{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_17162/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_17162","id":"gutenberg_17162","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17162","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories, English","Bible. Old Testament -- Juvenile literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Children's Picture Books","Children's Religion"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia, Jeannie Howse\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttps://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Front Cover]\n\n[Illustration: Frontispiece: JOSEPH SOLD INTO CAPTIVITY.]\n\n\n\n\nMOTHER\n\nSTORIES\n\nFROM THE OLD TESTAMENT\n\n\nA Book of the Best Stories from the\nOld Testament That Mothers\nCan Tell Their Children\n\n\nWith Forty-five Illustrations\n\n\nPHILADELPHIA\nHENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY\n\n\n\nALTEMUS' MOTHER STORIES SERIES\n\n\nMOTHER STORIES\nA Book of the Best Stories that Mothers can tell their Children\n\nMOTHER NURSERY RHYMES AND TALES\nA Book of the Best Nursery Rhymes and Tales that Mothers can tell\ntheir Children\n\nMOTHER FAIRY TALES\nA Book of the Best Fairy Tales that Mothers can tell their Children\n\nMOTHER NATURE STORIES\nA Book of the Best Nature Stories that Mothers can tell their Children\n\nMOTHER STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT\nA Book of the Best Old Testament Stories that Mothers can tell their\nChildren\n\nMOTHER STORIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT\nA Book of the Best New Testament Stories that Mothers can tell their\nChildren\n\nMOTHER BEDTIME STORIES\nA Book of the Best Bedtime Stories that Mothers can tell their\nChildren\n\nMOTHER ANIMAL STORIES\nA Book of the Best Animal Stories that Mothers can tell their Children\n\nMOTHER BIRD STORIES\nA Book of the Best Bird Stories that Mothers can tell their Children\n\nMOTHER SANTA CLAUS STORIES\nA Book of the Best Santa Claus Stories that Mothers can tell their\nChildren\n\nProfusely illustrated and handsomely bound in cloth, with\nornamentation in colors\n\n$1.00 PER VOLUME\n\n  COPYRIGHT 1908 BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS\n  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                        PAGE\nADAM AND EVE                                               7\n\nCAIN AND ABEL                                              8\n\nTHE FLOOD                                                 10\n\nTHE TOWER OF BABEL                                        12\n\nLOT'S FLIGHT FROM SODOM                                   14\n\nABRAHAM AND ISAAC                                         16\n\nTHE STORY OF REBEKAH                                      18\n\nJOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN                                   22\n\nTHE FINDING OF MOSES                                      28\n\nTHE FLIGHT FROM EGYPT                                     30\n\nMOSES STRIKING THE ROCK                                   32\n\nTHE TEN COMMANDMENTS                                      34\n\nBEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB                                      36\n\nTHE BRAZEN SERPENT                                        38\n\nPASSAGE OF THE JORDAN                                     40\n\nTHE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST                            42\n\nHOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED                                  44\n\nACHAN'S SIN                                               46\n\nTHE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL                                   48\n\nTHE CITIES OF REFUGE                                      50\n\nJOSHUA'S EXHORTATION                                      52\n\nGIDEON AND THE FLEECE                                     54\n\nTHE DEFEAT OF THE MIDIANITES                              56\n\nTHE DEATH OF SAMSON                                       58\n\nRUTH AND NAOMI                                            60\n\nBOAZ AND RUTH                                             62\n\nHANNAH PRAYING BEFORE THE LORD                            64\n\nELI AND SAMUEL                                            66\n\nDEATH OF ELI AND HIS SONS                                 68\n\nPLAYING ON THE HARP BEFORE SAUL                           70\n\nDAVID AND GOLIATH                                         72\n\nNATHAN REPROVING THE KING                                 74\n\nDAVID AND ARAUNAH                                         76\n\nELIJAH FED BY RAVENS                                      78\n\nPLOUGHING IN CANAAN                                       80\n\nTHE SHUNAMMITE'S SON                                      82\n\nTHE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID                                   84\n\nJONAH AT NINEVEH                                          86\n\nHEZEKIAH AND SENNACHERIB                                  88\n\nTHE BRAVE HEBREW BOYS                                     90\n\nDANIEL AND THE LIONS                                      92\n\nESTHER BEFORE THE KING                                    94\n\nDAVID AND JONATHAN                                        96\n\n\n\n\n\nOLD TESTAMENT STORIES\n\nADAM AND EVE.\n\n\nIn the beginning God made the heaven and the earth He also made the\nsun, moon, and stars; trees, flowers, and all vegetable life; and all\nanimals, birds, fishes, and insects. Then God made man. The name of\nthe first man was Adam, and the first woman was Eve. Both were placed\nin a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden, where they might have\nbeen happy continually had they not sinned. But God forbade them to\neat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan\ntempted Eve to take the fruit of this tree. She ate, and gave to Adam,\nand he ate also. Thus they sinned, and sin came into the world.\n\nThen God called to Adam and said, \"Where art thou?\" Before this, Adam\nand Eve had been happy when God was near, now they were afraid. Why?\nBecause they knew they had done wrong. So sin makes us afraid of God.\n\nGod rebuked them for the evil they had done; and then drove them out\nof the Garden of Eden, placing an angel to keep watch over the gate so\nthat they could not return.\n\n\n\n\nCAIN AND ABEL.\n\n\nWhat a sad story the Bible tells us in the fourth chapter of Genesis!\nCain and Abel were brothers, the sons of Adam and Eve. How they should\nhave loved each other! Yet we find that Cain killed Abel. Why did he\ndo this?\n\nCain was a husbandman, who tilled the ground; Abel was a shepherd, who\nkept sheep. One day each offered a sacrifice to God. Cain brought\nfruit, and Abel brought a lamb. God accepted Abel's offering, but not\nCain's. Why? Well, I am not quite sure, but I think it was because\nAbel offered his sacrifice according as God had commanded, and had\nfaith in a promised Saviour; but Cain simply acknowledged God's\ngoodness in giving him the fruits of the earth. God had probably told\nthem, too, that when they came to worship Him, they were to bring a\nlamb or a kid as a sacrifice for their sins; this Abel had done, but\nCain had not. Cain was angry because God had accepted Abel's offering\nand not his; and he hated his brother Abel.\n\nGod knew the evil thought Cain had towards his brother, and asked him,\n\"Why art thou wroth?\" and said, \"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be\naccepted?\" But Cain did still more wickedly. When out in the field he\nkilled his brother. Was it not a cruel deed? They were alone when this\nmurder was committed, yet one eye saw it all. God saw it, and said to\nCain: \"Where is Abel, thy brother?\" We cannot sin without God knowing\nit! Cain told God a lie. He answered, \"I know not.\" But he did know.\nGod was angry with Cain for his sin, and sent him as a fugitive and\nvagabond to wander on the earth.\n\n[Illustration: ABEL'S SACRIFICE.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLOOD.\n\n\nAbout fifteen hundred years had passed since Cain slew Abel, during\nwhich time man had become more and more wicked. At length God saw\n\"that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every\nimagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.\"\nThen God said, \"I will destroy man whom I have created from the face\nof the earth.\"\n\nBut one man was righteous and served God. His name was Noah. God told\nhim that the world would be drowned by a flood because of the\nwickedness of the people, and commanded him to build a great ark to\nfloat upon the waters. In this ark God promised to preserve alive Noah\nand his family; and also two of each of every living thing on the\nearth--animals, birds, and creeping things. All the rest were to die.\n\nNoah built the ark as God commanded. It took him a great many years,\nduring which time the people were warned to forsake their sins and\nturn to God, but they did not do so. At last the ark was finished, and\nNoah, with his wife, and his sons with their wives, and the animals,\nbirds, and creeping things, as God had commanded, all entered into it.\nWhat a long procession it must have been! Then God shut them in, and\nthey dwelt in safety while the rain came down, and the waters rose up\nand covered the earth. All were drowned except those in the ark.\n\nA year afterwards, when the waters were dried up, Noah, and all that\nhad been with him, left the ark. Then Noah built an altar, and offered\nsacrifices to God, in thankfulness for God's goodness to him and his\nfamily.\n\n[Illustration: ENTERING THE ARK.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE TOWER OF BABEL.\n\n\nBabel means confusion. Was it not a strange name to give a tower? How\ndid it get this?\n\nAfter Noah left the ark, God made a promise to him that He would no\nmore destroy the earth by a flood, and blessed him and his sons. In\ncourse of time many little children were born, baby boys and girls,\nwho grew up to be fathers and mothers having children also. In this\nmanner a great many people dwelt again on the earth. For more than one\nhundred years they all spoke the same language, and as, in course of\ntime, they journeyed onward, they came to a large plain in the land of\nShinar, near to where Babylon was afterwards built. Here they said\nthey would remain and build a great city, with a high tower ascending\nto heaven.