{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49708/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49708","id":"gutenberg_49708","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49708","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories, English -- Old Testament","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"By George Hodges\n\n\n     THE EARLY CHURCH: From Ignatius to Augustine.\n\n     THE CASTLE OF ZION. Illustrated.\n\n     THE GARDEN OF EDEN. Illustrated.\n\n     WHEN THE KING CAME.\n\n     WILLIAM PENN. In _Riverside Biographical Series_. With Photogravure\n     Portrait.\n\n\n                       HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n                          BOSTON AND NEW YORK\n\n       [Illustration: LOT CHOOSES THE PLEASANT LAND. (Page 12.)]\n\n\n\n\n                          THE GARDEN OF EDEN\n\n                   STORIES FROM THE FIRST NINE BOOKS\n                         OF THE OLD TESTAMENT\n\n                                  BY\n\n                             GEORGE HODGES\n\n                            ILLUSTRATED BY\n                           WALTER H. EVERETT\n\n                       [Illustration: colophon]\n\n                          BOSTON AND NEW YORK\n                       HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n\n                     The Riverside Press Cambridge\n\n      COPYRIGHT, 1908 AND 1909, BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY\n                   COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY GEORGE HODGES\n\n                          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED\n\n                       _Published October 1909_\n\n\n                                  TO\n\n                              John Hodges\n\n                        WHO LIKES THESE STORIES\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nI. THE GARDEN OF EDEN                                                  1\n\nII. NOAH\u2019S ARK                                                         6\n\nIII. THE ADVENTURES OF LOT                                            11\n\nIV. ISAAC AND REBEKAH                                                 17\n\nV. THE MESS OF POTTAGE                                                23\n\nVI. JACOB\u2019S VISIT                                                     29\n\nVII. THE COAT OF MANY COLORS                                          35\n\nVIII. THE SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE                                       41\n\nIX. THE BURNING BUSH                                                  47\n\nX. THE TEN PLAGUES                                                    52\n\nXI. THE RED SEA                                                       57\n\nXII. THE GOLDEN CALF                                                  62\n\nXIII. THE PROPHET AND THE KING                                        67\n\nXIV. THE WALLS OF JERICHO                                             72\n\nXV. THE WEDGE OF GOLD                                                 77\n\nXVI. THE RELIEF OF GIBEON                                             82\n\nXVII. THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT PLAIN                                   86\n\nXVIII. THE ALTAR OF BAAL                                              91\n\nXIX. THE BATTLE OF THE LAMPS AND PITCHERS                             96\n\nXX. THE MIGRATION OF DAN                                             101\n\nXXI. THE RIDDLE OF THE LION AND THE BEES                             106\n\nXXII. THE SECRET OF STRENGTH                                         111\n\nXXIII. THE BRAMBLE AND THE FIRE                                      116\n\nXXIV. JEPHTHAH\u2019S DAUGHTER                                            121\n\nXXV. THE KING\u2019S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER                                    126\n\nXXVI. \u201cSAMUEL! SAMUEL!\u201d                                              131\n\nXXVII. THE BATTLE OF THE ARK OF GOD                                  136\n\nXXVIII. FIVE GOLD MICE                                               141\n\nXXIX. SAUL AND THE SEER                                              145\n\nXXX. THE BATTLE OF THE RIGHT EYES                                    150\n\nXXXI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE GREAT TREMBLING                           154\n\nXXXII. THE BLEATING OF THE SHEEP                                     159\n\nXXXIII. A SHEPHERD OF BETHLEHEM                                      164\n\nXXXIV. DAVID FIGHTS THE GIANT                                        169\n\nXXXV. UNDER THE KING\u2019S DISPLEASURE                                   174\n\nXXXVI. THE CAVE OF ADULLAM                                           179\n\nXXXVII. THE OUTLAW AND THE SHEEPMASTER                               184\n\nXXXVIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE KING\u2019S SPEAR                           189\n\nXXXIX. IN THE LAND OF THE ENEMY                                      194\n\nXL. THE WITCH OF ENDOR                                               199\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nLot chooses the Pleasant Land (page 12)            _Colored frontispiece_\n\nThe Ark rests on the Top of a Mountain                                 8\n\nThe Blessing of the Second Son                                        26\n\nThere is the Dreamer                                                  38\n\nMoses by the Burning Bush                                             50\n\nIt sounds to Me like Singing                                          64\n\nThe Ass and the Angel                                                 70\n\nSo They stoned Achan                                                  80\n\nJael takes the Tent Pin                                               88\n\nGideon hears the telling of a Dream                                   98\n\nSamson kills the Lion with his Hands                                 108\n\nBoaz notices Ruth and asks about Her                                 128\n\nThe Lad shall belong to the Lord                                     132\n\nThey put the Ark upon a Cart, and the Mice beside It                 142\n\nSamuel and Saul have a Long Talk together                            148\n\nDavid escapes by the Window                                          174\n\nDavid with the King\u2019s Spear                                          190\n\n\n\n\nTHE GARDEN OF EDEN\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nTHE GARDEN OF EDEN\n\n\nThis is the oldest story in the world. It began to be told when children\nbegan to ask questions; and that was very long ago. The children said,\n\u201cWhere did everything come from? Who made the hills and the sea? Who\nmade the sun and the stars?