{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_16042/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_16042","id":"gutenberg_16042","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16042","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories, English","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Children's Religion"],"text":"Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Thomas Hutchinson and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE FINDING OF MOSES--The daughter of Pharaoh comes\nto the water's edge and finds the child. By chance the child's mother is\ncalled as nurse, and it grew and was brought to Pharaoh's daughter and\nbecame her son--(Exodus 2; 5-10.)]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WONDER BOOK\nOF BIBLE STORIES\n\n\nEDITED AND ARRANGED BY\nLOGAN MARSHALL\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The baby in the manger]\n\n\n\nTHE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY, PUBLISHERS\nPHILADELPHIA CHICAGO\n\nTORONTO--THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY, LIMITED\nCopyright, 1925, by\nTHE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.\n\nCopyright, 1925,\nin the Philippine Islands.\n\nCopyright, 1904, by\nTHE J.C.W. CO.\n\n\nPRINTED IN THE U.S.A.\nAT THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS\n\nTHE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY, PROPRIETORS, PHILADELPHIA\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n                                        PAGE\nINTRODUCTION                              1\n\nTHE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE                 3\n\nTHE STORY OF NOAH AND THE ARK             7\n\nTHE STORY OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL            16\n\nTHE STORY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC            22\n\nTHE STORY OF JACOB                        28\n\n   THE SALE OF A BIRTHRIGHT               29\n\n   THE STORY OF THE LADDER THAT REACHED TO HEAVEN         37\n\nTHE STORY OF JOSEPH\n\n   THE COAT OF MANY COLORS                42\n\n   THE DREAMS OF A KING                   49\n\n   THE STORY OF THE MONEY IN THE SACKS    58\n\n   THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST BROTHER        65\n\nTHE STORY OF MOSES, THE CHILD WHO WAS FOUND IN THE RIVER  73\n\nTHE STORY OF THE GRAPES FROM CANAAN       82\n\nTHE STORY OF GIDEON AND HIS THREE HUNDRED SOLDIERS        88\n\nTHE STORY OF SAMSON, THE STRONG MAN       98\n\nTHE STORY OF RUTH, THE GLEANER            111\n\nTHE STORY OF DAVID\n\n   THE SHEPHERD BOY                       117\n\n   THE STORY OF THE FIGHT WITH THE GIANT  125\n\nTHE STORY OF THE CAVE OF ADULLAM          131\n\nTHE STORY OF SOLOMON AND HIS TEMPLE       133\n\nTHE STORY OF ELIJAH, THE PROPHET          138\n\nTHE STORY OF JONAH AND THE WHALE          142\n\nTHE STORY OF THE FIERY FURNACE            147\n\nTHE STORY OF DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN     155\n\nTHE STORY OF THE ANGEL BY THE ALTAR       160\n\nTHE STORY OF JESUS\n\n   THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM                     167\n\n   THE STORY OF THE STAR AND THE WISE MEN    172\n\n   THE STORY OF THE CHILD IN THE TEMPLE      179\n\n   THE STORY OF THE WATER THAT WAS TURNED INTO WINE   184\n\n   THE STORY OF THE STRANGER AT THE WELL     189\n\n   THE STORY OF THE FISHERMEN                195\n\n   THE STORY OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT      199\n\n   THE STORY OF THE MIRACLE WORKER           206\n\n   THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE GOOD SAMARITAN  215\n\n   THE STORY OF THE PALM BRANCHES            221\n\n   THE STORY OF THE BETRAYAL                 228\n\n   THE STORY OF THE EMPTY TOMB               235\n\nTHE STORY OF THE MAN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE   243\n\nTHE STORY OF STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR       249\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n                                         PAGE\nThe Finding of Moses                       i\n\nTitle Plate                                ii\n\nThey were driven forth by an angel         3\n\nCain and Abel                              5\n\nThe water rose higher and higher           12\n\nSo Noah opened the door of the ark         14\n\nIn some way she lost the road              19\n\nLearned to shoot with the bow and arrow    20\n\nFor two days they walked                   24\n\n\"God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering\"      25\n\n\"Sell me your birthright\"                  29\n\n\"Now, my son, do what I tell you\"          32\n\n\"May nations bow down to you\"              34\n\nAngels were upon the stairs                38\n\nJacob went onward in his long journey      40\n\nBack to the Land of Canaan                 43\n\nWalking northward over the mountains       45\n\nFor twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph           47\n\n\"The two dreams have the same meaning\"                 56\n\n\"What wicked thing is this that you have done?\"        70\n\nThey made the Israelites work hard                     75\n\nShe placed her baby in the ark                         76\n\nMoses became a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian    79\n\nGod fed them day by day with manna                     81\n\nA cluster of grapes so large that two men carried it   83\n\nThe angel touched the offering with his staff          89\n\nThe men blew their trumpets with a mighty noise        95\n\nHe carried off the gates of the city                   105\n\nHe bowed forward with all his might and pulled\nthe pillars with him                                   109\n\nRuth went out into the fields to glean the grain       114\n\nThen Samuel poured oil on David's head                 122\n\nThe giant looked down on the youth and despised him    128\n\nDavid drew out the giant's own sword                   129\n\nSolomon on his throne                                  136\n\nSupposed form of Solomon's Temple                      137\n\nShip in Solomon's time                                 137\n\nDenounced Ahab and Jezebel                             139\n\nMade king when he was only seven years old             140\n\n\"This is the arrow of victory\"                         141\n\nTo shade Jonah from the sun                            145\n\nNebuchadnezzar was filled with rage                    150\n\nAn angel befriended them                               152\n\nThrown into the den of lions                           157\n\nDaniel's Answer to the King                            158\n\n\"Do not be afraid, Zacharias\"                          162\n\nThey were filled with fear                             169\n\nThe baby in the manger                                 170\n\nThe Shepherds in the Field                             171\n\nThe wise men went their way                            173\n\nHe took his wife and baby and went down to Egypt       176\n\nSitting in a company of the doctors of the law         181\n\n\"Fill the jars with water\"                             185\n\n\"Take these things away\"                               187\n\nThe net caught so many fishes they could not pull it up  196\n\n\"I came not to call those who think themselves to be good\"  201\n\nThen, on the mountain, he preached                     203\n\n\"Speak the word and my servant shall be cured\"         207\n\nThe children loved to gather around him                210\n\nThen he lifted him up                                  219\n\nCame to Bethany where his friends Martha and Mary lived  221\n\nShe wiped his feet with her hair                       223\n\nThey threw their garments upon the ground for Jesus to ride upon   225\n\nThe great city was deaf to his pleadings               227\n\nPeter Denies Christ                                    232\n\nHe heard their complaints                              235\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe Bible is one of the two or three oldest books in the world, but\nunlike most of the ancient books, it is found not only in great\nlibraries, but in almost every home of the civilized world; and it is\nnot only studied by learned scholars, but read by the common people; and\nits many stories grasp and hold the attention of little children. Happy\nis that child who has heard, over and over again, the Bible stories\nuntil they have become fixed in his mind and memory, to become the\nfoundations of a noble life.\n\nIt is with the desire of aiding parents and teachers in telling these\nstories, and aiding children to understand them, also in the hope that\nthey may be read in many schools, that a few among the many interesting\nstories in the Bible have been chosen, brought together and as far as\nnecessary simplified to meet the minds of the young.\n\n[Signature: Jesse Lyman Hurlbut]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE\n\n\nThe first man's name was Adam and his wife he called Eve. They lived in\na beautiful Garden away in the East Country which was called Eden,\nfilled with beautiful trees and flowers of all kinds. But they did not\nlive in Eden long for they did not obey God's command, but ate the fruit\nof a tree which had been forbidden them. They were driven forth by an\nangel and had to give up their beautiful home.\n\n[Illustration: _They were driven forth by an angel_]\n\nSo Adam and his wife went out into the world to live and to work. For a\ntime they were all alone, but after a while God gave them a little child\nof their own, the first baby that ever came into the world. Eve named\nhim Cain; and after a time another baby came, whom she named Abel.\n\nWhen the two boys grew up, they worked, as their father worked before\nthem. Cain, the older brother, chose to work in the fields, and to raise\ngrain and fruits. Abel, the younger brother, had a flock of sheep and\nbecame a shepherd.\n\nWhile Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden, they could talk\nwith God and hear God's voice speaking to them. But now that they were\nout in the world, they could no longer talk with God freely, as before.\nSo when they came to God, they built an altar of stones heaped up, and\nupon it, they laid something as a gift to God, and burned it, to show\nthat it was not their own, but was given to God, whom they could not\nsee. Then before the altar they made their prayer to God, and asked God\nto forgive their sins, all that they had done was wrong; and prayed God\nto bless them and do good to them.\n\nEach of these brothers, Cain and Abel, offered upon the altar to God his\nown gift. Cain brought the fruits and the grain which he had grown; and\nAbel brought a sheep from his flock, and killed it and burned it upon\nthe altar. For some reason God was pleased with Abel and his offering,\nbut was not pleased with Cain and his offering. Perhaps God wished Cain\nto offer something that had life, as Abel offered; perhaps Cain's heart\nwas not right when he came before God.\n\nAnd God showed that He was not pleased with Cain; and Cain, instead of\nbeing sorry for his sin, and asking God to forgive him, was very angry\nwith God, and angry also toward his brother Abel. When they were out in\nthe field together Cain struck his brother Abel and killed him. So the\nfirst baby in the world grew up to be the murderer of his own brother.\n\nAnd the Lord said to Cain, \"Where is Abel, your brother?\"\n\n[Illustration: _Cain and Abel_]\n\nAnd Cain answered, \"I do not know; why should I take care of my\nbrother?\"\n\nThen the Lord said to Cain, \"What is this that you have done? Your\nbrother's blood is like a voice crying to me from the ground. Do you see\nhow the ground has opened, like a mouth, to drink your brother's blood?\nAs long as you live, you shall be under God's curse for the murder of\nyour brother. You shall wander over the earth, and shall never find a\nhome, because you have done this wicked deed.\"\n\nAnd Cain said to the Lord, \"My punishment is greater than I can bear.\nThou hast driven me out from among men; and thou hast hid thy face from\nme. If any man finds me he will kill me, because I shall be alone, and\nno one will be my friend.\"\n\nAnd God said to Cain, \"If any one harms Cain, he shall be punished for\nit.\" And the Lord God placed a mark on Cain, so that whoever met him\nshould know him and should know also that God had forbidden any man to\nharm him. Then Cain and his wife went away from Adam's home to live in a\nplace by themselves, and there they had children. And Cain's family\nbuilt a city in that land; and Cain named the city after his first\nchild, whom he had called Enoch.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF NOAH AND THE ARK\n\n\nAfter Abel was slain, and his brother Cain had gone into another land,\nagain God gave a child to Adam and Eve. This child they named Seth; and\nother sons and daughters were given to them; for Adam and Eve lived many\nyears. But at last they died, as God had said they must die, because\nthey had eaten of the tree that God had forbidden them to eat.\n\nBy the time that Adam died, there were many people on the earth; for the\nchildren of Adam and Eve had many other children; and when these grew up\nthey had other children; and these had children also. These men and\nwomen and children lived in tents. They owned sheep and cattle, and they\nmoved about with them, wherever they could find pasture. The children\nplayed around the tent doors, and sat beside the camp-fires in the\nevenings, where they all sang together, and the older people told them\nstories. And after a time this land where Adam's sons lived began to be\nfull of people.\n\nIt is sad to tell that as time went on more and more of these people\nbecame wicked, and fewer and fewer of them grew up to become good men\nand women. All the people lived near together, and few went away to\nother lands; so it came to pass that even the children of good men and\nwomen learned to be bad, like the people around them, and no longer did\nwhat was right and good.\n\nAnd as God looked down on the world that he had made, he saw how wicked\nthe men in it had become, and that every thought and every act of man\nwas evil and only evil continually.\n\nBut while most of the people in the world were very wicked, there were\nsome good people also, though they were very few. The best of all the\nmen who lived at that time was a man whose name was Enoch. He was not\nthe son of Cain, but another Enoch, who came from the family of Seth,\nthe son of Adam, who was born after the death of Abel. While so many\naround Enoch were doing evil, this man did only what was right. He\nwalked with God and God walked with him, and talked with him. And at\nlast, when Enoch was a very old man and weary with life, God took him\naway from earth to heaven. He did not die, as all the people have since\nAdam disobeyed God, but \"he was not, for God took him.\" This means that\nEnoch was taken up from earth without dying.\n\nAll the people in the time of Enoch were not shepherds. Some of them had\nlearned how to make rude bows and arrows and axes and plows. And after a\nlong time they melted iron, and they made knives and swords and dishes\nto use in their homes. They sowed grain in the fields and reaped\nharvests, and they planted vines and fruit trees. But God looked down on\nthe earth and said:\n\n\"I will take away all men from the earth that I have made; because the\nmen of the world are evil, and do evil continually.\"\n\nBut even in those bad times God saw one good man. His name was Noah.\nNoah tried to do right in the sight of God. As Enoch had walked with\nGod, so Noah walked with God, and talked with him. And Noah had three\nsons; their names were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth.\n\nGod said to Noah, \"The time has come when all the men and women on the\nearth are to be destroyed. Every one must die, because they are all\nwicked. But you and your family shall be saved, because you alone are\ntrying to do right.\"\n\nThen God told Noah how he might save his life and the lives of his sons.\nHe was to build a very large boat, as large as the largest ships that\nare made in our time; very long, and very wide and very deep; with a\nroof over it; and made like a long, wide house in three stories; but so\nbuilt that it would float on the water. Such a ship as this was called\n\"an ark.\" God told Noah to build this ark, and to have it ready for the\ntime when he would need it.\n\n\"For,\" said God to Noah, \"I am going to bring a great flood of water on\nthe earth to cover all the land and to drown all the people on the\nearth. And as the animals on the earth will be drowned with the people,\nyou must make the ark large enough to hold a pair of each kind of\nanimals and several pairs of some animals that are needed by men, like\nsheep and goats and oxen; so that there will be animals as well as men\nto live upon the earth after the flood has passed away. And you must\ntake in the ark food for yourself and your family, and for all the\nanimals with you; enough food to last for a year, while the flood shall\nstay on the earth.\"\n\nAnd Noah did what God told him to do, although it must have seemed very\nstrange to all the people around, to build this great ark where there\nwas no water for it to sail upon. And it was a long time, because this\nship was so big, that Noah and his sons were at work building the ark,\nwhich God had told them to build, while the wicked people around\nwondered, and no doubt laughed at Noah for building a great ship where\nthere was no sea.\n\nAt last the ark was finished, and stood like a great house on the land.\nThere was a door on one side, and a window on the roof, to let in the\nlight. Then God said to Noah:\n\n\"Come into the ark, you and your wife, and your three sons, and their\nwives with them; for the flood of waters will come very soon. And take\nwith you animals of all kinds, and birds, and things that creep; seven\npairs of these that will be needed by men, and one pair of all the rest,\nso that all kinds of animals may be kept alive upon the earth.\"\n\nSo Noah and his wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, with\ntheir wives, went into the ark. And God brought to the door of the ark\nthe animals, and the birds, and the creeping things of all kinds; and\nthey went into the ark. And Noah and his sons put them in their places,\nand brought in food enough to feed them all for many days. And then the\ndoor of the ark was shut and no more people and no more animals could\ncome in.\n\nIn a few days the rain began to fall, as it had never rained before. It\nseemed as though the heavens were opened to pour great floods upon the\nearth. The streams filled, and the rivers rose higher and higher, and\nthe ark began to float on the water. The people left their houses and\nran up to the hills; but soon the hills were covered, and all the people\non them were drowned.\n\nSome had climbed up to the tops of higher mountains, but the water rose\nhigher and higher, until even the mountains were covered and all the\npeople, wicked as they had been, were drowned in the great sea that now\nrolled over all the earth where man had lived. And all the animals, the\ntame animals, cattle, and sheep, and oxen, were drowned; and the wild\nanimals, lions, and tigers, and all the rest were drowned also. Even the\nbirds were drowned, for their nests in the trees were swept away, and\nthere was no place where they could fly from the terrible storm. For\nforty days and nights the rain kept on, until there was no breath of\nlife remaining outside of the ark.\n\n[Illustration: _The water rose higher and higher_]\n\nAfter forty days the rain stopped, but the water stayed upon the earth\nfor more than six months, and the ark with all that were in it floated\nover the great sea that covered the land. Then God sent a wind to blow\nover the waters, and to dry them up; so by degrees the waters grew less\nand less. First mountains rose above the waters, then the hills rose\nup, and finally the ark ceased to float and lay aground on a mountain\nwhich is called Mount Ararat.\n\nBut Noah could not see what had happened on the earth, because the door\nwas shut, and the only window was up in the roof. But he felt that the\nark was no longer moving, and he knew that the water must have gone\ndown. So, after waiting for a time, Noah opened a window, and let loose\na bird called a raven. Now the raven has strong wings; and this raven\nflew round and round until the waters had gone down, and it could find a\nplace to rest, and it did not come back to the ark.\n\nAfter Noah had waited for it awhile, he sent out a dove; but the dove\ncould not find any place to rest, so it flew back to the ark, and Noah\ntook it into the ark again. Then Noah waited a week longer, and\nafterward he sent out the dove again. And at the evening, the dove came\nback to the ark, which was its home; and in its bill was a fresh leaf\nwhich it had picked off from an olive tree.\n\nSo Noah knew that the water had gone down enough to let the trees grow\nagain. He waited another week, and sent out the dove again; but this\ntime the dove flew away and never came back. And Noah knew that the\nearth was becoming dry again. So he took off a part of the roof, and\nlooked out, and saw that there was dry land all around the ark, and the\nwaters were no longer everywhere.\n\nNoah had now lived in the ark a little more than a year, and he was glad\nto see the green land and the trees once more. And God said to Noah:\n\n\"Come out of the ark, with your wife, and your sons, and their wives,\nand all the living things that are with you in the ark.\"\n\n[Illustration: _So Noah opened the door of the Ark_]\n\nSo Noah opened the door of the ark, and with his family came out, and\nstood once more on the ground. And the animals, and birds, and creeping\nthings in the ark, came out also, and began again to bring life to the\nearth.\n\nThe first thing that Noah did when he came out of the ark, was to give\nthanks to God for saving all his family when the rest of the people on\nthe earth were destroyed. He built an altar, and laid upon it an\noffering to the Lord, and gave himself and his family to God and\npromised to do God's will.\n\nAnd God was pleased with Noah's offering, and God said:\n\n\"I will not again destroy the earth on account of men, no matter how bad\nthey may be. From this time no flood shall again cover the earth; but\nthe seasons of spring and summer and fall and winter, shall remain\nwithout change. I give to you the earth; you shall be the rulers of the\nground and of every living thing upon it.\"\n\nThen God caused a rainbow to appear in the sky, and he told Noah and his\nsons that whenever they or the people after them should see the rainbow,\nthey should remember that God had placed it in the sky and over the\nclouds as a sign of his promise, that he would always remember the\nearth, and the people upon it, and would never again send a flood to\ndestroy man from the earth.\n\nSo as often as we see the beautiful rainbow, we are to remember that it\nis the sign of God's promise to the world.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL\n\n\nAfter the great flood the family of Noah and those who came after him\ngrew in number, until, as the years went on, the earth began to be full\nof people once more. But there was one great difference between the\npeople who had lived before the flood and those who lived after it.\nBefore the flood, all the people stayed close together, so that very\nmany lived in one land, and no one lived in other lands. After the flood\nfamilies began to move from one place to another, seeking for themselves\nnew homes. Some went one way, and some another, so that as the number of\npeople grew, they covered much more of the earth than those who had\nlived before the flood.\n\nPart of the people went up to the north and built a city called Nineveh,\nwhich became the ruling city of a great land called Assyria, whose\npeople were called Assyrians.\n\nAnother company went away to the west and settled by the great river\nNile, and founded the land of Egypt, with its strange temples and\npyramids, its sphinx and its monuments.\n\nAnother company wandered northwest until they came to the shore of the\ngreat sea which they called the Mediterranean Sea. There they founded\nthe cities of Sidon and Tyre, where the people were sailors, sailing to\ncountries far away, and bringing home many things from other lands to\nsell to the people of Babylon, and Assyria, and Egypt, and other\ncountries.\n\nAmong the many cities which the people built were two called Sodom and\nGomorrah. The people in these cities were very wicked and were nearly\nall destroyed. One good man named Lot and his family escaped. There was\nanother good man named Abraham who did not live in these cities. He\ntried to do God's will and was promised a son to bring joy into his\nfamily.\n\nAfter Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Abraham moved his tent and his\ncamp away from that part of the land, and went to live near a place\ncalled Gerar, in the southwest, not far from the Great Sea. And there at\nlast, the child whom God had promised to Abraham and Sarah, his wife,\nwas born, when Abraham, his father, was a very old man.\n\nThey named this child Isaac, as the angel had told them he should be\nnamed. And Abraham and Sarah were so happy to have a little boy, that\nafter a time they gave a great feast and invited all the people to come\nand rejoice with them, and all in honor of the little Isaac.\n\nNow Sarah had a maid named Hagar, an Egyptian woman, who ran away from\nher mistress, and saw an angel by a well, and afterward came back to\nSarah. She, too, had a child and his name was Ishmael. So now there were\ntwo boys in Abraham's tent, the older boy, Ishmael, the son of Hagar,\nand the younger boy, Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah.\n\nIshmael did not like the little Isaac, and did not treat him kindly.\nThis made his mother Sarah very angry, and she said to her husband:\n\n\"I do not wish to have this boy Ishmael growing up with my son Isaac.\nSend away Hagar and her boy, for they are a trouble to me.\"\n\nAnd Abraham felt very sorry to have trouble come between Sarah and\nHagar, and between Isaac and Ishmael; for Abraham was a kind and good\nman, and he was friendly to them all.\n\nBut the Lord said to Abraham, \"Do not be troubled about Ishmael and his\nmother. Do as Sarah has asked you to do, and send them away. It is best\nthat Isaac should be left alone in your tent, for he is to receive\neverything that is yours. I the Lord will take care of Ishmael, and will\nmake a great people of his descendants, those who shall come from him.\"\n\nSo the next morning Abraham sent Hagar and her boy away, expecting them\nto go back to the land of Egypt, from which Hagar had come. He gave them\nsome food for the journey, and a bottle of water to drink by the way.\nThe bottles in that country are not like ours, made of glass. They are\nmade from the skin of a goat. One of these skin-bottles Abraham filled\nwith water and gave to Hagar.\n\nAnd Hagar went away from Abraham's tent, leading her little boy. But in\nsome way she lost the road, and wandered over the desert, not knowing\nwhere she was, until all the water in the bottle was used up; and her\npoor boy in the hot sun and the burning sand had nothing to drink. She\nthought that he would die of his terrible thirst; and she laid him down\nunder a little bush; and then she went away, for she said to herself:\n\n[Illustration: _In some way she lost the road_]\n\n\"I cannot bear to look at my poor boy suffering and dying for want of\nwater.\"\n\nAnd just at that moment, while Hagar was crying, and her boy was\nmoaning with thirst, she heard a voice saying to her:\n\n\"Hagar, what is your trouble? Do not be afraid. God has heard your cry\nand the cry of your child. God will take care of you both, and will make\nof your boy a great nation of people.\"\n\nIt was the voice of an angel from heaven; and then Hagar looked, and\nthere, close at hand, was a spring of water in the desert. How glad\nHagar was as she filled the bottle with water and took it to her\nsuffering boy under the bush!\n\n[Illustration: _Learned to shoot with the bow and arrow_]\n\nAfter this Hagar did not go down to Egypt. She found a place where she\nlived and brought up her son in the wilderness, far from other people.\nAnd Ishmael grew up in the desert and learned to shoot with the bow and\narrow. He became a wild man, and his children after him grew up to be\nwild men also. They were the Arabians of the desert, who even to this\nday have never been ruled by any other people, but wander through the\ndesert, and live as they please. So Ishmael came to be the father of\nmany people, and his descendants, the wild Arabians of the desert, are\nliving unto this day in that land.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC\n\n\nYou remember that in those times of which we are telling, when men\nworshipped God, they built an altar of earth or of stone, and laid an\noffering upon it as a gift to God. The offering was generally a sheep,\nor a goat, or a young ox--some animal that was used for food. Such an\noffering was called \"a sacrifice.\"\n\nBut the people who worshipped idols often did what seems to us strange\nand very terrible. They thought that it would please their gods if they\nwould offer as a sacrifice the most precious living things that were\ntheir own; and they would take their own little children and kill them\nupon their altars as offerings to the gods of wood and stone, that were\nno real gods, but only images.\n\nGod wished to show Abraham and all his descendants, those who should\ncome after him, that he was not pleased with such offerings as those of\nliving people, killed on the altars. And God took a way to teach\nAbraham, so that he and his children after him would never forget it.\nThen at the same time he wished to see how faithful and obedient Abraham\nwould be to his commands; how fully Abraham would trust in God, or, as\nwe would say, how great was Abraham's faith in God.\n\nSo God gave to Abraham a command which he did not mean to have obeyed,\nthough this he did not tell to Abraham. He said:\n\n\"Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love so greatly, and\ngo to the land of Moriah, and there on a mountain that I will show you,\noffer him for a burnt-offering to me.\"\n\nThough this command filled Abraham's heart with pain, yet he would not\nbe as surprised to receive it as a father would in our day; for such\nofferings were very common among all those people in the land where\nAbraham lived. Abraham never for one moment doubted or disobeyed God's\nword. He knew that Isaac was the child whom God had promised, and that\nGod had promised, too, that Isaac should have children, and that those\ncoming from Isaac should be a great nation. He did not see how God could\nkeep his promise with regard to Isaac, if Isaac should be killed as an\noffering; unless indeed God should raise him up from the dead afterward.\n\nBut Abraham undertook at once to obey. God's command. He took two young\nmen with him and an ass laden with wood for the fire; and he went toward\nthe mountain in the north, Isaac, his son, walking by his side. For two\ndays they walked, sleeping under the trees at night in the open country.\nAnd on the third day Abraham saw the mountain far away. And as they drew\nnear to the mountain Abraham said to the young men:\n\n[Illustration: _For two days they walked_]\n\n\"Stay here with the ass, while I go up yonder mountain with Isaac to\nworship; and when we have worshipped, we will come back to you.\" For\nAbraham believed that in some way God would bring back Isaac to life. He\ntook the wood from the ass and placed it on Isaac, and they two walked\nup the mountain together. As they were walking, Isaac said:\n\n\"Father, here is the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering?\"\n\nAnd Abraham said, \"My son, God will provide himself a Lamb for a burnt\noffering.\"\n\nAnd they came to the place on the top of the mountain. There Abraham\nbuilt an altar of stones and earth heaped up; and on it he placed the\nwood. Then he tied the hands and the feet of Isaac, and laid him on the\naltar, on the wood. And Abraham lifted up his hand, holding a knife to\nkill his son. Another moment longer and Isaac would be slain by his own\nfather's hand.\n\n[Illustration: _\"God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt\noffering\"_]\n\nBut just at that moment the angel of the Lord out of heaven called to\nAbraham, and said:\n\n\"Abraham! Abraham!\"\n\nAnd Abraham answered, \"Here I am, Lord.\" Then the angel of the Lord\nsaid:\n\n\"Do not lay your hand upon your son. Do no harm to him. Now I know that\nyou love God more than you love your only son, and that you are obedient\nto God, since you are ready to give up your son, your only son, to God.\"\n\nWhat a relief and a joy these words from heaven brought to the heart of\nAbraham! How glad he was to know that it was not God's will for him to\nkill his son! Then Abraham looked around, and there in the thicket was a\nram caught by his horns. And Abraham took the ram and offered him up for\na burnt-offering in place of his son. So Abraham's words came true when\nhe said that God would provide for himself a lamb.\n\nThe place where this altar was built Abraham named Jehovah-jireh, words\nin the language that Abraham spoke meaning, \"The Lord will provide.