{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_25309/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_25309","id":"gutenberg_25309","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25309","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories, English","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Al Haines\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Cover art]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Frontispiece: Moses and Zipporah at the well]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHILD'S\n\nStory of the Bible\n\n\nBY\n\nMARY A. LATHBURY\n\n\n\nWITH INTRODUCTION BY\n\nBISHOP JOHN H. VINCENT\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATED\n\n\nWITH NUMEROUS FULL-PAGE COLORED PLATES,\n\nAND PHOTO-ENGRAVINGS\n\n\n\nBOSTON\n\nDEWOLFE, & FISKE Co.\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1898\n\nBy DEWOLFE, FISKE & CO.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nTo Mothers.\n\nI have been asked to prepare this little aid for your use in the\nHome--that first and greatest of schools.  The school was founded by\nthe Maker of men, and He called mothers to be its earliest and most\nimportant teachers.  He prepared a text-book for it which we call His\nWord, illustrating it richly and fully from life and Nature, and\nfilling it with His Spirit.  Wherever it is known, as the children\nbecome the members of the Church, the citizens of the State, the people\nof the World, the Book goes with them, forming the Church, the State,\nthe World.  It is not only equal to the need, but contains infinite\nriches that wait to be unveiled.\n\nThat no busy mother may say, \"I cannot take time to gather from the\nBible the simple lessons that my children need,\" this book of little\nstories--together making one--has been written.  I have tried to\npreserve the pure outlines of the sacred record from the vivid\ndescription and the suggestive supposition that are sometimes\nintroduced to add charm to the story, and in all quoted speech I have\nused the exact words of the authorized version of the Scriptures, so\nthat the earliest impression made upon the memory of the child might be\none that should remain.\n\nThe stories are not a substitute for the Word--only little approaches\nto it through which young feet may be guided by her who holds a place\nnext to the great Teacher in His work with little children.\n\nM.A.L.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\nWhen the children gather at mother's knee, and the tiniest finds a\nplace in mother's arms, and all clamor for a \"story,\" \"a story, mamma,\"\nhow lovely is the picture--the living picture--that circle makes!\nLove, longing, wisdom, expectancy, faith, shining eyes, lips that move\ninvoluntarily, keeping time to the sweet movements of mother's lips!\nBlessed group!  Happy mother!\n\nWhen the stories mother tells are light and meaningless, full of rhyme\nand rollick, even their eyes are bright and faces radiant, and her own\nsweet face and voice give charm and weight and significance to the\ndelicious nonsense she rehearses.\n\nWhy not give to this receptive and eager audience stories full of\ndeepest meaning, facts, parables, myths charged with truth? Why not\npeople little memories with heroes, saints, kings, prophets, apostles?\nWhy not give stories to story-loving youngsters that will turn into\nimmortal pictures and be transformed some day into living factors in\nthe making of character?  And why not give them as comparison the babe\nof Bethlehem, the boy of Nazareth, the lad of twelve years in the\nschools of the Temple, the man of gentle love, the preacher of\nrighteousness, the worker of heavenly wonders, the Son of Man, the Son\nof God, the Prince of Peace?\n\nThe Book of books is the children's Book.  It is a story book. And the\nstories are \"true stories.\"  And the lessons to be drawn from them are\nnumberless, and will come up out of the treasure-house of memory when\nmother's eyes are closed and her voice silent.\n\nIt is a great thing to put mother and the Book together in Baby's\nthought; in the big boy's memory; in the grown-up man's heart and life.\n\nThis book is mother's book; to aid her in doing the best and most\nlasting work a mother can do to sow seed and set out vines the branches\nof which shall reach into the world of spirits, and from which she and\nher children may long afterwards pluck fruit together in the eternal\nkingdom.\n\nJOHN H. VINCENT.\n\nCHAUTAUQUA, 1898.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nTHE OLD TESTAMENT\n\n\nCHAPTER.\n\n       I.  The Beginning of Things\n      II.  The Great Flood\n     III.  Abraham--the Father of the Faithful\n      IV.  Isaac, the Shepherd Prince\n       V.  Jacob, a Prince of God\n      VI.  Joseph, the Castaway\n     VII.  Joseph, a Servant, a Prisoner and a Saint\n    VIII.  Joseph, the Savior of His People\n      IX.  The Cradle that was Rocked by a River\n       X.  Moses in Midian\n      XI.  The Rod that Troubled Egypt\n     XII.  Following the Cloud\n    XIII.  In the Borders of Canaan\n     XIV.  A Nation that was Born in a Day\n      XV.  Samson, the Strong\n     XVI.  Ruth\n    XVII.  Samuel--the Child of the Temple\n   XVIII.  The Making of a King\n     XIX.  The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem\n      XX.  The Power of a Pebble\n     XXI.  Faithful unto Death\n    XXII.  David, the Outcast\n   XXIII.  Every Inch a King\n    XXIV.  David's Sin\n     XXV.  David's Sorrow\n    XXVI.  The Building of the Golden House\n   XXVII.  Elijah, the Great Heart of Israel\n  XXVIII.  The Little Chamber on the Wall\n    XXIX.  A Little Maid of Israel\n     XXX.  The Two Boy Kings\n    XXXI.  The Four Captive Children\n   XXXII.  The Master of the Magicians\n  XXXIII.  The Story of Jonah\n   XXXIV.  Esther, the Queen\n\n\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT.\n\n\nCHAPTER.\n\n       I.  The Angels of the Advent\n      II.  Following the Star\n     III.  The Flight into Egypt\n      IV.  The Boy of Nazareth\n       V.  The Young Carpenter\n      VI.  The Voice in the Wilderness\n     VII.  Jesus in the Desert\n    VIII.  The First Disciples\n      IX.  The First Miracle\n       X.  In His Father's House\n      XI.  A Talk about the Breath of God\n     XII.  A Talk about the Water of Life\n    XIII.  Jesus in the Synagogue\n     XIV.  Among the Fishermen\n      XV.  The Healing Hand of Jesus\n     XVI.  Following Jesus\n    XVII.  Friends of Jesus\n   XVIII.  The Lord of Life\n     XIX.  Mary of Magdala\n      XX.  Stories Told by the Lake\n     XXI.  Stilling the Storm\n    XXII.  Called Back\n   XXIII.  Two by Two\n    XXIV.  Walking the Waves--The Two Kingdoms\n     XXV.  A Journey with Jesus\n    XXVI.  The Christian Sabbath--Peter's Confession of Faith\n   XXVII.  \"And We Beheld His Glory\"--A Father's Faith\n  XXVIII.  The Lord and the Little Ones--Leaving Galilee\n    XXIX.  At the House of Martha--The Good Shepherd\n     XXX.  The Lesson Stories of Jesus\n    XXXI.  The Voice that Waked the Dead--The Children of the Kingdom\n   XXXII.  The Young Man that Jesus Loved\n  XXXIII.  The Last Journey to Jerusalem\n   XXXIV.  The Prince of Peace\n    XXXV.  The Children in the Temple\n   XXXVI.  The Last Day in the Temple\n  XXXVII.  The Last Words in the Temple\n XXXVIII.  An Evening on the Mount of Olives\n   XXXIX.  The Holy Supper\n      XL.  The Night of the Betrayal\n     XLI.  Despised and Rejected of Men\n    XLII.  The King of Heaven at the Bar of Pilate\n   XLIII.  Love and Death\n    XLIV.  Love and Life\n     XLV.  The Evening of Easter\n    XLVI.  The Lord's Last Days with His Disciples\n   XLVII.  \"He Ascended into Heaven\"\n  XLVIII.  The Promise of the Father\n\n\nAN AFTERWORD\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nTHE OLD TESTAMENT\n\n\nMoses and Zipporah at the well (color plate)  . . . . . . _Frontispiece_\n\nDriven from Eden\n\nThe great flood\n\nDove returns to ark with an olive leaf (color plate)\n\nThe three strangers\n\nHagar in the desert\n\nOn Mount Moriah\n\nIsaac blessing Jacob\n\nMeeting of Jacob and Esau\n\nJacob and Rachael\n\nJacob sold to the Ishmaelites (color plate)\n\nJoseph makes himself known to his brothers\n\nPharaoh's daughter finding Moses (color plate)\n\nThe rod that troubled Egypt\n\nDestruction of Pharoah's army\n\nMoses descending from the Mount\n\nThe return of the spies\n\nCrossing the Jordan\n\nThe young Samson\n\nThe death of Samson\n\nRuth and Naomi\n\nSamuel speaking to the Lord (color plate)\n\nThe young shepherd boy (color plate)\n\nDavid cutting off Goliath's head (color plate)\n\nThe spear struck the wall (color plate)\n\nThe garment of Saul\n\nThe death of Absalom\n\nDavid mourning for Absalom\n\nThe Queen of Sheba before Solomon\n\nRavens bringing food to Elijah (color plate)\n\nElijah and the Angel\n\nElijah and the chariot of fire\n\nElijah raises the widow's son\n\nIn the fiery furnace\n\nThe handwriting on the wall\n\nDaniel in the den of lions (color plate)\n\nJonah thrown on the dry land\n\nHaman denounced by the Queen\n\n\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT\n\n\nThe Holy Child in the manger (color plate)\n\nFollowing the star\n\nThe flight into Egypt\n\nThe Boy Jesus in the temple (color plate)\n\nJohn the Baptist at the Jordan\n\nThe marriage at Cana\n\nJesus by the well (color plate)\n\nJesus in the synagogue\n\nJesus among the fishermen (color plate)\n\nJesus healing the sick\n\nSermon on the Mount\n\nJesus teaching by the sea\n\nJesus sleeping during the storm (color plate)\n\nJesus curing the little maid (color plate)\n\nFeeding the five thousand\n\nJesus in the wheat fields\n\nThe little ones (color plate)\n\nThe good Samaritan\n\nJesus in the house at Bethany\n\nThe return of the prodigal\n\nThe Pharisee and the publican\n\nJesus entering Jerusalem (color plate)\n\nShowing the penny\n\nThe two mites\n\nThe Passover supper (color plate)\n\nGethsemane\n\nJesus betrayed by Judas\n\nThe sin of Peter\n\nJesus crowned with thorns\n\nJesus before Pilate (color plate)\n\nJesus bearing the cross\n\nThe descent from the cross\n\nThe angel of the resurrection\n\nThe walk to Emmaus\n\nThe ascension\n\n\n\n\nCHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE BEGINNING OF THINGS.\n\nAway back in the beginning of things God made the sky and the earth we\nlive upon.  At first it was all dark, and the earth had no form, but\nGod was building a home for us, and his work went on through six long\ndays, until it was finished as we see it now.\n\nOn the first day God said, \"Let there be light,\" and the black night\nturned to gray, and light came.  God called the light Day, and the\ndarkness Night, and the evening and the morning made the first day.\n\nThen God divided the waters, so that there were clouds above and seas\nbelow, and He called the clouds heaven.  It was the second day.\n\nThen the seas were gathered together by themselves, and the dry land\nrose above them, and God saw that it was good.  Then He called to the\ngrass, and the plants, and the trees to come out of the ground, and\nthey came bearing their seeds, and He called the third day good.\n\nThen God called to the two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine\nclear in the sky, which had been first dark, and then gray, and they\nrose and set to make day and night, and seasons and years, and the\nstars came also, and it was the fourth day.\n\nThen God called for all kinds of fishes that swim in the seas, and\nrivers, and for all kinds of birds that fly in the air, and they came,\nand it was the fifth day.\n\nAnd then God called for the animals to live on the green earth, and the\ncattle and the great beasts, and the creeping things came, and God\ncalled them all good.\n\nAfter this he made the first of the great family of Man.  He made them\nafter His own likeness.  He made their bodies from the earth, but their\nsouls He breathed into them, so that Man is a spirit, living in an\nearthly body, and can understand about God and love Him.  He blessed\nthem and told them to become many, and to rule over all the earth, with\nits beasts and birds, and fishes, and it was the sixth day.\n\nThe Man's name was Adam, and the woman, who was made from a piece of\nAdam's body nearest to his heart, was named Eve.\n\nThen God's world was finished, and on the seventh day there was rest.\nGod was pleased with all that was made, and He made the seventh day\nholy, by setting it apart from all the others.  We keep the Sabbath, or\nthe Lord's day still, in which his children may rest and worship.\n\nAdam and Eve were very happy, for they had never done anything wrong.\nGod gave them a beautiful wide garden, called Eden, full of flowers and\nall kinds of fruit, and with a river flowing through it, and told Adam\nto take care of the garden, and He sent all the animals and birds to\nAdam to be named.  God told him also that he might eat the fruit of all\nthe trees of the garden except one--the tree of knowledge of good and\nevil--but if he ate of the fruit of that tree he should surely die, and\nAdam and Eve loved God, and had no wish to disobey Him, for He was\ntheir Father.\n\nBut there was a creeping serpent in the garden, and the evil spirit\nthat puts wrong thoughts in our hearts spoke to Eve through the serpent.\n\n\"You shall not die,\" he said, \"but you shall be wise like God if you\nwill eat of this fruit,\" and Eve ate of the fruit, and gave it to her\nhusband.  Then they knew that they had sinned, and when they heard the\nvoice of God in the garden calling them, they hid among the trees, for\nthey were unhappy and afraid.  When the Lord had asked Adam if he had\neaten of the fruit that was forbidden, Adam laid the sin upon Eve, who\ngave it to him, and Eve said that the serpent had tempted her to eat of\nthe fruit.  God knew that they must suffer for their sin, so He sent\nthem out of the garden to make a garden for themselves, and to work,\nand suffer pain, as all who came after them have done to this day; but\nHe gave them a great promise, that among their children's children One\nshould be born who would be stronger than sin, and a Savior from it.\n\nAfter this two little children were sent to comfort Adam and Eve--first\nCain, and then Abel.  When they grew up Cain was a farmer, but Abel was\na shepherd.\n\nThey had been taught to worship God by bringing the best of all they\nhad to Him, and so Cain brought fruit and grain to lay upon his altar,\nbut Abel brought a lamb.\n\n[Illustration: Driven from Eden]\n\nGod looked into their hearts and saw that Abel wished to do right, but\nCain's heart was full of sin.  Cain was angry because the Lord was\npleased with the worship of Abel, and while they talked in the field\nCain killed his brother.  When the Lord said to Cain, \"Where is thy\nbrother?\" he answered, \"I know not.  Am I my brother's keeper?\"  And\nthe Lord sent him away from home, to wander from place to place over\nthe earth, and find no rest, but He promised that no one should hurt\nCain, or kill him as he had killed his brother, so he went away into\nanother land to live.\n\nAdam lived many years after this and had other children, but at last he\ndied, when his children's children were beginning to spread over the\nland.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE GREAT FLOOD.\n\nAs the people of the earth grew to be many more and spread over the\nplains and hills, they also grew very wicked.  They forgot God, and all\nthe thoughts of their hearts were evil.  Only Noah still worshipped God\nand tried to do right.\n\nThe people had destroyed themselves, and so God said to Noah:\n\n\"The end of all flesh is come; make thee an ark of gopher wood.\"\n\nHe told Noah to make it of three stories, with a window in the top, and\na door in the side.  It was to be a great floating house, more than\nfour hundred feet long and full of rooms, and it was to be covered with\ntar within and without, so that the water should not creep in.\n\n\"I bring a flood of waters upon the earth,\" said the Lord, \"and\neverything that is in the earth shall die.\"\n\nThis was to be the house of Noah, with his wife, and his three sons and\ntheir wives, during the great flood.\n\nDoes the house seem large for eight people?  God had told Noah to make\nroom for a little family of every kind of bird and beast that lived,\nand to gather food of all kinds for himself and for them.\n\n[Illustration: The great flood]\n\nSo Noah did all that the Lord had told him to do, and seven days before\nthe great storm he heard the Lord calling:\n\n\"Come thou and all thy house into the ark,\" and that very day, Noah\nwith his wife and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japtheth, and their wives,\nwent into their great black house, and through the window in the top\ncame flying the little families of birds and insects, from the tiny\nbees and humming birds, to the great eagles, and through the door on\nthe side came the families of animals, two by two, from the little mice\nto the tall giraffes, and the elephants, and when all had come the Lord\nshut them in.\n\nIt rained forty days and forty nights, and the waters rose higher and\nhigher, covering the hills, and creeping up the mountains, so that\nevery living thing died except Noah, and all that were with him in the\nark.\n\nBut after ten months the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noah sent\nout a raven and a dove.  The raven flew to and fro, but the dove came\nback into the ark, because she found no place to rest her foot.\n\nAfter seven days Noah sent her out again, and she returned with an\nolive leaf in her bill, and then Noah knew that the waters were going\naway.\n\n[Illustration: Dove returns with an olive leaf.]\n\nAfter seven days again he sent out his good little dove, and she did\nnot come back.  So Noah was sure that the earth was getting dry, and\nthat God would soon tell him to go out of the ark.\n\nAnd so he did.  Think how glad the sheep and cows were to find fresh\ngrass, and the birds to fly to the green trees.\n\nWhat a silent world it must have been, for there were none but Noah and\nhis family in all the earth.  Noah did not forget how God had saved\nthem, and he made an altar of stone, and offered beasts and birds as a\nsacrifice.  When he looked up to the sky there was a beautiful rainbow.\nIt was God's promise that there should be no more floods upon the\nearth.  He still sends the rainbow to show us that He is taking care of\nthis world, and will always do so.\n\nPerhaps the people who lived after this--for Noah's children's children\nincreased very fast--did not believe God's promise, for they began to\nbuild a great tower, or temple, on the plain of Shinar; or perhaps they\nhad grown proud and wicked, and wanted a temple for the worship of\nidols; but the Lord changed their speech, so that they could not\nunderstand each other, and they were scattered over other countries;\nand so each country began to have a language of its own.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nABRAHAM--THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL.\n\nThe people who lived four thousand years ago were very much like\nchildren who easily forget.  They told their children about the great\nflood, but nearly all forgot to tell them of the good God who is the\nFather of us all, whom we should always love and obey.  Yet there is\nalways one, if not more, who remembers God, and keeps his name alive in\nthe world.\n\nAbram had tried to do right, though there was no Bible in the world\nthen, and no one better than himself to help him but God, and one day\nHe called Abram, and told him to go away from his father's house into\nanother country.\n\n\"A land that I will show thee,\" said the Lord, \"and I will make of thee\na great nation.\"\n\nHe also made Abram a wonderful promise,--\n\n\"In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.\"\n\nHe meant that sometime the Savior should be born among Abram's\nchildren's children, and that He should be the Savior of all the\nnations of the earth.\n\nAbram did just what God told him to do.  He took Sarai, his wife, and\nLot, his nephew, and some servants, and cows, and sheep, and camels,\nand asses, and went into the land of Canaan.  When they rested at night\nAbram and Lot set some sticks in the ground, and covered them with\nskins for a tent, and near by they made an altar, where Abram offered a\nsacrifice, for that was the only way they could worship God when the\nearth was young.\n\nAbram went down into Egypt when there was a lack of food in Canaan, but\nhe came back to Bethel, where he made the altar before, and worshipped\nGod there.\n\nHe was very rich, for his cattle and sheep had grown into great herds\nand flocks, though he had sold many in Egypt for silver, and gold, and\nfood.  Abram and Lot moved often, for their flocks and herds soon ate\nup the grass.  Then they rolled up the tents, and loaded the camels and\nasses, and went where the grass was thick and fresh.\n\nThey could easily live in tents, for the country was warm.  But Abram's\nherdsmen and Lot's herdsmen sometimes quarreled.  And so Abram spoke\nkindly to Lot, and told him to take his servants, and flocks, and\nherds, and go where the pastures were good, and he would go the other\nway.  So they parted, and Lot went to the low plains of the Jordan, but\nAbram went to the high plains of Mamre, in Hebron, and there he built\nanother altar to the Lord, who had given him all that country--to him\nand to his children forever.\n\nThere were warlike people in Canaan, and once when they had carried off\nLot from Sodom, Abram took his servants and herdsmen and went out to\nfight.  He had more than three hundred men, and they took Lot away from\nthe enemy, and brought him back to Sodom.  It was here that Abram met a\nwonderful man, who was both a king and a priest.  His name was\nMelchisedek, and he brought Abram bread and wine, and blessed him there.\n\nAfter this, God spoke to Abram one evening, and promised that he should\nhave a son, and then while Abram stood outside his tent, with the great\nsky thick with stars above him, God promised him that his children's\nchildren should grow to be as countless as the stars.  That was hard to\nbelieve, but Abram believed God always and everywhere.\n\nStill no child came to Abram and Sarai, and Abram was almost a hundred\nyears old, but God spoke to him again, and told him that he should be\nthe father of many nations.\n\nHe told Abram that a little boy would be born to them, and his name\nwould be Isaac, and God changed Abram's name to Abraham, which means\n\"Father of many people,\" and Sarai's to Sarah, which means \"Princess.\"\n\nAbraham was sitting in his tent one hot day, when three men stood by\nhim.  They were strangers, and Abraham asked them to rest beneath the\ntree, and bathe their feet, while he brought them food.  So Sarah made\ncakes, and a tender calf was cooked, and these with butter, and milk,\nwere set before the men.  But they were not men of this world; they\nwere angels, and they had come to tell Abraham and Sarah once more that\ntheir little child was sure to come.  Then the angels went away, but\none of them, who must have been the Lord Himself in an angel's form,\nstopped to tell Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and\nGomorrah, because the people who lived there were so very wicked, and\nAbraham prayed Him to spare them if even ten good men could be found in\nthem, for he remembered that Lot lived in Sodom.  But the Lord never\nforgets.  The two angels went to Sodom and stayed with Lot until\nmorning, when they took him and all his family outside the city, and\nthen the Lord said to him, \"Escape for thy life--look not behind thee,\nneither stay thou in all the plain.\"\n\n[Illustration: The three strangers]\n\nAnd the Lord hid them in the little town of Zoar, while a great rain of\nfire fell upon the wicked cities of the plain, until they became a heap\nof ashes.  Only Lot's wife looked back to see the burning cities, and\nshe became a pillar of salt.\n\nThe next morning when Abraham looked from Hebron down toward the cities\nof the plain, a great smoke was rising from them like the smoke of a\nfurnace.\n\nAt last the Lord's promise to Abraham and Sarah came true.  A little\nson was born to them, and they called him Isaac.  They were very happy,\nfor though Abraham was a hundred years old, no child had ever been sent\nthem.\n\nWhen he was about a year old they made a great feast for him, and all\nbrought gifts and good wishes, yet the little lad Ishmael, the son of\nHagar, Sarah's servant, mocked at Isaac.  Sarah was angry, and told her\nhusband that Hagar and her boy must be sent away.  So he sent them out\nwith only a bottle of water and a loaf of bread; for God had told\nAbraham to do as Sarah wished him to do, and He would take care of\nlittle Ishmael, and make him the father of another nation.\n\nWhen the water was gone, and the sun grew very hot, poor Hagar laid her\nchild under a bush to die, for she was very lonely and sorrowful.\nWhile she hid her eyes and wept, saying,\n\n\"Let me not see the death of the child,\" she heard a voice out of\nheaven telling her not to be afraid.\n\n[Illustration: Hagar in the desert]\n\n\"Arise, lift up the lad,\" said the voice, \"for I will make him a great\nnation.\"\n\nAnd God opened her eyes to see a well of water near.  Then she filled\nthe empty bottle, and gave the boy a drink, and God took good care of\nthem ever after, though they lived in a wilderness.\n\nIshmael grew up to be an archer, and became the father of the Arabs,\nwho still live in tents as Ishmael did.\n\nBut the Lord let a strange trial come to the little lad Isaac, also.\nHis father loved and obeyed God, but there were heathen people around\nthem, who worshipped idols, and sometimes killed their own children as\na sacrifice to these idols.  Abraham brought the best of his lambs and\ncattle to offer to the Lord; but one day the Lord told Abraham to take\nhis only son Isaac and offer him upon a mountain called Moriah as a\nburnt sacrifice to God.  Abraham had always obeyed God, and believed\nhis word, and now, though he could not understand, he rose up early in\nthe morning and took his young son, with two servants, and an ass\nloaded with wood, to the place of which God had told him.\n\nThey were three days on the journey, but at last they came to the high\nplace, where the city of Jerusalem was afterward built, and to the very\nrock upon which the temple was built long afterward, with its great\naltar and Holy of Holies.\n\n[Illustration: On Mount Moriah]\n\nAbraham had left the young men at the foot of the mount, and went with\nIsaac to the great rock on the top of the mount.\n\n\"My father,\" said Isaac, \"where is the lamb for a burnt offering?\"\n\n\"My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering,\" said\nhis father, still obeying God, and believing His word, that Isaac\nshould be the father of many nations.\n\nAbraham made an altar of stones, and bound Isaac and laid him upon it,\nbut when his hand was lifted to offer up the boy, the Lord called to\nhim from heaven.  \"Lay not thine hand upon the lad,\" said the voice,\n\"for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld\nthine only son from me.\"\n\nThen Abraham turned and saw a ram with its twisted horns caught in the\nbushes, and he offered it to the Lord instead of his son.  How glad and\ngrateful Abraham must have been that morning, when he came down the\nmountain, with Isaac walking beside him, to think that he had still\nobeyed God when it was hard to do so.\n\nAbraham was an old man when Sarah died.  They had lived together a long\nlifetime, and he mourned for her many days.  He bought a field close by\nthe oak-shaded plain of Mamre in Hebron, and there in a rocky cave he\nburied her.  He was called a Prince of God by the Canaanites because he\nlived a true, faithful life.\n\nA few years after he also went to God, and his body was laid beside\nSarah's in the cave-tomb.  Ishmael came up from the south country to\nmourn with Isaac at the burial of their father, the Friend of God, and\nFather of the faithful.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nISAAC THE SHEPHERD PRINCE.\n\nBefore Abraham died, he thought much about his dear son Isaac, to whom\nhe was going to leave all that he had.  The young man had no mother, no\nsister, and soon he would have no father.  So the old man called his\nold and faithful servant, and told him to go on a journey into the land\nof his fathers, and bring back with him a wife for his son Isaac.\n\nThe children of Nahor, Abraham's brother, lived there still, and\nAbraham wished for his son Isaac a wife of his own people, who should\nbe both good and beautiful, and not like the heathen women of Canaan.\n\nSo the old servant listened to Abraham and promised to do all that he\ncommanded.\n\nHe loaded ten camels with presents for his master's family away in\nSyria, and Abraham said:\n\n\"The Lord shall send His angel before thee,\" and from his tent door he\nsaw the little caravan of camels and servants, as they set out across\nthe plain, toward the land beyond the river Jordan.\n\nThere was a desert to cross and many dangers to meet, but the old\nservant believed in the God his master worshipped, and was not afraid.\n\nWhen he came to Haran, he stopped outside the town by a well of water.\nIt was early evening, and the women were coming each with a water-jar\non her shoulder, to draw water.\n\nThe old man prayed that the Lord would show him which among these\ndaughters of the men of the city, was the one who was to be his young\nmaster's wife.\n\nBefore his prayer was ended, Rebekah, of the family of Abraham's\nbrother Nahor, came bearing her pitcher on her shoulder.  She looked\nvery kind and beautiful, and when she had filled her pitcher, the old\nman asked her for a drink of water.  Then she let down the pitcher upon\nher hand saying:\n\n\"Drink, my lord,\" and asked if she should also give water to his\ncamels.  While she was giving him a drink, the man showed her some\ngolden jewels that he had brought, and when he had asked her name, and\nknew that God had sent her to him for his young master, he gave them to\nher, and worshipped the Lord who had led him to the house of his\nmaster's brother.\n\nThen Rebekah ran in and told Laban, her brother, and the old servant of\nAbraham had a warm welcome at the door of Nahor's house.\n\n\"Come in, thou blessed of the Lord,\" they said.\n\nAnd after they had cared for the camels and the men, there was a\nhurrying of servants to prepare a feast, but the old man would not\ntaste food until he had given the message of his master.  Then the\nfather and brother of Rebekah, saw that the Lord had sent for her, and\nthey said:\n\n\"Let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken.\"\n\nAnd the old servant bowed his face to the ground worshipping the Lord\nwho had led him.\n\nThen there was feasting and giving of costly gifts, and preparing to\ntake a long journey, for the old servant was in haste to get back to\nhis master, and Rebekah, who was willing to go, took her maid-servants\nand rode away into a far country to be the wife of Isaac.\n\nWhen Isaac was walking in his field at sunset, thinking and praying to\nGod, he looked up and saw that the camels were coming, and he hastened\nto meet them.  When the old servant told Rebekah that it was his young\nmaster, she alighted from her camel, and covered herself with a long\nveil as was the custom of the Syrian women.  When the old servant had\ntold the story of his journey, he gave Rebekah to Isaac, and he took\nher to the tent that had been his mother's, and she became his wife, so\nthat he was no longer lonely and sad.\n\nIsaac lived to a very great age, and had two sons, Jacob and Esau.  He\nwas a gentle, quiet man, fond of his family, his flocks, and herds, and\nat the place where his father and mother were buried, he lived among\nthe fields and oak groves of Hebron until he died.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nJACOB, A PRINCE OF GOD.\n\nJacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah.\n\nThey did not look alike as twins often do, and they were very unlike in\nall their ways.  As they grew up, Esau loved the forests and wild\nplaces.  He made bows and arrows, and was a hunter, and brought home\nwild birds and deer, for his father was very fond of such food.  Jacob\nhelped his father with the flocks, and learned how to cook food from\nhis mother, who loved him more than she loved Esau.\n\nOne day Esau came home from hunting tired and hungry, and smelled the\ndelicious soup of red lentils that Jacob was making.  He begged Jacob\nto give him some, and Jacob, who wanted to be eldest, and have the\nright to the blessing that fathers gave to the first-born in those\ndays, said:\n\n\"Sell me this day thy birthright,\" and Esau gave him all his rights as\nthe first born, for a little food which he might have had as a free\ngift.\n\nJacob wanted to be counted in the great promise that God had given to\nAbraham, but Esau despised it.\n\nAfterward, when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, he called Esau,\nand asked him to go out into the fields and shoot a deer, and cook the\nvenison that he loved, so that he might eat it and bless his first born\nbefore he died.\n\nRebekah heard it, and told Jacob to bring kids from the flock, which\nshe cooked and served as venison.  Then she dressed Jacob in the\nclothes of Esau, and told him to say that it was Esau who had brought\nthe venison.  Isaac said:\n\n\"The voice is the voice of Jacob,\" but he put his hands on him, and\nbelieved it was Esau, and blessed him.\n\nWhen Esau came home and brought venison to his father, Isaac said:\n\n\"Who art thou?\" and when Esau said, \"I am thy son, thy first-born,\nEsau,\" the old man trembled, and told Esau the blessing had been given\nto another.\n\nPoor Esau cried out with grief, \"Hast thou but one blessing?\"  \"Bless\nme, even me also, O my father.\"\n\nAnd so Isaac blessed him, but he could not call back the blessing of\nthe first-born.  The Lord knew that Jacob would grow to be a good man,\nand love the things of God best, and that Esau would always love the\nthings of this world best, yet it was wrong of Jacob and Rebekah to\ndeceive, for we may not do evil that good may come.\n\n[Illustration: Isaac blessing Jacob]\n\nAfter this Esau hated his brother, and said he would kill him.\n\nSo Isaac called Jacob, and, blessing him again, sent him away into\nSyria to the house of Laban, where Rebekah had lived, and where\nAbraham's servant went to find her for his master's son.\n\nOne night, when he was not far on his way, he lay down to sleep, with a\nstone for his pillow, on a hillside that looked toward his home, and he\ndreamed a wonderful dream.  He saw a ladder reaching from earth to\nheaven, and a vision of angels who were going up and down upon it.\n\nAbove it stood the Lord, who spoke to Jacob, and gave to him the\npromise that He had first given to Abraham, and told him that He would\ngo with him, and bring him again into his own land.\n\nJacob was afraid when he woke, for he had seen the heavens opened, and\nhad heard God's voice.  He made an altar of the pillow of stone, and\ncalled it Bethel--the House of God--and then he vowed that the Lord\nshould be his God, and he added,--\n\n\"Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give a tenth unto thee.\"\n\nWhen Jacob came to Haran, he saw the well from which his mother used to\ndraw water.  There were three flocks of sheep lying by it, waiting for\nall the flocks to gather in the cool of the day to be watered.  Soon\nRachel, the daughter of Laban, came leading her father's flocks, and\none of the shepherds told Jacob whose daughter she was.\n\nSo Jacob rolled the stone from the well, and watered the flocks of\nLaban, his mother's brother.  Then he kissed Rachel, and told her that\nhe was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her father.\n\nThere was great joy in Laban's house because Jacob had come, and after\nhe had stayed a month with them Laban asked him to stay and take care\nof his flocks, and he would pay him for his work.\n\nSince the day he had seen Rachel leading her father's flocks he had\nchosen her in his heart to be his wife.  So he said that he would work\nfor Laban seven years, if at the end of that time he would give him\nRachel for his wife.  Laban was quite willing to do so, and the seven\nyears seemed to Jacob but a few days, for the love he had to Rachel.\nBut, according to the custom of that country, the younger daughter\ncould not be given in marriage before the elder, and so Laban gave his\ndaughter Leah also, and both Leah and Rachel became the wives of Jacob,\nfor Jacob lived in that far away time and country of the early world\nwhen men were allowed to take more than one wife, and when each man was\nboth king and priest over his family and tribe, and worshipped God by\noffering burnt sacrifices upon an altar.\n\nAfter twenty years of work with Laban, in which he had earned many\nflocks and herds for himself, Jacob took his wives and the little sons\nGod had sent him, and his flocks and herds, and started on a journey to\nhis old home.  Isaac was still alive, and Jacob longed to see him.  He\nhad lived long in Haran for fear of his brother Esau, and now he must\ntravel through Edom, Esau's country, on his way to his old home.\n\nAs he was on his way some of God's angels met him, and he was\nstrengthened.  Still he feared Esau, and sent some of his men to tell\nhis brother that he was coming.\n\nThe men came back, saying that Esau, with four hundred men, was coming\nto meet them.\n\nPoor Jacob!  He remembered the sin of his youth, when he had stolen the\nblessing from Esau, and he was afraid, and prayed God to protect him.\n\nHe sent his servants again to meet Esau with great presents of flocks,\nand herds, and camels, and after placing his wives and little ones in\nthe safest place, he sent all that he had over the brook Jabbok, and he\nstayed on the other side to pray.  It was as if he wrestled with a man\nall night, and when the day began to break the man wished to go, but\nJacob said:\n\n\"I will not let thee go except thou bless me.\"\n\nSo the man blessed him there, and call his name Israel; \"for as a\nprince,\" he said, \"hast thou power with God and with men, and hast\nprevailed.\"\n\nThen Jacob knew that the Lord Himself, in the form of a man, had been\nwith him, and he had seen Him face to face.\n\nAnd as the sun rose he passed over the brook.  When he looked up he saw\nEsau and his men coming, and when he had told his family to follow him,\nhe went straight before them, for he was no longer afraid to meet his\nbrother.\n\nJacob's prayer had been answered, and Esau ran to meet his brother, and\nthrowing his arms around him, wept on his shoulder.  Then they talked\nin a loving and brotherly way, and Esau returned to his home with the\npresents Jacob had given him, and Jacob went on his way into Canaan\nfull of joy and thankfulness.  He stopped a little while in a pleasant\nplace to rest his flocks and cattle, but he longed to see the place\nwhere he first saw the angels of God, and heard the voice of the Lord\nblessing him, so they journeyed on to Beth-el, and there built an altar\nand worshipped God.\n\n[Illustration: Meeting of Jacob and Esau]\n\nAgain the Lord spoke to Jacob at Beth-el, and called him Israel, and\nblessed him.\n\nAfter they left Beth-el, they came near to Bethlehem, where many\nhundred years afterward the Lord Jesus was born, and there another\nlittle son was born to Rachel, and there too God sent for her, and took\nher to Himself, and there her grave was made.\n\n[Illustration: Jacob and Rachel]\n\nThe little boy was named Benjamin, and was the youngest of Jacob's\ntwelve sons, who became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, and\nthe princes of a great nation.\n\nJacob was almost home.  His great family, with all the flocks and\nherds, had been long on the way, for they often spread their tents by\nthe brooks in the green valleys, that the cattle might rest and find\npasture, but at last the long caravan came slowly over the fields of\nMamre to Hebron, and Isaac, whom the Lord had kept alive to see his son\nonce more, was there in his tent waiting for him.\n\nBut soon after this he died, an hundred and eighty years old, and Esau\ncame, and the two brothers laid their father in the cave that Abraham\nbought when Sarah died, and where he had buried Rebekah, and Jacob\nbecame patriarch in place of his father.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nJOSEPH, THE CASTAWAY.\n\nOf all the sons of Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin were the dearest to him,\nbecause they were the sons of his beloved Rachel, who had died on the\njourney from Syria into Canaan.  They were also the youngest of all the\ntwelve sons.  When Joseph was about seventeen years old, he sometimes\nwent with his elder brothers to keep his father's flocks in the fields.\nHe wore a long coat striped with bright colors, which his father had\ngiven him, because he was a kind and obedient son, and could always be\ntrusted.\n\nOnce he told his father of some wicked thing his brothers had done, and\nthey hated him for it, and could not speak pleasantly to him.\n\nJoseph had many strange and beautiful thoughts when he looked across\nthe fields to the hills, and up into the starry sky at night.  He also\nhad some strange dreams that he told to his brothers.  He said that he\ndreamed that they were binding sheaves in the field, and that his sheaf\nstood up, while the sheaves of his brothers bowed down to it.\n\nAgain he dreamed that the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars bowed\ndown to him.\n\nHis father wondered that he should have such thoughts, and reproached\nhim saying, \"Shall I and thy brethren indeed come and bow down\nourselves to thee to the earth?\" and his brothers said,\n\n\"Shalt thou indeed rule over us?\" and they hated him.\n\nWhen they were many miles from home with the flocks their father sent\nJoseph to see if all was well with them.  It was a long journey, and\nwhen they saw the boy coming they did not go to meet him, and speak\nkindly to him, but they said,\n\n\"Behold this dreamer is cometh.  Let us slay him, and cast him into\nsome pit, and we will say some evil beast hath devoured him, and we\nshall see what will become of his dreams.\"\n\nBut Reuben, the eldest, said,\n\n\"Let us not kill him; but cast him into this pit,\" hoping to take him\nout secretly, and send him to his father.\n\nSo when Joseph came near, they robbed him of his coat of many colors,\nand cruelly cast him into a pit.  After this they sat down to eat their\nbread, and looking up they saw a caravan coming.  It was a company of\nIshmaelites carrying costly spices down into Egypt to sell them.\n\nThen Judah said,\n\n\"Why should we kill our brother?  Let us sell him to these Ishmaelites.\"\n\nThen there passed by some Midianite merchants, and who drew Joseph out\nof the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver,\nand he was carried down into Egypt.\n\n[Illustration: Joseph sold to the Ishmaelites]\n\nReuben, when his brothers went back to their flocks, went to the pit to\ntry to save Joseph, but he was not there, and Reuben cried out,\n\n\"The child is not, and I, whither shall I go?\"\n\nThe brothers who had been so cruel to Joseph brought his coat to their\nfather, all stained with blood.  They had themselves dipped it in the\nblood of a kid to deceive him, and he mourned long, and would not be\ncomforted, for the beloved child that he believed had been torn in\npieces by evil beasts.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nJOSEPH, A SERVANT, A PRISONER, AND A SAINT.\n\nThe king of Egypt, where Joseph was taken by the Ishmaelites, was\ncalled Pharaoh, and he had a captain of the guard named Potiphar, who\nbought Joseph for a house servant.  Though he was the son of a Hebrew\nprince, Joseph did his work faithfully and wisely as a servant, and was\nsoon made steward of the house, and was trusted with all that his\nmaster had, and the Lord made all that he did to prosper; but the wife\nof Potiphar was a wicked woman, who persuaded her husband that Joseph\nwas a bad man, and he was sent to prison.\n\nEven there Joseph won the hearts of all, until the keeper of the prison\nset him over the other prisoners, and trusted him as Potiphar had done.\nIt was the Lord in Joseph who helped him to win the love and trust of\nthose around him.\n\nPharaoh sent two of his servants to prison because they had displeased\nhim.\n\nOne was his chief cook, and one was the chief butler, who always handed\nthe wine cup to the king, and Joseph had the care of them.\n\nThey each had a dream the same night, and were troubled because they\ncould not understand them.  Joseph asked them to tell him the dreams,\nfor God knew what they meant.\n\nSo the chief butler told Joseph that he saw a vine having three\nbranches, and the branches budded and blossomed, and the blossoms\nchanged into ripe grapes, and he took the grapes and pressed them into\nPharaoh's cup, and handed the cup to the king.\n\nThen Joseph said: \"The three branches are three days.  Within three\ndays the king will take you out of prison, and you shall hand the\nking's cup to him as you used to do.\"\n\nJoseph also asked the butler, to think of him when he was again in the\nking's palace, and speak to the king to bring him out of prison,\nbecause he had been stolen from his own land, and he had done nothing\nwrong that he should be put in prison.\n\nThen the chief cook told his dream.  He said that he dreamed that he\ncarried three baskets on his head, one above another.\n\nIn the highest one was all kinds of cooked meats for Pharaoh, and the\nbirds flew down and ate from the basket.\n\n\"The three baskets are three days,\" said Joseph as he said to the\nbutler, but he told the cook that in three days he would be put to\ndeath, and hanged on a tree, where the birds would eat his flesh.\n\nAll this came true, for Pharaoh's birthday came, and he brought out the\nchief butler to serve at a birthday feast, but he hanged the chief\ncook.  Yet the chief butler forgot Joseph, and did not speak to the\nking about him as he might have done.\n\nAt the end of two long years, Pharaoh dreamed a dream.  He thought he\nstood by the river of Egypt, and saw seven cows looking well kept and\nfat, came up out of the river.\n\nBehind them came seven other cows, looking thin and poorly fed, and the\nthin and poorly fed cows ate up the well-kept and fat ones.\n\nAnd Pharoah had a second dream.  He thought he saw seven heads of wheat\ngrowing on one stalk--and they were all full of grain.  After them came\nseven thin heads of wheat with no grain in them; and the seven bad\nheads of wheat ate up the seven good ones.\n\nIn the morning Pharaoh was troubled about these dreams, and called for\nhis wise men who worked magic for him, and they could tell him nothing.\n\nThen the chief butler standing near the king remembered Joseph, and\ntold Pharaoh of the young Hebrew who had told the meaning of his dream,\nand that of the chief cook, and they had come to pass as he had said,\nso Pharaoh sent for Joseph and said to him:\n\n\"I have heard that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.\"\n\nJoseph answered the king humbly and wisely:\n\n\"It is not in me,\" he said, \"God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.\"\n\nWhen the king had told his dream Joseph said:\n\n\"The dream is one,\" and then he showed him that the seven fat cows, and\nthe seven full heads of wheat meant seven good years in the land of\nEgypt, when the harvests would be great; and the seven lean cows, and\nthe seven empty heads of wheat, meant seven years of famine, when the\neast winds should spoil the wheat, so there would be nothing to reap in\ntime of harvest and the people would want bread.  He told the king that\nhe had better set a wise man over the land, who would attend to saving\nthe grain during the seven good years, so that the people would have\nbread to eat in the seven years of famine.\n\nThe king was greatly pleased with Joseph, and told him that God had\ntaught him to interpret dreams, and had showed him things to come, and\nthere could be no wiser man found to be set over the land.\n\nSo he made Joseph a ruler over the whole land, and next to the king in\nall things.\n\nHe put his own ring on his hand, and dressed him in the robes of a\nprince, and gave him an Egyptian name and an Egyptian wife, so that\nthere was no one in all the land of Egypt so great as Joseph, except\nthe king.\n\nHe built storehouses in every city, and stored the grain, until it was\nlike the sand of the sea, and could not be measured.\n\nIn the years of plenty two sons were born to Joseph, Manasseh and\nEphraim, and then the seven years of dearth began to come.  When the\npeople began to cry to the king for bread, he always said,--\n\n\"Go to Joseph; what he says to you do.\"\n\nAnd Joseph and his helpers began to open the storehouses, and sell\nwheat to the Egyptians, and to the people of all countries, for the\nfamine was in all lands.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nJOSEPH--THE SAVIOR OF HIS PEOPLE.\n\nThe famine reached even to the fruitful land of Canaan, and Jacob,\nthough rich in flocks and herds, began to need bread for his great\nfamily.  So he sent his ten sons down into Egypt to buy wheat, keeping\nBenjamin, the youngest at home.\n\nWhen they came before the governor they bowed down to him with their\nfaces to the ground.  Joseph knew them, though he acted as if he did\nnot, and remembered his dream of his brother's sheaves bowing down to\nhis sheaf.  At first, he spoke roughly to them, and called them\n\"spies.\"  But they said that they were all one man's sons, and had come\nto buy food.\n\nJoseph still spoke roughly to them, not because he was angry, but\nbecause he did not wish them to know him yet.  His heart was full of\nlove for them, and he was soon going to show them great kindness; but\nwhen they told him that they had left an old father and a young brother\nat home, and one was dead, he still acted as if they did not tell the\ntruth.\n\nHe said that to prove themselves true men one of them should go home\nand bring the youngest brother, and the others should be kept in prison\nuntil they returned; and he put them all in prison.\n\nAfter three days, he said one might stay while the others took the\nwheat home to their families, but that they must surely come back and\nbring the boy with them.\n\nThen Reuben, who had tried to save Joseph from the pit long before,\ntold his brothers that all this trouble had come upon them for their\nwickedness to their brother Joseph, and they said to each other in\ntheir own language:\n\n\"We are verily guilty concerning our brother; when he besought us, we\nwould not hear, therefore is this distress come upon us.\"\n\nJoseph understood everything they said though they did not know it, for\nhe had been talking to them through an interpreter, and they thought he\nwas an Egyptian.  Now his heart was so full that he had to go out of\nthe room to weep.  But he came back and chose Simeon to stay while the\nothers went to Canaan to bring back Benjamin.\n\nThey took the wheat that they had bought in bags, and went away; but\nwhen they stopped at an inn to rest and feed their asses, one of the\nbrothers opened his bag, and found the money that he had paid for the\nwheat in the top of his bag.  Here was more trouble, and they were\nafraid.\n\nWhen they came home to their father they told him all that had\nhappened, and as they opened the bags, each one found his money.  Jacob\nwas deeply troubled; for Joseph was gone, and Simeon was gone, and now\nthey wanted to take Benjamin.\n\nReuben who had two sons said: \"Slay my two sons if I bring him not to\nthee.\"\n\nBut Jacob said Benjamin should not go down to Egypt.  But the wheat was\ngone in a short time, and they were likely to starve so great was the\nfamine, and at last Jacob said they must go to Egypt again for food.\n\nJudah said they would go if Benjamin would go with them, but Jacob\nwould not listen to this.  He asked them why they told the man that\nthey had a brother, and they replied, that the Governor had asked them\nif their father was yet living and if they had another brother.\n\n\"Send the lad with me,\" said Judah, \"if I bring him not unto thee, let\nme bear the blame forever.\"\n\nThen Jacob told them to take him and go, and also to take presents of\nhoney, and spices, and balm, and nuts, and double the money, so as to\nreturn that which was put in their bags, and he blessed them, and sent\nthem away.\n\nThey went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph again.  When he saw\nBenjamin with them he told the steward of his house to make ready a\nfine dinner for them, and bring them to him at noon, and he did so.\n\nThen the brothers were afraid that they were all to be put in prison,\nand at the door of Joseph's house began to tell the steward how they\nfound the money when they opened their bags, and that they had brought\nit back doubled; but the steward spoke kindly to them, and said that he\nhad placed their money, and that they need not fear, for God had given\nit back to them.\n\nThen he brought Simeon out, and they made ready to dine with the\nGovernor at noon, and to give him their presents.\n\nWhen he came they bowed down to him and presented their gifts, and he\nasked them if they were well, and if the old man of whom they spoke was\nstill alive, and they replied that he was.  When he saw Benjamin, and\nknew that he was truly his own brother, the son of Rachel, he said:\n\n\"God be gracious unto thee my son,\" and he went quickly to his own\nchamber, lest he should weep before them.\n\nWhen he came out to them again, and they sat down to dine, he placed\nthe sons of Jacob by themselves, and the Egyptians of his house by\nthemselves, and the brothers were placed according to their\nages--Reuben at the head and Benjamin last, and they wondered among\nthemselves at this.  Joseph also sent portions from his own table to\nhis brothers, but the portion of Benjamin was five times greater than\nthat of the others.\n\nThe next morning their wheat was measured to them, and the asses were\nloaded with it, and they went on their way, but Joseph had told the\nsteward to put the money of each man in the top of his bag, and in\nBenjamin's to put his silver cup.\n\nWhen they were a little away from the city, the steward overtook them,\nand charged them with stealing his lord's silver cup.\n\nThe men were so sure that no one of them had stolen the silver cup,\nthat they said,\n\n\"Let him die with whom the cup is found, and the rest of us will be\nyour slaves.\"\n\nSo everybody's bag was opened from the oldest to the youngest, and the\ncup was found in Benjamin's bag.  Then they rent their clothes for\ngrief, and loaded the asses and went back to the city, and when they\ncame to Joseph's house, they fell on their faces before him, Joseph\ntried to speak sternly and said:\n\n\"What deed is this you have done?\"\n\nJudah said:\n\n\"What shall we say unto my lord, or how shall we clear ourselves?  We\nare my lord's servants.\"\n\nThen said Joseph:\n\n\"The man in whose hand the cup is found he shall be my servant, and as\nfor you, get you up in peace unto your father.\"\n\nThen Judah came nearer to Joseph, and all his soul came forth into his\nvoice as he said:\n\n\"O, my lord, let thy servant speak a word in my lord's ears!\"\n\nThen he told the story of their coming down into Egypt, and of the old\nfather and young brother whom he had asked them about; of the love of\nthis father for the little one, for his mother, and his brother now\ndead.  He reminded Joseph that he had told them to bring the boy to\nhim, and that they had said, that if the boy should leave his father,\nhis father would die; but the governor had said \"Except your youngest\nbrother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.\"\n\nThen Judah told the story of the father's grief when he found that he\nmust let Benjamin go down into Egypt, that they might buy a little\nfood; how he spoke of his two sons, that were the sons of Rachel--that\none had been torn in pieces, and now if mischief should befall the\nother, it would bring his gray hairs in sorrow to the grave.  