\n\nNow God, when he blessed Noah, had said to him, \"Be fruitful, and\nmultiply, and replenish the earth;\" meaning that the people were to\nscatter abroad, so that the world might become inhabited again. But\nthese men wanted to keep together, and found one great empire, the\ncentre of which should be the great city with the lofty tower. So they\nmade bricks and burnt them, and took a kind of pitch for mortar, and\nbegan to build. Some learned men say they took three years in getting\nthe materials, and were twenty-two years building the tower. It was\nvery great and high, but it was never finished. The people did\nwickedly in building it, and God, who saw all they were doing,\nconfounded their language, so that one could not understand another.\nThus they left off building the tower, and that is why it is called\nBabel. Then God scattered them abroad to re-people the earth.\n\n[Illustration: BUILDING THE TOWER OF BABEL.]\n\n\n\n\nLOT'S FLIGHT FROM SODOM.\n\n\nIn Palestine, the land in which Jesus dwelt when He was upon earth,\nthere is an inland sea, called the Dead Sea. Its waters are very salt,\nand no trees grow upon its shores. Many long years before the birth of\nJesus Christ, two cities stood upon the plain which the waters of the\nDead Sea now cover. These cities were named Sodom and Gomorrah. Their\ninhabitants were very wicked, so God destroyed their cities by raining\nbrimstone and fire upon them.\n\nBefore God destroyed these cities, He sent two angels to Lot,\nAbraham's nephew, who dwelt in Sodom, commanding him to flee from it,\ntaking his family with him. The angels hastened him, saying, \"Arise,\ntake thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be\nconsumed in the iniquity of the city.\" Then the angels took all four\nby the hand and led them out, and said to Lot, \"Escape for thy life;\nlook not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to\nthe mountain, lest thou be consumed.\"\n\nLot pleaded that he might take refuge in a little city, named Zoar,\nnot very far distant; and having obtained the angels' permission to do\nso, he took his wife and daughters, and hastened away. In our picture\nwe see him and his daughters entering Zoar, and Sodom burning in the\ndistance--but what is that strange figure standing on the plain? Alas!\nthat is Lot's wife; the angel had commanded them that none were to\nlook back, but she did so, and was turned into a pillar of salt.\n\nLot did wrong in dwelling in such a wicked city as Sodom, and lost all\nhis property when he escaped for his life.\n\n[Illustration: LOT ENTERING ZOAR.]\n\n\n\n\nABRAHAM AND ISAAC.\n\n\nAbraham feared God and obeyed His commandments; and God promised to\nbless Abraham very greatly. He gave him riches in cattle, and silver,\nand gold; and said that the land of Canaan should belong to him and\nhis descendants. God also gave him a son in his old age, whom he\nloved, very dearly and named Isaac. But God intended to try Abraham,\nto see if he loved Him above all else.\n\nOne day God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, and to journey into\nthe land of Moriah; there to build an altar and offer Isaac as a\nsacrifice upon it. It was a strange command, but Abraham knew that God\nwould not bid him do what was wrong, and believed that even if he slew\nhis son, God was able to raise him to life again. So he rose early in\nthe morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men, and wood for\nthe fire; and then, accompanied by Isaac, started on his journey. On\nthe third day they came near the place God had pointed out, and\nAbraham left the young men with the ass, while he and his son\njourneyed up the mountain alone. As they went along, Isaac--who\ncarried the wood, while his father carried the knife and the fire,\nsaid: \"My father.\" And Abraham replied, \"Here am I, my son.\" Then\nIsaac said: \"Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a\nburnt offering?\" Abraham answered: \"My son, God will provide Himself a\nlamb for a burnt offering.\"\n\nThe altar was built, Isaac was bound and laid upon it, and Abraham's\narm was uplifted to strike the blow that was to take his son's life\naway. Then God called to Abraham, \"Lay not thine hand upon the lad,\nneither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest\nGod, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from\nMe.\" Abraham looked up, and behind him saw a ram which was caught in a\nthicket by its horns; this he took and offered as a sacrifice to God.\n\nSo God tried Abraham; and also Himself provided the lamb for the burnt\noffering, as Abraham had said.\n\n[Illustration: ABRAHAM AND ISAAC.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF REBEKAH.\n\n\nWhen Abraham had grown old, he desired that his son, Isaac, should\ntake a wife. But he did not wish him to choose one from among the\nwomen of Canaan, for they worshipped idols. So he called his oldest\nservant, and commanded him to make a journey to Abraham's own country,\nand there to choose a wife for Isaac. Then the man took ten camels,\ntogether with food and other goods for the journey, and set out for\nthe city of Nahor. When he came to the walls of the city he spied a\nwell, and, as it was evening, the young women were coming out to draw\nwater. Then he asked God to help him to choose a wife for Isaac,\nsaying, \"Let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say,\n'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink,' and who shall\nreply, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also;' let her be the\none Thou hast chosen for Thy servant Isaac.\"\n\n[Illustration: REBEKAH GIVING DRINK TO ABRAHAM'S SERVANT.]\n\nBefore he had done speaking, there came out a beautiful young woman,\nwhose name was Rebekah. She was the grand-daughter of Nahor, Abraham's\nbrother. She carried a pitcher upon her shoulder, and went down to the\nwell and filled it. Then Abraham's servant ran to her and asked her\nfor a drink from her pitcher. She said, \"Drink, my lord,\" and held the\npitcher for him, and afterwards drew water for his camels also. Then\nhe took a golden jewel and a pair of gold bracelets, and put them upon\nher, and asked whose daughter she was, and if her father could lodge\nhim and his company. When she told him who she was, he was glad, and\nworshipped God, for he was sure then that he had been led to the house\nof Abraham's brother.\n\nThen Rebekah called out her friends, and they took the man in to lodge\nhim for the night, and set food before him. But he would not eat until\nhe had told them his errand, and how he believed God had chosen\nRebekah for Isaac's wife. He then asked the parents to say whether\nthey would give their daughter or not, but they said: \"It has been\nordered by God; we cannot give or refuse her. Rebekah is before you.\nTake her and go. Let her be Isaac's wife, as the Lord hath spoken.\"\n\nWhen the man heard these words, he again praised God, and then he\nbrought out rich clothing, and jewels of gold and silver, and gave\nthem to Rebekah. He also gave presents to her mother and brother. When\nthey asked Rebekah if she would go with the man, she said \"Yes,\" and\ntook leave of her friends, who blessed her. Then, with her nurse and\nher maids, she rode upon the camels, and followed the man, for she\nbelieved that so God had ordered it.\n\nIsaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi, and one evening he walked into the\nfields to meditate. As he lifted up his eyes he saw the company of\ncamels coming towards him. At the same time, Rebekah lifted up her\neyes and saw Isaac. When the man told her it was his master Isaac, she\nalighted from the camel, and covered her face with a veil, according\nto the custom of the East. When the man told Isaac all he had done,\nIsaac was pleased, and welcomed Rebekah, and gave her the tent that\nhad been his mother's. And she became his wife.\n\n[Illustration: REBEKAH JOURNEYING TO ISAAC.]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nJOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.\n\n\nHow wonderful is the way in which God works for those who fear Him!\nThe history of Joseph teaches us this truth.\n\nJoseph had one younger and ten elder brothers. The name of the younger\nbrother was Benjamin. Jacob was the father of them all; and Rachel was\nthe mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Jacob loved Joseph more than all\nhis other sons, and made him a coat of many colours; but his elder\nbrothers hated him, and one day, when far away from home, proposed to\nkill him. They cast him into a pit instead, and afterwards sold him as\na slave to some merchants who were travelling from Gilead to Egypt.\nWhen they returned to their father, they took Joseph's coat of many\ncolours, which they had dipped in blood, and brought it to Jacob,\nsaying: \"This have we found: know now if it be thy son's coat or no.\"\nJacob knew the coat; and thought Joseph had been killed by some wild\nbeast, and mourned for him greatly.\n\n[Illustration: THE MEETING OF ISAAC AND REBEKAH.]\n\nThe merchants carried Joseph into Egypt, and sold him to one of the\nking's officers, named Potiphar. But, though a slave, he was not\nforsaken by God. No, God was with him, and made all that he did to\nprosper. His master placed him over all his house, but his mistress\nwanted him to commit a great sin. When he refused, she accused him\nunjustly to his master, and Potiphar had him cast into prison.\n\nGod was with Joseph in the prison, and gave him such favour with the\nkeeper that he set him over all the other prisoners. Among them were\ntwo; one who had been the king's butler, and the other his baker. Both\nhad dreams which troubled them much, but Joseph was enabled by God to\ninterpret their dreams for them. By-and-by Pharaoh, the king, dreamed\na dream. He was standing on the banks of a river, and saw seven fat\ncows come up out of the water and feed in a meadow; afterwards seven\nvery lean cows came up and devoured the fat ones. Then Pharaoh awoke;\nbut he dreamed again, and saw that seven very poor ears of corn\ndevoured seven that were full and good. In the morning he was greatly\ntroubled. What could the dreams mean? He called for the magicians and\nthe wise men, but they could not tell. At last it was told him how\nJoseph had interpreted the dreams in the prison; so he sent for\nJoseph, who came from the prison, and stood before the king.