\u201d And their fathers and mothers answered as\nbest they could.\n\nIn our time, after long study of the earth, there are wise men who know\nmore about these things than anybody knew when the world was young. They\nask the earth itself, and tell us what the earth says. But the oldest\nstory is still the best, because it tells us that the world was made by\nGod. And that is what we want to know.\n\nIn the beginning of all beginnings, so the story goes, the world was a\nwide sea without a shore. Up and down, and here and there, and all\nacross, nothing could be seen but water. And it was all dark, like the\nocean at night when there is no moon. And God said, \u201cLet there be\nlight!\u201d And day appeared. And God made the sky; and under the sky, in\nthe new light of day, in the midst of the vast waters, He made the land;\nand grass began to grow upon it, and then trees, with leaves and fruit.\n\nThen in the sky, the sun began to shine by day, and the moon and stars\nby night. And in the sea, first little fishes and then big ones, began\nto swim; and in the air, the birds began to fly; and on the land, all\nkinds of living things began to move about, lions in the thick woods,\nsheep in the fields, cows in the pastures. And at last, as best of all,\nGod made man; and to the first man He said, \u201cBehold, the new earth and\nall that is in it. It is yours. Here you are to live, and over all these\nliving things you are to rule.\u201d\n\nThus the world and man came into being. The story says that God did all\nthis in six days, but the earth says that every one of these six days\nwas millions of years long. Very, very slowly, but no less wonderfully,\nwas the great world made.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d the children said, \u201cif God, our Heavenly Father, made the world,\nhow came there to be briers and brambles? Why is the ground so stony?\nand why do men have to work so hard to make things grow? and why have\npain and sickness and sin and death come in to spoil the world?\u201d\n\nIn the beginning of beginnings, said their fathers and mothers,--and\nthis is the next oldest story,--the earth was a mighty plain, on which\nno rain had fallen since the first hour of time, but a mist blew in from\nthe sea and watered the ground. Out of this damp earth, God made a man,\nbody and legs and arms and head; and when the man was made, God breathed\nupon him, and, behold, the man lived. The body of earth was changed to\nflesh and blood, and the man opened his eyes, and rose up and began to\nwalk and speak.\n\nAnd God planted the Garden of Eden for the man to live in, with great\nshady trees, and a river singing as it flowed between its flowery banks.\nThen God brought to the man all the beasts and birds, and the man gave\neach a name, and they played together in the sunny fields.\n\nBut still the man was very lonely. Then God put the man to sleep, and\nwhile he slept God took out one of the man\u2019s ribs and of it made a\nwoman. And the man waked and saw the woman, and he took her by the hand,\nand was very glad. The man\u2019s name was Adam, and the woman\u2019s name was\nEve.\n\nNow, God had showed Adam two trees of the Garden. One was a Tree of\nLife: whoever ate of the fruit of it would live forever. The other was a\nTree of Knowledge: whoever ate of the fruit of it would know both good\nand evil. And God had said that these trees must not be touched. But one\ntime, as Mother Eve was walking in the pleasant shadow of the Tree of\nKnowledge, she saw a serpent. This, you understand, was long ago, when\nstrange things happened as they do in fairy stories. All the animals\nwere friendly and knew how to talk. So Eve was not afraid, nor was she\nsurprised to hear the serpent speak.\n\n\u201cEve,\u201d he said, coiling his glittering tail about the tree, \u201cthis is\ngood fruit; why do you never taste it?\u201d\n\n\u201cSerpent,\u201d said Eve, \u201cthis is forbidden fruit. God has told us not to\ntouch it.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut see,\u201d replied the serpent, winking his bright eyes, \u201csee how it\nshines among the leaves. Surely such fair fruit can do no harm. Indeed,\na little taste will make you the wisest woman in the world!\u201d\n\nAnd foolish Eve listened and was tempted. She looked again at the bright\nand luscious fruit, and took of it and ate it, and gave to Adam and he\nate it.\n\nThen trouble came. That is what always follows disobedience. Adam and\nEve began to consider what they had done, and they were sorry and\nafraid. Now, every day, in the Garden of Eden, God used to come, as the\nevening shadows lengthened, and walk among the trees in the cool of the\ntwilight; but that day, Adam and Eve hid themselves. So God called,\n\u201cAdam, Eve, where are you? Why do you hide yourselves? Have you eaten of\nthe fruit of the forbidden tree?\u201d\n\nAnd Adam came and said, \u201cIt was Eve\u2019s fault: she gave it to me.\u201d And Eve\nsaid, \u201cIt was the serpent\u2019s fault: he tempted me.\u201d As for the serpent,\nthere was nobody else upon whom he could cast the blame.\n\nSo God said that the serpent and all serpents after him should crawl\nupon the ground. He sent Adam and Eve out of the garden, and, at the\ngate, to keep them from coming back, he set angels with flaming swords.\nThus the good world was spoiled. Outside the garden gate, the earth was\nthick with briers and brambles.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nNOAH\u2019S ARK\n\n\nAnd then, what happened? After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, and had\nbeen driven out of the Garden of Eden into the world of briers and\nbrambles, then what happened? \u201cTell us,\u201d cried the children, \u201canother\nstory of the beginning of the world.\u201d And their fathers and mothers, in\nanswer, told what their grandfathers and grandmothers had told them.\n\nThe first disobedience was like the first little flame which is touched\nto a heap of dry wood. It grew and grew. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain\nand Abel. Cain became a farmer, and Abel became a shepherd. One time\nthey brought each an offering to give to God. Cain brought fruit from\nhis farm, and Abel brought lambs from his flock. But God looked at their\nhearts, and He was pleased with Abel\u2019s offering, but Cain\u2019s He would not\ntake. And Cain was very angry with God and with his brother. Then one\nday when the two brothers were in the field together, Cain quarreled\nwith Abel and struck him and killed him.\n\nAnd God said, \u201cWhere is Abel thy brother?\u201d\n\nAnd Cain said, \u201cAm I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d\n\nThus he sinned both in word and in deed; and God had to send him away\ninto the wild deserts. All this was very terrible for Adam and Eve. Thus\nwhile briers and brambles grew in the ground, evil and sorrow grew in\nthe hearts of men.\n\nNow, after many years, the men and women and even the little children\nwere all so bad that there was no way to make them better. The only\nthing to do was to destroy them, and begin the world all over again. But\nthere was one good family. Noah and his wife, and their three sons,\nShem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives, minded what God told them. So\nGod said to Noah, \u201cI will destroy all these wicked people, but I will\nsave you and yours. I will wash the whole earth clean with a great\nflood. You must make a boat, and you and your wife, and your sons and\ntheir wives must get into it. And you must take all the animals with\nyou, two of every kind, with which to start the world again after the\nflood is over.\u201d\n\nNoah began, therefore, to build a boat. In the middle of a wide field,\nhe and his sons brought beams and boards together and set to work. The\nboat was like a box, and it was called the Ark, because that means a\nbox. It had a big door in the side, and all around, near the top, ran a\nline of windows. And inside all the cracks were filled with pitch, to\nkeep the water out.\n\nBefore long, the neighbors came, and said, \u201cWhat are you doing, Noah?\u201d\n\nAnd Noah answered, \u201cI am building a boat.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said the neighbors, \u201cthis is no place for a boat. A boat is of no\nuse without water. Who ever heard of a boat in the middle of a meadow?\u201d\n\nBut Noah said, \u201cHere, where we stand, in this dry field, the water shall\nbe as deep as the highest hills are high.\u201d Then Noah told them of the\ncoming flood, and tried to get them to stop their bad ways, that they\nmight live, and not be drowned. But the neighbors only laughed at Noah,\nand said he must be crazy to build a boat on dry land, and so they went\nback to their wicked lives. Sometimes, when it rained, they thought of\nNoah, but the rain cleared away, and they laughed again, and were worse\nthan ever.\n\nAt last, the great day came, with clouds and thunder. Early that\nmorning, the animals began to come from near and far, lions and bears,\nand sheep and oxen, camels and elephants, and cats and dogs, two by two\nthey jumped and crawled and ran and flew into the Ark. When they were\nall in, Noah and his wife, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth and\n\n[Illustration: THE ARK RESTS ON THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN]\n\ntheir wives went in after them, and the door was shut. And when the door\nwas shut, the rain came.\n\nFirst, it rained as if a little brook were tumbling down out of the sky,\nand then the brook changed into a river, and the river into a pond, and\nthe pond into a lake, and the lake into an ocean, and all the air was\nfull of water as the sea is full of waves. The water filled the streets\nof towns, and crept into the doors of houses, and climbed step after\nstep upstairs, till all the roofs were covered. By and by, nothing was\nto be seen in all the earth but the Ark floating on the flood. And when\nNoah looked out of the window of the Ark, the world appeared as it did\nin the beginning of beginnings, a wide waste of water. And still it\nrained, and rained.\n\nAt last, after days and days, nobody knows how long, the rain ceased,\nand the sun came out, and the flood began to go down. And one day, there\nwas a grinding noise as if the Ark had touched the ground, and Noah\nlooked, and, behold, the Ark had landed on the top of a mountain, which\nwas like a little island in the deep sea. By and by, Noah sent out a\ndove, and the dove flew here and there and found no rest for the sole of\nher foot, and so came back. And again, after a week, Noah sent the dove\na second time, and now she brought back a leaf plucked from an olive\ntree. Thus Noah knew that the water had gone down below the treetops.\nOnce more he sent the dove, and this time she found a place to make a\nnest.\n\nThen Noah opened the wide door of the Ark, and all the world was green\nand fresh and shining in the sun. And there on the top of the mountain,\nwhich is called Ararat, Noah and his family thanked God for their\ndeliverance, and all the beasts and birds, each in his own way, said\nAmen. And across the sky was a gleaming rainbow, from one hill to\nanother over the glistening earth. And God said to Noah, \u201cBehold the\nbow! It is the sign of my promise that I will never again destroy the\nearth. When the rain falls and men begin to be afraid, then shall the\nsun shine through the wet clouds, and the bow shall be painted in the\nsky.\u201d Thus, with the prayers of Noah and with the promise of God, the\nlife of man began anew.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE ADVENTURES OF LOT\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when the world was still young, there was a lad named\nLot. His father and mother were dead, and he lived with his Uncle\nAbraham and his Aunt Sarah.\n\nIn the place where Lot lived, the people believed that the moon was God.\nThey looked up into the sky at night, and saw the shining moon, and it\nseemed to them the most beautiful and most wonderful sight in the world,\nand they said their prayers to it. But Abraham knew better than that. He\nknew that God who made the earth made the moon also. Because Abraham\nwould not go to the moon-church, his neighbors disliked him. So at last\nhe made up his mind to move away. One night, in a dream, he heard the\nvoice of God, and God told him to go. And, the next day, he took Sarah\nand Lot, and started out to find a better place to live in. Thus Lot got\nhis first look at the wide world.