\"\n\nThis offering, which seems so strange, did much good. It showed to\nAbraham, and to Isaac also, that Isaac belonged to God, for to God he\nhad been offered; and in Isaac all those who should come from him, his\ndescendants, had been given to God. Then it showed to Abraham and to\nall the people after him, that God did not wish children or men killed\nas offerings for worship; and while all the people around offered such\nsacrifices, the Israelites, who came from Abraham and from Isaac, never\noffered them, but offered oxen and sheep and goats instead.\n\nThese gifts, which cost so much toil, they felt must be pleasing to God,\nbecause they expressed their thankfulness to him. But they were glad to\nbe taught that God does not desire men's lives to be taken, but loves\nour living gifts of love and kindness.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF JACOB\n\n\nAfter Abraham died, his son Isaac lived in the land of Canaan. Like his\nfather, Isaac had his home in a tent; around him were the tents of his\npeople, and many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle feeding wherever\nthey could find grass to eat and water to drink.\n\nIsaac and his wife Rebekah had two children. The older was named Esau\nand the younger Jacob.\n\nEsau was a man of the woods and very fond of hunting; and he was rough\nand covered with hair.\n\nJacob was quiet and thoughtful, staying at home, dwelling in a tent, and\ncaring for the flocks of his father.\n\nIsaac loved Esau more than Jacob, because Esau brought to his father\nthat which he had killed in his hunting; but Rebekah liked Jacob,\nbecause she saw that he was wise and careful in his work.\n\nAmong the people in those lands, when a man dies, his older son receives\ntwice as much as the younger of what the father has owned. This was\ncalled his \"birthright,\" for it was his right as the oldest born. So\nEsau, as the older, had a \"birthright\" to more of Isaac's possessions\nthan Jacob. And besides this, there was the privilege of the promise of\nGod that the family of Isaac should receive great blessings.\n\n\n\nTHE SALE OF A BIRTHRIGHT\n\nNow Esau, when he grew up, did not care for his birthright or the\nblessing which God had promised. But Jacob, who was a wise man, wished\ngreatly to have the birthright which would come to Esau when his father\ndied. Once, when Esau came home, hungry and tired from hunting in the\nfields, he saw that Jacob had a bowl of something that he had just\ncooked for dinner. And Esau said:\n\n\"Give me some of that red stuff in the dish. Will you not give me some?\nI am hungry.\"\n\n[Illustration: _\"Sell me your birthright\"_]\n\nAnd Jacob answered, \"I will give it to you, if you will first of all\nsell to me your birthright.\"\n\nAnd Esau said, \"What is the use of the birthright to me now, when I am\nalmost starving to death? You can have my birthright if you will give me\nsomething to eat.\"\n\nThen Esau made Jacob a solemn promise to give to Jacob his birthright,\nall for a bowl of food. It was not right for Jacob to deal so selfishly\nwith his brother; but it was very wrong in Esau to care so little for\nhis birthright and God's blessing.\n\nSome time after this, when Esau was forty years old, he married two\nwives. Though this would be very wicked in our times, it was not\nsupposed to be wrong then; for even good men then had more than one\nwife. But Esau's two wives were women from the people of Canaan, who\nworshipped idols, and not the true God. And they taught their children\nalso to pray to idols; so that those who came from Esau, the people who\nwere his descendants, lost all knowledge of God, and became very wicked.\nBut this was long after that time.\n\nIsaac and Rebekah were very sorry to have their son Esau marry women who\nprayed to idols and not to God; but still Isaac loved his active son\nEsau more than his quiet son Jacob. But Rebekah loved Jacob more than\nEsau.\n\nIsaac became at last very old and feeble, and so blind that he could\nsee scarcely anything. One day he said to Esau:\n\n\"My son, I am very old, and do not know how soon I must die. But before\nI die, I wish to give to you, as my older son, God's blessing upon you,\nand your children, and your descendants. Go out into the fields, and\nwith your bow and arrows shoot some animal that is good for food, and\nmake for me a dish of cooked meat such as you know I love; and after I\nhave eaten it I will give you the blessing.\"\n\nNow Esau ought to have told his father that the blessing did not belong\nto him, for he had sold it to his brother Jacob. But he did not tell his\nfather. He went out into the fields hunting, to find the kind of meat\nwhich his father liked the most.\n\nNow Rebekah was listening, and heard all that Isaac had said to Esau.\nShe knew that it would be better for Jacob to have the blessing than for\nEsau; and she loved Jacob more than Esau. So she called to Jacob and\ntold him what Isaac had said to Esau, and she said:\n\n\"Now, my son, do what I tell you, and you will get the blessing instead\nof your brother. Go to the flocks and bring to me two little kids from\nthe goats, and I will cook them just like the meat which Esau cooks for\nyour father. And you will bring it to your father, and he will think\nthat you are Esau, and will give you the blessing; and it really belongs\nto you.\"\n\n[Illustration: _\"Now, my son, do what I tell you\"_]\n\nBut Jacob said, \"You know that Esau and I are not alike. His neck and\narms are covered with hairs, while mine are smooth. My father will feel\nof me, and he will find that I am not Esau; and then, instead of giving\nme a blessing, I am afraid that he will curse me.\"\n\nBut Rebekah answered her son, \"Never mind; you do as I have told you,\nand I will take care of you. If any harm comes it will come to me; so do\nnot be afraid, but go and bring the meat.\"\n\nThen Jacob went and brought a pair of little kids from the flocks, and\nfrom them his mother made a dish of food, so that it would be to the\ntaste just as Isaac liked it. Then Rebekah found some of Esau's clothes,\nand dressed Jacob in them; and she placed on his neck and hands some of\nthe skins of the kids, so that his neck and his hands would feel rough\nand hairy to the touch.\n\nThen Jacob came into his father's tent, bringing the dinner, and\nspeaking as much like Esau as he could, he said:\n\n\"Here I am, my father.\"\n\nAnd Isaac said, \"Who are you, my son?\"\n\nAnd Jacob answered, \"I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you bade\nme; now sit up and eat the dinner that I have made, and then give me\nyour blessing as you promised me.\"\n\nAnd Isaac said, \"How is it that you found it so quickly?\"\n\nJacob answered, \"Because the Lord your God showed me where to go and\ngave me good success.\"\n\nIsaac did not feel certain that it was his son Esau, and he said, \"Come\nnear and let me feel you, so that I may know that you are really my son\nEsau.\"\n\nAnd Jacob went up close to Isaac's bed, and Isaac felt of his face, and\nhis neck, and his hands, and he said:\n\n[Illustration: _\"May nations bow down to you.\"_]\n\n\"The voice sounds like Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Are\nyou really my son Esau?\"\n\nAnd Jacob told a lie to his father, and said, \"I am.\"\n\nThen the old man ate the food that Jacob had brought to him; and he\nkissed Jacob, believing him to be Esau; and he gave him the blessing,\nsaying to him:\n\n\"May God give you the dew of heaven, and the richness of the earth, and\nplenty of grain and wine. May nations bow down to you and peoples become\nyour servants. May you be the master over your brother, and may your\nfamily and descendants that shall come from you rule over his family and\nhis descendants. Blessed be those that bless you, and cursed be those\nthat curse you.\"\n\nJust as soon as Jacob had received the blessing he rose up and hastened\naway. He had scarcely gone out, when Esau came in from hunting, with the\ndish of food that he had cooked. And he said:\n\n\"Let my father sit up and eat the food that I have brought, and give me\nthe blessing.\"\n\nAnd Isaac said, \"Why, who are you?\"\n\nEsau answered, \"I am your son; your oldest son, Esau.\"\n\nAnd Isaac trembled, and said, \"Who then is the one that came in and\nbrought to me food? and I have eaten his food and have blessed him; yes,\nand he shall be blessed.\"\n\nWhen Esau heard this, he knew that he had been cheated; and he cried\naloud, with a bitter cry, \"O, my father, my brother has taken away my\nblessing, just as he took away my birthright! But cannot you give me\nanother blessing, too? Have you given everything to my brother?\"\n\nAnd Isaac told him all that he had said to Jacob, making him the ruler\nover his brother.\n\nBut Esau begged for another blessing; and Isaac said:\n\n\"My son, your dwelling shall be of the riches of the earth and of the\ndew of heaven. You shall live by your sword and your descendants shall\nserve his descendants. But in time to come they shall break loose and\nshall shake off the yoke of your brother's rule and shall be free.\"\n\nAll this came to pass many years afterward. The people who came from\nEsau lived in a land called Edom, on the south of the land of Israel,\nwhere Jacob's descendants lived. And after a time the Israelites became\nrulers over the Edomites; and later still, the Edomites made themselves\nfree from the Israelites. But all this took place hundreds of years\nafterward.\n\nIt was better that Jacob's descendants, those who came after him, should\nhave the blessing, than that Esau's people should have it; for Jacob's\npeople worshipped God, and Esau's people walked in the way of the idols\nand became wicked.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE LADDER THAT REACHED TO HEAVEN\n\nAfter Esau found that he had lost his birthright and his blessing, he\nwas very angry against his brother Jacob; and he said to himself, and\ntold others:\n\n\"My father Isaac is very old and cannot live long. As soon as he is\ndead, then I shall kill Jacob for having robbed me of my right.\"\n\nWhen Rebekah heard this, she said to Jacob, \"Before it is too late, do\nyou go away from home and get out of Esau's sight. Perhaps when Esau\nsees you no longer, he will forget his anger, and then you can come home\nagain. Go and visit my brother Laban, your uncle, in Haran, and stay\nwith him for a little while.\"\n\nWe must remember that Rebekah came from the family of Nahor, Abraham's\nyounger brother, who lived in Haran, a long distance to the northeast of\nCanaan, and that Laban was Rebekah's brother.\n\nSo Jacob went out of Beersheba, on the border of the desert, and walked\nalone, carrying his staff in his hand. One evening, just about sunset,\nhe came to a place among the mountains, more than sixty miles distant\nfrom his home. And as he had no bed to lie down upon, he took a stone\nand rested his head upon it for a pillow, and lay down to sleep.\n\n[Illustration: _Angels were upon the stairs_]\n\nAnd on that night Jacob had a wonderful dream. In his dream he saw\nstairs leading from the earth where he lay up to heaven; and angels were\ngoing up and coming down upon the stairs. And above the stairs, he saw\nthe Lord God standing. And God said to Jacob:\n\n\"I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac your father;\nand I will be your God, too. The land where you are lying all alone,\nshall belong to you and to your children after you; and your children\nshall spread abroad over the lands, east and west, and north and south,\nlike the dust of the earth; and in your family all the world shall\nreceive a blessing. And I am with you in your journey, and I will keep\nyou where you are going, and will bring you back to this land. I will\nnever leave you, and I will surely keep my promise to you.\"\n\nAnd in the morning Jacob awakened from his sleep, and he said:\n\n\"Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it! I thought\nthat I was all alone, but God has been with me. This place is the house\nof God; it is the gate of heaven!\"\n\nAnd Jacob took the stone on which his head had rested, and he set it up\nas a pillar, and poured oil on it as an offering to God. And Jacob named\nthat place Bethel, which in the language that Jacob spoke means \"The\nHouse of God.\"\n\nAnd Jacob made a promise to God at that time, and said:\n\n\"If God really will go with me and will keep me in the way that I go,\nand will give me bread to eat and will bring me to my father's house in\npeace, then the Lord shall be my God: and this stone shall be the house\nof God, and of all that God gives me I will give back to God one-tenth\nas an offering.\"\n\nThen Jacob went onward in his long journey. He walked across the river\nJordan in a shallow place, feeling his way with his staff; he climbed\nmountains and journeyed beside the great desert on the east, and at last\ncame to the city of Haran. Beside the city was the well, where Abraham's\nservant had met Jacob's mother, Rebekah; and there, after Jacob had\nwaited for a time, he saw a young woman coming with her sheep to give\nthem water.\n\nThen Jacob took off the flat stone that was over the mouth of the well,\nand drew water and gave it to the sheep. And when he found that this\nyoung woman was his own cousin Rachel, the daughter of Laban, he was so\nglad that he wept for joy. And at that moment he began to love Rachel,\nand longed to have her for his wife.\n\n[Illustration: _Jacob went onward in his long journey_]\n\nRachel's father, Laban, who was Jacob's uncle, gave a welcome to Jacob,\nand took him into his home.\n\nAnd Jacob asked Laban if he would give his daughter, Rachel, to him as\nhis wife; and Jacob said, \"If you give me Rachel, I will work for you\nseven years.\"\n\nAnd Laban said, \"It is better that you should have her, than that a\nstranger should marry her.\"\n\nSo Jacob lived seven years in Laban's house, caring for his sheep and\noxen and camels; but his love for Rachel made the time seem short.\n\nAt last the day came for the marriage; and they brought in the bride,\nwho, after the manner of that land, was covered with a thick veil, so\nthat her face could not be seen. And she was married to Jacob, and when\nJacob lifted up her veil he found that he had married, not Rachel, but\nher older sister, Leah, who was not beautiful, and whom Jacob did not\nlove at all.\n\nJacob was very angry that he had been deceived,--though that was just\nthe way in which Jacob himself had deceived his father and cheated his\nbrother Esau. But his uncle Laban said:\n\n\"In our land we never allow the younger daughter to be married before\nthe older daughter. Keep Leah for your wife, and work for me seven years\nlonger, and you shall have Rachel also.\"\n\nFor in those times, as we have seen, men often had two wives, or even\nmore than two. So Jacob stayed seven years more, fourteen years in all,\nbefore he received Rachel as his wife.\n\nWhile Jacob was living at Haran, eleven sons were born to him. But only\none of these was the child of Rachel, whom Jacob loved. This son was\nJoseph, who was dearer to Jacob than any other of his children, partly\nbecause he was the youngest, and because he was the child of his beloved\nRachel.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF JOSEPH AND HIS COAT OF MANY COLORS\n\n\nAfter Jacob came back to the land of Canaan with his eleven sons,\nanother son was born to him, the second child of his wife Rachel, whom\nJacob loved so well. But soon after the baby came, his mother Rachel\ndied, and Jacob was filled with sorrow. Even to this day you can see the\nplace where Rachel was buried, on the road between Jerusalem and\nBethlehem. Jacob named the child whom Rachel left, Benjamin; and now\nJacob had twelve sons. Most of them were grown-up men; but Joseph was a\nboy seventeen years old, and his brother Benjamin was almost a baby.\n\n[Illustration: _Back to the Land of Canaan_]\n\nOf all his children, Jacob loved Joseph the best, because he was\nRachel's child; because he was so much younger than most of his\nbrothers; and because he was good, and faithful, and thoughtful. Jacob\ngave to Joseph a robe or coat of bright colors, made somewhat like a\nlong cloak with wide sleeves. This was a special mark of Jacob's favor\nto Joseph, and it made his older brothers envious of him.\n\nThen, too, Joseph did what was right, while his older brothers often did\nvery wrong acts, of which Joseph sometimes told their father; and this\nmade them very angry at Joseph. But they hated him still more because of\ntwo strange dreams he had, and of which he told them. He said one day:\n\"Listen to this dream that I have dreamed. I dreamed that we were out in\nthe field binding sheaves, when suddenly my sheaf stood up, and all your\nsheaves came around it and bowed down to my sheaf!\"\n\nAnd they said scornfully, \"Do you suppose that the dream means that you\nwill some time rule over us, and that we shall bow down to you?\"\n\nThen, a few days after, Joseph said, \"I have dreamed again. This time, I\nsaw in my dream the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars, all come and\nbow to me!\"\n\nAnd his father said to him, \"I do not like you to dream such dreams.\nShall I, and your mother, and your brothers, come and bow down before\nyou as if you were a king?\"\n\nHis brothers hated Joseph, and would not speak kindly to him; but his\nfather thought much of what Joseph had said.\n\nAt one time, Joseph's ten brothers were taking care of the flock in the\nfields near Shechem, which was nearly fifty miles from Hebron, where\nJacob's tents were spread. And Jacob wished to send a message to his\nsons, and he called Joseph, and said to him:\n\n\"Your brothers are near Shechem with the flock. I wish that you would go\nto them, and take a message, and find if they are well, and if the\nflocks are doing well; and bring me word from them.\"\n\nThat was quite an errand, for a boy to go alone over the country, and\nfind his way, for fifty miles, and then walk home again. But Joseph was\na boy who could take care of himself, and could be trusted; so he went\nforth on his journey, walking northward over the mountains, past\nBethlehem, and Jerusalem, and Bethel--though we are not sure those\ncities were then built, except Jerusalem, which was already a strong\ncity.\n\nWhen Joseph reached Shechem, he could not find his brothers, for they\nhad taken their flocks to another place. A man met Joseph wandering in\nthe field, and asked him, \"Whom are you seeking?\"\n\nJoseph said, \"I am looking for my brothers; the sons of Jacob. Can you\ntell me where I will find them?\"\n\nAnd the man said, \"They are at Dothan; for I heard them say that they\nwere going there.\"\n\nThen Joseph walked over the hills to Dothan, which was fifteen miles\nfurther. And his brothers saw him afar off coming toward them. They knew\nhim by his bright garment; and one said to another: \"Look, that dreamer\nis coming! Come, let us kill him, and throw his body into a pit, and\ntell his father that some wild beast has eaten him; and then we will see\nwhat becomes of his dreams.\"\n\n[Illustration: _Walking northward over the mountains_]\n\nOne of his brothers, whose name was Reuben, felt more kindly toward\nJoseph than the others. He said:\n\n\"Let us not kill him, but let us throw him into this pit, in the\nwilderness, and leave him there to die.\"\n\nBut Reuben intended, after they had gone away, to lift Joseph out of the\npit, and take him home to his father. The brothers did as Reuben told\nthem; they threw Joseph into the pit, which was empty. He cried, and\nbegged them to save him; but they would not. They calmly sat down to eat\ntheir dinner on the grass, while their brother was calling to them from\nthe pit.\n\nAfter the dinner, Reuben chanced to go to another part of the field; so\nthat he was not at hand when a company of men passed by with their\ncamels, going from Gilead, on the east of the river Jordan, to Egypt, to\nsell spices and fragrant gum from trees to the Egyptians.\n\nThen Judah, another of Joseph's brothers, said, \"What good will it do us\nto kill our brother? Would it not be better for us to sell him to these\nmen, and let them carry him away? After all, he is our brother, and we\nwould better not kill him.\"\n\nHis brothers agreed with him; so they stopped the men who were passing,\nand drew up Joseph from the pit, and for twenty pieces of silver they\nsold Joseph to these men; and they took him away with them down to\nEgypt.\n\nAfter a while, Reuben came to the pit, where they had left Joseph, and\nlooked into it; but Joseph was not there. Then Reuben was in great\ntrouble; and he came back to his brothers, saying: \"The boy is not\nthere! What shall I do!\"\n\nThen his brothers told Reuben what they had done; and they all agreed\ntogether to deceive their father. They killed one of the goats, and\ndipped Joseph's coat in its blood; and they brought it to their father,\nand they said to him: \"We found this coat out in the wilderness. Look at\nit, father, and tell us if you think it was the coat of your son.\"\n\n[Illustration: _For twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph_]\n\nAnd Jacob knew it at once. He said: \"It is my son's coat. Some wild\nbeast has eaten him. There is no doubt that Joseph has been torn in\npieces!\"\n\nAnd Jacob's heart was broken over the loss of Joseph, all the more\nbecause he had sent Joseph alone on the journey through the wilderness.\nThey tried to comfort him, but he would not be comforted. He said: \"I\nwill go down to the grave mourning for my poor lost son.\"\n\nSo the old man sorrowed for his son Joseph; and all the time his wicked\nbrothers knew that Joseph was not dead; but they would not tell their\nfather the dreadful deed they had done to their brother, in selling him\nas a slave.\n\n\n\nTHE DREAMS OF A KING\n\nThe men who bought Joseph from his brothers were called Ishmaelites,\nbecause they belonged to the family of Ishmael, who, you remember, was\nthe son of Hagar, the servant of Sarah. These men carried Joseph\nsouthward over the plain which lies beside the great sea on the west of\nCanaan; and after many days they brought Joseph to Egypt. How strange it\nmust have seemed to the boy who had lived in tents to see the great\nriver Nile, and the cities thronged with people, and the temples, and\nthe mighty pyramids!\n\nThe Ishmaelites sold Joseph as a slave to a man named Potiphar, who was\nan officer in the army of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph was a\nbeautiful boy, and cheerful and willing in his spirit, and able in all\nthat he undertook; so that his master Potiphar became very friendly to\nhim, and after a time, he placed Joseph in charge of his house, and\neverything in it. For some years Joseph continued in the house of\nPotiphar, a slave in name, but in reality the master of all his affairs,\nand ruler over his fellow-servants.\n\nBut Potiphar's wife, who at first was very friendly to Joseph,\nafterward became his enemy, because Joseph would not do wrong to please\nher. She told her husband falsely, that Joseph had done a wicked deed.\nHer husband believed her, and was very angry at Joseph, and put him in\nthe prison with those who had been sent to that place for breaking the\nlaws of the land. How hard it was for Joseph to be charged with a crime,\nwhen he had done no wrong, and to be thrust into a dark prison among\nwicked people!\n\nBut Joseph had faith in God, that at some time all would come out right;\nand in the prison he was cheerful, and kind, and helpful, as he had\nalways been. The keeper of the prison saw that Joseph was not like the\nother men around him, and he was kind to Joseph. In a very little while,\nJoseph was placed in charge of all his fellow-prisoners, and took care\nof them, just as he had taken care of everything in Potiphar's house.\nThe keeper of the prison scarcely looked into the prison at all; for he\nhad confidence in Joseph, that he would be faithful and wise in doing\nthe work given to him. Joseph did right, and served God, and God blessed\nJoseph in everything.\n\nWhile Joseph was in the prison, two men were sent there by the king of\nEgypt, because he was displeased with them. One was the king's chief\nbutler, who served the king with wine; the other was the chief baker,\nwho served him with bread. These two men were under Joseph's care; and\nJoseph waited on them, for they were men of rank.\n\nOne morning, when Joseph came into the room where the butler and the\nbaker were kept, he found them looking quite sad. Joseph said to them:\n\n\"Why do you look so sad today?\" Joseph was cheerful and happy in his\nspirit; and he wished others to be happy also, even in prison.\n\nAnd one of them said, \"Each one of us dreamed last night a very strange\ndream, and there is no one to tell us what our dreams mean.\"\n\nFor in those times, before God gave the Bible to men, he often spoke to\nmen in dreams; and there were wise men who could sometimes tell what the\ndreams meant.\n\n\"Tell me,\" said Joseph, \"what your dreams are. Perhaps my God will help\nme to understand them.\"\n\nThen the chief butler told his dream. He said, \"In my dream I saw a\ngrape-vine with three branches; and as I looked, the branches shot out\nbuds; and the buds became blossoms; and the blossoms turned into\nclusters of ripe grapes. And I picked the grapes, and squeezed their\njuice into king Pharaoh's cup, and it became wine; and I gave it to king\nPharaoh to drink, just as I used to do when I was beside his table.\"\n\nThen Joseph said, \"This is what your dream means. The three branches\nmean three days. In three days, king Pharaoh shall call you out of\nprison and shall put you back in your place; and you shall stand at his\ntable, and shall give him his wine, as you have given it before. But\nwhen you go out of prison, please to remember me, and try to find some\nway to get me, too, out of this prison. For I was stolen out of the land\nof Canaan, and sold as a slave; and I have done nothing wrong to deserve\nbeing put in this prison. Do speak to the king for me, that I may be set\nfree.\"\n\nOf course, the chief butler felt very happy to hear that his dream had\nso pleasant a meaning. And the chief baker spoke, hoping to have an\nanswer as good:\n\n\"In my dream,\" said the baker, \"there were three baskets of white bread\non my head, one above another, and on the topmost basket were all kinds\nof roasted meat and food for Pharaoh; and the birds came, and ate the\nfood from the baskets on my head.\"\n\nAnd Joseph said to the baker:\n\n\"This is the meaning of your dream, and I am sorry to tell it to you.\nThe three baskets are three days. In three days, by order of the king\nyou shall be lifted up, and hanged upon a tree; and the birds shall eat\nyour flesh from your bones as you are hanging in the air.\"\n\nAnd it came to pass just as Joseph had said. Three days after that, king\nPharaoh sent his officers to the prison. They came and took out both the\nchief butler and the chief baker. The baker they hung up by his neck to\ndie, and left his body for the birds to pick in pieces. The chief butler\nthey brought back to his old place, where he waited at the king's table,\nand handed him his wine to drink.\n\nYou would have supposed that the butler would remember Joseph, who had\ngiven him the promise of freedom, and had shown such wisdom. But in his\ngladness, he forgot all about Joseph. And two full years passed by,\nwhile Joseph was still in prison, until he was a man thirty years old.\n\nBut one night, king Pharaoh himself dreamed a dream--in fact, two dreams\nin one. And in the morning he sent for all the wise men of Egypt, and\ntold to them his dreams; but there was not a man who could give the\nmeaning of them. And the king was troubled, for he felt that the dreams\nhad some meaning which it was important for him to know.\n\nThen suddenly the chief butler who was by the king's table remembered\nhis own dream in the prison two years before, and remembered, too, the\nyoung man who had told its meaning so exactly. And he said:\n\n\"I do remember my faults this day. Two years ago king Pharaoh was angry\nwith his servants, with me and the chief baker; and he sent us to the\nprison. While we were in the prison, one night each of us dreamed a\ndream; and the next day a young man in the prison, a Hebrew from the\nland of Canaan, told us what our dreams meant; and in three days they\ncame true, just as the young Hebrew had said. I think that if this young\nman is in the prison still, he could tell the king the meaning of his\ndreams.\"\n\nYou notice that the butler spoke of Joseph as \"a Hebrew.\" The people of\nIsrael, to whom Joseph belonged, were called Hebrews as well as\nIsraelites. The word Hebrew means, \"One who crossed over,\" and it was\ngiven to the Israelites because Abraham, their father, had come from a\nland on the other side of the great river Euphrates, and had crossed\nover the river on his way to Canaan.\n\nThen king Pharaoh sent in haste to the prison for Joseph; and Joseph was\ntaken out, and he was dressed in new garments, and was led in to Pharaoh\nin the palace. And Pharaoh said:\n\n\"I have dreamed a dream; and there is no one who can tell what it\nmeans. And I have been told that you have power to understand dreams and\nwhat they mean.\"\n\nAnd Joseph answered Pharaoh:\n\n\"The power is not in me; but God will give Pharaoh a good answer. What\nis the dream that the king has dreamed?\"\n\n\"In my first dream,\" said Pharaoh, \"I was standing by the river: and I\nsaw seven fat and handsome cows come up from the river to feed in the\ngrass. And while they were feeding, seven other cows followed them up\nfrom the river, very thin, and poor, and lean--such miserable creatures\nas I had never seen before. And the seven lean cows ate up the seven fat\ncows; and after they had eaten them up, they were as lean and miserable\nas before. Then I awoke.\n\n\"And I fell asleep again, and dreamed again. In my second dream, I saw\nseven heads of grain growing up on one stalk, large, and strong, and\ngood. And then seven heads came up after them, that were thin, and poor,\nand withered. And the seven thin heads swallowed up the seven good\nheads; and afterward were as poor and withered as before.\n\n\"And I told these two dreams to all the wise men, and there is no one\nwho can explain them. Can you tell me what these dreams mean?\"\n\nAnd Joseph said to the king:\n\n\"The two dreams have the same meaning. God has been showing to king\nPharaoh what he will do in this land. The seven good cows mean seven\nyears, and the seven good heads of grain mean the same seven years. The\nseven lean cows and the seven thin heads of grain also mean seven years.\nThe good cows and the good grain mean seven years of plenty, and the\nseven thin cows and thin heads of grain mean seven poor years. There are\ncoming upon the land of Egypt seven years of such plenty as have never\nbeen seen; when the fields shall bring greater crops than ever before;\nand after those years shall come seven years when the fields shall bring\nno crops at all. And then for seven years there shall be such need, that\nthe years of plenty will be forgotten, for the people will have nothing\nto eat.\"\n\n[Illustration: _\"The two dreams have the same meaning\"_]\n\n\"Now, let king Pharaoh find some man who is able and wise, and let him\nset this man to rule over the land. And during the seven years of\nplenty, let a part of the crops be put away for the years of need. If\nthis shall be done, then when the years of need come, there will be\nplenty of food for all the people, and no one will suffer, for all will\nhave enough.\"\n\nAnd king Pharaoh said to Joseph: \"Since God has shown you all this,\nthere is no other man as wise as you. I will appoint you to do this\nwork, and to rule over the land of Egypt. All the people shall be under\nyou; only on the throne of Egypt I will be above you.\"\n\nAnd Pharaoh took from his own hand the ring which held his seal, and put\non Joseph's hand, so that he could sign for the king, and seal in the\nking's place. And he dressed Joseph in robes of fine linen, and put\naround his neck a gold chain. And he made Joseph ride in a chariot which\nwas next in rank to his own. And they cried out before Joseph, \"Bow the\nknee.\" And thus Joseph was ruler over all the land of Egypt.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE MONEY IN THE SACKS\n\nWhen Joseph was made ruler over the land of Egypt, he did just as he had\nalways done. It was not Joseph's way to sit down, to rest and enjoy\nhimself, and make others wait on him. He found his work at once, and\nbegan to do it faithfully and thoroughly. He went out over all the land\nof Egypt, and saw how rich and abundant were the fields of grain, giving\nmuch more than the people could use for their own needs. He told the\npeople not to waste it, but to save it for the coming time of need.\n\nAnd he called upon the people to give him for the king one bushel of\ngrain out of every five, to be stored up. The people brought their\ngrain, after taking for themselves as much as they needed, and Joseph\nstored it up in great storehouses in the cities; so much at last that no\none could keep account of it.\n\nThe king of Egypt gave a wife to Joseph from the noble young women of\nhis kingdom. Her name was Asenath; and to Joseph and his wife God gave\ntwo sons. The oldest son he named Manasseh, a word which means \"Making\nto Forget.\"\n\n\"For,\" said Joseph, \"God has made me to forget all my troubles and my\ntoil as a slave.