\n\nPharaoh said, \"I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can\ninterpret it; and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand\na dream to interpret it.\" Joseph answered, \"It is not in me: God shall\ngive Pharaoh an answer of peace.\" Then Joseph told Pharaoh that the\ndreams had been sent by God, to show him that after seven years of\ngreat plenty had passed there would come seven years of famine. He\nalso advised Pharaoh to lay up corn in cities during the years of\nplenty, so that the people might be fed during the years of famine.\nPharaoh saw what great wisdom God had given Joseph, and made him ruler\nover all the land of Egypt. The corn was stored up; and after the\nyears of plenty the famine came.\n\n[Illustration: JOSEPH BEFORE THE PHARAOH.]\n\nDuring all this time Jacob and his sons had been dwelling in Canaan;\nwhere, through the famine, they were now in want of food. So Jacob\nsent his sons to Egypt to buy corn. The Bible tells us, in the book of\nGenesis, how they came to Egypt, and all that befell them there; and\nhow at last Joseph, the ruler of the mighty kingdom, made himself\nknown to them as the brother they had cruelly sold for a slave. But he\nforgave them, and sent to fetch his father Jacob, saying that all were\nto come into Egypt, where he would provide for them.\n\nJacob could not at first believe the good news his sons brought; but\nwhen he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him and the\nlittle ones, he said, \"It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I\nwill go and see him before I die.\" So he journeyed to Egypt, with his\nsons, and all that he had; and as he drew near Joseph went to meet\nhim. When Joseph met his father, he fell on his neck, and wept there.\nAnd Jacob said, \"Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because\nthou art yet alive.\" He was so full of joy that it seemed to him there\nwas nothing else worth living for. Afterwards Joseph presented his\nfather to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh; who allowed him and his\nfamily to dwell in the land of Goshen.\n\n[Illustration: JACOB PRESENTED TO PHARAOH.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FINDING OF MOSES.\n\n\nPharoah, becoming alarmed at the increasing power and numbers of the\nIsraelites in Egypt, ordered that every male child who might be born\nto them should be cast into the river, and drowned. But the wife of a\nman named Levi felt that she could not give up her babe, and for three\nmonths she hid him. When she could hide him no longer, she prepared a\nbasket of rushes, and coated it with pitch, so that it would float\nupon the river and keep out the water. In this ark she placed her\ninfant son, and hid the ark among the flags and bulrushes on the\nriver-bank, and set the child's sister to watch it.\n\nNow it happened that the daughter of Pharaoh came with her maidens to\nbathe in the river; and when she saw the basket she sent one of her\nmaids to fetch it. And when she looked at the child he wept, and she\nhad compassion for him, and said, \"This is one of the Hebrews'\nchildren.\" Then the child's sister came forward and said to Pharaoh's\ndaughter, \"Shall I call to thee a Hebrew woman that she may nurse the\nchild for thee?\" And when the princess said, \"Go!\" she, the maid, went\nand called her own mother, to whom Pharaoh's daughter said, \"Take this\nchild and nurse him for me, and I will give thee thy wages.\" And the\nwoman took the child and nursed him. And when he had grown, his mother\ntook him to the princess, who adopted him as her son, and called his\nname Moses, which means _drawn out_, because she took him from the\nwater. Afterwards he grew to be a great man: he was learned in all the\nwisdom of the Egyptians; and we are told, \"he was mighty in words and\ndeeds.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE FINDING OF MOSES.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLIGHT FROM EGYPT.\n\n\nWhen Moses was forty years old he had to flee from Egypt. He went to\nMidian, where he dwelt for forty years; at the end of which time God\nappeared to him, and instructed him to return to Egypt; where he was\nappointed by God to lead the Israelites from bondage to the land of\nCanaan. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and delivered\nto him God's command to let the people of Israel go; telling him that\nif he disobeyed terrible plagues would come upon his land. Pharaoh\nhardened his heart against God, and refused to let the people go; so\nten dreadful plagues were sent, the last of which was that the\nfirstborn of every Egyptian should die, whether it were man or beast.\nBut not a single Israelite was to suffer harm. This plague God said\nshould come in the night; when an angel would pass through the land,\ndestroying the Egyptians but sparing the Israelites.\n\nEach family of the Israelites was commanded, on the evening that God\nhad appointed, to kill a lamb, and to dip a bunch of hyssop in its\nblood, sprinkling this blood upon the top and side posts of the door.\nAll the houses thus marked God said would be spared when the\ndestroying angel passed through the land. In the night, while the\nIsraelites were, according to God's command, eating the lambs that had\nbeen slain, all ready to depart, a great cry arose among the\nEgyptians. In every house, from the palace downwards, the eldest child\nlay dead.\n\nThen the Egyptians arose, and thrust the Israelites out; and they left\nEgypt, and journeyed towards the Red Sea.\n\n[Illustration: SPRINKLING THE BLOOD.]\n\n\n\n\nMOSES STRIKING THE ROCK.\n\n\nAfter the Israelites left Egypt they crossed the Red Sea, whose waters\ndivided so that they passed through on dry land. Then they travelled\nthrough the wilderness toward Mount Sinai. Passing onward, they wanted\nwater and food; and forgetting the great things God had already done\nfor them, they began to murmur. At a place called Marah they found the\nwater too bitter to drink; so they grumbled, saying to Moses, \"What\nshall we drink?\" He asked God; who showed him a tree, which, when cast\ninto the water, made it sweet.\n\nNext the people murmured for food, and God sent them manna, which they\ngathered every day except the Sabbath; but with all God's care and\nkindness the Israelites continued to grumble whenever any difficulty\narose. Journeying forward, they entered another wilderness, called the\nDesert of Sin, and came to a place named Rephidim, where they found no\nwater. They were very thirsty, and came to Moses murmuring and saying,\n\"Give us water that we may drink.\" How could Moses do that? He was\ngrieved with them, and said, \"Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye\ntempt the Lord?\" But the people grew so angry that they were ready to\nstone him. Then Moses told God all the trouble, and God showed him\nwhat to do. He was to go before the people, taking the elders of\nIsrael with him, and his rod, and God would stand before him on a rock\namong the mountains of Horeb. This rock he was to strike, when water\nwould gush forth.\n\nMoses did as God commanded. He went forward with the elders, struck\nthe rock with his rod; and the pure, clear water gushed out, so that\nall the people were able to drink.\n\n[Illustration: STRIKING THE ROCK.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE TEN COMMANDMENTS.\n\n\nThe Israelites journeyed onward and encamped before Mount Sinai. There\nGod talked with Moses, and instructed him to remind the people of the\ngreat things He had done for them; and to say that if they obeyed Him,\nand kept His covenant, they should be a peculiar treasure to Him above\nall people, and a holy nation.\n\nWhen the people heard God's message, they answered, \"All that the Lord\nhath spoken we will do.\" How happy would they have been if they had\nalways kept this promise! But, alas! they did not do so; and great\npunishments came upon them in consequence.\n\nGod also said that on the third day He would descend upon Mount Sinai;\nand commanded the people to prepare themselves for that great and\nsolemn event. None were to approach the mount, for if they did so they\nwould die. On the third day, according to the command, the people\ngathered before Mount Sinai. A thick cloud covered the mountain, which\nsmoked and quaked, and there were thunders and lightnings; a trumpet\nalso sounded exceeding loud, so that all the people trembled. Then God\nspake from the midst of the fire, and gave the people the Ten\nCommandments. These you will find in the twentieth chapter of Exodus;\nand little folks with sharp eyes can read them in our picture.\n\nWe are told that \"all the people saw the thunderings, and the\nlightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking;\"\nand when they saw it they were so much afraid that they stood afar\noff. How holy is God's law, and how careful should we be to obey it!\n\n[Illustration: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.]\n\n\n\n\nBEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB.\n\n\nAfter God had given the Ten Commandments, He called Moses up into the\nmountain; where he remained forty days and forty nights. During that\ntime, God told him to speak to the Israelites, asking them to give\ngold, silver, brass, blue, purple, fine linen, oil, precious stones,\nand other things, to make a tabernacle or sanctuary, where God would\ndwell among them. God showed Moses the pattern of this tabernacle,\nwith its coverings, its holy place and most holy place, its ark of the\ncovenant with the cherubims and mercy-seat, its table for the\nshewbread, golden candlestick, and altar of incense, and the garments\nfor Aaron and his sons, etc.; everything was accurately described by\nGod. Then God instructed Moses as to who could do the work He had\ncommanded to be done, and named two to whom He had given special\nwisdom and skill: these two were Bezaleel and Aholiab.\n\nWhen Moses came down from the mountain he called Aaron and all the\npeople of Israel, and told them what God had commanded. The people\nwillingly brought gifts, till more than enough was provided. Then\nBezaleel and Aholiab, and other wise-hearted men, worked diligently\nuntil the tabernacle and all things belonging to it were made exactly\nas God had instructed. Some worked in gold and silver, others in brass\nand wood; wise women spun cloth of blue, purple and scarlet, and fine\nlinen; precious stones were set for the high priest's ephod and\nbreastplate; and, at last, all was finished. Then we are told \"Moses\ndid look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord\nhad commanded.