the people that inhabit it. Joshua also said, Let us go up. But the people believed the ten spies rather than Caleb and Joshua, and they wept, saying, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt or in the wilder"<=ss. The People Murmur. And they murmured against Moses and Aaron, and said to one another, Let us make us a captain that he may lead us back into the land of Egypt. But Caleb and Joshua ran among them with their clothes rent, and cried, The land which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord have a favor for us, He will bring us into it ; and as for the people that dwell therein, their strength is gone from them, for the Lord is with us : therefore fear them not. But the people ran upon them, and would have stoned them with stones had they not feared the glory of the Lord, for the glory appeared at that time above the tabernacle. Then the Lord was wroth with the people, and said that all that murmured, from twenty years old and upward, should perisb in the wilderness ; and the ten spies that gave the evil report died of the plague. Only Caleb and Joshua were left alive. But when forty years were accomplished from the coming out of Egypt, the children of Israel approached the Promised Land, coming to it from the east. First they sub- dued the country that is eastward of Jordan, the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan. Then came the time when Moses must die, for the Lord had said to him, Thou shalt see the land with thine eyes, but thou shalt not enter it. Thou shalt not go over Jordan. But before he died he chose Joshua to be the leader of the people after him, for so the Lord commanded him. And he gave him a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage, for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which the Lord sware unto them, and the Lord shall be with thee. Then Moses went up to the top of Pisgah, that he might see the land and die. And Joshua and Phinehas the priest went with him on his way ; but they saw him not when he died, nor did they know where he was buried, save that he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor. Told to go Over the River Jordan. When Moses was dead, the Lord said to Joshua, Arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give them. Every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon have I given you, from Lebanon unto the great river, the river Euphrates, and westward to the great sea. Be strong and of a good courage ; be not afraid, for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest. THE STORY OF JOSHUA. 137 Now the people had pitched their camp in the plains of Moab, near to the place where Jordan flows into the Dead Sea. And they looked across the river to the great city of Jericho. Then Joshua commanded the chief men of the tribes that they should bid and your cattle, on this side of Jordan ; but ye yourselves shall go up armed before your brethren, and help them until the Lord shall have given your brethren rest as he hath given it to you. And they said, All that thou commandest us, we will do, and wither- MOSES GIVING HIS CHARGE TO JOSHUA the people make provision of food, for that within three days they should go over Jordan. Also, he spoke to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh — for these had had their portion given to them on the eastern side of Jordan — and said, Ye shall leave your wives, and your children, soever thou sendest us, we will go. After this Joshua sent from the camp two men to spy out the city of Jericho. And the men entered into the city, and lodged in the house of a woman that was called Rahab. But they were seen coming in, and it was told the king of Jericho, Behold, there came 138 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. in men of the children of Israel to-night to l and hidden them under the stalks of flax, search out the country. And the king sent which she had laid there to dry. As for the to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that king's messengers, they pursued after the are lodging in thy house, for they are come spies along the road that led to the fords of to search out all the country. Rahab said Jordan ; and the gate of the city was shut to the king's messengers, It is true that there after them. RAHAB AND THE SPIES. came men unto me, but I knew not whence they were. And at the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, they departed ; but wither they went, I know not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought the men up to the roof, But before the spies lay down to sleep Rahab came up to them upon the roof, and said, I know that the Lord hath given you this land, and that all the inhabitants thereof are afraid. We have heard how your God divided the waters of the Red Sea before you. and how you have utterly destroyed the two kings of the Amorites on the other side of Jordan ; and when we heard it our hearts melted, and there remained no courage in any of us. Now, therefore, swear by the Lord that, as I have showed you kindness, THE STORY OF JOSHUA. 139 business. And when the Lord shall have given us this land, we will deal kindly and truly with you and yours. Then she let them down by the window of her house, for her house was upon the town wall. And she said, Fly to the mountains, lest the THE HEBREWS CROSSING THE JORDAN. so ye will show kindness to me and to my father's house ; and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have. And give me a true token that ye will so do. Then the men answered, We pledge our life for your life, if only ye betray not our pursuers meet you, for they have pursued after you even to the fords of the Jordan. Hide yourselves in the mountains for three days, until the pursuers shall have returned,* and then ye can go to your own people. The men answered her, We will keep the oath which thou hast made us swear to thee 140 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. And this shall be the token. When we shall have come into the land, bind this scarlet cord in the window from which thou lettest us down. Bring also thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and thy sisters, and all thy father's household into the house. If any go out into the street, his blood shall be on his own head if he perish ; but whoso- ever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our heads, if any man do him harm. But if thou makest known our business we are quit of this our oath. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she bound the scarlet line in the window of her house. But the men fled to the mountain, and hid themselves there three days, and after that they returned to Joshua to the camp, and said, Jericho is a strong city, but the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for the inhabitants faint for fear because of us. The Great Host Crossing the River. After this the host of the Israelites marched to Jordan. Now at this season of the year Jordan is swollen by the melting of the snows of Lebanon, and overflows all its banks, and the people encamped by Jordan that night. And Joshua sent officers throughout the host, who commanded the people in these words : When ye see the priests take up the ark of the covenant, follow it ; but leave a space of a thousand yards' measure between you and it ; come not nearer to it, that ye may know the way that ye must go, for such a way ye have not gone before. And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you. When the morrow was come, Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark and pass over before the people. Then the priests took up the ark, and went before ; and all the people left their tents and followed them, leaving a space as had been commanded. And when they that bare the ark came to Jordan, and their feet were dipped in the brim of the waters, then the waters that came from above stood, rising up in a heap, so that the channel was dried from the city of Adam downwards to Jericho, a distance of about eighteen mileSj. and the waters below, towards the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. So all the people crossed the river dry-shod, the priests that bore the ark standing in the middle of the river till all the people had crossed over. First went the men of Reuben and of Gad and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, ready armed for battle, about forty thousand soldiers ; and after them the rest of the multitude. And when they had all passed over, Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of Jordan. And it came to pass when they had come up out of the river, as soon as their feet touched the dry land, the waters of Jordan returned to their places, and flowed over all their banks as they had done before. "Where They Pitched Their Carnp. Of this crossing there were- set up, as Joshua commanded, according to the word of the Lord, two memorials. The first was in this manner : Twelve men, one out of each tribe, took up great stones out of Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm, and set them up on the other bank, in the place where the host was to lodge that night. And the second memorial was this : There were set up in like manner twelve stones in the midst of the river in the place where the priests had stood with the ark. That night the people pitched their camp in the plain that was called Gilgal. This plain was distant five miles from Jordan and two miles eastward from Jericho. Here they THE STORY fortified a camp, and here they kept the feast of passover to the Lord. And this was the second passover that Israel kept after they came out of the land of Egypt. Once had they kept it when they were encamped under Mount Sinai, but not again during the eight-and-thirty years of their wanderings in the wilderness. And on the morrow after the passover the people ate unleavened bread OF JOSHUA. 141 And the man answered, Nay, but as captain of the Lord's host am I come. Then Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. Then the ano-el told Joshua how he should take THE ANGEL APPEARING TO JOSHUA. of the old corn of the land. From that day they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan, and the manna ceased. And Joshua went up to see the city of Jericho, and to devise how it might be taken. And as he looked he had a vision — a man standing over against him with a drawn sword in his hand. Then Joshua went unto him, and said, Art thou for us or against us ? the city of Jericho. The manner of taking it was this. On the first day of the week the whole host of Israel, armed and equipped for battle, marched round the wall. After the host came seven priests blowing on rams' horns, and after these, again, the ark, carried on the shoulders of priests. Behind the ark came a company from the tribe of Dan, for the men 142 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. of Dan furnished always the rear-guard of the army. This was done day after day for six days. No shouting was there or cry of battle. Only the priests blew continually with the trumpets. And on the seventh day, which was the Sabbath, the host made this Thus Jericho was taken, and all that was in it was destroyed, save only the vessels of gold and silver and brass and iron. These were brought into the treasury of the Lord. And Joshua laid a curse upon any that should build the city again ; and the curse compass of the walls seven times. Six times they made it in silence, but the seventh time, when it was now the time of sunset and the Sabbath was near to its end, all the people shouted together, and the wall fell down, so that the army could go up into the city without hindrance. FALLING OF THE WALLS OF JERICHO. was this : that his eldest son should die when he laid the foundation, and his youngest when he set up the gates, and so finished the work But when Jericho and its people were utterly destroyed, Rahab and her household were saved, as the spies whom she saved from death had sworn unto her. Rahab was JOSHUA CAPTURING THE CITY OF AI. 143 144 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. married afterwards to Salmon, chief prince of the tribe of Judah. She had a son named Boaz, and Boaz was the father of Obed, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. The Israelites Defeated. Now there stood some eight miles westward from Jericho the city of Ai. This city Joshua had it in his mind to take ; and he sent men to spy out the place. These brought back the report that the place was small, saying to Joshua, Make not all the people to go up. Let about two or three thousand go up and smite the place, for the inhabitants are but few. This Joshua did, but as the Israelites went up the men of Ai sallied out upon them. And they, not looking to be attacked, turned and fled, and the men of Ai pursued them, and slew some six-and-thirty as they fled, but the rest escaped to the camp. Great was the dismay among the people