\"\n\nThe second son he named Ephraim, a word that means \"Fruitful.\"\n\"Because,\" said Joseph, \"God has not only made the land fruitful; but he\nhas made me fruitful in the land of my troubles.\"\n\nThe seven years of plenty soon passed by, and then came the years of\nneed. In all the lands around people were hungry, and there was no food\nfor them to eat; but in the land of Egypt everybody had enough. Most of\nthe people soon used up the grain that they had saved; many had saved\nnone at all, and they all cried to the king to help them.\n\n\"Go to Joseph!\" said king Pharaoh, \"and do whatever he tells you to do.\"\n\nThen the people came to Joseph, and Joseph opened the storehouses, and\nsold to the people all the grain that they wished to buy. And not only\nthe people of Egypt came to buy grain, but people of all the lands\naround as well, for there was great need and famine everywhere. And the\nneed was as great in the land of Canaan, where Jacob lived, as in other\nlands. Jacob was rich in flocks and cattle, and gold and silver, but his\nfields gave no grain, and there was danger that his family and his\npeople would starve. And Jacob--who was now called Israel also--heard\nthat there was food in Egypt and he said to his sons: \"Why do you look\nat each other, asking what to do to find food? I have been told that\nthere is grain in Egypt. Go down to that land, and take money with you,\nand bring grain, so that we may have bread, and may live.\"\n\nThen the ten older brothers of Joseph went down to the land of Egypt.\nThey rode upon asses, for horses were not much used in those times, and\nthey brought money with them. But Jacob would not let Benjamin, Joseph's\nyounger brother, go with them, for he was all the more dear to his\nfather, now that Joseph was no longer with him; and Jacob feared that\nharm might come to him.\n\nThen Joseph's brothers came to Joseph to buy food. They did not know\nhim, grown up to be a man, dressed as a prince, and seated on a throne.\nJoseph was now nearly forty years old, and it had been almost\ntwenty-three years since they had sold him. But Joseph knew them all, as\nsoon as he saw them. He wished to be sharp and stern with them, not\nbecause he hated them; but because he wished to see what their spirit\nwas, and whether they were as selfish, and cruel, and wicked as they had\nbeen in other days.\n\nThey came before him, and bowed, with their faces to the ground. Then,\nno doubt, Joseph thought of the dream that had come to him while he was\na boy, of his brothers' sheaves bending down around his sheaf. He spoke\nto them as a stranger, as if he did not understand their language, and\nhe had their words explained to him in the language of Egypt.\n\n\"Who are you? And from what place do you come?\" said Joseph, in a harsh,\nstern manner.\n\nThey answered him very meekly: \"We have come from the land of Canaan to\nbuy food.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Joseph, \"I know what you have come for. You have come as\nspies, to see how helpless the land is, so that you can bring an army\nagainst us, and make war on us.\"\n\n\"No, no,\" said Joseph's ten brothers. \"We are no spies. We are the sons\nof one man, who lives in the land of Canaan; and we have come for food,\nbecause we have none at home.\"\n\n\"You say that you are the sons of one man, who is your father? Is he\nliving? Have you any more brothers? Tell me all about yourselves.\"\n\nAnd they said: \"Our father is an old man in Canaan. We did have a\nyounger brother, but he was lost; and we have one brother still, who is\nthe youngest of all, but his father could not spare him to come with\nus.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Joseph. \"You are not good, honest men. You are spies. I\nshall put you all in prison, except one of you; and he shall go and\nbring that youngest brother of yours; and when I see him, then I will\nbelieve that you tell the truth.\"\n\nSo Joseph put all the ten men in prison, and kept them under guard for\nthree days; then he sent for them again. They did not know that he could\nunderstand their language, and they said to each other, while Joseph\nheard, but pretended not to hear: \"This has come upon us because of the\nwrong that we did to our brother Joseph, more than twenty years ago. We\nheard him cry, and plead with us, when we threw him into the pit, and we\nwould not have mercy on him. God is giving us only what we have\ndeserved.\"\n\nAnd Reuben, who had tried to save Joseph, said: \"Did I not tell you not\nto harm the boy? and you would not listen to me. God is bringing our\nbrother's blood upon us all.\"\n\nWhen Joseph heard this, his heart was touched, for he saw that his\nbrothers were really sorry for the wrong that they had done to him. He\nturned away from them, so that they could not see his face, and he wept.\nThen he turned again to them and spoke roughly as before, and said:\n\n\"This I will do, for I serve God. I will let you all go home, except\none man. One of you I will shut up in prison; but the rest of you can go\nhome and take food for your people. And you must come back and bring\nyour youngest brother with you, and I shall know then that you have\nspoken the truth.\"\n\nThen Joseph gave orders, and his servants seized one of his brothers,\nwhose name was Simeon, and bound him in their sight and took him away to\nprison. And he ordered his servants to fill the men's sacks with grain,\nand to put every man's money back into the sack before it was tied up,\nso that they would find the money as soon as they opened the sack. Then\nthe men loaded their asses with the sacks of grain, and started to go\nhome, leaving their brother Simeon a prisoner.\n\nWhen they stopped on the way to feed their asses, one of the brothers\nopened his sack, and there he found his money lying on the top of the\ngrain. He called out to his brothers: \"See, here is my money given again\nto me!\" And they were frightened, but they did not dare to go back to\nEgypt and meet the stern ruler of the land. They went home and told\ntheir old father all that had happened to them, and how their brother\nSimeon was in prison, and must stay there until they should return,\nbringing Benjamin with them.\n\nWhen they opened their sacks of grain, there in the mouth of each sack\nwas the money that they had given; and they were filled with fear. Then\nthey spoke of going again to Egypt and taking Benjamin, but Jacob said\nto them:\n\n\"You are taking my sons away from me. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is\ngone, and now you would take Benjamin away. All these things are against\nme!\" Reuben said: \"Here are my own two boys. You may kill them, if you\nwish, in case I do not bring Benjamin back to you.\" But Jacob said: \"My\nyoungest son shall not go with you. His brother is dead, and he alone is\nleft to me. If harm should come to him, it would bring down my gray\nhairs with sorrow to the grave.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE MYSTERY OF THE LOST BROTHER\n\n\nThe food which Jacob's sons had brought from Egypt did not last long,\nfor Jacob's family was large. Most of his sons were married and had\nchildren of their own; so that the children and grandchildren were\nsixty-six, besides the servants who waited on them, and the men who\ncared for Jacob's flocks. So around the tent of Jacob was quite a camp\nof other tents and an army of people.\n\nWhen the food that had come from Egypt was nearly eaten up, Jacob said\nto his sons:\n\n\"Go down to Egypt again, and buy some food for us.\"\n\nAnd Judah, Jacob's son, the man who years before had urged his brothers\nto sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites, said to his father: \"It is of no use\nfor us to go to Egypt, unless we take Benjamin with us. The man who\nrules in that land said to us, 'You shall not see my face, unless your\nyoungest brother be with you'.\"\n\nAnd Israel said, \"Why did you tell the man that you had a brother? You\ndid me great harm when you told him.\"\n\n\"Why,\" said Jacob's sons, \"we could not help telling him. The man asked\nus all about our family, 'Is your father yet living? Have you any more\nbrothers?' And we had to tell him, his questions were so close. How\nshould we know that he would say, 'Bring your brother here, for me to\nsee him'?\"\n\nAnd Judah said, \"Send Benjamin with me, and I will take care of him. I\npromise you that I will bring him safely home. If he does not come back,\nlet me bear the blame forever. He must go, or we shall die for want of\nfood; and we might have gone down to Egypt and come home again, if we\nhad not been kept back.\"\n\nAnd Jacob said, \"If he must go, then he must. But take a present to the\nman, some of the choicest fruits of the land, some spices, and perfumes,\nand nuts, and almonds. And take twice as much money, besides the money\nthat was in your sacks. Perhaps that was a mistake, when the money was\ngiven back to you. And take your brother Benjamin, and may the Lord God\nmake the man kind to you, so that he will set Simeon free, and let you\nbring Benjamin back. But if it is God's will that I lose my children, I\ncannot help it.\"\n\nSo ten brothers of Joseph went down a second time to Egypt, Benjamin\ngoing in place of Simeon. They came to Joseph's office, the place where\nhe sold grain to the people; and they stood before their brother, and\nbowed as before. Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them, and he said to\nhis steward, the man who was over his house:\n\n\"Make ready a dinner, for all these men shall dine with me today.\"\n\nWhen Joseph's brothers found that they were taken into Joseph's house,\nthey were filled with fear. They said to each other:\n\n\"We have been taken here on account of the money in our sacks. They will\nsay that we have stolen it, and then they will sell us all for slaves.\"\n\nBut Joseph's steward, the man who was over his house, treated the men\nkindly; and when they spoke of the money in their sacks, he would not\ntake it again, saying:\n\n\"Never fear; your God must have sent you this as a gift. I had your\nmoney.\"\n\nThe stewards received the men into Joseph's house, and washed their\nfeet, according to the custom of the land. And at noon, Joseph came in\nto meet them. They brought him the present from their father, and again\nthey bowed before him, with their faces on the ground.\n\nAnd Joseph asked them if they were well, and said: \"Is your father still\nliving, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he well?\"\n\nAnd they said, \"Our father is well and he is living.\" And again they\nbowed to Joseph.\n\nAnd Joseph looked at his younger brother Benjamin, the child of his own\nmother Rachel, and said:\n\n\"Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious\nunto you, my son.\"\n\nAnd Joseph's heart was so full that he could not keep back the tears. He\nwent in haste to his own room, and wept there. Then he washed his face,\nand came out again, and ordered the table to be set for dinner. They set\nJoseph's table for himself, as the ruler, and another table for his\nEgyptian officers, and another for the eleven men from Canaan; for\nJoseph had brought Simeon out of the prison, and had given him a place\nwith his brothers.\n\nJoseph himself arranged the order of the seats for his brothers, the\noldest at the head, and all in order of age down to the youngest. The\nmen wondered at this, and could not see how the ruler of Egypt could\nknow the order of their ages. And Joseph sent dishes from his table to\nhis brothers, and he gave to Benjamin five times as much as to the\nothers. Perhaps he wished to see whether they were as jealous of\nBenjamin as in other days they had been toward him.\n\nAfter dinner, Joseph said to his steward: \"Fill the men's sacks with\ngrain, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in his sack.\nAnd put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest, with his money.\"\n\nThe steward did as Joseph had said; and early in the morning the\nbrothers started to go home. A little while afterward, Joseph said to\nhis steward:\n\n\"Hasten, follow after the men from Canaan, and say, 'Why have you\nwronged me, after I had treated you kindly? You have stolen my master's\nsilver cup, out of which he drinks'.\"\n\nThe steward followed the men, and overtook them, and charged them with\nstealing. And they said to him:\n\n\"Why should you talk to us in this manner? We have stolen nothing. Why,\nwe brought back to you the money that we found in our sacks; and is it\nlikely that we would steal from your lord his silver or gold? You may\nsearch us, and if you find your master's cup on any of us, let him die,\nand the rest of us may be sold as slaves.\"\n\nThen they took down the sacks from the asses, and opened them; and in\neach man's sack was his money, for the second time. And when they came\nto Benjamin's sack, there was the ruler's silver cup! Then, in the\ngreatest sorrow, they tied up their bags again, and laid them on the\nasses, and came back to Joseph's palace.\n\nAnd Joseph said to them:\n\n\"What wicked thing is this that you have done? Did you not know that I\nwould surely find out your deeds?\"\n\nThen Judah said, \"O, my lord, what can we say? God has punished us for\nour sins; and now we must all be slaves, both we that are older, and the\nyounger in whose sack the cup was found.\"\n\n[Illustration: _\"What wicked thing is this that you have done?\"_]\n\n\"No,\" said Joseph. \"Only one of you is guilty; the one who has taken\naway my cup. I will hold him as a slave, and the rest of you can go home\nto your father.\"\n\nJoseph wished to see whether his brothers were still selfish, and were\nwilling to let Benjamin suffer, if they could escape.\n\nThen Judah, the very man who had urged his brothers to sell Joseph as a\nslave, came forward, and fell at Joseph's feet, and pleaded with him to\nlet Benjamin go. He told again the whole story, how Benjamin was the one\nwhom his father loved the most of all his children, now that his brother\nwas lost. He said:\n\n\"I promised to bear the blame, if this boy was not brought home in\nsafety. If he does not go back it will kill my poor old father, who has\nseen much trouble. Now let my youngest brother go home to his father,\nand I will stay here as a slave in his place!\"\n\nJoseph knew now, what he had longed to know, that his brothers were no\nlonger cruel nor selfish, but one of them was willing to suffer, so that\nhis brother might be spared. And Joseph could not any longer keep his\nsecret, for his heart longed after his brothers; and he was ready to\nweep again, with tears of love and joy. He sent all of his Egyptian\nservants out of the room, so that he might be alone with his brothers,\nand then he said:\n\n\"Come near to me; I wish to speak with you.\" And they came near,\nwondering. Then Joseph said:\n\n\"I am Joseph; is my father really alive?\"\n\nHow frightened his brothers were, as they heard these words spoken in\ntheir own language by the ruler of Egypt and for the first time knew\nthat this stern man, who had their lives in his hand, was their own\nbrother whom they had wronged! Then Joseph said again:\n\n\"I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But do not feel\ntroubled because of what you did. For God sent me before you to save\nyour lives. There have been already two years of need and famine, and\nthere are to be five years more, when there shall neither be plowing of\nthe fields nor harvest. It was not you who sent me here, but God; and he\nsent me to save your lives. God has made me like a father to Pharaoh and\nruler over all the land of Egypt. Now I wish you to go home, and to\nbring down to me my father and all his family.\"\n\nThen Joseph placed his arms around Benjamin's neck, and kissed him, and\nwept upon him. And Benjamin wept on his neck. And Joseph kissed all his\nbrothers, to show them that he had fully forgiven them; and after that\nhis brothers began to lose their fear of Joseph and talked with him more\nfreely.\n\nAfterward Joseph sent his brothers home with good news, and rich gifts,\nand abundant food. He sent also wagons in which Jacob and his sons'\nwives and the little ones of their families might ride from Canaan down\nto Egypt. And Joseph's brothers went home happier than they had been for\nmany years.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF MOSES, THE CHILD WHO WAS FOUND IN THE RIVER\n\n\nThe children of Israel stayed in the land of Egypt much longer than they\nhad expected to stay. They were in that land about four hundred years.\nAnd the going down to Egypt proved a great blessing to them. It saved\ntheir lives during the years of famine and need. After the years of need\nwere over, they found the soil in the land of Goshen, that part of Egypt\nwhere they were living, very rich, so that they could gather three or\nfour crops every year.\n\nThen, too, the sons of Israel, before they came to Egypt, had begun to\nmarry the women in the land of Canaan who worshipped idols, and not the\nLord. If they had stayed there, their children would have grown up like\nthe people around them and soon would have lost all knowledge of God.\n\nBut in Goshen they lived alone and apart from the people of Egypt. They\nworshipped the Lord God, and were kept away from the idols of Egypt. And\nin that land, as the years went on, from being seventy people, they grew\nin number until they became a great multitude. Each of the twelve sons\nof Jacob was the father of a tribe, and Joseph was the father of two\ntribes, named after his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.\n\nAs long as Joseph lived, and for some time after, the people of Israel\nwere treated kindly by the Egyptians, out of their love for Joseph, who\nhad saved Egypt from suffering by famine. But after a long time another\nking began to rule over Egypt, who cared nothing for Joseph or Joseph's\npeople. He saw that the Israelites (as the children of Israel were\ncalled) were very many, and he feared that they would soon become\ngreater in number and in power than the Egyptians.\n\nHe said to his people: \"Let us rule these Israelites more strictly. They\nare growing too strong.\"\n\nThen they set harsh rules over the Israelites, and laid heavy burdens on\nthem. They made the Israelites work hard for the Egyptians, and build\ncities for them, and give to the Egyptians a large part of the crops\nfrom their fields. They set them at work in making brick and in building\nstorehouses. They were so afraid that the Israelites would grow in\nnumber that they gave orders to kill all the little boys that were born\nto the Israelites; though their little girls might be allowed to live.\n\nBut in the face of all this hate, and wrong, and cruelty, the people of\nIsrael were growing in number, and becoming greater and greater.\n\nAt this time, when the wrongs of the Israelites were the greatest, and\nwhen their little children were being killed, one little boy was born.\n\n[Illustration: _They made the Israelites work hard_]\n\nHe was such a lovely child that his mother kept him hid, so that the\nenemies did not find him. When she could no longer hide him, she formed\na plan to save his life; believing that God would help her and save her\nbeautiful little boy.\n\nShe made a little box like a boat and covered it with something that\nwould not let the water into it. Such a boat as this covered over was\ncalled \"an ark.\" She knew that at certain times the daughter of king\nPharaoh--all the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh, for Pharaoh means\na king--would come down to the river for a bath. She placed her baby\nboy in the ark, and let it float down the river where the princess,\nPharaoh's daughter, would see it. And she sent her own daughter, a\nlittle girl named Miriam, twelve years old, to watch close at hand. How\nanxious the mother and the sister were as they saw the little ark\nfloating away from them on the river!\n\n[Illustration: _She placed her baby in the ark_]\n\nPharaoh's daughter, with her maids, came down to the river, and they saw\nthe ark floating on the water, among the reeds. She sent one of her\nmaids to bring it to her so that she might see what was in the curious\nbox. They opened it, and there was a beautiful little baby, who began to\ncry to be taken up.\n\nThe princess felt kind toward the little one, and loved it at once. She\nsaid: \"This is one of the Hebrews' children.\" You have heard how the\nchildren of Israel came to be called Hebrews. Pharaoh's daughter\nthought that it would be cruel to let such a lovely baby as this die out\non the water. And just then a little girl came running up to her, as if\nby accident, and she looked at the baby also, and she said: \"Shall I go\nand find some woman of the Hebrews to be a nurse to the child for you\nand take care of it?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said the princess. \"Go and find a nurse for me.\"\n\nThe little girl--who was Miriam, the baby's sister--ran as quickly as\nshe could and brought the baby's own mother to the princess. Miriam\nshowed in this act that she was a wise and thoughtful little girl. The\nprincess said to the little baby's mother: \"Take this child to your home\nand nurse it for me, and I will pay you wages for it.\"\n\nHow glad the Hebrew mother was to take her child home! No one could harm\nher boy now, for he was protected by the princess of Egypt, the daughter\nof the king.\n\nWhen the child was large enough to leave his mother Pharaoh's daughter\ntook him into her own house in the palace. She named him \"Moses,\" a word\nthat means \"drawn out,\" because he was drawn out of the water.\n\nSo Moses, the Hebrew boy, lived in the palace among the nobles of the\nland, as the son of the princess. There he learned much more than he\ncould have learned among his own people; for there were very wise\nteachers. Moses gained all the knowledge that the Egyptians had to give.\nThere in the court of the cruel king who had made slaves of the\nIsraelites, God's people, was growing up our Israelite boy who should at\nsome time set his people free!\n\nAlthough Moses grew up among the Egyptians, and gained their learning,\nhe loved his own people. They were poor and were hated, and were slaves,\nbut he loved them, because they were the people who served the Lord God,\nwhile the Egyptians worshipped idols and animals. Strange it was that so\nwise a people as these should bow down and pray to an ox, or to a cat,\nor to a snake, as did the Egyptians.\n\nWhen Moses became a man, he went among his own people, leaving the\nriches and ease that he might have enjoyed among the Egyptians. He felt\na call from God to lift up the Israelites and set them free. But at that\ntime he found that he could do nothing to help them. They would not let\nhim lead them, and as the king of Egypt had now become his enemy, Moses\nwent away from Egypt into a country in Arabia, called Midian.\n\nHe was sitting by a well, in that land, tired from his long journey,\nwhen he saw some young women come to draw water for their flocks of\nsheep. But some rough men came, and drove the women away, and took the\nwater for their own flocks. Moses saw it, and helped the women and drew\nthe water for them.\n\nThese young women were sisters, the daughters of a man named Jethro, who\nwas a priest in the land of Midian. He asked Moses to live with him, and\nto help him in the care of his flocks. Moses stayed with Jethro and\nmarried one of his daughters. So from being a prince in the king's\npalace in Egypt, Moses became a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian.\n\n[Illustration: _Moses became a shepherd in the wilderness of\nMidian_]\n\nBut Moses did not remain a shepherd. While he was tending his sheep God\nappeared to him in a burning bush and told him that he should return to\nEgypt and become the leader of his people. The Lord told him that the\nwicked Egyptians would be punished for the ill-treatment they were\ngiving the Israelites. In your Bible you will find in the book of Exodus\nhow God wonderfully fulfilled his promise. The Egyptians were punished\nby many plagues, and finally allowed the Israelites to go. They crossed\nthe Red Sea in a wonderful way, and traveled for a long time through a\nwilderness, where God fed them day by day with manna from heaven. God\nalso gave them rules as a guide for their daily living; these rules we\ncall the Ten Commandments; yet they forgot the Lord so far as to make\nimages and worship them.\n\n[Illustration: _God fed them day by day with manna_]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE GRAPES FROM CANAAN\n\n\nThe Israelites stayed in their camp before Mount Sinai almost a year,\nwhile they were building the Tabernacle and learning God's laws given\nthrough Moses. At last the cloud over the Tabernacle rose up, and the\npeople knew that this was the sign for them to move. They took down the\nTabernacle and their own tents, and journeyed toward the land of Canaan\nfor many days.\n\nAt last they came to a place just on the border between the desert and\nCanaan, called Kadesh, or Kadesh-barnea. Here they stopped to rest, for\nthere were many springs of water and some grass for their cattle. While\nthey were waiting at Kadesh-barnea and were expecting soon to march into\nthe land which was to be their home, God told Moses to send onward some\nmen who should walk through the land and look at it, and then come back\nand tell what they had found; what kind of a land it was, and what\nfruits grew in it, and what people were living in it. The Israelites\ncould more easily win the land if these men, after walking through it,\ncould act as their guides and point out the best places in it and the\nbest plans of making war upon it.\n\n[Illustration: _A cluster of grapes so large that two men carried\nit_]\n\nSo Moses chose out some men of high rank among the people, one ruler\nfrom each tribe, twelve men in all. One of these was Joshua, who was the\nhelper of Moses in caring for the people, and another was Caleb, who\nbelonged to the tribe of Judah. These twelve men went out and walked\nover the mountains of Canaan and looked at the cities and saw the\nfields. In one place, just before they came back to the camp, they cut\ndown a cluster of ripe grapes which was so large that two men carried it\nbetween them, hanging from a staff. They named the place where they\nfound this bunch of grapes Eshcol, a word which means \"a cluster.\" These\ntwelve men were called \"spies,\" because they went \"to spy out the land\";\nand after forty days they came back to the camp, and this was what they\nsaid:\n\n\"We walked all over the land and found it a rich land. There is grass\nfor all our flocks, and fields where we can raise grain, and trees\nbearing fruits, and streams running down the sides of the hills. But we\nfound that the people who live there are very strong and are men of war.\nThey have cities with walls that reach almost up to the sky; and some of\nthe men are giants, so tall that we felt that we were like grasshoppers\nbeside them.\"\n\nOne of the spies, who was Caleb, said, \"All that is true, yet we need\nnot be afraid to go up and take the land. It is a good land, well worth\nfighting for; God is on our side, and he will help us to overcome those\npeople.\"\n\nBut all the other spies, except Joshua, said, \"No, there is no use in\ntrying to make war upon such strong people. We can never take those\nwalled cities, and we dare not fight those tall giants.\"\n\nAnd the people, who had journeyed all the way through the wilderness to\nfind this very land, were so frightened by the words of the ten spies\nthat now, on the very border of Canaan, they dared not enter it. They\nforgot that God had led them out of Egypt, that he had kept them in the\ndangers of the desert, that he had given them water out of the rock, and\nbread from the sky, and his law from the mountain.\n\nAll that night, after the spies had brought back their report, the\npeople were so frightened that they could not sleep. They cried out\nagainst Moses, and blamed him for bringing them out of the land of\nEgypt. They forgot all their troubles in Egypt, their toil and their\nslavery, and resolved to go back to that land. They said:\n\n\"Let us choose a ruler in place of Moses, who has brought us into all\nthese evils, and let us turn back to the land of Egypt!\"\n\nBut Caleb and Joshua, two of the spies, said, \"Why should we fear? The\nland of Canaan is a good land; it is rich with milk and honey. If God is\nour friend and is with us, we can easily conquer the people who live\nthere. Above all things, let us not rebel against the Lord, or disobey\nhim, and make him our enemy.\"\n\nBut the people were so angry with Caleb and Joshua that they were ready\nto stone them and kill them. Then suddenly the people saw a strange\nsight. The glory of the Lord, which stayed in the Holy of Holies, the\ninner room of the Tabernacle, now flashed out, and shone from the door\nof the Tabernacle.\n\nAnd the Lord, out of this glory, spoke to Moses, and said, \"How long\nwill this people disobey me and despise me? They shall not go into the\ngood land that I have promised them. Not one of them shall enter in,\nexcept Caleb and Joshua, who have been faithful to me. All the people\nwho are twenty years old and over it shall die in the desert; but their\nlittle children shall grow up in the wilderness, and when they become\nmen they shall enter in and own the land that I promised to their\nfathers. You people are not worthy of the land that I have been keeping\nfor you. Now turn back into the desert and stay there until you die.\nAfter you are dead, Joshua shall lead your children into the land of\nCanaan. And because Caleb showed another spirit and was true to me, and\nfollowed my will fully, Caleb shall live to go into the land, and shall\nhave his choice of a home there. To-morrow, turn back into the desert by\nthe way of the Red Sea.\"\n\nAnd God told Moses that for every day that the spies had spent in\nCanaan, looking at the land the people should spend a year in the\nwilderness; so that they should live in the desert forty years, instead\nof going at once into the promised land.\n\nWhen Moses told all God's words to the people they felt worse than\nbefore. They changed their minds as suddenly as they had made up their\nminds.\n\n\"No,\" they all said, \"we will not go back to the wilderness; we will go\nstraight into the land, and see if we are able to take it, as Joshua and\nCaleb have said.\"\n\n\"You must not go into the land,\" said Moses.\n\nBut the people would not obey. They marched up the mountain and tried to\nmarch at once into the land. But they were without leaders and without\norder--a mob of men, untrained and in confusion. And the people in that\npart of the land, the Canaanites and the Amorites, came down upon them\nand killed many of them and drove them away. Then, discouraged and\nbeaten, they obeyed the Lord and Moses, and went once more into the\ndesert.\n\nAnd in the desert of Paran, on the south of the land of Canaan, the\nchildren of Israel stayed nearly forty years; and all because they would\nnot trust in the Lord.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF GIDEON AND HIS THREE HUNDRED SOLDIERS\n\n\nAt last the people of Israel came into the promised land, but they did\nevil in the sight of the Lord in worshipping Baal; and the Lord left\nthem to suffer for their sins. Once the Midianites, living near the\ndesert on the east of Israel, came against the tribes. The two tribes\nthat suffered the hardest fate were Ephraim, and the part of Manasseh on\nthe west of Jordan. For seven years the Midianites swept over their land\nevery year, just at the time of harvest, and carried away all the crops\nof grain, until the Israelites had no food for themselves, and none for\ntheir sheep and cattle. The Midianites brought also their own flocks and\ncamels without number, which ate all the grass of the field.\n\nThe people of Israel were driven away from their villages and their\nfarms, and were compelled to hide in the caves of the mountains. And if\nany Israelite could raise any grain, he buried it in pits covered with\nearth, or in empty winepresses, where the Midianites could not find it.\n\nOne day, a man named Gideon was threshing out wheat in a hidden place,\nwhen he saw an angel sitting-under an oak-tree. The angel said to him:\n\"You are a brave man, Gideon, and the Lord is with you. Go out boldly,\nand save your people from the power of the Midianites.\" Gideon answered\nthe angel:\n\n[Illustration: _The angel touched the offering with his staff_]\n\n\"O, Lord, how can I save Israel? Mine is a poor family in Manasseh, and\nI am the least in my father's house.\"\n\nAnd the Lord said to him: \"Surely I will be With you, and I will help\nyou drive out the Midianites.\"\n\nGideon felt that it was the Lord who was talking with him, in the form\nof an angel. He brought an offering, and laid it on a rock before the\nangel. Then the angel touched the offering with his staff. At once, a\nfire leaped up and burned the offering; and then the angel vanished from\nhis sight. Gideon was afraid when he saw this; but the Lord said to him:\n\"Peace be unto you, Gideon, do not fear, for I am with you.\"\n\nOn the spot where the Lord appeared to Gideon, under an oak tree, near\nthe village of Ophrah, in the tribe-land of Manasseh, Gideon built an\naltar and called it by a name which means: \"The Lord is peace.\" This\naltar was standing long afterward in that place.