He asked\nJoseph what he should do when he returned to his father without the\nlad, seeing that his life was bound up in the lad's life, and Judah\nbegged him, as he had made himself surety for the lad, to take him to\nbe his slave, but to let Benjamin return to his father with his\nbrothers.\n\n\"For how shall I go up to my father,\" said Judah, \"and the lad be not\nwith me?\"\n\nThen Joseph could bear it no longer.  He told all the Egyptians to go\nout of the room, and then weeping so that the Egyptians and the people\nin the king's house heard, he made himself known to his brothers.\n\n[Illustration: Joseph makes himself known to his brothers]\n\n\"I am Joseph, your brother,\" he said, \"whom you sold into Egypt,\" and\nhe begged them to come near to him.\n\n\"Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves,\" he said, for he saw that\nthey were terrified, \"for God sent me before you to save your lives by\na great deliverance.  It was not you that sent me hither, but God, and\nhe hath made me a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.\"\n\nThen he told them to hasten and go to his father and tell him this, and\nask him to come down at once, with all his flocks and herds, and dwell\nin Goshen, the best part of Egypt, for years of famine were yet to come.\n\nThen Joseph took little Benjamin in his arms and wept over him, and\nkissed him, and kissed all his brothers, and after that his brothers\ntalked with him.  The king heard the story of Joseph's brothers and was\npleased.  He told Joseph to send wagons for the wives and little ones\nof his brothers, and to tell them to bring their father, and all their\ncattle and sheep, and come to live in Goshen where they should have the\nbest of the land for their flocks and herds.\n\nJoseph did as the king commanded, and also gave them food for the\njourney, and a suit of clothing to each brother, but to little Benjamin\nhe gave five suits, and three hundred pieces of silver.  He also loaded\ntwenty asses with the good things of Egypt as presents to his father,\nso he sent them all on their journey saying:\n\n\"See that ye fall not out by the way.\"\n\nWhen they came to Jacob in Hebron, they told him the wonderful story of\nthe finding of Joseph, and his heart was faint, for he did not believe\nthem; but when he had heard all Joseph's messages, and had seen the\ngifts, and the wagons, he said:\n\n\"It is enough: Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before\nI die.\"\n\nSo they began the long journey to Egypt, for it took a long time to\ntravel with a great family, and with thousands of cattle and sheep.  At\nBeersheba Jacob stopped and worshiped God, where his father had built\nan altar years before; and God told him in the night that he need not\nfear to go down into Egypt, for He would there make him a great nation,\nand that He would bring him back again to his own land.\n\nSo Jacob with all his children and their little ones, and all his\nflocks and herds came into Egypt.  There were sixty-seven souls, and\nwhen they had counted Joseph and his two sons, there were seventy.\n\nJacob sent Judah on before to see Joseph and ask the way to Goshen, so\nthat they might go directly there with the cattle and sheep.  And when\nJoseph knew that his father was coming, he went to meet him in Goshen,\nand there he wept on his father's neck a long time, and Jacob said:\n\n\"Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet\nalive.\"\n\nAfter this Joseph presented five of his brothers to Pharaoh, and the\nking spoke very kindly to them, and gave them the best of the land for\ntheir flocks, and hired some of them to oversee his own shepherds.\n\nJoseph brought his father in also and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.\n\nSo the family of Jacob lived in peace, and were cared for by Joseph,\njust as the Lord had promised Jacob, when in a dream he saw the angels\nof God at Bethel, and heard above them the voice of the Lord blessing\nhim, and saying:\n\n\"Thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the East, and to the\nNorth, and to the South, and in thee shall all the families of the\nearth be blessed.\"\n\nJoseph carried all Egypt through the years of famine, and saved seed\nfor the people to sow their fields in the seventh year so that they\nsaid:\n\n\"Thou hast saved our lives.\"\n\nHe afterwards visited his father, and Jacob made him promise that he\nwould bury him when he died in the tomb of Abraham and Isaac, his\nfather, in his own land.\n\nWhen Jacob was near his end, Joseph brought his two little sons,\nEphraim and Manasseh, to his bedside, and the old man gave them his\nblessing, laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, the youngest,\nand his left hand on that of Manasseh the first born, even as Isaac had\ngiven the birthright blessing to him instead of to Esau, and he said:\n\n\"The angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads.\"\n\nThen he called all his sons together and told them what should befall\nthem in the last days.  To each one he spoke as a prophet speaks who\nhas a vision of things to come, and he blessed them there.  When he\nspoke to Judah, he told him that kings and lawgivers should arise from\namong his children until the Saviour of the world should come.\n\nJacob was an hundred and forty-seven years old when he died, and there\nwas great mourning for him.\n\nJoseph had the body of his father embalmed, as the Egyptians had the\ncustom of doing, and after a long mourning in Egypt, Joseph and his\nbrothers and many Egyptians who were Joseph's friends, carried the body\nof Jacob to Canaan, in a great procession, and buried him in the cave\nof Machpelah, where his fathers were buried.\n\nAfter they had returned to Egypt, the brothers of Joseph said:\n\n\"Perhaps now he will hate us, and bring upon us all the evil we did to\nhim.\"\n\nSo they sent to him to ask his forgiveness for all that was past.  Then\nJoseph wept, for he had nothing but love in his heart toward his\nbrothers, and he wished them to trust him.  He comforted them and spoke\nkindly to them, saying:\n\n\"Fear not: ye meant evil unto me, but God meant it unto good.  I will\nnourish you and your little ones.\"\n\nAnd so through all Joseph's life, and he lived one hundred and ten\nyears, he was a tender father to all his family, and a wise ruler of\nthe people, and he died after making his family promise to carry his\nbody back into Canaan to be buried with his fathers when they\nthemselves should go.\n\n\"For God will surely visit you,\" he said, \"and bring you out of this\nland into the land which he promised to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE CRADLE THAT WAS ROCKED BY A RIVER.\n\nAfter Joseph and all the sons of Jacob had grown old and had passed\naway, their children's children grew in numbers until they became a\ngreat multitude.\n\nThe Pharaoh whom Joseph had served also died, and the king who followed\nhim did not like the Hebrews.  He feared them because they had grown to\nbe strong, so he set overseers to watch them, and make them work like\nslaves.\n\nHe treated them cruelly, and made them lift the great stones with which\nthey built the tombs of the kings and temples of the gods.  He also\ntried to kill all the little boys as soon as they were born, but the\nLord took care of them.  Also, the king told his servants, that\nwherever they found a baby boy among the Hebrews, to throw him into the\nriver Nile, but the little girls, they should save alive.\n\nThere was a man named Amrom, who, with his wife Jochebed, had a\nbeautiful little boy whom they tenderly loved.  They hid him as long as\nthey could, and then when he was three months old and she could hide\nhim no longer, she made up her mind to give him into the care of God.\nShe made a little boat, or ark of stout rushes, that grew by the river.\nShe wove it closer than a basket, and then covered it with pitch that\nthe water might not enter, just as Noah covered the great ark before\nthe flood.\n\nThen she wrapped her baby carefully and laid him in the little boat,\nand set it among the reeds at the edge of the river Nile.  God and His\nangels watched the cradle of the child, and the river gently rocked it.\nJochebed told the baby's sister to wait near by and see what might\nhappen to him, and this is what happened, or rather what God prepared\nfor the baby in the boat of rushes.\n\nThe king's daughter came down to bathe in the river, and as her maidens\nwalked up and down by the riverside, she called one of them to bring to\nher the little ark that she saw rocking on the river among the reeds.\nWhen she had opened it she saw a beautiful little child, and when it\ncried her heart was touched, and she longed to keep it for her own.\n\n[Illustration: Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses]\n\n\"This is one of the Hebrew's children,\" she said, and as the baby's\nsister came near she asked the princess if she should go and get a\nnurse from among the Hebrew women to bring it up for her, and the\nprincess said to her, \"Go,\" and the maid went and called the child's\nmother.  The princess said: \"Take this child away and nurse it for me,\nand I will give thee thy wages.\"\n\nAnd the mother took her baby joyfully though she hid her joy in her\nheart, and carried him home to nurse and bring up for Pharoah's\ndaughter.\n\nAnd the child grew, and when he was old enough his mother took him to\nthe king's palace, and he became the son of the princess.  She called\nhis name Moses, which means \"drawn out,\" because she drew him out of\nthe water.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nMOSES IN MIDIAN.\n\nMoses had teachers, and was taught all the learning of the Egyptians,\nbut his heart was with his own people.  He was grieved when he saw\ntheir burdens, and heard their cries when their taskmasters struck them.\n\nOnce, when he was a grown man, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and\nhe struck the Egyptian and killed him, for he thought he ought to\ndefend his people: and when he saw that the man was dead, he buried him\nin the sand.  In a day or two Moses tried to make peace between two\nHebrews who were fighting, and they answered him roughly, and one of\nthem said:\n\n\"Who made thee a ruler over us? wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the\nEgyptian yesterday?\"\n\nThen Moses was afraid, and when the king heard of it, and tried to take\nhis life, Moses fled away out of Egypt, through a desert into Midian.\nThere he found a well and sat down by it to rest.  While he sat there\nthe seven daughters of the priest of Midian came to draw water for\ntheir father's flocks, and some rough shepherds came and drove them\naway, but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flocks.\nWhen their father knew that a noble stranger had been kind to his\ndaughters, he asked him to come into his house, and eat bread with him,\nand stay as long as he would.  So Moses stayed and Zipporah, one of the\nseven sisters, became his wife.\n\nBut Moses did not forget his people.  God was preparing him to lead\nthem out of bondage, and he learned many things, during the years that\nhe kept the sheep of his father-in-law in the wilderness.\n\nOne day he led his flocks across the desert to Mount Horeb or Sinai.\nThere he saw a bush all bright within as if it burned.  He drew nearer\nto see why the bush was not consumed, and heard the voice of the Lord\ncalling him.  The Lord told him to come no nearer, and to put off his\nshoes, for he stood on holy ground.  Then the Lord told him that He was\nthe God of his fathers, and that He had heard the cry of his oppressed\npeople in Egypt.\n\n\"I know their sorrows,\" said the voice from the midst of the fire, \"And\nI am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to\nbring them up out of that land into a good land, and a large--unto a\nland flowing with milk and honey.\"\n\nThen the Lord said that Moses must go to the new Pharaoh, for the old\nking was dead, and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.  Moses\nwas a very humble man, and he could not believe that Pharaoh would\nlisten to him or that the Hebrews would follow him, but the Lord said,\n\n\"Certainly I will be with thee.\"\n\nAnd as a sign that it should be so, He said that after Moses had\nbrought his people out of Egypt, they should serve God in this mountain.\n\nBut Moses had many fears.  He knew that he had been brought up as an\nEgyptian, and he feared that his people would not listen to his words.\n\nThen the Lord showed signs to Moses to help his faith.\n\nHe turned the rod in Moses' hand into a serpent, and then when he was\nafraid of it, the Lord told him to take it in his hand and it became a\nrod again.\n\nHe also turned his hand white with leprosy, and then changed it again\nto natural flesh, and told Moses, that these, and other signs he should\nshow in Egypt--to prove that he was sent of God.\n\nBut Moses felt himself to be so weak and faithless as a leader of his\npeople, that he still cried out that he was \"slow of speech, and of a\nslow tongue,\" and when the Lord said, \"I will teach thee what thou\nshalt say,\" he did not believe, but begged the Lord to send by whom he\nwould, only not by him.\n\nThen the Lord said that Aaron, the brother of Moses could speak well,\nand that he should go with him to Pharoah and to his people, and should\nspeak for him, but that the wisdom and power of God should be with\nMoses, and that he should do wonders with the rod in his hand.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nTHE ROD THAT TROUBLED EGYPT.\n\nSo Moses took his wife and his sons and returned to Egypt, and the rod\nof God was in his hand; and Aaron, sent of God, came to meet him in the\nwilderness, and there Moses told him all that was in his heart, and all\nthat God had sent him to do.\n\nWhen they came into Egypt they gathered the Israelites together, and\nAaron spoke to them, and they believed his words, and the signs that\nMoses showed them.\n\nAfterward, they went to Pharoah and gave him the message of the Lord,\nand Pharoah said:\n\n\"I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.\"\n\nAnd he began to oppress the Israelites more than he had ever done\nbefore.  They made bricks of clay mixed with straw, that hardened in\nthe sun, and were as lasting as stone, but he forced them to find the\nstraw wherever they could, and make as many bricks as before.  This\nthey did until no more straw could be found, and their Egyptian masters\nbeat them cruelly because they failed to make the full number of\nbricks.  Then they turned upon Moses and Aaron and said, that they had\nput a sword in the king's hand to slay them.\n\nWhere could Moses turn except to the Lord who had sent him?  The Lord\nheard him and made to him again the great promise, as he did at the\nburning bush, and Moses told the people, but they could not believe it,\nfor they were crushed under their cruel burdens.\n\nAnd now the Lord sent Moses and Aaron again to Pharoah, to show by sign\nand miracle, that their message was from Him.  They took the rod that\nMoses brought from Mount Horeb, and Moses told Aaron to cast it down\nbefore the king, and it became a serpent.  Pharoah called his wise men\nand wizards, and they did the same, only Aaron's rod swallowed up their\nrods, and Pharoah would not listen to their words.\n\n[Illustration: The rod that troubled Egypt]\n\nBut in the morning when Pharoah walked by the river the two men stood\nby him and said again:\n\nThe Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee saying:\n\n\"Let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness,\" and then\nAaron struck the waters of the river Nile with his rod, and the waters\nturned to blood.\n\nIn all the land, in every stream and pond there was blood, so that the\nfishes died and no one could drink the water.\n\nBut because the wizards could turn water to blood also, Pharoah's heart\nwas hardened toward Moses and Aaron.\n\nWhile the people were digging wells for water, Aaron stretched forth\nhis rod over the river again, and frogs came up from it, and spread\nover all the land and filled the houses of the people.  This also the\nmagicians did, but so great was the plague that the king said:\n\n\"I will let the people go.\"\n\n\"When shall I entreat for thee and for thy people to destroy the frogs\nfrom thee and thy houses?\" said Moses; and Pharoah told him to do so\nthe next day.\n\nSo on the next day Moses prayed to the Lord that the frogs might go out\nof the land, and the Lord answered his prayer; but when Pharoah saw\nthat the frogs had been destroyed his heart grew hard, and he would not\nlisten to Moses and Aaron.\n\nThen another plague was brought upon the Egyptians.  The dust of the\nland was changed to lice that covered man and beast, and this was\nfollowed by swarms of flies that settled upon all the land except\nGoshen where the Israelites lived.\n\nThen Pharoah said:\n\n\"Go, sacrifice to your God in this land,\" but they would not worship in\nEgypt, and Pharoah at last told them that they could go into the\nwilderness, but they must not go very far away.  So Moses prayed, and\nthe swarms of flies were swept out of Egypt, but Pharoah did not keep\nhis word.\n\nThen a great sickness fell upon the cattle and sheep of the country,\nthough the flocks and herds of the Israelites were free from it; and\nthis was followed by a breaking out of boils upon men and beasts\neverywhere, even upon the magicians, but Pharaoh's heart was still too\nwicked to yield to God.\n\nThen came a great storm of hail over Egypt, such as had never been\nknown in that sunny land.  It killed the cattle in the fields, and\ndestroyed the grain that was grown, and broke the trees and herbs.  The\nlightnings fell also and ran upon the ground, and when it was over the\nheart of Pharaoh was still hard against God.\n\nThen Moses told Pharaoh that the face of the earth would be covered\nwith clouds of locusts that would eat every green thing left by the\nstorm, if he did not let God's people go.  This frightened Pharaoh's\nservants and they begged him to send them away, and though he would not\nlet their wives and little ones go, he said:\n\n\"Go now, ye that are men, for that ye did desire,\" and he drove them\nout of his presence.\n\nThen at the Lord's word, Moses arose and stretched forth his rod over\nEgypt, and the plague of locusts came, driven by the East wind, and\ncovered the land until there was no green thing left in Egypt.\n\nThen Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron in great haste, and confessing\nhis sin, begged to be forgiven and to be saved from, \"this death only,\"\nand, at Moses' prayer, a mighty west wind drove the army of locusts\ninto the Red Sea.\n\nBut again the heart of Pharaoh turned against God, and the Lord brought\nthick darkness over the land for three days, only in the homes of the\nHebrews there was light.  Then Pharaoh was willing to let them take\ntheir wives and their little ones, but not their flocks and herds, and\nbecause they would not leave them behind, Pharaoh drove Moses and Aaron\nfrom him in anger, saying:\n\n\"See my face no more.\"\n\nBut the Lord proposed to break the hard heart of Pharaoh.  He told\nMoses to see that every Israelite should take a lamb from the flock and\nkeep it four days.  Then, at evening, he was to kill it, and dip a\nbranch of hyssop in its blood, and strike it against the sides of his\ndoor, also over it, leaving three marks of blood there.  Then he was to\nclose his door and no one was to go out of it until morning.\n\nThey were to roast the lamb and eat of it, and be ready for the journey\nthey were to make, and it should be to them forever the feast called\nthe Passover.  They were to eat it with unleavened bread, and the feast\nshould be kept forever from the first to the seventh day of the month,\na holy feast to the Lord.\n\nAnd this is why it was called the feast of the Passover.  At midnight,\nafter the lamb was killed in each house of the Israelites, and the\ndoors were shut, the Lord passed through the land, and wherever he saw\nthe blood on the side posts and the top of the door, he passed over\nthat house, and it was safe, but in every Egyptian house the first born\ndied, from the child of Pharaoh who sat on the throne, to the child of\nthe captive in the cell, and all the first born of cattle.\n\nThe next morning a great cry went up from the land of Egypt, for there\nwas not a house where there was not one dead.\n\nThen Pharaoh was quite ready to let the Israelites go.\n\n\"Take all you have and be gone,\" he said.\n\nThey were all ready, and rose up very gladly to join the great\nprocession, led by Moses and Aaron, that gathered in Goshen, and\nstarted on its long journey toward the east.\n\nThey had heard of the land of their fathers, and now they were going\nhome to be slaves no more.  They were a family of seventy souls when\nthey came into Egypt, four hundred and thirty years before, and now\nthey went out a great nation, as the Lord had promised when he blessed\ntheir fathers.\n\nThe feast of the Passover has been the chief one held by the\nIsraelites, from the time of their coming out of Egypt until now, and\nsince Jesus held the Passover feast with his disciples on the night\nthat he went forth to death, it has become to all Christians the\nSacrament of the Lord's Supper.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nFOLLOWING THE CLOUD.\n\n\"God led the people,\" says the Word, as they came up out of Egypt.  He\ngave them the two leaders by whom He had broken the power of Pharaoh,\nand set His people free, and He also set a great cloud in the air, just\nabove and before them, to lead them in the right way.  It was to them\nthe presence of the Lord.  By day it rose white and beautiful against\nthe blue sky, and moved slowly before them.  At night it stood still\nwhile they rested, and shed light over all the camp, for there seemed\nto be a fire within the cloud at night.  How safe and happy they must\nhave felt away from the cruel taskmasters of Egypt, and the Lord's\npresence, spreading a wing of cloud over them.  They were not led by a\nstraight way to Canaan, for a warlike people lived in the land which\nthey must pass through, but they were led at first through a country\nwithout cities or armies, where they would not trouble many people or\nbe troubled by them.  They bore with them the embalmed body of Joseph,\nfor they had promised to bury him with his fathers in the cave of\nMachpelah; and they also had much wealth in herds, and flocks, and\ngold, and silver.  Pharaoh thought of this after they had gone, and his\nwicked heart grew harder than before, so he ordered his chariots and\nhorsemen to follow them, and they found the Israelites camped by the\nRed Sea.\n\nThen there was great fear and mourning in the camp when they saw the\narmy of Pharaoh coming, but Moses cried:\n\n\"Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.  The Lord\nshall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.\"\n\nThen the Lord told Moses to speak to the people that they go forward.\nHe also told him to lift up his rod and stretch his hand over the sea\nand divide it, and the children of Israel should go on dry ground\nthrough the midst of the sea.  Night was falling, and the waters lay\ndark before them, but the angel of God, the pillar of cloud and fire,\nmoved from its place before them and went behind them, while Moses and\nAaron led them on.  Then the presence of the Lord was a cloud and\ndarkness to the Egyptians, but it gave a light by night to the\nIsraelites.  A strong east wind drove the waters apart all night, so\nthat there was a way through the sea, and the waters were a wall upon\ntheir right hand and on their left.  Pharaoh's army saw the broad path\nthrough the sea, and followed fast after the Israelites, but as morning\ndawned the Lord looked from the cloud and troubled the Egyptians.\nTheir chariot wheels came off, and all went wrong with them.\n\nAt last the Lord told Moses to stretch his hand forth over the sea,\nthat the waters might come back upon the Egyptians, and he did so; and\nas the sun rose, the sea swallowed up the Egyptian host, and their\nbodies were cast upon the shore.  There on the other side stood the\ngreat host of Israel, and saw the salvation of God, and they believed\nin Him, and in Moses His servant.\n\n[Illustration: Destruction of Pharaoh's army]\n\nThen a great shout went up from the host of Israel.  Moses led them in\na song of praise, and Miriam, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine,\nand the women followed her in dances as they answered in a chorus of\npraise:--\n\n\"Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and\nthe rider hath he thrown into the sea.\"\n\nSoon they took up their journey, the cloudy pillar going before.  There\nwas but little water by the way, and after three days of thirst, they\ncame to the waters of Marah, but they were bitter, and the people cried\nto Moses,\n\n\"What shall we drink?\"\n\nThen the Lord showed him a tree which he cast into the waters, and they\nwere made pure and sweet.  Soon after they came to Elim, where there\nwere twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees, and there they\nrested.\n\nAgain they took up their journey and passed through a desert land,\nwhere they could get no food, and again they complained to Moses\nbecause he had brought them into the wilderness to die.  They did not\nyet believe that God could supply all their need.\n\n\"I will rain bread from heaven for you,\" said the Lord to Moses.  He\nwas ready to provide, if they would only believe in Him and obey Him.\n\nMoses called them to come near before the Lord while Aaron should speak\nhis word to them.  As they came near and looked toward the wilderness\nwhere the cloud stood, the glory of the Lord shone out of it.  The Lord\nhad heard them speak harshly to Moses for bringing them into a desert\nto die, but he said,\n\n\"At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with\nbread.\"\n\nAnd his word came true.  Great flocks of quails came up and covered the\ncamp at sunset, so that they caught them for food; and in the morning\nthe dew lay around them, and when it had risen, there lay on the ground\na small, round, white thing, something like frost, or a little seed,\nand it tasted like wafers made with honey.  The Lord told Moses that\nthe people must gather just enough to eat through the day, and no more.\nThe morning before the Sabbath they must gather enough for two days,\nfor none would fall on the Sabbath.  This was the bread that the\nheavenly Father provided for his children through all the years of\ntheir journey from Egypt to Canaan, and they called it \"Manna.\"\n\nThere were hard things to bear in the wilderness.  Often when they\nwanted water for their little ones and their cattle, and could not find\nit, they were like fretful children when they were tired and thirsty.\nOnce, at Horeb, Moses struck a rock with his wonderful rod, and water\nsprung out in a stream.\n\nThere were enemies also in the way.  The Amelikites came out to fight\nwith the Israelites.  The strong men went to meet the enemy, but Moses\nstood on a hill with the rod of God in his hand, and Aaron and Hur were\nwith him.  While Moses held up the rod, Israel prevailed; but when he\nlet down his hand Amalek prevailed.\n\nBut Moses grew tired and they placed a stone for him to sit upon, and\nAaron and Hur held up his hands on either side until the going down of\nthe sun, when Amalek was conquered.  Moses built an altar there, and\ncalled it \"The Lord my Banner.\"\n\nThey were now drawing near the Mount, where Moses saw the burning bush,\nand heard the Lord calling him to be the leader of his people.\n\nThey were far out of their way to Canaan, but it was in the Lord's\npurpose to bring them into obedience and faith before he brought them\ninto the promised land.  They had lived long among the Egyptians, and\nwere very far from being like Jacob and Joseph, but there were good and\ntrue men like Aaron, and Joshua, and Hur, who helped Moses.  It was\nabout three months after the children of Israel left Egypt, that they\ncame into the wilderness of Sinai.  There the \"Mount of God\" still\nlifts its great granite cliffs toward the sky.  There are high valleys\nmidway where it is cooler than below, and there the people encamped and\nwaited to hear what God would say to them, for God talked with Moses on\nthe Mount.\n\nHe said He had chosen them, if they would obey his voice, to be a holy\nnation.  He told Moses to tell the people to be ready, and on the third\nday He would come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai.\n\nAnd so it was, as the people looked there was a thick cloud upon the\nMount, from which came thunder and lightning, and the sound of a great\ntrumpet, while the mountain trembled as with an earthquake.  Only Moses\nand Aaron could approach the holy Mount, and from it God gave to Moses\nthe laws that the people were to live by, and Moses wrote them all down\nthat he might read them to the people.  A company of the Elders of\nIsrael went up and saw the glory of God afar off, but God called Moses\nup into the Mount, and the cloud closed him round, while the Lord gave\nhim the laws for a great nation, and the pattern of the tabernacle\nwhich He wished him to make for a church in the wilderness.\n\nForty days and forty nights Moses was on the Mount with God, and then\nGod gave him the ten great commandments written with his own hands on\ntablets of stone, that he might give them to the people.  They were to\nbe kept as the rules of life for all people in all times.\n\nForty days and nights seemed a long time to the people camped around\nthe Mount.  Perhaps they thought Moses would never come back to lead\nthem, for they began to think of the gods of Egypt, and asked Aaron to\nmake one for them.  So to please them he told them to bring him their\ngold ornaments, and he melted them and made a golden calf such as the\nEgyptians worshiped, and before it they made an altar, and they\nworshiped the calf.\n\nThe Lord who sees all things told Moses to go down to the people for\nthey were worshiping an idol.  So Moses went down a little way and met\nJoshua, and they both went down and saw the people feasting, and\nsinging, and dancing, and Moses cast the tablets of stone upon the\nground and they were broken.  The heart of Moses, too, was almost\nbroken, but he destroyed the golden calf, and punished the people for\ntheir great sin, and then went up to the Mount to plead for the life of\nhis people.\n\n\"O this people have sinned a great sin,\" he cried, \"and have made them\ngods of gold, yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot\nme, I pray thee, out of the book which thou has written,\" so great was\nthe love of Moses for his people.\n\nThere was a time of repentance among the people after this, and Moses\nand his servant Joshua reared a tent outside the camp and called it the\nTabernacle of the congregation.  It was for worship until the true\nTabernacle should be built according to the pattern given in the Mount.\nAll who sought the Lord went to worship there, and the pillar of cloud\ncame and stood at the Tabernacle door while Moses talked with God, and\nall the people saw it and worshiped.\n\nMoses prayed again for the people, and the Lord said:\n\n\"My presences shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.\"\n\nThe Lord called Moses again into the mount, and told him to bring with\nhim two tablets of stone and He would again write the ten commandments\nupon them.\n\nSo Moses hewed them from the rock and took them up into Mount Sinai.\nThen the Lord came down again in a thick cloud and talked with Moses,\nand wrote upon the tablets of stone.\n\nAfter forty days Moses came down to the people bringing the\ncommandments with him, but his face shone with a strange light that the\npeople never saw before, and they were afraid of him.  It was something\nabove the light of the sun, for Moses had seen the Glory of the Lord.\n\n[Illustration: Moses descending from the Mount]\n\nWhile they still camped around the mount they began to build the\nTabernacle.  Moses told the people to bring gold, and silver, and\nbrass, and wood.  They also brought precious stones, and oil for the\nlamp, and fine linen, and they gave so willingly that at last Moses\ntold them that there was more than enough.\n\nThese were put in the hands of two wise men whom the Lord had chosen\nand taught to do the work, and they had willing helpers among the\npeople, for wise hearted women did spin with their own hands, and bring\nwhat they had spun, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen to\nmake the hangings of the Tabernacle.\n\nIf you would know all the beautiful and costly and curious things that\nwere made for this church in the wilderness, you will find them\ndescribed in the last chapters of Exodus.\n\nThe Israelites camped a long time in the high valleys around the Mount\nof God, and at last set up the Tabernacle.  It was so made that it\ncould be taken down and carried with them when they journeyed, for it\nwas a beautiful tent.  Over it the pillar of cloud stood.  Whenever it\nmoved the people followed, and when it stood still, they rested.\nWithin the Tabernacle they placed a beautiful chest of wood overlaid\nwith gold, which ever after held their most precious things, the\ntablets of stone written upon by the Lord himself.\n\nThis \"Ark of Testimony,\" as it was called, had rings at the sides\nthrough which men laid strong rods by which to carry it, and so had the\ngolden table for bread, and the golden altar of incense.  There was a\nbeautiful seven-branched candlestick of pure gold in which olive oil\nwas burned for a sacred sign, and there was a brazen altar for burnt\nofferings, and a great brazen bowl for washing, and other things to be\nused in the worship of the Sanctuary.\n\nThere were beautiful garments, also, for the priests, Aaron and his\nsons, and for Aaron there was a wonderful breast-plate of gold set with\ntwelve precious stones, bearing the names of the twelve tribes of\nIsrael.\n\nWhen all was finished, and the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud that\nveiled the presence of the Lord came and covered it, and the glory of\nthe Lord filled it, so that Moses could not enter; but the Lord spoke\nto him from the cloud, and told him how the priests should order the\nworship of the Lord there.\n\nAfterward, Aaron and his sons offered burnt offerings for their sins,\nand the sins of the people, in the way the Lord had commanded, and fire\nfrom the Lord came down and consumed the offering.\n\nWhen the people saw the answer of the Lord they fell on their faces\nbefore him.\n\nIn the second month of the second year the cloud rose from over the\nTabernacle, and then the people knew it was time to go on their\nJourney.  So they took down the tent of the Tabernacle and put all\nthings in order for the journey.  Each of the twelve tribes descended\nfrom the twelve sons of Jacob marched by themselves, carrying banners,\nand having captains.  In the midst of them all marched the Levites\ncarrying the Ark and the different parts of the Tabernacle, and when\nthe cloud stood still, they stopped and set up the Tabernacle, while\nthe people formed their camp all around it in the order of their tribes.\n\nStill the manna fell with the dew at night, and the people gathered it\nin the morning, and when they tired of it, the Lord sent them quails\nagain.\n\nOver and over the people complained and rebelled, but the Angel of the\nLord's Presence still hovered over them, and led them toward the\npromised land.  Forty years they were on the journey that was so easily\nmade by the sons of Jacob when they went back and forth to buy wheat in\nthe time of famine; and forty-two times did they encamp on the way, yet\nthe mercy of the Lord never failed them, and they were brought into\ntheir own land at last.  Then the cloud was no longer needed to go\nbefore them, but long after, when they built a beautiful temple at\nJerusalem in which to put the sacred Ark of Testimony, the cloud came\nagain and filled the temple with the glory of the Lord.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nIN THE BORDERS OF CANAAN.\n\nWhile the host of Israel was in camp at Paran, the Lord told Moses to\nsend men before them into Canaan to spy out the land.\n\nSo he sent twelve men who walked through the land and saw the people,\nand the cities and the fields and the fruits.  They were forty days\nsearching the land and they brought from the brook Eschol a cluster of\ngrapes so large that two of them bore it on a staff between them.  They\nalso brought some pomegranates and figs.\n\n[Illustration: The return of the spies]\n\nWhen they came into the camp they said that the country where they had\nbeen was good, and flowing with milk and honey, but the people were\nstrong, and the cities had very high walls.  They said they saw giants\nthere.\n\nCaleb, who was one of the twelve, and a good and true man, said:\n\n\"Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome\nit,\" but the men who were with him were afraid of the giants, and said\nthey felt like grasshoppers before them.  Then there was great weeping\namong the people all that night, and they said,\n\n\"Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.\"  Moses and Aaron\nwere greatly troubled, but the two good men, Caleb and Joshua, stood up\nand encouraged the people, saying that they need not fear, for the Lord\nhad given them the land, yet they were ready to stone Caleb and Joshua.\n\nThen the Lord spake to Moses from the Tabernacle, and the people saw\nhis glory.  He said the people were unbelieving and disobedient, and\nfor this reason they could not enter the promised land.  He said, that\nall who were twenty years old and upward would die in the wilderness,\nexcept Caleb and Joshua, who had followed the Lord wholly.  He also\nsaid that the people would be forty years in the wilderness, and only\nthe youth and the children would live to enter Canaan.\n\nThere was mourning and repentance then because of the word of the Lord,\nand the people promised again to believe and obey, but over and over\nthey lost faith and rebelled, and great storms of trouble fell upon\nthem.\n\nOnce the earth opened and many were swallowed up; a sudden sickness\ndestroyed thousands.  Near Mount Hor, where Aaron died, fiery serpents\nran among the people, and all who were bitten by them died; but there\nwas full forgiveness and cure for those who turned to the Lord.  When\nthe fiery serpents entered the camp Moses lifted a brazen image of a\nserpent up on a pole so high that it could be seen all over the camp,\nand whoever looked upon it lived.  It was a sign of the coming Saviour.\n\nBetween the marches and the battles with heathen tribes, some of whom\nwere giants, Moses wrote in a book the laws that God gave him for the\ngovernment of the people.  They were wise laws, the keeping of which\nwould bring health, peace and blessedness to the people.  He gave the\nbook to the Levites who carried the Ark, and they were to keep it\nalways beside the Ark, and often read it aloud to the people.\n\nMoses said many things to the people, and as Jacob blessed his twelve\nsons, so Moses blessed each of the twelve tribes that descended from\nthem, for he was near the end of his long life.  The Lord had told him\nthat He should take him to Himself before the people entered Canaan,\nand that Joshua must lead the people into the promised land.  So when\nthey had reached the borders of Canaan, and were encamped near the\nJordan, the Lord called his tried servant up into Mount Nebo, that he\nmight see the land beyond the Jordan, where the twelve tribes were to\nfind their promised home.  Then the Lord gave him a view of the land,\nand there he died, as Aaron died on Mount Hor.\n\nNo one saw Moses die, and no one knows where he was buried, for the\nLord buried him.  He was one hundred and twenty years old, and yet as\nstrong as a young man.  After his death Joshua became the leader of\nIsrael.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nA NATION THAT WAS BORN IN A DAY.\n\nThe time had come for the people to cross the river Jordan, and enter\ntheir own land, and the Lord told Joshua to prepare the people for\ntheir last journey before going over Jordan.  Joshua first sent two men\nover the river to see the land.\n\nThey went to the walled city of Jericho, and to the house of a woman\nnamed Rahab.  The king heard that they were there and sent for them,\nbut the woman hid them under the flax that she was drying on the roof\nof her house.  Afterward she let them down by a rope through a window\n(for her house was built on the town wall), and they escaped.  They\npromised Rahab before they went, that if she would hang a long line of\nscarlet thread from the window on the wall, that when they came to take\nthe city she should be saved and all her family because of her kindness\nto them.\n\nAfter they had returned to the camp they told Joshua that the Lord\nwould surely give them the land, for the people were afraid of them.\nThen they rose up and marched to the banks of the Jordan and waited for\nJoshua to lead them over.  Some of them remembered how they had passed\nthrough the Red Sea, and others had heard it from their parents, and\nthey now waited to see the salvation of God.  Joshua told them to\nfollow the priests, and the Levites who would bear the Ark of the\nCovenant, so when Joshua said:\n\n\"Behold the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth\nover before you into Jordan,\" the people followed.\n\nThe Jordan lay spread before them like a lake, for it was the time of\nyear when it overflowed all its banks, but when the feet of the priests\nwho bore the Ark were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters from\nabove stopped and rose like a wall, while the waters below flowed away\ninto the Dead Sea, and left a wide path for the people to walk in, and\nthe Ark stood still in Jordan until every one had passed over.  Then\ntwelve men, one out of every tribe, took a stone from the bed of the\nriver and carried it over for a memorial altar, so that when any should\nask in years to come, \"What do these stones mean?\" someone might tell\nthem how the Lord led Israel through Jordan into their own land.\n\n[Illustration: Crossing the Jordan]\n\nAfter the Ark had come up from the bed of Jordan, and there was not one\nof all the thousands of Israel left behind, the waters came down from\nthe place where they had stayed, and flowed down into the Dead Sea, and\noverflowed the banks of Jordan as before.\n\nThe stones were heaped in Gilgal where they camped, and directly before\nthem rose the walls of Jericho, and here they kept the passover.  For\nforty years they had been fed with manna from heaven as they camped or\njourneyed in the wilderness, but now they began to eat the grain and\nthe fruits of the land, and the manna fell no more.\n\nNearly five hundred years before the family of Jacob left this land to\ngo down into Egypt where Joseph was.  They grew to be a great people,\nbut they were slaves.  Then the Lord sent Moses to make them free, and\nthey began the long journey, which at last brought them to their own\nland.\n\nForty years they were on the journey, and all this time they were\npilgrims, but on the day that the Jordan ceased to flow, and parted\nwhile they passed over into the land promised to their fathers, they\nbecame a nation.\n\nThe land was before them, and they had only to obey the Lord and his\nservant Joshua to conquer and possess it.\n\nAs they filled the valley of the Jordan before Jericho, the hearts of\nthe heathen fainted for fear, for they knew that only the Lord could\ndivide a river to let his people pass.\n\nJoshua went out of the camp to look at Jericho, the walled city.  It\nwas shut up for fear of the Israelites, and there was no one to be seen.\n\nSuddenly Joshua saw a warrior standing with a drawn sword in his hand.\n\n\"Art thou for us,\" said Joshua, \"or for our adversaries?\" and the\nwarrior angel answered,\n\n\"Nay! but as Captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come,\" and\nJoshua fell on his face before him.\n\nHe knew then that it was the Lord who would conquer Jericho, and he was\ntold how the people were to help him.\n\nSo Joshua called the priests, and told them to take up the Ark, and he\ntold seven priests to go before it bearing trumpets of rams' horns.\nThen the army of Israel, ready for war, followed, half of them marching\nbefore the Ark, and half of them coming after, and as the trumpets gave\na great sound, they marched once around the city, and then went to\ncamp.  This they did once every day for seven days, but on the seventh\nday they marched around the city seven times, and as the priests blew\nthe trumpets for the last time, Joshua cried with a mighty voice,\n\n\"Shout! for the Lord hath given you the city.\"\n\nThen as a great shout went up from the people, the walls of the city\nfell down flat, so that the soldiers of Israel went up, every man\nstraight before him, and took Jericho.\n\nAnd Rahab was not forgotten.  The Lord cared for her little house on\nthe wall, and she, with all her family, were brought into the Camp of\nIsrael.\n\nAnd so by the conquest of Jericho the new nation of Israel began to\npossess its land.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nSAMSON THE STRONG.\n\nAll the days of Joshua--and he lived to be an hundred and ten years\nold--the Israelites were conquering the people who lived in Canaan, and\ndividing it among the tribes.  Joshua was a father to them, as Moses\nhad been, and when at last they were at rest, each tribe within its own\nborders, and they had begun to build their houses, and plant their\nfields, Joshua spoke words of loving counsel to the people, and they\nset up a stone under an oak tree, as a sign that they would always\nserve the Lord and keep the law, and then he went to be with God.\nAfter his death Israel was ruled by wise men called judges, who helped\nthem to conquer the land little by little.  Some of them were good men\nand brave warriors as Othniel and Gideon and Jephthah and one was a\nprophetess named Deborah, a noble mother in Israel, and one was a\nmighty man of strength, Samson, the son of Manoah.\n\nThe people of Israel had turned away from the Lord, and could no longer\nconquer their enemies, but the Philistines had conquered them, and had\nbeen their masters for forty years, when the Lord sent Samson to\ndeliver them.  He was not a wise man like Moses or Joshua, but he had\ngreat strength, and the Lord used him against the Philistines.\n\nOnce a young lion came roaring against him, and he caught it and rent\nit in two, as if it had been a kid.  When he passed the same way\nafterward he saw that the bees had built a nest in the body of the\nlion, and it was full of honey.  At his marriage feast--for he married\na Philistine woman--he made a riddle for the young men to guess:\n\n\"Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong, come forth\nsweetness.\"\n\n[Illustration: The young Samson]\n\nThey tried for seven days to guess the riddle, but they could not, and\nthen they told Samson's wife to find it out for them, or they would\nburn her house.  She begged him with tears to tell her, and at last he\ntold her of the honey comb in the body of the lion, and she told the\nyoung men, so that at the end of the seventh day they said to Samson,\n\n\"What is sweeter than honey?\" and \"what is stronger than a lion?\"\n\nHe saw that he had been betrayed, so he paid his debt, a suit of\nclothes to each guest, and went home to his father's house.  Afterwards\nwhen he found that his wife had been given to another he tied\nfirebrands to the tails of three hundred foxes, and sent them among the\nwheat fields of the Philistines so that the fields were set on fire.\n\nOnce the men of Gaza tried to kill him when he was within their city,\nbut he rose at midnight and took the city gates, with its posts and\nbar, and carried them away on his shoulders to the top of the hill.\nAgain the Philistine lords had promised a great deal of money to a\nwoman, if she would get Samson to tell her what made him so strong, so\nshe begged him to tell her.  Three times she thought she knew the\nsecret, and told the Philistines, but they could not bind him.  At last\nhe was tired of her questions, and said to her plainly--that from a\nchild no razor had ever touched his hair.  If it should be cut he would\nbe as weak as other men.  Then she watched and cut his hair while he\nslept, and the Philistines bound him and carried him to Gaza, where\nthey made him blind, and forced him to grind in the mills of a prison\nhouse.  The Philistines were glad because Samson was their prisoner at\nlast, and so they came together in a great feast to sacrifice to their\ngod Dagon, for they said,\n\n\"Our god has delivered Samson into our hands.\"  While they were merry\nthey said:\n\n\"Let us send for Samson to make sport for us,\" and he was brought out\nof the prison.  It was very sad to see the strong judge of Israel, weak\nand blind, led by a little lad, and making sport for the people in\nfront of their temple.  All the lords of the Philistines were there,\nand upon the broad roof of the temple were about three thousand people\nwatching Samson while he showed his strength, for his hair had grown\nand his strength was returning.  At last as he was standing between two\ngreat pillars that held up the roof, he prayed, lifting his sightless\neyes to God:\n\n\"O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me only this\nonce.\"\n\nThen he clasped his arms around the pillars on either side of him, and\nbowing himself with all his might, saying,\n\n\"Let me die with the Philistines,\" he drew the great pillars with him,\nand the house fell with all that were upon it, on all that were within\nit.  So died Samson who judged Israel twenty years, yet a woman,\nDeborah, who was also one of the judges in Israel, was stronger than\nhe, for the Lord looketh on the heart.\n\n[Illustration: The death of Samson]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nRUTH.\n\nIn the days when the judges ruled in Israel, there was a famine in the\nland, and an Israelite, who lived in Bethlehem, took his wife and his\ntwo sons into Moab where there was food.  After a while the Israelite\ndied, and the two sons married women of Moab.\n\nAfter two years the sons died also, and their mother, Naomi, longed for\nher home in Bethlehem, for there was no longer a famine there.  So she\ntook Ruth and Orpah, her sons' wives, and started on the journey into\nthe land of Israel.\n\nBut before they had gone far Naomi said:\n\n\"Go! return each to her mother's house; the Lord deal kindly with you,\nas ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.\"\n\nShe kissed them, and they wept and would not leave her.\n\n\"Turn again, my daughters,\" she said, \"why will ye go with me?\"\n\nAnd Orpah kissed Naomi, and went back to her own mothers' house, but\nRuth, whose heart was with Naomi, would not go back.\n\n\"Entreat me not to leave thee,\" she said, \"or to return from following\nafter thee, for where thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest I\nwill lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where\nthou diest I will die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to\nme, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.\"\n\nAnd so they came to Bethlehem, and the old friends of Naomi greeted her\ntenderly, and welcomed her back.  It was about the beginning of the\nbarley harvest.\n\nThere was a good and great man in Bethlehem named Boaz, and he was of\nthe family of Naomi's husband.  He had a field of barley where the\nreapers were at work, and Ruth asked Naomi if she should not go and\nglean after the reapers, to get grain, for they were poor.\n\nNaomi said, \"Go, my daughter,\" and she went.\n\nWhen Boaz came out of the town into his field and greeted his reapers,\nhe said to his servant having charge of the reapers,\n\n\"What maiden is this?\" and he told him that she was the Moabitish girl\nwho had come back with her mother-in-law Naomi.\n\nThen Boaz spoke very kindly to Ruth, and told her to stay with his\nmaidens, and freely drink of the water drawn for them, and Ruth bowed\nbefore him and asked why he should be so kind to a stranger.  He told\nher that he knew all her kindness to her mother-in-law since the death\nof her husband, and how she had left her own family and country to come\namong strangers, and he blessed her, saying,\n\n\"A full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose\nwings thou art come to trust.\"\n\nThen he told her to sit down and eat bread with them, and he helped her\nto the parched corn with his own hands, and when they returned to work\nhe told his young men to let her glean among the sheaves and reprove\nher not, and to let some handfuls fall purposely for her to glean.\nWhen Ruth went home Naomi said,\n\n\"Where hast thou gleaned to-day?\" and Ruth told her.  Then Naomi\nblessed Boaz, and told Ruth that he was one of their near relatives.\n\nAnd so Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz through all the barley and\nthe wheat harvest.  When all the reaping was done, the grain was\nthreshed on a piece of ground made very smooth and level.  The sheaves\nwere beaten, and then the straw was taken away, and the grain and chaff\nbelow it was winnowed.  By this the chaff was blown away and only the\ngrain was left.\n\nWhen Boaz winnowed his barley Naomi told Ruth to go down to his\nthreshing floor and see him for he had a feast for his friends.\n\nSo after the feast Ruth came near to him and said,\n\n\"Thou art our near kinsman,\" and Boaz said,\n\n\"May the Lord bless thee my daughter,\" and with many kind words he gave\nher six measures of barley to take to Naomi.\n\n[Illustration: Ruth and Naomi]\n\nBoaz remembered that it was the custom in Israel for the nearest\nrelative of a man who had died, to take care of the wife who was left,\nand so he went to the gate of Bethlehem where the rulers met to hold\ntheir court, and spoke to the elders and chief men about Ruth.  He also\nwished them to be witnesses that he was going to take Ruth to be his\nwife.  Then the rulers all said,\n\n\"We are witnesses,\" and they prayed that God would bless Ruth and make\nBoaz still richer and greater.\n\nSo Ruth became the honored and beloved wife of Boaz, and they had a son\nnamed Obed.\n\nObed grew up and had a son named Jesse; and Jesse was the father of\nDavid, King of Israel, who was first a shepherd lad of Bethlehem.\n\nMore than a thousand years after Ruth lived there was born in\nBethlehem, of the family of Boaz and Ruth, a little Child, who came, to\nbe the Saviour of the world, and the shepherds in the fields, where,\nperhaps, Ruth gleaned, and David kept his sheep, heard the angels tell\nthe good news and sing\n\n\"Peace on earth, good will to men.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nSAMUEL--THE CHILD OF THE TEMPLE.\n\nThe Tabernacle that was built in the wilderness, and was brought into\nCanaan by the priests was set up at Shiloh in the very centre of the\nland of Canaan, and once every year the tribes came to it to worship\nand offer sacrifices.  After it had come to Shiloh to stay it was\ncalled the temple.\n\nWhen Eli was high priest a man named Elkanah came up from Ramah to\nworship, and Hannah his wife went with him.  She was a good woman, and\nvery sorrowful, because she saw other wives with sons and daughters\naround them, and she had none.  Her husband was loving and kind and\nsaid:\n\n\"Am I not better to thee than ten sons?\" but she prayed to God for a\nson.  While she was at Shiloh she prayed in the temple, and Eli saw her\nlips move, though he heard no voice.  At first he spoke harshly to her,\nthinking she had been drinking wine, but she told him that she had not\ntaken wine, but was praying.\n\n\"I am a woman of sorrowful spirit,\" she said, \"and have poured out my\nsoul before the Lord.\"  Then Eli blessed her and said:\n\n\"Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee the prayer that thou\nhast asked of him.\"  Then Hannah was no longer sad.\n\nHer prayer was answered, and the Lord sent her a little son, and when\nhe was old enough, she took him to the temple, for she had promised the\nLord that the child should be His.  So Elkanah came bringing\nsacrifices, and the young child was with them.  Hannah told Eli that\nshe was the woman whom he saw praying in the temple.