at this defeat. As for Joshua, he rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark from morning till evening. So did the elders of the people, and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua cried to the Lord, Why hast thou brought this people over Jordan to deliver them into the hands of the Amorites ? For when the people of the land shall hear that we have fled in the battle before the men of Ai, they will surround us and destroy us. But the Lord answered him thus, Get thee up ; why liest thou upon thy face ? Israel has sinned, for they have taken of the accursed thing. So the next day Joshua bade all the people pass before him by their tribes and families and houses. From the tribes the tribe of Judah was taken, and from the tribe of Judah the house of the Zarhites, and from the house of Zarhites the family of Zabdi, and, last, from the family of Zabdi a certain Achan. Then Joshua said to Achan, My son, make confession to God, and tell me now what thou hast done. Hide it not from me. Achan answered, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. I saw among the spoils of Jericho a goodly mantle from Baby- lon, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels. These I hid in the earth under my tent, the garment above, and the gold and silver under it. Achan Stoned to Death. ^nen Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent, and found the things as Achan had said. Then Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And Israel stoned Achan with stones that he died ; and his whole house and all his possessions were destroyed. In the place where this was done was raised a great heap of stones, and the place was called from that day the Valley of Trouble. After this Joshua and the people took courage again, and went up against Ai. But first he set an ambush of five thousand men in the valley between Ai and Bethel (for Bethel is two miles to the westward of Ai), and agreed with them that he and the rest of the host should go up against the city openly from the eastward, and make a pretence of flight. And when we flee, said he, and the men of Ai pursue us, do ye rise up and take the city. When the king of Ai saw the host of Israel, for it had taken its place on the other side of the valley, he and his people went out against it, knowing nothing of the ambush which had been laid on the other side of his city. And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before the king of Ai and his people, and fled by the way of the THE INHABITANTS OF AI WITNESSING THE DEFEAT OF THEIR ARMY. 10 u& 146 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. wilderness — that is to say, towards Jericho and Jordan. There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel ; all pursued after Joshua ; and the gates were open. Then Joshua lifted up his spear, and pointed it towards Ai ; for this had been agreed upon for a signal. Then the men that lay in ambush rose up and entered the city, and set it on fire. And when Joshua and the host saw the smoke of the city rising up to heaven, they turned against the men ofAi. At the same time they who had taken the city came down against them from behind. So the men of Ai were taken in the midst of Israel, with the host on one side and the men of the ambush on the other. None could escape. As for the king, he was taken alive ; him Joshua hanged upon a tree. When the sun was set Joshua commanded that they should take down his, body from the tree and cast it before the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones. A Shrewd Trick. When the kings of the Canaanites heard how Jericho and Ai had been destroyed, they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight against Israel ; but the men of one of the cities of the Hivites, Gibeon by name, bethought them of a device by which they might save themselves. They sent ambas- sadors to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal ; for Joshua had led the host back to the camp. The men took old sacks upon their asses, and the bottles of skin in which they carried their wine had been torn and sewn again, and their shoes were patched, and their garments old, and their bread dry and mouldy. In this plight they came to Gilgal, and said to Joshua, We are come from a far country : now therefore make a league with us. Joshua said to them, Peradventure ye dwell near us; how then shall we make a league with you ? for our God hath forbidden us to make leagues with the people of this country. Tell us now who are ye, and whence do ye come? The Gibeonites answered, Thy servants are come from a very far country because of the name of the Lord thy God. For we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond Jordan. Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, Take food with you for your journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants: therefore now make a league with us. See now this our bread that we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth is dry and moldy; and these bottles were new, and now they are torn; and our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of our very long journey. Then Joshua and the elders took of the food which the Gibeonites offered them in token of friendship; and Joshua made a league with them, and the elders confirmed it with an oath. What Joshua Did with Them. But three days afterwards they heard that they were their neighbors and dwelt among them. Then Joshua sent an army from the camp to Gibeon, which came to it on the third day. With Gibeon were confederate three cities — Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim. The people were wroth with the princes because they had made a league with these cities. But the princes said, We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; therefore we may not touch them. This will we do; we will let them live, lest wrath come upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto THE STORY them. But we will make them hewers of wood and drawers of water to all the people. Then Joshua said to the Gibeonites.Where- fore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you ; when in truth ye dwell among us? Therefore ye shall be bondsmen for- OF JOSHUA. 147 we did this thing. But now we are in thy hand; as it seemeth right and good unt6 thee to do unto us, do. And Joshua did as he had said. And when Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem t heard how the Gibeonites had made peace JOSHUA COMMANDING THE SUN TO STAND STILL. ever. Ye shall hew wood and draw water for us, especially for the house of our God. The Gibeonites answered, We were afraid. For we had heard that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to destroy with Israel, he was greatly troubled, for Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities. He sent therefore to the other kings that were confederate with him, that is to say, the kings of Hebron, of Jarmuth, of Lachish, all the inhabitants of the land. Therefore I and of Eglon ; and they and all their hosts 148 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. went up, and encamped against Gibeon, and made war upon it. Then the Gibeonites sent in haste to Joshua, saying, The kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us; tarry not therefore to come up and save us and help us. So Joshua and the bravest of the host came up from the camp at Gilgal. All night they marched, for Gibeon was distant fifteen miles from Gilgal, but the Amorites knew nothing of their coming. And when they came up from out of the valley on to the plain before Gibeon, the enemy was sore dismayed, and turned their backs, and fled. Pursuing the Enemy. Some of them fled to Beth-horon, and some to their own cities. Those that took the road to Beth-horon fled with all speed down the pass that leads from Beth-horon the Upper to Beth-horon the Lower. And as they were on the way, Israel following after them, a great hail-storm fell on them. They were more that died from the hail- stones than they that were slain by the sword. And when Joshua saw the Amorites fleeing down the pass, he feared lest the sun should go down before Israel had made an end of destroying their enemy. Therefore he cried aloud, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And it was so that the light failed not the children of Israel till they had avenged themselves on their enemies. All the way to Azekah did Israel pursue the Amorites; and as they pursued, it was told Joshua that the five kings had hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah. But Joshua would not suffer the people to turn aside nor to cease from their pursuit. Roll, he said, great stones to the door of the cave, and set a guard over it; but stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them. Suffer them not to enter into their cities, for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hand. So the people stayed not from the pursuit; nevertheless some of the Amorites escaped into their fortified cities. After this the people returned to Joshua to the camp in peace. None dared to say a word against any of them. Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring the five kings out of the cave to me. So they opened the mouth of the cave, and brought them out. And he said to his captains and chief men of war, Come near and put your feet on the necks of these men. So they came, and put their feet on the necks of the kings. And Joshua said, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage ; for thus shall the Lord do unto all your enemies against whom ye fight. Horses and Chariots. Then he commanded that the kings should be slain and hanged upon five trees. At sunset he bade his people to take down the dead bodies from the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had hidden them- selves, and roll a stone to the mouth of the cave. When Joshua had subdued all the country of the south he returned to the camp at Gilgal, and all Israel with him. When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard these things, he sent to the kings of the north country, and of the plains that lie to the westward of the sea, now the Sea of Galilee, and many others throughout the land, and called them to fight against Israel. So they assembled their armies by the waters of Merom, a very great multitude, even as the sand that is on the seashore for multitude. Horses and chariots also had they very many. Now of these the children THE STORY OF JOSHUA. 149 of Israel had none ; nor indeed had they seen them in battle, for the Canaanites of the south were wont to fight on foot. And the Lord said to Joshua, Be not afraid of them, for I will deliver them into thine hand. And Joshua went up suddenly from Gilgal, and all the men of war with him, and he fell upon the host of Jabin as it lay lame ; for so it had been commanded to Joshua, lest perchance the Israelites should seek to use them for war to their own harm. After this Joshua returned to Hazor, and took it, and burnt it with fire. This only of all the cities of the north did Joshua burn with fire, because in those days it was the head of all the kingdoms of that region. Thus JOSHUA DIVIDING THE LAND. by the waters of Merom, taking them unawares. The Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel. A great multitude were slain, but some escaped to Sidon, and some to Sarepta, and some to Mizpeh, which is /under Hermon. All that were overtaken in the flight were slain, and all the chariots burnt with fire, and all the horses were made Joshua conquered the Canaanites in two great battles — the tribes of the south in the Pass of Beth-horon, and the tribes of the north by the Lake of Merom. And both these battles were fought in the year in which the children of Israel crossed the Jordan ; but the land was not subdued till seven full years had passed. Nor even 150 THE STORY OF JOSHUA. then was it wholly conquered ; for the Philistines dwelt in their five cities by the sea, and the Jebusites held the citadel of Jeru- salem, and the kings of the northern Canaanites set up their dominion again in Hazor, and elsewhere also the Canaanites dwelt among the children of Israel. Israel's Inheritance. At the end of the seven years Joshua divided the land among the tribes; and while he did so, Caleb came to him, and said, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went with me made the heart of the people melt for fear of their report; but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trod- den shall be thine inheritance, and thy chil- dren's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, be- hold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty-and-five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilder- ness; and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. And yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, to go out and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for my brethren that went with me to espy the land spake of the children of Anak that were there, and of the strong cities in which they dwelt, and made the heart of the people to melt with their report. But if the Lord be with me, I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said. Then Joshua blessed Caleb, and gave him Hebron for an inheritance. Cities of Refuge. When the land had been divided, Joshua further appointed six cities, three on either side of Jordan, to which any man might flee who should kill another unwittingly and unawares. Also to the tribe of Levi forty- eight cities were given out of the portions of the tribes. So Joshua rested from his labors, dwelling in Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim, for this had been given to him for his inheritance; and among all the portions of the children of Israel there was none humbler than his. And when fifteen years had passed, and he knew that his end was now drawing nigh, he sent for the elders of Israel to his house at Timnath, and said to them, I am old and stricken in age. And ye have seen what the Lord hath done for you, how he has driven out the nations of the land before you, and divided the land unto you for an inheritance. Keep, therefore, all that is written in the book of the law of Moses ; turn not aside from it to the right hand or to the left. Go not ye among the nations that remain ; make no mention of their gods, but cleave umo the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day. If ye will do so, then one of you shall chase a thousand, for it is the Lord your God that fighteth for you. But if ye go among these nations, and serve their gods, then shall they be snares and traps to you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off the good land which the Lord your God hath given you. Also Joshua called an assembly of all Israel to Shechem. And wl.en he had THE STORY OF JOSHUA. 