\n\nThen the Lord told Gideon that before setting his people free from the\nMidianites, he must first set them free from the service of Baal and\nAsherah, the two idols most worshipped among them. Near the house of\nGideon's own father stood an altar to Baal, and the image of Asherah.\n\nOn that night, Gideon went out with ten men, and threw down the image of\nBaal, and cut in pieces the wooden image of Asherah, and destroyed the\naltar before these idols. And in its place he built an altar to the God\nof Israel; and on it laid the broken pieces of the idols for wood, and\nwith them offered a young ox as a burnt-offering.\n\nOn the next morning, when the people of the village went out to worship\ntheir idols, they found them cut in pieces, the altar taken away; in its\nplace an altar of the Lord, and on it the pieces of the Asherah were\nburning as wood under a sacrifice to the Lord. The people looked at the\nbroken and burning idols; and they said: \"Who has done this?\"\n\nSome one said: \"Gideon, the son of Joash, did this last night.\"\n\nThen they came to Joash, Gideon's father, and said:\n\n\"We are going to kill your son because he has destroyed the image of\nBaal, who is our god.\"\n\nAnd Joash, Gideon's father, said: \"If Baal is a god, he can take care of\nhimself, and punish the man who has destroyed his image. Why should you\nhelp Baal? Let Baal help himself.\"\n\nAnd when they saw that Baal could not harm the man who had broken down\nhis altar and his image, the people turned from Baal, back to their own\nLord God.\n\nGideon sent messengers through all Manasseh on the west of Jordan, and\nthe tribes near on the north; and the men of the tribes gathered around\nhim, with a few swords and spears, but very few, for the Israelites were\nnot ready for war. They met beside a great spring on Mount Gilboa,\ncalled \"the fountain of Harod.\" Mount Gilboa is one of the three\nmountains on the east of the plain of Esdraelon, or the plain of\nJezreel, where once there had been a great battle. On the plain,\nstretching up the side of another of these mountains, called \"the Hill\nof Moreh,\" was the camp of a vast Midianite army. For as soon as the\nMidianites heard that Gideon had undertaken to set his people free, they\ncame against him with a mighty host.\n\nGideon was a man of faith. He wished to be sure that God was leading\nhim, and he prayed to God and said:\n\n\"O Lord God, give me some sign that thou wilt save Israel through me.\nHere is a fleece of wool on this threshing floor. If to-morrow morning\nthe fleece is wet with dew, while the grass around it is dry, then I\nshall know that thou art with me; and that thou wilt give me victory\nover the Midianites.\"\n\nVery early the next morning, Gideon came to look at the fleece. He found\nit wringing wet with dew, while all around the grass was dry. But Gideon\nwas not yet satisfied. He said to the Lord:\n\n\"O Lord, be not angry with me; but give me just one more sign. To-morrow\nmorning let the fleece be dry, and let the dew fall all around it, and\nthen I will doubt no more.\"\n\nThe next morning, Gideon found the grass, and the bushes wet with dew,\nwhile the fleece of wool was dry. And Gideon was now sure that God had\ncalled him, and that God would give him victory over the enemies of\nIsrael.\n\nThe Lord said to Gideon: \"Your army is too large. If Israel should win\nthe victory, they would say, 'we won it by our own might.' Send home all\nthose who are afraid to fight.\"\n\nFor many of the people were frightened, as they looked at the host of\ntheir enemies, and the Lord knew that these men would only hinder the\nrest in the battle. So Gideon sent word through the camp:\n\n\"Whoever is afraid of the enemy may go home.\" And twenty-two thousand\npeople went away, leaving only ten thousand in Gideon's army. But the\narmy was stronger though it was smaller, for the cowards had gone, and\nonly the brave men were left.\n\nBut the Lord said to Gideon: \"The people are yet too many. You need only\na few of the bravest and best men to fight in this battle. Bring the men\ndown the mountain, past the water, and I will show you there how to find\nthe men whom you need.\"\n\nIn the morning Gideon, by God's command called his ten thousand men out,\nand made them march down the hill, just as though they were going to\nattack the enemy. And as they were beside the water, he noticed how they\ndrank, and set them apart in two companies, according to their way of\ndrinking.\n\nWhen they came to the water, most of the men threw aside their shields\nand spears, and knelt down and scooped up a draft of the water with both\nhands together like a cup. These men Gideon commanded to stand in one\ncompany.\n\nThere were a few men who did not stop to take a large draft of water.\nHolding spear and shield in the right hand, to be ready for the enemy if\none should suddenly appear, they merely caught up a handful of the water\nin passing and marched on, lapping up the water from one hand. God said\nto Gideon:\n\n\"Set by themselves these men who lapped up each a handful of water.\nThese are the men whom I have chosen to set Israel free.\"\n\nGideon counted these men, and found that there were only three hundred\nof them, while all the rest bowed down on their faces to drink. The\ndifference between them was that the three hundred were earnest men, of\none purpose; not turning aside from their aim even to drink, as the\nothers did. Then, too, they were watchful men, always ready to meet\ntheir enemies.\n\nSo Gideon, at God's command, sent back to the camp on Mount Gilboa all\nthe rest of his army, nearly ten thousand men, keeping with himself only\nhis little band of three hundred.\n\nGideon's plan did not need a large army; but it needed a few careful,\nbold men, who should do exactly as their leader commanded them. He gave\nto each man a lamp, a pitcher, and a trumpet, and told the men just what\nwas to be done with them. The lamp was lighted, but was placed inside\nthe pitcher, so that it could not be seen. He divided his men into three\ncompanies, and very quietly led them down the mountain in the middle of\nthe night, and arranged them all in order around the camp of the\nMidianites.\n\n[Illustration: _The men blew their trumpets with a mighty noise_]\n\nThen at one moment a great shout rang out in the darkness, \"The sword of\nthe Lord and of Gideon,\" and after it came a crash of breaking pitchers,\nand then a flash of light in every direction. The three hundred men had\ngiven the shout, and broken their pitchers, so that on every side\nlights were shining. The men blew their trumpets with a mighty noise;\nand the Midianites were roused from sleep, to see enemies all round\nthem, lights beaming and swords flashing, while everywhere the sharp\nsound of the trumpets was heard.\n\nThey were filled with sudden terror, and thought only of escape, not of\nfighting. But wherever they turned, their enemies seemed to be standing\nwith swords drawn. They trampled each other down to death, flying from\nthe Israelites. Their own land was in the east, across the river Jordan,\nand they fled in that direction, down one of the valleys between the\nmountains.\n\nGideon had thought that the Midianites would turn toward their own land,\nif they should be beaten in the battle, and he had already planned to\ncut off their flight. The ten thousand men in the camp he had placed on\nthe sides of the valley leading to the Jordan. There they slew very many\nof the Midianites as they fled down the steep pass toward the river. And\nGideon had also sent to the men of the tribe of Ephraim, who had thus\nfar taken no part in the war, to hold the only place at the river where\nmen could wade through the water. Those of the Midianites who had\nescaped from Gideon's men on either side of the valley were now met by\nthe Ephraimites at the river, and many more of them were slain. Among\nthe slain were two of the princes of the Midianites, named Oreb and\nZeeb.\n\nA part of the Midianite army was able to get across the river, and to\ncontinue its flight toward the desert; but Gideon and his brave three\nhundred men followed closely after them, fought another battle with\nthem, destroyed them utterly, and took their two kings, Zebah and\nZalmunna, whom he killed. After this great victory the Israelites were\nfreed forever from the Midianites. They never again ventured to leave\ntheir home in the desert to make war on the tribes of Israel.\n\nAfter this, as long as Gideon lived, he ruled as Judge in Israel. The\npeople wished him to make himself a king.\n\n\"Rule over us as king,\" they said, \"and let your son be king after you,\nand his son king after him.\"\n\nBut Gideon said:\n\n\"No, you have a king already; for the Lord God is the King of Israel. No\none but God shall be king over these tribes.\"\n\nOf all the fifteen men who ruled as Judges of Israel, Gideon, the fifth\nJudge, was the greatest, in courage, in wisdom, and in faith in God.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF SAMSON, THE STRONG MAN\n\n\nNow we are to learn of three judges who ruled Israel in turn. Their\nnames were Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. None of these were men of war, and in\ntheir days the land was quiet.\n\nBut the people of Israel again began to worship idols; and as a\npunishment God allowed them once more to pass under the power of their\nenemies. The seventh oppression, which now fell upon Israel, was by far\nthe hardest, the longest and the most widely spread of any, for it was\nover all the tribes. It came from the Philistines, a strong and warlike\npeople who lived on the west of Israel upon the plain beside the Great\nSea. They worshipped an idol called Dagon, which was made in the form of\na fish's head on a man's body.\n\nThese people, the Philistines, sent their armies up from the plain\nbeside the sea to the mountains of Israel and overran all the land. They\ntook away from the Israelites all their swords and spears, so that they\ncould not fight; and they robbed their land of all the crops, so that\nthe people suffered for want of food. And as before, the Israelites in\ntheir trouble, cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard their prayer.\n\nIn the tribe-land of Dan, which was next to the country of the\nPhilistines, there was living a man named Manoah. One day an angel came\nto his wife and said:\n\n\"You shall have a son, and when he grows up he will begin to save Israel\nfrom the hand of the Philistines. But your son must never drink any wine\nor strong drink as long as he lives. And his hair must be allowed to\ngrow long and must never be cut, for he shall be a Nazarite under a vow\nto the Lord.\"\n\nWhen a child was given especially to God, or when a man gave himself to\nsome work for God, he was forbidden to drink wine, and as a sign, his\nhair was left to grow long while the vow or promise to God was upon him.\nSuch a person as this was called a Nazarite, a word which means \"one who\nhas a vow\"; and Manoah's child was to be a Nazarite, and under a vow, as\nlong as he lived.\n\nThe child was born and was named Samson. He grew up to become the\nstrongest man of whom the Bible tells. Samson was no general, like\nGideon or Jephthah, to call out his people and lead them in war. He did\nmuch to set his people free; but all that he did was by his own\nstrength.\n\nWhen Samson became a young man he went down to Timnath, in the land of\nthe Philistines. There he saw a young Philistine woman whom he loved,\nand wished to have as his wife. His father and mother were not pleased\nthat he should marry among the enemies of his own people. They did not\nknow that God would make this marriage the means of bringing harm upon\nthe Philistines and of helping the Israelites.\n\nAs Samson was going down to Timnath to see this young woman, a hungry\nlion came out of the mountain, roaring against him. Samson seized the\nlion, and tore him in pieces as easily as another man would have killed\na little kid of the goats, and then went on his way. He made his visit\nand came home, but said nothing to any one about the lion.\n\nAfter a time Samson went again to Timnath for his marriage with the\nPhilistine woman. On his way he stopped to look at the dead lion; and in\nits body he found a swarm of bees, and honey which they had made. He\ntook some of the honey and ate it as he walked, but told no one of it.\n\nAt the wedding-feast, which lasted a whole week, there were many\nPhilistine young men, and they amused each other with questions and\nriddles.\n\n\"I will give you a riddle,\" said Samson. \"If you answer it during the\nfeast, I will give you thirty suits of clothing; and if you cannot\nanswer it then you must give me the thirty suits of clothing.\" \"Let us\nhear your riddle,\" they said. And this was Samson's riddle:\n\n\"Out of the eater came forth meat,\nAnd out of the strong came forth sweetness.\"\n\nThey could not find the answer, though they tried to find it all that\nday and the two days that followed. And at last they came to Samson's\nwife and said to her:\n\n\"Coax your husband to tell you the answer. If you do not find it out, we\nwill set your house on fire, and burn you and all your people.\"\n\nAnd Samson's wife urged him to tell her the answer. She cried and\npleaded with him and said:\n\n\"If you really loved me, you would not keep this a secret from me.\"\n\nAt last Samson yielded, and told his wife how he had killed the lion and\nafterward found the honey in its body. She told her people, and just\nbefore the end of the feast they came to Samson with the answer. They\nsaid:\n\n\"What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?\" And\nSamson said to them:\n\n    \"If you had not plowed with my heifer,\n    You had not found out my riddle.\"\n\nBy his \"heifer,\"--which is a young cow,--of course Samson meant his\nwife. Then Samson was required to give them thirty suits of clothing. He\nwent out among the Philistines, killed the first thirty men whom he\nfound, took off their clothes, and gave them to the guests at the feast.\nBut all this made Samson very angry. He left his wife and went home to\nhis father's house. Then the parents of his wife gave her to another\nman.\n\nBut after a time Samson's anger passed away, and he went again to\nTimnath to see his wife. But her father said to him:\n\n\"You went away angry, and I supposed that you cared nothing for her. I\ngave her to another man, and now she is his wife. But here is her\nyounger sister; you can have her for your wife, instead.\"\n\nBut Samson would not take his wife's sister. He went out very angry;\ndetermined to do harm to the Philistines, because they had cheated him.\nHe caught all the wild foxes that he could find, until he had three\nhundred of them. Then he tied them together in pairs, by their tails;\nand between each pair of foxes he tied to their tails a piece of dry\nwood which he set on fire. These foxes with firebrands on their tails he\nturned loose among the fields of the Philistines when the grain was\nripe. They ran wildly over the fields, set the grain on fire, and\nburned it; and with the grain the olive trees in the fields.\n\nWhen the Philistines saw their harvests destroyed, they said, \"Who has\ndone this?\"\n\nAnd the people said, \"Samson did this, because his wife was given by her\nfather to another man.\"\n\nThe Philistines looked on Samson's father-in-law as the cause of their\nloss; and they came and set his home on fire, and burned the man and his\ndaughter whom Samson had married. Then Samson came down again, and alone\nfought a company of Philistines, and killed them all, as a punishment\nfor burning his wife.\n\nAfter this Samson went to live in a hollow place in a split rock, called\nthe rock of Etam. The Philistines came up in a great army, and overran\nthe fields in the tribe-land of Judah.\n\n\"Why do you come against us?\" asked the men of Judah, \"what do you want\nfrom us?\"\n\n\"We have come,\" they said, \"to bind Samson, and to deal with him as he\nhas dealt with us.\"\n\nThe men of Judah said to Samson:\n\n\"Do you not know that the Philistines are ruling over us? Why do you\nmake them angry by killing their people? You see that we suffer through\nyour pranks. Now we must bind you and give you to the Philistines, or\nthey will ruin us all.\"\n\nAnd Samson said, \"I will let you bind me, if you will promise not to\nkill me yourselves; but only to give me safely into the hands of the\nPhilistines.\"\n\nThey made the promise; and Samson gave himself up to them, and allowed\nthem to tie him up fast with new ropes. The Philistines shouted for joy\nas they saw their enemy brought to them, led in bonds by his own people.\nBut as soon as Samson came among them, he burst the bonds as though they\nhad been light strings; and picked up from the ground the jawbone of an\nass, and struck right and left with it as with a sword. He killed almost\na thousand of the Philistines with this strange weapon. Afterward he\nsang a song about it, thus:\n\n    \"With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,\n    With the jawbone of an ass, have I slain a thousand men.\"\n\nAfter this Samson went down to the chief city of the Philistines, which\nwas named Gaza. It was a large city; and like all large cities, was\nsurrounded with a high wall. When the men of Gaza found Samson in their\ncity, they shut the gates, thinking that they could now hold him as a\nprisoner. But in the night Samson rose up, went to the gates, pulled\ntheir posts out of the ground, and put the gates with their posts upon\nhis shoulder. He carried off the gates of the city and left them on the\ntop of a hill not far from the city of Hebron.\n\nAfter this Samson saw another woman among the Philistines, and he loved\nher. The name of this woman was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines\ncame to Delilah and said to her:\n\n\"Find out, if you can, what it is that makes Samson so strong, and tell\nus. If you help us to get control of him, so that we can have him in our\npower, we will give you a great sum of money.\"\n\n[Illustration: _He carried off the gates of the city_]\n\nAnd Delilah coaxed and pleaded with Samson to tell her what it was that\nmade him so strong. Samson said to her:\n\n\"If they will tie me with seven green twigs from a tree, then I shall\nnot be strong any more.\"\n\nThey brought her seven green twigs, like those of a willow tree; and she\nbound Samson with them while he was asleep. Then she called out to him:\n\n\"Wake up, Samson, the Philistines are coming against you!\"\n\nAnd Samson rose up and broke the twigs as easily as if they had been\ncharred in the fire, and went away with ease.\n\nAnd Delilah tried again to find his secret. She said:\n\n\"You are only making fun of me. Now tell me truly how you can be bound.\"\nAnd Samson said:\n\n\"Let them bind me with new ropes that have never been used before; and\nthen I cannot get away.\"\n\nWhile Samson was asleep again, Delilah bound him with new ropes. Then\nshe called out as before:\n\n\"Get up, Samson, for the Philistines are coming!\" And when Samson rose\nup, the ropes broke as if they were thread. And Delilah again urged him\nto tell her; and he said:\n\n\"You notice that my long hair is in seven locks. Weave it together in\nthe loom, just as if it were the threads in a piece of cloth.\"\n\nThen, while he was asleep, she wove his hair in the loom, and fastened\nit with a large pin to the weaving-frame. But when he awoke, he rose up,\nand carried away the pin and the beam of the weaving-frame; for he was\nas strong as before.\n\nAnd Delilah, who was anxious to serve her people, said:\n\n\"Why do you tell me that you love me, as long as you deceive me and keep\nfrom me your secret?\" And she pleaded with him day after day, until at\nlast he yielded to her and told her the real secret of his strength. He\nsaid:\n\n\"I am a Nazarite, under a vow to the Lord, not to drink wine, and not to\nallow my hair to be cut. If I should let my hair be cut short, then the\nLord would forsake me, and my strength would go from me, and I would be\nlike other men.\"\n\nThen Delilah knew that she had found the truth at last. She sent for the\nrulers of the Philistines, saying:\n\n\"Come up this once, and you shall have your enemy; for he has told me\nall that is in his heart.\"\n\nThen while the Philistines were watching outside, Delilah let Samson go\nto sleep, with his head upon her knees. While he was sound asleep, they\ntook a razor and shaved off all his hair. Then she called out as at\nother times.\n\n\"Rise up, Samson, the Philistines are upon you.\"\n\nHe awoke, and rose up, expecting to find himself strong as before; for\nhe did not at first know that his long hair had been cut off. But the\nvow to the Lord was broken, and the Lord had left him. He was now as\nweak as other men, and helpless in the hands of his enemies. The\nPhilistines easily made him their prisoner; and that he might never do\nthem more harm, they put out his eyes. Then they chained him with\nfetters, and sent him to prison at Gaza. And in the prison they made\nSamson turn a heavy millstone to grind grain, just as though he were a\nbeast of burden.\n\nBut while Samson was in prison, his hair grew long again; and with his\nhair his strength came back to him; for Samson renewed his vow to the\nLord.\n\nOne day, a great feast was held by the Philistines in the temple of\ntheir fish-god, Dagon. For they said:\n\n\"Our god has given Samson, our enemy, into our hand. Let us be glad\ntogether and praise Dagon.\"\n\nAnd the temple was thronged with people, and the roof over it was also\ncrowded with more than three thousand men and women. They sent for\nSamson, to rejoice over him; and Samson was led into the court of the\ntemple, before all the people, to amuse them. After a time, Samson said\nto the boy who was leading him:\n\n[Illustration: _He bowed forward with all his might and pulled the\npillars with him_]\n\n\"Take me up to the front of the temple, so that I may stand by one of\nthe pillars, and lean against it.\"\n\nAnd while Samson stood between the two pillars, he prayed:\n\n\"O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and give me strength, only this\nonce, O God: and help me, that I may obtain vengeance upon the\nPhilistines for my two eyes!\"\n\nThen he placed one arm around the pillar on one side, and the other arm\naround the pillar on the other side; and he said: \"Let me die with the\nPhilistines.\"\n\nAnd he bowed forward with all his might, and pulled the pillars over\nwith him, bringing down the roof and all upon it upon those that were\nunder it. Samson himself was among the dead; but in his death he killed\nmore of the Philistines than he had killed during his life.\n\nThen in the terror which came upon the Philistines the men of Samson's\ntribe came down and found his dead body, and buried it in their own\nland. After that it was years before the Philistines tried again to rule\nover the Israelites.\n\nSamson did much to set his people free; but he might have done much\nmore, if he had led his people, instead of trusting alone to his own\nstrength; and if he had lived more earnestly, and not done his deeds as\nthough he was playing pranks. There were deep faults in Samson, but at\nthe end he sought God's help, and found it, and God used Samson to set\nhis people free.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF RUTH, THE GLEANER\n\n\nIn the time of the Judges in Israel, a man named Elimelech was living in\nthe town of Bethlehem, in the tribe of Judah, about six miles south of\nJerusalem. His wife's name was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and\nChilion. For some years the crops were poor, and food was scarce in\nJudah; and Elimelech with his family went to live in the land of Moab,\nwhich was on the east of the Dead Sea, as Judah was on the west.\n\nThere they stayed ten years, and in that time Elimelech died. His two\nsons married women of the country of Moab, one named Orpah, the other\nnamed Ruth. But the two young men also died in the land of Moab; so that\nNaomi and her two daughters-in-law were all left widows.\n\nNaomi heard that God had again given good harvests and bread to the land\nof Judah, and she rose up to go from Moab back to her own land and her\nown town of Bethlehem. The two daughters-in-law loved her, and both\nwould have gone with her, though the land of Judah was a strange land to\nthem, for they were of the Moabite people.\n\nNaomi said to them: \"Go back, my daughters, to your own mothers' homes.\nMay the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have been kind to your\nhusbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you may yet find\nanother husband and a happy home.\"\n\nThen Naomi kissed them in farewell, and the three women all wept\ntogether. The two young widows said to her:\n\n\"You have been a good mother to us, and we will go with you, and live\namong your people.\"\n\n\"No, no,\" said Naomi. \"You are young, and I am old. Go back and be happy\namong your own people.\"\n\nThen Orpah kissed Naomi, and went back to her people; but Ruth would not\nleave her. She said:\n\n\"Do not ask me to leave you, for I never will. Where you go, I will go;\nwhere you live, I will live; your people shall be my people; and your\nGod shall be my God. Where you die, I will die, and be buried. Nothing\nbut death itself shall part you and me.\"\n\nWhen Naomi saw that Ruth was firm in her purpose, she ceased trying to\npersuade her; so the two women went on together. They walked around the\nDead Sea, and crossed the river Jordan, and climbed the mountains of\nJudah, and came to Bethlehem.\n\nNaomi had been absent from Bethlehem for ten years, but her friends\nwere all glad to see her again. They said:\n\n\"Is this Naomi, whom we knew years ago?\"\n\nNow the name Naomi means \"pleasant.\" And Naomi said:\n\n\"Call me not Naomi; call me Mara, for the Lord has made my life bitter.\nI went out full, with my husband and two sons; now I come home empty,\nwithout them. Do not call me 'Pleasant,' call me 'Bitter.'\"\n\nThe name \"Mara,\" by which Naomi wished to be called means \"bitter.\" But\nNaomi learned later that \"Pleasant\" was the right name after all.\n\nThere was living in Bethlehem at that time a very rich man named Boaz.\nHe owned large fields that were abundant in their harvests; and he was\nrelated to the family of Elimelech, Naomi's husband, who had died.\n\nIt was the custom in Israel when they reaped the grain not to gather all\nthe stalks, but to leave some for the poor people, who followed after\nthe reapers with their sickles, and gathered what was left. When Naomi\nand Ruth came to Bethlehem, it was the time of the barley harvest; and\nRuth went out into the fields to glean the grain which the reapers had\nleft. It so happened that she was gleaning in the field that belonged to\nBoaz, this rich man.\n\nBoaz came out from the town to see his men reaping, and he said to\nthem, \"The Lord be with you\"; and they answered him, \"The Lord bless\nyou.\"\n\nAnd Boaz said to his master of the reapers: \"Who is this young woman\nthat I see gleaning in the field?\"\n\nThe man answered: \"It is the young woman from the land of Moab, who came\nwith Naomi. She asked leave to glean after the reapers, and has been\nhere gathering grain since yesterday.\"\n\nThen Boaz said to Ruth: \"Listen to me, my daughter. Do not go to any\nother field, but stay here with my young women. No one shall harm you;\nand when you are thirsty, go and drink at our vessels of water.\"\n\n[Illustration: _Ruth went out into the fields to glean the grain_]\n\nThen Ruth bowed to Boaz, and thanked him for his kindness, all the more\nkind because she was a stranger in Israel. Boaz said: \"I have heard how\ntrue you have been to your mother-in-law Naomi, in leaving your own\nland and coming with her to this land. May the Lord, under whose wings\nyou have come, give you a reward!\"\n\nAnd at noon, when they sat down to rest and to eat, Boaz gave her some\nof the food. And he said to the reapers:\n\n\"When you are reaping, leave some of the sheaves for her; and drop out\nsome sheaves from the bundles, where she may gather them.\"\n\nThat evening, Ruth showed Naomi how much she had gleaned, and told her\nof the rich man Boaz, who had been so kind to her. And Naomi said:\n\n\"This man is a near relation of ours. Stay in his fields, as long as the\nharvest lasts.\" And so Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz until the\nharvest had been gathered.\n\nAt the end of the harvest, Boaz held a feast on the threshing-floor. And\nafter the feast, by the advice of Naomi, Ruth went to him, and said to\nhim:\n\n\"You are a near relation of my husband and of his father, Elimelech. Now\nwill you not do good to us for his sake?\"\n\nAnd when Boaz saw Ruth, he loved her; and soon after this he took her as\nhis wife. And Naomi and Ruth went to live in his home; so that Naomi's\nlife was no more bitter, but pleasant. And Boaz and Ruth had a son,\nwhom they named Obed; and later Obed had a son named Jesse; and Jesse\nwas the father of David, the shepherd boy who became king. So Ruth, the\nyoung woman of Moab, who chose the people and the God of Israel, became\nthe mother of kings.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF DAVID, THE SHEPHERD BOY\n\n\nLiving at Ramah, in the mountains of Ephraim, there was a man whose name\nwas Elkanah. He had two wives, as did many men in that time. One of\nthese wives had children, but the other wife, whose name was Hannah, had\nno child.\n\nEvery year Elkanah and his family went up to worship at the house of the\nLord in Shiloh, which was about fifteen miles from his home. And at one\nof these visits Hannah prayed to the Lord, saying:\n\n\"O Lord, if thou wilt look upon me, and give me a son, he shall be given\nto the Lord as long as he lives.\"\n\nThe Lord heard Hannah's prayer, and gave her a little boy, and she\ncalled his name Samuel, which means \"Asked of God\"; because he had been\ngiven in answer to her prayer.\n\nSamuel grew up to be a good man and a wise Judge, and he made his sons\nJudges in Israel, to help him in the care of the people. But Samuel's\nsons did not walk in his ways. They did not try always to do justly.\n\nThe elders of all the tribes of Israel came to Samuel at his home in\nRamah; and they said to him: \"You are growing old, and your sons do not\nrule as well as you ruled. All the lands around us have kings. Let us\nhave a king also; and do you choose the king for us.\"\n\nThis was not pleasing to Samuel. He tried to make the people change\ntheir minds, and showed them what trouble a king would bring them.\n\nBut they would not follow his advice. They said: \"No; we will have a\nking to reign over us.\"\n\nSo Samuel chose as their king a tall young man named Saul, who was a\nfarmer's son of the tribe of Benjamin. When Saul was brought before the\npeople he stood head and shoulders above them all. And Samuel said:\n\n\"Look at the man whom the Lord has chosen! There is not another like him\namong all the people!\"\n\nAnd all the people shouted, \"God save the king! Long live the king!\"\n\nThen Samuel told the people what should be the laws for the king and for\nthe people to obey. He wrote them down in a book, and placed the book\nbefore the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people home; and Saul went back to\nhis own house at a place called Gibeah; and with Saul went a company of\nmen to whose hearts God had given a love for the king.\n\nSo after three hundred years under the fifteen Judges, Israel now had a\nking. But among the people there were some who were not pleased with the\nnew king, because he was an unknown man from the farm. They said:\n\n\"Can such a man as this save us?\"\n\nThey showed no respect to the king, and in their hearts looked down upon\nhim. But Saul said nothing, and showed his wisdom by appearing not to\nnotice them. But in another thing he was not so wise. He forgot to heed\nthe old prophet's advice and instructions about ruling wisely and doing\nas the Lord said. It was not long before Samuel told him that he had\ndisobeyed God and would lose his kingdom.\n\nWhen Samuel told Saul that the Lord would take away the kingdom from\nhim, he did not mean that Saul should lose the kingdom at once. He was\nno longer God's king; and as soon as the right man in God's sight should\nbe found, and should be trained for his duty as king, then God would\ntake away Saul's power, and would give it to the man whom God had\nchosen. But it was years before this came to pass.\n\nThe Lord said to Samuel: \"Do not weep and mourn any longer over Saul,\nfor I have refused him as king. Fill the horn with oil, and go to\nBethlehem in Judah. There find a man named Jesse, for I have chosen a\nking among his sons.\"\n\nBut Samuel knew that Saul would be very angry, if he should learn that\nSamuel had named any other man as king. He said to the Lord:\n\n\"How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.\"\n\nThe Lord said to Samuel: \"Take a young cow with you; and tell the people\nthat you have come to make an offering to the Lord. And call Jesse and\nhis sons to the sacrifice. I will tell you what to do, and you shall\nanoint the one whom I name to you.\"\n\nSamuel went over the mountains southward from Ramah to Bethlehem, about\nten miles, leading a cow. The rulers of the town were alarmed at his\ncoming, for they feared that he had come to judge the people for some\nevil-doing. But Samuel said:\n\n\"I have come in peace to make an offering and to hold a feast to the\nLord. Prepare yourselves and come to the sacrifice.