\n\n[Illustration: Samuel speaking to the Lord]\n\n\"For the child I prayed,\" she said, \"and the Lord has answered my\nprayer.  Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he\nshall be lent to the Lord.\"  Eli was very glad and gave thanks to the\nLord, and took the little boy to help him in the service of the temple.\nEvery year his father and mother came to bring offerings to the Lord,\nand his mother always brought him a little coat which she had made.\n\nOver it was a linen garment called an ephod, such as the priests wore.\nEli was an old man, and his sons, though they were priests, were not\ngood men, and he believed the Lord had sent him one who would be good,\nso he loved little Samuel as if he were his own.\n\nOne night when Eli was laid down to sleep, and Samuel also, while the\nlight was still burning in the golden candlestick before the Ark,\nSamuel heard a voice calling him, and he answered, \"Here am I,\" and ran\nto see what Eli wanted.  But Eli said that he had not called, and\nSamuel lay down again.  When the voice called again, Samuel went again\nto Eli's bed, but Eli told him to lie down again, for he had not called\nhim.  When the voice called the third time, Samuel said: \"Here am I,\nfor thou _didst_ call me.\"\n\nThen Eli told the boy to lie down once more, but if he heard the voice\nagain to say,\n\n\"Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.\"\n\nAnd when the voice called again, \"Samuel, Samuel,\" the boy answered,\n\n\"Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.\"\n\nThen the Lord told Samuel that the sons of Eli had become very wicked,\nand their father had not kept them from the evil, and therefore He\ncould not accept their offerings.\n\nWhen Eli asked Samuel what the Lord had said to him, the boy told him\nall and hid nothing from him, and Eli bowed his spirit before the Lord,\nand said:\n\n\"It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good.\"\n\nAfter this all the people of Israel knew that the Lord had called\nSamuel to be a prophet.  And as he grew up the Lord was with him, and\nhe was a judge over his people all his life.\n\nAs for Eli and his sons, the word of the Lord soon came true.  When the\nPhilistines came against the Israelites in battle, the Elders of Israel\nsaid:\n\n\"Let us bring the Ark of the Lord out of Shiloh to us, that it may save\nus out of the hand of our enemies.\"  And so they took it from the holy\nplace to the camp of Israel.  Then the Philistines fell upon the camp\nand scattered the men of Israel.  They also took the Ark of God, and\nthe two sons of Eli were among the thousands slain.\n\nEli, who trembled for the Ark of God, sat outside the city gate, by the\nwayside watching.  He was nearly a hundred years old, and his eyes were\ndim, but when a messenger came with the bad news, he fell backward in\nhis seat and died.  His heart was broken.\n\nWhere was Samuel?  Perhaps he was praying in the temple for the return\nof the Ark of the Covenant.\n\nWherever the Ark went among the Philistines, there went also trouble\nand death.  When they put it in the temple of their fish-god Dagon, the\ngreat idol fell down before it and was broken.  And when it was taken\nto another city, the people were smitten with sickness, until at last\nthe Philistines said:\n\n\"Send away the Ark of the God of Israel, and let it go to its own\nplace.\"\n\nAfter seven months they sent it with gifts of gold to the Israelites.\nThey placed it on a new cart drawn by two cows, and the cows, guided by\nthe Lord alone, took a straight way into the land of Israel.  How glad\nthe people were when they looked up from their reaping in the fields,\nand saw the Ark coming safely back to them.  The Philistines watched it\nfrom afar to see if it would be guided of God to its own place or not\nand then they returned to their city.\n\nSamuel gathered the people to the Lord after this, and though they had\nsinned greatly, and had gone after the gods of the heathen around them,\nthey repented and returned to the faith of their fathers, and were\nfaithful all the days of Samuel.  He went from year to year on a\njourney to three cities of Israel, and judged the people in those\nplaces, but his home was in Ramah, the city where he was born, and\nwhere Hannah had brought him up for the Lord.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nTHE MAKING OF A KING.\n\nWhen Samuel was old he made his sons judges in his place, but they were\nnot holy men like their father.\n\nThey loved money, and would judge unjustly, if money were given to them\nas a bribe.  So the people came to Samuel at Ramah and said,\n\n\"Give us a king to judge us.\"\n\nAnd Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord told him to do as the\npeople had asked him to do, for they had not rejected him as judge, but\nthe Lord as their King, and now they must learn what kind of a king\nwould reign over them.  So Samuel told them what they must be ready to\ndo for their King, for a king was often a hard master, and ruled his\npeople cruelly, taking the best of their fields, and their harvests,\nand their flocks for themselves, and the finest of their sons and\ndaughters to be his servants; but they said,\n\n\"We will have a king over us, that we may be like other nations, and\nthat our king may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles.\"\n\nWhen Samuel told these things to the Lord he said, \"Make them a king,\"\nand Samuel sent the people to their own cities.\n\nSamuel did not choose a king for the people himself, but he waited for\nthe Lord to send him the man He had chosen, and the Lord said to him as\nhe went to a city called Zeph, to hold a sacrifice,\n\n\"To-morrow about this time I will send thee a man from the land of\nBenjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people\nIsrael.\"\n\nOn the next day as Samuel came out to go up to the hill of sacrifice he\nmet a tall, noble looking young man, who, with his servant, was looking\nfor the lost asses of his father, Kish, the Benjaminite.  He had come\nfar, and had heard that Samuel, the seer was in that place, and he\nhoped he would tell him where to go for the asses that were lost.\n\nSamuel knew from the Lord that this was the man God had chosen, so he\ntold him to go up with him to the sacrifice, and the next day he would\nlet him go.\n\nHe told him that he need not be troubled about the asses, for they were\nfound, but the desire of Israel was set upon him.  Saul, for that was\nhis name, did not understand him until he was invited to feast with\nthirty of the chief men, and Samuel had talked with him upon the\nhouse-top.  Early the next morning they both rose and went out of the\ncity, and while Saul sent his servant on before, Samuel anointed Saul\nwith oil, and kissed him saying, that the Lord had anointed him to be\nCaptain over his inheritance.\n\nAs a sign that the Lord had done it, he told Saul three things that\nwould happen to him on the way home, and charged him to go to Gilgal,\nwhere he would meet him and sacrifice to the Lord for seven days.  As\nSaul turned to leave the prophet, God gave him another heart, and all\nthe signs came to pass that day.\n\nAt Mizpah Samuel called all the tribes together, that the man who was\nto be their king, might be chosen in their sight, and when Saul, the\nson of Kish, the Benjaminite was chosen he could not be found; he had\nhidden from the people; but when they brought him out before them, he\nwas taller than any of the people from his shoulders up, and looked a\nking indeed.  For the first time in all their history they cried,\n\n\"God save the King!\"\n\nThen Saul went home, and there went with him a body of men whose hearts\nGod had touched, while Samuel wrote in a book the order of the kingdom\nand laid it up before the Lord.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nTHE SHEPHERD BOY OF BETHLEHEM.\n\nAfter Saul had been king of Israel for a few years, Samuel was deeply\ntroubled about him, for he had hoped that he would be as truly a king\nas he looked, but he had a strange and wilful spirit that led him to\nturn away from the counsel of the Lord and follow his own way.\n\nSamuel had been grieved again and again by Saul's rashness, until at\nlast he said to him when he had taken the spoil of the enemy to\nsacrifice to the Lord,\n\n\"To obey is better than sacrifice; because thou hast rejected the word\nof the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king,\" and he went\nto his house and mourned over Saul, for he had loved him.\n\nAt last the Lord told Samuel to cease from mourning for Saul, for He\nhad rejected him, but to fill his horn with oil, and go to Bethlehem\nwhere Jesse lived, for He had chosen one of the sons of Jesse to be\nking in place of Saul.\n\nSamuel went to Bethlehem leading a heifer, as the Lord had told him to\ndo, that he might hold a sacrifice.  He told the elders of the city to\nmake ready for the sacrifice, and when he had found the house of Jesse,\nhe called him and his sons.  Jesse was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz,\nand owned the fields, no doubt, where Ruth gleaned.  When Samuel saw\nEliab, the son of Jesse, he said:\n\n\"Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him,\" but the Lord said:\n\n\"Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I\nhave refused him, for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh\non the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.\"\n\nThen Jesse called Abinidab, but Samuel said:\n\n\"The Lord hath not chosen this.\"  Then he made Shammah to pass before\nhim, but Samuel said:\n\n\"Neither hath the Lord chosen this.\"\n\nJesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel, but Samuel said:\n\n\"The Lord hath not chosen these.\"\n\n\"Are here all thy children?\" said Samuel.\n\n\"There remaineth yet the youngest, and he keepeth the sheep,\" Jesse\nreplied.  Then Samuel said:\n\n\"Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither.\"\n\nSo Jesse sent out into the sheepfolds on the hillsides outside the city\nto bring the lad David in.  What did the boy think when he found his\nfather and his brothers waiting, with the old prophet in the midst?\nWhat did it mean that the eye of the seer was set upon him, as were the\neyes of all in the house?\n\n[Illustration: The young shepherd boy]\n\nSamuel saw a noble youth, \"ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and\ngoodly to look to.\"  He had been told that he must not look on the\noutward appearance \"for the Lord seeth not as man seeth,\" and so he\nwaited a little until the Lord said:\n\n\"Arise, anoint him, for this is he.\"  Then he took the horn of oil, and\nanointed him in the midst of his brethren, and the spirit of the Lord\ncame upon David from that day forward, and Samuel went back to his\nhouse in Ramah.\n\nIt may be that his father and his brothers did not understand that the\nboy had been called to be king over Israel, but a new spirit of wisdom,\nand love, and strength came upon David, and though he went back to his\nfather's flocks with no thought of being greater than his brothers, he\nwent with a new song in his heart which he sang to the little harp he\nhad made while watching the sheep.  Long after when he was King of\nIsrael, he made in memory of these days the beautiful Psalm to be sung\nin the temple beginning,\n\n  \"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nTHE POWER OF A PEBBLE.\n\nSaul the sullen was still king over Israel, although he had departed\nfrom the Lord, and in His sight he was no longer a king.  He was very\ngloomy and dark in his mind, for he had driven the Lord's spirit away,\nand his light was gone.\n\nHis servants tried to amuse him, and told him of David, the son of\nJesse, who was a skillful player on the harp, and a brave and handsome\nyouth.  So Saul sent for David, and David, bringing presents from his\nfather, came to the king's house.\n\nSaul was greatly pleased with David, and asked Jesse to let his son\nstay with him, for when the evil spirit was upon him, if David played\nupon his harp the darkness left him.  But this did not last, and after\na while David went back to his flocks, and Saul forgot him.\n\nThen the Philistines rose against Israel again.  Their camp was on a\nmountain side, and Saul gathered his warriors on the side of another\nmountain and there was a valley between them.\n\nOut of the Philistine camp a giant came one day, Goliath of Gath.  He\ntalked loud and often in order to terrify the Israelites, asking them\nto send out a man to fight with him, but he was not truly brave, for he\nhad carefully covered his great body with armor of brass, so that no\nspear or sword could touch him.  He defied Israel every morning and\nevening for forty days, and no one was found who would dare to go out\nalone to fight him.  David's elder brothers were in camp, and Jesse,\ntheir father, called David from the flocks to take food to them.  He\nfound the army of Israel ready to go into battle, but Goliath came out\nas he had done each day and defied the Israelites, who ran in terror at\nthe sight of him.  The spirit of David was moved at this, and he said:\n\n\"Who is this Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living\nGod?\"  \"The man who killeth him,\" said one, \"the King will enrich him,\nand, will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in\nIsrael.\"\n\nThen Eliab, David's eldest brother, spoke sternly to David asking him\nwhy he had left his sheep to come down and see the battle, and called\nhim naughty and proud, but David still talked with the men, for the\nspirit of the Lord was strong within him.  When Saul heard of him and\nsent for him, David said:\n\n\"Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight\nwith the Philistine.\"\n\nSaul frowned at David and said:\n\n\"Thou art not able to go against this Philistine; thou art but a youth,\nand he is a man of war.\"\n\nThen David told the king how he had killed both a lion and a bear that\nhad come down upon his father's flocks, and that he could also conquer\nthe Philistine.\n\n\"The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and the paw of\nthe bear,\" said David, \"He will deliver me out of the hand of this\nPhilistine.\"  And Saul said: \"Go! and the Lord be with thee.\"  Then\nSaul armed David with his own armor, but David said:\n\n\"I can not go with these, for I have not proved them,\" and he put them\noff.\n\nAnd this was the way David armed himself to meet the giant.\n\nHe took his staff in hand, and chose five smooth stones from the brook\nand put them in his shepherd's bag, and with his sling in his hand, he\ndrew near to the giant.  Goliath came on also, his armor-bearer\ncarrying the shield before him, but when he saw the youth David, he\ndespised him, for he was without armor, or sword or spear, only his\nstaff.\n\n\"Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff,\" said Goliath, and\nthen he told him that he would soon give his flesh to the birds and the\nbeasts.\n\n\"Thou comest to me with a sword, and a spear, and a shield,\" said\nDavid, \"but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of\nthe armies of Israel whom thou hast despised.\"\n\nThen the Philistine came down upon little David to destroy him, and\nDavid ran, not away from him, as the men of Israel had done, but\nstraight toward him, taking a pebble from his shepherd's bag as he ran.\nQuickly putting it in the sling, he whirled it in the air once, twice,\nand then it went swift and straight to the mark.  It sunk into the\nforehead of the giant, and he fell dead upon his face.  Then David ran\nand stood upon the dead Philistine and cut off his head with the\ngiant's great sword, and when the Philistines saw that their champion\nwas really dead, they fled, pursued by the shouting hosts of Israel.\n\n[Illustration: David cutting off Goliath's head]\n\nSaul had forgotten the youth who played upon the harp before him, for\nwhen he sent for him after the battle he said,\n\n\"Whose son art thou, thou young man?\" and David answered,\n\n\"I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.\"\n\nAnd Saul took him to live with him from that day.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nFAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.\n\nSaul had a son named Jonathan, and he loved David as his own soul.  He\ntook off his princely robes, even to his sword, and his bow, and his\ngirdle, and made David wear them; and David acted wisely in all that\nthe king gave him to do.  There was great joy and much feasting over\nthe Death of Goliath and the flight of the Philistines, and wherever\nSaul went, the women came out of the cities to meet him, singing and\ndancing, and the song with which they answered one another was,\n\n  \"Saul hath slain his thousands,\n  And David his tens of thousands.\"\n\nSaul did not like this, and an evil spirit of jealousy came upon him,\nand he thought, \"What can he have more but the kingdom.\"\n\nThe next day the evil spirit came upon Saul in the house, and David\nplayed on his harp to quiet him, but Saul hurled a spear at David,\nhoping to fasten him to the wall with it.  This he did twice, but the\nLord guided the spear away from David, just as he guided the pebble to\nGoliath, and he was unhurt.  Saul was afraid of David.  He was afraid\nthat God was preparing him to be king over Israel, so he sent him into\nbattle, hoping he would be killed, but the life of David was in the\nLord's hand, and no enemy could destroy it.\n\nAfter a great battle, in which David had been victorious, the evil\nspirit came again upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in\nhis hand, while David played on the harp.  Again he tried to kill\nDavid, but the spear struck the wall and David slipped away.\n\n[Illustration: The spear struck the wall]\n\nIt was clear that David could not live near the king, and so he talked\nwith Jonathan, his friend, who said,\n\n\"God forbid, thou shalt not die,\" but David said,\n\n\"Truly there is but a step between me and death.\"\n\nThen they made a promise to each other before the Lord that should last\nwhile they lived.  They promised to show \"the kindness of the Lord\" to\neach other while life should last.\n\nJonathan told David that he might go away for three days, and they went\nout into a field together.  They feared the anger of Saul when he found\nthat David was absent from the feast of the new moon.  So Jonathan told\nDavid to return after three days and hide behind a great rock in the\nfield.  Then Jonathan said he would come out and shoot three arrows\nfrom his bow, as if he were shooting at a mark, and he would send his\narrow-bearer to pick them up.  If he should call to the lad, \"The\narrows are on this side of thee,\" David would know that Saul was not\nangry, and would not hurt him, but if he cried, \"The arrows are beyond\nthee,\" David would know he was in danger and must go away.\n\nOn the second day of the feast, Saul asked why David was not there, and\nJonathan told him he had asked permission to go away for three days.\nThen Saul was very angry.  He blamed his son for loving David, for, as\nSaul's son, Jonathan should be king after his death, but he never would\nbe if David lived, and he commanded Jonathan to bring him that he might\nput him to death.  When Jonathan asked what evil David had done that he\nshould be put to death, Saul cast his spear at his own son.  Then\nJonathan knew there was no hope for David, and left the table in sorrow.\n\nThe next day he went out to the rock in the field with his armor-bearer\nand sent him on before.  When he shot an arrow, he cried:\n\n\"The arrow is beyond thee; make haste! stay not!\"\n\nAnd David, in his hiding place heard it, and knew that he must flee for\nhis life.\n\nThen Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the lad to take to the town,\nand David came out from his hiding place, and they kissed each other\nand wept together.  But at last Jonathan said:\n\n\"Go in peace: as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord,\nsaying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my children and\nthy children forever.\"\n\nAnd David went away to hide from Saul, and Jonathan went back to the\nking's house.\n\nFor seven years Saul hunted for David to take his life, and David,\noften hiding in caves in the wilderness, could not see his friend\nJonathan, but they were faithful in their friendship, and when at last\nSaul was slain in battle, and Jonathan also, David came to mourn over\nhis friend, saying:\n\n\"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou\nbeen unto me; thy love for me was wonderful, passing the love of women.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nDAVID THE OUTCAST.\n\nFor seven years King Saul hunted David from one end of the land of\nIsrael to the other.  The evil spirit of jealousy and hate had full\npossession of him, and David, with a few faithful men, was driven from\none stronghold to another, until he cried, \"They gather themselves\ntogether; they hide themselves; they mark my steps when they wait for\nmy soul.  What time I am afraid I will trust in thee.\"\n\nHe had escaped again and again from the hand of Saul, and now he was\ndown in the desert country by the Dead Sea, hiding among the cliffs and\ncaves of Engedi.  Saul heard of it and took three thousand men to hunt\nfor him among the rocks of the wild goats.  He was very tired after\nclimbing the rocks, and seeing a cave, he went in to lie down for a\nlittle sleep.  He did not know that David and his men were in the cave\nhiding in the dark sides of it.  Then his men whispered to David:\n\n\"Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee: 'I will deliver thine\nenemy into thine hand that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good\nto thee.'\"  Then David arose and crept near to Saul, and--did he kill\nthe man who had so often tried to kill him?\n\nNo, he bent down and cut off a part of Saul's robe.  Even this seemed\nwrong to David.\n\n[Illustration: The garment of Saul]\n\n\"The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master,\" he said\n\"to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the\nLord,\" and in this way he kept his servants from harming Saul, and\nafter Saul awoke he went out of the cave.\n\nDavid also went out of the cave and cried,\n\n\"My Lord the King!\"\n\nAnd when Saul turned David bowed down to him and asked him why he\nlistened to men who said that he wished to harm the king, and then he\ntold him how the Lord had given him into his hand in the cave, but he\nwould not touch the Lord's anointed to harm him.\n\n\"See, my father,\" he cried \"see the skirt of thy robe in my hand.  I\nhave not sinned against thee, yet thou huntest my soul to take it.\"\n\nMuch more he said, and asked the Lord to judge between them, and Saul's\nhard heart was moved so that he wept aloud.\n\n\"Is this thy voice, my son David,\" he said, \"Thou art more righteous\nthan I, for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee\nevil,\" and he made a covenant with David.  For though he made no\npromise to spare David's life, he made David promise to spare the life\nof his children when he should be made king.\n\nBut a year was hardly past before the evil spirit was again upon Saul,\nand he went out with three thousand men to hunt for David.  Saul's camp\nwas on a hill, and David saw where it was.  At night he took Abishai,\none of his warriors, and went down from the cliffs to Saul's camp,\nwhere Saul lay sleeping in a trench, and the spear stuck in the ground\nby his pillow, while all his men lay around him.  Abishai wished to\nstrike him through with the spear, but David said,\n\n\"Destroy him not, for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's\nanointed and be guiltless?  The Lord shall smite him, or his day shall\ncome to die, or he shall fall in battle and perish; but take thou now\nthe spear that is at his pillow, and the cruse of water, and let us go.\"\n\nAnd they took them and went away.  A deep sleep had fallen upon the\ncamp of Saul from the Lord, so that no one saw them.\n\nThen David went up to his stronghold, and from the top of the cliff he\ncried to Abner, the captain of Saul's men, and asked why he had not\ndefended his Master, and where was the king's spear, and his cruse of\nwater?\n\nThen Saul cried as before,\n\n\"Is this thy voice, my son David?\"\n\n\"It is my voice, my lord, O King,\" said David, and again he plead his\ncause with his old enemy, but who could trust to the repentance of\nSaul?  He cried,\n\n\"I have sinned; return, my son David, for I will no more do thee harm,\nbecause my soul was precious in thine eyes this day.  I have played the\nfool, and erred exceedingly.\"\n\nBut David trusted him no more, and went and made friends with a\nPhilistine prince that he might live within their borders.\n\nSamuel the prophet was dead, and there was no one to give counsel to\nthe darkened soul of the King when trouble fell upon him.  The\nPhilistines had come with a great army, but Saul was afraid, for the\nLord's spirit was not with him.  He tried to seek the Lord through the\npriests, and through dreams, but the Lord answered him not.  Then he\nwent to a witch by night, and asked her to bring up the spirit of\nSamuel.  The witch could not bring up Samuel, but the Lord sent him to\nspeak to Saul, and the woman cried out with terror when she saw the\nprophet of the Lord, and knew also that it was the King who had called\nfor him.\n\n\"I am sore distressed,\" said Saul, \"and God is departed from me.  What\nshall I do?\"\n\nThen Samuel told him plainly that the kingdom was taken from him and\ngiven to David, and that on the next day he and his sons should fall in\nbattle, and the Israelites into the hands of the Philistines.\n\nSaul, forsaken and despairing, fell to the earth fainting, but was\nrevived by the woman, who gave him food so that he went away through\nthe dark to the camp of Israel.\n\nIn the battle of the next day the Philistines conquered.  The three\nsons of Saul were slain, and Saul himself, when chased by the\nPhilistines, fell upon his own sword and died.\n\nWhen a messenger brought news of the battle to David he rent his\nclothes for grief, and in the chant of lamentation that he made, he\nmourned for his faithful friend Jonathan, and had no word of blame for\nhis enemy Saul, neither did he triumph over him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nEVERY INCH A KING.\n\nAfter Saul's death David came back to live with his own people, for he\nwas of the tribe of Judah.  He went to Hebron, the old home of Abraham,\nIsaac, and Jacob, for the Lord had told him to go there, and the men of\nhis tribe came to Hebron and anointed him king.  The other tribes did\nnot come, for Saul's son and the captain of his host, Abner, were still\nholding the kingdom.  But when both were killed by an enemy, then all\nthe other tribes came to Hebron and made a league with him, so seven\nyears after Saul's death David became king over all Israel.  He was\nthen thirty years old and his reign lasted forty years.\n\nThen David began to establish the kingdom.  There was a rocky height\nnot far from Hebron with a valley all around it that was still held by\nthe Jebusites, one of the tribes of Canaan that the Lord said must not\nbe left in the land.  The city was Jerusalem, and the stronghold was\nZion, and close by Zion was the mount to which Abraham had once gone to\noffer up Isaac.  David wanted this stronghold for the chief city of the\nkingdom, and so he took it, and it became the city of David.  He built\na beautiful house for himself there, and King Hiram of Tyre sent\nskilled workmen, and cedar trees, and they built a house of cedar for\nhim.  But stronger than the wish to have a house for himself was the\nlonging to see the Ark of God set within the curtains of the Tabernacle\nin the city of David.  It had been in the house of Abinadab in\nKirjath-Jearim for seventy years, ever since it was sent home by the\nPhilistines who captured it.  Because the people had grown cold toward\nGod, they did not wish to hear the reading of the law, or be led by his\ncounsel.  Now David called together the flower of all Israel, thirty\nthousand men, and they went to bring the Ark to the city of David.\nWhile on the way a man who had laid his hand upon the Ark when it was\nunsteady was smitten and died, for no one but the priests and Levites\ncould touch the Ark of God.  David feared to bring it further, and so\nhe placed it in the house of Obededom which was near by.  It was there\nthree months, and great blessing came to the house because of it.  When\nDavid heard this he went joyfully down to bring the Ark to his city,\nand it was with sacrifices, and shouting, and the sound of trumpet that\nit was brought and set in the Tabernacle that had been made ready for\nit.  And so the worship of the Lord was established in Jerusalem, which\nwas to be the great altar for the sacrificial worship until the\nsacrifice should be taken away, and the kingdom of Christ established\non the earth.\n\nBut David was not satisfied.\n\n\"See,\" he said to Nathan the prophet, \"I dwell in a house of cedar, but\nthe Ark of God dwelleth within curtains.\"\n\nThat night the Lord spoke to Nathan and told him what to say to the\nking.  He promised to establish the royal house of David, and give\nfinal peace to the people, and also to build a house for the worship of\nthe Lord, but he said that David's son, who should be king after him,\nshould build a house to his name, and of him the Lord said, \"I will be\nhis Father, and he shall be my son.\"\n\nThen King David went in to the Tabernacle and thanked the Lord for His\npromise to him and to his son, and asked His blessing upon them.\nThough he reigned forty years, he never forgot that his work was not to\nbuild the temple of the Lord, but to prepare for it.  So he subdued\nenemies, built cities, made leagues with friendly nations, gathered\nmuch wealth of wood, and stone, and gold, and silver and precious\nstones for the house of the Lord, and trained choirs of singers for the\nservice.  He also kept his heart open toward the Lord, so that he was\nable to write some wonderful poems that were set to music and sung by\nthe temple choirs.  We call them the Psalms of David.\n\nThough David had grown rich and great, he did not forget his promise to\nJonathan.  He called Ziba, who had been Saul's servant and said to him,\n\n\"Is there not yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness\nof God to him?\"\n\nThen Ziba told him of a man who was lame in both his feet, who was the\nson of Jonathan.  David sent for him, and gave him all the land of\nSaul, and a place was made for him at the king's table among his own\nsons, and it was his while he lived.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nDAVID'S SIN.\n\nThe army of Israel was at war with the Ammonites, and Joab was the\nchief captain.  David did not go out with the army, but stayed in his\nhouse in Jerusalem.  One evening he was walking on the flat roof of his\nhouse, as the people of that country always do, and he saw a little way\noff a very beautiful woman.  He sent a servant to ask who she was, and\nfound she was the wife of Uriah who was in the army with Joab, fighting\nthe Ammonites.  Then a great temptation was set before David, and\ninstead of going to the Lord to be saved from it, he sent to Joab,\nasking him to send him Uriah, the Hittite.  So Uriah came, and David\ntalked kindly with him, and found him a good and faithful man.  When he\nwent back to Joab he took a letter from David, who asked that he be set\nin the front of the battle.  So Joab placed him there, and when the two\narmies met Uriah was killed, and Joab sent a messenger to tell David.\nAfter her mourning was ended, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, became the\nwife of David, but the Lord was displeased with David.  He also knew\nDavid's heart and how to deal with him, so he sent Nathan the prophet\nto him.\n\n\"There were two men in one city,\" said Nathan, \"one of them rich and\nthe other poor.  The rich man had many flocks and herds, but the poor\nman had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and\nnourished up; and it grew together with him and with his children: it\ndid eat of his own meat and drink of his own cup, and lay in his bosom\nand was unto him as a daughter.  And there came a traveller unto the\nrich man, and he spared to take of his own flock to dress for the\nwayfaring man that was come to him, but took the poor man's lamb and\ndressed it for the man that was come to him.\"\n\nDavid was very angry at the man who could do such a cruel thing, and he\nsaid to Nathan,\n\n\"The man that hath done this thing shall surely die; and he shall\nrestore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he\nhad no pity.\"\n\nThen Nathan said to David, \"Thou art the man,\" and he told him how\ngreatly the Lord had blessed him in making him King over Israel, and in\ndelivering him from the hand of Saul, and how he had slain a faithful\nservant and taken his wife for himself; therefore evil would befall him.\n\nDavid said, \"I have sinned against the Lord,\" and the Lord saw that his\nrepentance was real, and forgave the sin, but that David might never\nforget and sin again, the Lord took the little child that was born to\nhim and to Bathsheba.  While it was sick David fasted and lay all night\nupon the earth, and would not rise to taste food.  This he did for\nseven days while the little child was sick, but when they told him that\nhis child was dead he arose and bathed and dressed himself and went to\nthe house of the Lord to worship, and returned to take his food.  Then\nhis servants wondered at it, and replied,\n\n\"While the child was yet alive I fasted and wept, for I said, who can\ntell whether God will be gracious unto me that the child may live.  But\nnow he is dead, wherefore should I fast?  Can I bring him back again?\nI shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.\"\n\nAfter this another child was born to Bathsheba, and they named him\nSolomon, which means \"Peaceable.\"\n\nAnd David wrote a prayer of repentance for his sin.  It is the\nfifty-first Psalm, and has been the prayer of penitent souls for nearly\nthree thousand years.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nDAVID'S SORROW.\n\nDavid had a very beautiful son named Absalom.  From the crown of his\nhead to the soles of his feet there was no fault to be seen in him.\nHis hair was thick and long, and his beauty was much talked of through\nall Israel.  But the Lord who looks upon the heart saw that the heart\nof Absalom was wicked and false.  He killed his brother Amnon, and then\nfled to another country and stayed three years.  When he returned he\ntried to see his father, but David would not see him for two years.\nThen Absalom forced Joab to bring him to the king's house by setting\nJoab's barley field on fire.  He was false as well as handsome, and won\nhis father's heart by pretending to be humble.\n\nAfter this Absalom began to live more like a king than a prince.  He\nhad fifty men to run before his chariot when he rode, and he stood in\nthe city gates and talked with the men who came to see the king about\ntheir rights.  He told them that if he were ruler over the land every\nman should have all that he wanted, and deceived many by a false show\nof friendship.\n\nThen he asked the king if he could go to Hebron to pay a vow to the\nLord by offering sacrifice there, and David told him to go in peace,\nand he went.  But he had cruelly deceived his father.  He had sent\nspies through all the land to persuade them to join him at Hebron and\nmake him king.  He also took two hundred men out of Jerusalem to help\nhim, and one of them was David's counsellor.  They had arranged to have\nall the people, as soon as they heard anywhere the sound of the\ntrumpet, to cry,\n\n\"Absalom is king in Hebron.\"\n\nThen it came to the ears of David that his people had been led away by\ndeceit to follow Absalom, and David, who had been fearless before\nGoliath and before great armies of other nations, was afraid.  His\nheart was broken at the treachery of his son, and he said to his\nservants,\n\n\"Arise, and let us flee; make haste and go, for fear Absalom may come\nand fight against the city with the sword.\"\n\nHis servants were ready to fight for him, but he fled in haste over the\nbrook Kedron and went toward the wilderness, with all of the people of\nthe city with him, until there was a great multitude, and in the midst\nthe priests and the Levites bearing the Ark of God, but when David saw\nthis he said,\n\n\"Carry back the Ark of God into the city.  If I shall find favor in the\neyes of the Lord He will bring me again.  Let Him do to me as seemeth\ngood to Him.\"\n\nSo the priests and the Levites returned to the city with the Ark of God.\n\nIt was a sad procession that went over the Mount of Olives led by\nDavid, weeping as he went, with his head covered and his feet bare.\nSome enemies of the house of Saul came out and troubled him by the way,\nbut there was no anger in the heart of David toward any.  He believed\nthe hand of the Lord was upon him, and he said,\n\n\"It may be the Lord will look on mine affliction.\"\n\nAbsalom came to Jerusalem, and while he was asking his chief counsellor\nwhat to do, he was persuaded by a friend of David, who had stayed\nbehind, to wait until he had gathered a larger army before he followed\nafter David.  This gave him time to send word to David to cross over\nJordan before Absalom should overtake him.  The chief counsellor, when\nhe saw that his advice was not followed, went to his own house and\nhanged himself, for he knew that the Lord was bringing his counsel to\nnaught.\n\nAfter David had passed over into Gilead the people of that land brought\nfood, and dishes, and beds to the sorrowful king and his tired people,\nand they were cared for in the city of Mahanaim.  Then Joab, the\ncaptain, gathered the men together to go and meet Absalom and his army,\nand as they passed out of the city David stood in the gate and charged\nall the captains as they passed, saying\n\n\"Deal gently, for my sake, with the young man, even with Absalom.\"\n\nSo they went out to battle, and it was in a wood.  God had given\nDavid's army the victory, and twenty thousand men of Absalom's army\nwere slain.  Absalom, who rode on a mule, was caught by his long thick\nhair in the branches of an oak tree, and the mule went away and left\nhim hanging there.\n\nA man ran and told Joab that he had seen Absalom hanging in an oak.\n\n\"Why didst thou not smite him there?\" said Joab.\n\nThe man said he would not have done it for a thousand shekels of\nsilver, because David had charged them all not to touch the young man\nAbsalom.\n\nBut Joab turned away, and when he had found Absalom in the oak, he,\nwith the ten young men who were with him, killed Absalom, and they\nburied him in the wood.\n\n[Illustration: The death of Absalom]\n\nThen Joab sent two messengers to carry news of the victory to the king,\nwho sat between the city gates, while a watchman stood over the gates\non the city wall.  When the watchmen saw the two men running, one after\nthe other, he cried out and told the king.  The first man cried as he\ncame, \"All is well,\" but when the king said, \"Is the young man Absalom\nsafe?\" he could not answer, and when the second messenger cried,\n\"Tidings, my lord, the king,\" again David asked,\n\n\"Is the young man Absalom safe?\"\n\n\"The enemies of my lord the king and all that rise against thee to do\nthee hurt be as that young man,\" said the messenger.\n\nThen the king went up to the room over the city gate and wept, and as\nhe went he cried,\n\n\"O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for\nthee, O Absalom, my son, my son!\"\n\n[Illustration: David mourning for Absalom]\n\nThe people who had come back joyful because the enemy had been\nconquered were distressed by the grief of the king, so that Joab\npersuaded David to come down to the gate and meet the people.\n\nAfter this those who were left of the followers of Absalom begged the\nking to come back to Jerusalem, and so he came, and thousands came to\nmeet him.  He had only forgiving words for those who had injured him,\nand for Barzillai and the men of Gilead who had fed them and shown them\ngreat kindness in the darkest hour of the king's life, and who came a\nlittle way on the journey with them, he had grateful words and\nblessings.\n\nAnd so the king came to his own again.  He was now getting to be an old\nman, and the love of his people made his last days blessed.\n\nHis warriors said, \"Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that\nthou quench not the light of Israel.\"\n\nOnce he sinned against the Lord by numbering his people.  He wanted to\nknow how many men in his kingdom could bear arms in battle, and he\nforgot that victory over the enemy was not with the many or the few,\nbut with the Lord, who is the strength of his people.  When he saw that\nhe had done wrong he confessed it and begged for forgiveness, but a\npestilence spread over all the land, and came near to Jerusalem, and\nthe angel was stayed by the Lord's hand just over the threshing floor\nof Araunah.  This was the broad flat top of Mount Moriah where long\nbefore Abraham had built an altar on which to offer Isaac.\n\nWhen David saw the angel he said,\n\n\"I have done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done?  Let Thine\nhand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.\"\n\nThen the prophet Gad said, \"Go up, rear an altar to the Lord in the\nthreshing-floor of Araunah,\" and David went as the Lord commanded.\n\nWhen they reached the mount Araunah offered David the piece of ground\nwith the oxen for a sacrifice, but he would not take them as a gift.\n\n\"But I will surely buy it of thee at a price,\" said David, \"neither\nwill I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God of that which doth cost\nme nothing.\"\n\nSo he bought the piece of ground and paid for it six hundred shekels of\ngold.  Twice had the Lord blessed this spot with a miracle of\nsalvation, and twice an altar had been built there, and looking upon\nit, David said,\n\n\"This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt\noffering for Israel,\" and he prepared to build there the temple of\nSolomon,--the altar of the world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nTHE BUILDING OF THE GOLDEN HOUSE.\n\nThe time was near when David must leave his people and go to his God,\nand his chief thought was about the house of the Lord that he had\nlonged to build, that the Ark of God might be at rest, and that the\npeople might have a place of worship for all time to come.  He knew\nthat his son Solomon was to build the temple, but he was still young,\nand David made ready as far as he could for the building of the house.\nThere were men at work in the quarries, cutting great stones, and there\nwere men in the forests of Lebanon cutting and hewing cedars, and\nothers gathering iron and brass, and gold, and silver for the treasury\nof David.  He also spent much time dividing the sons of Levi into\ncompanies, so that they could in turn serve with the priests in the\ntemple, and ordering the times and manner of service, for he believed\nthat this temple would be a house of prayer for all nations.  David had\nbeen a man of war, for he had been called to destroy idol worship in\nthe land of Canaan, and to make it the land of Israel, in which the one\ntrue God should be worshipped forever, but Solomon's reign was to be\none of peace, and the Lord chose a man of peace to build his house.\n\nDavid had another son, Adonijah, who tried to make himself king as\nAbsalom did, but David heard of it, and had Solomon proclaimed king\nbefore his own death, lest trouble should arise after.  When Adonijah\nheard the shouts of the people, and the sound of the trumpets he was\nafraid, and expected Solomon would kill him, but Solomon said if he\nwould only show himself a good man no harm should come to him.\n\nThe last things that David did were to call his princes and chief men\ntogether and tell them that the Lord had promised many years before,\nthat Solomon should build the house of the Lord during his reign; and\nalso that his children's children should rule over Israel, and he\nbegged them to keep the Lord's commandments, that they might keep the\ngood land that had been given them.\n\nHe also charged Solomon before them all to serve God with all his\nheart, but if he failed to do so he would be cast off forever.\n\nDavid gave Solomon all the plans and patterns for the house of the\nLord, as the Lord had given them to him; also the gold and silver\nstored up for time of building.  He also told the people, when he had\ncalled them together, what he had stored for the work of the temple,\nand asked them who were willing to give also.  Then the people brought\ngifts, as they did when the Tabernacle was built, and gave them to the\nLord.  David led them in a great thanksgiving service, and they offered\nthree thousand sacrifices.\n\nSolomon was again anointed king in the presence of all Israel, and took\nthe throne of David; and David died, honored and loved by his people,\nand he was buried in his own city.\n\nWhen Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice the Lord came to him in a\ndream and said,\n\n\"Ask what I shall give thee.\"\n\nSolomon was wiser than all the sons of David, and yet he did not feel\nhimself to be so.  He said,\n\n\"I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in, and thy\nservant is in the midst of a great people that cannot be numbered.\nGive therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people,\nthat I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this\nthy so great a people.\"\n\nAnd the Lord said,\n\n\"Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself\nlong life, neither riches, nor the life of thine enemies, lo, I have\ngiven thee a wise and understanding heart, and I have also given thee\nthat which thou hast not asked--both riches and honor; and if thou wilt\nwalk in my ways as thy father David did, then I will lengthen thy days.\"\n\nThe Lord was true to his word.  Solomon had wisdom, beyond all the old\nand the learned men of his kingdom, and many came to him for counsel\nwho were not of Israel, for he was famous among the nations.  Some of\nthese nations wished to be ruled by him, and brought him many precious\nthings as gifts; they had been conquered by David, and now they wished\nto be ruled by Solomon.  He had thousands of servants and he knew how\nto direct their work.  Away up in the mountains of Lebanon they worked\nwith the servants of Hiram, King of Tyre, getting the cedar timbers\nready for the temple, while Hiram's artisans in gold, and silver, and\nbrass, and fine linen came to Jerusalem to work on the temple, and\nSolomon sent Hiram wheat, and olive oil, and wine.  So wise were the\nworkers in stone and wood that when the temple was built there was no\nsound of a hammer or any tool heard on Mount Moriah.  Each stone was\nready to fit into its place, and each piece of wood to fit another.\n\nThe house was not like any that we have ever seen.  It was not large,\nbut it was very precious.  The cedar boards that lined the walls were\ncarved in flower patterns, and covered with gold.  The floor also was\ncovered with gold.  He divided the temple in two parts, as the\nTabernacle had been, with a rich curtain of blue and purple and\ncrimson.  The innermost room was called the most holy place, and was\nfor the Ark, and its walls were beautiful with cherubim, and palm\ntrees, and flowers, overlaid with gold, as was the floor also.  Within\nthis most holy place stood two cherubim fifteen feet high.  They were\nof olive wood covered with gold, and they stood with wings spread forth\nso that they touched each other, and also touched the wall on either\nside, and their wings overshadowed the mercy seat where the Ark of the\nLord was to rest.  All the carvings upon wood were covered with gold,\nand precious stones were set among them for light and beauty.\n\nSolomon's workmen made two great pillars of brass to stand before the\nhouse, and a great brass altar for the burnt offerings.  They also made\nten basins of brass that were set upon wheels, and one very great one\ncalled the \"sea\" which stood on twelve brass oxen.\n\nThey also made many things for the use of the temple--candlesticks, and\nspoons, and censers all of pure gold, and there was also a golden altar\nand a golden table.\n\nSolomon was seven years building the house of the Lord, and when it was\nfinished, and its outer courts made ready, he called all the elders and\nchief men of Israel together to carry the Ark of God to its place.  So\nthe Ark, borne by the priests, and holding the tables of the law, was\ncarried into the most holy place, and set under the wings of the\ncherubim.  After the priests came out a cloud filled the house of the\nLord so that the priests could not go in.  It was the glory of the\npresence of the Lord.\n\nThen Solomon stood before all the people and gave thanks to God and\nasked him to take the temple for his own house to dwell in, and\nkneeling down, he prayed that wherever the children of Israel might be,\nat home, or captives in a strange land, that the Lord would hear them\nwhen they prayed toward his house, and that all prayer offered in it\nmight be heard and answered\n\nThen fire from heaven fell upon the great altar, and the sacrifice was\nconsumed, and all over the great pavement of the court the people bowed\nand worshipped the Lord, saying, \"For He is good, and His mercy\nendureth forever.\"\n\nThere were offerings and feasting for fourteen days, and then the\npeople went to their homes to think of the wonderful things they had\nseen.  And there were sacrifices offered morning and evening each day,\non the Sabbath, and at the three great feasts of the year--the feast of\nthe passover, the feast of the harvest, and the feast of tabernacles.\n\nSolomon also built a wonderful house for himself, and another called\nthe \"house of the forest of Lebanon,\" where he kept his armor.  The\nroof was upheld by cedars of Lebanon, standing like mighty pillars\nbeneath it.  So famous did his work and his wisdom become that a queen\nfrom a distant land called Sheba came to visit him.  She came with a\ncaravan of servants and camels bringing costly presents of spices, and\ngold, and precious stones.  She asked him many things that she had\nlonged to know, and he answered all her questions, and told her strange\nand wonderful things, so that after she had seen all his palace, and\nhis servants, and the service of his table, and the beautiful ascent by\nwhich he went up to the temple, she said that the half had never been\ntold her in her own country.  They exchanged costly presents, and she\nwent back to her own land.\n\n[Illustration: The Queen of Sheba before Solomon]\n\nSolomon had many ships upon the sea that brought riches from every land\nHe learned much of the world in this way, and as he grew older and from\nhis throne of gold and ivory judged his people, he dropped many wise\nsayings that were written in a book by the scribes and are now called\nthe \"Proverbs of Solomon.\"\n\nBut in Solomon's latter days his wives, who were daughters of heathen\nkings, turned his heart from the Lord.  When his father sinned he\nrepented at once, and his heart never turned to idols, but with all his\nwisdom, Solomon was weak of will, and built temples for his wives to\nworship idols in.\n\nThe Lord had made a promise to David that his sons should inherit the\nthrone, and He kept the promise, but he allowed the kingdom to be\ndivided.  The two tribes who lived near to Jerusalem--Judah and\nBenjamin--were left to Solomon's son Rehoboam, but the ten tribes chose\na man named Jeroboam to be their king.  The men of Rehoboam, led by\ntheir king, went out to fight with the ten tribes, but the Lord would\nnot let them.  He spoke to them through a prophet and they went home.\n\nSo now there were two kings in Israel, and Rehoboam's kingdom was\ncalled the kingdom of Judah, and that of Jeroboam was called the\nkingdom of Israel; but after the kingdom was divided no kings ever\nreigned who could be compared with David and Solomon.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nELIJAH THE GREAT HEART OF ISRAEL.\n\nDuring the reign of Jehoshaphat, fourth king of Judah, and Ahab, sixth\nking of Israel, after the division of the kingdom, there came out of\nGilead Elijah, a prophet of the Lord.  Two of the kings of Judah, and\nall of the kings of Israel had been wicked men, and the Lord sent\nElijah to Ahab, king of Israel, to tell him that there should be no\nrain for years in the land of Israel, and then only as Elijah should\nask for it.  Ahab was more wicked than the kings that reigned before\nhim, and had built a temple for the god Baal in Samaria.\n\nBecause he would seek to destroy Elijah, the Lord told His prophet to\ngo to the brook Cherith that ran into the Jordan, and there He would\ntake care of him.  \"Thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded\nthe ravens to feed thee there,\" said the Lord.\n\nAnd so it was.  Morning and evening the ravens came bringing bread and\nmeat, and the brook brought him water out of the rock, but as there was\nno rain, the brook at last dried up, and there was a great famine.\n\n[Illustration: Ravens bringing food to Elijah]\n\nThen Elijah was told to go to Zarephath, for a woman there had been\ntold to feed him, and he went at once.  As he came near the city gate\nhe saw a woman gathering sticks, and he asked her to bring him a cup of\nwater and a little bread.  She told him that she had but a handful of\nmeal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse, and she was going to\nbake it for herself and son, that they might eat it and die.\n\nThen Elijah said, \"Fear not; go and do as thou hast said, but make me\nthereof a little cake first, and after that make for thee and thy son,\nfor thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 'The barrel of meal shall not\nwaste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the Lord\nsendeth rain upon the earth.'\"\n\nShe believed Elijah, and did as he commanded, and they ate for a whole\nyear, and the meal and the oil lasted all that time.\n\nAfter this the woman's son grew very sick, so very sick that he\nappeared to be dead, and the woman cried to the prophet in her distress,\n\n\"O thou man of God, art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance\nand to slay my son?\"\n\nThen he said, \"Give me thy son,\" and he took him up to his own room and\nlaid him upon his bed and prayed over him.  Then he stretched himself\nupon the child three times and cried,\n\n\"O Lord my God, I pray Thee let this child's soul come unto him again!\"\n\nAnd God heard Elijah, and the soul of the child came to him again, and\nhe revived.\n\nThen he gave the boy to his happy and grateful mother, saying, \"See,\nthy son liveth.\"\n\nIn the third year of the famine the Lord said to Elijah,\n\n\"Go, show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.\"\n\nAs Elijah went he met a good man named Obadiah, who was governor of the\nking's house.  This man worshipped the Lord, and when Ahab's wicked\nwife, Jezebel, tried to kill all the Lord's prophets he hid a hundred\nof them in two caves and kept them alive with bread and water.  He was\nseeking grass and water for the king's horses, and when he saw Elijah\nhe fell on his face and said,\n\n\"Art thou my Lord Elijah?\"\n\n\"I am,\" said Elijah, \"go, tell thy lord, 'Behold, Elijah is here.'\"\n\nObadiah was in distress at this command, for he knew that the king\nwould kill Elijah if he found him, and he could not think that Elijah\nwould be brave enough to meet the king, or he thought perhaps the\nspirit of the Lord would carry him away, and he alone would have to\nmeet the anger of the king.\n\n\"As the Lord of hosts liveth,\" said Elijah, \"I will surely show myself\nunto him to-day.\"\n\nSo Obadiah told Ahab, and Ahab went to meet Elijah, and said to him,\n\n\"Art thou he that troubleth Israel?\"\n\n\"I have not troubled Israel,\" he said, \"but thou and thy father's\nhouse, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou\nhast followed Baalim.\"\n\nThen he told Ahab to call all Israel to Mount Carmel which overlooks\nthe sea, and to bring there also the four hundred and fifty prophets of\nBaal, and the four hundred prophets of the groves.