151 brought to their minds the great things which the Lord had done for them — how he had brought them over the Red Sea, and destroyed the Amorites that dwelt on the other side of Jordan, and caused Balaam to bless them when Balak king of Moab would have had him curse them, and how he had given them the land of the seven nations westward of Jordan — then he said to them, Choose now whom ye will serve. Will ye serve the Lord, or will ye serve the gods whom your fathers served when they dwelt in Egypt, or the gods of the nations whom the Lord hath driven out before you ? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. All the people answered, God forbid that we should serve other gods ; we will serve the Lord who drove out the nations from before us, for he is the Lord our God. Joshua said, The Lord is a jealous God; if ye forsake him and serve other gods he will consume you, and do you hurt, as he hath done you good. And the people answered again, Nay ; but we will serve the Lord. Then Joshua said, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen the Lord to serve him. And the people said, We are witnesses. So Joshua made a covenant with the people ; and he wrote these words in a book s and laid the book up with the book of the law. Also he took a great stone and set it up under an oak that was by the tabernacle of the Lord, that it might be a memorial of this covenant for ever. This stone, he said, Shall be a witness unto us ; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us> CHAPTER XI. B. C. 1394. The King of Moab Slain — Deborah Judges the People — The Host of Sisera Scat tered — Gideon and the Angel — Choosing an Army — Three Hundred Warriors-^ Trumpets and Pitchers — A Great Victory — Gideon's Wicked Son — Capture of a City — Abimelech Killed by a Young Man. himself with a dagger, two-edged, and a HEN Joshua had now been dead some seventy years, and the children of Israel had corrupted themselves, making marriages with the remnant of the Ca- naanites that still dwelt among them, and being led away to worship their gods, Eglon, king of Moab, invaded their land. He crossed the river Jordan, bringing with him, besides his own people, many of the children of Ammon and of the Amalekites. There, on the east side of Jordan, among the palm- groves where Jericho had been, he estab- lished his dominion, making the children of Israel that dwelt in those parts pay tribute to him. But after eighteen years the Lord raised up a deliverer for his people, namely Ehud, the son of Gera, a man of the tribe of Ben- jamin. This Ehud was of good repute among his brethren, being counted to have in him something of the spirit of the prophets; and they chose him to carry the tribute which they paid year by year to Eglon, king of Moab. Now he had armed 152 cubit long, which he carried on his right thigh, for his right hand was wasted with disease, and he could use his left only. So Ehud with his followers, for he had two servants with him, came to the fortress where the king dwelt; and when he had left the tribute, he went back to Gilgal, to the place where the men of Moab kept the images of their gods, as though he would have worshipped there. He left his two servants in that place, and so returned to the king. Now Eglon, who was very fat, sat alone in his summer parlor, that for the sake of coolness was built on the roof of his house. Ehud said, I have a secret errand to thee, O king, making as though he had a message to deliver to him from the gods. The king said to his people, Keep silence. And all his people that were with him went out from his presence, and he was left alone. A Blow with a Dagger. Ehud said again, I have a message from God to thee. The king rose up from his seat to receive the message, as one who would show respect. Then Ehud put forth his left hand and drew the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into the king's heart. So deep did he thrust it in, that he could not. draw it forth again. Then Ehud went forth THE STORY OF GIDEON. 153 by the private way, locking the doors of the parlor behind him. After a while the king's servants came, and found the doors of the parlor locked. For a long time they tarried, saying to themselves, The king would be alone. But when they had lost hope that this could be so, they took a key and opened the door ; and, behold, their lord was fallen dead upon the earth. But Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the place of the images, and escaped to Seirath, which was in the land of Ephraim. There he blew a trumpet to call the people together ; and when the men of Ephraim knew that Eglon was dead, they came down from the mountain where they dwelt, and Ehud went before them. And he said unto them, Follow after me : for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hands. They Could not Escape. So they went down, and took possession of the fords of Jordan that were between the land of Israel and the land of Moab, and suffered no man to pass over. But the Moabites, when they saw that their king was dead, would have fled into their own country, but they could not, for the men of Israel had possession of the fords. And the Israelites slew of them ten thousand men at that time, strong men and in good case, all of them, as if they had fed upon the fat of the land. After this the land had rest for four- score years. After Ehud was dead, Jabin, king of the Canaanites, who dwelt in Hazor, near to the waters of Merom, greatly oppressed the children of Israel. He had a host made up of men of many nations, whereof Sisera was captain. The children of Israel could not stand against him or shake off his yoke, for whereas he had nine hundred chariots of iron, they had neither shield nor spear. For twenty years did he oppress the people, till the land was utterly desolate. They that travelled through it went not by the highways, for these were beset by robbers, but by paths and byways ; and the women scarcely dared to draw water from the wells, or the shepherds to water their flocks, for fear of the soldiers that haunted them. At this time, in a certain valley between Ramah and Bethel, in the same place where Isaac had buried Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah his wife, there dwelt another Deborah, a prophetess, under a palm-tree, that was called the palm-tree of Deborah. To this place the people of Israel came up, and she judged their causes. An Army on Mount Tabor. Deborah sent to Barak the son of Abinoam, who dwelt in Kedesh, in the land of Naphtali, saying, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded thee, saying, Take with thee ten thousand men of Zebulun and Naphtali, and go with them to the top of Mount Tabor ; and I will draw to thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and with all his multitude ? Barak said unto Deborah, If thou wilt go with me, then will I go ; but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. Deborah answered, I will surely go with thee : nevertheless the journey that thou takest shall not be for thy honor, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. So she arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. Then Barak sent throughout the land of Israel, calling upon the people to follow him, that they might do battle together against the oppressors. Some there were that answered to the call from among the Ephraimites and the men of Benjamin, from Manasseh also, and the princes of Machir. The men of Reuben held council about the 154 THE STORY OF GIDEON. matter, but in the end did not come ; neither did they that dwelt in Gilead, nor they of Asher, nor they of Dan. But of all the tribes there were none that bore themselves so bravely as Zebulun and Naphtali : they were a people that bravely risked their lives unto the death. Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from his people, and had pitched his tent near Mount Tabor. The Kenites were of the kindred of Hobab, the father-in- law of Moses; and they had kept the children of Israel company in their wanderings in the wilderness, and had crossed over Jordan with them, and dwelt in the wilderness of Judah. This Heber had made peace with King Jabin, and now certain of his people went and showed Sisera that Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor. Defeat of Sisera. Therefore Sisera gathered all his chariots together and all his host unto the river Kishon. This Kishon had its rise near to Mount Tabor, and thence flows through the plain till it falls into the Great Sea near to Mount Carmel. Then Deborah said to Barak, Up, for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand : is not the Lord gone out before thee ? So Barak came down from Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men after him. Then the Lord discomfited Sisera and all his chariots and all his host befi~ r e Barak. The very " stars in their courses fought against him." For a great storm o r rain and hail blew in their faces, so that tney could not see to shoot with their bows, and their hands were so benumbed with the cold that they could not strike with their swords. The Kishon also was so swollen with the rain that it swept them away. Many perished in the waters, and many were slain with the sword. So the host of Sisera was scattered before Israel, and all the kings of Canaan that had come to the help of Jabin king of Hazor. There was not a man left that was not slain or fled not. Hid in a Tent. Then Sisera, when he saw that the battle was lost, lighted down from his chariot, and fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Heber and Jabin. But Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host till he came to their camp. When Jael saw Sisera she came out of her tent to meet him, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her in the tent, she covered him with a mantle. Sisera said to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. Thereupon she opened the bottle of milk, newly taken from the flocks, that stood in the tent, and brought it to him in the best cup as to an honored guest. And when he had drunk she covered him again. He said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here ? that thou shalt say, No. But when he was asleep, Jael, Heber's wife, took in her left hand one of the great nails of iron wherewith the ropes of the tent were fastened, and in her right hand the hammer with which they were driven into the ground, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail through his temples fastening it into the ground. And he moved not, for he was fast asleep and weary. And, behold, as Barak pursued after Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he THE STORY OF GIDEON. 