\n\nAbraham and Sarah and Lot rode on the backs of camels, but they had to\ngo very slowly because they took with them all their sheep and cows. So\nthey journeyed and they journeyed till by and by they came to a great\nriver, called the Euphrates. And then they journeyed and they journeyed\ntill by and by they came to another river, called the Jordan, in a deep\nvalley. And there, between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea,--the\nplace is on the map,--they found a pleasant land which they liked much.\nOn account of their flocks and herds they could not settle down and stay\nlong in one place, so they wandered here and there over the green\ncountry, stopping to rest now under a spreading oak, and now in the\nshadow of a great rock; and they slept in tents.\n\nBut, after a while, they had so many sheep and lambs, and cows and\ncalves, that it was hard to find a pasture big enough to feed them all.\nWhen they came to a spring of water, and all wanted to drink at the same\ntime, there was great confusion; and sometimes the herdsmen fought about\nit. So one day Abraham said to Lot, \u201cThere are now so many cattle that\nwe had better divide them into two companies, and pasture them in\ndifferent places. You take yours and go your way, and I will take mine\nand go my way. Here is a high hill, from which we may see all the land.\nLet us climb up and look, and you shall choose which part you will\ntake.\u201d So they climbed up the hill, and looked out over the land. To\nthe north were rocky hills, to the south were wild deserts, to the west\nwas the sea, but to the east was a green plain. In the plain were rich\npastures, and groves of trees with the white houses of little towns\namong them, and a river flowing by, so that it looked like the Garden of\nEden. This pleased Lot. He said to himself, \u201cMy Uncle Abraham has given\nme my choice, and I will choose the best there is.\u201d So he chose the\nplain, leaving Abraham the stony hills.\n\nNow, people who think only of themselves, and take the best without\nregard to others, sometimes get the worst. And this is very likely to be\nthe case with those who choose that which is easy instead of that which\nis hard. So it was with Lot. The plain was not so pleasant as he\nthought. It had once been the bed of a salt sea, and in some places the\nsalt lay upon the ground, and there were salt springs. And near by there\nwas a dreadful swamp where the mud was mixed with oil. Before Lot had\nbeen long at Sodom,--for this was the name of the town in which he\nlived,--there came four kings with long names and fierce soldiers, and\nthey drove the people out of their houses, and back into the swamp, and\nthey captured them and carried them away. Abraham, when he heard of it,\ntook all his herdsmen, and armed them with swords and clubs, and they\nattacked the four kings by night when they were asleep, and rescued Lot\nand his neighbors. But it was all very unpleasant for Lot.\n\nThe people of Sodom had never been good people, but after this they were\nworse than ever. It troubled Lot greatly. Sometimes he thought of moving\naway, but his wife liked the place, and so did their two daughters: so\nhe stayed. He reproved his bad neighbors, but that did no good; he only\nmade himself unpopular.\n\nAt last, one hot day, as Abraham sat in the door of his tent under the\nshade of the oaks, he saw three men coming. And he rose up and ran to\nmeet them, for he was very kind to strangers. \u201cCome,\u201d he said, \u201cand rest\nhere in the cool shade, and my wife shall get you something to eat.\u201d So\nthe strangers stopped, and Sarah made a fire and baked some cakes and\nbroiled some meat, and brought out curds and whey, and set the table.\nAnd after supper, the men looked towards Sodom, and one of them said,\n\u201cWhat kind of a place is that? We hear sad things about it.\u201d And Abraham\nsaid, \u201cI have a nephew who lives there, and he tells me that it is a\nvery wicked place indeed.\u201d And the men said, \u201cWe are going to see with\nour own eyes and hear with our own ears.\u201d So they went on down the road\nto Sodom.\n\nNow, when they came to the town, there was Lot sitting by the gate, and\nhe was glad to see them, and took them to his house and was very nice to\nthem. But that night, when Lot\u2019s neighbors found that he had company,\nthey came about the house, a great crowd of them, hooting and throwing\nstones, and tried to break in the door to kill them. So the strangers\nsaw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears.\n\nThen, early in the morning before the sun was up, the visitors wakened\nLot. \u201cCome,\u201d they cried, \u201cget up and escape out of this place, for this\nvery day it shall be destroyed.\u201d And the visitors hurried them, pointing\nto the sky, and crying that the storm was coming and the time was short.\n\u201cQuick!\u201d they said; \u201crun for your lives! Do not even look back. Go to\nthe mountain.\u201d And as they came out of the house, the sky was of the\ncolor of copper and of iron, and a fearful wind began to blow, and the\nlightning flashed and the thunder roared. And, as they came out of the\ntown, the earth quaked, and the springs of salt and of oil were broken,\nand salt and oil and pitch burst up into the air in the great swamp, and\nthe lightning set them on fire, and the wind blew them on the town.\n\nSo Lot ran and his daughters ran, and at first his wife ran with them.\nBut Lot\u2019s wife was very fond of Sodom. Bad as it was, she liked it. She\ncould not bear to leave it. She stopped and looked back, only for a\nmoment, but in that moment the storm of fire and brimstone overtook her.\nThere she fell, and the drifting sand and whirling salt of the tempest\nburied her.\n\nThe next day, as soon as it was light, Abraham arose and looked toward\nSodom, and all the sky was black with smoke. As for Lot\u2019s wife, nothing\nwas left of her but a pillar of salt.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nISAAC AND REBEKAH\n\n\nAbraham had a son named Isaac. One time, when Isaac was but a little\nlad, he had a strange adventure in which he very nearly lost his life.