\"\n\nAnd he invited Jesse and his sons to the service. When they came, he\nlooked at the sons of Jesse very closely. The oldest was named Eliab,\nand he was so tall and noble-looking that Samuel thought:\n\n\"Surely this young man must be the one whom God has chosen.\"\n\nBut the Lord said to Samuel:\n\n\"Do not look on his face, nor on the height of his body, for I have not\nchosen him. Man judges by the outward looks, but God looks at the\nheart.\"\n\nThen Jesse's second son, named Abinadab, passed by. And the Lord said:\n\"I have not chosen this one.\" Seven young men came and Samuel said:\n\n\"None of these is the man whom God has chosen. Are these all your\nchildren?\"\n\n\"There is one more,\" said Jesse. \"The youngest of all. He is a boy, in\nthe field caring for the sheep.\"\n\nAnd Samuel said:\n\n\"Send for him; for we will not sit down until he comes.\" So after a time\nthe youngest son was brought in. His name was David, a word that means\n\"darling,\" and he was a beautiful boy, perhaps fifteen years old, with\nfresh cheeks and bright eyes.\n\nAs soon as the young David came, the Lord said to Samuel:\n\n\"Arise, anoint him, for this is the one whom I have chosen.\"\n\nThen Samuel poured oil on David's head, in the presence of all his\nbrothers. But no one knew at that time the anointing to mean that David\nwas to be the king. Perhaps they thought that David was chosen to be a\nprophet like Samuel.\n\nFrom that time the Spirit of God came upon David, and he began to show\nsigns of coming greatness. He went back to his sheep on the hillsides\naround Bethlehem, but God was with him.\n\nDavid grew up strong and brave, not afraid of the wild beasts which\nprowled around and tried to carry away his sheep. More than once he\nfought with lions, and bears, and killed them, when they seized the\nlambs of his flock. And David, alone all day, practiced throwing stones\nin a sling, until he could strike exactly the place for which he aimed.\nWhen he swung his sling, he knew that the stone would go to the very\nspot at which he was throwing it.\n\n[Illustration: _Then Samuel poured oil on David's head_]\n\nAnd young as he was, David thought of God, and talked with God, and God\ntalked with David, and showed to David His will.\n\nAfter Saul had disobeyed the voice of the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord\nleft Saul, and no longer spoke to him. And Saul became very sad of\nheart. At times a madness would come upon him, and at all times he was\nvery unhappy. The servants of Saul noticed that when some one played on\nthe harp and sang, Saul's spirit was made more cheerful; and the sadness\nof soul left him. At one time Saul said: \"Find some one who can play\nwell, and bring him to me. Let me listen to music; for it drives away my\nsadness.\"\n\nOne of the young men said: \"I have seen a young man, a son of Jesse in\nBethlehem, who can play well. He is handsome in his looks, and agreeable\nin talking. I have also heard that he is a brave young man, who can\nfight as well as he can play, and the Lord is with him.\"\n\nThen Saul sent a message to Jesse, David's father. He said: \"Send me\nyour son David, who is with the sheep. Let him come and play before me.\"\n\nThen David came to Saul, bringing with him a present for the king from\nJesse. When Saul saw him, he loved him, as did everybody who saw the\nyoung David. And David played on the harp, and sang before Saul. And\nDavid's music cheered Saul's heart, and drove away his sad feelings.\n\nSaul liked David so well that he made him his armorbearer; and David\ncarried the shield and spear, and sword for Saul, when the king was\nbefore his army. But Saul did not know that David had been anointed by\nSamuel.\n\nAfter a time, Saul seemed well; and David returned to Bethlehem and was\nonce more among his sheep in the field. Perhaps it was at this time that\nDavid sang his shepherd song, or it may have been long afterward, when\nDavid looked back in thought to those days when he was leading his\nsheep. This is the song, which you have heard often:\n\n\"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.\nHe maketh me to lie down in green pastures;\nHe leadeth me beside the still waters,\nHe restoreth my soul;\nHe leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.\nYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,\nI will fear no evil; for thou art with me;\nThy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.\nThou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;\nThou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.\nSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:\nAnd I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.\"\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE FIGHT WITH THE GIANT\n\nAll through the reign of Saul, there was constant war with the\nPhilistines, who lived upon the lowlands west of Israel. At one time,\nwhen David was still with his sheep, a few years after he had been\nanointed by Samuel, the camps of the Philistines and the Israelites were\nset against each other on opposite sides of the valley of Elah. In the\narmy of Israel were the three oldest brothers of David.\n\nEvery day a giant came out of the camp of the Philistines, and dared\nsome one to come from the Israelites' camp and fight with him. The\ngiant's name was Goliath. He was nine feet high; and he wore armor from\nhead to foot, and carried a spear twice as long and as heavy as any\nother man could hold; and his shield bearer walked before him. He came\nevery day and called out across the little valley:\n\n\"I am a Philistine, and you are servants of Saul. Now choose one of your\nmen, and let him come out and fight with me. If I kill him; then you\nshall submit to us; and if he kills me, then we will give up to you.\nCome, now, send out your man!\"\n\nBut no man in the army, not even King Saul, dared to go out and fight\nwith the giant. Forty days the camps stood against each other, and the\nPhilistine giant continued his call.\n\nOne day, old Jesse, the father of David, sent David from Bethlehem to\nvisit his three brothers in the army. David came, and spoke to his\nbrothers; and while he was talking with them, Goliath the giant came out\nas before in front of the camp calling for some one to fight with him.\n\nThey said one to another:\n\n\"If any man will go out and kill this Philistine, the king will give him\na great reward and a high rank; and the king's daughter shall be his\nwife.\"\n\nAnd David said:\n\n\"Who is this man that speaks in this proud manner against the armies of\nthe living God? Why does not some one go out and kill him?\"\n\nDavid's brother Eliab said to him:\n\n\"What are you doing here, leaving your sheep in the field? I know that\nyou have come down just to see the battle.\"\n\nBut David did not care for his brother's words. He thought he saw a way\nto kill this boasting giant; and he said:\n\n\"If no one else will go, I will go out and fight with this enemy of the\nLord's people.\"\n\nThey brought David before King Saul. Some years had passed since Saul\nhad met David, and he had grown from a boy to a man, so that Saul did\nnot know him as the shepherd who had played on the harp before him in\nother days.\n\nSaul said to David:\n\n\"You cannot fight with this great giant. You are very young; and he is a\nman of war, trained from his youth.\"\n\nAnd David answered King Saul:\n\n\"I am only a shepherd, but I have fought with lions and bears, when they\nhave tried to steal my sheep. And I am not afraid to fight with this\nPhilistine.\"\n\nThen Saul put his own armor on David--a helmet on his head, and a coat\nof mail on his body, and a sword at his waist. But Saul was almost a\ngiant, and his armor was far too large for David. David said:\n\n\"I am not used to fighting with such weapons as these. Let me fight in\nmy own way.\"\n\nSo David took off Saul's armor. While everybody in the army had been\nlooking on the giant with fear, David had been thinking out the best way\nfor fighting him; and God had given to David a plan. It was to throw the\ngiant off his guard, by appearing weak and helpless; and while so far\naway that the giant could not reach him with sword or spear, to strike\nhim down with a weapon which the giant would not expect and would not\nbe prepared for.\n\nDavid took his shepherd's staff in his hand, as though that were to be\nhis weapon. But out of sight, in a bag under his mantle, he had five\nsmooth stones carefully chosen, and a sling,--the weapon that he knew\nhow to use. Then he came out to meet the Philistine.\n\nThe giant looked down on the youth and despised him, and laughed.\n\n[Illustration: _The giant looked down on the youth and despised\nhim_]\n\n\"Am I a dog?\" he said, \"that this boy comes to me with a staff? I will\ngive his body to the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field.\"\n\nAnd the Philistine cursed David by the gods of his people. And David\nanswered him:\n\n\"You come against me with a sword, and a spear, and a dart; but I come\nto you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of\nIsrael. This day will the Lord give you into my hand. I will strike you\ndown, and take off your head, and the host of the Philistines shall be\ndead bodies, to be eaten by the birds and the beasts; so that all may\nknow that there is a God in Israel, and that He can save in other ways\nbesides with sword and spear.\"\n\n[Illustration: _David drew out the giant's own sword_]\n\nAnd David ran toward the Philistine, as if to fight him with his\nshepherd's staff. But when he was just near enough for a good aim, he\ntook out his sling, and hurled a stone aimed at the giant's forehead.\nDavid's aim was good; the stone struck the Philistine in his forehead.\nIt stunned him, and he fell to the ground.\n\nWhile the two armies stood wondering, and scarcely knowing what had\ncaused the giant to fall so suddenly, David ran forward, drew out the\ngiant's own sword, and cut off his head. Then the Philistines knew that\ntheir great warrior in whom they trusted was dead. They turned to flee\nto their own land; and the Israelites followed after them, and killed\nthem by the hundred and the thousand, even to the gates of their own\ncity of Gath.\n\nSo in that day David won a great victory and stood before all the land\nas the one who had saved his people from their enemies.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE CAVE OF ADULLAM\n\n\nNow Saul had a son, Jonathan, near David's own age. He and David became\nfast friends and loved one another as brothers. Saul the king became\nvery jealous of David because the people praised him after his fight\nwith Goliath. He even threatened to take David's life. He tried to catch\nhim in his own house, but David's wife let him down from a window by a\nrope and he escaped. He met his friend Jonathan, who told him that he\nshould flee. They renewed their promises of friendship, which they kept\never afterward.\n\nFrom his meeting with Jonathan, David went forth to be a wanderer,\nhaving no home as long as Saul lived. He found a great cave, called the\ncave of Adullam, and hid in it. Soon people heard where he was, and from\nall parts of the land, especially from his own tribe of Judah, men who\nwere not satisfied with the rule of King Saul gathered around David.\n\nSaul soon heard that David, with a band of men, was hiding among the\nmountains of Judah, and that among those who aided him were certain\npriests.\n\nThis enraged King Saul, and he ordered his guards to kill all the\npriests. The guards would not obey him, for they felt that it was a\nwicked thing to lay hands upon the priests of the Lord.\n\nBut he found one man whose name was Doeg, an Edomite, who was willing to\nobey the king. And Doeg, the Edomite, killed eighty-five men who wore\nthe priestly garments.\n\nAll through the land went the news of Saul's dreadful deed, and\neverywhere the people began to turn from Saul, and to look toward David\nas the only hope of the nation.\n\nWhen Saul died he was followed by David, the shepherd boy, now grown to\nmanhood and greatly loved by the people. He had many battles to fight\nwith the Philistines and was nearly always victorious. He was a warrior\nking; but he was more than a warrior. He played on his harp and composed\nmany beautiful hymns and songs, which are collected in the book of\nPsalms. He was a good king and tried to obey God's command. He had a\nlong reign and his people were happy and prosperous. He had many sons\nand daughters and beautiful palaces for them to live in.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF SOLOMON AND HIS TEMPLE\n\n\nDuring the later years of David's reign, he laid up great treasure of\ngold and silver, and brass, and iron, for the building of a house to the\nLord on Mount Moriah. This house was to be called \"The Temple\"; and it\nwas to be made very beautiful, the most beautiful building, and the\nrichest in all the land. David had greatly desired to build this house\nwhile he was king of Israel, but God said to him:\n\n\"You have been a man of war, and have fought many battles, and shed much\nblood. My house shall be built by a man of peace. When you die, your son\nSolomon shall reign, and he shall have peace, and shall build my house.\"\n\nSo David made ready great store of precious things for the temple; also\nstone and cedar to be used in the building. And David said to Solomon,\nhis son: \"God has promised that there shall be rest and peace to the\nland while you are king; and the Lord will be with you, and you shall\nbuild a house, where God shall live among His people.\"\n\nBut David had other sons who were older than Solomon; and one of these\nsons, whose name was Adonijah, formed a plan to make himself king.\nDavid was now very old; and he was no longer able to go out of his\npalace, and to be seen among the people.\n\nAdonijah gathered his friends; and among them were Joab, the general of\nthe army, and Abiathar, one of the two high-priests. They met at a place\noutside the wall, and had a great feast, and were about to crown\nAdonijah as king, when word came to David in the palace. David, though\nold and feeble, was still wise. He said:\n\n\"Let us make Solomon king at once, and thus put an end to the plans of\nthese men.\"\n\nSo at David's command they brought out the mule on which no one but the\nking was allowed to ride; and they placed Solomon upon it; and with the\nking's guards, and the nobles, and the great men, they brought the young\nSolomon down to the valley of Gihon, south of the city.\n\nAnd Zadok, the priest, took from the Tabernacle the horn filled with\nholy oil, that was used for anointing or pouring oil on the head of the\npriests when they were set apart for their work. He poured oil from this\nhorn on the head of Solomon, and then the priests blew the trumpets, and\nall the people cried aloud, \"God save King Solomon.\"\n\nAll this time Adonijah and Joab, and their friends were not far away,\nalmost in the same valley, feasting and making merry, intending to make\nAdonijah king. They heard the sound of the trumpets, and the shouting of\nthe people. Joab said: \"What is the cause of all this noise and uproar?\"\n\nA moment later, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, came running in. Jonathan\nsaid to the men who were feasting:\n\n\"Our lord King David has made Solomon king, and he has just been\nanointed in Gihon; and all the princes, and the heads of the army, are\nwith him, and the people are shouting, 'God save King Solomon!' And\nDavid has sent from his bed a message to Solomon, saying, 'May the Lord\nmake your name greater than mine has been! Blessed be the Lord, who has\ngiven me a son to sit this day on my throne!'\"\n\nWhen Adonijah and his friends heard this they were filled with fear.\nEvery man went at once to his house, except Adonijah. He hastened to the\naltar of the Lord, and knelt before it, and took hold of the horns that\nwere on its corners in front. This was a holy place, and he hoped that\nthere Solomon might have mercy on him. And Solomon said:\n\n\"If Adonijah will do right, and be faithful to me as the king of Israel,\nno harm shall come to him; but if he does wrong, he shall die.\"\n\nThen Adonijah came and bowed down before King Solomon, and promised to\nobey him, and Solomon said, \"Go to your own house.\"\n\n[Illustration: _Solomon on his throne_]\n\nNot long after this David sent for Solomon, and from his bed he gave his\nlast advice to Solomon. And soon after that David died, an old man,\nhaving reigned in all forty years, seven years over the tribe of Judah,\nat Hebron, and thirty-three years over all Israel, in Jerusalem. He was\nburied in great honor on Mount Zion, and his tomb remained standing for\nmany years.\n\nThe great work of Solomon's reign was the building of the House of God.\nIt was generally called the Temple. It was built on Mount Moriah, one of\nthe hills of Jerusalem. King David had prepared for it by gathering\ngreat stores of silver, stone and cedar-wood. The walls were made of\nstone and the roof of cedar. Solomon had great ships which visited other\nlands and brought precious stones and fine woods for the building.\nSeven years were spent in building the Temple, and it was set apart to\nthe worship of God with beautiful ceremonies in which Solomon, in his\nrobes of state, took part.\n\n[Illustration: _Supposed form of Solomon's temple_]\n\nSolomon was indeed a great king, and it was said that he was also the\nwisest man in all the world. He wrote many of the wise sayings in the\nBook of Proverbs, and many more that have been lost.\n\n[Illustration: _Ship in Solomon's time_]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ELIJAH, THE PROPHET\n\n\nOne of the greatest of all the kings of the Ten Tribes was Jeroboam the\nsecond. Under him the kingdom of Israel grew rich and strong. He\nconquered nearly all Syria, and made Samaria the greatest city of all\nthose lands.\n\nBut though Syria went down, another nation was now rising to\npower--Assyria, on the eastern side of the river Tigris. Its capital was\nNineveh, a great city, so vast that it would take three days for a man\nto walk around its walls. The Assyrians were beginning to conquer all\nthe lands near them, and Israel was in danger of falling under their\npower.\n\nOne of the kings who ruled over Israel was named Ahab. He provoked the\nanger of the Lord. His wife, Jezebel, who was a worshiper of Baal,\npersuaded him to build an altar to the false god.\n\nElijah, a prophet of the Lord, was sent to him and proposed a test. Two\naltars were built; one to Jehovah and one to Baal. The priests of Baal\ncalled upon their god to send down fire; but there was no answer. Then\nElijah called upon the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and fire\ncame down and burnt up the offering.\n\nThe people turned upon the priests of Baal and killed them all. Later\nthe wicked queen, Jezebel, coveted a vineyard for Ahab, and she caused\nNaboth, the owner of the vineyard, to be placed in front of the battle.\nWhen he was slain Ahab took the vineyard.\n\n[Illustration: _Denounced Ahab and Jezebel_]\n\nOnce more Elijah came and denounced Ahab and Jezebel, telling them that\nthey had done wickedly, and that the Lord would punish them.\n\n[Illustration: _Made king when he was only seven years old_]\n\nIn a little while the prophet's words came true, for Ahab was slain in\nbattle and Jezebel was put to death by order of King Jehu. Elijah was\ntaken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.\n\nThere was another prophet, a companion of Elijah, whose name was Elisha,\na brave and courageous man who did not fail to deliver God's message.\n\nIt happened that when Elisha was an old man there can to him King Joash,\nwho had been made king when he was only seven years old. Joash was now a\nyoung man and was trying to do right in the sight of the Lord. But he\nfelt the need of the prophet's aid, and he came to Elisha and said:\n\n\"My father, my father, you are more to Israel than its chariots and\nhorsemen.\"\n\n[Illustration: _\"This is the arrow of victory\"_]\n\nElisha, though weak in body, was yet strong in soul. He told Joash to\nbring him a bow and arrows, and to open the window to the east, looking\ntoward the land of Syria. Then Elisha caused the king to draw the bow;\nand he placed his hands on the king's hands. And as the king shot an\narrow, Elisha said:\n\n\"This is the arrow of victory; of victory over Syria; for you shall\nsmite the Syrians in Aphek and shall destroy them.\"\n\nIt happened as Elisha had foretold and the Syrians were defeated and\ntheir cities taken.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF JONAH AND THE WHALE\n\n\nAt this time another prophet, named Jonah, was giving the word of the\nLord to the Israelites. To Jonah the Lord spoke, saying:\n\n\"Go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it; for its wickedness\nrises up before me.\"\n\nBut Jonah did not wish to preach to the people of Nineveh; for they were\nthe enemies of his land, the land of Israel. He wished Nineveh to die in\nits sins, and not to turn to God and live. So Jonah tried to go away\nfrom the city where God had sent him. He went down to Joppa and took a\nship for Tarshish.\n\nBut the Lord saw Jonah on the ship; and the Lord sent a great storm upon\nthe sea, so that the ship seemed as though it would go to pieces. The\nsailors threw overboard everything on the ship; and when they could do\nno more, every man prayed to his god to save the ship and themselves.\nJonah was now lying fast asleep, and the ship's captain came to him, and\nsaid:\n\n\"What do you mean by sleeping in such a time as this? Awake, rise up,\nand call upon your God. Perhaps He will hear you and save our lives.\"\n\nBut the storm continued to rage around the ship; and they said:\n\n\"There is some man on this ship who has brought upon us this trouble.\nLet us cast lots and find who it is.\"\n\nThen they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. They said to him, all at\nonce:\n\n\"Tell us, who are you? From what country do you come? What is your\nbusiness? To what people do you belong? Why have you brought all this\ntrouble upon us?\"\n\nThen Jonah told them the whole story, how he came from the land of\nIsrael, and that he had fled away from the presence of the Lord. And\nthey said to him:\n\n\"What shall we do to you, that the storm may cease?\"\n\nThen said Jonah:\n\n\"Take me up and throw me into the sea; then the storm will cease and the\nwaters will be calm; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is\nupon you.\"\n\nBut the men were not willing to throw Jonah into the sea. They rowed\nhard to bring the ship to the land, but they could not. Then they cried\nunto the Lord, and said:\n\n\"We pray thee, O Lord, we pray thee, let us not die for this man's life;\nfor thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.\"\n\nAt last, when they could do nothing else to save themselves, they threw\nJonah into the sea.\n\nAt once the storm ceased, and the waves became still. Then the men on\nthe ship feared the Lord greatly. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord,\nand made promises to serve him.\n\nAnd the Lord caused a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was\nalive within the fish for three days and three nights. In the fish Jonah\ncried to the Lord; and the Lord caused the great fish to throw up Jonah\nupon the dry land.\n\nNotice all through this story that, although Jonah was God's servant, he\nwas always thinking about himself. God protected Jonah and saved him,\nnot because he was such a good man, but because he wanted to teach him a\ngreat lesson.\n\nBy this time Jonah had learned that some men who worshipped idols were\nkind in their hearts, and were dear to the Lord. This was the lesson\nthat God meant Jonah to learn; and now the call of the Lord came to\nJonah a second time:\n\n\"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it what I command\nyou.\" So Jonah went to the city of Nineveh; and as he entered into it,\nhe called out to the people:\n\n\"Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.\"\n\nAnd he walked through the city all day crying out only this:\n\n\"Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.\"\n\nAnd the people of Nineveh believed the word of the Lord as spoken by\nJonah. They turned away from their sins and fasted and sought the Lord,\nfrom the greatest of them even to the least. The king of Nineveh arose\nfrom his throne, and laid aside his royal robes, and covered himself\nwith sack-cloth and sat in ashes, as a sign of his sorrow. And the king\nsent out a command to his people that they should fast, and seek the\nLord, and turn from sin.\n\n[Illustration: _To shade Jonah from the sun_]\n\nAnd God saw that the people of Nineveh were sorry for their wickedness,\nand he forgave them, and did not destroy their city. But this made Jonah\nvery angry. He did not wish to have Nineveh spared, because it was the\nenemy of his own land; and also he feared that men would call him a\nfalse prophet when his word did not come to pass. And Jonah said to the\nLord:\n\n\"O Lord, I was sure that it would be thus, that thou wouldest spare the\ncity; and for that reason I tried to flee away; for I know that thou\nwast a gracious God, full of pity, slow to anger, and rich in mercy.\nNow, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to\nlive.\"\n\nAnd Jonah went out of the city, and built a little hut on the east side\nof it, and sat under its roof, to see whether God would keep the word\nthat he had spoken. Then the Lord caused a plant with thick leaves to\ngrow up, and to shade Jonah from the sun; and Jonah was glad, and sat\nunder its shadow. But a worm destroyed the plant; and the next day a hot\nwind blew, and Jonah suffered from the heat; and again Jonah wished that\nhe might die. And the Lord said to Jonah:\n\n\"You were sorry to see the plant die, though you did not make it grow,\nand though it came up in a night and died in a night. And should not I\nhave pity on Nineveh, that great city, where are more than a hundred\nthousand little children, and also many cattle,--all helpless and\nknowing nothing?\"\n\nAnd Jonah learned that men, and women, and little children, are all\nprecious in the sight of the Lord, even though they know not God.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE FIERY FURNACE\n\n\nThere was in the land of Judah a wicked king-named Jehoiakim, son of the\ngood Josiah. While Jehoiakim was ruling over the land of Judah,\nNebuchadnezzar, a great conqueror of the nations, came from Babylon with\nhis army of Chaldean soldiers. He took the city of Jerusalem, and made\nJehoiakim promise to submit to him as his master. And when he went back\nto his own land he took with him all the gold and silver that he could\nfind in the Temple; and he carried away as captives very many of the\nprinces and nobles, the best people in the land of Judah.\n\nWhen these Jews were brought to the land of Chaldea or Babylon, King\nNebuchadnezzar gave orders to the prince, who had charge of his palace,\nto choose among these Jewish captives some young men who were of noble\nrank, and beautiful in their looks, and also quick and bright in their\nminds; young men who would be able to learn readily. These young men\nwere to be placed under the care of wise men, who should teach them all\nthat they knew, and fit them to stand before the king of Babylon, so\nthat they might be his helpers to carry out his orders; and the king\nwished them to be wise, so that they might give him advice in ruling his\npeople.\n\nAmong the young men thus chosen were four Jews, men who had been brought\nfrom Judah. By order of the king the names of these men were changed.\nOne of them, named Daniel, was to be called Belteshazzer; the other\nthree young men were called Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. They were\ntaught in all the knowledge of the Chaldeans; and after three years of\ntraining they were taken into the king's palace.\n\nKing Nebuchadnezzar was pleased with them, more than with any others who\nstood before him. He found them wise and faithful in the work given to\nthem, and able to rule over men under them. And these four men came to\nthe highest places in the kingdom of the Chaldeans.\n\nAt one time King Nebuchadnezzar caused a great image to be made, and to\nbe covered with gold. This image he set up, as an idol to be worshipped,\non the plain of Dura, near the city of Babylon. When it was finished, it\nstood upon its base or foundation almost a hundred feet high; so that\nupon the plain it could be seen far away. Then the king sent out a\ncommand for all the princes, and rulers, and nobles in the land, to come\nto a great gathering, when the image was to be set apart for worship.\n\nThe great men of the kingdom came from far and near and stood around\nthe image. Among them, by command of the king, were Daniel's three\nfriends, the young Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. For some\nreason, Daniel himself was not there. He may have been busy with the\nwork of the kingdom in some other place.\n\nAt one moment in the service before the image, all the trumpets sounded,\nthe drums were beaten, and music was made upon musical instruments of\nall kinds, as a signal for all the people to kneel down and worship the\ngreat golden image. But while the people were kneeling, there were three\nmen who stood up, and would not bow down. These were the three young\nJews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They knelt down before the Lord\nGod only.\n\nMany of the nobles had been jealous of these young men, because they had\nbeen lifted to high places in the rule of the kingdom; and these men who\nhated Daniel and his friends, were glad to find that these three men had\nnot obeyed the command of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had said that if\nany one did not worship the golden image he should be thrown into a\nfurnace of fire. These men who hated the Jews came to the king and said:\n\n\"O king, may you live for ever! You gave orders that when the music\nsounded, every one should bow down and worship the golden image; and\nthat if any man did not worship, he should be thrown into a furnace of\nfire. There are some Jews, whom you have made rulers in the land, who\nhave not done as you commanded. Their names are Shadrach, Meshach and\nAbed-nego. They do not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image\nthat you have set up.\"\n\n[Illustration: _Nebuchadnezzar was fitted with rage_]\n\nThen Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage and fury at knowing that any\none should dare to disobey his words. He sent for these three men and\nsaid to them:\n\n\"O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, was it by purpose that you did not\nfall down and worship the image of gold? The music shall sound once\nmore, and if you then will worship the image, it will be well. But if\nyou will not, then you shall be thrown into the furnace of fire, to\ndie.\"\n\nThese three young men were not afraid of the king. They said:\n\n\"O King Nebuchadnezzar, we are ready to answer you at once. The God whom\nwe serve is able to save us from the fiery furnace, and we know that he\nwill save us. But if it is God's will that we should die, even then you\nmay understand, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship\nthe golden image.\"\n\nThis answer made the king more furious than before. He said to his\nservants:\n\n\"Make a fire in the furnace hotter than ever it has been before, as hot\nas fire can be made; and throw these three men into it.\"\n\nThen the soldiers of the king's army seized the three young Jews, as\nthey stood in their loose robes, with their turbans on their heads. They\ntied them with ropes, and dragged them to the mouth of the furnace, and\nthrew them into the fire. The flames rushed from the opened door with\nsuch fury that they burned even to death the soldiers who were holding\nthese men; and the men themselves fell down bound into the middle of the\nfiery furnace.\n\nBut an angel befriended them and they were unhurt.\n\n[Illustration: _An angel befriended them_]\n\nKing Nebuchadnezzar stood in front of the furnace, and looked into the\nopen door. As he looked, he was filled with wonder at what he saw; and\nhe said to the nobles around him:\n\n\"Did we not throw three men bound into the fire? How is it then that I\nsee four men loose walking in the furnace; and the fourth man looks as\nthough he were a son of the gods?\"\n\nAnd the nobles who stood by could scarcely speak, so great was their\nsurprise.\n\n\"It is true, O king,\" at last they said to Nebuchadnezzar, \"that we cast\nthese men into the flames, expecting them to be burned up; and we cannot\nunderstand how it happens that they have not been destroyed.\"\n\nThe king came near to the door of the furnace, as the fire became lower;\nand he called out to the three men within it:\n\n\"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye who serve the Most High God, come\nout of the fire, and come to me.\"\n\nThey came out and stood before the king, in the sight of all the\nprinces, and nobles, and rulers; and every one could see that they were\nalive.\n\nTheir garments had not been scorched, nor their hair singed, nor was\nthere even the smell of fire upon them.