\n\nSo the king called them together, and Elijah cried to the people,\n\n\"How long halt ye between two opinions?  If the Lord be God, follow\nHim; but if Baal, follow him.\"\n\nAnd the people, afraid of the king and his wicked wife, answered not a\nword.\n\n\"I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord,\" said Elijah, \"but\nBaal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.\"  And then he told the\npeople how it could be proven which was true--the God of Israel, or\nBaal.\n\nHe told the prophets of Baal to make an altar and place wood and a\nsacrifice upon it, and he also would do the same, and they should call\nupon Baal, and he would call on the name of the Lord, and \"the God that\nanswereth by fire, let him be God.\"\n\nThis the priests of Baal were willing to do, and they cried around\ntheir altar from morning until night, \"O Baal, hear us,\" but there was\nno voice, and no answer by fire.\n\nElijah watched and waited, sometimes telling them that perhaps their\ngod was asleep, and could be waked; or that he had gone on a journey,\nor was talking with somebody, and then they became wild and leaped upon\nthe altar and cut themselves with knives.\n\nAfter many hours Elijah called the people to him, and he repaired a\nbroken altar of the Lord that stood there with twelve stones for the\ntwelve tribes of Israel, and made a trench all around it.  Then he\nplaced wood on the altar and told the people to pour four barrels of\nwater over the sacrifice.  This they did three times, and the water ran\ndown and filled the trench around the altar, and the people saw that\nElijah could not by any means make a fire there.\n\nThen, as it was the hour of the evening sacrifice in the temple, Elijah\nknelt by his altar with his face toward Jerusalem, and prayed to his\nGod that He would hear him, and show the people that they were called\nfrom the worship of idols to the service of the living God.\n\nWhat a wonderful sight was that, when fire fell from heaven and burnt\nup the sacrifice, and the wood, and the altar, and even the water in\nthe trench around the altar!\n\nAnd the people all fell on their faces at the sight, and cried,\n\n\"The Lord He is the God!  The Lord He is the God!\"  Then Elijah told\nthem to take the prophets of Baal and destroy them, and they did so.\n\n\"There is a sound of abundance of rain!\" said Elijah to the king, and\nthen he went to the very top of Carmel, and threw himself upon the\nearth, hiding his face between his knees, while he sent his servant to\nlook toward the sea, and watch for the coming of the rain.\n\nThis the servant did seven times, each time coming to his master and\nsaying, \"There is nothing,\" but the prophet told him to look seven\ntimes more, and when he came back the seventh time he said,\n\n\"Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand.\"\n\nThen he sent his servant to Ahab, saying,\n\n\"Prepare thy chariot and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.\"\n\nThe little cloud grew to be a great one, and filled all the sky until\nit was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.  And as\nAhab rode in his chariot, Elijah, who was strong with the spirit of the\nLord and glad for His great victory over sin, ran before the chariot to\nthe gates of the city.\n\nJezebel the queen was furious when she heard that the priests had been\ndestroyed.  She sent word to Elijah that he would be treated the same\nway on the morrow, and so Elijah fled for his life, and leaving his\nservant in Beer-Sheba on the southern border of Israel, he went a day's\njourney into the wilderness.  There he sat down under a juniper tree,\nand for the first time his heart grew weak within him.\n\n\"It is enough,\" he said, \"Now, O Lord, take away my life, for am I not\nbetter than my fathers.\"\n\nPerhaps he was discouraged because he was tired and hungry, for he fell\nasleep, and when he awoke it was because an angel touched him, saying,\n\"Arise and eat,\" and he looked, and there was a cake just baked on the\nhot coals, and a bottle of water close beside him.  So he ate and\ndrank, but he was not yet rested, and he fell asleep again.  The angel\nwaked him the second time telling him to eat and drink, for the journey\nwas too great for him.  Then he ate and drank again, and went on the\nstrength of that food forty days and forty nights, till he came to\nHoreb, the mount of God, where the Ten Commandments were given to\nMoses, and there he lodged in a cave.  He was still gloomy and\ndiscouraged, and when the Lord said, \"What doest thou here, Elijah?\" he\nsaid,\n\n\"I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children\nof Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and\nslain thy prophets with the sword, and I, even I only am left, and they\nseek my life to take it.\"\n\n[Illustration: Elijah and the angel]\n\nThen the Lord told him to go out and stand on the mount before the\nLord, and he passed by.  There was a great wind that split the\nmountains, and broke the great rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind,\nand after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the\nearthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in\nthe fire; and after the fire a still, small voice.\n\nWhen Elijah heard that, he wrapped his face in his mantle and stood at\nthe door of the cave, and the Lord asked again, \"What doest thou here,\nElijah?\" and Elijah answered him just as he did before.\n\nThen the Lord told him to go back and anoint a new king over Syria,\nalso a new king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his place.\n\nElijah went, and he found Elisha ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen.\nHe cast his mantle over Elisha, and Elisha followed him and became his\nservant.\n\nWhen Elijah came back to his own country he found there had been war\nbetween Israel and Syria, and Ahab had grown hard of heart again.  He\nand his wicked wife Jezebel had taken the vineyard of Naboth away from\nhim because Ahab wanted it for a garden, and they had caused the death\nof Naboth, so when Elijah came he found Ahab in the vineyard, and said,\n\n\"Hast thou killed and also taken possession?\" and he told him that he\nshould die where Naboth died.\n\n\"Hast thou found me, O mine enemy!\" cried the king.\n\n\"I have found thee,\" answered Elijah, and he spoke to him the word of\nthe Lord, that he should be destroyed out of Israel with his whole\nfamily.\n\nThen Ahab repented, and the Lord spared his life two years, but later\nhis wife Jezebel came to a dreadful end, with the seventy sons of Ahab.\n\nWhen the time came for the Lord to take his servant to himself, Elijah\nwished to be alone, but Elisha his servant would not leave him.  He\nfollowed his master from one town to another until they came to the\nriver Jordan.  Then Elijah took off his mantle, and folding it, struck\nthe waters and they were divided, so that they went over on dry ground.\nThen Elijah said, \"Ask what I shall do for thee,\" and Elisha prayed\nthat a double portion of his Master's spirit might rest upon him.\n\n\"If thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee,\" he\nsaid, \"but if not, it shall not be so.\"\n\nAnd as they went there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire,\nparting them from each other, and Elijah went up in a whirlwind to\nheaven.  Now Elisha wished his master to know that he saw him, so he\ncried,\n\n\"My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!\"\nand he saw him no more.\n\n[Illustration: Elijah and the chariot of fire]\n\nThen he took Elijah's mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters\nof Jordan again, and they parted, and he went over, and he knew that\nthe power of the old prophet's spirit had been given to him.\n\nFifty young men, sons of the prophets, saw him return, and they said,\n\n\"The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha,\" and they bowed themselves\nto the ground before him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nTHE LITTLE CHAMBER ON THE WALL.\n\nElisha did many wonderful things in the strength of the spirit that\nElijah's God gave him.  He changed the waters of Jericho, so that they\nwere no longer poisonous, by casting salt in the spring.\n\nHe brought water for the thirsty armies of three kings who had gathered\nto battle, by telling them to dig ditches in a valley of Edom, and\nwatch for the water to come, without wind or rain.  When the morning\ndawned the valley was full of running water.\n\nHe helped a poor widow to pay a debt and take care of her two sons by\ntelling her to borrow empty pots and pans of all her neighbors, and\npour into them her one little pot of oil.  The oil increased until all\nthe pots and pans were full, and she had plenty to sell.\n\nHe saved the sons of the prophets from death by casting meal into the\npot when a poisonous nut had been mingled with the food, and he fed a\nhundred people with the bread that was brought as a portion for himself.\n\nBut the most beautiful story in the life of Elisha is that of the\nShun-amite mother and her son.  The mother was a noble lady of Shun-em,\nwho believed in God, and in the good man who passed her house so often,\nand she said to her husband,\n\n\"Let us make for him a little chamber on the wall.\"  And so they did,\nand when Elisha came again he lodged there.  He was grateful to these\nkind people, and asked the woman what he should do for her--if she\nwould ask anything of the king, but she only said,\n\n\"I dwell among mine own people.\"\n\nThen the prophet, knowing that she had no child, promised that she\nshould have a son, and though it was hard to believe, the little son\nwas sent to her, and she was very happy.  But one day when he went out\nin the field where his father and his men were reaping, he cried out,\n\"My head, my head!\" and they carried him in to his mother.  She held\nhim in her arms until noon, and then he died and she laid him in the\nprophet's chamber.  Perhaps the heat of the harvest time had been too\ngreat for one so young.  Did the mother cry out and call her husband?\nNo, she called for a servant and a donkey, and rode as fast as she\ncould to Mount Carmel where Elisha was.  His servant saw her coming,\nand Elisha sent him to meet her and ask if it was well with her and her\nhusband and her child, and she said,\n\n\"It is well,\" though her heart was breaking.\n\n\"Did I ask a son of my lord?\" she said as she came to Elisha and fell\nat his feet.  Then he knew that the child was ill or dead, and he would\nhave sent his servant to lay his staff on the child, but the mother\ncried,\n\n\"As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee,\"\nand he arose and followed her.\n\nWhen he came to the Shun-amite's house he went into his little room\nwhere the dead child lay upon his bed, and, shutting the door, prayed\nto the Lord.  Then he stretched himself upon the child, and breathed\nupon him until life began to creep back into the little cold body, and\nwhen he had done this twice the child opened his eyes  Then Elisha\ncalled the mother, and when she had fallen at his feet in grateful joy,\nshe took up her child and went out.\n\n[Illustration: Elijah raises the widow's son]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nA LITTLE MAID OF ISRAEL.\n\nThere was war almost all the time between Israel and Syria.  A band of\nSyrians from Damascus would often come into a village of Israel and\ntake the people away for slaves.  One little girl who was carried off\nby the Syrians became a slave in the house of a Syrian general called\nNaaman, and was a maid to Naaman's wife.\n\nNaaman was a great man, and beloved by all, but he had a disease that\ncould never be cured.  It was leprosy.  He could go about, but he could\nnot touch others without giving them the disease which turns the skin\nwhite and dead, and finally eats the flesh away.\n\nThe little maid said to her mistress one day,\n\n\"Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he\nwould recover him of his leprosy.\"\n\nWhen this was told to Naaman he talked with the king, who sent him to\nthe king of Israel with a letter, but the king of Israel was angry.\n\n\"Am I God to kill and make alive, that this man doth send unto me to\nrecover a man of his leprosy?\" he cried, but when Elisha heard of it he\nsaid,\n\n\"Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in\nIsrael.\"\n\nSo Naaman came with his horses and chariot to Elisha's house, but the\nprophet did not even come to the door, but sent his servant with this\nmessage,\n\n\"Go wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee,\nand thou shalt be clean.\"\n\nBut Naaman went away in a rage.  He expected Elisha to come out, and\nthat there would be a fine scene while he called on the name of God,\nwaved his hand over the leprous spots, and made a cure.\n\n\"Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the\nwaters of Israel?  May I not wash in them and be clean?\" he said.\n\nThen some of his servants came near to him and said,\n\n\"My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst\nthou not have done it?  How much rather, then, when he saith to thee,\n'Wash and be clean.'\"\n\nThen he went down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, and his\nflesh became like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.\n\nAfter this he, with all that were with him, went humbly back to Elisha\nand said,\n\n\"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.\"  And\nhe urged the prophet to take gifts from him, but he would not.\n\nBut Naaman begged of Elisha two mule-loads of earth to take to his own\ncountry.  He wanted to build an altar upon it to worship the God of\nIsrael, and he thought it must stand on the soil of Israel.\n\nDid Naaman ever send the little maid of Israel to her home?  We do not\nknow, but surely he was kind to her in some way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nTHE TWO BOY KINGS.\n\nThere were many kings over Israel from the days of Solomon until the\ntime when they were carried away captives to Babylon.  The kingdom was\ndivided soon after Solomon's death, and a king reigned in Jerusalem\nover the kingdom of Judah, and another in Samaria over the kingdom of\nIsrael.  There were a few kings who tried to follow that which was\nright, but the most of them were men who were given to idolatry, and\nwho did not help the people to remember the true God.  The Lord sent\nthem prophets to remind them of Him, but they were often driven away or\nill treated.  There were a few good kings of Judah, such as Asa and\nJehoshaphat, and Hezekiah, and among them were two who became kings\nwhen they were very young.\n\nWhen Ahaziah, King of Judah, was killed, his mother, who was a wicked\nwoman, killed all his sons, that she herself might be queen.  All but a\nbaby boy who was hidden with his nurse in the temple, and tenderly\ncared for by the good high priest and his wife for six years.  Then\nwhen he was seven years old the priests and the Levites brought out\nlittle Joash and anointed him king.  They formed a guard all about him,\nand when the high priest had crowned him there was a great cry around\nthe temple of \"God save the King.\"\n\nThe old queen heard this and came to see what it meant.  When she saw\nthe little Joash standing by a pillar with a crown on his head she\ncried out that the people were plotting against her.\n\nThe people did by her as she had done by her grandsons--they took her\nlife.\n\nThen there was great rejoicing.  The house of Baal was torn down, and\nthe Lord's gold and silver brought back to the temple, and the good\nhigh priest began the worship of God in the temple after the manner of\nformer days.\n\nWhen Joash was old enough to understand he longed to make the temple\nbeautiful again, for it was falling into decay, so he called for money\nthroughout his kingdom.  Everyone was asked to drop a silver piece in\nthe chest that was set at the temple door, and more than enough was\nbrought to re-build the temple, and while the high priest lived the\nking worshipped there with all the princes of Judah, but as soon as he\ndied they went back to idol worship, and killed the new high priest in\nthe court of the temple because he told them that the Lord would bring\ngreat trouble upon them.  And so it came to pass in less than a year\nthe Syrians came and killed the princes, and took away the gold and\nsilver treasures of the temple.  Joash himself became very sick, and\nhis own servants took his life as he lay helpless.\n\nIt was quite different with little Josiah.  He was only eight years old\nwhen he was crowned King of Judah, and he had no one so good as the\nhigh priest Jehoida, who was the teacher of Joash, to help him to do\nright.  Even the holy writings that were given to Moses were lost, and\nthe people did not ask to hear them read.  But the Lord had not allowed\nHis word to be destroyed, and when Josiah was having the temple\nrepaired the high priest found the rolls of parchment on which the law\nwas written, and sent it to the king by a servant of the king who was a\nwriter.  Josiah was full of interest in the ancient book, and wished to\nknow what was in it, and his servant read it to him.\n\nWhen he found that he and his people were not living as God had\ncommanded in the law, he sent to inquire of the Lord what He would have\nthem to do, and they went to Huldah, the prophetess.  She told the\nking's messengers that a great calamity would fall upon the kingdom\nbecause they had turned away from the true God, but because the king's\nheart was tender and full of desire to follow the Lord, it should not\ncome during his lifetime.\n\nThen the king called all the chief men of Judah, and the people of the\ncity, both great and small, with the priests and the Levites, to the\nLord's house, and there he read in their hearing the word of the Lord.\nIt was like a new book to the most of them, but they were ready to\nfollow the king in making a solemn promise to the Lord to do His\ncommandments, and bring back the true worship.\n\nSo they had a great feast of the passover, to which all the people came\nwith offerings, and there was no passover in all the history of the\nkings of Judah and Israel that was like this one that was held in the\neighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.\n\nAfter he had prepared the temple for worship, and had destroyed the\naltars of the idols, he went out to meet the King of Egypt in battle\nand was killed, and there was a great mourning for him in all the land,\nfor he had been a good king--kind to his people and faithful to his\nGod.  Jeremiah the prophet made a great lamentation for him, for he\nknew that one of Josiah's sons would be the last king of Judah, and\nthat for their sins the people would be driven out of their own land to\nbe captives in Babylon for seventy years.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nTHE FOUR CAPTIVE CHILDREN.\n\nNebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came with his armies and besieged\nJerusalem, just as Jeremiah the prophet had foretold.  He took the king\nand the princes of Judah captive, and carried away their precious\nthings from the temple and the palaces into his own land, and put them\nin the temples of his gods.  Before twenty years had passed the whole\nnation had been driven into captivity, and their holy house had been\nburned, and the ark of the covenant lost or destroyed.  As the kingdom\nof Israel had also been scattered, the whole land lay desolate, and the\nwalls of the cities were broken down.\n\nWhen the King of Babylon first besieged Jerusalem he carried away the\nfinest of the princely families to serve him.  They were the flower of\nJerusalem--young men of noble face and form; well taught in the\nlearning of the Jews, and skilfull in the sciences of that time.  They\nwere also chosen for their natural ability to learn the language and\nthe wisdom of the Chaldeans.\n\nAmong these were four boys named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.\nThe king gave these boys into the care of his chief officer, who set\nteachers over them and treated them very kindly, while the king sent\nthem each day meat and wine from his own table.  The Chaldeans offered\nthese things to idols, and then ate of them themselves; they also used\nsome meats for food that were unclean to an Israelite, so that the four\nchildren of Judah determined that they would not touch the king's meat\nand drink.\n\nDaniel spoke to the chief officer about it, and though he had learned\nto love Daniel very much, he was afraid to have the boys refuse the\nking's food.\n\n\"I fear my lord the king,\" he said, \"who hath appointed your meat and\nyour drink, for why should he see your faces sadder than the children\nwhich are of your sort?  Then shall ye make me endanger my head to the\nking.\"\n\nBut Daniel turned to Melzar, the steward, and begged him to prove them\nby giving them only vegetables to eat and water to drink for ten days,\nand \"Then,\" said he \"let our countenances be looked upon before thee,\nand the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the\nking's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.\"  And he proved\nthem for ten days.\n\nAt the end of that time their faces were fatter and fairer than the\nfaces of all the others who ate portions from the King's table, and\nthey were allowed to eat the food they had chosen.\n\nThey also grew in wisdom and judgment.  Daniel had the gift of\nunderstanding visions and dreams, and the gift came from God, and not\nfrom the study of magic.  Among all the young men these four were most\npleasing to the king, and they were called to the palace to stand\nbefore him.\n\nNot long after this the king had a dream that seemed very wonderful to\nhim, but he could not remember it.  He called all his magicians, and\nastrologers, and wise men together, and told them that they must tell\nhim what his dream was, and the meaning of it, or he would destroy\nthem.  There was no man wise enough to tell him, and he ordered that\nall the wise men of Babylon should be killed, Daniel and his friends\namong them.\n\nDaniel asked the captain of the king's guard why the king was so hasty\nwith his decree, and the captain told him.\n\nThen Daniel went to the king and told him that if he would give him a\nlittle time he would tell him his dream and its meaning, and he went to\nhis three friends and together they prayed the God of Heaven to show\nthem the dream and its interpretation.\n\nThat night Daniel saw in a vision from God the same thing that the king\nhad seen and had forgotten.  It was a great image standing before the\nking, and shining like the sun.  The head was of pure gold, the breast\nand arms of silver, and the rest of the body of brass; while the legs\nwere of iron, and the feet were part of iron and part of clay.  As he\nlooked a great stone cut from a mountain by unseen hands was hurled at\nthe image, striking its feet and breaking them.  Then the image fell\nand broke into pieces so fine that the winds blew them away, but the\nstone grew to be a great mountain that filled the earth.\n\nThen Daniel gave thanks to God for showing him the dream, and went to\nthe king.\n\nHe told the king that the God of Heaven alone had revealed the dream,\nfor no man could know it, and he told him what the dream had been.  He\nalso told him that God had shown him the meaning; that the head of gold\nwas the king himself, who reigned over the greatest kingdom on earth,\nbut after him new kingdoms would rise, and the silver, the brass, the\niron and the clay stood for these; but in the days of the kingdom of\niron and clay the God of heaven would set up a kingdom which should\nnever be destroyed, but it would destroy all the kingdoms that had gone\nbefore it.  This kingdom--the great stone cut without hands from the\nmountain--meant the Kingdom of Christ.\n\nThe king was so astonished at Daniel's wisdom--for it was the dream he\nhad forgotten brought back and interpreted--that he fell on his face\nbefore Daniel and reverenced the God of heaven.  He made Daniel chief\nruler in his realm and gave also great honors to his friends.\n\nNebuchadnezzar soon forgot God, for he set up a great golden image on\nthe plain of Dura, and called a feast of dedication.  He had all his\nprinces and governors there, and his captains, and judges, and rulers.\nThe musicians were there also, with many kinds of instruments, and a\nherald was there who cried in a loud voice the command of the king.  It\nwas a call to worship the golden image.  At the first sound of the\nbands of music all were to fall down before the golden image, or\nfailing to do so, be thrown into a fiery furnace.\n\nAmong the rulers were the three friends of Daniel, whose names had been\nchanged by the king to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  They did not\nfall before the golden image, and some jealous Chaldeans who saw them\nwent and told the king.  Then the king, who had a fiery temper, was\nangry, and sent for the three young men.  He told them the bands should\nplay again, and if they failed to worship the golden image they should\nbe cast into the furnace, \"and who is that God that shall deliver you\nout of my hands?\" he asked.\n\n\"We are not careful to answer thee in this matter,\" they said, \"If it\nbe so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning\nfiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.\"\n\nThen the king in a great rage called his mighty men to bind the young\nmen, and after the furnace was heated seven times hotter than before,\nthey were thrown in.  So great was the heat that the men who threw them\nin were killed by it in the sight of the king.  As he watched the great\ndoor of the furnace the king rose up and said,\n\n\"Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?\"\n\n\"True, O king,\" said his lords and captains.\n\n[Illustration: In the fiery furnace]\n\nThen the king with his eyes fixed upon the glowing door of the furnace\nsaid,\n\n\"Lo I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they\nhave no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.\"\n\nThen he went near the door of the furnace and cried,\n\n\"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God,\ncome forth and come hither!\"\n\nThen they came out before the king and all the people, who saw that the\nfire had no power over their bodies, for no hair of their head was\nburned, and no smell of fire was upon their garments.\n\nThen the king was very humble, and acknowledged the God of heaven,\n\"because there is no other God\" he said \"that can deliver after this\nsort.\"  And he promoted the young men to still higher places in his\nkingdom.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nTHE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS.\n\nThe Lord saw that the heart of Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up with pride\nbecause he was king of a great people, and had conquered many weaker\nnations.  He was proud of his royal city, Babylon.  The walls of\nBabylon were sixty miles in length, and in them stood one hundred\nbrazen gates.  There were wonderful palaces, and statues, and bridges,\nand gardens.  The river Euphrates ran through the city, and near the\nking's palace was a hill covered with trees and flowering plants from\nmany lands, called the Hanging Gardens.\n\nBabylon was built on a plain, but the king had these gardens made for\nhis wife, who had come from a country of hills.\n\nThe king was praised so much by the princes and rulers that he thought\nonly of his own power and riches, and became proud and cruel.  So the\nLord sent him a dream.  He saw a tree great and high, standing in the\nmidst of a wide plain.  It grew until it reached the heavens, and its\nbranches spread to the ends of the earth.  It was thick with green\nleaves, and heavy with fruit; the birds lived in it, and the beasts lay\nin its shadow, and all things living came to it for food.  Then he saw\nan angel coming down from heaven crying,\n\n\"Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches; shake off his leaves, and\nscatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls\nfrom his branches; nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the\nearth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the\nfield; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be\nwith the beasts of the grass of the earth; let his heart be changed\nfrom a man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven\ntimes pass over him.\"\n\nThis dream was given that the king might be taught that the Lord alone\nis King.\n\nDaniel, named by the king Belteshazzar, was called to interpret the\ndream, and the Lord gave him power to do it.\n\n\"The tree that thou sawest,\" said Daniel, \"it is thou, O king, that art\ngrown and become strong; for thy greatness is grown and reacheth unto\nheaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.\"\n\nThen Daniel told the king that he must be driven from men to dwell with\nthe beasts of the field; to eat grass with the oxen, and be wet with\nthe dews of heaven, until he had learned that the Most High rules in\nthe kingdom of men, and gives to whosoever He will.  But as the roots\nof the tree were left in the ground, so his kingdom should be preserved\nfor him until he had learned that the heavens do rule.\n\nAt the end of a year the king's heart had not been made humble, for as\nhe walked in his palace he said to himself:\n\n\"Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the\nkingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?\"\n\nAnd while he yet spoke there fell a voice from heaven, saying:\n\n\"O, King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed\nfrom thee.\"\n\nAnd within an hour the word of the Lord came true.  For seven years he\nwas without reason, and was an outcast from his kingdom.  But at the\nend of that time his eyes were lifted to heaven and his reason\nreturned, and his kingdom was restored to him, for he had learned that\nGod alone is great, and \"Those that walk in pride He is able to abase.\"\n\nBelshazzar was the next king of Babylon.  He made a great feast, and a\nthousand of his lords were bidden to sit around his tables in the great\nhall of the palace.  While he drank the wine he thought of the holy\nvessels of gold and silver that his father had brought out of the\nTemple at Jerusalem, and he sent for them, and into these golden bowls\nthat had been consecrated to the worship of God he poured wine and gave\nit to his princes and to his wives, while they praised the gods of\ngold, and silver, and wood, and stone.\n\nWhile they were feasting, and laughing, and singing, there came a man's\nhand and wrote some strange words on the wall of the great hall where\nthey sat.  The king saw the hand as it wrote, and he was so much afraid\nthat he trembled and grew very weak.  He called for his wise men and\nthey could not read the writing, but the queen remembered that in the\ntime of Nebuchadnezzar there was a man whom he made master of the\nmagicians because he had power to interpret dreams and make all\ndoubtful things clear.\n\n[Illustration: The handwriting on the wall]\n\nSo Daniel was brought before the king, and the king told him that if he\nwould read the writing on the wall he should be clothed royally and be\nmade the third ruler in the kingdom.\n\n\"Let thy gifts be to thyself,\" said Daniel, \"and give thy rewards to\nanother, yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to\nhim the interpretation.\"\n\nThen Daniel reminded the king of that which fell upon his father\nNebuchadnezzar, when he had grown proud and hard-hearted toward God and\nmen, and, though he knew all this, he also had lifted himself up\nagainst the Lord of heaven, and had defiled the holy vessels of the\nTemple by drinking from them to gods which could neither see or hear,\nand because of this the message had been written on the wall.  And this\nwas the interpretation of the strange words,--\n\n\"God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it.  Thou art weighed in\nthe balances, and art found wanting.  Thy kingdom is divided, and given\nto the Medes and the Persians.\"\n\nThe king clothed Daniel in scarlet, and gave him a chain of gold, and\nproclaimed him third ruler in the kingdom, but the same night\nBelshazzar was slain, and Darius the Medean took the kingdom.\n\nThe new king set one hundred and twenty princes over the kingdom, and\nover these he set three presidents, the first of which was Daniel.  The\nking loved Daniel for the wise and good spirit that was in him, and\nthis stirred up jealousy in the hearts of the Babylonian princes, and\nthey watched Daniel to see if they could find something against him to\ntell the king, but they could not, for he was faithful in all his work.\n\nThen they agreed to plot against him, and they went to the king and\npersuaded him to make a decree that whoever should ask any petition of\nany god or man for thirty days, except of the king, he should be thrown\ninto the den of lions, and they asked the king to sign the decree, so\nthat it could not be changed, and he signed it.\n\nWhen Daniel heard of the decree, and knew that the king had signed it,\nhe went into his own house, and to his chamber.  There the windows were\nalways open toward Jerusalem, and he kneeled down as he had done every\nday since he was taken from his own land, and prayed to God with his\nface toward the Temple in Jerusalem.  And the men who were plotting\nagainst him watched him.\n\nThen they hurried to the king, saying,\n\n\"That Daniel, which is of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee,\nO, King, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition\nthree times a day.\"\n\nThe king was greatly disturbed at this, and set his heart on the\ndeliverance of Daniel, and labored till sunset to do it.  But his\nprinces said it could not be done, because, according to the law of the\nMedes and the Persians, no decree made by the king could be changed.\n\nSo Daniel was condemned to be cast into the den of lions, but the king\nsaid,\n\n\"Thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.\"\n\n[Illustration: Daniel in the den of lions]\n\nThen a stone was laid over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it\nwith his own signet, and with that of his lords, that the purpose might\nnot be changed.\n\nThat was a long night for Darius the king.  He could neither eat nor\nsleep, and he would hear no music, but very early in the morning he\nwent to the den of the lions and with a very sorrowful voice cried:\n\n\"O Daniel, servant of the living God! is thy God whom thou servest\ncontinually able to deliver thee from the lions?\"\n\nThen up from the pit came a strong, cheery voice saying:\n\n\"O king, live forever!  My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the\nlions' mouths, that they have not hurt me.\"\n\nThen there was joy in the king's heart and he had Daniel brought up out\nof the den, and no hurt was found upon him, because he had believed in\nGod, but the men who had accused Daniel were cast into the lions' den\nand destroyed.\n\nDarius acknowledged the God of Daniel before all his kingdom, and\ncommanded the people to honor Him, so that Daniel and his people\nsuffered no more from their enemies during the reign of Darius.  After\nthe death of Darius, Cyrus was made king of Persia, and he also was\nkind to Daniel.  The Lord gave him a tender heart toward the captives\nof Judah who had been in his land for seventy years, so that he sent\nthem back into their own land and helped them to rebuild their city and\ntheir Temple.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nTHE STORY OF JONAH.\n\nMore than eight hundred years before the birth of Christ a prophet\nnamed Jonah lived in the land of Israel.  He had given the Lord's\nmessages to his own people, and they had listened to them, and a part\nof their country had been saved by obeying the Word of the Lord as it\nwas brought to them by Jonah.\n\nBut when the Lord wished to send Jonah to warn a great city in Assyria\nto repent of their sins, he did not wish to go.  Nineveh was a very old\nand a very great city.  It was built soon after the flood, but was\nstill at a high point of glory and wealth in the time of Jonah.\n\nIt was a heathen city, but God is the Father of all who live, and cares\nfor all His children, though they may not know or care for Him.\n\nPerhaps Jonah was afraid, for the people were strong and warlike, and\nthey would not wish to hear about their wickedness.  So Jonah ran away\nto the sea shore and took a ship from Joppa to go to Tarshish.  He had\nnot gone far from shore when a storm of wind rose, and the wind tossed\nthe ship on the great angry waves until it was very nearly wrecked.\n\nThe men were afraid, and each prayed to his God, and threw out the\ngoods they were carrying in order to make the ship lighter.\n\nWhere was Jonah?  He was below the decks asleep.  When the captain\nfound him he cried out,\n\n\"What meanest thou, O sleeper?  Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that\nGod will think upon us, that we perish not.\"\n\nThen they began to wonder if the storm had not been sent upon them for\nthe wickedness of some one in the ship, and they cast lots to see who\nit could be.  The lot fell upon Jonah.  Then they asked Jonah his name\nand country, and of his journey.  He told them all about it.  Then the\nmen were more afraid, for they knew that he had tried to run away from\nthe Lord, and they said,\n\n\"What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us?\"\n\n\"Take me up and cast me forth into the sea,\" he said, \"so shall the sea\nbe calm unto you, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is\nupon you.\"\n\nIt was not easy for the men, who were kind-hearted, to throw into the\nsea a man so honest and so willing to die, so they rowed very hard, and\ntried their best to reach the shore, but they could not.  So they\nprayed to Jonah's God to forgive them, and then threw Jonah into the\nsea.\n\nBut the Lord meant not only to teach Jonah a lesson, but to teach,\nthrough Jonah, a lesson to His children who should live in the ages to\ncome.  He was to make him also a sign of the coming Christ.\n\nWhen Jonah believed he was sinking down into the green depths of the\nsea to die, a great fish, prepared by the Lord, opened his mouth and\ntook him in.  We cannot understand all the ways of God, but we know\nthat \"nothing is impossible with God,\" and that he was able to keep his\nservant alive even in such a strange place as this.\n\nFor three days and three nights he was kept in his living prison, and\nwas able to pray to God, and to know where he was.\n\n\"The waters compassed me about,\" he said, \"even to the soul; the depth\nclosed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.  I went\ndown to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about\nme forever.\"\n\nThen he praised and thanked God, for he knew that he meant to save him.\nAnd when the Lord spoke to the fish, it threw Jonah out upon the dry\nland.\n\n[Illustration: Jonah thrown on the dry land]\n\nThe second time Jonah heard the voice of the Lord telling him to go to\nNineveh and preach the words that should be given him to say, and this\ntime he obeyed.\n\nIt was a long journey to Nineveh, and when Jonah reached it he found\nthat the city was so great that it would take three days to walk around\nthe walls.\n\nThe walls were a hundred feet high.  And so broad that three chariots\ncould be driven on them side by side.  The walls had fifteen hundred\ntowers, each two hundred feet high.  Inside the walls lived hundreds of\nthousands of people, many of them rich merchants or princes and nobles\nwho lived in palaces, and thought only of their own pleasure and glory.\nThey had grown very selfish and wicked.\n\nWhen Jonah had walked a day's journey into the city, he began to cry in\nthe streets the message God had given him,\n\n\"Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!\"\n\nThe people began to tremble and be afraid of the strange voice that\nwent up and down the long streets crying out these terrible words.\nThey began to believe in Jonah's God, and to repent.\n\nThey repented in the eastern way, by putting on a garment of coarse\nsack-cloth, and sitting in ashes.  All did this, even to the king, who\ntook off his beautiful robes and sat down in ashes before the Lord.  He\nalso proclaimed a fast to all the people, and urged them to \"turn every\none from their evil way.\"\n\nWhen the Lord saw that they turned away from their sins, for He could\nlook into their hearts, and read all their thoughts, He was satisfied,\nand said he would not destroy Nineveh.\n\nBut Jonah, who could not read the hearts of men, was not satisfied.  He\nwas very angry.  He wanted to have the Ninevites see that he was a true\nprophet, for if no destruction came upon them he feared that they might\ncall him a false prophet.  So he complained to God, and said,\n\n\"Now, O Lord, take, I beseech Thee, my life from me, for it is better\nto die than to live!\"\n\nThe Lord's gentle word to Jonah was,\n\n\"Doest thou well to be angry?\"\n\nJonah went outside the city walls, and made for himself a little house\nof the branches of trees and waited to see if the city would be\ndestroyed.  It was very hot and Jonah was deeply troubled, and the\nLord, who is full of love and pity for His children, caused a gourd\nvine with large leaves to spring up and grow over the dried branches of\nthe little house that sheltered Jonah, and he was very glad and\ngrateful.  But the Lord, who always looks upon the heart, saw that the\nheart of Jonah was not yet wholly right, and the next morning he\nallowed a worm to eat the gourd until it withered.  Then the sun beat\ndown upon Jonah's head until he fainted and wished to die, saying, as\nhe had said before,\n\n\"It is better for me to die than live!\"\n\nBut the Lord was patient with him, and said,\n\n\"Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?\"\n\nAnd Jonah replied ungraciously,\n\n\"I do well to be angry, even unto death.\"\n\nThen the Lord in his love and pity answered,\n\n\"Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored,\nneither madest it grow; which came up in a night and perished in a\nnight; and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are\nmore than six-score thousand persons that cannot discern between their\nright hand and then left hand, and also much cattle?\"\n\nJonah did not know all that was in the mind of the Lord, though he was\na prophet.  He did not know that he was one of the signs of the Lord's\nfirst coming, for Jesus spoke of Jonah as a \"sign,\" that as he was\nthree days and three nights within the great fish \"so shall the Son of\nman be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\nESTHER, THE QUEEN.\n\nAbout five hundred years before Christ King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) reigned\nover Persia.  In the third year of his reign he gave a royal feast to\nall the princes and nobles of Persia and Medea, in Shushan, the royal\ncity.  It lasted one hundred and eighty days, and was very costly, for\nthe king wished to show the great men from all his provinces the riches\nand glory of his kingdom and of his palace.\n\nAt the end of these days he made another feast to all who were in\nShushan, a feast of seven days, and which included great and small.\nThe palace garden was hung with awnings of white and green and violet,\nfastened with cords and silver rings to pillars of marble.\n\nWine was given to the guests in golden cups as they sat on couches of\ngold and silver, and the pavement of the court was of many colored\nmarbles.\n\nIn another part of the palace Vashti, the queen, also made a feast for\nthe women.\n\nOn the seventh day the king sent his seven chamberlains to bring Queen\nVashti before him, wearing her royal crown.  He wished to show to his\npeople and princes the beauty of the queen, for she was very fair to\nlook upon.\n\nBut the queen refused to obey the king's command, and he was angry.  He\nasked the seven princes who stood next to him in the kingdom what he\nshould do, and what the laws of the Medes and Persians (which could not\nbe broken) would say in such a case.\n\nThe princes did not speak of any law, but one of them told the king\nthat the conduct of Vashti would do them great harm through all the\nkingdom, for women hearing of the act of the queen, would despise and\ndisobey their husbands.  They advised, therefore, that a commandment\nshould go forth from the king and be written among the laws of the\nMedes and Persians, that Vashti should no more come before the king,\nand that her royal estate should be given to another better than she.\n\nThis pleased the king, and he did as Memucan, the prince, had advised,\nand he sent letters into all parts of his empire to people of various\nlanguages, that every man should rule in his own house.\n\nThen the king's servants, the nobles, advised the king to send officers\nto every part of his kingdom to find some one worthy to take the place\nof Queen Vashti, and the plan pleased the king, and he did so.\n\nThere was in Shushan a Jew named Mordecai, who had been brought away\nfrom Jerusalem with the captives when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the\ncity.  He had an adopted daughter named Hadassah.  This was her true\nname, although the Persians called her Esther.  She was the daughter of\nMordecai's uncle, and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took\nher for his own.  She was very beautiful, and as good as she was\nbeautiful, for Mordecai had taught her to be faithful to the true God,\nthough living among a strange people.\n\nWhen Mordecai heard that the king was seeking for a maiden worthy to be\na queen through all his provinces, he brought Esther and placed her in\ncare of Hegai, who had the care of that part of the king's house where\nthe women lived.  Hegai was very kind to her, and gave her seven maids\nto serve her, and the best place in the house for her own.\n\nMordecai had told Esther not to speak of her Jewish family, but every\nday he walked before the court of the women's house to ask how she did\nand what had become of her.\n\nOut of all the maidens brought from the city and the kingdom Esther was\nchosen by the king to be queen in the place of Vashti, and he placed\nthe royal crown upon her head, and proclaimed a great feast that he\ncalled Esther's feast, when he gave gifts and made a holiday for all\nthe people to rest and be happy in all his provinces.\n\nMordecai sat daily at the king's gate, and once while there he heard of\na plot to kill the king by two of his chamberlains, and he sent word\nsecretly to Esther, and she told the king in Mordecai's name, so that\nthese two men were hanged, and the account of it was written in the\nking's book of records.\n\nAbout this time the king gave great honors to a man named Haman.  He\nset him above all his princes, and when the king's servants who were at\nhis gate knew it they all bowed down and gave great honor to Haman,\nwhenever he passed, for the king had so commanded them; but Mordecai\nwould not bow to Haman.  When Haman saw this he was full of anger\ntoward Mordecai the Jew, and he made a wicked plan to destroy not only\nMordecai, but all his people.\n\nSo he came with wily ways and cunning speech to the king, saying,\n\n\"There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the\npeople in all the provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse\nfrom all people, neither keep they the king's laws, therefore it is not\nfor the king's profit to suffer them.  If it please the king let it be\nwritten that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of\nsilver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to\nbring it into the king's treasuries.\"\n\nThen the king gave his ring to Haman as a sign that he would pledge his\nword to do what he asked, and said,\n\n\"The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it\nseemeth good to thee.\"\n\nThen Haman had letters written and sealed with the king's seal ring,\nsaying to the rulers of every province in the kingdom that all Jews,\nboth young and old, throughout the kingdom, must be destroyed in one\nday, and their goods, and money, and lands be taken for a prey, and the\nthirteenth day of the twelfth month was set in which to destroy them.\n\nAfter the messengers were sent out the king and Haman sat down to drink\nwine, but the city was troubled.\n\nThen Mordecai rent his clothes in sign of mourning, and went out into\nthe streets of the city clothed in sack-cloth uttering a loud and\nbitter cry.  He cried even before the king's gate.\n\nAll through the kingdom there was great mourning among the Jews, and\nthey fasted and wept in sack-cloth and ashes.\n\nWhen Esther heard that Mordecai was clothed in sack-cloth she was\ndeeply grieved, and sent some garments to clothe him, but he would not\nreceive them.  Then she sent for the king's chamberlain Hatach, and\ngave him a command to Mordecai to tell what caused his grief.\n\nHatach found him at the king's gate, and Mordecai told him all that had\nhappened to him, and of the great sum of money that Haman had promised\nto pay into the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them.  He\nalso gave him a copy of the decree to show Esther, and told Hatach to\ncharge her that she go before the king and make request for her people.\n\nHatach took these words to Esther, and Esther sent a reply by Hatach,\nsaying that it was known in all the king's palace that no man or woman\ncould come into the king's presence in the inner court who had not been\ncalled, and for any who so entered there was but one law, and that was\nthat they be put to death, unless the king hold out to them the golden\nsceptre.  She had not been called to see the king, she said, in thirty\ndays.\n\nHatach gave this message to Mordecai, and he again sent word to Esther\nthat she could not hope to escape the decree, as she too was of the\nJews.  He told her that deliverance must come to the Jews in some other\nway, but she and her family would be destroyed, and then he added,\n\n\"Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as\nthis?\"\n\nThen Esther made her resolve, and sent word to Mordecai to gather all\nthe Jews in Shushan together to fast night and day, while she and her\nmaidens fasted also.\n\n\"And so I will go in unto the king,\" she said, \"which is not according\nto the law, and if I perish, I perish.\"\n\nAnd Mordecai went his way and did as Esther had commanded.\n\nIt was the third day when Esther arose from her fast before the Lord\nand put on her beautiful royal robes and stood in the inner court of\nthe king's house in sight of the royal throne.\n\nWhen the king saw Esther standing in the inner court he was not\ndispleased, but his heart was turned toward her, and he held out to her\nthe golden sceptre that was in his hand.\n\n\"What wilt thou, Queen Esther?\" he said, \"and what is thy request? it\nshall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.\"\n\n\"If it seem good unto the king,\" said Esther, \"let the king and Haman\ncome this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.\"\n\nSo the king commanded Haman, and they came to the queen's banquet.  The\nking knew that Esther had a favor to ask of him, so he said again:\n\n\"What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee; and what is thy\nrequest? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.\"\n\nBut Esther was wise.  She begged as her petition and request that the\nking and Haman would come to the banquet she should prepare the next\nday also, and she would then do as the king had said.\n\nHaman went home very happy and proud that he had been so honored by the\nqueen, and told his wife and his friends of all the glory and honor\nthat had come to him.\n\n\"Yet all this availeth me nothing,\" he said, \"so long as I see Mordecai\nthe Jew sitting at the king's gate.\"\n\nThen his wife and his friends urged him to build a high gallows and ask\nthe king on the next day to hang Mordecai upon it.  \"Then go thou\nmerrily with the king unto the banquet,\" they added.\n\nThis pleased Haman, and he ordered the gallows to be made.\n\nThat night the king was restless, and he could not sleep, and he\ncommanded that the book of records be brought and read aloud to him.\nThen he found that it was written that Mordecai had saved the king's\nlife when it was threatened by his two chamberlains.\n\n\"What honor and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?\" he asked,\nand his servants replied:\n\n\"There is nothing done for him.\"\n\n\"Who is in the court?\" cried the king.  Now Haman had come in to speak\nto the king to have Mordecai hanged.\n\n\"Haman standeth in the court,\" said the king's servants, and the king\nsaid,\n\n\"Let him come in.\"\n\nAs Haman came in the king said,\n\n\"What shall be done to the man that the king delighteth to honor?\"\n\nHaman thought in his heart, \"To whom would the king delight to do honor\nmore than to myself,\" and then he replied, thinking all the time of\nhimself.\n\n\"For the man whom the king delighteth to honor let the royal apparel be\nbrought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king\nrideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head, and let\nthis apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's\nmost noble princes, that they may array the men withal whom the king\ndelighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of\nthe city, and proclaim before him, 'Thus shall it be done to the man\nwhom the king delighteth to honor.'\"\n\nThen the king said, \"Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse as\nthou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai, the Jew, that sitteth at\nthe king's gate; let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.\"\n\nHaman did as he was commanded, for he could do nothing else, and after\nit was all over Mordecai took his place again at the king's gate, but\nHaman hastened home mourning, and with his head covered.\n\nThe next day he came to the queen's banquet with the king, and again\nthe king said,\n\n\"What is thy petition, Queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee; and\nwhat is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of my\nkingdom.\"\n\nThen the queen made her request, saying,\n\n\"If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king,\nlet my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request;\nfor we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to\nperish.  But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen I had held\nmy tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.\"\n\n\"Who is he, and where is he,\" cried the king, \"That durst presume in\nhis heart to do so?\"\n\nThen Esther said, \"The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.\"\n\n[Illustration: Haman denounced by the queen]\n\nHaman was overcome with fear at this, and the king was so angry that he\nrose up and went out into the palace garden.  Haman stood up to make a\nplea for his life, and when the king came in he found Haman fallen at\nthe queen's feet.\n\nOne of the king's chamberlains who knew what the king wished told him\nof the gallows at Haman's house that had been made for Mordecai, and\nthe king said, \"Hang him thereon,\" and they did so, and the king's\nanger was pacified.\n\nThat day the king gave Haman's house to the queen.  Mordecai came\nbefore the king that day also, for Esther had told him how he was\nrelated to her, and the King gave to Mordecai the ring that he had once\ngiven to Haman.  Esther's petition was not yet finished, so she fell\ndown at the king's feet and asked for the life of her people, and that\nthe decree might be changed.\n\nThen the king held out his golden sceptre to Esther, and she arose.\nShe spoke noble words of petition for her people, and the king told\nMordecai to write in the king's name and seal with the king's seal\nletters that should make the decree void.\n\nSo the scribes were called in and the letters were written and sealed\nwith the king's ring, and sent out to every province in the kingdom.\n\nMordecai went out of the palace that day clothed in royal garments of\nviolet and white, fine linen and purple, and a great crown of gold upon\nhis head, and there was joy in Shushan, and there was joy among the\nJews all over the land.  