\n\nThe people of that land believed that God wishes us to give Him the very\nbest we have. And that is right, if we give Him our best by using it so\nas to please Him. But they said that the thing to do with our best is to\nburn it. So they would make a heap of stones, and put wood upon it, and\nplace their best on the wood, and set fire to it, and the flame and\nsmoke would rise into the sky. That was called a sacrifice. When they\nwere very glad and wished to thank God, and when they were in great\ntrouble and desired God to help them, they offered a sacrifice.\n\nNow there was nothing in the world for which Abraham and Sarah cared so\nmuch as they did for their little boy Isaac. He was their very best. And\nso it came into Abraham\u2019s heart that there was no way by which he could\nso plainly show God the greatness of his faith and love as to give Him\nIsaac. And early one morning Abraham wakened Isaac, and said, \u201cWe are\ngoing on a long journey to-day, my son.\u201d And Isaac was glad, because he\nloved to go on journeys with his father.\n\nSo off they went, along the green road, and Isaac was very happy, but\nAbraham was very sad, and Sarah in her tent was crying as if her heart\nwould break. At last they came to a hill, and Abraham cut a bundle of\nwood, and let Isaac carry it on his back; but Abraham carried a knife.\nNow Isaac had often seen the sacrifice of lambs, so as they climbed the\nhill he said, \u201cFather, here is the fire and the wood, but where is the\nlamb?\u201d\n\nAnd Abraham answered, \u201cGod will provide himself a lamb.\u201d\n\nBut at the top of the hill, when the wood was piled upon the ground,\nAbraham with tears in his eyes took Isaac and tied his hands and his\nfeet, and laid him on the wood.\n\nThen suddenly there came a quick voice in Abraham\u2019s heart, and the voice\ncalled, \u201cAbraham! Abraham!\u201d And Abraham said, \u201cHere am I.\u201d And the voice\nsaid, \u201cDo not touch the lad. Behind you in the thicket is a ram. Take\nthat.\u201d So Abraham untied his little boy, and kissed him, and sacrificed\nthe ram. Thus he showed how much he was willing to do for God, but Isaac\nwas spared. And God taught Abraham that He does not wish for such a\nsacrifice as that. The best thing to do with little boys is to love\nthem, and teach them, and bring them up to be obedient and useful.\n\nSo Isaac grew to be a fine young man, and his father thought that it was\nhigh time for him to be getting married. In their country the fathers\nand mothers attended to all that, but Isaac\u2019s mother was now dead, so\nAbraham had to manage by himself. One day he sent for his steward,\nEliezer, who attended to his most important business, and said,\n\u201cEliezer, I want you to go back to the old country, and find a wife for\nIsaac. Go to the place where I was brought up, and where my folks still\nlive, and find a girl who will make him a good wife.\u201d\n\nSo Eliezer took ten camels and a bag of presents of gold and silver, and\naway he went, across the Jordan and across the Euphrates. One day as the\nsun was setting he came to a well of water beside a little town. Women\nwere coming out with pitchers on their shoulders to draw water. The well\nwas a deep pool, with a cold spring at the bottom of it. There were\nstone steps leading down, and at the top of the steps was a trough for\ncamels. There Eliezer made his camels kneel down, as camels do, and he\nsaid to himself, \u201cI will wait till I see a girl whose looks I like, and\nI will ask her for a drink, and if she says, \u2018Yes, and I will give your\ncamels drink also,\u2019 then I will tell her about Isaac.\u201d So he stood and\nwaited, and one came and another came. At last came a maiden named\nRebekah, who was very fair to look upon. And Eliezer said, \u201cWill you let\nme drink a little water from your pitcher?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d she said, \u201cand I will\ngive your camels drink also.\u201d Then Eliezer was very glad, and in his\nheart he thanked God, and out of his bag he took two bracelets of gold,\none for each of the girl\u2019s arms. And he said, \u201cWhose daughter are you?\nIs there room in your father\u2019s house for us to lodge?\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cMy father\u2019s name is Bethuel, and my grandfather\u2019s name is\nNahor.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat,\u201d said Eliezer, \u201cNahor the brother of Abraham?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Rebekah, \u201cand we have plenty of room for you and your men\nand your ten camels.\u201d\n\nSo she ran home before him and showed her mother the bracelets, and her\nbrother Laban ran out to meet the man, and brought him into the house;\nand supper was ready, and they asked him to sit down. But Eliezer said,\n\u201cI must not eat till I have told my errand.\u201d So they listened as he\nspoke of Abraham and Isaac and Rebekah.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat will you do? Will you give Rebekah to be Isaac\u2019s\nwife?\u201d\n\nAnd Rebekah\u2019s mother and her brother said, \u201cThis is the Lord\u2019s doing.\nTake Rebekah, and let her be the wife of Isaac.\u201d\n\nThen Eliezer opened his treasures and took out jewels of gold and jewels\nof silver, and beautiful embroidered things to wear, and gave them to\nRebekah and her mother. After that he sat down at the table, and they\nall had supper, and were very happy.\n\nThe next day, Eliezer said, \u201cLet me go back now, with Rebekah, to my\nmaster.\u201d But they urged him to stay. \u201cOh, let Rebekah wait,\u201d they said,\n\u201ca little while till we can get her ready. In a week or ten days, she\nmay go.\u201d But he said, \u201cWe ought to go at once.\u201d\n\nAnd they called Rebekah and said, \u201cHow shall it be? Will you go with\nthis man to-day?\u201d She said, \u201cI will go.\u201d So they bade her good-by, with\nmany prayers and blessings, and sent her maids along to wait upon her;\nand her old nurse, Deborah, went with her.\n\nThus they rode away on camels, and they journeyed and they journeyed,\ntill one day they saw in the distance a man walking in the fields, and\nhe was coming to meet them. And Rebekah said, \u201cWho is this man walking\nacross the fields to meet us?\u201d And Eliezer replied, \u201cThat is my young\nmaster, Isaac.