\n\nThen King Nebuchadnezzar said before all his rulers:\n\n\"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent\nhis angel, and has saved the lives of these men who trusted in him. _I_\nmake a law that no man in all my kingdoms shall say a word against\ntheir God, for there is no other god who can save in this manner those\nwho worship him. And if any man speaks a word against their God, the\nMost High God, that man shall be cut in pieces, and his house shall be\ntorn down.\"\n\nAfter King Nebuchadnezzar died, his kingdom became weak, and the city of\nBabylon was taken by the Medes and Persians, under Cyrus, a great\nwarrior.\n\nTHE STORY OF DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN\n\n\nThe lands which had been the Babylonian or Chaldean empire, now became\nthe empire of Persia; and over these Darius was the king. King Darius\ngave to Daniel, who was now a very old man, a high place in honor and in\npower. Among all the rulers over the land, Daniel stood first, for the\nking saw that he was wise and able to rule. This made the other princes\nand rulers very jealous, and they tried to find something evil in\nDaniel, so that they could speak to the king against him.\n\nThese men saw that three times every day Daniel went to his room and\nopened the window that was toward the city of Jerusalem, and looking\ntoward Jerusalem, made his prayer to God. Jerusalem was at that time in\nruins, and the Temple was no longer standing; but Daniel prayed three\ntimes each day with his face toward the place where the house of God had\nonce stood, although it was many hundreds of miles away.\n\nThese nobles thought that in Daniel's prayers they could find a chance\nto do him harm, and perhaps cause him to be put to death. They came to\nKing Darius, and said to him:\n\n\"All the rulers have agreed together to have a law made that for thirty\ndays no one shall ask anything of any god or of any man, except from\nyou, O king; and that if any one shall pray to any god, or shall ask\nanything from any man during the thirty days, except from you, O king,\nhe shall be thrown into the den where the lions are kept. Now, O king,\nmake the law, and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, for no\nlaw among the Medes and the Persians can be altered.\"\n\nThe king was not a wise man; and being foolish and vain, he was pleased\nwith this law which would set him even above the gods. So without asking\nDaniel's advice, he signed the writing; and the law was made, and the\nword was sent out through the kingdom, that for thirty days no one\nshould pray to any god.\n\nDaniel knew that the law had been made, but every day he went to his\nroom three times, and opened the window that looked toward Jerusalem,\nand offered his prayers to the Lord, just as he had prayed in other\ntimes. These rulers were watching near by, and they saw Daniel kneeling\nin prayer to God. Then they came to the king, and said:\n\n\"O King Darius, have you not made a law, that if any one in thirty days\noffers a prayer, he shall be thrown into the den of lions?\"\n\n\"It is true,\" said the king. \"The law has been made, and it must\nstand.\"\n\nThey said to the king: \"There is one man who does not obey the law which\nyou have made. It is that Daniel, one of the captive Jews. Every day\nDaniel prays to his God three times, just as he did before you signed\nthe writing of the law.\"\n\n[Illustration: _Thrown into the den of lions_]\n\nThen the king was very sorry for what he had done, for he loved Daniel,\nand knew that no one could take his place in the kingdom. All day, until\nthe sun went down, he tried in vain to find some way to save Daniel's\nlife; but when evening came, these men again told him of the law that he\nhad made, and said to him that it must be kept. Very unwillingly the\nking sent for Daniel, and gave an order that he should be thrown into\nthe den of lions. He said to Daniel: \"Perhaps your God, whom you serve\nso faithfully, will save you from the lions.\"\n\nThey led Daniel to the mouth of the pit where the lions were kept, and\nthey threw him in; and over the mouth they placed a stone; and the king\nsealed it with his own seal, and with the seals of his nobles; so that\nno one might take away the stone and let Daniel out of the den.\n\nThen the king went again to his palace; but that night he was so sad\nthat he could not eat, nor did he listen to music as he was used to\nlisten. He could not sleep, for all through the night he was thinking of\nDaniel. Very early in the morning he rose up from his bed and went in\nhaste to the den of lions. He broke the seal and took away the stone,\nand in a voice full of sorrow he called out, scarcely hoping to have an\nanswer:\n\n\"O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to save you\nfrom the lions?\"\n\nAnd out of the darkness in the den came the voice of Daniel, saying:\n\n\"O king, may you live forever! My God has sent his angel and has shut\nthe mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because my God saw that\nI had done no wrong. And I have done no wrong toward you, O king!\"\n\n[Illustration: DANIEL'S ANSWER TO THE KING--\"Then said Daniel unto\nthe King, O King, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath\nshut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me.\"--(Daniel 6:\n21-22.)]\n\nThen the king was glad. He gave to his servants orders to take Daniel\nout of the den. Daniel was brought out safe and without harm, because\nhe had trusted fully in the Lord God. Then by the king's command, they\nbrought those men who had spoken against Daniel, and with them their\nwives and their children, for the king was exceedingly angry with them.\nThey were all thrown into the den, and the hungry lions leaped upon\nthem, and tore them in pieces, so soon as they fell upon the floor of\nthe den.\n\nAfter this king Darius wrote to all the lands and the peoples in the\nmany kingdoms under his rule:\n\n\"May peace be given to you all abundantly! I make a law that everywhere\namong my kingdoms men fear and worship the Lord God of Daniel; for he is\nthe living God, above all other gods, who only can save men.\"\n\nAnd Daniel stood beside king Darius until the end of his reign, and\nafterward while Cyrus the Persian was king over all the lands.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE ANGEL BY THE ALTAR\n\n\nAt the time when the story of the New Testament begins, the land of\nIsrael, called also the land of Judea, was ruled by a king named Herod.\nHe was the first of several Herods, who at different times ruled either\nthe whole of the land, or parts of it. But Herod was not the highest\nruler. Many years before this time, the Romans, who came from the city\nof Rome in Italy, had won all the lands around the Great Sea, the sea\nwhich we call the Mediterranean; and above king Herod of Judea was the\ngreat king of Rome, ruling over all the lands, and over the land of\nJudea among them. So Herod, though king of Judea, obeyed his overlord,\nthe emperor at Rome. At the time when this story begins, the emperor at\nRome was named Augustus Caesar.\n\nAt this time, the land where the Jews lived was full of people.\nJerusalem was its largest city, and in Jerusalem was standing the Temple\nof the Lord, which king Herod had lately built anew, taking the place of\nthe old Temple built very many years before, which had long needed\nrepair. There were also many other large cities besides Jerusalem. In\nthe south was Hebron among the mountains; on the shore of the Great Sea\nwere Gaza, and Joppa, and Caesarea; in the middle of the land were\nShechem and Samaria; and in the north were Nazareth, and Cana; down by\nthe shore of the Sea of Galilee were Tiberias, and Capernaum, and\nBethsaida. Far up in the north, at the foot of snowy Mount Hermon, was\nanother Caesarea; but so that it might not be confused with Caesarea upon\nthe seacoast this city was called Caesarea-Philippi, or \"Philip's\nCaesarea,\" from the name of one of Herod's sons.\n\nOne day, an old priest named Zacharias was leading the service of\nworship in the Temple. He was standing in front of the golden altar of\nincense, in the Holy Place, and was holding in his hand a censer, or\ncup, full of burning coals and incense; while all the people were\nworshipping in the court of the Temple, outside the court of the\nPriests, where the great altar of burnt-offering stood.\n\nSuddenly, Zacharias saw an angel from the Lord, standing on the right\nside of the altar of incense. He felt a great fear when he saw this\nstrange being with shining face; but the angel said to him:\n\n[Illustration: _\"Do not be afraid, Zacharias\"_]\n\n\"Do not be afraid, Zacharias; for I have come from the Lord to bring\ngood news. Your wife Elizabeth shall have a son, and you shall name him\nJohn. You shall be made glad, for your son John shall bring joy and\ngladness to many. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord; and he\nshall never taste wine nor strong drink as long as he lives; but he\nshall be filled with God's Holy Spirit. He shall lead many of the\npeople of Israel to the Lord, for he shall go before the Lord in the\npower of Elijah the prophet, as was promised by Malachi, the last of the\nold prophets. He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,\nand those who are disobeying the Lord to do his will.\"\n\nAs Zacharias heard these words, he was filled with wonder, and could\nhardly believe them true. He was now an old man, and his wife Elizabeth\nwas also old; so that they could not expect to have a child. He said to\nthe angel:\n\n\"How shall I know that your words are true, for I am an old man, and my\nwife is old?\"\n\n\"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God,\" said the angel. \"And\nI was sent from the Lord to speak to you, and to bring you this good\nnews. But because you did not believe my words, you shall become dumb,\nand shall not be able to speak, until this which I have said comes to\npass.\"\n\nAll this time the people outside in the court were wondering why the\npriest stayed so long in the Temple. When at last he came out, they\nfound that he could not speak a word; but he made signs to them, to tell\nthem that he had seen a vision in the Temple.\n\nAfter the days of his service were over, Zacharias went to his own home,\nwhich was near Hebron, a city of the priests, among the mountains in\nthe south of Judea. When his wife Elizabeth found that God was soon to\ngive her a child, she was very happy, and praised the Lord.\n\nAbout six months after Zacharias saw the vision in the Temple, the same\nangel Gabriel was sent from the Lord to a city in the part of the land\ncalled Galilee, which was in the north. The city to which the angel was\nsent was Nazareth. There the angel found a young girl named Mary, who\nwas a cousin to Elizabeth. Mary was soon to be married to a good man who\nhad sprung from the line of king David, though he was not himself a\nking, nor a rich man. He was a carpenter, living in Nazareth, and his\nname was Joseph. The angel came into the room where Mary was, and said\nto her: \"Hail, woman favored by the Lord; the Lord is with you!\"\n\nMary was surprised at the angel's words, and wondered what they could\nmean. Then the angel spoke again, and said: \"Do not be afraid, Mary. The\nLord has given to you his favor, and has chosen you to be the mother of\na son whose name shall be Jesus, which means 'salvation,' because he\nshall save his people from their sins. He shall be great, and shall be\ncalled the Son of God; and the Lord shall give to him the throne of his\nfather David. He shall be a king, and shall reign over the people of\nGod forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.\"\n\nBut Mary could not see how all this was to come to pass. And the angel\nsaid to her:\n\n\"The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High God\nshall be over you; and the child which you shall have shall be called\nholy, the Son of God.\"\n\nThen the angel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was soon to have a\nchild, through the power of the Lord. And when Mary heard all this, she\nsaid: \"I am the servant of the Lord, to do his will. Let it be to me as\nyou have said.\"\n\nWhen the angel had given his message and had gone away, Mary rose up in\nhaste and made a journey to the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. When\nElizabeth saw Mary, she was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and\nsaid:\n\n\"Blessed are you among women, and blessed among men shall be your son!\nAnd why is it that the mother of my Lord comes to visit me? Blessed is\nthe woman who believed that the promise of the Lord to her shall be made\ntrue!\"\n\nThen Mary was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and broke out into a\nsong of praise. She stayed with Elizabeth for nearly three months, and\nthen went again to her own home at Nazareth.\n\nAs the angel had said, to the aged woman Elizabeth was given a son.\nThey were going to name him Zacharias, after his father. But his mother\nsaid: \"No, his name shall be John.\"\n\n\"Why,\" they said, \"none of your family have ever been named John!\"\n\nThey asked his father Zacharias, by signs, what name he wished to be\ngiven to the child. He asked for something to write upon; and when they\nbrought it, he wrote, \"His name is John.\" Then all at once, the power to\nhear and to speak came back to Zacharias. He spoke, praising and\nblessing God; and he sang a song of thanks to God, in which he said:\n\n\"You O child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; to go before\nthe Lord, and to make ready his ways.\"\n\nWhen John was growing up, they sent him out into the desert on the south\nof the land, and there he stayed until the time came for him to preach\nto the people; for this child became the great prophet John the Baptist.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF JESUS, THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM\n\n\nSoon after the time when John the Baptist was born, Joseph the carpenter\nof Nazareth had a dream. In his dream he saw an angel from the Lord\nstanding beside him. The angel said to him:\n\n\"Joseph, sprung from the line of king David, I have come to tell you,\nthat Mary, the young woman whom you are to marry, will have a son, sent\nby the Lord God. You shall call his name Jesus, which means 'salvation,'\nbecause he shall save his people from their sins.\"\n\nGod's people had had several kings. Some of them had been selfish and\ncruel, but Jesus was to be a new kind of king, one who would save, not\ndestroy men.\n\nSoon after Joseph and Mary were married in Nazareth, a command went\nforth from the emperor Augustus Caesar through all the lands of the Roman\nempire, for all the people to go to the cities and towns from which\ntheir families had come, and there to have their names written down upon\na list, for the emperor wished a list to be made of all the people under\nhis rule. As both Joseph and Mary had come from the family of David the\nking, they went together from Nazareth to Bethlehem, there to have their\nnames written upon the list. For you remember that Bethlehem in Judea,\nsix miles south of Jerusalem, was the place where David was born, and\nwhere his father's family had lived for many years.\n\nIt was a long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem; down the mountains to\nthe river Jordan, then following the Jordan almost to its end, and then\nclimbing the mountains of Judah to the town of Bethlehem. When Joseph\nand Mary came to Bethlehem they found the city full of people who, like\nthemselves, had come to have their names enrolled or written upon the\nlist. The inn or hotel was full, and there was no room for them; for no\none but themselves knew that this young woman was soon to be the mother\nof the Lord of all the earth. The best that they could do was to go to a\nstable where the cattle were kept. There the little baby was born, and\nwas laid in a manger, where the cattle were fed.\n\nOn that night, some shepherds were tending their sheep in a field near\nBethlehem. Suddenly, a great light shone upon them, and they saw an\nangel of the Lord standing before them. They were filled with fear, as\nthey saw how glorious the angel was. But the angel said to them:\n\n\"Be not afraid; for behold I bring you news of great joy, which shall\nbe to all the people; for there is born to you this day in Bethlehem,\nthe city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord, the anointed king.\nYou may see him there; and you may know him by this sign: He is a\nnew-born baby, lying in a manger, at the inn.\"\n\n[Illustration: _They were filled with fear_]\n\nAnd then they saw that the air around and the sky above them were filled\nwith angels, praising God and singing:\n\n\"Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace among men in whom God\nis well pleased.\"\n\nWhile they looked with wonder, and listened, the angels went out of\nsight as suddenly as they had come. Then the shepherds said one to\nanother:\n\n\"Let us go at once to Bethlehem, and see this wonderful thing that has\ncome to pass, and which the Lord has made known to us.\"\n\n[Illustration: _The baby in the manger_]\n\nThen as quickly as they could go to Bethlehem, they went, and found\nJoseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, and his young wife Mary, and the\nlittle baby lying in the manger. They told Mary and Joseph, and others\nalso, how they had seen the angels, and what they had heard about this\nbaby. All who heard their story wondered at it; Mary, the mother of the\nchild, said nothing. She thought over all these things, and silently\nkept them in her heart. After their visit, the shepherds went back to\ntheir flocks, praising God for the good news that he had sent to them.\n\nWhen the little one was eight days old, they gave him a name; and the\nname given was \"Jesus,\" a word which means \"salvation,\" as the angel had\ntold both Mary and Joseph that he should be named. So the very name of\nthis child told what he should do for men; for he was to bring salvation\nto the world.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE STAR AND THE WISE MEN\n\nFor some time after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary stayed with him in\nBethlehem. The little baby was not kept long in the stable sleeping in a\nmanger; for after a few days they found room in a house; and there\nanother visit was made to Jesus by strange men from a land far away.\n\nIn a country east of Judea, and many miles distant, were living some\nvery wise men who studied the stars. One night they saw a strange star\nshining in the sky, and in some way they learned that the coming of this\nstar meant that a king was soon to be born in the land of Judea. These\nmen felt a call of God to go to Judea, far to the west of their own\nhome, and there to see this new-born king. They took a long journey,\nwith camels and horses, and at last they came to, the land of Judea,\njust at the time when Jesus was born at Bethlehem. As soon as they were\nin Judea, they supposed that every one would know all about the king,\nand they said:\n\n\"Where is he that is born king of the Jews? In the east we have seen his\nstar, and we have come to worship him.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE SHEPHERDS IN THE FIELD--\"And there were in the\nsame country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their\nflock by night.... And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for, behold,\nI bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For\nunto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is\nChrist the Lord.'\"--(Luke 2: 8-10-11.)]\n\nBut no one of whom they asked had ever seen this king, or had heard of\nhim. The news of their coming was sent to Herod the king, who was now a\nvery old man. He ruled the land of Judea, as you know, under the emperor\nat Rome, Augustus Caesar. Herod was a very wicked man, and when he heard\nof some one born to be a king, he feared that he might lose his own\nkingdom. He made up his mind to kill this new king.\n\nHe sent for the priests and scribes, the men who studied and taught the\nbooks of the Old Testament, and asked them about this Christ for whom\nall the people were looking. He said: \"Can you tell me where Christ, the\nking of Israel, is to be born?\" They looked at the books of the\nprophets, and then they said: \"He is to be born in Bethlehem of Judea;\nfor thus it is written by the prophet, 'And thou Bethlehem in the land\nof Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee\nshall come forth one who shall rule my people Israel.'\"\n\nThen Herod sent for the wise men from the east, and met them alone, and\nfound from them at what time the star was first seen. Then he said to\nthem:\n\n\"Go to Bethlehem; and there search carefully for the little child; and\nwhen you have found him, bring me word again, so that I also may come\nand worship him.\"\n\n[Illustration: _The wise men went their way_]\n\nThen the wise men went on their way toward Bethlehem; and suddenly they\nsaw the star again shining upon the road before them. At this they were\nglad, and followed the star until it led them to the very house where\nthe little child was. They came in, and there they saw the little one,\nwith Mary, its mother. They knew at once that this was the king; and\nthey fell down on their faces and worshipped him as the Lord. Then they\nbrought out gifts of gold and precious perfumes, frankincense and myrrh,\nwhich were used in offering sacrifices; and they gave them as presents\nto the royal child.\n\nThat night God sent a dream to the wise men, telling them not to go back\nto Herod, but to go home at once to their own land by another way. They\nobeyed the Lord, and found another road to their own country without\npassing through Jerusalem where Herod was living. So Herod could not\nlearn from those men who the child was that was born to be a king.\n\nAnd very soon after these wise men had gone away, the Lord sent another\ndream to Joseph, the husband of Mary. He saw an angel, who spoke to him,\nsaying:\n\n\"Rise up quickly; take the little child and his mother, and go down to\nthe land of Egypt, for Herod will try to find the child to kill him.\"\n\nThen at once Joseph rose up in the night, without waiting even for the\nmorning. He took his wife and her baby, and quietly and quickly went\nwith them down to Egypt, which was on the southwest of Judea. There they\nall stayed in safety, as long as the wicked king Herod lived, which was\nnot many months.\n\nKing Herod waited for the wise men to come back to him from their visit\nto Bethlehem; but he soon found that they had gone to their home\nwithout bringing to him any word. Then Herod was very angry. He sent out\nhis soldiers to Bethlehem. They came, and by the cruel king's command\nthey seized all the little children in Bethlehem who were three years\nold, or younger, and killed them all. What a cry went up to God from the\nmothers in Bethlehem, as their children were torn from their arms and\nslain!\n\n[Illustration: _He took his wife and baby and went down to Egypt_]\n\nBut all this time, the child Jesus whom they were seeking was safe with\nhis mother in the land of Egypt.\n\nSoon after this king Herod died, a very old man, cruel to the last. Then\nthe angel of the Lord came again and spoke to Joseph in a dream, saying:\n\"You may now take the young child back to his own land, for the king who\nsought to kill him is dead.\"\n\nThen Joseph took his wife and the little child Jesus, and started to go\nagain to the land of Judea. Perhaps it was his thought to go again to\nBethlehem, the city of David, and there bring up the child. But he heard\nthat in that part of the land Archelaus, a son of Herod, was now ruling,\nand who was as wicked and cruel as his father.\n\nHe feared to go under Archelaus' rule, and instead took his wife and the\nchild to Nazareth, which had been his own home and that of Mary his wife\nbefore the child was born. Nazareth was in the part of the land called\nGalilee, which at that time was ruled by another son of king Herod, a\nking named Herod Antipas. He was not a good man, but was not so cruel\nnor bloody as his wicked father had been.\n\nSo again Joseph the carpenter and Mary his wife were living in Nazareth.\nAnd there they stayed for many years while Jesus was growing up. Jesus\nwas not the only child in their house, and he had many other playmates\namong the boys of Nazareth.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE CHILD IN THE TEMPLE\n\nJesus was brought to Nazareth when he was a little child not more than\nthree years old; there he grew up as a boy and a young man, and there he\nlived until he was thirty years of age. We should like to know many\nthings about his boyhood, but the Bible tells us very little. As Joseph\nwas a working man, it is likely that he lived in a house with only one\nroom, with no floor except the earth, no window except a hole in the\nwall, no pictures upon the walls, and neither bedstead, nor chair, nor\nlooking-glass. They sat upon the floor or upon cushions; they slept upon\nrolls of matting, and their meals were taken from a low table not much\nlarger than a stool.\n\nJesus may have learned to read at the village school, which was\ngenerally held in the house used for worship, called the \"synagogue.\"\nThe lessons were from rolls on which were written parts of the Old\nTestament; but Jesus never had a Bible of his own. From a child he went\nwith Joseph to the worship in the synagogue twice every week. There they\nsat on the floor and heard the Old Testament read and explained, while\nMary and the younger sisters of Jesus listened from a gallery behind a\nlattice-screen. The Jewish boys of that time were taught to know almost\nthe whole of the Old Testament by heart.\n\nIt was the custom of the Jews from all parts of the land to go up to\nJerusalem to worship at least once every year, at the feast of the\nPassover, which was held in the spring. Some families also stayed to the\nfeast of Pentecost, which was fifty days after Passover; and some went\nagain in the fall to the feast of Tabernacles, when for a week all the\nfamilies slept out of doors, under roofs made of green twigs and bushes.\n\nWhen Jesus was a boy twelve years old, he was taken up to the feast of\nthe Passover, and there for the first time he saw the holy city\nJerusalem, and the Temple of the Lord on Mount Moriah. Young as he was,\nhis soul was stirred, as he walked among the courts of the Temple and\nsaw the altar with its smoking sacrifice, the priests in their white\nrobes, and the Levites with their silver trumpets. Though a boy, Jesus\nbegan to feel that he was the Son of God, and that this was his Father's\nhouse.\n\n[Illustration: _Sitting in a company of the doctors of the law_]\n\nHis heart was so filled with the worship of the Temple, with the words\nof the scribes or teachers whom he heard in the courts, and with his own\nthoughts, that when it was time to go home to Nazareth, he stayed\nbehind, held fast by his love for the house of the Lord. The company of\npeople who were traveling together was large, and at first he was not\nmissed. But when night came and the boy Jesus could not be found, his\nmother was alarmed. The next day Joseph and Mary left their company and\nhastened back to Jerusalem. They did not at first think to go to the\nTemple. They sought him among their friends and kindred who were living\nin the city, but could not find him.\n\nOn the third day, they went up to the Temple with heavy hearts, still\nlooking for their boy. And there they found him sitting in a company of\nthe doctors of the law, listening to their words and asking them\nquestions. Everybody who stood near was surprised to find how deep was\nthe knowledge of this boy in the word of the Lord.\n\nHis mother spoke to him a little sharply, for she felt that her son had\nnot been thoughtful of his duty. She said: \"Child, why have you treated\nus in this way? Do you not know that your father and I have been looking\nfor you with troubled hearts?\"\n\n\"Why did you seek for me,\" said Jesus. \"Did you not know that I must be\nin my Father's house?\"\n\nThey did not understand these words; but Mary thought often about them\nafterward; for she felt her son was no common child, and that his words\nhad a deep meaning. Though Jesus was wise beyond his years, he obeyed\nJoseph and his mother in all things. He went with them to Nazareth, and\nlived contented with the plain life of their country home.\n\nAs the years went on, Jesus grew from a boy to a young man. He grew,\ntoo, in knowledge, and in wisdom, and in the favor of God. He won the\nlove of all who knew him, for there was something in his nature that\ndrew all hearts, both young and old.\n\nJesus learned the trade of a carpenter with Joseph; and when Joseph\ndied, while Jesus was still a young man, Jesus worked as a carpenter,\nand helped his mother take care of the family. And so in the carpenter\nshop, and the quiet life of a country village, and the worship of the\nsynagogue, the years passed until Jesus was thirty years of age.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE WATER THAT WAS TURNED INTO WINE\n\nA few days after Jesus met his followers or disciples at the river\nJordan, he came with these men to a town in Galilee called Cana, to be\npresent at a wedding. In those lands a feast was always held at a\nwedding, and often the friends of those who were married stayed several\ndays, eating and drinking together.\n\nThe mother of Jesus was at this wedding as a friend of the family; for\nNazareth, where she lived, was quite near to Cana. Before the wedding\nfeast was over, all the wine had been used, and there was no more for\nthe guests to drink. The mother of Jesus knew that her son had power to\ndo whatever he chose; and she said to him; \"They have no wine.\"\n\nJesus said to her: \"O woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not\nyet come.\"\n\nBut his mother knew that Jesus would in some way help the people in\ntheir need, and she said to the servants who were waiting at the table:\n\n\"Whatever he tells you to do, be sure to do it.\"\n\nIn the dining hall were standing six large stone jars, each about as\nlarge as a barrel, holding twenty-five gallons. These jars held water\nfor washing, as the Jews washed their hands before every meal, and\nwashed their feet as often as they came from walking in the street,\nsince they wore no shoes, but only sandals. Jesus said to the servants:\n\n\"Fill the jars with water.\"\n\n[Illustration: _\"Fill the jars with water\"_]\n\nThe servants obeyed Jesus, and filled the jars up to the brim. Then\nJesus spoke to them again, and said:\n\n\"Now draw out some of the water, and take it to the ruler of the feast.\"\n\nThey drew out water from the jars, and saw that it had been turned into\nwine. The ruler did not know from what place the wine had come; but he\nsaid to the young man who had just been married, the bridegroom:\n\n\"At a feast everybody gives his best wine at the beginning, and\nafterward, when his guests have drunk freely, he brings on wine that is\nnot so good; but you have kept the good wine until now.\"\n\nThis was the first time that Jesus used the power that God had given\nhim, to do what no other man could do. Such works as these were called\n\"miracles\"; and Jesus did them as signs of his power as the Son of God.\nWhen the disciples saw this miracle, they believed in Jesus more fully\nthan before.\n\nAfter this Jesus went with his mother and his younger brothers to a\nplace called Capernaum, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. But they\nstayed there only a few days, for the feast of the Passover was near,\nand Jesus went up to Jerusalem to attend it. You remember that the feast\nof the Passover was held every year, to keep in mind how God had led the\npeople of Israel out of Egypt long before.\n\nWhen Jesus came to Jerusalem, he found in the courts of the Temple men\nwho were selling oxen and sheep and doves for the sacrifices, and other\nmen sitting at tables changing the money of Jews who came from other\nlands into the money of Judea. All this made the courts around the\nTemple seem like a market, and not a place for the worship of God.\n\n[Illustration: _\"Take these things away\"_]\n\nJesus picked up some cord and made from it a little whip. With it he\nbegan to drive out of the Temple all the buyers and sellers. He was but\none, and they were many; but such power was in his look, that they ran\nbefore him. He drove the men and the sheep and the oxen; he overturned\nthe tables and threw on the floor the money, and to those who were\nselling the doves he said: \"Take these things away; make not my Father's\nhouse a house for selling and buying!\"\n\nThe acts of Jesus were not pleasing to the rulers of the Jews, for many\nof them were making money by this selling of sacrifices and changing of\nmoney. Some of the rulers came to Jesus and said to him: \"What right\nhave you to come here and do such things as these? What sign can you\nshow that God has given to you power to rule in this place?\"\n\nJesus said to them: \"I will give you a sign. Destroy this house of God,\nand in three days I will raise it up.\"\n\nThen said the Jews, \"It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple,\nand it is not finished yet. Will you raise it up in three days?\"\n\nBut Jesus did not mean that Temple on Mount Moriah. He was speaking of\nhimself, for in him God was dwelling as in a temple, and he meant that\nwhen they should put him to death, he would rise again in three days.\nAfterward, when Jesus had died and risen again, his followers, the\ndisciples, thought of what he had said, and understood these words.