155 came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. So God subdued that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he delivered them into the hand of the Midianites. For the space of seven years did the Midianites oppress them, so that they made places of refuge for themselves among the mountains, in the hollows of the watercourses, and in caves and in locks that were steep and hard of access. Every year, when the men of Israel had sown their fields, and the fruits of the ground were now growing ready for the harvest, did the Midianites come up, and with them also the Amalekites and other tribes of the desert. They crossed the Jordan by Beth-shean, and made their encampment in the land, and destroyed all the increase of it. All the plain country they wasted from the valley of Jezreel as far as Gaza, and left no living creature on the face of the earth, neither goat, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents. They were as locusts for multitude, for both they and their camels were without number ; and they entered the land to destroy it. Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. Gideon Threshing Wheat. And when they cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet unto them, who said unto them : Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bond- age; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove out the inhabitants of this land from before you, and gave you their land ; and I said unto you, I am the Lord your God ; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell : but ye have not obeyed my voice. For the Lord would have had them put away the false gods from among them, that so he might deliver them from the hand of their enemies. Now there dwelt in Ophrah of Manasseh a certain Joash, of the house of Abiezer. The Midianites had slain his sons, having taken them at Mount Tabor, where they had gone to meet the princes of Israel at the sanctuary that was on the top of the mount. Only Gideon was left to him. This Gideon was threshing wheat with a flail in the wine-press, doing it secretly for fear of the Midianites. What the Angel Said. There came an angel of the Lord and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, and appeared unto him, and said, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Gideon said, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with me, why then is all this befallen us ? And where are all his miracles that our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring you up out of Egypt ? But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of the Midianites. The Lord said unto him by his angel, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee ? And Gideon said, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel ? Behold, my family is the meanest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. The Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as though they were but one man. And Gideon said unto the Lord, If I have found 156 THE STORY OF GIDEON. grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou dost in truth talk with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring my meat-offering, and set it before fhee. Then Gideon went in and made ready a kid of the goats, and made unleav- ened cakes of flour: the flesh he put in a basket and the broth in a pot, and he brought semblance of a traveller, and touched tht flesh and unleavened cakes, and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was indeed an Angel of the Lord, he said, Alas B O Lord God ! because I have seen an Angel GIDEONS OFFERING BURNT BY FIRE FROM THE ROCK. out the offering unto the angel as he sat under the oak, and presented them. The Angel of Jehovah said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon the rock, and pour out the broth over the offering upon the rock. And Gideon did so. Then the Angel of the Lord put out the staff that was in his hand, for he had the of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not; thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built a memorial of that which he had seen unto the Lord; and he called the name of the place Jehovah-Shalom, which being interpreted is, Jehovah send peace. And it came to pass that same night that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's THE STORY OF GIDEON. 157 young bullock, and the seven-year-old bul- lock also, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and break down the idol that is by it. And put the stones of the altar and the wood of the idol on the bullocks, and so carry them to the top of the rock. There shalt thou build with the stones an altar to the Lord thy God, and lay the wood of the idol in order upon the altar, and slay the second bullock, and offer it for a burnt-offering with the wood of the idol. He Did it by Night. So Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him ; but because he feared the house of his father, even the sons of Abiezer, and the men of the city, for these were Amorites, he did the thing by night, and not by day. And when the men of the city rose up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the idol that stood by it was cut down, and there was another altar built, and on this the seven-year-old bullock had been offered. And the men said one to another, Who hath done this thing ? And so one said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son that he may die ; because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and hath cut down the image that was thereby. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal ? will ye save him ? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning : if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because some one hath cast down his altar. That day was Gideon called " Jerubbaal," that is to say, Let Baal plead with him, because he had cast down the altar of Baal. The year following, when the Midianites and Amalekites and the tribes of the desert came, as their custom was, with a great multitude, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and all the house of Abiezer assembled to his call. Then he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they also gathered themselves together to him : also he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali, and they came up to meet him. And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor, and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said. And it was so : for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. Let it be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground beside let there be dew. And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. Choosing the \rmy. Gideon, when he had received these two signs from the Lord, rose up early, and pitched his camp above the fountain of Harod, that was at the foot of Mount Gilboa; so that the host of the Midianites were on the north of them, in the valley beneath, hard by the hill of Moreh. Then the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now, therefore, proclaim in the ears of the 158 THE STORY OF GIDEON. people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early to his own home. And there departed of the people twenty and two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be that those of whom I say, This shall go with thee, he shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I shall say, This shall not go with thee, he shall not go with thee. So Gideon brought the ten thousand to the water; and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; and every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink .by himself. They that drank warily, taking up of the water with their hands, and lapping from their hands, lest they should be caught unawares by an enemy coming from behind, were three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees, and dipped their heads into the water, and drank their fill, not heeding what might happen. The Valiant Three Hundred. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand. Let the rest of the people go every man to his own place. Then the three hundred took from them that departed such victuals as they required, and also a trumpet for each, and a pitcher. The rest of the people Gideon sent away every man to his own tent; but the three hundred he kept; and the host of the Mid- ianites was in the valley beneath. And that same night the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host ; for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou still fear to go down against them, then go with Phurah thy servant to the host: and thou shalt hear what they say; and after- wards thy hand shall be strengthened to go down igainst the host of the enemy. So Gideon went down with Phurah his servant to the camp of the Midianites, to where the armed men lay by themselves on the side that was nearest to Mount Gilboa. And the Midianites, with the Amalekites and the tribes of the desert, lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore for multitude. A Strange Dream. When Gideon and his servant were come to the outskirts of the camp they heard two men talking. One man told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread, so vile that no man would eat it, tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto the tent r> f the captain of the host, and smote it so that it fell and lay along on the ground. His fellow answered him, and said, This is nothing else than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath the Lord delivered Midian, and all his host. When Gideon heard how the one man told his dream, and how the other interpreted it to him, he worshipped the Lord, and returned to his people, and said, Arise; foi the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. And he divided his three hundred into three companies; and he put into every man's hand a trumpet and an empty pitcher, and in each pitcher a firebrand. One com- pany he took for himself; the other two hf. THE STORY OF GIDEON. 155* put each under a captain; and he sent them to different sides of the camp. But first he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise. When I am come to the outside of the camp, as I do so, shall ye do also. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on the sides of the camp where ye shall be, and cry, The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon. side of the camp. They all blew with their trumpets, holding them in their right hands, and the torches they held in their left ; and they cried, The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Every man of them stood in his place round about the camp; and all the host of the Midianites ran to see what had happened, and they cried out for fear, and fled. And as the three hundred still blew with GIDEONS VICTORY OVER THE MIDIANITES. So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came unto the outside of the camp iin the beginning of the middle watch, and the Midianites had but newly set the watch. This would be about half past ten o'clock at night by our time. Then Gideon and his men blew the trumpets, and broke the pitch- ers in which the torches were hidden; and the other companies did the same on their their trumpets, there came a great terror from the Lord on the host of the Midianites; and every man turned his sword against his fellow throughout all the host. And they fled towards the Jordan, to escape into their own land. Gideon sent messengers through- out all Mount Ephraim, saying to his brethren, the men of Ephraim, Come down against the Midianites, and occupy the streams that flow 160 THE STORY OF GIDEON. into Jordan, or ever they can cross them. Meanwhile he, and his three hundred with him, followed after the Midianites till they came to Jordan; and they crossed over to the other side, faint, yet pursuing the enemy. And when he came to Succoth, which is in the land of Gad, he said to the men thereof, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me ; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. And the princes of Succoth said, Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hands, that we should give bread unto thy army? Then Gideon ^aid, Therefore, when the Lord hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. From Succoth, which was in the valley of Jordan, he went up to Penuel, which was in the hill-country, and spoke to them as he had spoken to the men of Succoth ; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. Then he said to them, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. Now the men of Ephraim had taken at the fords two princes of the Midianites. Oreb they slew at a rock that was called in after days the rock Oreb, and Zeeb by a wine-press that was named the wine-press of Zeeb ; and they brought the heads of the two princes to Gideon w en he was on the Other side of Jordan. The Princes are Captured. And they said to him, What is this thing that thou hast done to us, in that thou calledst us not when thou wentest out to fight against the Midianites ? And they reproached him very sharply. Then Gideon said, What have I done now in comparison of you ? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the whole vintage of Abiezer ? God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What was I able to do in comparison of you ? When he had spoken their anger against him was abated. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, which was in the wilderness, in the land of the people that dwelt in tents. They had fifteen thousand men with them, all that were left of the host of the tribes of the desert ; for- there had fallen an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew the sword. And Gideon came up against them, falling upon them unawares, and discomfited their host. Gideon returned from the battle be- fore sunrise, and caught a young man of Succoth, and inquired of him. And the young man wrote down for him the names of the princes of Succoth, and of the elders, even threescore and seventeen men. Then he came to the city, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hands, that we should give bread to thy men that are weary ? Punished with Thorns and Briers. And he took the elders of the city and punished them, tearing their flesh with thorns and briers. After this he went to Penuel, and beat down the tower, and slew the men of the city. Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Mount Tabor? They answered, As thou art, so were they ; each one was like the child of a king. He said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother : as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. And he said unto Jether his first-born son, Up and slay them. But Jether drew not his svcrd ; for he feared, because he was vet but a boy. THE STORY OF GIDEON. 161 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, Rise thou, and fall on us ; for as the man is, ■so is his strength. Then Gideon rose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments shaped as a half-moon, that were on their camels. The men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, thou and thy son after thee, and thy son's son also ; for thou hast delivered us out of the hand of the Midianites. Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you ; the Lord shall rule over you. Also he said unto them, I would desire this of you, that ye give me every man the nose-rings that ye have taken from the slain. For the men had golden nose-rings, as was the custom with their nation. And they answered, We will willingly give them. Then Gideon spread out his soldier's cloak, and the men cast therein every man the nose-rings that he had taken from the slain. Gideon also had for himself the ear-drops, -and the ornaments, and the purple clothing of the kings of Midian, and the chains that were about the necks of their camels. Then Gideon took the gold and made with it an ephod — that is to say, a high priest's robe with a breastplate, and other things appertain- ing thereto, and put it in his city, even Ophrah, that the people might not resort to Shiloh, but might come to Ophrah, where they would inquire of the Lord. And this thing became an occasion of sin to Israel, and turned to the destruction of Gideon's house. The Story of Abimelech. So Gideon dwelt at Ophrah in his own house after he had subdued Midian. For •forty years he dwelt there and judged Israel, and the country was in quietness all his days. Gideon had a son that was borne to him by a Canaanitish woman of Shechem. Him 11 he called Abimelech. And Gideon died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father in Oprah. But when he was dead the children of Israel went again after strange gods, and worshipped Baal-berith, whose temple was in Shechem. And they remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side ; neither showed they kindness to the house of Gideon, according to all the good- ness which he had showed unto Israel. After Gideon was dead Abimelech his son went to Shechem, unto the brethren of his mother, and communed with them and their kindred, saying, Speak, I pray you, these words in the ears of the men of Shechem, Is it better for you that all the sons of Gideon, that is to say, threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you ? And remember that I am your brother. The brethren of Abimelech's mother spoke all these words concerning him in the ears of the men of Shechem; and their hearts in- clined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. Parable of the Trees. And they gave him three score and ten shekels of silver out of the temple of Baal- berith, and with this money Abimelech hired certain men, vain and idle, to follow him • and went unto the house of his father in Ophrah, and slew there all his father's sons, even threescore and ten persons, upon one stone. Only one of the seventy was left, Jotham, the youngest son, for he hid himself. Then all the men of Shechem gathered themselves together, and they that dwelt in the stronghold of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the garrison of Shechem. And when they told Jotham what had J 62 THE STORY OF GIDEON. been done, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the Olive tree said unto them, Shall I leave my fatness, where- with by my means they honor both God cheereth God and man, and go to oe king" over the trees ? Then said all the trees unto* the thorn, Come thou, and reign over us. And the thorn said unto the trees, If ye do well to anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow ; but if ye have not done well, then shall fire come out of the thorn, and devour the cedars o^ Lebanon. A WOMAN CASTS A STONE UPON ABIMELECH. find man, and go to be king over the trees ? Then the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. And the fig tree said unto them, Shall I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit and go to reign ov tr the trees ? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Shall I leave my wine, which Now, therefore, if ye have done well and' honestly in that ye have made Abimelecb king, and if ye have dealt justly with Gideon and his house, and done unto him as he de- served of you (for remember that my father fought for you, and did venture his life, and' delivered you out of the hand of Midian; and yet ye have risen up against my father's house this day, an J have slain his sons, THE STORY OF GIDEON. 163 threescore ana ten persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king, because he is your kins- man) — if then ye have dealt justly with the house of Gideon, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you ; but if ye .lave done well, then shall fire come from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem and the fortress of Millo ; and let fire come from the men of Shechem, and from the fortress of Millo, and devour Abimelech. Robbers on the Mountains. Then Jotham fled, and dwelt at Beerith, for fear of Abimelech his brother. When Abimelech had had dominion over Israel for three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem ; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech. This he did that the cruelty done to the sons of Gideon might be punished, and that their blood might be upon the head of Abimelech their brother, and upon the heads of the men of Shechem, who had strengthened his hands to kill his brethren. The men of Shechem set men to lie in wait for the officers of Abimelech on the top of the mountains. These robbed all that came by ; and the thing was told to Abime- lech. Then one Gaal, the son of Ebed, went with a company of his kinsfolk to Shechem ; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him ; and they went out into their fields, and gathered in their vintage, and trod the grapes, and sacrificed thank-offerings, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelecr And Gaal said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him, and Zebul his officer, that we should serve them ? Let the princes of the Canaanites serve Abimelech, for he is of their kindred. Would to God that I were rule* in this place ! Then would I remove Abimelech out of it. When Zebul, who was ruler of the city under Abimelech, heard these words of Gaal. his anger was kindled, and he sent mes- sengers secretly to Abimelech, saying, Be- hold, Gaal and his brethren are come to Shechem ; and, behold, they stir up the city against thee. Now, therefore, come by night,, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field. For Gaal and his com- pany go out to-morrow on a certain business. When, therefore, they are gone, do thou, as soon as the sun is up, set upon the city ; and when Gaal and his company come back, thou canst do to them as thou shalt find occasion. Ready for the Attack. So Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. Now, very early in the morning, Gaal went out and stood in the gate of the city, pre- paring to go as he had purposed. But while he stood there Abimelech and the people that were with him rose up from lying in wait ; and Gaal saw them. Then he said to Zebul the governor, Behold, there- are people that come down from the top of the mountains. But Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadows on the mountains, and thinkest them to be men. And Gaal spake again and said, Surely there are people that come down by the hollow in the mountains, and others again by the oak of the soothsayers.. Then said Zebul, Where are now thy boast- ings that thou saidst, Who is Abimelech,. that we should serve him ? Lo, these men whom thou seest are they whom thou hast so despised. Go out now, and fight with them. So Gaal Avent out at the head of the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech* 164 THE STORY OF GIDEON. And Abimelech vanquished him. And many were slain and many wounded before they could reach the gate of the city. But Abime- lech could not on that day enter into the city, but abode at Arumah ; and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his people, that they should forth from the city, he rose up against thetn and smote them. And he and his own company made haste to the city, and stood in the gate ; and the other two companies ran upon all that were in the fields, and slew them. All that day Abimelech fought ABIMELECH SLAIN BY HIS ARMOR-BEARER. not dwell in Shechem any more. On the morrow the men of Shechem went out again into the field. And Abimelech had been told this thing by Zebul his captain, and he took his people and divided them into three compani^;,, and laid wait in the field as before. \nd when the people came against the city ; and he took it, and slew the people that were therein, and destroyed the city, and sowed the ground with salt. But when the men that were in the tower of Shec- hem, which is the fortress of Millo. saw what was done, they entered into the temple of Baal-berith, and fortified themselves there. THE STORY OF GIDEON. 165 When Abimelech heard of this, he and his people went up to Mount Zalmon. He look an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from a tree, and laid it on his shoulder, and said to the people, Make haste, and do what ye have seen me do. So every man cut down his bough as Abimelech had done, and carried them to Shechem, and piled up these against the hold, and so set fire to it. And all there were in the tower of Shechem died also — about a thousand men and women. After this Abimelech went to Thebez, and encamped against it, and took it. Now there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women of the city, and shut to the gates, and went up to the top of the tower. Then Abimelech came ynto the tower, and fought against it, and went close up to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech, and broke his skull. Then he called hastily out to the young man his armour-bearer, and said,, Draw thy sword and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And the young man his armor-bearer thrust him through, and he died. Thus did God recompense the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren : and all the evil of the men of Shechem did God recom- pense to them; and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Gideon, for in very truth the fire came out of the thorn which they had chosen to be their king, a*id they were plagued thereby. CHAPTER XII. B. C. 1 187. Jephthah and his Daughter — An Angel Comes to Manoah — Birth of Samson — Tm Slain Lion — Honey from a Strange Source — A Hard Riddle to Guess — Jackals in the Corn — Samson Breaks his Bonds — The Giant Loses his Strength — The Cunning Trick of Delilah — Pillars of the Temple Fall— Death of Samson. S SOON as Gideon was dead the children of Israel returned to their wicked ways. In the course of time the Ammonites made war against Israel, And the children of Israel sent for a man named Jephthah, a skillful warrior, to be their captain, and lead them forth to battle. Jephthah said he would go with them if they would promise to make him a prince end a ruler in the land. This they said they would do, and Jephthah took his place as captain at the head of the army of Israel. But before he