\u201d So Rebekah took a veil and covered herself, for that\nwas the custom of the country. And Isaac brought her into his mother\u2019s\ntent, and she became his wife. And he loved her; and Isaac was comforted\nafter his mother\u2019s death.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nTHE MESS OF POTTAGE\n\n\nIsaac and Rebekah had two sons. The elder was a red-headed lad, called\nEsau. The younger was named Jacob. The two boys were quite different.\nEsau was very fond of hunting. He loved to get away into the deep woods\nand to climb the steep hills. For days at a time he would roam about,\nwith his bow and arrows, and when he came home he always had something\nin his hand, some bird or beast which he had shot. Sometimes he brought\nback a deer, and he knew how to cook the venison just as his father\nliked it. And this pleased Isaac. Jacob was a home boy, who preferred to\nstay about the house. He worked in the garden, and took care of the\nsheep and cows, and helped his mother. And that pleased Rebekah. So\nIsaac\u2019s favorite son was Esau, and Rebekah\u2019s favorite son was Jacob. But\nEsau, being the elder, had the birthright. That is, he was the one to be\nthe head of the family after the death of his father.\n\nBut one day, Esau came home from hunting, very tired and hungry. And he\nfound Jacob cooking something over the fire. The fire was blazing, and\nthe kettle was boiling away at a great rate, and the most appetizing\nodors were coming out of it, and in the kettle was a mess of pottage,\nwhich was made of lentils, and was something like peas, and something\nlike beans, and something like chicken broth, and very nice to eat.\n\nSo Esau said, \u201cGive me some of your pottage.\u201d\n\nBut Jacob said, \u201cI will sell it to you. Give me your birthright, and I\nwill give you my pottage.\u201d\n\nThen Esau said to himself, \u201cWhat is the good of my birthright when I am\nhungry! I can\u2019t eat it. I can\u2019t even see it. I will not have it for\nyears and years. But here is the pottage now.\u201d And he said, \u201cIt is a\nbargain. Give me the pottage.\u201d Then Jacob emptied the kettle into the\ndish, and hungry Esau, thinking no more of the birthright, sat down and\nate the hot pottage with a big spoon.\n\nThen years passed and years passed, and their father Isaac became an old\nman. His eyes were dim, and he could not see, and he felt that his life\nwas coming to an end. So, one morning, he called Esau and said, \u201cEsau, I\nwish you would take your bow and arrows, and go out and kill a deer. I\nthink that a taste of your venison will make me strong. And I want to be\nstrong to-day, because I intend to give you my blessing.\u201d\n\nSo Esau took his bow and arrows, and away he went to find a deer.\n\nBut Rebekah had heard what Isaac said to Esau, and when Esau, with his\nred head, had disappeared among the trees, she called Jacob. \u201cJacob,\u201d\nshe said, \u201cyour father is not feeling so well to-day. He thinks that he\nis about to die, and he means to give Esau the blessing of the\nbirthright. Now you go out into the pasture and bring me two little\ngoats, and kill them, and I will cook the meat of the goats so that your\nfather will think it is the sweetest venison he ever ate, and he will\ngive you the blessing which he has for Esau.\u201d\n\nBut Jacob said, \u201cFather will know at once that I am not Esau, for Esau\u2019s\nhands are covered with hair, but mine are smooth. He will find me out,\nand be very angry with me.\u201d\n\nAnd Rebekah answered, \u201cI will manage that, my son.\u201d\n\nThen Jacob went out into the pastures, and killed two kids of the goats,\nand his mother cooked the meat so that it tasted like the sweetest\nvenison. And she dressed Jacob in Esau\u2019s best clothes, and on his neck\nand arms and hands she put some of the skin of the goats, and she gave\nhim the meat and bread, and in he went to feed his father.\n\nNow Isaac was so old and sick that he lay in bed. So Jacob came into\nhis room, and said, \u201cSit up, father, and taste the nice venison which I\nhave brought you.\u201d\n\nAnd Isaac said, \u201cHow have you come so soon, my son?\u201d\n\nAnd Jacob answered, \u201cGod showed me a deer in the first field, and I\nkilled it with the first arrow.\u201d\n\nBut Isaac was not satisfied. He sat up in bed and said, \u201cCome near, my\nson, and let me feel you, that I may know whether you are truly my son\nEsau or not.\u201d And Jacob went near and his father felt him, and the\nclothes were Esau\u2019s clothes and his hands and neck were rough and hairy\nlike Esau\u2019s. And Isaac said, \u201cThe voice is Jacob\u2019s voice, but the hands\nare the hands of Esau.\u201d\n\nAnd he asked again, \u201cAre you my son Esau?\u201d\n\nAnd Jacob lied again, and said, \u201cI am.\u201d\n\nAnd Isaac said, \u201cBring me, then, the meat that I may eat it.\u201d And when\nhe had eaten he said, \u201cCome near now and kiss me, my son.\u201d And Jacob\nkissed him. And Isaac gave Jacob his best blessing, the blessing of the\nbirthright. And Jacob went away.\n\nNow Jacob had hardly gone out of the room, when Esau came. \u201cHere I am,\nfather,\u201d he cried, \u201cback from the hunting, and here is the meat which I\nhave cooked just as you always like it. Come, eat it, and bless me.\u201d\n\nAnd Isaac said, \u201cWho are you?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THE BLESSING OF THE SECOND SON]\n\nAnd he answered, \u201cI am your son, your eldest son, Esau.\u201d\n\nAnd Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, \u201cWho came, then, in your\nplace? Who brought venison and I ate it, and gave him your blessing?\u201d\n\nThen Esau cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, \u201cBless me, even\nme also, O my father!\u201d\n\nAnd Isaac said, \u201cIt was your brother, Jacob. He lied to me, and stole\nyour blessing. But I have blessed him, and I cannot change it. I have\nmade him the head of the family after my death.\u201d\n\nAnd Esau said to his father, \u201cHave you but one blessing, my father?\nbless me, even me also, O my father!\u201d And Esau cried aloud. Then Isaac\nblessed Esau also, but he could not give him so good a blessing as he\nhad given Jacob.\n\nNow Rebekah had been thinking for a good while that it would be well for\nJacob to visit his cousins, who lived in the old country, beyond the\nrivers. For there was a family in the neighborhood named Heth, whom\nIsaac and Rebekah did not like, and they had a number of daughters, and\nJacob used to go to see them. It troubled Rebekah greatly, and more than\nonce she had said to Isaac, \u201cThose Heth girls worry me almost to death.