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE STRANGER AT THE WELL\n\n\nWhile Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem and in the country places near it,\nJohn the Baptist was still preaching and baptizing. But already the\npeople were leaving John and going to hear Jesus. Some of the followers\nof John the Baptist were not pleased as they saw that fewer people came\nto their master, and that the crowds were seeking Jesus. But John said\nto them: \"I told you that I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before\nhim. Jesus is the Christ, the king. He must grow greater, while I must\ngrow less; and I am glad that it is so.\"\n\nSoon after this, Herod Antipas, the king of the province or land of\nGalilee, put John in prison. Herod had taken for his wife a woman named\nHerodias, who had left her husband to live with Herod, which was very\nwicked. John sent word to Herod, that it was not right for him to have\nthis woman as his wife. These words of John made Herodias very angry.\nShe hated John, and tried to kill him. Herod himself did not hate John\nso greatly, for he knew that John had spoken the truth. But he was weak,\nand yielded to his wife Herodias. To please her, he sent John the\nBaptist to a lonely prison among the mountains east of the Dead Sea; for\nthe land in that region, as well as Galilee, was under Herod's rule.\nThere in prison Herod hoped to keep John safe from the hate of his wife\nHerodias.\n\nSoon after John the Baptist was thrown into prison, Jesus left the\ncountry near Jerusalem with his disciples, and went toward Galilee, the\nprovince in the north. Between Judea in the south and Galilee in the\nnorth, lay the land of Samaria, where the Samaritans lived, who hated\nthe Jews. They worshipped the Lord as the Jews worshipped him, but they\nhad their own Temple and their own priests. And they had their own\nBible, which was only the five books of Moses; for they would not read\nthe other books of the old Testament. The Jews and the Samaritans would\nscarcely ever speak to each other, so great was the hate between them.\n\nWhen Jews went from Galilee to Jerusalem, or from Jerusalem to Galilee,\nthey would not pass through Samaria, but went down the mountains to the\nriver Jordan, and walked beside the river, in order to go around\nSamaria. But Jesus, when he would go from Jerusalem to Galilee, walked\nover the mountains straight through Samaria. One morning while he was on\nhis journey, he stopped to rest beside an old well at the foot of Mount\nGerizim, not far from the city of Shechem, but nearer to a little\nvillage that was called Sychar. This well had been dug by Jacob, the\ngreat father or ancestor of the Israelites, many hundreds of years\nbefore. It was an old well then in the days of Jesus; and it is much\nolder now; for the same well may be seen in that place still. Even now\ntravelers may have a drink from Jacob's well.\n\nIt was early in the morning, about sunrise, when Jesus was sitting by\nJacob's well. He was very tired, for he had walked a long journey; he\nwas hungry, and his disciples had gone to the village near at hand to\nbuy food. He was thirsty, too; and as he looked into the well he could\nsee the water a hundred feet below, but he had no rope with which to let\ndown a cup or a jar to draw up some water to drink.\n\nJust at this moment a Samaritan woman came to the well, with her\nwater-jar upon her head, and her rope in her hand. Jesus looked at her,\nand in one glance read her soul, and saw all her life.\n\nHe knew that Jews did not often speak to Samaritans, but he said to her:\n\n\"Please to give me a drink?\"\n\nThe woman saw from his looks and his dress that he was a Jew, and she\nsaid to him:\n\n\"How is it that you, who are a Jew, ask drink of me, a Samaritan\nwoman?\"\n\nJesus answered her:\n\n\"If you knew what God's free gift is, and if you knew who it is that\nsays to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would ask him to give you living\nwater, and he would give it to you.\"\n\nThere was something in the words and the looks of Jesus which made the\nwoman feel that he was not a common man. She said to him: \"Sir, you have\nnothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where can you get that\nliving water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who drank from this\nwell, and who gave it to us?\"\n\n\"Whoever drinks of this water,\" said Jesus, \"shall thirst again, but\nwhoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst;\nbut the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water\nspringing up unto everlasting life.\"\n\n\"Sir,\" said the woman, \"give me some of this water of yours, so that I\nwill not thirst any more, nor come all the way to this well.\"\n\nJesus looked at the woman, and said to her, \"Go home, and bring your\nhusband, and come here.\"\n\n\"I have no husband,\" answered the woman.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Jesus, \"you have spoken the truth. You have no husband. But\nyou have had five husbands, and the man whom you now have is not your\nhusband.\"\n\nThe woman was filled with wonder as she heard this. She saw that here\nwas a man who knew what others could not know. She felt that God had\nspoken to him, and she said:\n\n\"Sir, I see that you are a prophet of God. Tell me whether our people or\nthe Jews are right. Our fathers have worshipped on this mountain. The\nJews say that Jerusalem is the place where men should go to worship.\nNow, which of these is the right place?\"\n\n\"Woman, believe me,\" said Jesus, \"there is coming a time when men shall\nworship God in other places besides on this mountain and in Jerusalem.\nThe time is near; it has even now come, when the true worshippers\neverywhere shall pray to God in spirit and in truth; for God himself is\na Spirit.\"\n\nThe woman said: \"I know that the Anointed one is coming, the Christ.\nWhen he comes, he will teach us all things.\"\n\nJesus said to her:\n\n\"I that speak to you now am he, the Christ!\"\n\nJust at this time the disciples of Jesus came back from the village.\nThey wondered to see Jesus talking with this Samaritan woman, but they\nsaid nothing.\n\nThe woman had come to draw water, but in her interest in this wonderful\nstranger, she forgot her errand. Leaving her water-jar, she ran back to\nher village, and said to the people:\n\n\"Come, see a man who told me everything that I have done in all my life!\nIs not this man the Christ whom we are looking for?\"\n\nSoon the woman came back to the well with many of her people. They asked\nJesus to come to their town, and to stay there and teach them. He went\nwith them, and stayed there two days, teaching the people, who were\nSamaritans. And many of the people in that place believed in Jesus, and\nsaid:\n\n\"We have heard for ourselves; now we know that this is indeed the\nSaviour of the world.\"\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE FISHERMEN\n\nWhen Jesus began to teach the people by the river Jordan, a few young\nmen came to him as followers, or disciples. Some of these men were\nAndrew and John, Peter and Philip and Nathanael. While Jesus was\nteaching near Jerusalem and in Samaria, these men stayed with Jesus; but\nwhen he came to Galilee, they went to their homes and work, for most of\nthem were fishermen from the Sea of Galilee.\n\nOne morning, soon after Jesus came to Capernaum, he went out of the\ncity, by the sea, followed by a great throng of people, who had come\ntogether to see him and to hear him. On the shore were lying two fishing\nboats, one of which belonged to Simon and Andrew, the other to James and\nJohn and their father Zebedee. The men themselves were not in the boats,\nbut were washing their nets near by.\n\nJesus stepped into the boat that belonged to Simon Peter and his brother\nAndrew, and asked them to push it out a little into the lake, so that he\ncould talk to the people from it without being crowded too closely. They\npushed it out, and then Jesus sat in the boat, and spoke to the people,\nas they stood upon the beach. After he had finished speaking to the\npeople, and had sent them away, he said to Simon Peter:\n\n\"Put out into the deep water and let down your nets to catch some fish.\"\n\n[Illustration: _The net caught so many fishes they could not pull it\nup_]\n\n\"Master,\" said Simon, \"we have been fishing all night, and have caught\nnothing; but if it is your will, I will let down the net again.\"\n\nThey did as Jesus bade them; and now the net caught so many fishes that\nSimon and Andrew could not pull it up, and it was in danger of breaking.\nThey made signs to the two brothers, James and John, who were in the\nother boat, for them to come and help them. They came, and lifted the\nnet, and poured out the fish. There were so many of them that both the\nboats were filled, and began to sink.\n\nWhen Simon Peter saw this, he was struck with wonder, and felt that it\nwas by the power of God. He fell down at the feet of Jesus, saying: \"Oh\nLord, I am full of sin, and am not worthy of all this! Leave me, O\nLord.\"\n\nBut Jesus said to Simon, and to the others, \"Fear not; but follow me,\nand I will make you from this time fishers of men.\"\n\nFrom that time these four men, Simon and Andrew, James and John, gave up\ntheir nets and their work, and became disciples of Jesus.\n\nOn the Sabbath, after this, Jesus and his disciples went together to the\nsynagogue, and spoke to the people. They listened to him and were\nsurprised at his teaching; for while the scribes always repeated what\nother scribes had said before, Jesus never spoke of what the men of old\ntime had taught, but spoke in his own name, and by his own power,\nsaying, \"I say unto you,\" as one who had the right to speak. Men felt\nthat Jesus was speaking to them as the voice of God.\n\nOn one Sabbath, while Jesus was preaching, a man came into the synagogue\nwho had in him an evil spirit; for sometimes evil spirits came into men,\nand lived in them and spoke out from them. The evil spirit in this man\ncried out, saying:\n\n\"Let us alone, thou Jesus of Nazareth! What have we to do with thee?\nHast thou come to destroy us? I know thee; and I know who thou art, the\nHoly one of God!\"\n\nThen Jesus spoke to the evil spirit in the man:\n\n\"Be still; and come out of this man!\"\n\nThen the evil spirit threw the man down, and seemed as if he would tear\nhim apart; but he left the man lying on the ground, without harm.\n\nThen wonder fell upon all the people. They were filled with fear, and\nsaid: \"What mighty word is this? This man speaks even to the evil\nspirits, and they obey him!\"\n\nAfter the meeting in the synagogue, Jesus went into the house where\nSimon Peter lived. There he saw lying upon a bed the mother of Simon's\nwife, who was very ill with a burning fever. He stood over her, and\ntouched her hand. At once the fever left her; she rose up from her bed\nand waited upon them.\n\nAt sunset, the Sabbath day was over; and then they brought to Jesus from\nall parts of the city those that were sick, and some that had evil\nspirits in them. Jesus laid his hands upon the sick, and they became\nwell; he drove out the evil spirits by a word, and would not allow them\nto speak.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT\n\nAmong the Jews there was one class of men hated and despised by the\npeople more than any other. That was \"the publicans.\" These were the men\nwho took from the people the tax which the Roman rulers had laid upon\nthe land. Many of these publicans were selfish, grasping, and cruel.\nThey robbed the people, taking more than was right. Some of them were\nhonest men, dealing fairly, and taking no more for the tax than was\nneedful; but because so many were wicked, all the publicans were hated\nalike; and they were called \"sinners\" by the people.\n\nOne day, when Jesus was going out of Capernaum, to the seaside, followed\nby a great crowd of people, he passed a publican, or tax-gatherer, who\nwas seated at his table taking money from the people who came to pay\ntheir taxes. This man was named Matthew, or Levi; for many Jews had two\nnames. Jesus could look into the hearts of men, and he saw that Matthew\nwas one who might help him as one of his disciples. He looked upon\nMatthew, and said:\n\n\"Follow me!\"\n\nAt once, the publican rose up from his table, and left it to go with\nJesus. All the people wondered, as they saw one of the hated publicans\namong the disciples, with Peter, and John, and the rest. But Jesus\nbelieved that there is good in all kinds of people. Most of the men who\nfollowed him were poor fishermen. None of them, so far as we know, was\nrich. And when he called Matthew he saw a man with a true and loving\nheart, whose rising up to follow Jesus just as soon as he was called\nshowed what a brave and faithful friend he would be. The first of the\nfour books about Jesus bears Matthew's name.\n\nA little while after Jesus called him, Matthew made a great feast for\nJesus at his house; and to the feast he invited many publicans, and\nothers whom the Jews called sinners. The Pharisees saw Jesus sitting\namong these people, and they said with scorn to his disciples:\n\n\"Why does your Master sit at the table with publicans and sinners?\"\n\nJesus heard of what these men had said, and he said:\n\n\"Those that are well do not need a doctor to cure them, but those that\nare sick do need one. I go to these people because they know that they\nare sinners and need to be saved. I came not to call those who think\nthemselves to be good, but those who wish to be made better.\"\n\nOne evening Jesus went alone to a mountain not far from Capernaum. A\ncrowd of people and his disciples followed him; but Jesus left them all,\nand went up to the top of the mountain, where he could be alone. There\nhe stayed all night, praying to God, his Father and our Father. In the\nmorning, out of all his followers, he chose twelve men who should walk\nwith him and listen to his words, so that they might be able to teach\nothers in turn. Some of these men he had called before; but now he\ncalled them again, and others with them. They were called \"The Twelve,\"\nor \"the disciples\"; and after Jesus went to heaven, they were called\n\"The Apostles,\" a word which means \"those who were sent out,\" because\nJesus sent them out to preach the gospel to the world.\n\n[Illustration: _\"I came not to call those who think themselves to be\ngood\"_]\n\nThe names of the twelve disciples, or apostles, were these: Simon Peter\nand his brother Andrew; James and John, the two sons of Zebedee; Philip\nof Bethsaida, and Nathanael, who was also called Bartholomew, a name\nwhich means \"the son of Tholmai\"; Thomas, who was also called Didymus, a\nname which means \"a twin,\" and Matthew the publican, or tax-gatherer;\nanother James, the son of Alpheus, who was called \"James the Less,\" to\nkeep his name apart from the first James, the brother of John; and\nLebbeus, who was also called Thaddeus. Lebbeus was also called Judas,\nbut he was a different man from another Judas, whose name is always\ngiven last. The eleventh name was another Simon, who was called \"the\nCananean\" or \"Simon Zelotes\"; and the last name was Judas Iscariot, who\nwas afterward the traitor. We know very little about most of these men,\nbut some of them in later days did a great work. Simon Peter was a\nleader among them, but most of them were common sort of men of whom the\nbest we know is that they loved Jesus and followed him to the end. Some\ndied for him, and some served him in distant and dangerous places.\n\n[Illustration: _Then, on the mountain, he preached_]\n\nBefore all the people who had come to hear him, Jesus called these\ntwelve men to stand by his side. Then, on the mountain, he preached to\nthese disciples and to the great company of people. The disciples stood\nbeside him, and the great crowd of people stood in front, while Jesus\nspoke. What he said on that day is called \"The Sermon on the Mount.\"\nMatthew wrote it down, and you can read it in his gospel, in the fifth,\nsixth, and seventh chapters. Jesus began with these words to his\ndisciples:\n\n\"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\n\n\"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.\n\n\"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.\n\n\"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for\nthey shall be filled.\n\n\"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.\n\n\"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.\n\n\"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of\nGod.\n\n\"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for\ntheirs is the kingdom of heaven.\n\n\"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall\nsay all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.\n\n\"Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven:\nfor so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.\n\n\"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor,\nwherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to\nbe cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.\n\n\"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be\nhid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a\ncandlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let\nyour light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and\nglorify your Father which is in heaven.\"\n\nIt was in this Sermon on the Mount that Jesus told the people how they\nshould pray, and he gave them the prayer which we all know as the Lord's\nPrayer.\n\nAnd this was the end of the Sermon:\n\n\"Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I\nwill liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:\n\n\"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and\nbeat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock.\n\n\"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,\nshall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the\nsand:\n\n\"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and\nbeat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.\"\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE MIRACLE WORKER\n\nThere was at Capernaum an officer of the Roman army, a man who had under\nhim a company of a hundred men. They called him \"a centurion,\" a word\nwhich means \"commanding a hundred\"; but we should call him \"a captain.\"\nThis man was not a Jew, but was what the Jews called \"a Gentile,\" \"a\nforeigner\"; a name which the Jews gave to all people outside their own\nrace. All the world except the Jews themselves were Gentiles.\n\nThis Roman centurion was a good man, and he loved the Jews, because\nthrough them he had heard of God, and had learned how to worship God.\nOut of his love for the Jews, he had built for them with his own money a\nsynagogue, which may have been the very synagogue in which Jesus taught\non the Sabbath days.\n\nThe centurion had a young servant, a boy whom he loved greatly; and this\nboy was very sick with a palsy, and near to death. The centurion had\nheard that Jesus could cure those who were sick; and he asked the chief\nmen of the synagogue, who were called its \"elders,\" to go to Jesus and\nask him to come and cure his young servant.\n\n[Illustration: _\"Speak the word and my servant shall be cured\"_]\n\nThe elders spoke to Jesus, just as he came again to Capernaum, after the\nSermon on the Mount. They asked Jesus to go with them to the centurion's\nhouse; and they said:\n\n\"He is a worthy man, and it is fitting that you should help him, for,\nthough a Gentile, he loves our people, and he has built for us our\nsynagogue.\"\n\nThen Jesus said, \"I will go and heal him.\"\n\nBut while he was on his way--and with him were the elders, and his\ndisciples, and a great crowd of people, who hoped to see the work of\nhealing--the centurion sent some other friends to Jesus with this\nmessage:\n\n\"Lord, do not take the trouble to come to my house; for I am not worthy\nthat one so high as you are should come under my roof; and I did not\nthink that I was worthy to go and speak to you. But speak only a word\nwhere you are, and my servant shall be made well. For I also am a man\nunder rule, and I have soldiers under me; and I say to one 'Go,' and he\ngoes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do\nthis,' and he does it. You, too, have power to speak and to be obeyed.\nSpeak the word, and my servant shall be cured.\"\n\nWhen Jesus heard this, he wondered at this man's faith. He turned to the\npeople following him, and said:\n\n\"In truth I say to you, I have not found such faith as this in all\nIsrael!\"\n\nThen he spoke to the friends of the centurion who had brought the word\nfrom him:\n\n\"Go and say to this man, 'As you have believed in me, so shall it be\ndone to you.'\"\n\nThen those who had been sent, went again to the centurion's house, and\nfound that in that very hour his servant had been made perfectly well.\n\nOn the day after this, Jesus with his disciples and many people went out\nfrom Capernaum, and turned southward, and came to a village called Nain.\nJust as Jesus and his disciples came near to the gate of the city, they\nwere met by a company who were carrying out a dead man to be buried. He\nwas a young man, and the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.\n\nWhen the Lord Jesus saw the mother in her grief, he pitied her, and\nsaid, \"Do not weep.\"\n\nHe drew near, and touched the frame on which they were carrying the\nbody, wrapped round and round with long strips of linen. The bearers\nlooked with wonder on this stranger, and set down the frame with its\nbody, and stood still. Standing beside the body, Jesus said:\n\n\"Young man, I say to you, Rise up!\"\n\nAnd in a moment the young man sat up and began to speak. Jesus gave him\nto his mother, who now saw that her son who had been dead, was alive\nagain.\n\nAnd Jesus went through all that part of Galilee, working miracles and\npreaching and teaching in all the villages, telling the people\neverywhere the good news of the kingdom of God.\n\nThe children loved to gather around him, and when his disciples would\nhave driven them away he said, \"Suffer the little children to come unto\nme and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\n[Illustration: _The children loved to gather around him_]\n\nOne Sabbath day, as Jesus and his disciples were walking in Jerusalem,\nthey met a blind man begging. This man in all his life had never seen;\nfor he had been born blind. The disciples said to Jesus as they were\npassing him: \"Master, whose fault was it that this man was born blind?\nWas it because he has sinned, or did his parents sin?\"\n\nFor the Jews thought that when any evil came, it was caused by some\none's sin. But Jesus said:\n\n\"This man was born blind, not because of his parents' sin, nor because\nof his own, but so that God might show his power in him. We must do\nGod's work while it is day, for the night is coming when no man can\nwork. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.\"\n\nWhen Jesus had said this, he spat on the ground, and mixed up the\nspittle with earth, making a little lump of clay. This clay Jesus spread\non the eyes of the blind man; and then he said to him: \"Go wash in the\npool of Siloam.\"\n\nThe pool of Siloam was a large cistern, or, reservoir, on the southeast\nof Jerusalem, outside the wall, where the valley of Gihon and the valley\nof Kedron come together. To go to this pool, the blind man, with two\ngreat blotches of mud on his face, must walk through the streets of the\ncity, out of the gate, and into the valley. He went, and felt his way\ndown the steps into the pool of Siloam. There he washed, and then at\nonce his life-long blindness passed away, and he could see.\n\nWhen the man came back to the part of the city where he lived, his\nneighbors could scarcely believe that he was the same man. They said:\n\"Is not this the man who used to sit on the street begging?\"\n\n\"This must be the same man,\" said some; but others said: \"No, it is some\none who looks like him.\"\n\nBut the man said, \"I am the very same man who was blind!\"\n\n\"Why, how did this come to pass?\" they asked. \"How were your eyes\nopened?\"\n\n\"The man, named Jesus,\" he answered, \"mixed clay, and put it on my eyes,\nand said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash,' and I went and\nwashed, and then I could see.\"\n\n\"Where is this man?\" they asked him.\n\n\"I do not know,\" said the man.\n\nSome of the Pharisees, the men who made a show of always obeying the\nlaw, asked the man how he had been made to see. He said to them, as he\nhad said before:\n\n\"A man put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and my sight came to me.\"\n\nSome of the Pharisees said:\n\n\"The man who did this is not a man of God, because he does not keep the\nSabbath. He makes clay, and puts it on men's eyes, working on the\nSabbath day. He is a sinner!\"\n\nOthers said, \"How can a man who is a sinner do such wonderful works?\"\n\nAnd thus the people were divided in what they thought of Jesus. They\nasked the man who had been blind: \"What do you think of this man who has\nopened your eyes?\"\n\n\"He is a prophet of God,\" said the man.\n\nBut the leading Jews would not believe that this man had gained his\nsight, until they had sent for his father and his mother. The Jews asked\nthem:\n\n\"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How is it that he can now\nsee?\"\n\nHis parents were afraid to tell all they knew; for the Jews had agreed\nthat if any man should say Jesus was the Christ, the Saviour, he should\nbe turned out of the synagogue, and not be allowed to worship any more\nwith the people. So his parents said to the Jews:\n\n\"We know that this is our son, and we know that he was born blind. But\nhow he was made to see, we do not know; or who has opened his eyes, we\ndo not know. He is of age; ask him, and let him speak for himself.\"\n\nThen again the rulers of the Jews called the man who had been blind; and\nthey said to him:\n\n\"Give God the praise for your sight. We know that this man who made\nclay on the Sabbath day is a sinner.\"\n\n\"Whether that man is a sinner, or not, I do not know,\" answered the man;\n\"but one thing I do know, that once I was blind, and now I see. We know\nthat God does not hear sinners; but God hears only those who worship\nhim, and do his will. Never before has any one opened the eyes of a man\nborn blind. If this man were not from God, he could not do such works as\nthese!\"\n\nThe rulers of the Jews, these Pharisees, then said to the man: \"You were\nborn in sin, and do you try to teach us?\"\n\nAnd they turned him out of the synagogue, and would not let any one\nworship with him. Jesus heard of this; and when Jesus found him, he said\nto him:\n\n\"Do you believe on the Son of God?\"\n\nThe man said:\n\n\"And who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?\"\n\n\"You have seen him,\" said Jesus, \"and it is he who now talks with you!\"\n\nThe man said, \"Lord, I believe.\"\n\nAnd he fell down before Jesus, and worshipped him.\n\n\n\nTHE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE GOOD SAMARITAN\n\nSoon afterward Jesus gave to the people in Jerusalem the parable or\nstory of \"The Good Shepherd.\"\n\n\"Verily, verily (that is, 'in truth, in truth'), I say to you, if any\none does not go into the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other\nway, it is a sign that he is a thief and a robber. But the one who comes\nin by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. The porter opens the door to\nhim, and the sheep know him, and listen to his call, for he calls his\nown sheep by name and leads them out to the pasture-field. And when he\nhas led out his sheep, he goes in front of them, and the sheep follow\nhim, for they know his voice. The sheep will not follow a stranger, for\nthey do not know the stranger's voice.\"\n\nThe people did not understand what all this meant, and as Jesus\nexplained it to them, he said: \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the\ndoor that leads to the sheepfold. If any man comes to the sheep in any\nother way than through me and in my name, he is a thief and a robber;\nbut those who are the true sheep will not hear such. I am the door; if\nany man goes into the fold through me, he shall be saved, and shall go\nin and go out, and shall find pasture.\n\n\"The thief comes to the fold that he may steal and rob the sheep, and\nkill them; but I came to the fold that they may have life, and may have\nall that they need. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd will give\nup his own life to save his sheep; and I will give up my life that my\nsheep may be saved.\n\n\"I am the good shepherd; and just as a true shepherd knows all the sheep\nin his fold, so I know my own, and my own know me, even as I know the\nFather, and the Father knows me; and I lay down my life for the sheep.\nAnd other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must\nlead; and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock and one\nshepherd.\"\n\nThe Jews could not understand these words of Jesus; but they became very\nangry with him, because he spoke of God as his Father. They took up\nstones to throw them at him, and tried to seize him, intending to kill\nhim. But Jesus escaped from their hands, and went away to the land\nbeyond Jordan, at the place called \"Bethabara,\" or \"Bethany beyond\nJordan,\" the same place where he had been baptized by John the Baptist\nmore than two years before. From this place Jesus wished to go out\nthrough the land in the east of the Jordan, a land which is called\n\"Perea,\" a word that means \"beyond.\" But before going out through this\nland, Jesus sent out seventy chosen men from among his followers to go\nto all the villages, and to make the people ready for his own coming\nafterward. He gave to these seventy the same commands that he had given\nto the twelve disciples when he sent them through Galilee, and sent them\nout in pairs, two men to travel and to preach together. He said:\n\n\"I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no bag for\nfood, no shoes except those that you are wearing. Do not stop to talk\nwith people by the way; but go through the towns and villages, healing\nthe sick, and preaching to the people, 'The kingdom of God is coming,'\nHe that hears you, hears me; and he that refuses you, refuses me; and he\nthat will not hear me, will not hear him that sent me.\"\n\nAnd after a time the seventy men came again to Jesus, saying:\n\n\"Lord, even the evil spirits obey our words in thy name!\"\n\nAnd Jesus said to them:\n\n\"I saw Satan, the king of the evil spirits, falling down like lightning\nfrom heaven. I have given you power to tread upon serpents and\nscorpions, and nothing shall harm you. Still, do not rejoice because the\nevil spirits obey you; but rejoice that your names are written in\nheaven.\"\n\nAnd at that time, one of the scribes--men who wrote copies of the books\nof the Old Testament, and studied them, and taught them--came to Jesus\nand asked him a question, to see what answer he would give. He said:\n\"Master, what shall I do to have everlasting life?\"\n\nJesus said to the scribe: \"What is written in the law? You are a reader\nof God's law; tell me what it says.\"\n\nThen the man gave this answer:\n\n\"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy\nsoul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thou shalt\nlove thy neighbor as thyself.\"\n\nJesus said to the man: \"You have answered right; do this, and you shall\nhave everlasting life.\"\n\nBut the man was not satisfied. He asked another question: \"And who is my\nneighbor?\"\n\nTo answer this question, Jesus gave the parable or story of \"The Good\nSamaritan.\" He said: \"A certain man was going down the lonely road from\nJerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of all\nthat he had and beat him; and then went away, leaving him almost dead.\nIt happened that a certain priest was going down that road; and when he\nsaw the man lying there, he passed by on the other side. And a Levite,\nalso, when he came to the place, and saw the man, he too went by on the\nother side. But a certain Samaritan, as he was going down, came where\nthis man was; and as soon as he saw him, he felt a pity for him. He came\nto the man, and dressed his wounds, pouring oil and wine into them. Then\nhe lifted him up, and set him on his own beast of burden, and walked\nbeside him to an inn. There he took care of him all night; and the next\nmorning he took out from his purse two shillings, and gave them to the\nkeeper of the inn, and said: 'Take care of him; and if you need to spend\nmore than this, do so; and when I come again I will pay it to you.'\"\n\n[Illustration: _Then he lifted him up_]\n\n\"Which one of these three, do you think, showed himself a neighbor to\nthe man who fell among the robbers?\"\n\nThe scribe said: \"The one who showed mercy on him.\"\n\nThen Jesus said to him: \"Go and do thou likewise.\"\n\nBy this parable, Jesus showed that \"our neighbor\" is the one who needs\nthe help that we can give him, whoever he may be.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE PALM BRANCHES\n\n[Illustration: _Came to Bethany where his friends Martha and Mary\nlived_]\n\nFrom Jericho, Jesus and his disciples went up the mountains, and came to\nBethany, where his friends Martha and Mary lived, and where he had\nraised Lazarus to life. Many people in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was\nthere, and they went out of the city to see him, for Bethany was only\ntwo miles from Jerusalem. Some came also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had\nraised from the dead; but the rulers of the Jews said to each other:\n\n\"We must not only kill Jesus, but Lazarus, also; because on his account\nso many of the people are going after Jesus and are believing on him.