\" Then Moses blessed them.\n\n[Illustration: BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRAZEN SERPENT.\n\n\nJesus Christ says that \"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the\nwilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.\" What did Jesus\nmean?\n\nNearly forty years had passed since God gave His law from Mount Sinai;\nand frequently the people had sinned during that time. Through their\ndisobedience they were compelled to wander in the wilderness for many\nlong years, instead of going straight to Canaan. While thus wandering\nthey passed round the land of Edom, and became grieved and impatient\nbecause of the dreariness and difficulty of the way. They murmured\nagainst God and against Moses, and said, \"Wherefore have ye brought us\nup out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,\nneither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.\"\nThey meant the manna which God gave them daily.\n\nGod allowed fiery serpents to come among the people because of their\nsin, which bit them, and many died. Then they came to Moses, saying,\n\"We have sinned ... pray unto the Lord that He take away the serpents\nfrom us.\" Moses did so; and God told him to make a serpent of brass\nand to put it on a pole; and said that all who looked to the serpent\nshould live. The serpent of brass could not heal them, but God healed\nthem as they obeyed his command to look to the serpent. It was _look_\nand _live_.\n\nNow I think we see what Jesus means. God has said that all must die\nbecause of sin; but those who look to Jesus and trust in Him will have\ntheir sins pardoned, and will live with Him in glory forever.\n\n[Illustration: THE BRAZEN SERPENT.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN.\n\n\nHaving wandered for forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites drew\nnear to the river Jordan, at a place opposite Jericho. Moses was dead,\nand Joshua was now the leader of the host. God told him that the time\nhad come when the people of Israel were to enter Canaan; to which land\nthey had all this long time been travelling, but which previously they\nhad not been permitted to enter on account of their sin. A description\nof this sin is given in the Bible, in the fourteenth chapter of\nNumbers.\n\nBut the people were now to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. They\nwere a very great multitude, and the river lay before them. How were\nthey to cross? God told them! He commanded Joshua that the priests\nwere to take the ark of the covenant and to go before the people; who\nwere to follow a short distance behind. Could the priests and the\npeople walk across the deep water? No. But as soon as the priests\nreached the river, and their feet were dipped in the water, God\ndivided the Jordan into two, leaving dry ground for the Israelites to\ncross upon.\n\nThe priests carried the ark into the middle of the bed of the river\nand then stood still, and all the people passed on before them. When\nall were over, the priests carrying the ark moved forward also, and\nthe waters returned to their proper place again. But before they did\nso, Joshua commanded twelve men, one from each tribe, each to take a\nstone from the river's bed; and these stones were set up as a memorial\nof the marvellous manner in which God had brought the Israelites\nacross the Jordan into Canaan.\n\n[Illustration: CROSSING THE JORDAN.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST.\n\n\nNews of the miraculous way in which the Israelites had been brought\nacross the Jordan spread rapidly among the Canaanites, and when they\nheard what God had done, they were very much afraid. We are told that\n\"their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more,\nbecause of the children of Israel.\"\n\nGod had said to Joshua that the land of Canaan was to be taken\npossession of by the Israelites; and had commanded him to \"Be strong\nand of a good courage,\" and had strengthened him by saying, \"Be not\nafraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee\nwhithersoever thou goest.\" Joshua and the people were now in Canaan,\nand before them lay a stronghold of the Canaanites, named Jericho,\nhaving high walls and strong gates. This city the Israelites had to\ncapture; but the inhabitants closed the gates, and prepared to fight\nfiercely to prevent Joshua and his warriors from getting in.\n\nAs Joshua was alone at this time, near Jericho, he looked up, and saw\na man standing with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and\nasked, \"Art thou for us or for our adversaries?\" The man answered,\n\"Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I come.\" Do you know\nwho it was? Was it an angel? I think it was more than an angel. It was\nthe Lord! Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying,\n\"What saith my Lord unto His servant?\" Then the Lord told Joshua, as\nbefore he had told Moses, to take his shoes from his feet, for the\nplace on which he stood was holy; and instructed him how Jericho was\nto be captured.\n\n[Illustration: THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST.]\n\n\n\n\nHOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED.\n\n\nWhen men in olden times attacked a city, they tried to batter down the\nwalls with heavy beams of wood, having heads of iron, called battering\nrams; but God did not instruct the Israelites thus to capture Jericho.\nThey were to remember that it was not by their own power they could\nconquer the Canaanites, but only as God gave them the victory over\ntheir enemies. So God commanded Joshua to lay siege to Jericho in a\nvery strange way. He said that seven priests, each having a trumpet,\nwere to go before the ark. In front of them the armed men of Israel\nwere to march; and behind the ark the people were to follow. In this\nway they were to go round the city once each day for six days, the\npriests blowing their trumpets each time. The seventh day they were to\ngo in the same manner round the city seven times; and God said that\nwhen the priests blew their trumpets the seventh time, the people were\nto give a great shout, and the walls of the city would fall down.\n\nJoshua and the people did as God commanded. They marched round the\ncity carrying the ark, the priests blowing their trumpets; and on the\nseventh day they marched round seven times. The last time, when the\npriests blew their trumpets, the people shouted with a great shout,\nand the walls of the city fell down flat. Then the Israelites went up\nand took possession of it.\n\nThus God delivered Jericho into the hands of His people. All the\ninhabitants were killed except Rahab and her relatives. These were\nspared because Rahab had been kind to the spies whom Joshua had sent.\n\n[Illustration: THE FALL OF JERICHO.]\n\n\n\n\nACHAN'S SIN.\n\n\nGod commanded the Israelites to destroy Jericho; and all the gold,\nsilver, and other riches found there were to be devoted to the Lord.\nIf any disobeyed this command then a curse was to rest upon all, and\nthey were not to prosper.\n\nThe Israelites were to conquer the Canaanites, and drive them out of\nthe land. So Joshua prepared to attack a city named Ai. Three thousand\nof his men went to capture it, but the inhabitants came out and drove\nthem back, killing some of them. Joshua was greatly grieved. He knew\nthat unless God made the Israelites victorious, the Canaanites would\nbe able to overcome them, and God had appeared to fail them this time.\nOh! he was sorry. But he told God the trouble, and God showed him the\ncause of it.\n\nOne of the Israelites, named Achan, saw among the spoil of Jericho, a\nhandsome garment, some silver, and a bar of gold, and coveted them. He\nstole these things and hid them away in his tent, thinking that no one\nsaw him; but God knew it all. Achan's sin was the cause of Israel's\ndefeat! God showed Joshua how the man who had done the wickedness was\nto be discovered. Each tribe was to be brought before God, then each\nfamily of the tribe He chose, then each household of the family taken,\nand lastly each man of the family chosen. Finally, Achan was pointed\nout by God. Joshua bade him confess what he had done, and he said that\nhe had taken the Babylonish garment and the gold and silver.\n\nMessengers were sent to his tent, who brought what Achan had hidden;\nand he, with his sons and daughters, his cattle, and all that he had,\nand the garment, silver, and gold, were taken to a valley near by,\nwhere the people stoned them, and burned them with fire; and then\nraised over all a great heap of stones, which remained as a memorial\nto warn others against sinning as Achan had done.\n\n[Illustration: ACHAN CONFESSING HIS SIN.]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL.\n\n\nBefore Moses died he called the Israelites together, and urged them to\nfaithfully serve God; also directing that when they entered Canaan,\nthey were to build an altar of rough stones, covered with plaster, on\nMount Ebal, and to write the words of God's law upon this altar. Then\nsix of the tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim, and six on Mount\nEbal, and, in the hearing of all the people, the blessings for\nobedience and the cursings for disobedience were to be proclaimed.\n\nMounts Ebal and Gerizim are two rugged mountains that face each other\nin Samaria. When the Israelites advanced thus far, they remembered the\nwords of Moses. Joshua built the altar as directed, on which he\noffered sacrifices to God, and wrote a copy of the law upon it. All\nIsrael stood, \"half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of\nthem over against Mount Ebal,\" and Joshua read all the words of the\nlaw, \"the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in\nthe book of the law.\" Then the loud voices of the Levites were heard\nfrom the mountain sides, declaring, in the hearing of all the people,\nthe blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience, as God\nhad commanded.\n\n[Illustration: THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CITIES OF REFUGE.