\nHow dreadful it would be if Jacob should marry one of them!\u201d And Isaac\nhad said, \u201cLet him go and see his cousins. A change will do him good.\u201d\nSo now, when Jacob\u2019s behavior had displeased his father and made his\nbrother so angry with him that he threatened to kill him, Rebekah felt\nthat the time had come. She packed up Jacob\u2019s things, and sent him off\nfor a long visit at his Uncle Laban\u2019s.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nJACOB\u2019S VISIT\n\n\nSo Jacob mounted a camel, and away he went. And when the sun began to\nset, he looked about him, and he was in a wild country where nobody\nlived, and where the only roof in sight was the round roof of the sky.\nSo he lay down on the hard ground and put a smooth stone under his head\nfor a pillow, and went to sleep, for he was tired. And in the night he\ndreamed a dream.\n\nHe thought that the night sky was all bright above him, and that there\nwas a ladder of light reaching from earth to heaven, and that there were\nangels climbing up and climbing down, and that at the top of the ladder\nwas God himself, who said, \u201cJacob, this land on which you sleep shall\nsome time belong to you and to your children, and your family shall grow\ninto a great nation and be a blessing to the world.\u201d Then all was dark\nagain, till the morning sun shone upon the sleeper.\n\nThat morning, after Jacob had said his prayers, he took the stone which\nhe had used for a pillow, and a lot of other stones, and piled them up\nto mark the place. And he asked God to protect him from all the dangers\nof the way and to bring him home again in peace; and he promised that he\nwould try to please God. For, in spite of the mean things that he had\ndone, there was a great deal of good in Jacob.\n\nSo he journeyed and he journeyed, and by and by he came to the river\nJordan, and his camel carried him over, wading across a shallow place.\nAnd then he journeyed, and he journeyed, and he journeyed, till by and\nby he came to the river Euphrates, and even over this wide river did his\ncamel carry him, finding a shallow place and wading across. And one day\nabout noon he came to a well in a field, and three flocks of sheep were\nlying by it, but the mouth of the well was covered with a great stone.\n\nAnd Jacob spoke to the shepherds and said, \u201cBrothers, where do you\nlive?\u201d\n\nAnd they said, \u201cWe live in Haran.\u201d And that was the very place for which\nJacob was looking.\n\nAnd Jacob said, \u201cDo you know anybody there named Laban?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d they said, \u201cwe know him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs he well?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he is very well, and there at this moment comes his daughter\nRachel with the sheep.\u201d\n\nAnd Jacob looked, and across the field, leading a flock of sheep, came\nhis Cousin Rachel. And Jacob rolled away the stone from the well\u2019s\nmouth, and drew water for Rachel\u2019s sheep. And he said, \u201cI am your Cousin\nJacob, the son of your Uncle Isaac and your Aunt Rebekah, and I have\ncome to make you a long visit.\u201d And there were tears in his eyes,\nbecause he was so glad to be at the end of his journey. And he kissed\nRachel. And Rachel left the sheep, and ran and told her father that\nJacob had come. And when Laban heard that, he ran out to meet Jacob and\nhe embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house.\n\nThe next day, Jacob began to help in the work of the farm. He milked the\ncows and watered the cattle, and made himself generally useful; but the\nwork which he liked best was the tending of the sheep. Every day,\nwhether there was rain or shine, he went out into the pastures and\nhelped Rachel keep the sheep. And this he did partly because he liked\nsheep, but still more because he liked Rachel. So a month passed, and\none day his Uncle Laban said, \u201cJacob, I don\u2019t think that you ought to\nwork without any pay just because you are my nephew. Stay with me and\nlet me give you wages, like the other men. What shall I give you?\u201d\n\nAnd Jacob said, \u201cUncle Laban, I would like very much to have your\ndaughter Rachel.\u201d\n\nAnd Laban said, \u201cJacob, I would rather have her marry you than any other\nman I know.\u201d And Rachel felt just the same way. So it was settled that\nJacob should work for Laban seven years, and then should marry Rachel.\nSo Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few\ndays for the love he had to her.\n\nNow this, you understand, was a long time ago, and far away in Asia,\nbeyond the Euphrates. And they had a strange custom of marrying two\nwives, or three, and sometimes more. So when the seven years were over,\nLaban told Jacob that if he wished to marry Rachel, he must first marry\nher older sister Leah. \u201cIn our country,\u201d he said, \u201cwe must not give the\nyounger before the older.\u201d So Jacob had to marry Leah, who was a good\ngirl but very near-sighted, and serve seven more years for Rachel. This\nwas pretty hard for both Rachel and Jacob, but he did it, and when the\nseven added years were passed they were married with great joy.\n\nThen Jacob felt that it was time for him to go home, for he had gone to\nhis Uncle Laban\u2019s to spend a month and had stayed fourteen years. All\nthis time his flocks and herds had grown in number. For Laban gave him\nsheep and goats, in payment for his work. But when Laban said, \u201cThis\nyear you shall have for your wages all the brown sheep and all the\nspeckled goats,\u201d behold, that year almost all of the goats were speckled\nand almost all of the sheep were brown. So Jacob got to be very rich. He\nhad sheep and goats, and cows and camels, and men-servants and\nmaid-servants. But Jacob was so useful to Laban that Laban was not\nwilling to let him go.\n\nFinally, one day, when Laban was away off shearing sheep, Jacob and\nRachel and Leah gathered all their belongings together, and all their\ncattle, and started for Jacob\u2019s home without saying good-by. Off they\nwent, over the river. And though Laban followed and begged them to come\nback, they would not go. Then they journeyed and they journeyed, till at\nlast Jacob saw in the distance the hills of his own land.