left his home in Mizpeh, Jeph- thah vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou wilt deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, I will offer up as a burnt offering whatever comes out of my house to meet me, when I return to my home in peace. Jephthah fought against the Ammonites and overthrew them, and afterwards departed for his home in Mizpeh. As he drew near his house, the one that came forth to meet him was his own daughter, his only child, in whom his heart was bound up. She, with her fair companions, came to meet the return- ing hero, with timbrels in hand and with songs and dances. As soon as Jephthah saw her, he rent In. robes, and cried out, Alas my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, for I have given any word to the Lord, and cannot take it 166 back. Nor did she ask it. She replied that he must do to her according as he had promised the Lord, who had given him the victory. Only, 3he said, let me alone for two months, that I may go up and down the mountains, I anj my companions, and lament my fate. He Keeps His Vows. Jephthah granted her request, and at the end of two months she came back to her father, and he sacrificed her according to the vow he had made. And it became a custom for the daughters of Israel to mourn over the daughter of Jephthah for four days in every year. And Jephthah judged Israel for six years, and when he died he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. At Zorah, in the inheritance of the children of Dan, whose lot had fallen to them between the wilderness of Judah on the east and the plain o- the Philistines on the west, there dwelt a certain man whose name was Manoah. In those days the Philistines had dominion over all the south of the land of Israel — that is to say, over Dan and Judah and Simeon. Now this Manoah had no children ; and on a certain day the Angel of the Lord appeared to his wife, and said to her, Behold, thou shalt bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor any strong drink, and eat not any unclean THE STORY OF SAMSON. 167 Shing. And let no razor come upon the 'head of the son whom thou shalt bear : for ihe shall be a Nazarite unto God ; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines-. The woman came and told her husband, aying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an thou didst send come again, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah ; and the Angel of God came again unto the woman, as she sat in the field ; but her husband was not with her. And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed the JEPHTHAH MEETING HIS DAUGHTER. Angel of God, very terrible ; but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name : but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt bear a son ; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God to the day of his death. Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my God, let the man of G** 3 - «l»*«n thing to her husband, and said, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. Then Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came unto the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman ? And he said, I am. The Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her 168 THE STORY OF SAMSON. beware. She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing : all that I commanded her let her observe. Manoah Offers a Kid. And Manoah said unto the Angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, till we shall have made ready a kid for thee. And the Angel of the Lord Said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, yet will I not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt offer a burnt- offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an Angel of the Lord. And Manoah said, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor. The Angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret ? So Manoah took a kid with a meat-offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord : and the Angel of the Lord did a wondrous thing; for it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, that, as Manoah and his wife looked on, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife fell on their faces to the ground ; but the Angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. Then Manoah knew that he was an Angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the Lord had been pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands ; neither would he have showed us all these things concerning the child that should be born. In due time the woman bare a son, cuid called his name Samson, which is by significa- tion "the sun." And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him ; and his Spirit came upon him at the camp ot Dan, that is between? Zorah and Eshtaol. Now there was on the plain below Zorah — for Zorah stands upon the hills — a certain village named Timnath. It was a village of the inheritance of Dan ; but the Philistines dwelt there at this time. Samson went down thither, and saw a woman of the daughters of the Philistines that pleased him. Then he came up to Zorah, and said to his father and his mother, I have seen a woman in Timnath. of the daughters of the Philistines ; now, therefore, get her for me to wife. Seeking a Wife. Then his father and his mother said to- him, Is "here never a woman among all the daughtt "; of thy brethren that are of the same tribe with thee, nor yet of the other tribes of Israel, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines ? Then Samson said to his father, Get her forme; for she pleaseth me well. But his- father and his mother knew not that the- thing was of the Lord, that their son might find occasion against the Philistines ; for at that time the Philistines had dominion over- Israel. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath. But Samson parted from his company, going by the way of the vineyards. And as he went, behold a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him,, and he rent the lion as he would have rent a kid, and this though he had no weapon in his hand. But he told not his father and his mother what he had done. After this he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased him well. When the days of betrothal were ended, he came again from Zorah with his father and his mother to take his wife. And as he THE STORY OF SAMSON. ±Q$ went he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion ; and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came again to his father and his mother, and he gave to them, and they did eat. But he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of a lion. garments of linen, and thirty upper garments. But if ye cannot find it out, ye shall give me thirty garments of linen, and thirty upper garments. They said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. He said, Out of the eater came forth meat, and our, of the strong came forth sweetness. SAMSON SLAYING THE LION. When he had come to the woman's house, he made a feast for his friends and neighbors, for so used a bridegroom to do ; and there were thirty of the Philistines that came to be his companions. On the first day of the feast Samson said to them, I will now put forth a riddle to you : if ye can find out the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty under For three days they sought to expound the riddle, and could not. On the fourth day, which was the seventh day of the week, they said to Samson's wife, Entice thy hus- band, that he tell thee the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye invited us to this r ast to rob us ot our goods ? Then Samson's wife wept before him, and 1 i70 THE STORY OF SAMSON. said, Thou dost but hate me, and not love me ; for thou hast put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and hast not told it to me. He said unto her, I have not told it to my father and my mother, and shall I tell it to thee ? But she wept before him so long as the feast continued; and it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her, because she was urgent with him. And she told the riddle to the children of her people. So the men of the city, that were his com- panions in the feast, said to him on the seventh day, before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey ? And what is stronger than a lion ? But he said, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye had not foi ,r >d out my riddle. His 'Wife Given to Another. And he went down to Ashkelon, which was one of the five cities of the Philistines, and there slew thirty men, and took their spoil, and gave the garments to them that had expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled against his wife, and he went back to his father's house. Then was his wife given to the chief of the thirty companions, a man whom he had used as his friend. A little while after, when it was now wheat harvest, Samson came down to see his wife, bringing with him a kid for a gift. Her father said, I thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy com- panion. But her younger sister is fairer than she; take her to wife, I pray thee, instead of her. When Samson knew that he had been robbed of his wife, he said, Now, though I do these Philistines an injury, yet shall I be more blameless than they. Then he went and caught three hundred jackals, and tied them two and two together, tail to tail, and put firebrands i;: the midst, between the tails ; and when he nad set the brands on fire, he let them go into the stand- ing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up the standing corn, and that which had been cut, and stood in sheaves, and the vineyards alsq and the olives. Death by Fire. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this ? The men of the place answered, Sam- son, the son-in-law of the man of Timnath, because his wife hath been given to another. Then the Philistines came up to Timnath and burnt the man's house with fire, and the man and his daughter in it. Samson said, I will be avenged of you for this, and after that I I will cease. Then he went out against them, and with the jawbone of an ass smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. When he had done this, he went and hid himself in a caverr. that there was in the hill of Etam, whici belonged unto Judah. Then the Philistine, went up, and pitched their camp in the land of Judah. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? They answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the cavern that was in the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us ? What is this that thou hast done unto us ? He said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. Then they said unto him, >Ve are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. Samscn said unto them, Swear that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. For he would not willingly lift up his hand against the men of his own people. They spoke unto him, THE STORY OF SAMSON. 171 saying, No ; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver .hee into the hand of the Philistines ; ■but su, :ly we will not kill thee. He Breaks the Cords. So they bound him with two new cords, and carried him up from the cave in the rock, and brought him, bound as he was, to the place where the Philistines were en- camped. When, the Philistines saw him, they shouted against him in their rage ; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightly upon him; and the two new cords that were upon him became as flax that hath been burnt with fire, and his bands were loosed from off his hands. And he found the new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand and took it, and slew therewith a thousand men. And he said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of an ass have I slain a thousand men. After he had wrought this great slaughter he was sore athirst, and called unto the Lord, and said, Thou hast granted to Thy servant to work this great deliverance ; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? As he looked, he saw a spring of water that came from a hollow in the rock, and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Wherefore he called the name of that spring " En-hakkore," which is by interpretation, " the fountain of him that calleth." After this Samson judged Israel twenty years. At the end of twenty years Samson ,oved a woman of Gaza, which is one of the five cities. And when he went to visit her, it was told the men of Gaza, saying, Samson is come hither. Then they made fast all the gates of the city, and laid wait for him all night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight; and at midnight he arose, and, coming to one of the gates of the city, took up the two posts, and the folding-doors that were upon them„ and the bar that joined them together, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the hills that were between Gaza and Hebron. Story of Delilah. After this he loved a woman that dwelt in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. The lords of the five cities of the Philistines came to her and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him ; and we will give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver. Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and how thou mightest be bound. Samson said, If they bind me with seven green osiers which have not been dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought to her seven green osiers that had never been dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, in the very chamber with her ; so when she bound him, she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson ! And he brake the osiers as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. After awhile Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies : now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest in truth be bound. And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never before have been used, then 172 THE STORY OF SAMSON. shall I be weak, and be as another man. Delilah, therefore, took new ropes and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson ! And there were, as before, men that laid wait in the chamber. Then Samson brake the new ropes off his arms as if they had been a thread. Yet again Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto and fastened them with the pin to the wall* Then she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson ! And he awaked out o( his sleep, and went away with the web into which his hair was woven, and the pin, and the beam itself. Once again she said to him, How cansr thou say I love thee, when thy heart is not SAMSON CAUGHT AND BOUND BY HIS FOES. thou hast mocked me, and told me lies ; tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. He said unto her, Thou canst do it if thou weavest the seven locks of my hair into the web of thy loom, and fastenest them with the pin to the wall. For his hair was long and hung down in seven locks. So Delilah wove the locks into the web, with me ? Thou hast mocked me these three ? times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And when she pressed him daily with bei words, and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death, he told her all his heart,, and said, There hath not come a razor on- my head ; for I have been a Nazarite unt*"* THE STORY OF SAMSON. 173 'God : if I be shaven, then will my strength -go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw- that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up again yet this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up and brought their money in their hand. And Delilah made Samson to sleep with his head upon her knees, and as he slept she caused a man to cut off the seven locks of his head. So she robbed him of his strength. Then she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Sam- son! And he woke out of his sleep, and said, I will go as before, and shake myself. For he knew not that the Lord had departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out hi.i eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass, .and made him grind at the mill in the prison- house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. The Death of Samson. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered themselves together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to reioice, for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And Samson was brought out to the peo- ple, and when they saw him they praised their god, for they said. Our god hath deliv- ered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. And when they had feasted and their hearts were merry, they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And he made them sport, for they jeered at him, and buf- feted him, and he could not resist; and they set him between the pillars, for all to see. Then Samson said unto the lad that led him by the hand, Suffer me to feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there ; and besides them that were in the house, there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only tnis once more, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes that they have put out And oamson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and upon which it was supported, of the one with his right hand and of the other with his left; and Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead whom Samson slew at his death were more than they whom he slew in his life. Then his kinsmen and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him betweeo Zorah and Eshtaol in the sepulchre of Manoah his father. CHAPTER XIII. B. C. 1312. A, Famine at Bethlehem — Naomi Returns from Moab — Ruth Cleaves to her Mother- in-law — Gleaners in the Harvest Field — Ruth at the Feet of Boaz— — The Shoe Given to a Neighbor — Ruth Becomes the Wife of Boaz. URING the time of the Judges, when Eli was high-priest, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethle- hem in Judah went to stay a while in the land of Moab, he and his wife and his sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. And they came into the country of Moab and sojourned there. And Elimelech died, and his two sons took to themselves wives of the women •of Moab ; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And after ten years the sons died, and Naomi was bereaved both of her husband and sons. Then she arose with her daugh- ters-in-law to return to her own country, for she had heard that God had looked upon his people and given them bread. And Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house; the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt kindly with the dead, The Lord grant that each of you may find rest in the house of her hus- band. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept, and said to her, Surely we will return with thee to thy people. But Naomi answered, Return home, my daughters. For I cannot help you, for the Lord hath dealt hardly with me. And they wept again, and Orpah departed, after 174 she had kissed her mother-in-law, but Rutb clave to her. Then Naomi said tc her, Be- hold, thy sister-in-law hath gone back to hen people and to her gods; do thou go after her. But Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee ;. for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me. They Arrive at Bethlehem. And when Naomi saw that Ruth was steadfast ii: her purpose, she sought no more to persuade her. So these two went on till they came to Bethlehem. And when they came, all Bethlehem was greatly moved, for they asked, Can this be Naomi? She said to them, Call me not Naomi, but call me Mara, for the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me. He sent me forth full, and he hath brought me back again empty. Now the time when Naomi and Ruth came tc Bethlehem was at the beginning of barley harvest. There was in Bethlehem a certain mar that was a kinsman of Elimelech. His name was Boaz, and he was very rich. Ruth said to her mother-in-law, Let me now go to tht IP ^ ^ -= ai or Hfilr , ] I RUTH AND NAOMI. 175 176 THE STORY OF RUTH. field and glean ears of corn after any one in whose sight I may find favor. And Naomi said to her, Go, my daughter. So she went and gleaned in the field, after the reapers ; and her hap was to light on that portion of the field which belonged to the man Boaz. And behold Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to his reapers, The Lord be with you ! and they answered him, The Lord bless thee ! Then Boaz said to the servant that was over the reapers, Whose damsel is this ? The man said, This is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the land of Moab. She said to me, Let me glean after the reapers. So she came, and hath continued from the morning until now, and hath scarcely rested at all. Then Boaz said to her, Go not to glean in another field ; abide here, keeping close to my maidens. None shall harm thee. And when thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of that which the men have drawn. Ruth Finds a Friend. When she heard this, she fell on her face before him on the ground, and said, Why dost thou take notice of me, seeing that I am but a stranger ? Boaz answered, I have heard all that thou hast done to thy mother- in-law, and how that thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and hast come to a people which before thou knewest not. The Lord, under whose wings thou art come to seek refuge, recompense thee for it ! And when the reapers rested for their meal, Boaz said to her, Come hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vine- gar. So she sat beside the reapers, and Boaz reached to her grain that had been roasted in the fire, and she ate till she was satisfied; but there remained something over .from her portion. And when she rose up to glean again, Boaz said to his men, Let ner glean even among the sheaves, and do not trouble her. Let fall also some handfuls for her, that she may glean them. So Ruth gleaned in the field all the day; and wnen she had beat out all that was gleaned, she found that it was an ephah, or about twenty- eight quarts, of barley. This she took into the city to her mother-in-law. Also she gave her what had been left over when she ate bread. Naomi said to her, Where hast thou gleaned to-day? Blessed be he that took notice of thee. Ruth answered, The man in whose field I gleaned is Boaz. Then Naomi said, Blessed be the Lord, who has not ceased from his kindness both to the living and the dead. For this Boaz is one of our next kinsman. Ruth's New Home. Now it was the law among the Jews that if a man died without children, his nearest kinsman should buy his inheritance and take his widow to wife, so that the name of the dead might not perish out of Israel. Naomi knew that Boaz was near of kin to Elimelech. Whether there was any one nearer she knew not. Ruth said to her mother-in-law, The man said to me that I should keep by his men till they had ended his harvest. Naomi answered, It is well ; do so, keep with his maidens, and go not into any other field. So Ruth kept by the maidens of Boaz till both the barley-harvest and the wheat-har- vest were ended. Afterwards Naomi said to Ruth, My daughter, I must see that you find a home. To-night Boaz winnows barley in the threshing-floor. Wash thyself, therefore, and anoint thyself, and put on thy best rai- ment, but take care that the man see thee not until he shall have done eating- and THE STORY OF RUTH. 17? drinking. But when he lieth down, mark the place where he shall lie, and go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down ; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And Ruth said to her mother-in-law, All that thou tellest me I will do. When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn. And Ruth came ter. This is well done of thee that thou hast come to me and to none other for help. Fear not, I will do all that thou requirest; for all the city doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman, but there is one that is nearer than I. Tarry here this night; and in the morning, if he will perform the part of a kinsman, well; but if he will not, then RUTH GLEANING IN THE FIELDS OF BOAZ. softly, and lay down at his feet under the covering that was over him. And it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and behold a woman iay at his feet. He said, Who art thou? She answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid. Spread now thy skirt over me, for thou art a near kinsman. Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daugh- 12 Lie will I perform it, as the Lord liveth. down till the morning. So she lay down, and in the morning, before it was light, so that one could not see the other, she rose up. Then he said, Bring thy veil and hold it. And when she held it, he measured into it six measures of barley, that she might take them to her home. And she told Naomi all that the man had done. 178 THE STORY OF RUTH. and how he had said, Go not empty to thy mother-in-law. Then said Naomi, Sit still, my daughter, till thou shalt know how the matter will end. The man will not be at rest until he have finished the thing, and that vhis very day. In the morning Boaz went to the gate ; for there the men of the city were wont to assemble for counsel and converse. And when the kinsman of whom Boaz had spoken to Ruth came by, Boaz called to him, Ho, thou! turn aside, and sit down here. So they sat down. And Boaz said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that has come back from the land of Moab, selleth a portion of land that belongeth to Elimelech that was her husband. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it; but if thou wilt not, then tell me, that I may know. For thou art nearest to the dead, and I am next after thee, and there is none beside. A Singular Custom. The man said, I will redeem it. Then Boaz said, When thou buyest the land of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, for she is the widow of Elime- lech's son. And her must thou take to wife, that the name of the dead may be preserved in his inheritance. The kinsman said, This I cannot do, lest I mar my own inheritance. I cannot redeem it: redeem it thyself. Now the custom in Israel was that in a matter of redeeming or exchanging, a man took off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor, as a token that he gave over to him the right that was his own in law. Therefore the kinsman drew off his shoe, and gave it to Boaz, saying, Take the right to redeem the inheritance of Elimelech and his son. And Boaz said to the elders and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought this day all that was Elimelech's, and his sons', and, moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, that was the wife of one, have I taken to be my wife, that I may raise up the name of the dead in his inheritance. Be ye therefore witnesses of this. The elders and the people answered, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thy house like Rachael and like Leah, which two did build the house ol Israel; and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem. And Ruth had a son. And the women said, to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left thee without a kinsman, to preserve the name of thy husband and thy sons in Israel. For this child shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher ol thy old age. For thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, and who is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. And the women, her neighbors, gave the child a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi, and they called him Obed, which is by inter- pretation "serving." This Obed was the father of Jesse, the fat^r of David THE HARVEST TIME. 179 RIZPAH DEFENDING THE BODIES OF HER SONS CHAPTER XIV. B. C. 1151. The Story of Samuel—Hannah's Prayer — The Boy Hears a Voice Calling Him- Sudden Death of Eli — Trouble with the Philistines — The Ark Carried Away — A Great Victory — Samuel Sets up a Stone — The Israelites Want a King. 'P IN Ramah, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, there dwelt a certain man of the tribe of Levi, Elkanah by name. He had two wives ; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah ; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. This man went up once every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at the tabernacle in Shiloh. (In those days Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, performed the office of high priest, for Eli their father was very old.) And when he had sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife, and to her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, for he loved her, though she was childless. Now Peninnah was wont to provoke Hannah sorely, and to make her to fret, because she had no children. This she did year by year; as often as they went up to the house of the Lord, so often she provoked her; therefore she wept and could not eat. But Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? Why eatest thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to thee than ten sons? Now, in a certain year when they had sacrificed and had sat down to eat and drink, Hannah rose up quickly from the table, and went to the tabernacle. And Eli the high priest sat upon his throne, by the door of the inner court of the tabernacle. And Hannah had great bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow and said. O Lord oS Hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the afflic- tion of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then wil' I give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked how her mouth moved, for Hannah spoke only in her heart; her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And he said, How long wilt thou be druken? Put away thy wine from thee. Eli's Good Wish. Hannah said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thy daughter for a wicked woman ; for out of the abundance of my sorrowful thought have I spoken. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And Hannah 183 182 THE STORY OF SAMUEL. said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. And she went her way, and returned to her husband, where he sat at meat with Peninnah and his children, and did eat, and was no more sorrowful. The next day they rose up early in the norning, and worshipped the Lord; and afterwards they returned to Ramah. In appear before the Lord, and abide in his house all the days of his life. Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what seemeth good to thee; tarry till thou shalt have weaned him; only the Lord perform his promise. So Hannah abode at home till she had weaned her son Samuel. After she had weaned him she took him THE YOUNG SAMUEL BROUGHT TO ELI. due time Hainah bare a son, and she called Ms name Samuel, for she said, I have asked him of the Lord. The word means that God heard her prayer. When the time came for Elkanah and his family to go up, after their custom, to Shiloh, Hannah went not up with them, for she said, I will not go up till the child be weaned; And then wil 1 * I bring him, that he may up with her to Shiloh, to the tabernacle She took at the same time a bullock three years old, and an ephah of flour for a burnt- offering, and a bottle of wine. And the) slew the bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And Hannah said, Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman th t stood here near to thee, when thou wast sitting, as now, upon thy throne, and prayed THE STORY OF SAMUEL. 183 unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. The Boy's Coat. And Samuel ministered before the Lord, oeing a child; and he was girded with an ephod made of white linen, as though he were a priest. His mother also made him a coat; every year she made him a coat, and brought it to him when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And the child grew, and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they knew not the Lord, and paid no heed to his law. As to the peace-offerings, the command- ment of the law was this, that the breast and the right shoulder should be the priest's, but that all the fat should be first burnt. But the custom of the sons of Eli was that, when the flesh was in seething, their servant came, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand, and struck it into the pan, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest kept for himself. So they did to all the Israelites that came to Shiloh to do sacrifice. Also, before he that sacrificed had burnt the fat, the priest's servant came and said to him, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh, but raw. And if any man said, Suffer them to burn the fat immediately, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; the servant would answer him, Nay ; but thou shalt give it me now : and if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord ; for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. And when Eli their father heard of these things and of other wickedness that they did, he said unto them, Why do ye such things ? For I hear evil words of you from all the people. Nay, my sons ; it is no good report that I hear of you : ye make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall lay a penalty on him, and he shall be free ; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him ? Thus did Eli speak unto his sons, but they hearkened not unto him. What the Prophet Said. After this there came a man of God, a prophet, to Eli, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Did I not plainly appear unto the house of Aaron thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house ? And did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me ? And did I not give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel ? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have com- manded in my habitation ; and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people ? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be this far from me ; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come when I will cut off thy strength, and the strength of thine house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see a rival in my habitation, in all the wealth which I shall give Israel. And the man of thine house, whom I shall not cut off from thy altar, shall live to con- sume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart r HANNAH VISITING SAMUEL. 184 THE STORY OF SAMUEL. 185 and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee, namely the thing that shall come on thy two sons, Hophni and Phineas; in one day they shall die, both of them. And I will raise up a faithful priest, who shall do according to that which is in mine heart, and in my mind : and I will build him a sure house ; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. And it shall come to pass that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread. Yet once again did the Lord denounce against the sons of Eli the evil that was to come upon them. It was the office of Samuel to open the doors of the tabernacle in the morning and to shut them at night ; also to light the seven-branched lamp that stood in the Holy Place when the darkness came, and to extinguish it when it was light, and to trim it, and feed it with fresh oil ; and he slept in a chamber hard by the chamber of Eli the priest. The Lord Calls Samuel. Now it happened when he was twelve years old that on a certain night, before it was dawn, for the lamp was yet burning in the tabernacle, that the Lord called Samuel as he slept, and Samuel answered, Here am I. And the lad ran to Eli ; for Eli was an old man, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, and if he needed anything he was wont to call for Samuel. And Samuel said to Eli, Here am I ; for thou calledst me. But Eli ;said, I called not ; lie down again. And he went and lay down. The Lord called a second time, 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 the Lord had never before spoken to Samuel. The Lord called Samuel again. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou didst call me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child ; therefore he said unto him, Go, lie down : and it shall be, if he call thee again, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Curiosity of Eli. And the Lord came and called as before,, Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel felt the presence of the Lord, and answered, Speak ; for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel : Behold, 11 will do a thing in Israel, tne which whoso- ever heareth both his ears shall tingle. In that day I will put over against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the inquity that he knoweth ; because his sons brought a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not. And therefore have I sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering- forever. And Samuel lay until the morning, when he opened the doors of the tabernacle. And he feared to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called him, and said, Samuel, my son!' Samuel answered, Here am I. Then said Eli, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee ? I pray thee hide it not from me : God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide from me any of the things which he said unto thee. Then Samuel told him all the words that he had heard. He hid nothing- from him 186 THE STORY OF SAMUEL. And Eli said, It is the Lord ; let him do what seemeth him good. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that he was established to be a prophet of the Lord ; for the Lord and Shen, in the place which was afterwards called Eben-ezer, and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel, and when the battle was joined, Israel was smitten before the Philis- tines ; and the Philistines slew of them four THE CALL OF SAMUEL. appeared again in Shiloh, speaking to Israel by the word of Samuel. Now it happened not long after these things that the children of Israel rebelled against the Philistines, who had oppressed them for twenty years and more, and went ort to fight against them. The children of Isiael pitched their camp between Mizpeh thousand men, who fell in the open country where the battle was fought. When they that had escaped from the battle came back into the camp, the elders of the people held a council ; and they said among themselves, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to-day before the Philistines ? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord THE STORY OF SAMUEL. 18T