\n\n\nRevenge is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ, \"If thine enemy\nhunger, feed him,\" says the Saviour; but among the Israelites and\nother eastern nations a different practice prevailed. If one slew\nanother, the kinsman of him that was slain felt bound to avenge his\nrelative, and to slay him that had done the deed. Sometimes people\nwere killed by accident, when it was clearly unjust that he who had\nunwittingly killed another should be slain. To guard against the\ninnocent thus suffering, God commanded that \"cities of refuge\" should\nbe appointed, to which the slayer might flee, \"which killeth any\nperson at unawares.\"\n\nThese cities were six in number: Kedesh, Shechem, and Kirjath-arba, on\nthe west of Jordan; and Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan, on the east of that\nriver. They were so arranged that a few hours' rapid flight would\nbring the slayer from any part of the land to one of the cities of\nrefuge. Jewish writers say that the roads leading to these cities were\nalways kept in good repair, and that guide-posts were placed at every\ncross road with \"Refuge! Refuge!\" written upon them. But the man that\nwilfully killed another was not sheltered. He was given up to the\navenger to be slain.\n\nIn our picture we see the slayer running to the city gate; the avenger\nclose behind, shooting arrows at him. He has thus far escaped, and two\nor three more steps will place him in safety. But, once within the\ncity, he must not quit its refuge until the death of the high priest.\nIf he do so and the avenger find him he may be slain. But upon the\ndeath of the high priest he will be allowed to return home, to dwell\nin peace again.\n\n[Illustration: FLEEING TO THE CITY OF REFUGE.]\n\n\n\n\nJOSHUA'S EXHORTATION.\n\n\nExhortation seems a hard word, but it simply means to strongly urge to\ngood deeds, and this is what our artist shows Joshua to be doing.\n\nJoshua is now an old man, and the Israelites are settled peaceably in\nCanaan. He has called them before him, with their elders, and heads,\nand judges, and officers. He tells them that he is old and about to\ndie, and reminds them of the land that has already been conquered and\ndivided among them, and of that which still remains to be conquered;\nurging them to be \"very courageous to keep and to do all that is\nwritten in the book of the law of Moses, that they turn not aside\ntherefrom to the right hand or to the left.\" He bids them take good\nheed therefore unto themselves, that they love the Lord their God; and\nwarns them that if they go back and do wickedly, the anger of the Lord\nwill be kindled against them, and they will perish quickly from off\nthe good land which God has given them.\n\nIn his address, Joshua said, \"Ye know in all your hearts and in all\nyour souls, that not one good thing hath failed of all the good things\nwhich the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass\nunto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.\" How faithful is God!\nHe never fails in His promises: and we are told He is unchangeable, so\nthat whatever He promises now He will fulfil, and whatever warnings He\ngives will surely come to pass. How good is it to have this holy and\nwise God for our Father, and to know that He promises abundantly to\nbless all those that trust in the Saviour, Jesus Christ. But let us\ntake heed of the warnings against sin given in God's Holy Word.\n\n[Illustration: JOSHUA EXHORTING THE PEOPLE.]\n\n\n\n\nGIDEON AND THE FLEECE.\n\n\nAfter the death of Joshua, the Israelites turned away from God, and\nserved idols. Therefore the evils came upon them of which they had\nbeen warned by Moses and Joshua. But at different times God, seeing\ntheir distress, raised up \"judges\" to deliver them from their enemies,\nand to judge over them. The first of these judges was named Othniel.\nHe was Caleb's nephew. The last was Samuel. One that lived about one\nhundred years before Samuel was named Gideon.\n\nThe Israelites were at this time in great trouble. They were hiding in\ndens and caves because of the Midianites, who had conquered them and\noverrun their country. When their corn was ripe these enemies came and\ndestroyed it, so altogether they were in sad plight. One day Gideon\nwas threshing wheat in a secluded place, so as to escape the notice of\nthe Midianites, when an angel from God appeared to him, bidding him to\ngo and save the Israelites from their foes. Gideon obeyed the command:\nbut before commencing the battle he much desired a sign from God\nshowing that He would give the Israelites the victory. The sign Gideon\nasked for was, that when he laid a fleece of wool on the ground, if\nthe victory were to be his, then the fleece should be wet and the\nground dry. He placed the wool on the ground, and taking it up the\nnext morning found it wet, although the ground was dry. So he knew God\nhad answered him as he desired. But he was not quite satisfied. He\nbegged God for a second sign. This time the ground was to be wet and\nthe fleece of wool dry. God gave him this sign also: and then Gideon\nfelt sure that the Israelites would be victorious over the\nMidianites.\n\n[Illustration: EXAMINING THE FLEECE.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEFEAT OF THE MIDIANITES.\n\n\nLarge numbers of the Israelites gathered around Gideon, prepared to\nfight against the Midianites, who were encamped in a valley, \"like\ngrasshoppers for multitude.\" How Gideon's host was reduced till only\nthree hundred men remained, and the wonderful dream he heard related,\nwhen he and his servant went down as spies into the enemy's camp, are\nrecorded in the seventh chapter of Judges. It was not by their own\nbravery or power that the Israelites were to overcome their enemies.\nGod was to give them the victory: and He chose Gideon and three\nhundred men to overcome the great and mighty host of the Midianites.\n\nGideon divided his three hundred men into three companies, and put a\ntrumpet in every man's hand, and gave to each a pitcher with a lamp\ninside. Then he said, \"Look on me, and do likewise: when I blow with a\ntrumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on\nevery side of the camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord and of\nGideon.'\" Gideon and the hundred men of his company approached the\nenemy's camp by night, and the other two companies drew nigh also, so\nthat the Midianites where surrounded. Then all blew their trumpets,\nbroke their pitchers, held up their lamps (torches), and cried out as\nthey had been commanded.\n\nThe Midianites heard the trumpets' blast and the cry, and saw the\nlights. They were thrown into confusion, and one fought against\nanother; then they fled, and were pursued by the Israelites, great\nnumbers of whom gathered together and followed after their flying\nenemies. Thus the Midianites were overcome, and Israel had peace\nduring the lifetime of Gideon.\n\n[Illustration: \"THE SWORD OF THE LORD, AND OF GIDEON.\"]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF SAMSON.\n\n\nSamson's birth was foretold by an angel. He was to grow up a Nazarite,\nforbidden to drink strong drink, neither was his head to be shaved.\nHis strength was very great; but his marriage was sinful, and his\ndoings with the idolatrous Philistines terrible. Though an Israelite\nand a judge, I fear much he sinned greatly against God. On one\noccasion he went to Gaza, a city of the Philistines. The inhabitants\ntried to take him, but he arose at midnight and carried away the gates\nof their city. In our picture though he looks so strong, yet we see\nchains on his legs, and he is blind! How came he to lose his sight and\nbe made a prisoner? I think it was owing to his sin and folly.\n\nHe became acquainted with a wicked woman, who enticed him to tell her\nin what his great strength lay. Three times he told her falsely, but\nat last he said that if the flowing locks of his hair were removed his\nstrength would depart. While he slept these locks were cut off, then\nthe Philistines burst in upon him, and when he arose to resist them,\nhe found that his strength was gone. Then his eyes were cruelly put\nout, and he was bound with fetters of brass.\n\nOur artist shows him blind, brought out to make sport at the\nPhilistines' feast. He is very sorrowful, and, I think, angry. He asks\nthe lad beside him to place his hands upon the pillars supporting the\nhouse; then, his great strength returning, he bows himself with all\nhis might; the pillars break, the house falls, and Samson, with very\nmany of the Philistines, is crushed amid the ruins. Was not this a\nterrible end to what might have been a noble life?\n\n[Illustration: SAMSON MAKING SPORT FOR THE PHILISTINES.]\n\n\n\n\nRUTH AND NAOMI.\n\n\nNaomi was the wife of a Jew named Elimelech, who left his own city of\nBethlehem to go into the land of Moab, because there was a famine in\nCanaan. Some time afterwards he died, leaving Naomi a widow with two\nsons, all dwellers in a strange land. Her sons married two young women\nbelonging to Moab, whose names were Orpah and Ruth. After living there\nabout ten years Naomi's sons died also, leaving Orpah and Ruth widows,\nalong with their widowed mother-in-law. Then Naomi determined to\nreturn to her own land. Orpah and Ruth accompanied Naomi some distance\non her journey; then she bade them to leave her, telling each to go\nback to her mother's house in Moab, while she would pursue her way\nalone to the land of Judah. They were unwilling to do so, saying they\nwould go with her to her land and people; but she urged them to\ndepart, assuring them that they would gain nothing by leaving their\nown country to accompany her, and that they had better return to their\nown homes. Then the story informs us--you will find it in the Bible,\nin the Book of Ruth--that Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and departed;\nbut Ruth clave unto her, saying, \"Whither thou goest, I will go; and\nwhere thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and\nthy God my God; where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be\nburied: the Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but death part\nthee and me.\"\n\nSo Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law, and journeyed with her\nuntil they reached Canaan. Then they both dwelt in the city of\nBethlehem, in the land of Judah, where we shall meet with them again.