They hanged the ten sons of Haman, and\ndestroyed their enemies by the king's permission, so that they had rest\nfrom persecution.  They also set apart two days for a feast of\nthanksgiving through all time, and the feast of Purim is kept by all\nJews to this day, as it was first confirmed by the decree of Esther.\n\nAnd Mordecai was next to the king and honored by his brethren the Jews\nas long as he lived, for he always sought their peace, and was as a\nfather to them.\n\n\n\n\nCHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE.\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE ANGELS OF THE ADVENT.\n\nThere was an old priest named Zacharias, who lived in the hill country\nof Hebron, where Abraham the father of the Jewish people used to live.\nHe went to Jerusalem when it was his turn to serve in the temple, and\nonce while he was offering the incense of sweet spices on the golden\naltar, he saw through the rising smoke an angel standing on the right\nside of the altar.  The good priest was frightened, but the angel said,\n\n\"Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard,\" and he promised that to\nhim and his wife Elizabeth should be born a little son, whose name\nshould be John.  He was coming to prepare the way for the Messiah, and\nmust not drink wine or strong drink, for he was to be filled with the\nHoly Spirit.\n\nIt was too wonderful for Zacharias to believe, and when he went out of\nthe temple he was dumb, and all the people who waited for him knew that\nhe had seen a vision.  He did not speak while he stayed to minister in\nthe temple, and when his time of service was ended he went to his home\nin Hebron.\n\nA few months later the angel Gabriel went to the little town of\nNazareth, high up among the hills of Galilee, and spoke to a young girl\nnamed Mary.  She had never seen an angel, and she also was afraid when\nhe said to her,\n\n\"Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art\nthou among women.  Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.\"\nAnd then he told her that she should become the mother of a Holy Child,\nwho should also be the Son of the Highest, and a King whose kingdom\nshould have no end, and His name should be Jesus.  He also told her of\nher cousin Elizabeth away in Hebron, to whom a little son was promised.\n\nThen Mary said these beautiful words to the angel:\n\n\"Behold the hand-maid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy\nword,\" and the angel went away into heaven.\n\nMary was so full of wonder at the angel's words that she set out on a\njourney to see Elizabeth.  It was eighty miles to Hebron, but it was\nearly summer, and as Mary went through the green valleys and fruitful\nplains, and along by the flowing Jordan, she thought about the angel's\nwords, and prayed to God to make her good and wise.  She was not\nafraid, though the journey was four days long, for she knew God was\nwith her.\n\nOn the fourth day she passed Jerusalem, the Holy City, and went on and\nup into the Hebron Hills to the house of Elizabeth.  When they told to\neach other the wonderful words of the angel Gabriel they were full of\njoy, for they knew that the coming of the Christ was near, and that the\nLord had trusted them with the heavenly secret.  They were filled with\nthe Holy Spirit, and Mary broke out into a beautiful song of praise.\n\nMary stayed three months with her cousin Elizabeth, and learned many\nthings, for the old priest and his wife were wise and good.  When she\nwent back to Nazareth she told no one of her vision, not even her\nmother or Joseph, the good carpenter, whose promised wife she was.  But\nthe angel came one night to Joseph and spoke to him through a dream of\nthe Holy Child that was to be born.\n\nNow Joseph and Mary were of the family of King David, and they knew\nthat the prophets had long ago talked of a King who was to come and\nrestore the kingdom, and reign on the throne of David.  They even told\nwhere he was to be born, in Bethlehem, the \"City of David.\"  And though\nthe Jews had become the servants of the Romans, yet it was time,\naccording to the promise, that the new King should come and set them\nfree, and many were looking for His coming.\n\nPerhaps Joseph and Mary thought of these things when the time came for\nthem to go to Bethlehem, for the Emperor of Rome had made a decree that\nall Jews should be enrolled, that he might know how many were in his\nempire.  So all Jews, who had gone to live in other parts, returned to\ntheir own tribe and city to be enrolled among their own people.\n\nWhen Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem they found it full of people who\nhad also come home to write their names for the Emperor, and there was\nno room for them in the inn.  It was winter, and while Joseph wondered\nwhat he should do the keeper of the inn showed them the stable where\nthe gentle oxen and asses were kept, and where it was much quieter than\nin the noisy yard and crowded rooms of the inn.\n\nIt was here in a humble stable that the Lord of Heaven was born upon\nearth, and cradled in a manger.  He chose the stable instead of a\npalace, and a bed of straw instead of a bed of down, for He had come to\nbe the Brother of the poor and the Saviour of the world.\n\nOut in the fields near by were some shepherds watching their flocks.\nIt has been said that the flocks kept in the Bethlehem fields were for\nthe sacrifices in the temple, and were watched night and day the year\nlong, while other flocks were kept in their folds in winter.\n\nWhile they sat on the rocks, wrapped in their cloaks and sheepskin\njackets, with a fire of brushwood to keep the beasts away, perhaps they\nthought of young David, who once kept his sheep there, and killed a\nlion and a bear to defend his flock; or they watched the stars and\nwondered at their beauty.\n\nBut suddenly an angel stood by them, and a great light shone round\nabout them, and they were terrified.  But the angel spoke kindly to\nthem saying:--\n\n\"Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which\nshall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day, in the city of\nDavid, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.\"  And the angel told them\nhow they would know it to be the Holy Child--because it lay in a\nmanger.  Then, in a moment the air was full of angel faces, and\nheavenly voices sang this song of praise to God and promise to all\npeople:--\n\n\"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward\nmen!\"  And they went away into heaven.\n\nThe shepherds looked at one another and then one said; \"Let us go to\nBethlehem.\"  And they went in great haste.  There they found Mary and\nJoseph with the Holy Child lying in a manger, just as the angel had\nsaid.  They told the people of Bethlehem about the angels they had seen\nand the words they had heard, and they were very much astonished.  But\nMary was silent, and kept all these things in her heart to think about\nand to pray about.\n\n[Illustration: The Holy Child in the manger]\n\nAs for the shepherds they went back to their flocks praising God.\n\nWhen the Holy Child was eight days old his parents called His name\nJesus, as the angel had commanded, and they dedicated him to the Lord.\nLater they took him up to the Temple at Jerusalem to make the offering\nthat all Jewish mothers made, some money, if it was the first\nboy-child, and a lamb, or a pair of doves.  Joseph bought for Mary a\npair of doves, and they went up the white steps of the beautiful porch\nof the Temple, and passed the long rows of marble pillars into the\ncourt of the Gentiles where they could look up and see the Temple\nitself with its white marble pillars and golden roof shining in the sun.\n\nMary gave her doves to the Priest at the gate of the Court of the\nWomen, and he took them away to be offered on the altar, while Joseph\ntook the Holy Child into the Men's Court for the Priest to bless as he\ndedicated Him to the Lord.  When all was done and they were going away,\nan old man named Simeon saw them, and begged to hold the child.  He was\na good man who had longed to see the Christ who was to come, and now\nthe Spirit of God told him that this was He.  He thanked God, and said:\n\n\"Lord, now lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy\nword, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.\"\n\nHe also spoke as a prophet of the days to come, and just then a very\nold woman who lived in the Temple, Anna, the prophetess, came and gave\nthanks to God, and told the people that the Redeemer had come to\nIsrael.  All these things Mary kept in her heart, as she had kept the\nwords of the angel, and wondered why she had been chosen to be the\nmother of the Holy Child.\n\nSeven months before this time a little son had been born to Zacharias\nand Elizabeth.  The neighbors wished to name him for his father, but\nElizabeth said, \"Not so; but he shall be called John.\"  When they asked\nhis father what it should be, he wrote an answer (for he had been dumb\never since he talked with the angel in the Temple) and they read, \"His\nname shall be called John.\"  Then his mouth was opened, and he began to\nspeak and to praise God, and his friends wondered what the child would\nbe when he grew to manhood.  His father became a prophet for a time,\nand said some strange things about him that were written down.  He said\nthat John should be called a prophet of the Highest, and go before the\nLord to prepare His ways.\n\nJohn grew, and he also grew strong in spirit, and while he was yet\nyoung he went to live in the deserts where he was taught of God to be a\nprophet and a preacher.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nFOLLOWING THE STAR.\n\nWhile Joseph and Mary and the Holy Child were still staying in\nBethlehem, some Wise Men came from an Eastern country to Jerusalem,\nasking,\n\n\"Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His Star\nin the East, and are come to worship Him.\"\n\nNo one knows who these men were, but it may be that they were Jews who\nlived in Persia, as David had done long before, and were learned in all\nthe wisdom of the Chaldeans, who studied the stars, and believed that\nthey had much to do with the lives of people on the earth.  These wise\nmen were called Magi.  They had heard that a great One would be born\nabout this time, and that He would be the King of the Jews.\n\nWhen they saw a strange and beautiful Star near the earth away toward\nJerusalem they prepared to go and see if it would lead them to the\nKing.  Their servants loaded the camels with food and water and some\ncostly gifts, for they were rich men, and mounted on beautiful saddles\ncovered with blue and crimson cloth they rode away toward Jerusalem.\nThey had deserts of yellow sand to cross, and they were tired at the\nend of the hot day, but at night they saw the beautiful Star shining\nbefore them low in the sky, and watched it from their tents on the sand\nwhere they rested for the night, and rose to follow it before it faded\nin the morning.  They were glad when they came to the fresh green\nmountain country of the Jews, and rode through the flowery valleys till\nthey came to the gates of Jerusalem.  Perhaps they expected to hear all\nabout the new King, and to find the people feasting and rejoicing, but\nthey did not.\n\n[Illustration: Following the star]\n\nWhen they asked, \"Where is He that is born King of the Jews?\" the\npeople were surprised, and only wondered who these men were who looked\nliked princes from a foreign court, for they had armed servants, and\nfrom their camels hung tinkling silver bells, and swinging tassels of\nsilk and gold.\n\nThey searched Jerusalem for the king, and Herod heard of it and was\ntroubled.  He wished always to be king himself.  He set the scribes to\nsearching for the prophecies of the Messiah's birth.  They knew very\nwell where to find them, and they read to the king these words from the\nprophet Micah:--\n\n\"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, which art little among the families of\nJudah, out of thee shall One come forth unto me that is to be the ruler\nof Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from ancient days.\"\n\nThen the king sent for the wise men, for he had a secret plan.  They\ncame in their best robes, hoping perhaps, to find the newly born King\nin the beautiful palace of Herod on Mount Zion, but they found only the\ngloomy old King Herod waiting for them.  He asked them when they first\nsaw the Star, and when they had told him, he sent them to Bethlehem and\nsaid,\n\n\"Go and search diligently for the young child, and when ye have found\nhim, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.\"\n\nThey were very glad to hear about Bethlehem, and as they came down the\nmarble steps of Herod's palace it was evening, and there, low down\nbefore them in the sky was the Star!  They went out through the\nBethlehem gate toward the south, and followed the Star again over the\nhills until the white walls of Bethlehem shown in the moonlight before\nthem, and they saw the Star standing still and shining down upon a\nlittle house within the walls.  Then they rejoiced with exceeding great\njoy, for they had come to the end of their long journey, and they had\nfound the King!  When they came to the house where Mary and Joseph were\nstaying they told their servants to unpack the presents of gold, and\nfrankincense, and myrrh, and they went in.  Then they found the lovely\nyoung mother and the Holy Child, and they fell down before Him and\noffered their gifts.\n\nThey did not go away at once.  They slept in Bethlehem that night, and\nthe Lord showed them in a dream that they must not go back to tell King\nHerod that they had found the Christ.  They told Joseph of their dream,\nand went away by another road that led past Hebron to their own country.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.\n\nIt seems very strange that in a few hours after the wise men had gone\nover the hills to their own country, that Mary and Joseph and the Holy\nChild should be swiftly following the same road.  The night after the\nwise men had been warned in a dream to go to their own country, Joseph\nwas warned also in a dream to take the young Child and His mother and\ngo into Egypt.  He was told to stay until he had orders to return, for\nHerod would seek to take the Child's life.  Their flight was in the\nnight, and Mary's heart beat fast as she held her baby close and rode\ndown the steep path from Bethlehem with Joseph walking beside her.\nThey did not rest until they were far on their way.  It was nearly a\nweek before they reached the river that was the border of Egypt, but\nwhen they crossed it King Herod's soldiers could not harm them.\n\n[Illustration: The flight into Egypt]\n\nThey had gold that the wise men had given them, and Joseph knew how to\nmake many things of wood, so they lived quietly in Egypt waiting until\nthe Lord should call them back.\n\nHerod was very angry when he heard that the Magi had gone away without\ntelling him anything about the young King; so angry that he ordered his\nsoldiers to destroy every baby boy in Bethlehem.  So all the little\nboys of Bethlehem under two years of age were killed by the order of\nthis wicked king, and the Holy Child whom Herod believed would be\ndestroyed with them was safely borne in His mother's arms along the\nroad to Egypt, while Joseph walked beside them and led the patient ass,\nand angels went with them unseen to be their guard by night and by day.\n\nThey lived in Egypt about a year, and then the sick and unhappy old\nking died, and an angel came to Joseph one night in a dream, and said,\n\n\"Arise and take the young Child and His mother and go into the land of\nIsrael, for they are dead which sought the young Child's life.\"\n\nThey were glad to know that they could come home again, and they came,\nperhaps with a company of merchants, into their own land.  Joseph would\nhave settled in Judea, the part of the land of Israel in which stands\nJerusalem, and Bethlehem, the city of his ancestors, but Herod's son\nhad been made king over Judea, and Joseph was told in a dream to go\ninto Galilee.\n\nIn Galilee was Nazareth, where both Joseph and Mary lived when they\nwere married, and there they went and were at home again, and there\nJesus grew to manhood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE BOY OF NAZARETH.\n\nNazareth was a little town high among the hills of Galilee.  It still\nstands there, but it is not so large a town as it was when Mary and\nJoseph and the Child Jesus lived there.  Then Galilee was full of\ncities and villages, and men and women were busy among its fields, and\nvineyards, and gardens, and the shores of the beautiful Lake of Galilee\nwere lined with the boats of fishermen.\n\nNazareth was more quiet than the crowded cities by the Lake.  A great\ngreen plain lay below it, and a narrow road winding among the limestone\nrocks led up to it.  Its streets were narrow and steep, and steps of\nstone led from house to house.  A fountain of pure water breaking out\nof a rock was the meeting place of the women of Nazareth, who came with\ntheir tall pitchers for water and bore them away upon their heads.\nHere Mary often came tenderly leading the Holy Child.  Perhaps He\ngathered the bright wild flowers that grew thick around the fountain\nand along the stream flowing from it.  When he grew a little older He\ncould climb the rocks around His home, or go with His mother and Joseph\nto the top of the hill from which they could see the snowy peak of\nHermon, or the long line of shining blue sea beyond the hills on the\nwest, or they would point out a slowly moving caravan of heavy-laden\ncamels from Tyre and Sidon by the sea on their way to Damascus.\n\nSometimes He would go with Joseph to the woods when a certain piece of\nwood was needed, for Joseph was a carpenter, and in a lower room of his\nhumble house of rough white stone there was a long bench and the tools\nof a wood-worker.  Here, perhaps, the Holy Child played with the curled\nshavings that fell from the bench, and watched the making of the plows,\nthe yokes, the doors, and the lattices until He was old enough to help\nin the making of them.\n\nHe learned to read and write while a young child at home, as Jewish\nchildren did, and His reading book was the Old Testament, which was the\nJews' Bible.  Then He went to school at the Synagogue, which was the\nJews' Church, and there, we may be sure, He was a gentle, obedient\npupil, and a loving, unselfish playmate.  While he read He may have had\nmany strange thoughts about the prophecies in the Book that were\npromises of the Messiah, the King that was to reign in righteousness.\n\nWhen He was twelve years old His parents took Him with them to the\nFeast of the Passover at Jerusalem.  Great companies of people went\nfrom all parts of the Jews' country, and from every country in which\nthey had settled, to keep the feast that the Lord had commanded when\nthey were led out of Egypt.  The very journey to Jerusalem was a\nfestival, for their friends joined the company from almost every house\nin Nazareth, and on horses, and camels, and asses, the men walking\nbeside them, a happy group set forth from home to keep the Passover\nweek in the city of the great King.  It was the first visit of the boy\nJesus to Jerusalem, and as He walked strong and beautiful beside\nJoseph, what tender and holy thoughts, what questions about the future\nmust have filled the mind of Mary.  He was going to see His Father's\nHouse, the beautiful Temple where the thousands of Israel gathered\nevery year for worship and of which He had read in the Book of the Law,\nfor He was now old enough to be called a \"Son of the Law,\" and verses\nfrom the Bible folded in little boxes, had been tied upon his arm and\nhis forehead by the village Rabbi, as a sign that He was old enough to\nthink for Himself and go to the religious Feasts at Jerusalem.\n\nWhen they reached the great public roads they found other companies of\npilgrims going up to the Holy City, and by their banners they knew the\ntribe and city from which they came.  There was music, also, of timbrel\nand pipe and drum as the songs of Zion were sung along the way, or at\nevening when they camped in the fields.\n\nWhen they had climbed the steep Jericho road and the Mount of Olives, a\nglorious sight opened before them.  There lay the City of David shining\nin the sun, its thick walls set with towers; its marble palaces, and\ncastles, and gardens, and, most wonderful of all, the Temple with its\nhundreds of white marble pillars, its beautiful porches and arches,\nand, rising within its richly-paved courts, the Holy Place with the sun\nlike fire upon its roof of gold.  The people shouted and sang a song of\njoy.  Perhaps they sang that song of David beginning:\n\n  \"I was glad when they said unto me\n  'Let us go into the house of the Lord,'\n  Our feet shall stand within thy gates,\n  O Jerusalem!\"\n\n\nLike thousands of others they pitched their tents outside of the walls,\nperhaps on the slopes of Olivet, and after eating the Passover supper\ntogether went daily into the Temple.  To the Boy of Nazareth this must\nhave been the one charmed spot in all Jerusalem.  Other boys loved to\nwatch the strange people from far countries, and wander among the\nbazars, but Jesus stayed in the Temple.  He saw the white-robed\npriests, the altars, and the sacrifices; He saw the great curtains of\npurple and gold that hid the Holy place, and He heard the Temple choirs\nanswer each other in song; He also saw the old Rabbis who taught and\nanswered questions daily in the outer courts, and stood long among the\nlisteners.\n\nWhen the company from Nazareth began the Journey home, and had gone as\nfar as the plains of Jericho, Mary looked for her boy.  She had not\nbeen troubled about him, for she thought He was walking with the other\nchildren, or with relatives, but when Joseph found that he was not with\nthem they went back over the long, steep road full of fear and anxiety.\nThey searched Jerusalem through, asking everybody they knew if they had\nseen the Boy Jesus.\n\nWhen they had been searching for three days, and Mary's heart was\nalmost broken, they went again to the Temple, and looking through a\ncrowd gathered around the Rabbis, Mary saw her Boy.  She pressed\nthrough to speak to Him, but He was speaking.  She listened, and her\nheart must have stood still to hear His simple, yet wonderful words.\nSometimes he asked questions which the old teachers could not answer,\nand when he replied to the questions of the learned teachers His wisdom\nastonished all who heard Him, for it was not like the wisdom of the\nRabbis, who used many words to explain the Word of God.\n\n[Illustration: The Boy Jesus in the temple]\n\nWhen Jesus saw His mother and came to her, she said,\n\n\"Son, why hast Thou so dealt with us?  Behold thy father and I have\nsought Thee sorrowing.\"\n\n\"How is it that ye sought me?\" He said, \"wist ye not that I must be\nabout my Father's business?\"\n\nThey did not quite understand how He could so easily forget them, and\nyet Mary, perhaps, remembered that the angel had told her that He\nshould \"be called the Son of God,\" and that He was at home in His\nFather's house.\n\nBut He was content to go home and be subject to His parents, so that\nthrough all the world children may learn how He lived, and try to live\nlike Him.\n\nHe found that His Father's house was greater than the Temple, and under\nits starry roof, and wandering over its wide courts paved with grass\nand flowers, He learned more than the Rabbis could teach Him.  And\nevery day He grew in wisdom as He grew in stature, and \"in favor with\nGod and man.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE YOUNG CARPENTER.\n\nThere are many years of the life of Jesus of which the Gospel story\ntells us nothing.  He lived with Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, and was\npreparing for the great work for which He came.  He learned easily all\nthat other boys were taught in the synagogue school, and no doubt\ncaused His teacher to wonder at such wisdom coming from a boy.  He was\nso humble and teachable that no one could accuse Him of setting Himself\nabove His companions, and so winning and unselfish that He was loved by\nall.  The school days ended, perhaps, when He was fourteen, and He was\nasked, as every Jewish boy was asked, to choose what trade He would\nlearn, for every boy had to learn a trade.  He chose to learn the trade\nof His father, and began to work with him making the many things that\nwere then used by the people.  Few houses, if any, were made of wood,\nfor the white limestone was then, as now, used in making the houses of\nNazareth, but they were finished with wood, and wood was used not only\nfor boats, tables, benches, yokes and carts, but also for plows,\nsaddles, and many things we now make of other material.  Can you make a\npicture in your mind of this tall, beautiful youth standing near His\nfather ready to serve in any humble way in the work they were doing?\n\nThere was no service so small that He did not willingly do it, and no\nlabor so rough and common that He did not make it noble and beautiful\nby the doing.  But He was always thinking--thinking.  The world around\nHim was full of pictures and stories through which heavenly truths\nshone, and they formed themselves in His mind, and when He began to\nteach He used them to help others with.  We call them parables.\nWherever He saw the flowers, the grape vines, the olive and the fig\ntrees, the wheat fields, the shepherds and their flocks, the fishermen\nand their nets, He read high and holy lessons that were much more\nsimple, and true, and beautiful than those taught by the Rabbis.\n\nThe more He thought about the teaching of the Rabbis, the more He saw\nhow false and hard it was.  The Law given by Moses was full of the good\nthoughts of God, but the Jewish teachers had only taught the outward\nform, and had not given the people the inward spirit.  It was like\nbringing to the hungry a beautiful dish with no food in it, or to the\nthirsty a costly cup with no water in it.\n\nAs He grew older He would sit sometimes long into the night on some\nhillside watching the stars, and with his great heart going out beyond\nthe hills to the people of the world in longing love and in desire for\ntheir salvation.  He wanted to show them how God loved the world.  He\nwanted to take the empty forms of the Law and fill them full of the\nSpirit--the real thought and love of God.  He wanted to take away the\nburdens on the minds of the people, which were heavier than those that\nPharoah laid upon their bodies long before, and give them the rest and\npeace of God.  He wanted to take away their endless rules and give them\none rule--to do by others as they would have others do to them.  And He\nwanted to add a new Commandment to the Law--that they love one another.\n\nIn this way, by living with His mind in heaven and His body on earth He\ncame to know that He was the Christ of God, and that He must go out\nfrom Nazareth to be a Teacher of Truth, and begin to build The Kingdom\nof Heaven among men.  But His friends thought that He was fitted to be\na Rabbi and teach in the Temple with the Doctors of the Law.  He waited\nmany years, caring for His mother and His younger brothers and sisters\nafter the death of Joseph, and then He left Nazareth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS.\n\nJesus was thirty years of age when He left Nazareth to begin His work\nas a Teacher of the Truth.  It was the age set by the older teachers\nfor a young man to begin his work.\n\nHis cousin John, the son of Elizabeth and Zachariah, was six months\nolder than Jesus, and he had begun his ministry on the lower Jordan.\nWhile Jesus had been living quietly at Nazareth preparing for his work,\nJohn had been away in the wilderness beyond the Dead Sea alone with the\nSpirit of God.  He was a prophet who could be taught by God only.  When\nhis time to speak came he came out of the wilderness to a place on the\nbanks of the Jordan, just above Jericho, called The Fords.  Many people\ncrossed at this place, and he stood on a bank above the river crying,\n\"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.\"\n\n[Illustration: John the Baptist at the Jordan]\n\nLike those who had made a vow to the Lord, John had never cut his hair,\nhe wore a coarse garment woven of camel's hair, and lived on the simple\nfood of the wilderness--locusts and wild honey.  He seemed never to\nthink of himself, but always of One who was coming.  He said that he\nwas only a \"Voice,\" preparing the way for the Messiah, as Isaiah had\nprophesied centuries before, and the \"Messenger\" that had been promised\nthrough Malachi.\n\n\"Behold I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before\nme.\"\n\nHe did something which seemed new and strange to the people.  He called\nthem to a change of mind--a turning away from sin, and, as a sign that\nthey had done so, he baptized them in the river Jordan.  He was getting\nthe people ready for the coming of Christ, who was to begin the Kingdom\nof Heaven on earth.\n\nThousands were flocking down to the river to hear the new prophet.\nThey went from all parts of Palestine, and Jesus, knowing that his hour\nhad come, went also.  He wore a white tunic gathered at the neck and\nreaching to his feet, and on it the large blue mantle of thick stuff\nthat was worn in cold weather, for it was in the winter of the year 31.\n\nWe cannot know all about His parting with His mother, and the three\ndays' journey to the Fords of Jordan, but we know that He came and\nstood with others on the banks while John preached.\n\nOn this day John's words were different  He had said that the Christ\nwas coming, but to-day he said,\n\n\"There standeth One among you whom ye know not, whose shoe's latchet I\nam not worthy to unloose.\"\n\nAfter this Jesus came down to the water's edge to be baptized, and\nJohn, though he had not seen Jesus since he was a young boy, knew Him.\nReady to fall at His feet, John cried,\n\n\"I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest thou to me?\"\n\nJesus replied in a low voice,\n\n\"Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all\nrighteousness,\" and so reverently John baptized his Master.\n\nAs Jesus stepped from the water's edge to the river bank a strange and\nbeautiful thing happened.  Out of the warm, blue sky a white dove came\ncircling down around the head of Jesus, who stood silent in prayer.\nWith eyes lifted to heaven He saw the dove, which was the form in which\nthe Spirit of God descended upon Him, and John saw it also, and both\nheard a voice from heaven saying,\n\n\"_Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased._\"\n\nThis was the answer to Jesus' prayer.  Only Jesus and John understood\nthe meaning of these words, for they heard with the spirit.  To others\nit seemed like thunder out of a clear sky, and they were full of wonder\nabout the strange young man who had been baptized with such a beautiful\nand singular sign following.  They also remembered what John had said,\nthat the Christ was now standing among them, and perhaps this was he!\nAnd they wondered what John meant when he said that though he baptized\nwith water, the coming Christ would baptize them with the Holy Spirit\nand with fire.\n\nIt was of little use to wonder about the Messiah, however, unless they\ncould remember and do all that John had said to them about being honest\nand true in their hearts, for that was the only way to prepare for the\nkingdom that was near at hand.  He told the rich to share with the\npoor; the people who handled money to be honest, and the soldiers to\nharm no one with word or hand, and to be contented with their wages.\n\nWhen they were willing to give up the sins that John showed them they\ntook the sign of baptism from John, which meant that they wished to be\nwashed from their sins, and begin life in a new way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nJESUS IN THE DESERT.\n\nThe people were looking for the promised Messiah, and would have\nwelcomed John as the Christ if John had not always said \"One mightier\nthan I cometh.\"  \"I am not the Christ.\"  The sign of the Dove filled\nthem with new thoughts.\n\nWhile they were thinking Jesus went up the river bank alone.  The power\nof the spirit was upon Him, and His great work before Him, and He\nwished to go for a time as far as possible from every human being.  He\nwent into the wilderness--a wild desert country beyond the Dead\nSea--not even wishing to talk with John, whose home was in the\nwilderness.  Perhaps John looked after Him and longed to see and talk\nwith Him, but Jesus had one great desire, to know Himself, and what His\nwork was to be.  He felt two natures within Him, the human and the\ndivine, and before He began to teach He wanted to hear the voice of the\nDivine within Him as clear and strong as He had heard it that day from\nthe skies.\n\nThe desert to which He went was not a waste of flat sand, like the\nAfrican desert, but masses of rock with sand and dry grasses between,\ngreat cliffs of chalk and limestone rise a thousand feet above the\ngloomy gulfs of rock through which torrents run in the rainy season,\nbut which are dry and oven-like in summer.  One great cliff called\nQuarantana is now full of caves cut out of the face of the rock by men\nwho have hoped to win heaven by suffering as Jesus did.\n\nJesus was thinking--thinking, His human nature being full of hopes,\nfears, and prayers; His divine nature being full of strength, promise,\ncomfort.  He did not think of food when He came, and there was none to\nbe found.  So resting at night in a cave, and wandering farther among\nthe mountains by day, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness of\nJudea.  While there He was tried by the spirit of evil in every way\nknown to human nature, and when all was over, and He had not yielded to\nsin, His mind was calm and ready for His work, for He knew He was the\nSon of God.\n\nWhen He was hungry the tempter said, \"If thou be the Son of God command\nthis stone that it be made bread.\"\n\nIt would have been easy for Him to try His power, but He knew that He\ndid not come into the world to use it for Himself, but for others, and\nso He answered in the words of the Bible,\n\n\"Thou shalt not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.\"\n\nThen in a vision He seemed to be in the Holy City upon a tower of the\nTemple that stood over a deep valley, and the tempter speaking within\nHim, said,\n\n\"If Thou be the Son of God cast Thyself down, for it is written, 'He\nshall give His angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they\nshall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.'\"\n\nBut Jesus knew that though the words were the words of God, the voice\nwas the voice of the tempter, and He answered,\n\n\"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.\"\n\nThen in a vision again He seemed to see, from the top of a very high\nmountain, all the kingdoms of the world spread out before Him with\ntheir kings, and armies, and cities; their beautiful homes and lovely\nwomen, and great men with their gold, and jewels, and precious works of\nart, and the tempter said,\n\n\"All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship\nme.\"\n\nThen all the Divine power in Jesus rose up against this evil whisper,\nand He said,\n\n\"Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord\nthy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.'\"\n\nWe shall never know all that Jesus suffered during this long time when\nHe was away from His home in Nazareth, and away from every human being,\ntempted by evil, surrounded by wild beasts, and faint from hunger, but\nwe know He won a great victory over evil for us.  So he became the\nElder Brother and Friend of all who are tempted.\n\nAfter His long fast and struggle with the powers of evil, angels came\nand cared for Him, bringing heavenly strength and comfort, and He rose\nin that strength and came again into the valley of Jordan, and found\nthat spring had come while he had been in the desert, and the willows\nwere green by the river side.  John was still preaching and baptizing,\nbut was a little farther up the river at Bethabara.\n\nAs Jesus came near John pointed to Him and said to the people,\n\n\"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  This\nis He. . . .  And I knew Him not, but He that sent me to baptize with\nwater, the same said to me, 'Upon whom thou shalt see the spirit\ndescending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with\nthe Holy Ghost.'\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTHE FIRST DISCIPLES.\n\nThe next day while two men named John and Andrew were talking with John\nthe Baptist, Jesus passed by, and again John said, \"Behold the Lamb of\nGod.\"  These two men had been priests and disciples of John, but they\nturned and followed Jesus, and John was content to have them do so, for\nhe sought no honor for himself.  Jesus when he saw them following said,\n\n\"What seek ye?\"\n\nAnd they, hardly knowing what to say, and wishing very much to know\nHim, said,\n\n\"Rabbi, where dwellest thou?\"\n\nHe did not reprove them for giving Him the honored name of Master, but\nsaid,\n\n\"Come and see.\"\n\nHow gladly they went!  No one knows where or how He lived, but whether\nin a house, or in such a little tent as the people of that region now\ncarry with them when they travel, it was a quiet place where these two\nmen who were looking eagerly for the Kingdom of God could sit at the\nfeet of Jesus and talk with Him.  He was a young man like themselves,\nbut there was a wonderful spirit in Him that made them feel like\nworshipping Him.\n\nThe first thing that Andrew did was to go and find his brother, Simon\nPeter.  They were both fishermen from Bethsaida on Lake Galilee, and\nhad come down to hear the new prophet John.\n\n\"We have found the Messiah!\" said Andrew, and they both went back to\nJesus.\n\nWhen the Lord--for this He had been always--saw Simon Peter He saw his\nheart, and knew that he would be one of the founders of the kingdom\nwith Him, and so He, looking straight through him, said,\n\n\"Thou art Simon, the son of Jona; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is\nby interpretation Peter.\"  (A stone.)\n\nSo John, the loving; Andrew, the obedient, and Peter, the believing\nbegan to follow Jesus.  And Peter's strong faith was like a foundation\nof stone in the beginning of the building of the kingdom.\n\nThere was another man from Bethsaida who had come down to hear John.\nHis name was Philip.  Jesus found him and said, \"Follow Me.\"  And he\nnot only followed Jesus, but he went joyfully to find his friend,\nNathanael, and tell him that they had found the Messiah, Jesus of\nNazareth, the son of Joseph.\n\nNathanael could not believe that the Messiah would be a man of\nNazareth, because the prophets had said that He would come from\nBethlehem.\n\nSo he said, \"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?\"\n\n\"Come and see,\" said Philip, urgently, and he went.\n\nAs he came to Jesus he met the deep, kind look that had searched\nPeter's heart and heard Jesus say,\n\n\"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile!\"  He saw\ninnocence in the heart of Nathanael, but Nathanael wondered how Jesus\ncould know him.\n\n\"Before that Philip called thee when thou wast under the fig-tree, I\nsaw thee,\" said Jesus.\n\nThen Nathanael's whole heart went over to Jesus, and he cried, \"Rabbi,\nThou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel!\"\n\nHe needed nothing more to prove that Jesus was the Christ, but Jesus\ntold him that he should see greater things, angels out of the open\nheaven ascending and descending upon Him.\n\nNathanael became the fifth disciple.  His name was afterward called\nBartholomew.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE FIRST MIRACLE.\n\nJesus and the five who had become His constant friends and disciples,\nturned their faces toward home, for they were all from Galilee.  It was\nSpring, and the land was beautiful with the fresh green of the trees\nand the breaking forth of wild flowers among the grass.  On the Journey\nthe disciples scarcely saw the beauty around them, or felt weary from\nthe journey, for they were hearing the gracious words of their new\nFriend concerning the coming in of the kingdom.\n\nThere was to be a marriage feast near Nazareth in the home of a friend.\nMary and her family were invited, and also the friends who had come\nwith Jesus.  It was at Cana, a village between Nazareth and the lake,\nand they walked over the hills early to see the bride, crowned with\nflowers and a white veil, married to the man to whom she had given\nherself.  Then followed a feast at the house of the father of the\nbridegroom.  There were joyful greetings, and garlands of flowers, and\nwine--for Palestine was the land of vineyards, and they knew how to\nprepare a harmless wine.  Before the feast was over they found that the\nwine had given out, and those who served the feast were distressed.  It\nwas thought a disgrace to fail in hospitality at a wedding feast, and\nso Mary came to Jesus for advice, saying,\n\n\"They have no wine.\"\n\n[Illustration: The marriage at Cana]\n\n\"Woman,\" He said--and among the Jews this was a respectful manner of\nspeaking to a woman--\"what have I to do with thee?  Mine hour is not\nyet come.\"\n\nHe meant that He must act from the Divine Nature, and not from the\nhuman nature that He had received from His mother.\n\n\"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it,\" said Mary to the servants.\n\nHe told them to fill with water the six large water-pots of stone that\nstood near, and they filled them to the brim.\n\n\"Draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast,\" He said, and it\nwas served at the table, and the master of the feast called to the\nbridegroom,\n\n\"Thou hast saved the good wine until now.\"\n\nThis was the beginning of miracles.\n\nThese were happy days for Mary, for she had her Son back again.  From\nthe wedding Jesus and His mother, and His brothers, and His disciples\nwent down to Capernaum by the lake for a few days.\n\nHere Peter lived by the blue, beautiful lake that is walled by high\nhills on one side, while on the other lies what once was the \"garden of\nGennesaret\" watered by streams, and rich with fruits, and grains, and\nflowers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nIN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE.\n\nThe feeling that Jesus had when a boy, that He must be about His\nFather's business was now satisfied.  He had begun the work of His\nministry, though He had been doing all those silent years the\ntremendous work of overcoming evil for us.  He met it in His own human\nnature, and overcame it step by step without yielding to sin.  He was\nto do this work until it should be finished upon the cross, but for\nthree years He was to teach the people the truths of the new kingdom,\nand show by His life, and at last by the laying down of His life, that\nlove had come into the world to fill the old forms of the law full of\nthe new Spirit of Life.  He was to take away the sins of the world, and\nin place of them give to the world eternal life.\n\nIt was time for the Passover Feast again, and Jesus with his disciples\njoined the Capernaum company and started on the pleasant journey to\nJerusalem.  They sang the songs of Zion, and rejoiced when the towers\nof Jerusalem and the Golden Temple came into view, and as they came\ndown the road over Olivet they probably made their camp there where\nthey could look across the valley to the Temple.  Everything was\nmoving.  Flocks of sheep and herds of oxen were being driven toward the\nTemple, and crowds of people from near and far were filling the\nstreets, and also moving toward the Holy House.\n\nWhen Jesus came into the Temple Court He saw something that stirred his\nwhole soul with sorrow and wrath.  The sellers of sheep, and oxen, and\ndoves, and the money-changers had brought their things into the great\ncourt inside the marble pillars, and on the pavement of many-colored\nmarbles, and were buying and selling noisily, and turning the courts of\nthe Lord into a market.  The voices of men and animals must have\ndisturbed those who worshipped in the inner courts.  The priests\nallowed it, perhaps they were paid for doing so, and Jesus, as a Son in\nHis Father's house where the servants had been unfaithful, began\nclearing the court of all these things, and finding some cord on the\npavement He folded it into a short scourge of many strands and used it\nto drive the cattle and sheep and their keepers out of court.  The\nmoney-changers would not easily yield, but he poured out their money\nand overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said,\n\n\"Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of\nmerchandise.\"\n\nAnd the people wondered why they should obey this strange young man,\nbut they did.\n\nIt was the Divine light in the face of Jesus, and not the bit of cord\nthat drove them out.  They saw that He had a right to clear the Temple\ncourts.\n\nThen the Jews wondered who had given Him this right, and they said to\nHim,\n\n\"What sign showest Thou unto us, seeing Thou doest these things?\"\n\nAnd this was the sign He gave them: \"Destroy this Temple, and in three\ndays I will raise it up.\"\n\nHe knew that they would not understand this, but they would remember it\nafter they had crucified Him and He had risen from the dead, for He\nspoke of His body.\n\nThe Jews turned scornfully away.  The Temple had been forty-six years\nin building, and they thought His promise an idle boast, but they did\nnot forget it.  Three years after they helped to bring Him to the\ncross, accusing Him in the High priests palace of saying these things.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nA TALK ABOUT THE BREATH OF GOD.\n\nJesus was in the Temple most of the time during the Passover Feast.  He\ntaught the people standing among the marble pillars of the outer court.\nHe also did miracles among them, and many believed on Him because of\nthe miracles, but He, knowing their hearts, saw not one among them whom\nHe would call to be with Him in His work, for He could not wholly trust\nthem.  The Pharisees and Doctors of the Law also stood and listened to\nHim, and among them was one whose heart turned toward Jesus.  He was\none of the highest of the Pharisees, but his heart was not so proud and\nfull of self-love as the hearts of most of the Pharisees.  His name was\nNicodemus.  He longed to talk with Jesus, but he was afraid of what the\nother Pharisees would say.\n\nHe found out where the camp of the Galilean company was, and one night\nwent out of the city gate, across the Kedron bridge and up the slope of\nthe Mount of Olives and found Jesus.  There was no place to talk\nquietly in the crowded tents, so they must have gone out under the\nshadowy olive trees to talk.\n\n\"Master,\" he said--and it was much for the wise Pharisee to speak so\nhumbly to the young carpenter of Galilee--\"Master, we know that Thou\nart a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that Thou\ndoest except God be with him.\"\n\nJesus looked through the heart of Nicodemus, though it was night, and\nsaw what he needed most, and so He made no reply about Himself or His\nmiracles, but said,\n\n\"Verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he cannot see the\nKingdom of God.\"\n\nNicodemus could not understand how a man could be born when he is old,\nso Jesus explained that it was a spiritual birth.  \"That which is born\nof the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.\"\nAnd as the wind softly stirred the leaves of the olive trees above\ntheir heads He said,\n\n\"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,\nbut canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it bloweth.  So is\nevery one that is born of the Spirit.\"\n\nNicodemus had always thought that religion was the keeping of the law\nas all Jews were taught by the priests, so he was astonished, and said,\n\n\"How can these things be?\"\n\n\"Art thou a master in Israel and knowest not these things?\" said Jesus,\nand then He spoke to the soul of Nicodemus of the things of the Spirit\nof Heaven--The Heaven in which He already lived,--and of the new\nkingdom that had begun on earth.\n\nIf you will find what Jesus said to Nicodemus in the third chapter of\nJohn's Gospel you will find among other things these beautiful words,--\n\n\"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that\nwhosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting\nlife.\"\n\nNicodemus found out that life was the breath of God in man, and that by\nit man lives.  Perhaps he felt it within him as he went down the valley\nunder the trees and heard the wind among the leaves; and as he came up\nthe steep way and through the city gate in the silence of the night,\nperhaps he resolved to be a disciple of Jesus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nA TALK ABOUT THE WATER OF LIFE.\n\nAfter the Passover there were many who had believed in Jesus who wished\nto be baptized, and so they went down to Jordan with Jesus and the\ndisciples, and then the disciples baptized them.\n\nJohn, who was also baptizing at another point by the river, was told\nthat Jesus was baptizing and that all men were going to Him.  John was\nrejoiced at this.\n\n\"This my joy therefore is fulfilled,\" he said.  \"He must increase, but\nI must decrease.  He that cometh from heaven is above all.\"\n\nAfter this Jesus went back to Galilee, and as He and His disciples went\nthrough the country of Samaria, which lay between Judea and Galilee,\nthey came at noon near to the little village of Sychar among the hills.\nIt was the most difficult road to Galilee, and most persons followed\nthe Jordan road when going back and forth, for the Judeans and\nSamaritans were not friendly, but it is written that Jesus \"must needs\ngo through Samaria.\"\n\nWhile the disciples went up into the village to buy some bread, Jesus\nsat down by a deep well in the valley.  It was built round with stone,\nand covered from the sun, for the people prized the well not only for\nthe clear, cold water, but because Jacob, the father of all the tribes\nof Israel dug the well for his family and cattle and flocks hundreds of\nyears before.\n\nWhile Jesus rested by the well a woman came down the path from the town\nto draw water.  She drew the water with a strong cord that she fastened\naround her earthen water-jar and was going to put it on her shoulder\nand carry it away when Jesus asked her for a drink of water.  She had\nnot offered Him any for she thought a Jew would not ask even a drink of\nwater from a Samaritan, but Jesus said,\n\n\"If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee\n'Give me to drink' thou wouldst have asked of Him and he would have\ngiven thee living water.\"\n\n[Illustration: Jesus by the well]\n\nThe woman did not understand His words about water any more than\nNicodemus did about the blowing of the wind.  Jesus was talking about\n_life_ always and everywhere, but the people were slow to understand\nHim.\n\nThe woman wondered where Jesus could get better water than this from\nJacob's well.\n\n\"Whosoever shall drink of this water,\" He said, \"shall thirst again,\nbut whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never\nthirst.  But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of\nwater springing up into everlasting life.\"\n\nWhen the woman heard this she asked for it, that she might not be\nthirsty and come to the well for water, but Jesus, seeing that she\ncould not understand His words began to speak of her life, and so truly\nthat she was amazed and said,\n\n\"Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.\"  She talked of the mountain\nnear by which had been the place of worship of the Samaritans, and of\nthe Temple at Jerusalem where the Jews worshipped, for she did not want\nto talk of her own life, which was not good.\n\nJesus then showed her that \"God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him\nmust worship Him in spirit and in truth,\" and that the hour had come\nwhen He wished people to worship him so in every place.\n\n\"I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ,\" she said,\n\n\"I that speak unto thee am He,\" He said.  Then the woman left her\nwater-jar and hurried away without a word to tell the people of the\ntown.\n\nWhile she was away His disciples came and begged Jesus to eat, but His\nspirit was filled with the thought of life, and he said,\n\n\"I have meat to eat that ye know not of.\"\n\nAnd when they did not understand He said,\n\n\"My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and finish His work,\"\nand when he thought how great the work was that was before Him, it was\nas if the harvest-time of gathering the people into the kingdom had\ncome.\n\nAs they looked out along the valley men were ploughing the fields to\nsow wheat.\n\n\"Say ye not there are four months,\" He said, \"and then cometh harvest?\nBehold I say unto you, 'Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for\nthey are white already to harvest.'\"\n\nWhile He stayed two days in Sychar many believed on him there.\n\n\"Now we believe,\" they said to the woman, \"not because of thy saying\nfor we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the\nChrist, the Saviour of the world.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nJESUS IN THE SYNAGOGUE.\n\nJesus came back to Galilee through the Valley of Jenin and across the\nplain of Jezreel to Cana, where His disciple Nathanael lived, and where\nHe had wrought His first miracle.  While He was in Cana a nobleman who\nlived at Capernaum came riding into the little town in great haste to\nasked Jesus to come down and heal his son who was near death.  To try\nhim, Jesus said,\n\n\"Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe.\"\n\nThe nobleman would not stop to talk of this, but besought Jesus, saying,\n\n\"Sir, come down ere my child die.\"\n\nJesus was glad to see his faith, and ready to meet it.\n\n\"Go thy way,\" He said, \"thy son liveth,\" and the man went away\nbelieving what Jesus had said.  On the way down to Capernaum by the\nLake, some glad-faced servants came hastening to meet him.\n\n\"Thy son liveth!\" They cried--the very words that Jesus had used.  When\nhe asked them when the boy had taken a turn for the better they said,\n\n\"Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.\"\n\nThen the happy father knew that it was at the seventh hour--one\no'clock--that Jesus had said, \"Thy son liveth.\"\n\nThere was joy in the house of the nobleman when the father and mother\nand all the household gathered around the boy who had been healed, and\ntalked of the wonderful power of Jesus in speaking the word of healing.\n\nFrom Cana Jesus went to Nazareth.  John the Baptist had been thrown\ninto a gloomy prison down by the Dead Sea by Herod Antipas because he\nhad rebuked the wickedness of that king, and Jesus knew that His own\nwork was now fully begun, since the prophet, who had come to prepare\nHis way, was laid aside.\n\nWhile Jesus was at home with His mother and brothers and sisters He\nwent one Sabbath to the village church or synagogue, as He had always\ndone through His childhood and youth.  Perhaps His brothers and some of\nHis disciples were with Him, while His mother and sisters parted from\nHim and entered by another door, as was the Jewish custom.  There were\nmany there who hoped that the young carpenter, who had become a\nteacher, and as many believed, a prophet, would read from the Book of\nthe Law.\n\nAfter the singing, and the prayers, and the reciting of the creeds, the\ntime came for the reading and teaching.  The first lesson had been\nread, and the ruler of the synagogue took from the sacred place where\nit was kept another parchment roll, and coming down the steps he handed\nit to Jesus.  It was the roll of Isaiah, and as Jesus went up to the\nreader's desk He opened and unrolled it until He came to these words,\n\n\"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to\npreach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the broken\nhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight\nto the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the\nacceptable year of the Lord.\"\n\n[Illustration: Jesus in the synagogue]\n\nWhen he had finished he rolled the book again and handed it to the\nminister and sat down.  