\"\n\nThe friends of Jesus in Bethany made a supper for Jesus, at the house of\na man named Simon. He was called \"Simon the leper\"; and perhaps he was\none whom Jesus had cured of leprosy. Jesus and his disciples, with\nLazarus, leaned upon the couches around the table, as the guests; and\nMartha was one of those who waited upon them. While they were at the\nsupper, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, came into the room, carrying a\nsealed jar of very precious perfume. She opened the jar, and poured some\nof the perfume upon the head of Jesus, and some upon his feet; and she\nwiped his feet with her long hair. And the whole house was filled with\nthe fragrance of the perfume.\n\nBut one of the disciples of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, was not pleased at\nthis. He said: \"Why was such a waste of the perfume made? This might\nhave been sold for more than forty-five dollars, and the money given to\nthe poor!\"\n\nThis he said, but not because he cared for the poor. Judas was the one\nwho kept the bag of money for Jesus and the twelve; and he was a thief,\nand took away for his own use all the money that he could steal. But\nJesus said:\n\n\"Let her alone; why do you find fault with the woman? She has done a\ngood work upon me. You have the poor always with you, and whenever you\nwish, you can give to them. But you will have me with you only a little\nwhile. She has done what she could; for she has come to perfume my body\nfor its burial. And truly I say to you, that wherever the gospel shall\nbe preached throughout all the world, what this woman has done shall be\ntold in memory of her.\"\n\n[Illustration: _She wiped his feet with her hair_]\n\nPerhaps Mary knew what others did not believe, that Jesus was soon to\ndie; and she showed her love for him, and her sorrow for his coming\ndeath, by this rich gift. But Judas, the disciple who carried the bag,\nwas very angry at Jesus; and from that time he was looking for a chance\nto betray Jesus, or to give him up to his enemies. He went to the chief\npriests, and said: \"What will you give me, if I will put Jesus in your\nhands?\"\n\nThey said, \"We will give you thirty pieces of silver.\"\n\nAnd for thirty pieces of silver Judas promised to help them take Jesus,\nand make him their prisoner.\n\nOn the morning after the supper at Bethany, Jesus called two of his\ndisciples, and said to them:\n\n\"Go into the next village, and at a place where two roads cross; and\nthere you will find an ass tied, and a colt with it. Loose them, and\nbring them to me. And if any one says to you, 'Why do you do this?' say,\n'The Lord has need of them,' and they will let them go.\"\n\nThey went to the place and found the ass and the colt, and were loosing\nthem, when the owner said:\n\n\"What are you doing, untying the ass?\"\n\nAnd they said, as Jesus had told them to say:\n\n\"The Lord has need of it.\"\n\nThen the owner gave them the ass and the colt for the use of Jesus.\nThey brought them to Jesus on the Mount of Olives; and they laid some of\ntheir own clothes on the colt for a cushion, and set Jesus upon it. Then\nall the disciples and a very great multitude threw their garments upon\nthe ground for Jesus to ride upon. Others cut down branches from the\ntrees and laid them on the ground. And as Jesus rode over the mountain\ntoward Jerusalem, many walked before him waving branches of palm trees.\nAnd they all cried together:\n\n[Illustration: _They threw their garments upon the ground for Jesus\nto ride upon_]\n\n\"Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of\nthe Lord! Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the\nname of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!\"\n\nThese things they said, because they believed that Jesus was the Christ,\nthe Anointed King; and they hoped that he would now set up his throne in\nJerusalem. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd, who did not believe in\nJesus, said to him:\n\n\"Master, stop your disciples!\"\n\nBut Jesus said:\n\n\"I tell you, that if these should be still, the very stones would cry\nout!\"\n\nAnd when he came into Jerusalem with all this multitude, all the city\nwas filled with wonder. They said: \"Who is this?\"\n\nAnd the multitude answered:\n\n\"This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth in Galilee!\"\n\nAnd Jesus went into the Temple, and looked around it; but he did not\nstay, because the hour was late. He went again to Bethany, and there\nstayed at night with his friends.\n\nThese things took place on Sunday, the first day of the week; and that\nSunday in the year is called Palm Sunday, because of the palm branches\nwhich the people carried before Jesus.\n\nMany people heard him gladly, but the great city was deaf to his\npleadings. \"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,\" he cried, \"thou that killest the\nprophets, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as\na hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!\"\n\n[Illustration: _The great city was deaf to his pleadings_]\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE BETRAYAL\n\nAt the foot of the Mount of Olives, near the path over the hill toward\nBethany, there was an orchard of olive trees, called \"The Garden of\nGethsemane.\" The word \"Gethsemane\" means \"oil press.\" Jesus often went\nto this place with his disciples, because of its quiet shade. At this\ngarden he stopped, and outside he left eight of his disciples, saying to\nthem, \"Sit here while I go inside and pray.\"\n\nHe took with him the three chosen ones, Peter, James, and John, and went\nwithin the orchard. Jesus knew that in a little while Judas would be\nthere with a band of men to seize him; that in a few hours he would be\nbeaten, and stripped, and led out to die. The thought of what he was to\nsuffer came upon him and filled his soul with grief. He said to Peter\nand James and John:\n\n\"My soul is filled with sorrow, a sorrow that almost kills me. Stay here\nand watch while I am praying.\"\n\nHe went a little further among the trees, and flung himself down upon\nthe ground, and cried out:\n\n\"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me;\nnevertheless, not as I will, but as thou willest!\"\n\nSo earnest was his feeling and so great his suffering that there came\nout upon his face great drops of sweat like blood, falling upon the\nground. After praying for a time, he rose up from the earth and went to\nhis three disciples, and found them all asleep. He awaked them, and said\nto Peter: \"What, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray\nthat you may not go into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but\nthe flesh is weak.\"\n\nHe left them, and went a second time into the woods, and fell on his\nface, and prayed again, saying:\n\n\"O my Father, if this cup cannot pass away, and I must drink it, then\nthy will be done.\"\n\nHe came again to the three disciples, and found them sleeping; but this\ntime he did not awake them. He went once more into the woods, and\nprayed, using the same words. And an angel from heaven came to him and\ngave him strength. He was now ready for the fate that was soon to come,\nand his heart was strong. Once more he went to the three disciples, and\nsaid to them: \"You may as well sleep on now, and take your rest, for the\nhour is at hand; and already the Son of man is given by the traitor into\nthe hands of sinners. But rise up and let us be going. See, the traitor\nis here!\"\n\nThe disciples awoke; they heard the noise of a crowd, and saw the\nflashing of torches and the gleaming of swords and spears. In the throng\nthey saw Judas standing, and they knew now that he was the traitor of\nwhom Jesus had spoken the night before. Judas came rushing forward, and\nkissed Jesus, as though he were glad to see him. This was a signal that\nhe had given beforehand to the band; for the men of the guard did not\nknow Jesus, and Judas had said to them:\n\n\"The one that I shall kiss is the man that you are to take; seize him\nand hold him fast.\"\n\nJesus said to Judas, \"Judas, do you betray the Son of man with a kiss?\"\n\nThen he turned to the crowd, and said, \"Whom do you seek?\"\n\nThey answered, \"Jesus of Nazareth.\"\n\nJesus said, \"I am he.\"\n\nWhen Jesus said this, a sudden fear came upon his enemies; they drew\nback and fell upon the ground.\n\nAfter a moment, Jesus said again, \"Whom do you seek?\"\n\nAnd again they answered, \"Jesus of Nazareth.\"\n\nAnd Jesus said, pointing to his disciples, \"I told you that I am he. If\nyou are seeking me, let these disciples go their own way.\"\n\n[Illustration: PETER DENIES CHRIST--\"And Peter remembered the word of\nJesus, which said unto him, 'Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me\nthrice.'\"--(Matt. 26:75.)]\n\nBut as they came forward to seize Jesus, Peter drew his sword, and\nstruck at one of the men in front, and cut off his right ear. The man\nwas a servant of the high-priest, and his name was Malchus. Jesus said\nto Peter:\n\n\"Put up the sword into its sheath; the cup which my Father has given me,\nshall I not drink it? Do you not know that I could call upon my Father,\nand he would send to me armies upon armies of angels?\"\n\nThen he spoke to the crowd, \"Let me do this.\" And he touched the place\nwhere the ear had been cut off, and it came on again and was well. Jesus\nsaid to the rulers and leaders of the armed men:\n\n\"Do you come out against me with swords and clubs as though I were a\nrobber? I was with you every day in the Temple, and you did not lift\nyour hands against me. But the words in the scriptures must come to\npass; and this is your hour.\"\n\nWhen the disciples of Jesus saw that he would not allow them to fight\nfor him, they did not know what to do. In their sudden alarm they all\nran away, and left their Master alone with his enemies. These men laid\ntheir hands on Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to the house of\nthe high-priest. There were at that time two men called high-priests by\nthe Jews. One was Annas, who had been high-priest until his office had\nbeen taken from him by the Romans, and given to Caiphas, his son-in-law.\nBut Annas still had great power among the people; and they brought\nJesus, all bound as he was, first to Annas.\n\nSimon Peter, and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, had followed after\nthe crowd of those who carried Jesus away; and they came to the door of\nthe high-priest's house. John knew the high-priest and went in; but\nPeter at first stayed outside, until John went out and brought him in.\nHe came in, but did not dare to go into the room where Jesus stood\nbefore the high-priest Annas. In the court-yard of the house, they had\nmade a fire of charcoal, and Peter stood among those who were warming\nthemselves at the fire.\n\nAnnas in the inner room asked Jesus about his disciples and his\nteaching. Jesus answered him:\n\n\"What I have taught has been open in the synagogues and in the Temple.\nWhy do you ask me? Ask those that heard me; they know what I said.\"\n\nThen one of the officers struck Jesus on the mouth, saying to him:\n\n\"Is this the way that you answer the high-priest?\"\n\nJesus answered the officer calmly and quietly:\n\n\"If I have said anything evil, tell what the evil is; but if I have\nspoken the truth, why do you strike me?\"\n\nWhile Annas and his men were thus showing their hate toward Jesus, who\nstood bound and alone among his enemies, Peter was still in the\ncourt-yard warming himself at the fire. A woman, who was a serving-maid\nin the house, looked at Peter sharply, and finally said to him:\n\n\"You were one of those men with this Jesus of Nazareth!\"\n\nPeter was afraid to tell the truth, and he answered her:\n\n\"Woman, I do not know the man; and I do not know what you are talking\nabout.\"\n\nAnd to get away from her, he went out into the porch of the house. There\nanother woman-servant saw him and said: \"This man was one of those with\nJesus!\"\n\nAnd Peter swore with an oath that he did not know Jesus at all. Soon a\nman came by, who was of kin to Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off. He\nlooked at Peter, and heard him speak, and said:\n\n\"You are surely one of this man's disciples; for your speech shows that\nyou came from Galilee.\"\n\nThen Peter began again to curse and to swear, declaring that he did not\nknow the man.\n\nJust at that moment the loud, shrill crowing of a cock startled Peter;\nand at the same time he saw Jesus, who was being dragged through the\nhall from Annas to the council-room of Caiphas, the other high-priest.\nAnd the Lord turned as he was passing and looked at Peter.\n\nThen there flashed into Peter's mind what Jesus had said on the evening\nbefore!\n\n\"Before the cock crows to-morrow morning, you will three times deny that\nyou have ever known me.\"\n\nThen Peter went out of the high-priest's house into the street; and he\nwept bitterly because he had denied his Lord.\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE EMPTY TOMB\n\nAfter Jesus was taken before the high-priest where he was ridiculed and\nthe people spat upon him, he was taken before the Roman Governor,\nPontius Pilate, who ruled over Judea. He heard their complaints, but did\nnot find any cause for putting him to death. But at last he yielded to\ntheir demands, although he declared Jesus was innocent of all wrong.\n\n[Illustration: _He heard their complaints_]\n\nAnd so Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, gave command that Jesus\nshould die by the cross. The Roman soldiers then took Jesus and beat him\nmost cruelly; and then led him out of the city to the place of death.\nThis was a place called \"Golgotha\" in the Jewish language, \"Calvary\" in\nthat of the Romans; both words meaning \"The Skull Place.\"\n\nWith the soldiers, went out of the city a great crowd of people; some of\nthem enemies of Jesus, glad to see him suffer; others of them friends of\nJesus, and the women who had helped him, now weeping as they saw him,\nall covered with his blood and going out to die. But Jesus turned to\nthem and said:\n\n\"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and\nfor your children. For the days are coming when they shall count those\nhappy who have no little ones to be slain; when they shall wish that the\nmountain might fall on them, and the hills might cover them, and hide\nthem from their enemies!\"\n\nThey had tried to make Jesus bear his own cross, but soon found that he\nwas too weak from his sufferings, and could not carry it. They seized on\na man who was coming out of the country into the city, a man named\nSimon, and they made him carry the cross to its place at Calvary.\n\nIt was the custom among the Jews to give to men about to die by the\ncross some medicine to deaden their feelings, so that they would not\nsuffer so greatly. They offered this to Jesus, but when he had tasted it\nand found what it was, he would not take it. He knew that he would die,\nbut he wished to have his mind clear, and to understand what was done\nand what was said, even though his sufferings might be greater.\n\nAt the place Calvary, they laid the cross down, and stretched Jesus upon\nit, and drove nails through his hands and feet to fasten him to the\ncross; and then they stood it upright with Jesus upon it. While the\nsoldiers were doing this dreadful work, Jesus prayed for them to God,\nsaying: \"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing.\"\n\nThe soldiers also took the clothes that Jesus had worn, giving to each\none a garment. But when they came to his undergarment, they found that\nit was woven and had no seams; so they said, \"Let us not tear it, but\ncast lots for it, to see who shall have it.\" So at the foot of the cross\nthe soldiers threw lots for the garment of Christ.\n\nTwo men who had been robbers and had been sentenced to die by the cross,\nwere led out to die at the same time with Jesus. One was placed on a\ncross at his right side, and the other at his left; and to make Jesus\nappear as the worst, his cross stood in the middle. Over the head of\nJesus on his cross, they placed, by Pilate's order, a sign, on which was\nwritten:\n\n    \"This is Jesus of Nazareth,\n    The King of the Jews.\"\n\nThis was written in three languages; in Hebrew, which was the language\nof the Jews; in Latin, the language of the Romans, and in Greek. Many of\nthe people read this writing; but the chief priests were not pleased\nwith it. They urged Pilate to have it changed from \"The King of the\nJews\" to \"He said, I am King of the Jews.\" But Pilate would not change\nit. He said:\n\n\"What I have written, I have written.\"\n\nAnd the people who passed by on the road, as they looked at Jesus on the\ncross, mocked at him. Some called out to him:\n\n\"You that would destroy the Temple and build it in three days, save\nyourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!\"\n\nAnd the priests and scribes said:\n\n\"He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down from the cross,\nand we will believe in you!\"\n\nAnd one of the robbers, who was on his own cross beside that of Jesus,\njoined in the cry, and said: \"If you are the Christ, save yourself and\nsave us!\"\n\nBut the other robber said to him: \"Have you no fear of God, to speak\nthus, while you are suffering the same fate with this man? And we\ndeserve to die, but this man has done nothing wrong.\"\n\nThen this man said to Jesus: \"Lord, remember me when thou comest into\nthy kingdom!\"\n\nAnd Jesus answered him, as they were both hanging on their crosses:\n\"To-day you shall be with me in heaven.\"\n\nBefore the cross of Jesus his mother was standing, filled with sorrow\nfor her son, and beside her was one of his disciples, John, the disciple\nwhom he loved best. Other women besides his mother were there--his\nmother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and a woman named Mary\nMagdalene, out of whom a year before Jesus had sent an evil spirit.\nJesus wished to give his mother, now that he was leaving her, into the\ncare of John, and he said to her, as he looked from her to John: \"Woman,\nsee your son.\"\n\nAnd then to John he said: \"Son, see your mother.\"\n\nAnd on that day John took the mother of Jesus home to his own house, and\ncared for her as his own mother.\n\nAt about noon, a sudden darkness came over the land, and lasted for\nthree hours. And in the middle of the afternoon, when Jesus had been on\nthe cross six hours of terrible pain, he cried out aloud words which\nmeant:\n\n\"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!\" words which are the\nbeginning of the twenty-second psalm, a psalm which long before had\nspoken of many of Christ's sufferings.\n\nAfter this he spoke again, saying, \"I thirst!\"\n\nAnd some one dipped a sponge in a cup of vinegar, and put it upon a\nreed, and gave him a drink of it. Then Jesus spoke his last words upon\nthe cross:\n\n\"It is finished! Father, into thy hands I give my spirit!\"\n\nAnd then Jesus died. And at that moment, the veil in the Temple between\nthe Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, was torn apart by unseen hands\nfrom the top to the bottom. And when the Roman officer, who had charge\nof the soldiers around the cross, saw what had taken place, and how\nJesus died, he said: \"Surely this was a righteous man; he was the Son of\nGod.\"\n\nAfter Jesus was dead, one of the soldiers, to be sure that he was no\nlonger living, ran his spear into the side of his dead body; and out of\nthe wound came pouring both water and blood.\n\nThere were even among the rulers of the Jews a few who were friends of\nJesus, though they did not dare to follow Jesus openly. One of these\nwas Nicodemus, the ruler who came to see Jesus at night. Another was a\nrich man who came from the town of Arimathea, and was named Joseph.\nJoseph of Arimathea went boldly in to Pilate, and asked that the body of\nJesus might be given to him. Pilate wondered that he had died so soon,\nfor often men lived on the cross two or three days. But when he found\nthat Jesus was really dead, he gave his body to Joseph.\n\nThen Joseph and his friends took down the body of Jesus from the cross,\nand wrapped it in fine linen. And Nicodemus brought some precious\nspices, myrrh and aloes, which they wrapped up with the body. Then they\nplaced the body in Joseph's own new tomb, which was a cave dug out of\nthe rock, in a garden near the place of the cross. And before the\nopening of the cave they rolled a great stone.\n\nAnd Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and some other women, saw the\ntomb, and watched while they laid the body of Jesus in it. On the next\nmorning, some of the rulers of the Jews came to Pilate, and said:\n\n\"Sir, we remember that that man Jesus of Nazareth, who deceived the\npeople, said while he was yet alive, 'After three days I will rise\nagain.' Give orders that the tomb shall be watched and made sure for\nthree days, or else his disciples may steal his body, and then say, 'He\nis risen from the dead'; and thus even after his death he may do more\nharm than he did while he was alive.\"\n\nPilate said to them:\n\n\"Set a watch, and make it as sure as you can.\"\n\nThen they placed a seal upon the stone, so that no one might break it;\nand they set a watch of soldiers at the door.\n\nAnd in the tomb the body of Jesus lay from the evening of Friday, the\nday when he died on the cross, to the dawn of Sunday, the first day of\nthe week, when he arose from the dead and appeared unto his disciples.\n\nBut the brightest day in all the world was this Sunday morning. For on\nthat day the stone was rolled away from the tomb and Jesus came forth\nfrom the dead to gladden his disciples. This he had told them he would\ndo. On this Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and another Mary, called\nSalome, came to the tomb, found the stone rolled away and an angel\nstanding by the open tomb. He told them that Jesus was not there, but\nhad risen.\n\nAfterward Jesus was with his disciples for forty days, after which he\nwas taken up into heaven.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE MAN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE\n\n\nSoon after Jesus was taken up into heaven, his disciples began to\npreach, as he had told them to do. They stood up in the streets, and in\nthe Temple, and spoke to the people all the words that Jesus had given\nto them. And although they could no longer see Jesus, he was with them,\nand helped them, and gave them great power.\n\nThe two apostles, Peter and John, were one day going up to the temple at\nthe afternoon hour of prayer, about three o'clock. They walked across\nthe court of the Gentiles, which was a large, open square paved with\nmarble, having on its eastern side a double row of pillars with a roof\nabove them, called Solomon's Porch. In front of this porch was the\nprincipal entrance to the Temple, through a gate which was called \"The\nBeautiful Gate.\" In front of this gate they saw a lame man sitting. He\nwas one who in all his life had never been able to walk; and as he was\nvery poor, his friends carried him every day to this place; and there he\nsat, hoping that some of those who went into the Temple might take pity\non him, and give him a little money.\n\nIn front of this man Peter and John stopped; and Peter said: \"Look at\nus!\"\n\nThe lame man looked earnestly on the two apostles, thinking they were\nabout to give him something. But Peter said:\n\n\"Silver and gold have I none; but what I have that I will give you. In\nthe name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!\"\n\nAnd Peter took hold of the lame man's right hand, and raised him up. At\nonce the lame man felt a new power entering into his feet and\nankle-bones. He leaped up, and stood upon his feet, and began to walk,\nas he had never done before in all his life. He walked up the steps with\nthe two apostles, and went by their side into the Temple, walking, and\nleaping, and praising God. The people who now saw him leaping up and\nrunning knew him, for they had seen him every day sitting as a beggar at\nthe Beautiful Gate: and every one was filled with wonder at the change\nwhich had come over him.\n\nAfter worshipping and praising God in the Temple, the man, still holding\nfast to Peter and John, went out with them through the Beautiful Gate,\ninto Solomon's Porch. And in a very few minutes a great crowd of people\nwere drawn together to the place to see the man who had been made well,\nand to see also the two men who had healed him.\n\nThen Peter stood up before the throng of people, and spoke to them:\n\n\"Ye men of Israel,\" he said, \"why do you look wondering on this man? or\nwhy do you fix your eyes upon us, as though by our own power or goodness\nwe had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of\nJacob, has in this way shown the power and the glory of his Son Jesus,\nwhom you gave up to his enemies, and whom you refused before Pontius\nPilate, when Pilate was determined to set him free. But you refused the\nHoly One and the Righteous One, and chose a murderer, Barabbas, to be\nset free in his place; and you killed the Prince of Life, whom God\nraised from the dead. We who have seen him risen, declare that this is\ntrue. And the power of Jesus, through faith in his name, has made this\nman strong. Yes, it is faith in Christ that has given him this perfect\nsoundness before you all. Now, my brothers, I am sure that you did not\nknow that it was the Son of God and your own Saviour whom you sent to\nthe cross. Therefore turn to God in sorrow for this great sin, and God\nwill forgive you, and in his own time he will send again Jesus Christ.\nGod, who has raised up his Son, is ready to bless you, and turn away\nevery one of you from his sins.\"\n\nWhile Peter was speaking, the priests, and the captain of the Temple,\nand the rulers, came upon them; for they were angry as they heard Peter\nspeak these words. They laid hold of Peter and John, and put them into\nthe guardroom for the night. But many of those who had heard Peter\nspeaking believed on Jesus, and sought the Lord; and the number of the\nfollowers of Christ rose from three thousand to five thousand.\n\nOn the next day the rulers came together; and Annas and Caiphas, the\nhigh priests, were there, and with them many of their friends. They\nbrought Peter and John, and set them before the company. The lame man\nwho had been healed was still by the side of the two apostles. The\nrulers asked them:\n\n\"By what power, or through whom have you done this?\"\n\nThen Peter spoke boldly:\n\n\"Ye rulers of the people and elders, if you are asking us about the good\ndeed done to this man who was so helpless, how it was that he was made\nwell, I will tell you that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth whom you put\nto death on the cross, whom God raised from the dead; even by him this\nman stands here before you all strong and well. And there is no\nsalvation except through Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under\nheaven given among men that can save us from our sins.\"\n\nWhen these rulers saw how bold and strong were the words of Peter and\nJohn, they wondered, especially as they knew that they were plain men,\nnot learned in books, and not used to speaking. They remembered that\nthey had seen these men among the followers of Jesus, and they felt that\nin some way Jesus had given them his power. And as the man who had been\nhealed was standing beside them, they could say nothing to deny that a\nwonderful work had been done.\n\nThe rulers sent Peter and John out of the council-room, while they\ntalked together. They said to each other:\n\n\"What shall we do to these men? We cannot deny that a wonderful work has\nbeen done by them, for every one knows it. But we must stop this from\nspreading any more among the people. Let us command them not to speak to\nany man about the name of Jesus; and let us tell them, that if they do\nspeak, we will punish them.\"\n\nSo they called the two apostles into the room again, and said to them:\n\"We forbid you to speak about Jesus, and the power of his name, to any\nman. If you do not stop talking about Jesus, we will lay hands on you,\nand put you in prison, and will have you beaten.\"\n\nBut Peter and John answered the rulers: \"Whether it is right to obey\nyou or to obey God, you can judge. As for ourselves we cannot keep\nsilent; we must speak of what we have seen and heard.\"\n\nThe rulers were afraid to do any harm to Peter and John, because they\nknew that the people praised God for the good work that they had done;\nand they would be angry to have harm come to them. For fear of the\npeople, they let them go. And being let go, they went to their own\nfriends, the company who met in the upper room, and there they gave\nthanks to God for helping them to speak his word without fear.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR\n\n\nIn the New Testament, in the book of Acts, you will learn how the\nmembers of the church in Jerusalem gave their money freely to help the\npoor. This free giving led to trouble, as the church grew so fast; for\nsome of the widows who were poor were passed by, and their friends made\ncomplaints to the apostles. The twelve apostles called the whole church\ntogether, and said:\n\n\"It is not well that we should turn aside from preaching and teaching\nthe word of God to sit at tables and give out money. But, brethren,\nchoose from among yourselves seven good men; men who have the Spirit of\nGod and are wise, and we will give this work to them; so that we can\nspend our time in prayer and in preaching the gospel.\"\n\nThis plan was pleasing to all the church, and they chose seven men to\ntake charge of the gifts of the people, and to see that they were sent\nto those who were in need. The first man chosen was Stephen, a man full\nof faith and of the Spirit of God; and with him was Philip and five\nother good men. These seven men they brought before the apostles; and\nthe apostles laid their hands on their heads, setting them apart for\ntheir work of caring for the poor.\n\nBut Stephen did more than to look after the needy ones. He began to\npreach the gospel of Christ, and to preach with such power as made every\none who heard him feel the truth. Stephen saw before any other man in\nthe church saw, that the gospel of Christ was not for Jews only, but was\nfor all men; that all men might be saved if they would believe in Jesus;\nand this great truth Stephen began to preach with all his power. Such\npreaching as this, that men who were not Jews might be saved by\nbelieving in Christ, made many of the Jews very angry. They called all\nthe people who were not Jews \"Gentiles,\" and they looked upon them with\nhate and scorn; but they could not answer the words that Stephen spoke.\nThey roused up the people and the rulers, and set them against Stephen,\nand at last they seized Stephen, and brought him before the great\ncouncil of the rulers. They said to the rulers:\n\n\"This man is always speaking evil words against the Temple and against\nthe law of Moses. We have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth shall\ndestroy this place, and shall change the laws that Moses gave to us!\"\n\nThis was partly true and partly false; but no lie is so harmful as that\nwhich has a little truth with it. Then the high-priest said to Stephen:\n\n\"Are these things so?\"\n\nAnd as Stephen stood up to answer the high-priest, all fixed their eyes\nupon him; and they saw that his face was shining, as though it was the\nface of an angel. Then Stephen began to speak of the great things that\nGod had done for his people Israel in the past; how he had called\nAbraham, their father, to go forth into a new land; how he had given\nthem great men, as Joseph, and Moses, and the prophets. He showed them\nhow the Israelites had not been faithful to God, who had given them such\nwonderful blessings.\n\nThen Stephen said:\n\n\"You are a people with hard hearts and stiff necks, who will not obey\nthe words of God and his Spirit. As your fathers did, so you do, also.\nYour fathers killed the prophets whom God sent to them; and you have\nslain Jesus, the Righteous One!\"\n\nAs they heard these things, they became so angry against Stephen, that\nthey gnashed on him with their teeth, like wild beasts. But Stephen,\nfull of the Holy Spirit, looked up toward heaven with his shining face;\nand he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on God's right hand, and\nhe said:\n\n\"I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right\nhand of God!\"\n\nBut they cried out with angry voices, and rushed upon him, and dragged\nhim out of the council-room, and outside the wall of the city. And there\nthey threw stones upon him to kill him, while Stephen was kneeling down\namong the falling stones, and praying:\n\n\"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! Lord, lay not this sin up against them!\"\n\nAnd when he had said this, he fell asleep in death, the first to be\nslain for the gospel of Christ.","title":"The Wonder Book of Bible Stories","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":50042}