\n\n[Illustration: RUTH AND NAOMI.]\n\n\n\n\nBOAZ AND RUTH.\n\n\nWhen Naomi returned to Bethlehem she was poor. The poor were allowed\nat harvest time to follow the reapers; gleaning or gathering up the\nstray ears of corn. One day, Ruth obtained permission from her\nmother-in-law to go gleaning, and went to glean in the field of a rich\nman named Boaz, who happened to be a kinsman, or relative of\nElimelech. But Ruth did not know of this relationship.\n\nBoaz saw Ruth gleaning, and asked one of his servants who she was. The\nservant replied, \"It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi\nout of the country of Moab.\" Then Boaz spoke kindly to Ruth, telling\nher not to go to any other field to glean, but to stay with his\nmaidens and glean in his field. She fell on her face before him and\nbowed herself to the ground, and asked, \"Why have I found grace in\nthine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a\nstranger?\" Boaz was pleased with her because of her kindness to Naomi,\nso he replied, \"It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done\nunto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband.\" He also bade\nher to eat and drink with his servants, and told his reapers to let\nsome handfuls of grain fall on purpose for her. So Ruth gleaned that\nday quite a large quantity of barley, which she took home to Naomi.\nThen she learned that Boaz was her kinsman.\n\nShe continued gleaning until the end of harvest; and afterwards became\nthe wife of Boaz and grandmother of Jesse, the father of David. Jesus\nChrist descended from David; so we see what high honour was bestowed\nupon Ruth for her kindness to her mother-in-law.\n\n[Illustration: BOAZ SHOWING KINDNESS TO RUTH.]\n\n\n\n\nHANNAH PRAYING BEFORE THE LORD.\n\n\nThe Tabernacle, which had been set up by the Israelites in the\nwilderness, was after the conquest of Canaan erected at Shiloh, a city\nabout ten miles south of Shechem. There it remained for more than\nthree hundred years. No Temple was at Jerusalem in those days, so the\nJewish priests offered sacrifices to God in the Tabernacle at Shiloh.\n\nOne day, Hannah, the wife of a priest named Elkanah, came to the\nTabernacle to worship. She was grieved because she had no children;\nand especially sad because she had no son. So she knelt down and\nprayed to God, and asked God to remember her sorrow and to give her a\nson; promising that if God granted her request, she would give that\nson to Him all the days of his life.\n\nAs Hannah prayed, Eli, the high priest, saw her. She did not speak\naloud, but prayed in her heart; her lips moved, but no voice was\nheard; so Eli thought that a drunken woman had come before the Lord.\nHe reproved her saying, \"How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy\nwine from thee.\" But Hannah had not drunk wine. She answered Eli, \"No,\nmy lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine\nnor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.\" Then\nEli bade her \"Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy\npetition that thou hast asked of Him.\"\n\nHannah left the Tabernacle. Her face was no longer sad. She believed\nGod had heard her prayer; and He had done so. In due time a son was\ngiven her, whom she named Samuel. Samuel means _Heard of God_, which\nname Hannah gave him in remembrance of God's goodness in hearing her\nprayer.\n\n[Illustration: HANNAH PRAYING BEFORE THE LORD.]\n\n\n\n\nELI AND SAMUEL.\n\n\nElkanah went up to Shiloh yearly to offer sacrifice: and when Samuel\nwas old enough, Hannah went with her husband and took her little boy\nwith her. They came to Eli the high priest, and Hannah said: \"Oh, my\nLord, I am the woman that stood by thee here praying. For this child I\nprayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition. Therefore also have I\ngiven him to the Lord.\" Then she left Samuel with Eli.\n\nSamuel assisted Eli in the Tabernacle service, and wore a linen ephod\nlike a priest. His mother came yearly to see him, when she accompanied\nElkanah to the sacrifice at Shiloh, and each time brought with her a\nlittle coat, which she had made for her son. Eli was an old man, who\nhad two wicked sons. These he had not restrained as he should have\ndone. So God was displeased with him and them on account of their\nsins.\n\nOne night, while the lamp in the Tabernacle was burning, and Eli was\nresting, Samuel was sleeping. A voice came to him calling, \"Samuel!\"\nHe rose, and ran to Eli saying, \"Here am I.\" But Eli had not called,\nso Samuel lay down again. A second time the same voice called,\n\"Samuel!\" He went to Eli and said, \"Here am I; for thou didst call\nme.\" But Eli replied, \"I called not, my son; lie down again.\" The call\nwas repeated a third time; then Eli told Samuel it was the Lord who\ncalled him; and bade him answer if the voice came again, \"Speak, Lord,\nfor thy servant heareth.\" Again God called, and Samuel answered as Eli\nhad commanded him. Then God told Samuel what terrible things should\nbefall Eli and his sons through their wickedness.\n\n[Illustration: SAMUEL COMING TO ELI.]\n\n\n\n\nDEATH OF ELI AND HIS SONS.\n\n\nIn the morning Samuel feared to tell Eli what the Lord had shown him;\nbut Eli bade him do so, saying to Samuel, \"God do so to thee, and more\nalso, if thou hide any thing from me of all that He said unto thee.\"\nSo Samuel told Eli all God had said, keeping nothing back, and Eli\nanswered, \"It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.\"\n\nAfterwards there was war between the Israelites and the Philistines,\nand both sides prepared for battle. They fought; the Israelites were\ndefeated, and many of them slain. Then they sent to Shiloh and fetched\nthe ark of the covenant out of the Tabernacle, carrying it to the\ncamp, and thinking that if the ark were with them they would overcome\ntheir enemies. But the ark only signified God's presence in their\nmidst; it was not God Himself, to give them victory. It was very\nsinful of them thus to use what God had made so holy; and God suffered\nthem again to be defeated. The ark was taken by the Philistines, and\nmany of the Israelites were slain.\n\nEli, who was then ninety-eight years old, and nearly blind, sat by the\nwayside, trembling for the safety of the ark, and waiting for\nmessengers to bring news of the battle. Presently a messenger came who\ntold him the Israelites had fled before the Philistines, that his two\nsons Hophni and Phinehas were slain, and that the ark of God had been\ntaken. When he heard that the ark had been taken, he fell backward\nfrom off his seat and died. Thus God's judgment upon Eli and his sons\ncame to pass. In our picture we see the messenger, who has just come\nfrom the field of battle, telling Eli the sad tidings that caused his\ndeath.\n\n[Illustration: ELI RECEIVING THE EVIL TIDINGS.]\n\n\n\n\nPLAYING ON THE HARP BEFORE SAUL.\n\n\nWe are not told much in the Bible concerning the early life of David.\nHe was born in Bethlehem. We have seen who his father was, but I do\nnot find that his mother's name is given. His own name means\n\"beloved.\" What a happy name! He must have been much loved by his\nparents, and we know he was loved by God.\n\nLike many other youths in Canaan, he acted as a shepherd to his\nfather's flocks. He was a fair, open-faced boy; \"ruddy, and of a\nbeautiful countenance, and goodly to look at,\" so the Scriptures say.\nHe was a good musician, knew how to sling stones at a mark, and was so\nbrave that when a lion and a bear came to attack the lambs of his\nflock he went after them and killed them both. One day a strange and\nmost important event happened. Samuel, the prophet, came from Ramah,\nand pouring some very precious oil upon the head of David, anointed\nhim to be the future King of Israel. Saul was then King, but on\naccount of his wickedness God had rejected him, saying that another\nshould reign in his stead.\n\nSoon after this event Saul became very wretched. An evil spirit\ntroubled him, we are told. His servants advised him to get a man that\ncould play skilfully upon the harp, so that music might drive away his\nmisery. Some one suggested David; and David was sent for. He brought\nsweet strains from his harp, and Saul was soothed. Saul was pleased\nwith David. We are told that \"he loved him greatly,\" and that David\nbecame his armour-bearer. But he soon grew jealous, and twice threw a\njavelin at David, seeking to smite him to the wall and kill him. This,\nhowever, he was not able to do.\n\n[Illustration: DAVID PLAYING ON THE HARP BEFORE SAUL.]\n\n\n\n\nDAVID AND GOLIATH.\n\n\nHow attentively David looks at the stones in his hand. His sling is on\nhis arm, and his bag by his side. What is he about to do with those\nstones? And who is that tall man in armour, strutting about with such\na long spear in his hand?\n\nTwo armies were drawn up in battle array. They were the armies of the\nIsraelites and Philistines. The camp of the Israelites was on one\nhill, and that of the Philistines was upon another; a valley lying\nbetween. For forty days these armies had been facing each other, but\nyet the battle had been delayed. The Philistines had on their side a\ngiant of great height and strength, encased in armour, who daily came\nout, challenging the Israelites to send a man from their camp to fight\nwith him. But no man among them dared to go against Goliath, the\nPhilistines' champion.\n\nMeanwhile Jesse had sent David to the Israelites' camp to see after\nhis brethren. He heard what the giant said, and offered to go out\nagainst him. Saul was informed of David's offer, and sent for him.\nSaul told David he was not able to fight the giant, but he boldly\nreplied, \"The Lord which delivered me out of the paw of the lion and\nout of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this\nPhilistine.\" David trusted not in his own power, but in God! Then Saul\nsaid, \"Go, and the Lord be with thee.\"\n\nHe went, slung one of the smooth stones he had chosen out of the\nbrook, smote the Philistine in the forehead so that he fell to the\nearth, and then ran and cut off his head. Thus God enabled this ruddy\nyouth to overcome the giant Philistine, and to slay him with a sling\nand a stone.\n\n[Illustration: CHOOSING SMOOTH STONES OUT OF THE BROOK.]