It was the custom of those who were teachers of\nthe people to sit down to teach, while the people all rose and stood\nuntil he had finished.\n\n\"This day,\" said Jesus \"is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.\"\n\nThe people were looking and listening so earnestly that it was very\nstill, and as Jesus told them simply that He was the very One whom\nIsaiah had spoken of seven hundred years before, that He had brought\nthe good tidings, and had come to do the work the prophet had spoken\nof, they looked at each other in amazement.  To be sure they had never\nheard such words of grace and wisdom, but how could this be true?\n\n\"Is not this Joseph's son?\" they asked each other.  Joseph had been\ntheir neighbor and Jesus had grown up among them and played with their\nchildren.  They thought some evil thing had entered into Him disturbing\nHis mind.  But when He began to tell them that no prophet was accepted\nin his own country, and that the Lord was obliged to send them to\nstrangers, as He sent Elijah and Elisha, they were angry with Him.\nSome of the men wished to teach Him a lesson, and they took Him by\nforce to the edge of a cliff, for Nazareth was built high up among the\nhills, and were about to cast Him over among the limestone rocks below,\nbut turning away from them, Jesus walked quietly down the hill to the\npath that led into the valley--and no one was able to lay a hand upon\nHim to harm Him.  \"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not,\"\nand He went away to preach the good tidings in other towns.  The heart\nof Mary must have been full of sorrow when she saw her Son \"despised\nand rejected of men\" as Isaiah prophesied, but she hid her sorrow, and\nremembered the words of the Lord brought to her by the angel before her\nSon was born.\n\nAnd so Jesus went down to Capernaum where he had friends and disciples,\nand afterward His mother and His brothers went to Him there, but\nNazareth knew him no more.\n\nIt was about this time that it is supposed that Jesus went alone to a\nreligious feast at Jerusalem, and while there cured a poor man who\ncould not walk.  He lay on his mat near a spring called Bethesda.  It\nwas covered by a roof, and had five porches.  Here the sick were\nbrought by their friends that they might, when they saw the waters\nbubble up, step in and be cured.  They believed then an angel came down\nand made the moving of the waters, but it was probably one of the kind\ncalled intermittent springs.  There is one at Jerusalem now called the\n\"Fountain of the Virgin\" which rises at certain times.\n\nJesus saw the poor friendless man who had waited for thirty-eight years\nfor the chance of stepping into the waters when they were moving, and\nhad been disappointed for others stepped in before him.  Looking at\nhim, He said,\n\n\"Wilt thou be made whole?\"\n\nThe man explained why he could not be cured, for there was no man to\nhelp him.  Then Jesus said,\n\n\"Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.\"\n\nHe rose at once, and walked, carrying the mat on which he lay.\n\nThe Jews were angry when they heard of it for the man had been cured on\nthe Sabbath, but Jesus told them that they were all refusing eternal\nlife because of their unbelief, saying,\n\n\"Ye will not come unto Me that yet might have life.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nAMONG THE FISHERMEN.\n\nCapernaum was on the shore of the beautiful lake of Galilee.  There\nwere villages clustered around the lake then and all Galilee was\nswarming with busy life, but now there are few inhabitants, and\nCapernaum is only a heap of stones.  Some of these stones, which may\nnow be seen, are carved in such a way that we may know that they are a\npart of an ancient synagogue.  This was the synagogue, perhaps, that a\ngood Centurion built whose servant Jesus cured when he was near death,\nand here in Capernaum lived the nobleman whose son Jesus cured by a\nword, and here lived His first disciples, Peter and Andrew, and James\nand John, and here Matthew, who sat in his little office taking the\ntaxes that the people had to pay, may have seen Jesus pass, and may\nhave heard him speak before he became a disciple.\n\nThe beautiful plain of Gennesaret spreads out from one end of the lake,\nand there is a white beach of shells there, while at other points on\nthe lake there are hills and great rocks close to the water.\n\nOn this white beach Jesus stood one spring morning teaching the people.\nAs the fisher-folks and others gathered close around to hear Him, He\nwas pushed so near the water that He stepped into Peter's boat, which\nwas near the shore, and asked him to push it out a little way into the\nwater, and there in the stern of the boat Jesus sat and taught the\npeople who stood thick upon the shore.\n\nThe boat of Zebedee, the father of James and John was near by, for they\nwere the partners of Peter and Andrew.  They had washed their nets and\nhad given up fishing until night again, for morning was not a good time\nfor fishing, but Jesus said to Peter and Andrew,--\n\n\"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.\"\n\nThe disciples were surprised at this, for it was not the hour for\nfishing, and Peter said,\n\n\"Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing; nevertheless\nat thy word I will let down the net.\"\n\n[Illustration: Jesus among the fishermen]\n\nWhen they had done this they found that their nets were filled with\nfishes, so that they called to James and John to come and help them,\nfor their nets were breaking.  When they had emptied the nets into the\ntwo boats they were filled so full that they began to sink.\n\nThen Peter fell down at Jesus's knees and cried out,--\n\n\"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!\" so wonderful did the\nmiracle seem to him.\n\nBut to Peter Jesus said,--\n\n\"Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.\"  James and John He\nalso called, and showed them that the time had now come for them to\nhelp Him in founding the Kingdom.\n\nThey did not wait to sell the great draught of fishes that they had\nbrought to land; and they did not wait to sell their fishing boats and\nnets, but they forsook all and followed Jesus.  They did not know that\ntheir names would be known forever as the founders of the Christian\nChurch with Him who was its divine Head.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nTHE HEALING HAND OF JESUS.\n\nThe Jewish church, or synagogue at Capernaum was very beautiful.  It\nwas of white marble, and richly carved, and was the gift of a Roman\nofficer to the Jews.\n\nOne Sabbath morning Jesus went in and sat among the learned Rabbis, for\nHe wished to speak to the people as He had near Nazareth.  The people\nknew and loved him, and the place was crowded to hear Him speak.  He\nsat there through the singing, and the prayers, and the reading.\n\nThe parchment rolls of the law and the prophets were in a case behind\nHim; and there was the curtain, and the branched candlesticks.  Then He\nwent to the Teacher's seat, and while all the people stood He sat and\ntaught them.  People wondered, as they always did, at his words, for\nthey were not like the words of the Rabbis,--they were as if God\nHimself were speaking through a man.\n\nIn the midst of it there was a loud cry from a man who looked like a\nmaniac.  He had followed the people in, and the words of Jesus had\ndisturbed the evil spirit that was in Him,\n\n\"Let us alone,\" it cried, \"what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of\nNazareth.  Art thou come to destroy us?  I know thee who Thou art,--the\nHoly One of God.\"\n\n\"Hold thy peace, and come out of Him,\" said Jesus, and the poor man\nfell headlong on the marble floor, but in a moment he was free, for the\nevil spirit had obeyed the word of Jesus, and this astonished the\npeople so much that they told it through all the town and the country\nround about.\n\nWhen He went home from the synagogue, for Peter's house was one of His\nhomes, He found the mother of Peter's wife very ill of fever, and they\nbrought Jesus to her bed.  He bent over her and said some words to that\nwhich had caused the fever, and at once it was gone.\n\nShe seemed to be quite well again, and her first wish was to do\nsomething for this wonderful man whom Peter had been following, and she\nrose and helped to prepare food for Him.\n\nThe people did not dare to come to Jesus for healing while it was yet\nthe Sabbath, for the Rabbis said it was wrong to cure people on the\nSabbath day, but as soon as the sun had set the Sabbath ended, and then\nthe streets were filled with people who came for themselves, or\nbringing their sick friends to be touched by the hand of Jesus.  All\naround the little house of Peter they crowded, while He walked among\nthem looking at them with pitying love, and \"He laid his hands on every\none of them, and healed them.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nFOLLOWING JESUS.\n\nThe next morning Jesus went out among the hills alone.  All day He was\npressed upon by the poor, the sick, the blind, and the lame, or those\nwho were hungry for the word, and so at night or early morning He went\nout to be alone, to think of the great work he had come to do, and to\npray or talk to the Father, for Jesus and the Father were one.  But the\npeople followed Him, and begged him not to leave them.\n\n\"I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also,\" He said, \"for\ntherefore am I sent.\"  And He took his disciples and started on a\njourney from village to village through Galilee.  There were about two\nhundred of these towns, and they were near together.  It was the\nspringtime, and the fields and hills between the villages were\nbeautiful with flowers and growing grain.  Sometimes He taught in their\nchurches, and sometimes under their trees or trellises, and wherever He\nwent the common people heard him gladly.\n\nOnce as He drew near a town a leper followed Him.  He followed Him into\nthe town, which was against the law, for the leper was not allowed to\nlive inside a town, or to come near the people, as the touch of a leper\nwould give the disease to another.  But so earnest was he to see Jesus\nthat he came through the crowd and fell on his face before Jesus,\nsaying,\n\n\"Lord if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.\"\n\nJesus put forth His hand and touched him, saying, \"I will; be thou\nclean.\"\n\nSuddenly the leprosy left the man, and his dead and filthy skin became\nas healthy as a child's, and Jesus sent him to the priest to offer that\nwhich the law commanded for the cleansing of lepers.  It was a long,\nand often costly process that a leper must pass through to be cleansed\nfrom his disease, but the word of Jesus was with power, and brought\ndivine life to take the place of death, for leprosy was a slow death.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus healing the sick]\n\nWhen the Lord came back to Capernaum the people thronged Him, and when\nHe rested in the shaded court of a friend's house it was soon filled\nwith the eager people who longed to hear His word, or be healed by His\ntouch.\n\nOnce it was so crowded in the court that some men, who were bringing a\nfriend to Jesus who was helpless with palsy, took him up by the outside\nstairs to the housetop.  There, by taking up a few tiles, they made an\nopening just over the place where Jesus sat, and the people soon saw\nthe man lying on his mat before Jesus, for they had let it down by\ncords through the opening.\n\nJesus saw the faith of the four men who had let their sick friend down\nat His feet, and it touched His heart.  He also saw the longing in the\nsoul of the sick man to be good and pure, and He said,\n\n\"Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee.\"\n\nThe Scribes, who were always copying the Scriptures--for there was no\nprinting done in those days--were always watching to hear Jesus say\nsomething contrary to the Law of Moses, that they might tell it to the\npriests, and some who were sitting there looked at each other and said\nin their hearts,\n\n\"Who can forgive sins but God only?\"\n\nJesus heard their thoughts and asked them why they reasoned in this way\nwith themselves, and which seemed to them the easier, to forgive sins\nor to heal the body.\n\nBut that they might know that He had power over the body as well as the\nsoul He said to the sick man,\n\n\"Arise; take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.\"\n\nThe man rose and rolled up his mat and carried it out, the people\nfalling back astonished to let him pass, for his palsy had left him and\nhe walked out strong and well.\n\n\"We have seen strange things to-day,\" the people said among themselves\nfor they could not understand how a man could forgive sins or heal\ndisease.\n\nWhen Jesus left the house to go down to the sea-shore He passed the\nCustom-house, where the tax-gatherers, or \"publicans,\" gathered money\nfrom the Jewish people to pay to their conquerors, the Romans.\n\nThe Romans were very hard in their dealings with the Jews, and made\nthemselves rich by taking money from the poor of their provinces.\n\nThe people did not like the tax-gatherer, and his was not a pleasant\noffice.\n\nLevi, also called Matthew, was a rich tax-gatherer at Capernaum, and as\nhe sat in his office looking out upon the market-place he saw Jesus\npassing by.  Perhaps he had often heard Jesus teach by the shore and in\nthe market-place, and longed to follow Him.  He saw the Teacher stop at\nhis open door, and heard Him say,\n\n\"Follow Me.\"\n\nThat was enough; Matthew left all, rose up and followed Jesus.  He had\na business that made him rich, but he was ready to leave it all to be a\ndisciple of Jesus.\n\nHe wanted all to know that he had chosen a new life, and so he gave a\ngreat dinner to his friends, and invited Jesus and His five disciples\nthat he might confess before them all his faith in Jesus.\n\nThe Pharisees looked down upon the publicans and thought them a people\nunfit to associate with, and when they passed by and saw Jesus sitting\nin Matthew's house at the feast they asked His disciples as they went\nin and out why their Master ate with \"publicans and sinners,\" a thing\nthey felt themselves too good to do.\n\nJesus Himself answered them in words that have helped many sinful\npeople to come to Him since.\n\n\"They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.  I\ncame not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.\"\n\nAnd then He turned to talk with Matthew and his friends, who listened\nto every word that fell from His lips, and did not try to find fault\nwith Him as the Pharisees did.\n\nMatthew had made a rich feast, and his table was no doubt piled with\nthe beautiful fruits of the plain of Gennesaret, but the eyes of all\nand the thoughts of all were fixed upon the wonderful Teacher, and\nMatthew, the publican, who had become His disciple.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nFRIENDS OF JESUS.\n\nJesus had a good and true reason for choosing just twelve men to help\nHim to begin to build the first Christian Church, or the Kingdom of\nHeaven on the earth.  We cannot yet understand the reason for\neverything He did, but quite enough to help us to believe in Him, and\nto give us a place in His kingdom.  He had called half that number and\nsoon He called six more to join them, and named them apostles.\n\nBefore He called them He went up into a mountain to be alone.  He left\nCapernaum and went up through a rocky vale to a high plain where the\ngrass lay thick and the wild flowers were coming up among it, for it\nwas spring-time.  Two hills, or peaks rose out of this plain, and there\nwas a grassy hollow between.  They were called the \"Horns of Hattin.\"\nFrom one of these hills Jesus could see the lake with its cities, and\nthe plain dotted with villages below, and beyond them the great Mount\nHermon crowned with snow.  Here Jesus stayed all night, and the next\nmorning came down into the grassy dale between the peaks where the\npeople were gathering.  The disciples went to meet Him, and He told\nthem that He had chosen twelve of them to be with Him in His work, and\nto preach the Good Tidings to the people.\n\nHe called to His side Peter and Andrew, and James and John--the two\npairs of brothers who were His first friends; then Philip, of\nBethsaida.  Bartholomen, from Cana, and Matthew, the tax-gatherer of\nCapernaum, who afterward wrote the first gospel.  He also chose Thomas,\nof Galilee; James and Jude, two brothers from Capernaum; Simon, of\nGalilee, and Judas Iscariot, who came from the country near Jerusalem.\nFive of these, it is said, were His cousins.  More than half of them\nwere fisherman, and none of them were learned men, unless Bartholomew\nmight be called one.  How wonderful it must have been to see these\ntwelve earnest young men gathered around Jesus, ready to go where He\nshould send them, or follow Him to death.  No kings or emperors on\nearth ever had so great honor given them as that which Jesus gave to\nthese men, for they became the Lord's spiritual brothers, and princes\nin His spiritual kingdom.\n\nThen Jesus came down among the people.  Some had brought sick friends\nup the rocky gorge for Jesus to touch; or they had brought poor souls\npossessed by devils for Him to set free, and He healed them all.\n\nThen He sat down and taught the people.  The sayings of that wonderful\nday are kept in the gospels, and are called the \"Sermon on the Mount.\"\nThere was no choir, no organ, no church made with hands, but the words\nare now read in every Christian church in the world.  The preacher sat\non a green hillock, His dark cloak thrown back showing His white tunic,\nand the spring sunshine lay on His holy, beautiful face and flowing\nhair.  All this the people saw, but they saw much more than this.  They\nsaw something divine in His face.  His form, and the light around Him,\nand what they heard seemed to them to be the words of a Divine Man.  He\nlooked lovingly on the little group of disciples near Him, and blessed\nthem in beautiful words that we call the Beatitudes, or the Ten\nBlessings.  He said to them and to us that the \"blessed\" (happy) are\nthe good, humble, pure souls who have little of this world's wealth and\nfriendship, but much faith and love.\n\n[Illustration: Sermon on the Mount]\n\nIf you will read the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of Matthew you\nwill know much that Jesus taught that heavenly day on Hattin Mount.  He\ntaught them the law of love and forgiveness; the law of purity and\ntruth.  He taught them to be humble and simple, especially in prayer,\nand not like the Pharisees.  He gave them a wonderful prayer that we\ncall \"the Lord's Prayer,\" though it is a prayer to the Lord, for all\nChristians in all ages to bring to Him.  He told them that if they were\nchildren of God they could not be worldly, loving themselves and the\nworld best; neither could they serve two masters.  Then He taught them\na beautiful lesson of trust in the Heavenly Father by pointing to the\nbirds that flew above them, and reminding them how they were fed and\ncared for; and also by pointing to the wild field lilies that grew near\nby, their scarlet petals shining in the sun.\n\n\"Consider the lilies of the field how they grow,\" he said, \"they toil\nnot, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in\nall his glory was not arrayed like one of these,\" and then He asked\nthem if God, who clothed the lilies, would not clothe His own children,\nand told them to have no fear for the future, but to seek the Kingdom\nof God first and always, and all needed things would be given to them.\n\nThen He looked away from the birds and the lilies into the eyes of the\npeople and saw their need of love and truth, for he could read their\nhearts.  He told them that they should not judge each other, or look\nlong upon each other's faults, but rather upon their own, and showed\nthem how they might ask God for love and truth, and it would surely be\ngiven them, because the Heavenly Father is more just, and kind, and\nloving than an earthly father can be.\n\nAnd here is the Golden Rule of Christ, which, if we live by it, will\nbring heaven down to earth.\n\n\"Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.\"\n\nHe told them that the way of the world was wide, and many were crowding\ninto it, while the heavenly way was narrow in this life, and few were\nfinding it, though many talked much about it, and seemed to have found\nit.  He said that it would be shown in the day when we all appear\nbefore God who has truly followed Him.  He said that the true men were\nlike the wise man who built his house upon a rock, and when the winds,\nthe rain, and the flood came it stood fast, because it was founded on\nthe rock; and the false were like the foolish man who built his house\nupon the sand, and when the winds, and the rain, and the floods came it\nfell, and great was the fall of it.\n\nThe people went away from this great meeting among the hills to think\nit over.  It was so new and so wonderful, not at all like the teaching\nof the scribes, for the young carpenter of Nazareth spoke like a\nTeacher of teachers.  Ever since that day when the Lord sat and taught\nthe truths of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the people stood upon the\ngrassy plain among the spring flowers and the wild thyme to hear his\nwords, the Sermon on the Mount has been known as the greatest sermon\nthe world has ever known.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nTHE LORD OF LIFE.\n\nJesus came down to Capernaum again and found the same crowds of needy\npeople, who were like sheep having no shepherd.  The rich as well as\nthe poor had their wants and their troubles.\n\nA good Roman officer, called a Centurion, because he was captain over a\nhundred men, had a servant who was so faithful to him that he was very\nfond of him.  The servant was very sick, and when the Centurion heard\nthat Jesus was again in Capernaum he went to the chief men of the city\nand asked them to get Jesus to come and cure his servant.  He feared to\nask the favor himself, for he thought Jesus was a Jew who would not\nlike to have dealings with the Romans.  So the Jews spoke to Jesus\nabout it saying that the Centurion was the good man who had built a\nbeautiful synagogue for them.  Jesus did not need to be urged to be\nkind to a Roman for He loved all the people of the earth alike.\n\nWhile He was on His way some friends of the Centurion came to meet Him\nwith a message.\n\n\"Lord, trouble not Thyself,\" he said, \"for I am not worthy that Thou\nshouldst enter under my roof; Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy\nto come unto Thee; but say in a word and my servant shall be healed.\"\n\nJesus told the people who followed Him that He had not found such faith\nas this among their own people.  And when the men returned to the\nCenturion's house they found the servant cured of his sickness.\n\nBut some of the Jews were offended because Jesus had said that a pagan\nRoman could have more faith than a Jew, and that they would enter the\nKingdom of Heaven while the Jews would be left out.\n\nThe next day Jesus and His disciples went to a little city called Nain,\nset up among the hills, more than twenty miles away.  When they were\nnear the city gate they met a funeral procession coming out.  They were\ngoing to the burying ground on a hillside not far away.  There were\nhired mourners, as is the custom in that country, who made many doleful\nnoises, and behind them came a weeping woman--the mother of the young\nman who had died.\n\nHis body was borne by friends and followed by many more, for all felt\nsorry for the poor woman who had lost her only son.\n\nAs the procession passed Jesus said two little words to the\nwoman--\"Weep not,\" and then He put forth His hand and touched the bier.\nThe men who bore it set it down before Jesus who looked down into the\nface of the dead, saying,\n\n\"Young man, I say unto thee, arise!\"\n\nIn a moment the young man opened his eyes, sat up, and began to speak,\nand Jesus gave him back from the grave to his happy mother.\n\nWhile Jesus was near Nain some of the disciples of John the Baptist\ncame to see Him.  John was in prison still, down in the low, hot\ncountry by the Dead Sea.  He had heard strange stories about Jesus from\nthe disciples who came to see him, and because they were not settled in\ntheir mind about Him, John sent them to find Him and to say,\n\n\"Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?\"\n\nJesus told them to go and tell John what they saw.\n\n\"The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are\ncleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have\nthe gospel preached to them, and blessed is he whosoever shall not be\noffended in me.\"\n\nThen Jesus taught the people who stood by, and the lesson ended with\nthese words which he speaks to the whole world,\n\n\"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give\nyou rest; take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and\nlowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is\neasy and my burden is light.\"\n\nThis is the loving invitation of Jesus to every one of us to enter the\nKingdom of Heaven, and it is the King Himself who invites us.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nMARY OF MAGDALA.\n\nThere was a Pharisee named Simon, who was very curious to know what\nJesus taught, although he had no wish to be His disciple.  He was a\nrich man and lived in a beautiful house with a court.  Beyond the court\nwas a banqueting room with couches on which guests sat leaning upon the\ntables in the Eastern fashion.  There were other guests invited to hear\nJesus talk, the friends of Simon, and it is quite probable that when\nthey came the servants of Simon met them and took their sandals and\nwashed their feet and arranged their hair as was the custom, and were\nalso heartily welcomed by Simon.  When Jesus came He had no such\nservice or welcome given Him, for Simon did not love Him; he was only\ncurious about Him.\n\nWhile they were at the tables a beautiful young woman came in through\nthe open door and passed swiftly by the couches on which the guests\nwere reclining until she came to the place where Jesus was.  No one\nspoke to her or about her, for they all knew that she had been a sinful\nwoman.  But soon they saw that she bent weeping over the feet of Jesus\nwhere He lay upon the couch, and soon they knew by the odor of costly\nperfume that she was anointing His feet.  As her tears fell she wiped\nHis feet with her long hair, and kissed them again and again.\n\nSimon looked at her severely, but said nothing, though he wondered in\nhis heart why Jesus did not know that a sinful woman was touching Him.\nThen said Jesus,\n\n\"Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee.\"  And Simon replied, \"Master,\nsay on.\"\n\nThen Jesus told a little story of a man who had two debtors; one owed\nhim five hundred pence, and the other fifty; and when they had nothing\nto pay he frankly forgave them both.  Then he asked which of them will\nlove Him most?\n\n\"I suppose that he to whom he forgave most,\" said Simon, and Jesus told\nhim that he was right.\n\nThen He turned and pointed to the woman, saying,\n\n\"See'st thou this woman?\" and the eyes of all were fixed on the weeping\nMary of Magdala.\n\nWhen Jesus had told Simon that he had failed to bring water for His\nfeet, though she had washed them with her tears, and wiped them with\nher hair; that he had given Him no kiss of welcome, and she had not\nceased to kiss His feet; that he had not anointed His head with oil,\nbut she had anointed His feet with costly ointment, He added,\n\n\"Her sins which are many are forgiven; for she loved much; but to whom\nlittle is forgiven the same loveth little.\"  And turning to the woman\nHe said,\n\n\"Thy sins are forgiven; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.\"\n\nAs Jesus went through the villages of Galilee He found many friends and\nmany enemies.  The twelve were with Him, learning daily the wonderful\nlessons He taught, and preparing to be preachers of the glad tidings\nalso.\n\nNot only Mary of Magdala, but Susanna, and Joanna, the wife of King\nHerod's steward who had been cured by Him, were His grateful friends.\nSome priests came down from Jerusalem to watch Him, and to tell the\npeople that He was not a true teacher, and this pleased the Pharisees.\nThey saw that He did wonderful things that no man could do, but they\nsaid that He did it by the power of the spirit of evil, and they asked\nHim to show them a sign that he was from God.\n\nThe Lord spoke words to the Pharisees that must have burned like coals\nof fire, for it showed how false and wicked their hearts were while\ntheir outward life seemed to be very religious.\n\nHe told them that no sign should be given them except that of Jonah; as\nhe was three days and three nights in the great fish, so should the Son\nof Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and\nthough the men of Nineveh were wicked, yet they repented at the\npreaching of Jonah, but the men of Jerusalem did not repent, though a\ngreater than Jonah was among them.\n\nMary and her sons had come from Nazareth hoping to take Jesus away from\nthe crowds, perhaps, for a rest among the hills, for the summer heat\nwas great down by the lake and along the Jordan.  Some one sent word to\nJesus, as He sat teaching within the court of a house, that His mother\nand brothers were outside, and wished to speak with Him.  The crowd was\ntoo great for them to enter.  Before Jesus rose to go out to his\nmother, He paused a moment to teach the great lesson He had come to\nbring to the world.  Looking at His disciples He said,\n\n\"My mother and my brethren are these which hear the Word of God and do\nit.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nSTORIES TOLD BY THE LAKE.\n\nJesus was glad to go among the fishermen and teach the people by the\nLake, for their hearts were like the good ground into which the farmer\nloves to drop his seed, while the hearts of the rich, proud Pharisees\nwere like the rock on which seed cannot grow.  Perhaps he was thinking\nof this as He walked out one morning from Peter's house along the\npebbly shore and sat down to talk with the people.  The crowd always\ngrew large around him there, and He had to again enter a fishing boat\nand sit a little out from the shore that the people might see and hear\nHim more easily.  He taught them as no man had ever done before.  He\ntold them short stories, often taking the subject from something the\npeople could see.  Perhaps this morning as He looked over the lovely\nplain of Gennesaret, He saw a sower casting seed into a brown and\nfurrowed field, for it was the time of the year for sowing the winter\nwheat.  This is the story of \"The Sower:\"\n\n\"A sower went out to sow his seed,\" said Jesus, \"and as he sowed, some\nfell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air\ndevoured it.\n\n\"And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up it withered\naway, because it lacked moisture.\n\n\"And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and\nchoked it.\n\n\"And other fell on good ground, and sprang up and bore fruit an hundred\nfold.\"\n\nAnd then He said, \"He that hath ears to hear let him hear,\" for He knew\nthat some could understand with the heart that He was talking of the\nWord of God, but there were many who could not.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus teaching by the sea]\n\nHis disciples asked Him to make the story plain to all, and so He said,\n\n\"The seed is the Word of God.  Those by the wayside are they that hear;\nthen cometh the devil and taketh away the Word out of their hearts lest\nthey should believe and be saved.\n\n\"They on the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the Word with\njoy, and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of\ntemptation fall away.\n\n\"And that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard,\ngo forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this\nlife, and bring no fruit to perfection.\n\n\"But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good\nheart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with\npatience.\"\n\nHe also told them a story called \"The Wheat and the Tares,\" of a man\nwho sowed good seed in a field, but when it sprung up and bore grain\nthere were weeds growing among it called tares, for an enemy had sowed\nthe seed at night and it had grown up with the wheat.  The man's\nservants wished to pull out the tares, but the master of the field said\nboth should grow together until the harvest, that the wheat might not\nbe uprooted with the tares.  At the end of the harvest the tares would\nbe burned and the wheat gathered into the barn.  In this way he taught\nthem why good and evil are allowed to grow together in this world.\n\nHe also taught them in the story of \"The Mustard Seed,\" that the growth\nof the Lord's Kingdom in the heart is like a mustard seed sowed in a\nfield--which is the least of seeds--but which becomes a great plant, so\nlarge that birds light on its branches.  He told them other stories\nalso that were to show them that the Kingdom of Heaven was life, and\nnot a written law, and that it grows in the hearts of people as a seed\ngrows in a field, one seed bearing many seeds, until the time when the\nLord's Kingdom shall fill the earth as the ripe wheat fills the field\nin harvest.\n\nOne of the stories told that day was about \"The Treasure.\"  He told\nthem of a man who, when digging in a field, found a treasure, a mine of\ngold, perhaps, and went and sold all that he had to get money enough to\nbuy that field.  Another one was the story of \"The Pearl,\" which a\npearl-hunter found.  It was so large and beautiful that he sold all he\nhad to be able to buy it.  Both these stories were to teach that heaven\nin the heart is worth more to us, when once we find it, than all the\ntreasures or pleasures of this world.\n\nHe also told a story of a \"Fishing Net,\" which caught fish of every\nkind, but when it was drawn to shore the fishermen gathered the good\nfish into baskets, but threw the bad away.  This story was something\nlike that of the \"Wheat and the Tares,\" showing how good and evil are\nat last separated.\n\nThis was a wonderful day by the blue waters of the Lake of Galilee.\nThe people went home thinking much about the new Teacher and His\nstories of the Kingdom of Heaven.\n\nThe great Sower of the Seed had been dropping it into their hearts, and\nHe alone knew which hearts were \"good ground.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nSTILLING THE STORMS.\n\nWhen Jesus was very tired from teaching the people and healing the sick\nHe used to cross the lake and go up among the rocks of Gadara, a wild\nregion where there were few villages.  After the last long day of\nteaching by the shore Jesus needed rest, but neither at Peter's house,\nnor any where on that side of the Lake could He get away from the\ncrowds that followed Him to hear Him, or to be healed by Him.\n\nIn the evening, when the people came back to Him, He took the large\nfishing-boat with His disciples, and set out for the other side.\nSeveral beside His disciples wished to go with Him.  A scribe wished to\nfollow Him, but Jesus told him that He had no home, no place to lay his\nhead, though the foxes had holes and the birds of the air had nests.\nPerhaps Jesus saw that the scribe was not ready to leave all and follow\nHim.  Another wished to go, but thought he ought first to bury his\nfather, but Jesus said to him,\n\n\"Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.\"  This He said of the\nJews who were spiritually dead.\n\nAfter they had gone far out upon the Lake a great wind storm rose.  It\ncame sweeping down upon them from the hills, rattling the ropes and\nswelling the sails so that they had to bring them down and fasten them,\nand then take the oars.  Every part of the little ship was covered with\nspray from the rising waves, and the disciples began to feel afraid.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus sleeping during the storm]\n\nWhere was Jesus?  He was asleep.  They had brought a cushion for His\nhead, and He had fallen asleep in the stern of the ship.  As a wave\nfell upon them and they were in danger of sinking they woke Jesus\nsaying,\n\n\"Master, Master, we perish!\"\n\nThen He rose and spoke to the winds and waters, and the storm ceased,\nand there was a great calm.\n\nThe fishermen had never seen anything so wonderful as this, and they\nlooked at each other, almost more afraid of Jesus than they had been of\nthe storm.\n\n\"What manner of man is this,\" they said, \"that even the wind and the\nsea obey Him!\"\n\nJesus also wondered, and said,\n\n\"Why are ye so fearful?  How is it that ye have no faith?\"\n\nAs soon as they had landed in Gadara a strange man came out of the rock\ntombs to meet them.  He was naked and wounded, for he was always\nwandering in the mountains and among the tombs, crying and cutting\nhimself.  Jesus was sorry for him for He knew that it was the evil\nspirits within him that made him so unhappy.  The poor man tried to\nworship Jesus, and the evil spirits only cried out the more, begging to\nbe let alone.\n\nWhen Jesus asked \"What is thy name,\" he answered, \"My name is Legion,\nfor we are many.\"\n\nJesus made the poor man free by commanding the evil spirits to come out\nof him.  They entered into a herd of swine near by, and the frightened\ncreatures ran down a steep place into the lake and were drowned.  The\nmen who kept them were afraid and ran away, telling all whom they met\nof the thing that had happened.  Some people came to see for\nthemselves, and they found the wild man of the tombs clothed and\nquietly sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to His word.  They were\nafraid of Jesus and begged Him to go away.  They did not understand\nthat He wished to bless and not to harm them.\n\nAs He went back to the ship the man who had been cured of his insanity\nbegged to go with Him, but Jesus told him to go instead to his friends\nat home and tell them what the Lord had done for him.\n\nThe next morning the people of Decapolis heard a strange story from the\nwild man of the tombs, but was now a reasoning man again.\n\nAnd so Jesus stilled the storm of wind on the Lake and the storm of\nevil in a soul.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nCALLED BACK.\n\nWhen Jesus came back to Capernaum He found the crowd of friends at the\nlittle wharf full of concern about Him, and glad that no harm had come\nto Him during the storm.  Among them was one who had watched anxiously\nfor the boat, for he had a little daughter at home very ill indeed, so\nill that she was \"at the last breath.\"  His name was Jairus, and he was\na ruler of the synagogue.  He was so troubled that he fell at the feet\nof Jesus, begging Him to come and lay His hand on his child that she\nmight live.\n\nJesus went with him, a throng of people with them, hoping to see Him do\na great work.\n\nWhile He was on the way a woman who had been sick twelve years followed\nclose behind Him, and put forth her hand timidly toward Him.\n\n\"If I may touch but His clothes I shall be whole,\" she said to herself,\nand she touched them with faith in her heart.\n\nJesus, who knew all hearts, turned straight around and said:\n\n\"Who touched My clothes?\"\n\nHow the woman shrank back and trembled when she heard that, for she was\nafraid she had done wrong.\n\nThe disciples thought it strange that He should ask this, as the people\nthronged so close that they could not help touching Jesus  But the\nwoman knew what He meant and she came and fell down before Him, fearing\nand trembling, and told Him all the truth.\n\nJesus did not look sternly at her as she thought He would do, but He\nsaid gently,\n\n\"Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of\nthy plague.\"\n\nWhile the woman was still at His feet full of gratitude and love\nbecause she felt herself cured, some friends came from the ruler's\nhouse to bring sad news.\n\n\"Thy daughter is dead,\" they said, \"why troublest thou the Master any\nfurther?\"\n\nJesus saw the looks of grief on the father's face and said quickly,\n\n\"Be not afraid, only believe.\"\n\nSo they went to the ruler's house, and into the inner room where the\nlittle maid lay.  Many wished to press in after them to see what Jesus\nwould do, but he took only Peter and James and John with the father and\nmother of the maiden into the quiet, darkened room.  As He went in He\nsaid to some who were mourning noisily in the outer room,\n\n\"Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.\"  Jesus loved to call death a\n\"sleep,\" for He knew that we never die.  Then He took the little maid\nby the hand and called her.  She had not gone so far into the country\nwe cannot see that she could not hear a divine Voice calling to her,\n\n\"Talitha cumi!\" (\"Maiden, arise!\")  At once she rose and walked.  She\nwas a little girl of twelve, and very dear to her father and mother,\nand there was no doubt great joy as well as wonder in the house of the\nruler that bright morning after the storm.  In their joy and wonder\nthere was danger of forgetting to give her the food she was in need of,\nand so Jesus gently reminded them, commanding that something should be\ngiven her to eat, but he charged them not to talk about the return of\ntheir little daughter.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus curing the little maid]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nTWO BY TWO.\n\nJesus had a desire to once more speak to the people of His own little\ntown of Nazareth, and so He came again to His own, but His own received\nHim not.  Once more he went into the Nazareth Synagogue where He had\nlistened to the reading of the law all through His childhood and to\nteach as He had done nine or ten months before.  They did not rise up\nand thrust Him out as they did then, but they cast cold looks and\nscornful words upon Him.  They could not understand His great power and\nwisdom, but they would not believe in Him.\n\n\"Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary,\" they said, \"the brother\nof James and Joses, and of Juda and Simon?  And are not His sisters\nhere with us?\"  They were offended with Him.  Jesus, knowing their\nfaults said,\n\n\"A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his\nown kin, and in his own house.\"\n\nHe wondered why they were so unbelieving, when in His great love for\nthem He was ready to do works of mercy among them, and to tell them the\nglad tidings of the Kingdom of Heaven, but He laid His hands on a few\nsick folk and healed them, and that was all.\n\nAs He went away to come back no more, His heart turned toward the many\nwho were waiting for the tidings that His old friends had rejected, and\nHe called the twelve together to send them out, two by two, into the\nworld around them.  He gave them power to cast out evil spirits, and to\nheal the sick; and He put the preaching power within them so that they\ncould tell to others the wonderful truths of the Kingdom of Heaven.  He\ntold them that they must take nothing for their journey, except a\nstaff, with which to walk over the steep mountain paths.  He told them\nalso to bless the house that sheltered them, and to leave the house or\nthe city that would not receive them.  He said that they would have\nmany trials, and that their lives would be sought by wicked men, but\nthat they need not fear, for the very hairs of their head were\nnumbered, and that even a sparrow could not fall to the ground without\ntheir Father, and they were of more value than many sparrows.\n\nHe said many other words to them that gave them comfort and strength.\nThey had left all to follow Him, and He showed them how, in losing\ntheir all in this life they were finding much more than that--even\neternal life.\n\nSo, two by two, they went forth and left Jesus alone.\n\nThat great and good man, John the Baptist, was still in the prison of\nKing Herod Antipas, down by the Dead Sea.  He had been there more than\na year, but no word came from the king saying that he was free.  Queen\nHerodias wanted him to be put to death for he had spoken against her\nmarriage with King Herod.  She was a wicked woman, and the evil hate\nthe good.  Herod believed in his heart that John should go free, but\nfor the Queen's sake he kept him in prison, but allowed his friends to\nsee him, and sometimes sent for him secretly to hear him talk of the\nKingdom of Heaven.\n\nOn the king's birthday he gave a great feast to his lords and captains,\nand when they had been served with dainty food in dishes of silver and\ngold, and had tasted the rare fruits and the costly wines, the dancing\ngirls came in to flit over the polished marble floor, and wave their\nairy scarfs to please the king and his guests.\n\nAt last a young girl came in and danced alone.  She was dressed like a\nprincess, and she was a princess.\n\nQueen Herodias had sent her young daughter, Salome, where an innocent\ngirl and a queen's daughter should not have gone.\n\nShe pleased the king and his lords greatly, and when she had finished,\nand had knelt before the king to hear what he had to say to her, he\ncried,\n\n\"Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee,\" and with an\noath he declared that he would certainly do it if she should ask the\nhalf of his kingdom.\n\nShe did not decide for herself, but ran to her mother, saying,\n\n\"What shall I ask?\"  And the cruel mother said,\n\n\"The head of John the Baptist.\"\n\nKing Herod did not expect this.  He thought she might ask for some\njewel of great price, or perhaps a royal palace for her very own, and\nwhen he heard her request he was very sorry.  But an oath made before\nhis lords could not be broken.\n\nHe sent men to the prison, and the good prophet, who had never known\nfear, went home to God, and they brought his head to the princess who\ngave it to her mother.  The king's feast ended in gloom, and the poor\ngirl, who only obeyed her wicked mother, had nothing but a dreadful\nmemory to keep forever as the king's gift.\n\nAnd the king himself--what trouble followed him during the rest of his\nlife!  Riches and honors were all taken from him, and he was sent out\nof his own country, while John had gone to his Father's house in the\nHeavenly Country to suffer no more forever.\n\nJohn's disciples buried the body of their beloved master, and then went\nand told Jesus.  Only Jesus can give real comfort in trouble.\n\nThe disciples--now called apostles, or teachers--who had been out\nteaching among the villages, heard, perhaps, of the death of John the\nBaptist, and came back to Jesus two by two, as they had gone out.  They\nhad been preaching, healing the sick, and casting out evil spirits.\nThey often said \"The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,\" and the people\nwondered if it would not be best to rise up and make Jesus their king.\n\nHerod heard of the work of Jesus and the apostles, and was afraid.  He\nhalf believed that John whom he had killed had risen from the dead.  He\ntried to see Jesus, but the One who had come to preach the gospel to\nthe poor had no time to give to Herod.\n\nAs Peter, and John, and Andrew and all the rest came back they were\nfull of stories of the wonderful things that had been done through the\npower that the Lord had given them.  Many came with them to find Jesus.\nHe saw that they needed to come away from the crowds that were always\naround them so that He could speak to them of their work, and so that\nthey could rest, and think, and pray.\n\nThey took a boat and crossed the Lake.  The shore was crowded with\npeople who wished to be with Jesus, and when they knew that He was\ngoing to Bethsaida-Julias at the northern end of the Lake they resolved\nto follow Him, for it was only a few miles away.\n\nAt the end of the Lake they entered the Jordan river, and sailing up a\nlittle way to the landing-place they saw the people coming, some in\nboats, and more in groups along the shore--men, women and children--and\nJesus, filled with love and pity for them, led them to a green hillside\nwhere He sat down to teach them as He had often done before.\n\nIt was spring, and the grass was like a great green carpet sprinkled\nwith bright wild-flowers, while the river, lined with bushes flowed\nbelow, and beyond lay the beautiful blue Lake.  The disciples stood\naround their Master while He taught the people in simple language that\nthey could understand the greatest truths the world has ever heard.\nAll the afternoon He spoke to them, and when the sun was slowly going\ndown over the hills of Galilee they still wished to stay.  They were as\nsheep having no shepherd.  The disciples were troubled about them, for\nthey were far from the villages where bread could be bought, and they\nhad nothing to eat.  They begged Jesus to send them away.\n\n\"Give ye them to eat,\" said Jesus.  Then the disciples were astonished,\nfor there were about five thousand men, beside the women and children.\n\"Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to\neat?\" said Philip.  Then Jesus, who knew what He would do, said, \"How\nmany loaves have ye?  Go and see.\"\n\nThey went among the people, and Andrew came back, saying,\n\n\"There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves, and two small\nfishes; but what are they among so many?\"\n\nThen Jesus told His disciples to seat all the people in order upon the\ngreen grass, and soon there were little companies of fifty, and larger\nones of an hundred sitting all over the hillside with their faces\nturned toward Jesus, who stood looking out upon them as a father would\nlook upon his children.  What were they waiting for?  No one knew, but\nthey saw Him take the little lad's basket of bread and the two little\nfishes and look up to heaven, blessing them as He did so.  Then He\nbegan to break the bread and divide the fishes.  As He broke the bread\nand gave to the disciples they took it away to the people sitting on\nthe grass, and when they came back to Jesus there was still more\nwaiting for them.  In this way all the people were fed.\n\n[Illustration: Feeding the five thousand]\n\nWhen they were satisfied Jesus said to His disciples,\n\n\"Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.\"\n\nAnd they filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the barley loaves\nthat were left.\n\nWhat a silent and wonderful supper of bread fresh from the hand of its\nCreator!\n\nAt last they began saying to each other in a low voice,\n\n\"This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world!\" and\nthey began to ask each other if it would not be best to take Him at\nonce and make Him king whether he would or would not consent, but when\nHe saw what they wished to do, He slipped away and went farther up\namong the hills to rest.\n\nEvening had now come, and the people not finding Jesus, went away to\ntheir homes, and the disciples in their little ship returned to\nCapernaum.  The people could not understand, nor could His disciples,\nthat Jesus did not come to be an earthly king over the little nation of\nthe Jews.  Not until the Holy Spirit came to make all things clear did\nthey understand that He was to be the Spiritual King of all the world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nWALKING THE WAVES--THE TWO KINGDOMS.\n\nWhile Jesus was alone on the mountain side the disciples were trying to\nreach Capernaum in their fishing boat.  It was not a long sail, but a\ncontrary wind had risen and was blowing them out into the Lake away\nfrom the landing place.\n\nThey had taken down their sail and were rowing, but by three o'clock in\nthe morning they were still out upon the Lake.\n\nJesus, who knew all things, saw them struggling with the oars, and\ncoming swiftly down the mountain side He went to them walking upon the\nwater.\n\nThe disciples saw a form through the darkness drawing near to them, and\nstrangely enough they did not think of Jesus, but cried out in terror,\nsaying,\n\n\"It is a spirit.\"  Then the clear sweet voice of their Master rose over\nthe sound of the wind and the waves, \"Be of good cheer, it is I, be not\nafraid.\"  And Peter, full of glad faith, cried out, \"Lord, if it be\nThou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.\"\n\nWhen Jesus said \"Come,\" Peter climbed over the side of the boat and\nbegan to walk toward Jesus, but when a strong wind drove the waves upon\nhim he lost sight of the Lord for a moment, and he was afraid.\n\n\"Lord, save me!\" he cried, and began to sink.\n\nThen Jesus stretched out His hand and caught Peter, saying, \"O thou of\nlittle faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?\"\n\nWhen they both entered the ship the wind ceased, and while the\ndisciples wondered and worshipped, saying, \"Of a truth Thou art the Son\nof God,\" they found themselves at the land not far from Capernaum.\n\nIt was on the white beach of pebbles and shells that bordered the plain\nof Gennesaret where they moored the boat in the early morning, and as\nsoon as the people saw them they began bringing their sick friends to\nJesus.  Many were too ill to walk, and were brought on little beds or\nmattresses and laid at Jesus's feet, and there they were healed if they\nbut touched the hem of His garment.\n\nMany of those who brought the sick to Jesus had been with Him on the\nmountain side, and had eaten of the wonderful bread of heaven that He\nhad broken for them.  They believed that He could do anything that He\nwould.\n\nThe people whose hearts were set upon making Jesus their king followed\nHim wherever He went.  Some who had been with Him when He made bread\nfor the great company on the hillside at Bethsaida-Julias found Him\nteaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.\n\n\"Teacher, when camest thou hither?\" they said.  Jesus, knowing that\nthey cared more for His gifts than for His teaching, said, \"Ye seek me,\nnot because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves\nand were filled,\" and told them that they should not labor for the food\nthat perishes, but for that which endures forever.\n\nThey still wished Him to do some wonder, or show them how to work\nwonders, for they asked Him what they should do to work the works of\nGod.\n\n\"This is the work of God,\" He said, \"That ye believe on Him whom He\nhath sent.\"  Still they remembered the miracle of the bread.\n\n\"What sign showest Thou?\" they said, \"Our fathers did eat manna in the\ndesert.\"  Then He spoke plainly to them of Himself.\n\n\"The bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life\nunto the world.\"  One more spiritual than the rest said reverently,\n\"Lord, evermore give us this bread.\"\n\nThen Jesus spoke those words about Himself that turned many away from\nHim.  He showed them that He could never be what they expected Him to\nbe--an earthly king.  He had only the things of the Spirit to give\nthem, and He called them to a kingdom that could be seen only with\nspiritual sight.\n\n\"I am the bread of life,\" He said, \"He that cometh to me shall never\nhunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.  All that the\nFather giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in\nno wise cast out.\"\n\nThe Jews were offended with Him because He had said, \"I came down from\nheaven.\"  \"I am the living bread which came down from heaven,\" He said.\n\"If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that\nI will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.\"\n\nThen the Jews were vexed and turned to talk among themselves.  They\ncould not understand what He meant, but they saw plainly that He was\nnot going to agree with their plan to make Him the King of the Jews,\nwho would lead them out of their bondage to the Romans, and establish\nthem forever as a nation.\n\nThey did not want to follow Him, but they wanted Him to follow their\nplan.  And as for His talk about being the \"bread of life,\"--\"This is\nan hard saying,\" they said, \"who can hear it?\"\n\nWhile they murmured Jesus said,\n\n\"Doth this offend you?  What and if you shall see the Son of Man\nascending where He was before?