\n\n\n\n\nNATHAN REPROVING THE KING.\n\n\nDavid was now King. He had great riches and honour, and a palace had\nbeen built for him. He had brought the ark from Kirjath-jearim, and\nplaced it in the tabernacle prepared for it at Jerusalem, and he now\nreigned over all the people of Israel and Judah. But David did a very\nwicked thing. He took the wife of Uriah the Hittite for his wife, and\ncaused Uriah to be slain. God was displeased at what he had done, and\nsent Nathan the prophet to reprove him.\n\nNathan's reproof was given by a parable. It was a story of a poor man\nwho had one dear little lamb. It grew up in his house, played with his\nchildren, and was very precious to him. But one day a traveller came\nto a rich neighbour, who possessed great flocks and herds, and this\nneighbour, instead of killing one of his own lambs and setting it\nbefore his guest, sent and took the poor man's lamb and killed it.\n\nDavid heard the story, and was very angry. He said the rich man should\ndie, and the lamb taken away should be restored fourfold. Then Nathan,\nlooking at the King, said: \"Thou art the man!\" He showed David how\ngreatly he had sinned, and told him that trouble and sorrow would come\nupon him for what he had done. God had given him riches and honour,\nand all that he could wish for; yet he had taken the one precious\nthing of Uriah's, even his wife, and had caused him to be slain. David\nwas sorely grieved when he saw how wickedly he had acted. He confessed\nhis sin to God, and God forgave it; but great trouble came upon the\nKing afterwards through this crime.\n\n[Illustration: \"THOU ART THE MAN.\"]\n\n\n\n\nDAVID AND ARAUNAH.\n\n\nAfter David had reigned may years, he numbered the people of Israel.\nThis was wrong; and God sent a pestilence which destroyed seventy\nthousand men. David was grieved, and prayed that God would punish him\nand spare the people. God stayed the hand of the destroying angel; who\nstood by the threshing-floor of Araunah, whither David was told to go\nand offer sacrifice. David went. He purchased the threshing-floor of\nAraunah, also oxen and wood and offered a burnt sacrifice to God. The\nfollowing verses describe the scene:--\n\n    Beside Araunah's threshing-place\n    The awful angel took his stand,\n    When from high heaven came words of grace--\n    \"It is enough; stay now thine hand.\"\n\n    For David's penitential prayer\n    Had enter'd God's compassionate ear;\n    And where the angel stood, even there\n    God bade the King and altar rear.\n\n    Araunah offered ground, and wood,\n    And oxen for the sacrifice:\n    David stood noble wish withstood,\n    And bought them all at full price.\n\n    His answer has a royal ring;\n    Its lesson high shall not be lost:\n    \"Burnt offerings I will never bring\n    Unto Jehovah without cost.\"\n\n    The altar rose, the victims died,\n    The plague was stayed, and lo, there fell--\n    Token that Heaven was satisfied--\n    A fire from God, and all was well.\n\n    'Twas like a finger from the skies--\n    That falling fire--to show God's will,\n    That here the Temple should arise\n    And crown Moriah's sacred hill.\n\n    And still God marks the faithful prayer,\n    The careful work, the costly pains;\n    The Spirit's fire descendeth there,\n    And there, as in a shrine, remains.\n\n        RICHARD WILTON, M.A.\n\n[Illustration: DAVID AND ARAUNAH.]\n\n\n\n\nELIJAH FED BY RAVENS.\n\n\nGod was displeased with King Ahab, and sent His prophet, Elijah the\nTishbite, to say unto him, \"As the Lord God of Israel liveth there\nshall not be dew nor rain for years in all Israel.\" God knew that\nthese words would make Ahab angry with Elijah, so He commanded Elijah\nto get out of Ahab's way. \"Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and\nhide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall\nbe, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the\nravens to feed thee there.\"\n\nElijah went, and the ravens brought him bread and meat, morning and\nevening, and he drank of the brook. But after many days the brook\ndried up, and God told him to go to Zarephath, where a widow would\nsustain him. So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he came to the\ngate of the city he saw the widow gathering sticks; and called to her,\nsaying, \"Bring me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may\ndrink, and a morsel of bread in thy hand, that I may eat.\"\n\nThe widow turned and said, \"As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a\ncake, but only a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse; and,\nbehold, I am gathering a few sticks, that I may go in and bake it for\nme and my son, that we may eat it before we starve to death.\" Elijah\ntold her not to fear, but to make a cake for him, and, afterwards, one\nfor her son and herself, for God had said that neither her handful of\nmeal nor her cruse of oil should fail until He again sent rain upon\nthe earth. So she did as Elijah told her, and there was always enough\noil and meal for their daily food, according to the word of the Lord\nwhich He spake by Elijah.\n\n[Illustration: ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS.]\n\n\n\n\nPLOUGHING IN CANAAN.\n\n\nIn Scripture frequent mention is made of the husbandman and his work.\nPloughing the land, sowing the seed, reaping the harvest, and\nwinnowing the grain are often referred to. Our picture shows an\nEastern husbandman ploughing. How different it is to ploughing in our\nown land! There is no _coulter_; and instead of the broad steel\n_plough-share_ we see a pointed piece of wood. And the long handles\nwith which our labourers guide their ploughs--where are they? The\nstrong horses, too, harnessed one behind the other, are missing. Yes!\nnone of these were used in Canaan. Small oxen drew the plough; and the\nhusbandman guided it by means of a single handle, as we see him doing\nin the picture. Thus their method of ploughing was a slow one, and\nunless the land had been very good their harvests would have been\npoor.\n\nOften these husbandmen had to wait until the rain made the ground soft\nenough for their ploughs to enter it, consequently many had to toil in\ncold, stormy, winter weather. To this the proverb alludes which says:\n\"The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall\nhe beg in harvest, and have nothing.\" (Prov. xx. 4.)\n\nPerhaps it was just such a plough, drawn by just such oxen as we see\nin our picture, that Elisha was using when Elijah passed by and cast\nhis mantle upon him; thereby calling Elisha to be his servant and\nsuccessor. We are told that Elisha \"took a yoke of oxen, and slew\nthem, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and\ngave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after\nElijah, and ministered unto him.\"\n\n[Illustration: PLOUGHING IN CANAAN.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHUNAMMITE'S SON.\n\n\nMany interesting stories are told in the Bible, few of which are more\ntouching than that of Elisha the prophet, and the Shunammite woman.\nThis story we find in the fourth chapter of the Second Book of Kings.\n\nWe read of the prophet journeying to and fro, and resting in the\nlittle chamber that the kind Shunammite had built for him on the wall\nof her house. We see its bed, table, stool, and candlestick; and the\njoy beaming upon the good woman's face when a tiny infant son was\ngiven her. How she loved him! And as he grew up how carefully she\nwatched over him. But a sad time was coming.\n\nThe golden corn was in the field ready for reaping, for the harvest\ntime had come. The hot sun shone overhead, and the little lad was out\nwith his father in the field, probably running about among the corn.\nSuddenly he felt a violent pain, and cried out, \"My head, my head!\"\nThen joy was changed to sorrow. The father saw his son was ill, and\nbade a lad carry the little boy to his mother, on whose knees he sat\ntill noon, and then he died.\n\nNext we see the mother leaving her dead son, and journeying to find\nthe prophet. Elisha sees her coming, and sends Gehazi to inquire if\nall is well. Then she falls down before the prophet and tells him her\ntrouble; and he sends his servant with his staff to lay it upon the\ndead child. The story closes by stating how Elisha follows Gehazi,\ngoes to the chamber where the dead boy lay, prays to God that the life\nmay be restored, and finally has the joy of giving the lad, alive and\nwell again, into the arms of his mother.\n\n[Illustration: THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON RESTORED.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID.\n\n\nNaaman was a great general in the army of the King of Syria, who\nesteemed him highly, because it was Naaman that led the Syrians when\nGod gave them victory over the Israelites. But in spite of his bravery\nand his high position, he was miserable, because he suffered from a\nterrible disease called leprosy. Now, among the captives whom the\nSyrians had brought back from war was a little Israelitish maiden, who\nwas appointed to wait upon Naaman's wife. She had heard of the\nwonderful things which Elisha did in the name of God; and she told her\nmistress that if Naaman could only see this prophet, who was in\nSamaria, he could be cured. And the King was told what the maid had\nsaid, and he sent a letter to the King of Israel commanding him to\ncure Naaman of his leprosy. But the King of Israel was afraid, and\nthought the King of Syria sought this way to quarrel with him. When\nElisha heard of the King's fear, he sent and desired that Naaman\nshould be brought to him. So Naaman came in his chariot, and stood at\nElisha's door. But the prophet instead of coming to him, sent a\nmessage directing Naaman to wash in Jordan seven times, when his\nleprous flesh would be restored to health. Naaman had thought that\nElisha would have received him with much ceremony and touched him,\nbidding the leprosy to depart; so he was angry and said, \"Are not the\nrivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? May I not\nwash in them and be clean?\" Therefore he went away in a rage. But his\nservants persuaded him to carry out the prophet's injunction, and he\nwent and dipped seven times in Jordan, and was made whole.\n\n[Illustration: THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID.]