\"\n\n\"_It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the\nwords that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life._\"\n\nThen they knew that He meant something above what they could see, or\nwhat they wanted, and many turned away from Him and went to their homes\ndisappointed.  He had said, \"there are some of you that believe not,\"\nand it was true.  Jesus turned to the twelve who stood in silence near\nHim,\n\n\"Will ye also go away?\" He said.\n\nLoving, impulsive Peter cried out,\n\n\"Lord, to whom shall we go?  Thou hast the words of eternal life, and\nwe believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the\nliving God.\"\n\n\"Did I not choose you twelve,\" said Jesus, \"and one of you is a devil.\"\n\nAlready evil spirits had tried to turn Judas away from the Lord by\ntempting him, and he had let them into his heart.  And Jesus, who knew\nall men, saw them there.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nA JOURNEY WITH JESUS.\n\nJesus went away with His disciples into the \"borders of Tyre and\nSidon.\"  He did not go to the Passover feast, for the anger of the Jews\nhad been growing more violent toward Him and His disciples, and he took\nthe twelve away from the crowded towns around the Lake into the parts\nthat bordered upon a heathen country.  He could do far more for the\nsimple-hearted heathen than for Jews who believed themselves to be wise\nand religious.\n\nWhen it was known that the young teacher of Nazareth was among them\nsome came to Him who were not Jews.  One was a Syrian woman whose\ndaughter was troubled by an evil spirit, and she begged Jesus to have\nmercy upon her.  The disciples were not pleased to have her follow them\nwith strange cries in another language.  They believed that the works\nof Jesus were for the Jews only, and so they begged Him to send her\naway.  Jesus was silent, for He knew all hearts, and saw faith growing\nin the heart of the poor woman.\n\nHe said, trying her faith,\n\n\"It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs.\"\n\n\"Truth, Lord,\" she said, \"yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall\nfrom their master's table.\"\n\nThen Jesus hid Himself no longer from her faith, but said,\n\n\"O woman, great is thy faith! be it unto thee even as thou wilt.\"  And\nher daughter was cured that very hour.\n\nJesus did not go down by the great sea, though He could see it lying\nlike blue and silver across the west whenever He came to a hilltop as\nthey journeyed, but He went northward to the hills that lie around the\nmountains of Lebanon.  Upon these mountains grew the cedars that\nSolomon's servants cut down and carried to Jerusalem for the building\nof the Holy House.  They stopped in the Lebanon villages, and came at\nlength to the foot of Mount Hermon, and to the Jordan, crossing over\nand passing near the place where the great company who followed Jesus\nhad been fed.  As they came into Decapolis on the east side of the lake\nof Gennesaret the people came to Him in crowds again for healing.\nThere He healed a man who could neither hear nor speak.\n\nComing to Gadara He found crowds coming with their sick for healing.\nEight months before He had healed a poor man in whom was a legion of\ndevils, casting them out into a herd of swine, and they had begged Him\nto leave their coast for they were afraid of Him, but now they were\nglad to come to Him for healing.  No doubt the man who had been healed\nhad told them of the gentleness of Jesus, and of His wonderful words,\nand had brought many to Him.\n\nIt was in Bethsaida-Julias that Jesus once opened the eyes of a blind\nman.  He did not see clearly at first, but when Jesus laid His hand a\nsecond time upon his eyes he saw quite well, and was so grateful that\nhe wanted to go and tell all his friends about it, but Jesus told him\nto go quietly home.\n\nTwo blind men followed Him also, crying, \"Thou Son of David, have mercy\non us!\"  They followed Him into a house and there Jesus asked, \"Believe\nye that I am able to do this?\"  \"Yea, Lord,\" they said.\n\n\"According to your faith be it unto you,\" He said, touching their eyes,\nand their eyes were opened at once.\n\nThough Jesus had said, \"See that no man know it,\" yet they told it\nthrough all that country.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN SABBATH--PETER'S CONFESSION OF FAITH.\n\nJesus was walking with His disciples one Sabbath day and talking of the\nKingdom of Heaven when they came to a field of ripe grain.  They had\nbeen gathering food for their souls from the teachings of Jesus, and\nhad forgotten to take food for their bodies until they saw the ripe\ngrain and knew that they were hungry.  Some of them began to take the\nheads of wheat (or barley), to rub them in their hands to separate the\ngrain from the chaff, and eat the kernels of wheat.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus in the wheat fields]\n\nFollowing close after them were some men who had been told to watch\nJesus and His disciples, and see if anything could be brought against\nthem.\n\nThey held very strict views about keeping the Sabbath, as all Pharisees\ndid, and here they saw something that might be called breaking the\nSabbath, for were they not really reaping the wheat, and sifting it\nthrough their hands?\n\n\"Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the\nSabbath day,\" they said.  \"The Son of Man,\" said Jesus, \"is Lord even\nof the Sabbath day.\"\n\nAnother Sabbath He entered into a synagogue and taught.  Among the\npeople stood a man who had a helpless and withered hand.  The same\nPharisees who had followed Jesus as spies when He walked through the\ngrain-fields were watching Him in the Synagogue to see if He would heal\non the Sabbath.  He knew their thoughts, and called the man, saying,\n\"Rise up and stand forth in the midst.\"\n\nThe man rose, and while he stood waiting, Jesus turned to the Pharisees\nwho were eagerly watching to see if Jesus would do something that was\nforbidden in their law, and said,\n\n\"Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil?  To save\nlife or to destroy it?\"  The Pharisees dared not answer, and Jesus,\nlooking round upon them all, said to the man, \"Stretch forth thy hand.\"\n\nThe man obeyed.  Although he had not been able to raise his hand, he\nstretched it forth, and it became as whole and as strong as the other.\n\nThe Pharisees went away very angry, and tried to make a plan among\nthemselves for bringing Jesus into trouble.\n\nJesus came to fill the law about the Sabbath full of the spirit of\nheaven; to teach love and service to the neighbor, as well as the love\nand worship of God, but they could not understand Him.\n\nJesus was near the end of His ministry to the people east of the Jordan\nin the country called Decapolis.  They were not like the Galilean Jews,\nthey were half heathen people who lived among the wild, rocky hills of\nthat region.  They were poor and ignorant, yet they were more ready to\naccept the gospel than the wise and wicked Pharisees had been.\n\nHe had been kind to them in their sickness and poverty, and they\nfollowed Him with their sick, and lame, and deaf, and blind, leaving\nthem at His feet until they arose praising God that they had been saved\nfrom their sufferings.\n\nJesus had been teaching in the wild mountain country, and the people\nwould not leave Him to go away to their homes.  After three days Jesus\nsaid to His disciples, \"I have compassion on the multitude because they\ncontinue with me now three days and have nothing to eat, and I will not\nsend them away fasting lest they faint by the way.\"\n\nThe disciples did not remember the Lord's power to create bread, and\nwondered where they should find it in the wilderness to feed such a\ngreat multitude.\n\nBut when Jesus knew that they had seven loves of barley bread and a few\nlittle fishes He told the people to sit down on the ground, and after\ngiving thanks over the loaves and the fishes, He divided them and gave\nto His disciples, and the disciples gave to the people.  There were\nfour thousand men beside women and children who took the bread that\ncame from the Lord's hands.  After all had eaten and were filled they\ntook up seven baskets of the food that was left.\n\nJesus, though He could create food for the people, taught them to use\nit wisely and waste nothing.\n\nWhen the people had been sent to their homes, Jesus, with His\ndisciples, took a fishing boat and crossed the Lake only to find the\nPharisees there ready to question Him, and to tempt Him to show them\nsome great sign from heaven.\n\nHe told them that they could read the signs of the coming weather in\nthe sky, but they could not see the signs of the times.\n\nOnly a wicked people look for a sign, He said, and no sign should be\ngiven except the sign that Jonah gave to the Ninevites--a call to\nrepentance.\n\nThen He left them, for He saw the hardness of their hearts.\n\nAgain they took their journey in the little ship to the northern end of\nthe Lake, and after landing, followed the east side of Jordan until\nthey passed near the place where the five thousand had been fed by a\nmiracle as they sat on the green hillside.\n\nThe disciples found that they had forgotten to bring bread with them.\nThey remembered, perhaps, that they had here eaten the bread that the\nLord had created; but the heart of Jesus was heavy with the thought of\nthe unbelief of the people He had come to save, and He said,\n\n\"Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.\"\n\nThe disciples did not understand Him, and wondered if He spoke thus\nbecause they had not brought bread.\n\nThen Jesus, seeing that they had but little faith, reminded them of the\nsupper on the hillside, when more than five thousand were fed, and of\nthat later meal among the rocky hills of Decapolis, when four thousand\nand more were fed, and that they did not need to be concerned about\nfood for the body so much as to beware of the false teaching of the\nPharisees and of the Sadducees.\n\nThey walked still further north, directly toward that beautiful\nmountain that lifts its head, white with the glistening snow, high\nabove the hills that lead up to it, so that it may be seen over the\nlarger part of Palestine.\n\nThey came to Caesarea Philippi, one of the most beautiful places in the\nworld.  It lay in the green lap of Mount Hermon high above the sea, and\nshut in by cliffs and forests.  The upper springs of the Jordan are\nhere.  They leap out of a great cavern in the side of the mountain--a\nriver of clear, cold water.\n\nThe old Greeks loved the place, and built there a temple to the god of\nnature, but after the Romans came it was named for the Emperor and\nPhilip the Tetrarch.  Here there were more Gentiles than Jews, for it\nwas a gay town in the summer, and people from other towns came to this\ncity of palaces, temples, baths, theatres, and statues.  These people\ndid not wish to hear the words of Jesus, but the coolness and beauty of\nthe country around this birthplace of the Jordan made it a fit place to\nbring His disciples where they could talk over the things of the\nkingdom without being disturbed by the Pharisees.  Here He was able to\npray alone, and once, after prayer, He questioned His disciples about\nHimself.\n\n\"Whom say the people that I am?\" He asked.  They remembered their talks\nwith the people and said, \"John the Baptist, but some say Elias, and\nothers say that one of the old prophets is risen again.\"  \"But whom say\nye that I am?\" He asked.  Then Peter, the believing disciple, made his\nconfession of faith,--\n\n\"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.\"  Jesus was glad to\nhear this, for many had come to doubt Him, and many had gone away from\nHim since they knew that He would not be an earthly king.\n\n\"Blessed art thou Simon, son of Jonas,\" He said, \"for flesh and blood\nhath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven.\"\n\nHe saw that Peter's faith in the truth was like his name, which means\n\"a rock,\" and so He said,\n\n\"Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my church, and the gates\nof hell shall not prevail against it.\"\n\nPeter's faith in the truth was also in the hearts of the other\ndisciples for whom He spoke, and Jesus saw that they could now bear\nwhat he had to say to them without going away.\n\nHe told them that He must soon go to Jerusalem and suffer many things\nfrom the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, and that He\nshould be killed by them, and rise again from the dead the third day.\n\nEven Peter's faith was shaken by this.  How could the Son of God be\nkilled?  He could not believe His Master meant it so.\n\n\"Be it far from thee, Lord,\" he said, \"this shall not be unto thee.\"\n\nJesus saw the spirit of fear and unbelief rising up in Peter, and to\nthis--not to Peter himself--Jesus said,\n\n\"Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me; for thou\nsavourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.\"\n\nThen He plainly told them what they must be ready to meet if they\nfollowed Him.  They must not hope for any earthly honors or riches, and\nthey must put aside their own wishes and obey the Lord alone.\n\nHe told them that whoever wished to live for this world alone would\nlose all, but whoever was willing to lose all for His sake should find\neternal life.\n\n\"For what is a man profited,\" He said, \"if he shall gain the whole\nworld and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for\nhis soul?\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\n\"AND WE BEHELD HIS GLORY\"--A FATHER'S FAITH.\n\nJesus stayed near Caesarea Philippi with His disciples for a week.  The\nvillagers were cutting the ripe grain, the vineyards were rich with\nclusters of the rich grapes that grew on the Lebanon hills, and the\nolives were ripening for the time when they would be put in the presses\nto make the delicious \"oil olive.\"  In that week He must have had many\nwonderful talks with the villagers.\n\nOne evening, as they had come over the lower hills of Hermon, Jesus\nleft the disciples to wait for Him below, taking only Peter and the\nbrothers James and John with Him up the mount.  They did not go to the\nvery top but rested on one of the lower peaks.  While Jesus went a\nlittle distance from them to pray, the three disciples, wrapped in\ntheir thick mantles, lay down to wait for Him.  In that high clear air\nthey seemed very near heaven.  The stars seemed almost as near as the\nlights in the villages below.  They were tired, and watching their\nMaster in prayer, they fell asleep.  While they slept they seemed to\nsee a change in the face of Jesus as He prayed.  It grew light with a\nstrange inward glory, and all His garments became white and glistening\nlike the snows of Hermon in the sun.  They also saw two men with Him\nwhom they seemed to know were Moses and Elias, who had gone to heaven\ncenturies before.\n\nThey also heard them talking with Jesus, and they spoke of the same\nthing that had troubled Peter when Jesus had spoken of it--that He\nshould die at Jerusalem.\n\nThey awoke out of sleep, but the vision did not pass away like a dream,\nthey still saw it all.\n\nBut as it began to melt away, Peter said, hardly knowing what he said,\n\n\"Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three\ntabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.\"\n\nThen the glory around Jesus grew until it seemed like a bright cloud at\nsunset, and it came and wrapt them around in its soft brightness, and\nthey were afraid.\n\nIn the silence they heard a Divine voice, saying,\n\n\"This is My beloved Son; hear Him.\"\n\nWhen the voice was passed they looked up and saw Jesus there alone.  He\nwas bending over them, touching them tenderly, and saying,\n\n\"Arise, and be not afraid.\"\n\nAs they came down the mountain He told them to tell no one of the\nvision until after He had risen from the dead.\n\nIt seemed to the disciples, no doubt, like coming down from heaven to\nearth when after a long walk and talk with Jesus in the summer morning\nthey came near the village they had left, and found the people--among\nthem some Jewish lawyers--disputing with the group of disciples there.\nAs soon as they saw Jesus they all ran to Him, and greeted Him.\n\nOne of the men explained what they were disputing about.\n\n\"Master,\" he said, \"I have brought unto thee my son which hath a dumb\nspirit,\" and he described the frightful state into which it had brought\nhis boy, and added that the disciples could not cast it out.\n\n\"Bring him to me,\" said Jesus, and they brought him, the evil spirit\nwithin him throwing him into convulsions as they laid him at Jesus'\nfeet.\n\n\"How long is it ago since this came to him?\" said Jesus.\n\n\"Of a child,\" said the father, \"and ofttimes it hath cast him into the\nfire and into the waters to destroy him, but if thou canst do anything,\nhave compassion on us, and help us.\"  Jesus said,\n\n\"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.\"\n\nThen the poor father cried out with tears, \"Lord, I believe; help thou\nmine unbelief!\"\n\nThe Lord did not wait for greater faith than this.  He charged the evil\nspirit to come out of the boy, and after a great struggle it left him\nas one dead, but Jesus took him by the hand and he arose.\n\n\"Why could not we cast him out?\" said the disciples afterward.\n\n\"This kind,\" said Jesus, \"can come forth by nothing but by prayer and\nfasting.\"\n\nAs they turned their steps toward home--the Lake side in Galilee--Jesus\nagain spoke of the work that lay before Him.  The disciples listened\nsadly, but could not understand why He should speak of being killed,\nand of rising again from the dead, and they dared not ask Him questions\nabout it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nTHE LORD AND THE LITTLE ONES--LEAVING GALILEE.\n\nAs the Lord and His disciples walked over the hills into Galilee some\nof them fell behind wondering among themselves what He could mean when\nHe spoke of being killed and of rising again.  Perhaps they thought it\nonly a sadness that would pass away, and so full of faith in His power\nwere they that they could not believe that One who could raise the dead\ncould Himself die.\n\n\"He will be a King,\" they thought, and began to wonder who among them\nwould be chosen to be greatest in His Kingdom, and even to quarrel\nabout it.\n\nAfter they had reached Capernaum, and were at home again--probably in\nPeter's house--Jesus said to them,\n\n\"What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?\"\n\nThere was no word from any one of them, for they were ashamed.  Then\nthe Lord sat down, and calling the twelve around Him, said gently,\n\n\"If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and\nservant of all.\"\n\nA little child stood near listening, and wishing, perhaps, that he\nmight be a grown man so that he also could be a disciple.\n\nMaking room for him in the midst of them all, He called the child,\nPeter's child, perhaps, who came joyfully to Him.  Taking Him tenderly\nin His arms He said,\n\n\"Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name receiveth me,\nand whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but Him that sent me.\"\n\nAnd He taught His disciples to be humble as a little child in these\nbeautiful words:\n\n\"Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not\nenter into the Kingdom of Heaven.\"\n\n\"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto\nyou that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father\nwhich is in heaven.\"\n\n[Illustration: The little ones]\n\nHe also told them of the love of the Father in seeking His lost\nchildren.  That if a shepherd had but lost one of his hundred sheep, he\nwould leave all the others to go out into the wild mountains to look\nfor the lost sheep.  How much more would the Father do for His own, and\nespecially for His little ones.\n\n\"Even so,\" He said, \"it is not the will of your Father, which is in\nheaven, that one of these little ones should perish.\"\n\nBefore going to the Feast at Jerusalem the Lord Jesus said many things\nto His disciples that would help them to be loving and forgiving toward\neach other and all the world, for they were very soon going to meet\ntrouble which would try their love and their faith.  He told them to\ndeal gently with those who had done wrong, that they might win them\nback to the right way.  He told them that they should have help from\nheaven when they asked for it, even if there should be only two to ask.\n\n\"For where two or three are gathered together in my name,\" He said,\n\"there am I in the midst of them.\"\n\n\"How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?\" asked\nPeter, \"till seven times?\"\n\n\"Until seventy times seven,\" said Jesus, and He did not mean that we\nshould even count the number of times that we forgive.\n\nThen He told them a story of a forgiving king and an unforgiving\nservant that you may read in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew.\n\nAt the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, the people went up to\nJerusalem to offer gifts in the golden Temple for the harvest that the\nLord had given them, and to join in a praise service there.\n\nThey brought oil, and wine, and wheat, and barley; dates, pomegranates,\nand figs--something of all they had gathered, and while they marched\ntoward the holy city they sang joyful songs that David had written long\nbefore.  When they reached Jerusalem they built bowers of branches cut\nfrom the trees and lived in them for a week.\n\nEven in the city the people came out of their houses and lived in\nbowers on the streets and public squares, or upon the flat roofs of the\nhouses, and the hillsides round were covered with the green booths.\n\nThe brothers of Jesus came down to Capernaum on their way to the Feast\nat Jerusalem, and they asked their elder Brother to go also into Judea\nand show Himself to the world, that His miracles might be seen of all,\nfor they did not believe in Him yet.  But Jesus said,\n\n\"My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready.\"\n\nSo they went on their journey, and Jesus stayed in Galilee.\n\nAfter a few days He set His face toward Jerusalem, taking the shortest\nway through Samaria.  The Samaritans were not friendly to the Jews, and\nthe disciples, who had been sent on before to find lodging for the\ncompany in a village, were not allowed to bring their Master there.\n\nThe gentle John and his brother James were angry that unkindness was\nshown to Jesus, and wished to call down fire from heaven to destroy the\nvillagers, but Jesus said,\n\n\"Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of, for the Son of Man has\nnot come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.\"\n\nAnd they went to another village.  On the way they found men who wished\nto follow Jesus as the disciples did but while some were ready to leave\nall, others wished to first bid their friends farewell, or bury their\ndead, but Jesus saw something in their hearts that showed that they\nwere not fit for the Kingdom of God.\n\nThere were many beside the twelve who fully believed in Jesus, and were\nready to tell others of the coming kingdom, so He sent them out to all\nthe places where he intended to go, until there were seventy of them\npreaching the good news.  They went, saying, \"The Kingdom of God is\ncome unto you,\" and they healed the sick in Jesus' name.  When they\nreturned they were full of joy, saying,\n\n\"Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name.\"  But\nJesus said, \"Rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but\nrather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nAT THE HOUSE OF MARTHA--THE GOOD SHEPHERD.\n\nWhile Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem a lawyer came and asked Him\nquestions.  He did not want to be a disciple, yet he asked what he\nshould do to have eternal life.\n\nJesus asked him what the commandments said about it, and the lawyer\nrepeated the two great commandments concerning love to the Lord and to\nthe neighbor.\n\n\"Thou hast answered right,\" Jesus replied.  \"This do and thou shalt\nlive.\"\n\n\"And who is my neighbor?\" said the lawyer.\n\nThen Jesus told a story of a man who went down to Jericho, and was\nnearly killed by thieves.  A priest came that way and when he saw a man\nwho needed help he passed by on the other side of the road.  So did a\nLevite, one of the helpers in the temple worship, but a Samaritan (and\nthe Samaritans were despised by the Jews) came that way, and he stopped\nin pity for the poor man, dressed his wounds, set him upon his own\nbeast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  When he left the\ninn he also left money for his care, with the promise of more if it\nshould be needed.  Then Jesus asked the lawyer which of these three men\nwas neighbor to him who fell among thieves.\n\n[Illustration: The good Samaritan]\n\n\"He that showed mercy on him,\" said the lawyer.  Then said Jesus unto\nhim,\n\n\"Go thou and do likewise.\"\n\nAs Jesus came near to Jerusalem He passed through Bethany, a little\ntown at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where perhaps some of His\ndisciples had been preaching the new gospel before Him.  There He was\ngladly received into the house of Martha, who prepared the table with\nher own hands to offer the best in her house to her honored Guest.  She\nhad a brother named Lazarus, who was probably at the feast in\nJerusalem, and a younger sister named Mary who loved to listen to every\nword that Jesus spoke.  As every family built a bower of branches\nduring this feast to remind them that for forty years they lived in\nsuch houses in the wilderness while coming out of Egypt, there must\nhave been one in the court of Martha's house, and there, perhaps, Jesus\nrested while Mary sat at His feet and heard His word.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus in the house at Bethany]\n\nMartha was very busy serving her honored guest, and thought Mary ought\nto help her in the house, but Jesus said, \"Martha, Martha, thou art\ncareful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful, and\nMary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.\"\n\nWhen the Feast of Tabernacles was at its height Jesus came up to the\nTemple at Jerusalem.  The people had been looking for Him, and as soon\nas the noble, earnest-faced young Teacher was seen walking in the\nmarble court of the Temple they thronged around Him to hear Him teach,\nor to see if He would do any miracle.\n\nSome wondered at His wisdom and His doctrine, and asked where it came\nfrom, \"My doctrine is not mine,\" He said, \"but His that sent me.  If\nany man will do His will he shall know of the doctrine.\"\n\nHe taught them many things that day, and hinted at the same thing that\nhad troubled His disciples, and these were His words,\n\n\"Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto Him that sent me.\nYe shall seek me and shall not find me, and where I am thither ye\ncannot come.\"\n\nThe priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees were listening, and He knew\nthat their hearts were too full of pride and self-love to receive His\nword.  They could not go to Him, for they would not let Him come into\ntheir hearts.\n\nOn the last day, the great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried to\nthe people who were about to go back to their homes.  His great heart\nwas breaking to bring them into the Kingdom of Heaven, and He knew that\nthey would be scattered as sheep having no shepherd.\n\n\"If any man thirst,\" He cried, \"let him come unto me and drink.\"  And\nHe then promised to such as believe the Holy Spirit to dwell in them,\nand to flow out toward all the world like rivers of living water.\n\nSo wonderfully did He preach that many said, \"Of a truth this is a\nprophet,\" and others said, \"This is the Christ,\" while others were\nfilled with anger and wished to arrest Him.  Indeed, when the priests\nand Pharisees urged the officers to take Him, they said,\n\n\"Never man spake like this man,\" and they would not lay hands on Him.\n\nBut Nicodemus, a learned doctor of the law, was a friend of Jesus.  He\nit was who had a talk with Him one night under the olive trees about\nthe Spirit--the breath of God, and he with wise words turned the hatred\nof the Jews away from Jesus for the time, and they went to their own\nhouses.\n\nJesus taught in the Temple again the next day, and all the people came\nto listen.\n\nIt was here, perhaps, that the wicked Scribes and Pharisees brought to\nHim a poor woman who had sinned.  They told Him that according to the\nlaw she ought to be stoned, and asked what He would say about it.  He\ndid not answer, but seemed to be writing on the ground before Him as\nthough He did not hear them.  At last, because they would have an\nanswer He looked at them saying,\n\n\"He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone,\" and\nHe wrote again on the ground.  No one answered Jesus, but one by one\nthey went away too much ashamed to speak.  \"Hath no man condemned\nthee?\" asked Jesus of the woman standing sorrowful and alone.\n\n\"No man, Lord,\" she said.\n\n\"Neither do I condemn thee,\" He said, \"go and sin no more.\"\n\nThen Jesus sitting in the Treasury of the Temple said,\n\n\"I am the light of the world.  He that followeth me shall not walk in\ndarkness but shall have the light of life.\"\n\nMany other things He said that His enemies tried to turn against Him,\nand the healing on the Sabbath day of a man who had been born blind\nstirred the anger of the Jews against Him, so that they sought by much\nquestioning to accuse Jesus of sin, not knowing that they were\nthemselves spiritually blind.\n\nBut He turned from them to call to the people again as He did on the\nlast day of the Feast, for in His love and pity He longed to bring the\nlost children of Israel to Himself that He might bless them, as a\nshepherd brings back the sheep that stray from the fold.\n\n\"I am the Good Shepherd; and I know my own, and my own know me,\" said\nJesus, \"even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I lay\ndown my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of\nthis fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and\nthey shall become one flock, one Shepherd.\"\n\nOther beautiful and blessed words He said about the Shepherd and His\nflock which are written in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, but\nthe learned Jews would not listen to Him, and thrice tried to kill Him\nby stoning Him, but they could not harm Him, for His time had not come.\n\nThen he went away beyond Jordan, where John first baptized, and many\nbelieved on Him there.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nTHE LESSON STORIES OF JESUS.\n\nWhen Jesus was at prayer His disciples stood reverently apart from Him,\nand one day a disciple came near when he had ceased and said,\n\n\"Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.\"\n\nThen the Lord taught them the beautiful prayer that is now said daily\nall around the world, and known to every one of us, beginning, \"Our\nFather which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.\"\n\nAnd He told them how pleased God is to have His children ask Him for\nwhat they need, or come to Him in trouble.\n\n\"Ask, and it shall be given you,\" He said; \"seek, and ye shall find;\nknock and it shall be opened unto you.\"\n\n\"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give\nhim a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a\nserpent?\"\n\n\"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your\nchildren, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give good gifts to\nthem that ask Him?\"\n\nIt was while the Lord was teaching in the country called Peraea, east\nof Jordan, that He told many things that His disciples remembered and\nwrote in a book afterward, when the Holy Spirit had come to \"bring all\nthings to their remembrance,\" as He had promised.\n\nHe had been teaching three years, and was thirty-three years of age.\n\nSome of the people who lived, at Bethabara, by Jordan, were present\nwhen He was baptized by John, and they were glad to have him stay among\nthem and teach, for they were a kindly people, and though not learned\nlike the men who were often to be found in the Temple courts and in the\nSynagogues, they were the common people who, hearing the word and\nloving it, were wiser than the Pharisees.\n\nThe Lord told many stories that these people would remember, and\nafterward understand by the teaching of His Spirit which He said would\nbe given to them.  You will read all of them in the Gospels, but here\nwe cannot tell them all.\n\nThe story of \"The Fig-tree in the Vineyard,\" \"The Great Supper,\" and\n\"The Foolish Rich Man\" were stories of warning to those who were\nturning away from the things of heaven to the things of the world, and\nthey were meant for all who should read them in the ages of the world.\n\nSo were the three stories--they are called \"parables\" in the\nGospels--of the lost things; \"The lost sheep,\" \"The lost piece of\nmoney,\" and \"The lost son.\"  They were given to us to show the great\nlove of the Heavenly Father for His children, and His constant care in\nseeking for them when they are wandering away from Him.  These stories\nare the voice of the Father always and everywhere calling His children\nhome, and many a poor soul has turned homeward with tears of repentance\nafter reading them.\n\nOne of these stories of lost things will be told here, but it is far\nmore beautiful in the language of the Scriptures.\n\nThere was once a rich man who had two sons, and the younger one came to\nhim and said,\n\n\"Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.\"\n\nAnd so the father divided his property, and gave the younger brother\nhis share.  In a few days he had gathered it all together and settled\nhis affairs so that he could go away.  He went into a distant country,\nand there he spent all that he had among bad people who seemed to be\nhis friends, but were really his worst enemies.\n\nWhen all that he had was spent there came a time of great trouble.\nThere was very little food in the land, for there was a famine, and he\nwas obliged to go to work for the little he could get.  It was not easy\nto find work, for the only thing he could do was to hire himself to a\nman who kept pigs.  His work was to stay in the fields and feed them\nwith husks, the hard pods of the carob tree.  Sometimes he was so\nhungry that he would have been glad to eat even these, but \"no man gave\nunto him.\"  Then the young man \"came to himself.\"\n\n\"How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare,\"\nhe said, \"and I perish with hunger!\"\n\n\"I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I\nhave sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be\ncalled thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.'\"\n\nThe father must have been watching for his lost boy, for while he was\nyet a great way off he saw him, and ran to meet him.  He put his arms\naround him and kissed him without once speaking of his sins, and he\ncalled his servants to bring the best robe and put it on him, and a\nring for his hand, and shoes for his feet, and then to kill the fatted\ncalf to make a feast for all,\n\n\"For,\" he said \"this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost,\nand is found.\"\n\nThe elder son had been away in the field but when he came home heard\nmusic and dancing, and called to a servant to ask what these things\nmeant.  When he had heard he was very angry, and would not go in.  His\nfather came out to beg him to come in and greet his brother, but he\nsaid,\n\n\"Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any\ntime thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might\nmake merry with my friends.\"  But the father said,\n\n\"Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.  It was meet\nthat we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead,\nand is alive again, and was lost and is found.\"\n\n[Illustration: The return of the prodigal]\n\nThere are other stories told by Jesus while in Peraea, which you will\nfind in the gospel by Luke, the beloved physician.  One is about the\n\"Unjust Steward,\" and another is the story of the \"Unjust Judge.\"\nStill another is called \"Dives and Lazarus,\" or the \"Rich man and the\nBeggar.\"\n\nThe parable of \"The Pharisee and the Publican,\" describes two men who\nwent up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a\npublican.\n\n[Illustration: The Pharisee and the publican]\n\nThe Pharisee prayed with _himself_, thus, \"God, I thank thee that I am\nnot as other men are, or even as this publican.  I fast twice a week.\nI give tithes of all I possess.\"\n\nAnd the publican, standing afar off, dared not even lift his eyes to\nheaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, \"God be merciful to me a\nsinner!\"\n\n\"This man,\" said Jesus, \"went down to his house justified rather than\nthe other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he\nthat humbleth himself shall be exalted.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nTHE VOICE THAT WAKED THE DEAD--THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM.\n\nWhile Jesus and His disciples were still east of the Jordan trouble\nfell upon the happy home in Bethany where Jesus had been an honored\nguest.  A messenger was sent to Jesus in great haste, saying,\n\n\"Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.\"\n\nIt was from Mary and Martha concerning their brother Lazarus.\n\nJesus sent the messenger back with this message,\n\n\"This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the\nSon of God might be glorified thereby,\" and He remained two days longer\nwhere He was.  Then He said,\n\n\"Let us go into Judea again.\"\n\nThe disciples reminded Him that the Jews there had tried to take His\nlife.\n\n\"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,\" said Jesus, \"but I go that I may awaken\nhim out of sleep.\"\n\nThe disciples thought that if he slept he was doing very well, until\nJesus told them plainly,\n\n\"Lazarus is dead.\"\n\nThen Thomas was full of sorrow and said,\n\n\"Let us also go that we may die with him.\"\n\nBethany was not far from Jerusalem, and when they reached the house of\nMartha, Lazarus had been dead four days, and was placed in a rock tomb.\nMany Jews from Jerusalem had come out to Bethany to comfort Mary and\nMartha, and to mourn for their friend Lazarus.\n\nWhen Martha heard that Jesus was coming she ran to meet Him, but Mary\nsat still in the house.  She thought, perhaps, that He had come too\nlate, and the same thought may have been in Martha's mind when she said,\n\n\"Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died, but I know that\neven now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.\"\n\n\"Thy brother shall rise again,\" said Jesus.\n\n\"I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day,\"\nshe said.\n\nThen Jesus spoke those heavenly words that have been the comfort of the\nsorrowful ever since,\n\n\"I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he\nwere dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me\nshall never die.  Believest thou this?\"\n\n\"Yea, Lord,\" answered Martha, \"I believe that thou art the Christ, the\nSon of God which should come into the world.\"\n\nThen she called Mary quietly, so that the people who were noisily\nwailing should not hear.\n\n\"The Master is come and calleth for thee,\" she said.\n\nThen Mary rose quickly and went to meet Jesus  The people who were\ntrying to comfort her followed her, for they thought she was going to\nthe tomb to weep there; but they saw her go to meet Jesus and fall at\nHis feet saying, as Martha did,\n\n\"Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.\"\n\nWhen Jesus saw the tears of Mary and her sister and their friends He\nwept also, not for Lazarus, but His heart was moved for them, and He\nshared their sorrow.\n\nThey brought Him to the tomb--a cave with a stone lying upon it.  When\nHe asked them to take away the stone Martha's faith began to fail; but\nthe stone was rolled away, and when Jesus had prayed He called with a\nloud voice,\n\n\"Lazarus, come forth!\"\n\nAnd all who were bending forward toward the low, dark door of the tomb\nsaw a man wrapped in linen come forth from the darkness and try to\nascend the stone steps.\n\n\"Loose him and let him go,\" said Jesus.  And then there was a scene so\nfull of sacred joy that John, the disciple, who tells the story, does\nnot show it to us.\n\nAfter this many believed in Jesus, but others went and told the\nPharisees all about it.\n\nIt was spring in Peraea, and the valley of the Jordan was full of the\nsinging of birds and the color of blooming trees and wild flowers,\nwhile in the fields the young wheat was growing.  The people thronged\nto Jesus in crowds, for He taught them in the open air.  The disciples\nwere busy with the people, explaining to the dull, listening to those\nwho wished to ask something of the Master, or keeping back the curious.\nThis had to be done in every village through which they passed.  There\nwere many mothers with their children around them who came out of their\nlow white houses to follow Jesus in the way, and to listen when He sat\ndown to teach.\n\nThe mothers loved to have the Rabbi's bless their children, for since\nthe days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the blessing of a good man means\nmuch to the Israelite.\n\nOne day some mothers brought their little ones to Jesus, and begged Him\nto bless them.  The disciples told the mothers to stand back, and not\ntrouble the Master while he was teaching.  Jesus knew what they were\nsaying, and He called them unto Him and said,\n\n\"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of\nsuch is the Kingdom of God.  Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not\nreceive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter\ntherein.\"\n\nIn this way he made it clear to His disciples, to the mothers, and to\nall who have read His word since that day, that every child is a\ncitizen of the Lord's Kingdom, and dear to the heart of the King.\n\nPerhaps the mothers had heard that the Lord was about to leave the\ncountry east of Jordan to go up to Jerusalem, and they longed to have\ntheir little ones share in the blessing they had received while sitting\nat the feet of the great Teacher and learning of Him, for soon after He\ncrossed the Jordan, and, teaching as he went, set His face toward\nJerusalem.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nTHE YOUNG MAN THAT JESUS LOVED.\n\nA rich young ruler came running after Jesus one day, saying,\n\n\"Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?\"\n\nSo eager was he to know that he knelt before Jesus by the road side.\n\nJesus spoke gently to him telling him that God alone is good, and that\nhe knew the commandments that God had given.\n\n\"All these have I kept from my youth up,\" said the young man.\n\nAs Jesus looked upon him He saw that he was really trying to be good,\nand hoping that he could do some great and good act that would give him\na certain entrance into heaven.  He had been taught by the Rabbis that\nmen were saved by keeping the law and doing outward works of\nrighteousness.  He did not know that heaven must begin in his own heart.\n\nJesus, reading his heart, loved him, and longed to have him know the\ntruth.\n\n\"Yet lackest thou one thing,\" he said, \"sell all that thou hast and\ndistribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and\ncome, follow me.\"\n\nWhen he heard these words the young man turned away and lost the eager\nlook with which he had come to the Lord's feet.  He was very sorrowful,\nfor he was very rich, and he found that he loved his riches more than\nhe loved anything else.\n\n\"How hardly,\" said Jesus, \"shall they that have riches enter into the\nKingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's\neye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.\"\n\n\"Who then can be saved?\" asked one.\n\n\"The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God,\" He\nsaid.\n\n\"Lo, we have left all,\" said Peter, \"and followed Thee,\" and then the\nLord gave to His disciples that promise that has been proven true by\nmillions of His children for ages past,--\n\n\"There is no man who hath left house or parents, or brethren, or wife,\nor children for the Kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive\nmanifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life\neverlasting.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nTHE LAST JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.\n\nWhen Jesus and His disciples were finally on the way to Jerusalem Jesus\nwent before them, and the shadow of the great trial He was about to\nsuffer cast its shadow upon Him.  The disciples saw it, and Mark says\nthat \"they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid.\"  He\ntold them all about the trial and the death that lay before Him, but so\nunwilling were they to believe it, and so sure were they that He would\nbe made king of the Jews, that two of them brought their mother to\nJesus to ask that her two sons might sit next to Him when He should\ncome to the throne.\n\n\"Ye know not what ye ask,\" He said, \"can ye drink of the cup that I\ndrink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?\"\nand they said,\n\n\"We can,\" not knowing that He spoke of suffering and death.\n\nHe told them that though they would indeed drink of His cup, He had no\nhonors to give them.\n\nThen, when the others were vexed with James and John for their foolish\nrequest, He talked to them all tenderly about the grace of humility.\n\n\"Whosoever of you who will be chiefest,\" He said, \"shall be servant of\nall.  For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to\nminister, and to give His life a ransom for many.\"\n\nIt was the time of the Passover Feast at Jerusalem, and as they crossed\nat the Fords of Jordan and went over the Jericho plain they must have\njoined some of the groups of joyful people who were going up to the\nFeast, some on camels and asses, and some walking beside the beasts\nbearing tents or merchandise.  The valley of the Jordan was bright with\nthe freshness of spring, and as they came near Jericho with its\nrose-gardens, and orchards, and feathery palms, it looked like the\ngardens of Paradise.  It was sometimes called Jericho \"the perfumed\"\nbecause of its great gardens of roses, and its balsam plantations from\nwhich they made perfumes that were sold in all the East.  It was warm\neven in winter there, and no frosts destroyed its tropical fruits and\nflowers.  The rich plain was made fertile by two springs that sent\ntheir waters through trenches all through these gardens and orchards.\nOne is called the \"Elisha Spring,\" because the prophet made its\npoisonous waters pure by casting salt into them.\n\nAnd so the Passover pilgrims entered Jericho.\n\nThere was in Jericho a man named Zaccheus, who, like Matthew of\nCapernaum, was a rich tax-gatherer.  He wanted to see Jesus as He\npassed, but the crowd was great, and he was a small man, so he ran\nbefore the people and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him.\n\nAs Jesus passed the tree He looked up and said,\n\n\"Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy\nhouse.\"\n\nZaccheus came down in great haste, and was full of joy to be able to\nentertain Jesus, though some complained that a sinner should have the\nhonor of taking the Master into his house.\n\nZaccheus must have heard these cruel remarks, for he said humbly,\n\n\"Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have\ntaken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him\nfourfold.\"\n\nThen Jesus said heartily, \"This day is salvation come to this house,\nforsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man is come\nto seek and to save that which was lost.\"\n\nIt was just outside of Jericho that the bands going out toward\nJerusalem passed a blind beggar who cried,\n\n\"Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!\"\n\nThe Lord heard the cry and called him, and there by the roadside He\nopened the eyes of Bartimeus to see the beauty all around him, and the\nkind face of Jesus looking at him.  And he followed Him.\n\nThe pilgrims came up the steep, rocky road from Jericho to Jerusalem,\nand they were fortunate who could ride, for the heat was great, and the\nroad hard to climb.  Jesus and His friends walked, for they were poor\nmen, as riches are counted in this world.\n\nIt was a six hours' journey, and when they reached the green heights of\nthe Mount of Olives they turned aside to the village of Bethany, and\nthere Jesus rested in the house of Mary and Martha and the brother whom\nHe had called back from the grave.  The disciples were lodged in the\ntown, no doubt, among their friends, and so grateful and happy were\nthey of Bethany to have the Lord once more among them that they made a\nsupper to show their joy at His coming.  It was at the house of Simon,\nwho had been a leper, and cured, perhaps, by Jesus, and Lazarus sat at\nthe table with Jesus, and Mary and Martha served.\n\nIt was a holy, happy time, yet shadowed with sadness because of the\nwords of Jesus concerning His death, which the disciples could not\nbelieve.\n\nIn the midst of the supper Mary brought an alabaster box of very\nprecious and costly perfume, and poured it upon the head of Jesus and\nalso upon His feet, wiping them with her long hair.  Judas, one of the\ntwelve, frowned upon her, and said it was a waste, for the perfume\nmight have been sold for money to give to the poor.\n\nBut Jesus knew what Mary did.\n\n\"Let her alone,\" He said, \"against the day of my burying hath she kept\nthis; for the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.\"\n\n\"She hath done what she could.\"\n\n\"Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,\nthis also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\nTHE PRINCE OF PEACE.\n\nIt was in the lovely spring time of a land that scarcely knows winter\nthat a strange and beautiful scene made Jerusalem still more beautiful.\nOver the Mount of Olives, where the olive and the fig-trees were in\ntender leaf, came a procession of people crying,\n\n\"Hosanna; blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the\nLord!\"\n\nThe road was crowded with people who with lifted faces and songs of\npraise waved branches of palm as they walked before and beside Jesus,\nwho was riding toward Jerusalem, seated upon a young ass, after the\nmanner of the kings and prophets of ancient Israel.\n\nAfter Jesus and His friends had left Bethany to go to Jerusalem He had\nsent two of His disciples to a village near by to bring to Him an ass,\nwith its colt, that they would find tied there, and they were to say to\nthe owner of the asses, \"The Lord hath need of them,\" that the words of\nthe prophet might be fulfilled,\n\n\"Tell ye the daughter of Zion, 'Behold thy king cometh unto thee, meek,\nand sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass.'\"\n\nWhile the Lord and His friends were coming up the Mount of Olives, many\npeople from Jerusalem who knew that He was on His way came to meet Him,\nand when the two disciples brought to Jesus the ass upon which He was\nto ride they placed Him upon it, and spreading their garments in the\nway, and with waving palms and singing they came over the ridge of the\nMount of Olives from which they could see Mount Zion shining before\nthem.  The Pharisees had come out to see what it meant and were angry.\n\"See--the world is gone after Him!\" they said, but Jesus, when they\nasked Him to stop the praises of the people, told them that the very\nstones would cry out if the people should hold their peace.  As they\ncame to a point in the road where from a smooth rocky height they could\nsee the great city with its temple before them, the whole company\nstopped, and Jesus, beholding it, wept over it saying,\n\n\"If thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things which\nbelong to thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes!\"\n\n[Illustration: Jesus entering Jerusalem]\n\nAnd He spoke of the days when enemies should surround the Holy City,\nand lay it even with the ground, because they knew not the time of\ntheir visitation.  Fifty years after the Romans took the Holy City and\nburned the beautiful Temple, and put uncounted people to death.  And so\nJesus went down through the valley of the Kedron and up through the\ncity gates with the great procession that grew at every step until He\ncame to His Father's House--the Temple.  Then He looked about and saw\nthe buyers and sellers again making the Temple a market, but He went\nsilently away with His friends to Bethany again.  He had entered the\ncity as the Prince of Peace, not as a Roman Emperor would do, with\nsound of trumpet and the tread of armed legions, and they knew not the\ntime of their visitation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXV.\n\nTHE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE.\n\nThe next morning Jesus went early with His disciples to the Temple.  It\nwas on the way as they went over the Mount of Olives that they passed a\nbarren fig-tree--one that bore nothing but leaves.  It was like the\nPharisees, who outwardly seemed to be religious, but were inwardly\nevil, and bore none of the fruits of a religious life.\n\n\"Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever,\" said Jesus, and it\nwithered away.  When the disciples wondered, Jesus said,\n\n\"If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is\ndone to the fig-tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Be\nthou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,' it shall be done.  And\nall things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall\nreceive.\"  When Jesus came again to the Temple He drove out the buyers\nand sellers and the money-changers, as He had done before.\n\n\"It is written,\" He said, \"'My house is the house of prayer, but ye\nhave made it a den of thieves.'\"\n\nWhen they had been driven out, the people who had been waiting for\nJesus, and the blind and the lame came to Him, and He healed all who\ncame.  The Pharisees looked on with hatred in their hearts, and talked\nwith the priests of arresting Him then and there, but a clear, sweet\nsound of young voices singing came floating through the temple courts,\nand they saw bands of children who were crying, \"Hosanna to the Son of\nDavid!\" and it rang like heavenly music through all the place.\n\n\"Hearest thou what these say?\" cried the angry Pharisees, and Jesus\nanswered, \"Yea; have ye never read, 'Out of the mouths of babes and\nsucklings thou hast perfected praise?'\"  Then He left them and went\nagain to Bethany to rest in the house of His faithful friends, Martha,\nand Mary, and Lazarus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVI.\n\nTHE LAST DAY IN THE TEMPLE.\n\nIt was on a Tuesday that Jesus came again early to the Temple.  It was\nthe last day of His teaching there and He filled it with wonderful\nsayings that have been taught in thousands of Christian temples for\nnearly two thousand years.  The chief priests and elders, who were full\nof anger because He had acted as if He had a right to say who should\ncome into the Temple courts, came to Him as He was teaching and said,\n\n\"By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this\nauthority?\"  Jesus answered them by asking a question, \"The baptism of\nJohn, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?\"  They could not answer,\nfor they said in their own minds, \"If we shall say 'From heaven,' He\nwill say, 'Why did you not then believe him;' but if we shall say 'Of\nmen,' we fear the people, for all men hold John as a prophet.\"  And so\nthey said, \"We cannot tell.\"\n\nAnd Jesus answered, \"Neither tell I you by what authority I do these\nthings.\"  They could not find what they wanted--something to accuse Him\nof before the Jewish Council and so they tried to lead Him to say\nsomething that would turn the Romans against Him.  They came to Him\nwith flattering words, saying that they knew that He taught the way of\nGod truly, and would He tell them if it was lawful to give tribute to\nCaesar or not?  He saw their deceit and cunning, and said, \"Why tempt\nye me?  Show me a penny.  Whose image and superscription is this?\"\nThey told Him it was Caesar's.  \"Render therefore,\" He said, \"unto\nCaesar the things which be Caesar's, and to God the things which be\nGod's.\"\n\n[Illustration: Showing the penny]\n\nThey wondered much at the wisdom of His answer, and could find nothing\nwhereof to accuse Him, but perhaps they never knew what He really meant\nto say to them--and to us also--that His Kingdom was not of this world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVII.\n\nTHE LAST WORDS IN THE TEMPLE.\n\nOn this day also, as Jesus sat near the treasury of the Temple and saw\nthe rich, and the self-righteous casting their money into the boxes\nplaced there, He saw a poor widow come with her mourning dress showing\nthat she was the poorest of the poor--a pauper--and yet she had\nsomething to give: she dropped two \"mites\" into one of the boxes under\nthe marble colonnade that surrounded the court of the women.  Taken\ntogether these two coins were worth much less than a penny, but they\nwere \"all her living\" and though the Lord did not speak to her, as far\nas we know, He saw her faith, and His blessing must have reached her in\nways that we know nothing about.  To those who stood about Him He said,\n\"Of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than\nthey all; for all these have of their abundance cast into the offerings\nof God; but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.\"\n\n[Illustration: The two mites]\n\nJesus, who \"spake as never man spake,\" preached the new Gospel of the\nKingdom by means of stories, or parables, and on one long day of\nteaching in the Temple He told several stories that the people never\nforgot.  Two of them were stories of the vineyard.  One of them was of\na man who sent his two sons into his vineyard to work.  One answered \"I\nwill not,\" but afterward repented and went, while the other, who had\nsaid \"I go, sir,\" went not.  Jesus taught in this that real sinners who\nat first refuse to enter God's kingdom but afterward repent and enter,\nare better than the heartless hypocrites who talk much of their\nreligion but are inwardly evil.\n\nThe other story was of a certain householder who owned a vineyard and\nlet it out to some men while he took a journey into a far country.\nWhen the time of the fruit drew near he sent his servants to the men\nwho had rented the vineyard, that they might receive the fruits of it,\nbut the men beat one servant, and stoned another, and killed another.\nWhen the owner sent other servants they treated them in the same way.\nThen he sent his son saying, \"They will reverence my son,\" but the men\ndetermined to kill the heir and take the vineyard for themselves, and\nthey cast out the son of the lord of the vineyard and killed him.  In\nthis story He spoke of His own death, as well as that of the prophets\nand John the Baptist before Him.\n\nThe chief priests and Pharisees, when they heard this parable knew that\nthe Lord spoke of them, and they tried again to take Him by force, but\nfeared the people.\n\nAnother story told in the Temple that day was of the \"Marriage of the\nKing's Son\" which you will find in the twenty-second chapter of\nMatthew.  It shows first how the Jews were asked into the Kingdom of\nChrist, but refused to come, and their city was given over to their\nenemies to destroy.  In the second part of the parable the call of all\nnations to come into Christ's kingdom is described, and the man who was\nfound at the feast without a wedding garment, describes those who come\ninto the church without real faith in the Lord Jesus, and are not\nprepared to enter heaven.  \"For many are called,\" said Jesus, \"but few\nare chosen.\"\n\nKnowing the wickedness of the priests and Pharisees, who stood before\nthe people as more holy than others, the Lord ended His last day in the\nTemple with words to them that must have been sharper than a sword, and\nmore burning than flames of fire.  These words are in the twenty-third\nchapter of Matthew, and may no child who reads them ever live to\ndeserve to hear them for himself.  To the hypocrite alone the Lord was\nstern and severe, but to the sinner who truly repented He was full of\nforgiving love.  After telling them of the sorrows and desolations that\nmust fall upon the Holy City because of the sins of those who should be\ntrue and faithful teachers of their holy religion, He sent forth these\nlast words of love and sorrow through the Temple courts,\n\n\"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest\nthem which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy\nchildren together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her\nwings, and ye would not!  Behold your house is left unto you desolate,\nfor I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say,\n'Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.'\"   And He went out\nof the Temple to return no more.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\nAN EVENING ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.\n\nJesus and His friends went out from the Temple and Jerusalem to the\nMount of Olives, and as they looked back upon the beautiful buildings\nof marble and gold that made the Temple seem like a great jewel shining\nin the sunset, the disciples turned to Jesus and spoke of it, but He\nsaid,\n\n\"There shall not be left here one stone that shall not be thrown down.\"\n\nThey sat down on the slope of Olivet where the olive and fig-trees were\nputting forth their new leaves, and in that quiet time Peter, and\nJames, and John, and Andrew drew close about their beloved Master, and\nsaid, \"Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign\nof thy coming, and the end of the world?\"  He told them many things\nhard to be understood; of the sorrows of Israel when their city should\nbe destroyed, and the people scattered; of the end of the age, when\nthey should turn to the Lord they had rejected, and of His coming to\nthe whole world.\n\n\"Watch, therefore,\" He said, \"for ye know not what hour your Lord doth\ncome,\" and He told them of the faithful and the unfaithful servants;\nthat the one was found doing his duty when his lord returned, and was\nmade ruler over all his goods, but the other, unfaithful in all things,\nwas surprised by his lord's coming and cast out.\n\nHe told them another beautiful \"watching\" story of the Ten Virgins who\nwent forth with their little lamps to meet the bridegroom on his way to\nthe marriage feast.  Five of them took oil to fill their lamps, and\nfive took no oil with them.  The bridegroom was long in coming, and\nthey all fell asleep; but at midnight there was a cry, \"Behold the\nbridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet him!\"  Then they all arose and\ntrimmed their lamps, but five of the lamps had gone out, and the\nfoolish maids who brought no oil to fill them begged it of the others,\nbut they were told that they must go and buy it of those who had it to\nsell.  While they went to buy the bridegroom came, and they that were\nready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.\nAfterward, when the five thoughtless ones came to the door crying,\n\"Lord, Lord, open to us!\" they only heard the answer, \"I know you not.\"\n\nAfter this He told them the story of the Talents, which you may read in\nthe twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew.  It is the Lord's teaching to all\ndisciples about making the most of the life He gives us.\n\nHis last story was a picture of the gathering of the nations, and the\nseparation of the good and the true from the false and the evil.  The\nKing's call to the good, \"Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the\nkingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,\" carried\nwith it a strange reason.  \"For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat;\nI was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me\nin; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in\nprison, and ye came unto me.\"\n\nThen the good whom He had called were astonished, and cried, \"Lord,\nwhen saw we thee an hungered and fed thee? or thirsty, a stranger,\nsick, or in prison?\" and He answered, \"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto\none of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.\"  To\nthe false and the evil He could not say these things, but quite the\nopposite; and when they wondered when they had seen the Lord hungry, or\nthirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and had not\nministered unto Him, He said, \"Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the\nleast of these, ye did it not to me.\"  Those by a life of love and\nservice had chosen eternal life, but these by a life of selfishness had\nchosen death.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIX.\n\nTHE HOLY SUPPER.\n\nThere were two more days before the Passover Feast when Jesus would eat\nthe Paschal Supper with His disciples.  He spent the time with them\ntrying to help them to bear the great trial that was before them, and\nwhich would shake their faith in Him to the utmost.  They still\nbelieved that some great miracle would break around them like light in\nthe darkness, and that Jesus would be acknowledged as the Messiah for\nwhom the whole nation was waiting and yet the shadow grew deeper.  The\nfaith of one had failed.  Judas had secretly hoped that Jesus would be\nmade king, and that His disciples would be honored with riches and\npower, but little by little this hope had been dying, and little by\nlittle his heart had been turning away from his Master and his\nbrethren, until, with the resolve to forsake the Lord, he opened the\ndoor of his heart to Satan, who began to enter in and possess him.\n\nThe high priest and the elders were plotting against Jesus in their\ncouncil, and Judas, leaving Bethany and the company of the Lord and His\ndisciples, went over the road he had so often walked with Jesus with a\nthought from Satan burning in his heart.  He loved money more than\neverything else, and there was but one thing that would bring it now\nsince all hope of Jesus becoming a king was past.\n\nHe went to the Temple and asked to be taken before the rulers, and he\nsaid to them, \"What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?\"\nThere was a bargain made at once, and out of the Temple treasury they\nweighed him thirty pieces of silver, and he carried them away with the\npromise that he would watch Jesus, and tell them when and where they\ncould take Him.  He did not remember that five hundred years before the\nprophet Zechariah had written, \"So they weighed for my price thirty\npieces of silver.\"\n\nOn Thursday morning, the first day of the Feast, Jesus sent Peter and\nJohn to prepare a place where He should hold the Paschal Supper with\nHis disciples in the evening.  He told them to go into the city, and\nthere they would meet a man bearing a pitcher of water, and if they\nwould follow him he would show them a large upper room furnished.\nThere they were to make ready the Passover.\n\n[Illustration: The Passover supper]\n\nThey found it as He had said, and when the lamb had been slain at the\nTemple, the feast prepared, and the hour was come, the Lord sat down\nwith the twelve.  It was the last time that He would break the bread of\nthe Passover with them before He suffered, and it was to be the first\nHoly Supper of the Christian Church.  \"With desire I have desired to\neat this Passover with you before I suffer;\" He said, \"for I say unto\nyou that I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the\nKingdom of God.\"  Before Him were the cakes of unleavened bread, the\nwine, the water and the herbs, while the Paschal Lamb was on a side\ntable.  After the blessing and the thanks, the Lord filled a cup with\nwine and water, and blessing and tasting it passed it to His disciples.\nIt was the custom for the master of the feast to wash his hands at this\npoint, and Jesus rose, and laid aside His tunic, and tying a long towel\naround His waist, poured water into a large basin and going to His\ndisciples knelt down to wash their feet.  They had been contending as\nto who should sit nearest to the Lord, and so be accounted greatest,\nand He thus taught them a lesson of humility.  He told them that they\nwere not to be among those who hold authority.  \"But he that is\ngreatest among you let him be as the younger,\" He said, \"and he that is\nchief as he that doth serve.\"  The disciples looked on astonished and\ndistressed, for their Master was doing the work that slaves were in the\nhabit of doing, and Peter cried, \"Lord, dost thou wash my feet?\"  Jesus\nsaid gently, \"What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know\nhereafter.\"  \"Thou shalt never wash my feet;\" said the loving,\nimpulsive Peter, and Jesus answered, \"If I wash thee not thou hast no\npart with me.\"  \"Lord, not my feet only,\" the humbled disciple said,\n\"but also my hands and my head!\"  When He sat down with them again He\ntalked tenderly to them of serving each other as He had served them,\nadding, \"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.\"  With a\ntroubled spirit He said, \"Behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is\nwith me on the table.\"  Then the disciples began to inquire sorrowfully\namong themselves who it could be, and to ask the Lord in turn, \"Is it\nI?\"  Even Judas, close beside Him, asked the same question, but the\ndisciples did not hear the Lord's reply.  Peter, beckoning to John,\nsigned to him to ask the Master, for John sat next the Lord, and leaned\nupon His breast.  When he asked, \"Lord, who is it?\" Jesus said, perhaps\nin a whisper to John,\n\n\"He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it,\" and He\ngave it to Judas Iscariot.  Then Satan entered fully into the angry,\ncovetous heart of Judas, and when Jesus said to him in a low voice,\n\"That thou doest do quickly,\" he rose and went out into the night.\nAlone with His faithful friends, the Lord took bread and blessed it and\nbroke it, and gave to them, saying, \"Take, eat, this is my body; this\ndo in remembrance of me.\"  And He took the cup, saying, \"Drink ye all\nof it, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for\nmany for the remission of sins.\"\n\nAnd so the Lord founded the Holy Supper of His Church, the mystery and\nthe holiness of which you will know more and more as you grow in the\nheavenly life, and receive through His Spirit the new wine of the\nKingdom.  John, the beloved disciple, kept for us the wonderful and\nprecious words that the Lord spoke after the Holy Supper.  They are\nfull of a love for His children so deep and wide that we can never hope\nto measure it.  They are written in the fourteenth, fifteenth,\nsixteenth, and seventeenth chapters of John's Gospel, and every child\nshould hide them in his memory and heart before he is grown, and in\nafter life they will be bread in time of spiritual famine.  Looking\naround upon their troubled faces at the table the Lord said to His\ndisciples, \"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe\nalso in me.  In my Father's house are many mansions.  I go to prepare a\nplace for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come\nagain and receive you unto myself, that when I am there ye may be\nalso.\"  He answered their questions, and He promised them the\nComforter--the Holy Spirit of Truth, who would teach them all things,\nand make all the dark things clear.  He also promised certainly to come\nback to them and not leave them orphans.\n\nAfter they had sung a psalm they arose from the table, but they\nlingered for the Lord's last words and His prayer.  He charged them to\nbe steadfast and live from Him, as a branch lives from the vine, for He\nwas the true spiritual Vine, and without Him they could do nothing.  He\ntold them of His great love for them, and that they must love one\nanother through all the suffering and persecution that was before them,\nand trust to the Spirit of Truth, who would guide them in all things,\nand teach them the things He would say to them, but which they were not\nyet able to bear.  And He promised that whatever they should ask the\nFather in His name should be given them.  Then lifting up His eyes to\nheaven He prayed for His disciples, and for all disciples who should\nbelieve on Him through their word, that they might be one with each\nother and with Him as He was one with the Father, and, being made clean\nfrom the evil that is in the world that they should be with Him forever\nin heaven.  After the prayer they went out of the city, and over the\nbrook Kedron into a garden where Jesus had often sat with His disciples.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XL.\n\nTHE NIGHT OF THE BETRAYAL.\n\nAs they went out through the darkness down the valley and over the\nKedron, Jesus still talked with His disciples.  To Peter's question,\n\"Lord, where goest thou?\" He said, \"Whither I go thou canst not follow\nme now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards.\"  \"Lord, why cannot I\nfollow thee now?\" said Peter.  \"I will lay down my life for thy sake.\"\n\n\"Verily, verily I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast\ndenied me thrice,\" said Jesus.\n\n\"Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift\nyou as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and\nwhen thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.\"\n\n\"All ye shall be offended because of me this night; for it is written,\n'I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be\nscattered abroad.'\"\n\n[Illustration: Gethsemane]\n\nJesus and his friends had reached the olive trees of Gethsemane when He\nasked them to sit there while He went away a little distance to pray.\nHe took Peter and James and John with Him; and began to be very\nsorrowful, and He said,\n\n\"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here and\nwatch with me.\"  He went a little farther, and fell on His face and\nprayed, saying, \"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from\nme: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.\"  He found His\ndisciples sleeping for sorrow, and He said to Peter, \"What! could ye\nnot watch with me one hour?  Watch and pray, lest ye enter into\ntemptation.\"  Again He prayed, \"O my Father, if this cup may not pass\naway from me except I drink it, Thy will be done.\"  And there appeared\nan angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  Then there was the\nsound of the tread of many feet, and the light of torches moving among\nthe olive trees, and Judas, leading a band of priests, elders and\ncaptains of the Temple came toward the little group, and kissed Jesus\nas a sign that He was the One whom they sought.  Jesus turned to him\nsaying, \"Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?\"  And to the\nothers, \"Whom seek ye?\"\n\n[Illustration: Jesus betrayed by Judas]\n\n\"Jesus of Nazareth,\" they answered.  And when Jesus had said to them,\n\"I am He,\" they fell backward at the sight of His face.  \"When I was\ndaily with you in the Temple,\" He said, \"ye stretched forth no hands\nagainst me; but this is your hour and the power of darkness.\"  Peter\ndrew a sword and struck at the high priest's servant in defence of his\nMaster, but Jesus said gently,\n\n\"Suffer ye thus far,\" and touched his ear and healed him.  \"Put up thy\nsword into the sheath,\" He added.  \"The cup which my Father hath given\nme, shall I not drink it?\"\n\nThen they took Jesus and bound Him to lead Him away, and the disciples\nforsook Him and fled, as had been written in the prophets.  But John,\nthe loving and beloved, came back and followed Jesus.  So did Peter,\nremembering his vow, but he followed Him afar off.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLI.\n\nDESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN.\n\nJesus was first taken to Annas, the old High-Priest, who sent Him bound\nto Caiaphas, who was his son-in-law, and High-Priest that year.\n\nJohn went in with Jesus to the palace of the High-Priest, but Peter\nstood outside the door, shivering with the chill of the night, but more\nwith fear.\n\nA servant girl at the door said, when John came out to bring him in,\n\n\"Art not thou also one of this man's disciples?\"\n\nAnd Peter said, \"I am not.\"\n\nRestless and unhappy, he walked about, or warmed himself by the fire,\nuntil three had accused him of being a follower of Jesus, and three\ntimes he had denied his Lord.  Then there came a sound that struck him\nthrough--he heard through the open windows the crowing of a cock.  It\nhad crowed once before, but he did not think then of what the Lord had\nsaid, but now his memory and conscience were wide awake, for, as he\nlooked over the heads of the people towards Jesus standing bound and\nalone before the High-Priest, the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.\nThat look broke Peter's heart, and he rushed out of the place, and wept\nbitterly.\n\n[Illustration: The sin of Peter]\n\nThere was a mock trial which would pain the heart of a child to dwell\nupon, and which we will not describe at length.  It is enough to know\nthat the Lamb of God, who had come to take away the sins of the world,\nwas willingly in the power of His enemies, and going down to death.  A\nwonderful description of the trial and death of the Messiah may be\nfound in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, which was fulfilled in the\ntrial and death of Jesus.  The hatred of the priests, the scoffings,\nthe blows, and the cruel words of the people we will not describe.  \"He\nwas oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.  He\nis brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her\nshearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.\"  Finally Caiaphas cried,\n\n\"I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the\nChrist, the Son of God!\" Jesus said,\n\n\"I am; and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of\npower, and coming in the clouds of heaven.\"\n\nThen the High Priest rent his garments as if shocked at such profanity,\nand said,\n\n\"Ye have heard the blasphemy; what think ye?\"  And they all condemned\nHim to be guilty of death.\n\nThere was another gathering of the priests in the morning as the day\nbegan to dawn.  There were more cruel words and blows for the Divine\nMan who was bearing the sins of the world, and He was taken away to\nPilate.\n\nAnd where was the wretched man who had sold his Master into the hands\nof His enemies!\n\nHe could not have thought that he was bringing death on His Master; but\nwhen at last he saw the Lord coming, pale, suffering and bound, down\nthe marble steps, and heard \"Death! death!\" on every side, he became\nterrified.  He had no one to turn to, for he had not a friend among\nmen.  He ran to the Temple and, finding some priests, begged them take\nback the money they had given him, saying, \"I have sinned, in that I\nhave betrayed the innocent blood.\"\n\n\"What is that to us,\" said the heartless priests.  \"See thou to that.\"\n\nThen Judas cast the thirty pieces of silver over the marble floor, and\nfled from the place.  Afterward he was found outside the city, where he\nhad hanged himself.  The priests could not put the price of blood in\nthe Lord's treasury, and so they bought with it a field in which to\nbury strangers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLII.\n\nTHE KING OF HEAVEN AT THE BAR OF PILATE.\n\nPilate, the Roman Governor, who had come up from Caesarea by the sea to\nkeep order in Jerusalem during the Passover, was in his fine palace\ncalled \"The Praetorium.\"  Adjoining was \"The Hall of Judgment,\" where\ncases were brought to the Governor to be judged, and just outside this\nHall was a place called \"The Pavement.\"  It was a broad floor of\nmany-colored marbles, open toward the city, and having an ivory\njudgment-seat.\n\nWhile the morning was lighting the gold of the Temple roof to splendor,\nthere was a deep shadow over the friends of Jesus.  Their Lord was\nbeing led through the streets of Jerusalem by Roman guards, condemned\nto die.  His mother and the women who believed in Him were in the city\nand saw Him, perhaps, as He was hurried by, pale and weak from the\ncruelty of wicked men.  The priests would not go into the Judgment Hall\nfor fear of defilement at the time of their Feast, so Pilate came out\nto \"The Pavement\" and sat down upon the ivory judgment seat.  He was a\nstern, proud man wearing a white toga with a rich purple border--the\nrobe of a Roman ruler.\n\n\"What accusation do you bring against this man,\" asked Pilate, looking\nat the pure, pallid face of the Divine Man, and turning to the dark and\nevil faces of His accusers.  To their complaining remark, \"If he were\nnot a malefactor we would not have delivered him up unto thee,\" Pilate\nreplied,\n\n\"Take ye him and judge him according to your law.\"\n\nWhen they replied that (under Roman rule) it was not lawful for them to\nput any man to death.  Pilate did not wish to condemn that just One of\nwhom he had known nothing but good, for he had heard of His miracles,\nand had doubtless heard his wife speak of the young Rabbi.  He rose and\nwent into the Hall, ordering the guards to bring Jesus to him.  Then he\nquestioned Him,\n\n\"Art thou the King of the Jews?\" he asked.\n\n\"My Kingdom is not of this world,\" said Jesus.  \"If my Kingdom was of\nthis world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be\ndelivered to the Jews; but now my Kingdom is not from hence.\"\n\n\"Art thou a king then?\" said Pilate.\n\n\"Thou sayest that I am a king.  To this end was I born, and for this\ncause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.\nEvery one that is of the truth heareth my voice.\"\n\n\"What is truth?\" said Pilate, wondering, perhaps, what kingdom of truth\nthis harmless man was dreaming of, and then he rose and went forth to\nthe people on \"The Pavement\" who were saying that this man was stirring\nup the people from Galilee to Jerusalem.\n\nPilate, hearing that Jesus was a Galilean, sent him to the palace of\nHerod Antipas, who ruled over that province, and who was now in\nJerusalem, but He was sent back to Pilate crowned with thorns and\nwearing a faded purple robe.  The Roman soldiers had jested about His\nkingship, and Antipas had cruelly carried it out in returning Him in\nthis dress to Pilate, through the streets of the city.  He had been\ntried the fourth time and now Pilate made another effort to set Him\nfree, He questioned Him again and heard the complaints of the Jews, but\nJesus would not defend Himself.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus crowned with thorns]\n\n\"Hearest thou not how many things, they witness against thee?\" said\nPilate.  \"Answerest thou nothing?\"  If Jesus would only defend Himself!\n\nThen Pilate thought he would scourge Jesus to satisfy His enemies, and\nlet Him go.\n\n\"Ye have brought this man unto me,\" he said to the chief priests, \"as\none that perverteth the people, and behold, I, having examined him\nbefore you, have found no fault in this man.  No, nor yet Herod.  I\nwill therefore chastise him and release him.\"\n\n[Illustration: Jesus before Pilate]\n\nThe cry of \"Crucify him! crucify him!\" rose again.\n\nA message was sent to Pilate from his wife, which deepened the shadow\non his face.  \"Have thou nothing to do with that just man,\" she said,\n\"for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.\"\n\nThe people had been persuaded by the priests to ask for Barabbas, and\nwhen Pilate asked which of the two he should release to them, they\ncried,\n\n\"Barabbas!\"\n\n\"What shall I do with Jesus, which is called Christ?\" and all cried,\n\n\"Let him be crucified!\"\n\n\"Why, what evil hath he done?\" asked Pilate, but the cry was so great\nhe could bear it no longer, and calling a slave to bring water, he\nwashed his hands before them as a sign that he took no blame for the\nact, and said,\n\n\"I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it,\" but\nthey cried,\n\n\"His blood be upon us, and upon our children.\"  And when Pilate had\ngiven the order to scourge and crucify Jesus, he went into his palace.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIII.\n\nLOVE AND DEATH.\n\nJesus had been meeting and conquering evil all His life, and in the\nlast hour of it the last enemy was overcome.  There were no children at\nthe cross when Jesus laid down His life for us all, and we will not\nlead you there to point out all the means used by evil men to increase\nthe suffering of our Lord.  It was greatest within the great Heart of\nLove which broke for the sins of the world, and when you have learned\nthe nature of Spirit you will be able to understand that Jesus chose to\npass through an earthly life of poverty and temptation, and die a\npainful and shameful death, that He might be the Brother of the poor,\nthe tempted, the suffering and the dying.  \"He was taken from prison\nand from judgment:\" \"He poured out His soul unto death, and was\nnumbered with the transgressors;\" \"He bore the sins of many, and made\nintercession for the transgressors.\"  So Isaiah wrote of the coming\nMessiah seven hundred years before.  But so blind were the Jews that\nthey could not see that the Redeemer had come to Zion, \"He came unto\nHis own and His own received Him not.\"\n\nBearing His cross He went forth meekly to death, and when He fell\nbeneath the heavy cross, the Roman soldiers forced a passing stranger\nto carry it.  All along the street women wept for pity as He passed,\nand there was sorrow in many hearts for the Man whom they had believed\nin as the One who was to deliver their nation.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus bearing the Cross]\n\nBut the eleven disciples--where were they?  In deep grief somewhere;\nbut only one--John the Beloved--followed his Master down to death.\nWith the suffering mother of Jesus and the faithful women disciples he\nkept near his Lord.  They saw the rough soldiers as they took the\nLord's garments and divided them among themselves, and when they put\nHis body upon the cross they heard Him pray,\n\n\"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!\"\n\nTwo robbers were crucified with Jesus, upon His right hand and on His\nleft.  One begged Him to save him, and reviled Him because He did not;\nbut the other said, \"Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy\nKingdom.\"  And Jesus said, \"Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou\nbe with me in Paradise.\"\n\nHis dying eyes also beheld His mother standing by the cross with the\nbeloved John and the faithful women who had been His friends.  The hour\nhad come spoken of by Simeon in the Temple when he said, \"Yea a sword\nshall pierce through thy own soul also.\"  Jesus, looking at His mother\nsupported by John said,\n\n\"Woman, behold thy son!\"  And to the disciple He said, \"Son, behold thy\nmother!\"  And from that hour John took her to his own home to love and\ncare for her through the rest of her life.\n\nWe will not look at the darkness that rolled over the sky, shutting out\nthe light of the sun, or the sights and sounds of that day on Calvary.\nJesus, thinking of the redemption He had wrought out for us, bowed His\nhead and said,\n\n\"It is finished!  Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.\"  Then\nthe great veil before the Holy Place in the Temple was torn in two from\nthe top to the bottom, as a sign that the Lord Jesus by His death had\nopened the way for us into life eternal.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLIV.\n\nLOVE AND LIFE.\n\nThere was a good man of Arimathea named Joseph who was a disciple of\nJesus, but not a fearless one.  He had not followed Jesus with the\ntwelve, but he had loved Him, and when he knew that his Master, who had\nnot where to lay His head in life, had not a place of burial in death,\nhe lost all fear and went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus.  This\nPilate willingly gave him, and he, bringing helpers, took the body from\nthe cross and tenderly brought it to his own garden in which was a new\ntomb hewn out of the rock.  In this peaceful garden-room for the dead\nthey laid Him, wrapped Him in fine linen and spices, for another\ndisciple who had not dared to follow Jesus openly had come with a\nmixture of myrrh and aloes of a hundred pounds weight to embalm the\nbody of Jesus.  This was Nicodemus who had a talk with Jesus by night\namong the olive trees about the breath of God in man.  So these two\nrich men buried Jesus, and a prophecy was fulfilled.\n\n[Illustration: The descent from the Cross]\n\nWe do not know that any of the eleven disciples helped to bury Jesus,\nbut, while John took the mother of Jesus to a place of rest and safety,\nhis own mother, Salome, and Mary, the mother of James, and Mary\nMagdalene stood looking on afar off.  There were other women also, who\nhelped to guard the body of the crucified Lord when it seemed to be\nforsaken of all men.  They marked the place where He lay and went away,\nfor the hours of \"preparation\" and the Sabbath were before them.  On\nthe eve of Friday they prepared spices and ointments, and rested the\nSabbath day (seventh day) according to the commandment.  But Roman\nsoldiers came and set a seal upon the tomb, and watched it night and\nday.  On the first day of the week (now the Christian Sabbath) very\nearly in the morning, while the streets were still, and there lay only\na faint streak of rose in the purple east, Mary Magdalene hastened out\nof the city to the tomb in the garden, bearing her spices.  When she\nreached the place she saw no guards there, and the heavy stone was\nrolled away from the door of the tomb.  A great fear fell upon the\nwoman who \"loved much,\" and she ran to find Peter and John.  \"They have\ntaken away the Lord out of the sepulchre,\" she said, \"and we know not\nwhere they have laid Him.\"\n\nThen Peter and John ran, and John the loving ran faster than Peter the\nbelieving, and was the first to reach the tomb.  The other women also\nhad gone to the tomb early bearing their spices for the embalming,\nwondering on the way who should roll away for them the great stone that\nstood at the door of the tomb.  But they found the stone rolled past\nthe door, and entering the low vestibule they saw a vision of an angel,\nin a long white garment, and were afraid.\n\n[Illustration: The angel of the Resurrection]\n\n\"Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified,\" he said; \"He is risen;\nHe is not here: behold the place where they laid Him.  But go your way,\ntell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee;\nthere shall ye see Him, as He said unto you.\"\n\nThe Lord had left a special message for Peter who had denied Him so\ncruelly and had repented so thoroughly!  As they looked to \"behold the\nplace where they laid Him,\" they saw another angel shining white\nthrough the gloom, \"one at the head, and the other at the feet where\nthe body of Jesus had lain.\"  They also ran, glad, yet half afraid, to\ntell the disciples what they had seen and heard.\n\nPeter and John found the linen that had wrapped the Lord's body laid\ncarefully aside.  They did not yet remember the prophecy concerning His\nresurrection from the dead, but they believed He had risen, and they\nwent away, hoping perhaps, that He was seeking them.\n\nMary Magdalene could not leave the empty tomb until she had learned\nsomething more about the Lord.  Weeping and desolate she stood at the\nlow door of the cave-tomb, and stooping to look in again she saw the\nvision of angels that the other women had seen, \"one at the head and\nthe other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.\"\n\n\"Why weepest thou?\" they asked, and she answered,\n\n\"Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have\nlaid Him.\"  As she turned to go out into the garden she saw one\nstanding there who said,\n\n\"Woman why weepest thou?  Whom seekest thou?\"\n\nShe thought as she looked through her tears that it must be the man who\nkept the garden, so she said,\n\n\"Sir, if thou have borne Him hence tell me where thou hast laid Him,\nand I will take Him away.\"\n\n\"Mary!\"\n\nIt was the voice of Jesus--the same that once said to her, \"Thy sins\nare forgiven,\" and she spread her arms to clasp His feet, crying.\n\n\"_Rabboni!_--my Master!\"\n\n\"Touch me not,\" He said, \"for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but\ngo to my brethren and say unto them, 'I ascend unto my Father and your\nFather: and to my God and your God.'\"\n\nIt was while Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, were still in\nthe garden, perhaps, that Jesus met them and said,\n\n\"All hail!\" and they fell at His feet and worshipped Him.\n\n\"Be not afraid,\" He said, \"go tell my brethren that they go into\nGalilee and there shall they see me.\"\n\nWhen the women told all these things to the apostles who had come\ntogether to mourn for their dead Master, they could not believe.  But\nthe first Easter had risen upon the world, and though the joy of it\nfilled all heaven, only a few women knew the blessed secret on earth,\nand were saying over and over, \"The Lord is risen! the Lord is risen\nindeed!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLV.\n\nTHE EVENING OF EASTER.\n\nIt was the afternoon of the same day in which the women had brought\nsuch strange stories from the tomb of the buried Christ, that two\ndisciples went out to their home at Emmaus, a village about eight miles\nfrom Jerusalem.  They had been in the upper room where they often\ngathered, and had heard the stories of Mary Magdalene, and of Peter and\nJohn, and they knew not what to believe.\n\nAs Cleopas and his companion (Luke, perhaps) went westward over the\nhills they talked of all these strange things with bowed heads and sad\nhearts, for Jesus, the One whom they had trusted was the Redeemer of\nIsrael, was crucified, dead and buried, and as for the words of these\nwomen, they seemed like idle tales; but what if they should be true?\n\nAnother step seemed to fall beside theirs, and looking up they saw a\nnoble looking young Stranger who was following the same road.  He\ngreeted them and said,\n\n\"What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as\nye walk, and are sad?\"\n\n\"Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem,\" Cleopas said, \"and hast not\nknown the things that are come to pass there in these days?\"\n\n\"What things?\" asked the Stranger, and they said, \"Concerning Jesus of\nNazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and\nall the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him\nto be condemned to death, and have crucified Him.  But we trusted that\nit had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and besides all this\nto-day is the third day since these things were done.\"\n\nCleopas also told the story of the women who had come from the\nsepulchre that morning talking of a vision of angels, with that of\nPeter and John, who had gone also, and found it even as the women had\nsaid.\n\nThen the Stranger began to speak to them of many things, and in words\nso full of wisdom and love and faith that their hearts were drawn with\nHim to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.  He told them that\nthey were very foolish and slow of heart to believe all that the\nprophets had spoken.  \"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things,\"\nHe said, \"and to enter into His glory;\" and He explained to them all\nthe Scriptures that foretold the coming, the suffering, and the death\nof the Messiah, until the two hours' walk seemed as nothing.\n\n[Illustration: The walk to Emmaus]\n\nAs they came to the village where they lived, and the Stranger was\npassing on, they urged Him to come with them into the low white house\nnear by which was the house of one of them.  \"Abide with us,\" they\nsaid, \"for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.\"  And He\nwent with them, and sat down with them to their evening meal.\n\nThen another and strange beautiful vision was given at the sunset of\nthe first Easter Day, like that which was given to the women at its\ndawn.  The Stranger took bread and blessed it and broke it, and as He\nhanded it to each disciple their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.\nIt was the Lord!  But in a moment He had vanished from their sight, and\nthey could only wonder and believe.  They began to recall His words.\n\"Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us by the way,\nand while He opened to us the Scriptures?\"\n\nPerhaps they ate the bread that He had broken as they would take the\nsacrament, and then rose, though the day was fading over the hills of\nEphraim and hurried back to Jerusalem to the friend's house where the\ndisciples met.  There in the upper room, the doors closed and guarded\nfor fear of the Jews, they told the story of the Stranger to the eager\ndisciples, and found that the Lord had also appeared to Peter.\n\nIn the midst of the joy and the wonder there fell a strange hush over\nthe little company, for suddenly the Lord was seen standing in the\nmidst and they heard the greeting so dear and familiar to them all,\n\n\"Peace be unto you!\" and to them all He spread His hands having the\nprint of the nails in them, and showed them His side that bore the mark\nof the Roman spear.  That they might be still more sure He was the Lord\nand Master they had loved and followed (for they were afraid), He asked\nthem to touch him; and as they had been at supper together He asked to\nshare their meal, and He ate of the broiled fish and of the honey-comb\nbefore them.  After this He talked lovingly with them of Himself--of\nthe fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Him and of the work of the\nkingdom that was before them.  Again he blessed them, and breathed on\nthem, saying, \"Receive ye the Holy Ghost.\"  And so ended the day of the\nLord's resurrection from the dead--the first Easter of the Christian\nChurch.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVI.\n\nTHE LORD'S LAST DAYS WITH HIS DISCIPLES.\n\nOn Easter evening, when the Lord's friends were gathered in the upper\nroom where He appeared to them, one of the eleven was absent.  There\nwere others beside the apostles--Cleopas and his companion, and\nprobably the women of Galilee, as well as Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus\nof Bethany, but Thomas was not there.  The others had told him that the\nLord had shown Himself to them and had broken bread with them, but he\ncould not believe.  He believed, perhaps, in a vision, but not in the\nreturn of the crucified Jesus.  He declared,\n\n\"Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my\nfinger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I\nwill not believe.\"\n\nA week passed, and the disciples were again gathered in the upper room,\nand Thomas was with them.  The doors were shut and guarded as before,\nbut, as before the Lord suddenly stood in the midst, saying,\n\n\"Peace be unto you.\"  Then He turned to Thomas with gentle rebuke,\n\n\"Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy\nhand and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless but believing.\"\nThomas did not wait to touch the Lord, but cried,\n\n\"My Lord and my God!\"\n\n\"Thomas,\" He said, \"because thou hast seen me thou hast believed;\nblessed are they that have not seen and have believed.\"\n\nSoon after this the apostles went away into Galilee, as the Lord had\ncommanded them to do.  There by the Lake where He had called them from\ntheir nets to follow Him they waited for Him.  Peter, and James, and\nJohn were there, with Thomas, and Nathanael, and two others of His\ndisciples.  The old love for the Lake came back to Peter, and he said,\n\n\"I go a fishing,\" and the others said,\n\n\"We also go with thee,\" and they went out for a night with the nets on\nthe Lake, but they caught nothing.  In the morning as they drew a\nlittle nearer land they saw a dim figure on the shore and heard a voice\nsaying to them,\n\n\"Children, have ye any meat?\"  They answered \"No,\" and then the clear\nvoice came across the water saying,\n\n\"Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.\"  This\nthey did, and so heavy did the net become with fishes that they were\nnot able to draw it.  Perhaps John remembered another day on the Lake\nwhen the nets broke with the weight of the fishes, and looking at the\nfigure standing on the shore in the sunrise, he said to Peter,\n\n\"It is the Lord!\"\n\nPeter did not wait to reply, but tying his fisher's coat around him he\nthrew himself into the Lake to swim towards His Master on the shore.\nThe others followed in the ship dragging the net with them, and when\nthey had landed they found a fire of coals there, with fish laid upon\nit and bread, and the Lord Himself standing there as one who served.\n\n\"Bring of the fish ye have now caught,\" He said.  And Peter, first to\nobey, drew the net to land full of great fishes--one hundred and\nfifty-three--and the net was not broken.  While they were silent for\njoy and wonder, knowing that it was the Lord, and yet not daring to\nquestion Him, He said, \"Come and dine.\"  And there upon the sands the\nLord for the third time since He rose from the dead, broke bread with\nhis disciples.  John, the beloved disciple was there, but it is not\nrecorded that Jesus spoke to him personally.  His heart was wholly with\nhis Lord, and he did not need the loving help that was given to\ndoubting Thomas, and self-confident, wavering Peter.  To Simon Peter He\nsaid after they had finished their simple meal,\n\n\"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?\"\n\nPeter must have remembered that he had vehemently declared, \"Although\nall shall be offended, yet will not I.  If I should die with Thee yet I\nwill not deny Thee in any wise,\" and had straightway forsaken and\ndenied Him.  Now he said simply and humbly,\n\n\"Yea, Lord: Thou knowest that I love Thee.\"  And the Lord answered,\n\"Feed my lambs.\"\n\nAgain the Lord asked him the same question, and Peter gave the same\nreply.  And the Lord said, \"Feed my sheep.\"\n\nWhen the Lord had asked this question the third time, Peter, full of\nlove and grief cried,\n\n\"Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love thee.\"  And\nthe Lord answered again, \"Feed my sheep.\"\n\nBy this Peter knew that the Lord trusted him to be an apostle, and\nteach the gospel of the kingdom to all men, but that he must have a\nsteadfast love and faith.  The Lord also said, \"When thou wast young\nthou guidedst thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest; but when thou\nshalt be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall guide\nthee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.\"  Afterward Peter was\ncrucified as his Lord had been, and then John remembered these words of\nthe Lord about him.  As the Lord said to Peter, \"Follow me,\" Peter saw\nJohn following also, and he said, wondering, perhaps, why the Lord had\nno word of counsel, of rebuke, or of prophecy for John,\n\n\"Lord, and what shall this man do?\"  And Jesus replied, \"If I will that\nhe tarry till I come, what is that to thee?  Follow thou me.\"  And they\nwent away from the Lake, following the Lord, as they had done three\nyears before when He called them to be \"fishers of men.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVII.\n\n\"HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN.\"\n\nOnce more the Lord met His little company of followers and gave the\napostles authority to found the Kingdom of God among men.  \"All power\nhas been given to me,\" He said, \"in heaven and on earth.\"\n\nAnd this was the work that He gave them to do: \"Go ye therefore and\nteach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the\nSon, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things\nwhatsoever I have commanded you.\"\n\nAnd this was His true word of promise to them: \"Lo I am with you\nalways, even unto the end of the world.  And, behold, I send the\npromise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem\nuntil ye be endued with power from on high.\"\n\nIt was about six weeks after His death that the disciples were again in\nJerusalem where the Lord had told them to go and wait for the coming of\nHis Spirit.  He led them out over the Mount of Olives as far as\nBethany, where the house of Martha had been a place of rest and\nrefreshment for the homeless Man of Sorrows while He was founding His\nKingdom of Heaven on the earth.\n\nAs they ascended a hill just above Bethany, the Lord could see spread\nout before Him the Hebron hills toward Bethlehem where He was born: the\ngreat city with its golden Temple where He had taught and had been\nrejected; Gethsemane, where He had suffered, and had been betrayed; and\nbeyond the western walls the place where He had been crucified.  Not\nfar from Golgotha was the garden and the tomb in which He had been\nburied, and from which He had risen.\n\nHe was about to leave the little group that He had made the founders of\nHis Kingdom, and one of them ventured a question,\n\n\"Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?\"\nAnd the Lord replied,\n\n\"It is not for you to know the time and the seasons, which the Father\nhath put in His own power.  But ye shall be witnesses unto me both in\nJerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost\nparts of the earth.\"\n\nThen He blessed them, and while they were looking at Him He was lifted\nabove them, and a cloud seemed to come between them and their Divine\nMaster.\n\n[Illustration: The Ascension]\n\nWhile they still gazed toward heaven hoping perhaps to see Him again,\ntwo men in white garments stood by them and said,\n\n\"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?  This same\nJesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like\nmanner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.\"\n\nThen they worshipped their ascended Lord, and returned to Jerusalem\nfull of joy and praise, to meet the other disciples in the upper room,\nto tell them of what they had seen, and to wait for the Promise of the\nFather.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XLVIII.\n\nTHE PROMISE OF THE FATHER.\n\nWhile the disciples of Jesus waited in Jerusalem for the gift of the\nHoly Spirit--the Comforter--who was to come and teach them all things,\nand bring all the Lord's words to their remembrance, they were much in\nprayer, and looked to the Lord for direction about the things of the\nKingdom.\n\nPeter did much to help the others, for his faith had grown stronger,\nand he was no longer afraid.  Many who had partly believed in Jesus\nbefore His crucifixion, and who had come to believe in the risen Lord,\njoined the little band, until they numbered one hundred and twenty at\none of their meetings, and the mother of Jesus was among them.  At this\nmeeting Peter proposed that some disciple who could be a witness with\nthem to the Lord's resurrection should be appointed to the place that\nJudas once held in the circle of the twelve.  The ten disciples agreed\nwith Peter, and two were chosen--Joseph and Matthias.  Then they prayed\nthat the Lord Himself would show them which of these two He wished to\nbe an Apostle, and when they cast lots the lot fell upon Matthias.\n\nWhen the upper room became too small they went to a larger one that was\nmore public, and did not try to guard their doors, for the priests had\nbecome afraid of the people as well as of the signs at the time of the\nLord's death, when the sky was darkened, the rocks rent by an\nearthquake, and the Temple veil by an unseen Hand.\n\nThe Feast of the Weeks came on, and at the end of May--the day of\nPentecost (the fiftieth after the second day of the Passover), the\nLord's little church had gathered in their large public room to pray\nand wait for the Promise.  Suddenly there came a sound from the heavens\nlike the rushing of a mighty wind, and with it came a flash of fire\nwhich was not lightning, but which divided into many, and sat above the\nbrow of each like a soft, bright tongue of flame.\n\nThen the silence was broken, and they all began to praise God in other\nlanguages, as the Spirit gave them utterance, for the Promise of the\nFather had been given, and the Lord Himself had come to dwell in His\npeople--not only in these, but in all who should believe on Him through\ntheir word.\n\nThere were some good Jews present who had come from foreign countries\nto the Feast, and spoke other languages, and when each heard his own\nlanguage spoken by these unlearned men they were astonished.  The news\nspread and many came to hear.  \"Are not all these which speak\nGalileans?\" they asked, \"and how hear we every man in our own tongue\nwherein we were born?  What meaneth this?\"  Others made light of it\nall, and said that they were full of new wine.\n\nThen Peter, strong in the power of the Holy Spirit, stood up and spoke\nto the people.  You will find Peter's sermon in the second chapter of\nActs, and his text was a wonderful saying of the prophet Joel,\nbeginning, as Peter gave it,--\n\n\"And it shall come to pass in the last days I will pour out of my\nSpirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,\nand your young men shall dream dreams; and on my servants, and on my\nhandmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall\nprophesy.  And it shall came to pass that whosoever shall call on the\nname of the Lord shall be saved.\"\n\nPeter did not spare the enemies of our Lord in his sermon, nor did he\nfear them.  He preached to them of Jesus of Nazareth, and whom they had\ntaken and by wicked hands had crucified and slain: and whom God had\nraised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not\npossible that He should be holden of it.  He closed by telling them\nthat God had made that same Jesus whom they had crucified both Lord and\nChrist.\n\nThere were many among the people gathered there who were pricked in\ntheir hearts because of Peter's words, which had the power of the Holy\nSpirit in them.  They looked at each other and said,\n\n\"Men and brethren, what shall we do?\"\n\nPeter encouraged them to repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus\nChrist, telling them that the promise was to them and to their\nchildren, and to all that were afar off.\n\nIt was a wonderful day for the Church of Jesus Christ, and for His\nKingdom on the earth, for there were about three thousand who that day\nreceived baptism, and joined the little despised company of the\nfollowers of Jesus of Nazareth.  And all that believed were drawn\ntogether by the love of the Lord Jesus, and no longer lived for\nthemselves, but for each other.  That there might be no rich and no\npoor among them, they sold their possessions and parted them to all, as\nevery one had need.  In the Temple, in each other's houses breaking\nbread together, wherever they were they were happy and strong in their\nnew faith and in favor with all the people.  Though great trials and\npersecutions came after awhile, they bore them as seeing their\ninvisible Lord, and they joyfully met the loss of all things--even that\nof life itself with a smile, remembering the Father's House with its\nmany mansions, and their spiritual Elder Brother who had gone to\nprepare a place for them.\n\n\n\n\nAN AFTERWORD.\n\n\n_Dear Child_:--God's Book is a Book of Ages, a Book of Races, and a\nBook of Nations; but it is far more, it is a Book through which God\nHimself speaks to the soul of man.  We begin to read it thinking that\nHe is speaking to the mind; afterward, when our conscience wakes, we\nbelieve He speaks to the heart, but at last we find that He speaks to\nthe inmost spirit--the immortal soul.  Then all that had seemed to be\nhistory, poetry, biography, philosophy, begins to be to us the voice of\nGod in the inmost of the soul, speaking of the life of the spirit.\n\nWe, find at last, too, that One has walked beside us all the way,\nteaching us by His Spirit as He taught the people on the hill-side, or\nby the lake-side in Galilee: the One who said, \"Before Abraham was, I\nam\"--the Child of Bethlehem, whose name was called \"Wonderful,\nCounsellor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of\nPeace.\"  That you, dear child, may find Him walking close beside your\nway, be in the habit of walking daily with Him in the paths of His\nWord, and He will reveal Himself to you there.","title":"Child's Story of the Bible","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":83614}