\n\n\n\n\nJONAH AT NINEVEH.\n\n\nJonah was commanded to go to Nineveh, and cry out that the city should\nbe destroyed on account of the wickedness of its inhabitants. But\ninstead of obeying God's command he fled in a ship that was bound for\nTarshish. Then a great storm arose, and the shipmen cast Jonah into\nthe sea, believing that the storm had been sent through his\ndisobedience. God saved Jonah by means of a large fish, and brought\nhim safely to land again.\n\nA second time God said to Jonah, \"Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great\ncity, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.\" So Jonah\narose and went as God had directed him. Now Nineveh was a very large\ncity, about sixty miles in circumference, and Jonah went some distance\ninside and then cried out, \"Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be\noverthrown!\" It was a strange and terrible cry which sounded\nthroughout the city, and as the Ninevites heard it they feared God,\nproclaimed a fast, covered themselves with sackcloth, and every man\nwas commanded to forsake evil. So they hoped God would forgive them\nand spare their city.\n\nGod saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways,\ntherefore He spared their city. When Jonah saw that Nineveh was spared\nhe was very angry, and prayed God to take away his life. He made a\nbooth and sat under it to see what would become of the city. Then God\nsheltered him from the sun by a gourd, and afterwards taught him by it\nhow wrong he was in being displeased because Nineveh had been spared.\nNineveh was afterwards overthrown, and has remained since then but a\nheap of ruins.\n\n[Illustration: JONAH AT NINEVEH.]\n\n\n\n\nHEZEKIAH AND SENNACHERIB.\n\n\nSennacherib, the King of Assyria, invaded the land of Judah, and\nthreatened to lay siege to Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah took counsel with\nhis princes and mighty men, and repaired the broken walls, and made\nthem higher. He made many other preparations for the defence of the\ncity, and went among his people, exhorting them to trust in God, and\nbe of good courage. But Sennacherib sent messengers to induce those\nthat guarded the walls of the city to revolt against Hezekiah, saying,\n\"Do not believe this Hezekiah when he tells you that your God will\ndeliver you; hath any of the nations against which I have made war\nbeen delivered by their gods?\"\n\nWhen Hezekiah heard these words he went into the house of the Lord,\nand sent messengers to Isaiah, asking for his prayers. Isaiah said to\nthem, \"Thus saith the Lord, 'Be not afraid of the words with which the\nKing of Assyria hath blasphemed Me. I will send a blast upon him, and\nhe shall return and shall fall by the sword in his own land.'\"\nAfterwards the King of Assyria sent a letter to Hezekiah, in which he\nrepeated his sneers at the power of God. When Hezekiah read it, he\nwent into the house of the Lord, and spreading the letter before the\nLord, prayed for His help. God answered, by the mouth of Isaiah, that\nthe King of Assyria should not enter Jerusalem, nor shoot over it, but\nbe turned back the way he came. And the same night the angel of the\nLord went into the camp of the Assyrians, and smote one hundred and\neighty-five thousand. Then Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, and as he\nwas worshipping in the house of his god, there came to him two of his\nsons, who killed him.\n\n[Illustration: HEZEKIAH LAYING THE LETTER BEFORE GOD.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRAVE HEBREW BOYS.\n\n\nBrave boys and girls! We all wish to be brave, do we not? Then we must\nlearn to say \"No,\" when tempted to do wrong.\n\nThese Hebrew boys were young nobles who had been carried captive from\nJerusalem to Babylon; but though in a strange land, subject to the\nmighty king Nebuchadnezzar, they feared not to refuse his food and\nwine when they knew that the taking of it would cause them to sin\nagainst God. They were well educated Hebrew youths, and the Babylonish\nking had commanded that they should be taught the learning of the\nChaldeans; also, to keep them in health and with beautiful\ncountenances, he had ordered that the meat and wine from his table\nshould be given them. Their names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and\nAzariah. Daniel seems to have been their leader. We find \"he purposed\nin his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the\nking's meat, nor with the wine which he drank.\" So he begged the\nking's servant the feed him and his three companions on plain food and\npure water; but the servant feared to do so, lest the king should find\nthem worse looking than those who ate his meat and drank his wine, and\nthe servant should lose his head in consequence. A trial was made,\nhowever, for ten days, at the end of which time they were found to be\nbetter looking than the boys fed on rich food and wine. Therefore, the\nservant let them live plainly according to their request; and at the\nend of three years, when they stood before the king, we are told that\nfor wisdom and understanding none were found like Daniel, Hananiah,\nMishael, and Azariah.\n\n[Illustration: THE BRAVE HEBREW BOYS.]\n\n\n\n\nDANIEL AND THE LIONS.\n\n\nWhen Darius came to the throne, upon the death of Belshazzar, he set\nover the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes. Over these he appointed\nthree presidents, of whom Daniel was first. Now the princes and other\npresidents were jealous of Daniel, and sought to find some fault\nagainst him; but could not, as he was a faithful servant of the King.\nThen they tried to injure him because of his praying to God. So they\ncame to the King, and said, \"King Darius live for ever: all the great\nofficers of thy kingdom have consulted together to establish a royal\nlaw, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty\ndays, save of thee, O King, he shall be cast into a den of lions.\" The\nKing signed the writing and established the law. But Daniel still\nknelt and prayed three times a day as before.\n\nHis enemies saw him praying, and told the King, urging him to carry\nout the law. But the King was angry with himself that he had agreed to\nsuch a law, and tried to think of some way to save Daniel. Then these\nmen urged that the law could not be altered. So Daniel was cast into\nthe den of lions, and a stone was put over the mouth of the den, which\nwas sealed by the King and the lords. But the King had said to Daniel,\n\"Thy God whom thou servest will deliver thee.\"\n\nThe King passed the night fasting, and could not sleep. In the\nmorning, very early, he arose and went to the den of lions, and cried\nwith a lamentable voice, \"O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy\nGod able to deliver thee from the lions?\" Then Daniel said, \"O King,\nlive for ever. My God hath sent His angel and shut the lions'\nmouths.\"\n\n[Illustration: DANIEL AND THE LIONS.]\n\n\n\n\nESTHER BEFORE THE KING.\n\n\nAhasuerus reigned over the vast empire of Persia, and Esther, the\nadopted daughter of a Jew named Mordecai, was Queen. None in the\npalace knew she was a Jewess, for Mordecai had charged her not to make\nit known. He abode in the king's palace, and was one of the king's\nservants.\n\nAhasuerus promoted Haman, one of his courtiers, a cruel and wicked\nman, to be over all his princes and officers; and all bowed down to\nHaman and did him reverence except Mordecai, the Jew. Then was Haman\nfilled with wrath against Mordecai and his people, and obtained from\nthe king a decree ordering that all the Jews throughout his dominions\nshould be slain. Mordecai informed Queen Esther of this decree, and\nbade her go to the king and plead for her people. Now it was one of\nthe laws of the palace that no one should approach the king in the\ninner court unless he had been previously called; the penalty for not\nobeying this law being death, unless the king should hold out the\ngolden sceptre to the offender so that he might live. Esther knew the\ndanger of approaching the king uncalled for, but she bade Mordecai to\ngather the Jews so that they might spend three days in fasting and\nprayer, while she and her maidens did the same, and, said she, \"So\nwill I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if\nI perish, I perish.\"\n\nEsther went in. The king graciously held out the golden sceptre to\nher, accepted her invitation to a banquet, and finally ordered the\nwicked Haman to be hanged, and measures to be taken to preserve the\nlives of the Jews.\n\n[Illustration: ESTHER BEFORE THE KING.]\n\n\n\n\nDAVID AND JONATHAN.\n\n\nJonathan was the son of Saul, the king. He loved David greatly, and\nregretted that his father, through jealousy, sought David's life.\nDavid, after the last attempt of Saul to smite him to the wall by a\njavelin, fled away, and meeting with Jonathan said: \"What have I done?\nWhat is mine iniquity, and what is my sin before thy father that he\nseeketh my life?\"\n\nJonathan sympathised deeply with his friend, and tried to save him. He\npromised to ascertain whether Saul fully intended to kill David, and,\nif so, to inform him, that he might escape. Meantime David was to\nremain in hiding, but on the third day Jonathan was to return with the\nrequired information. Before they parted they entered into a solemn\ncovenant, one with the other, to remain firm friends during life; and\nDavid promised to show kindness to Jonathan and his children, after\nGod should make him king.\n\nAt the time appointed, after ascertaining that Saul still sought\nDavid's life, Jonathan went to the field where David lay concealed.\nJonathan took with him his bow and arrows and a little lad. Shooting\nan arrow beyond the lad, he cried, \"Make speed, haste, stay not!\"\nThese words were intended as a warning to David to flee quickly. When\nthe lad had gone, David arose from his hiding place and came to\nJonathan, bowing three times before him. Then they kissed each other,\nwept, and again pledged themselves to be faithful; after which David\nfled, and Jonathan returned to the city.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *","title":"Mother Stories from the Old Testament: A Book of the Best Stories from the Old Testament that Mothers can tell their Children","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":14243}