\n\nThen Jacob began to remember Esau and how he had threatened to kill him.\nAnd he sent messengers to Esau to tell him that he was coming back, and\nto find how Esau felt. And the messengers returned and said, \u201cEsau is\ncoming to meet you with four hundred men.\u201d And Jacob was greatly afraid\nand distressed.\n\nAnd that night he had a dream. He dreamed that he was wrestling with a\nman; he was trying to throw the man, and the man was trying to throw\nhim; and neither could master the other. At last, as the sun rose, Jacob\nfound that the man was an angel, and the angel said, \u201cLet me go, for the\nday is breaking.\u201d And Jacob said, \u201cI will not let you go until you bless\nme.\u201d So the angel blessed Jacob, and he awoke. And there across the wide\nfield was his brother Esau. And Jacob stood up and bowed down before his\nbrother seven times, because he did not know whether Esau was a friend\nor an enemy. But Esau ran to meet him, and threw his arms about his neck\nand kissed him.\n\nAnd Esau said, \u201cWho are these with you?\u201d\n\nAnd Jacob said, \u201cEsau, this is my wife Rachel, and this is my wife Leah.\nAnd I have brought you a present, all this drove of cattle.\u201d\n\nBut Esau said, \u201cThank you, Jacob; keep the cattle. I have enough of my\nown.\u201d Thus Esau forgave Jacob for the mean things that he had done.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE COAT OF MANY COLORS\n\n\nOf all his twelve sons, Jacob loved Joseph best. Most of the others were\ngrown men, who were away all day at work in the fields; Benjamin was a\nbaby. But Joseph was a bright lad who was a great companion for his\nfather. And he was a good lad, who could always be trusted to do what\nwas right, while some of the others gave Jacob a great deal of trouble.\n\nJoseph\u2019s older brothers were stout farmers who spent most of their time\nattending to their cattle. They expected to milk the cows and feed the\nsheep and ride the camels all the rest of their days, and wished for\nnothing better. But Joseph, even as a boy, had made up his mind to be a\ngreat person, a prince, or perhaps a king. He thought that he would like\nto sit on a throne, and wear a crown, and be a mighty ruler. And this\nhis father liked; for Jacob, too, in his own boyhood, had made long\nplans. So his father gave him a coat such as princes wore, a coat of\nmany colors; and he wore it every day, even when he went to tend the\nsheep,--a shining coat, reaching to his heels. But his older brothers\nteased him, and called him names, and disliked him.\n\nOne time, when they came home from the pasture in their rough clothes,\nand found Joseph wearing his fine coat, they said, \u201cWell, Prince Joseph,\nwhat have you been dreaming about to-day?\u201d\n\nAnd Joseph said, \u201cI dreamed that we were all binding sheaves in the\nfield, and my sheaf arose and stood upright, and your sheaves came round\nabout, and bowed down to my sheaf.\u201d\n\nAnd that made his brothers very angry. \u201cWhat,\u201d they said, \u201cshall you be\nruler over us?\u201d\n\nAnother time, after the cows were milked and the older brothers came in\nto wash their hands for supper, and found Joseph with his bright coat\nflapping about his ankles, they said, \u201cWell, King Joseph, what foolish\ndream have you had to-day?\u201d\n\nAnd Joseph answered, \u201cTo-day I dreamed that the sun and the moon and\neleven stars bowed down to me.\u201d\n\nEven his father did not quite like that. \u201cWhat,\u201d he said, \u201cshall your\nmother and I and your brothers bow down to you?\u201d\n\nBut his brothers hated him. And once, when four of them so misbehaved\nthemselves that Joseph told his father what they had done, they hated\nhim yet the more.\n\nNow, when Joseph was seventeen years old, his brothers took the sheep\none day and led them so far in search of green pastures that their\nfather did not know where they had gone. So he called Joseph. \u201cJoseph,\u201d\nhe said, \u201cyou know which way your brothers went; go after them and see\nif all is well with them and with the flocks, and bring me word again.\u201d\nSo Joseph started out to find his brothers, and here he searched and\nthere he searched, till at last he found a man who knew where they had\ngone, and there they were. So his brothers looked up, and in the\ndistance, shining in the sun, they saw the coat of many colors, like a\nwalking rainbow. And they said, \u201cThere is the dreamer!\u201d And some said,\n\u201cCome, now, let us kill him and we shall see what will become of his\ndreams.\u201d And others said, \u201cNo, let us not kill him. That will do us no\ngood. Let us sell him; we will get some money.\u201d So when Joseph came\nnear, they laid hold of him, and pulled off his colored coat, and put\nhim down in a deep pit till they should make up their minds what to do\nwith him, whether to kill him or to sell him.\n\nThere, then, was Joseph, in the pit, calling and crying; and his\nbrothers sat down to eat their supper. And as they ate, they saw in the\ndistance a caravan of merchants on their camels, riding down from Gilead\nwith bags of spices and balm and myrrh, to Egypt. And as they passed,\nthe brothers hailed them and said, \u201cWe have a boy to sell. What will you\ngive for him?\u201d And they pulled up Joseph out of the pit, and the\nmerchants looked at him, and said, \u201cWe will give twenty pieces of\nsilver.\u201d So Joseph\u2019s brothers sold him for twenty pieces of silver. And\nthe merchants put him on the back of a camel, and away they went.\n\nThen said the brothers one to another, \u201cWhat shall we say to father?\u201d\n\nAnd some said, \u201cLet us kill a goat, and take the coat of many colors and\ndip it in the blood, and tell father that we found it in a field.\u201d And\nthat they did. They carried the bloody coat to Jacob, and said, \u201cSee\nwhat we found. Is it not Joseph\u2019s coat?\u201d\n\nAnd Jacob cried out at the sight of it. \u201cYes,\u201d he said, \u201cit is my son\u2019s\ncoat. Some wild beast has devoured him. Joseph is no doubt torn to\npieces.\u201d And he mourned for him, day after day, and nobody could comfort\nhim.\n\nBut the men of the caravan carried Joseph down to Egypt, and there sold\nhim to a man named Potiphar, who\n\n[Illustration: THERE IS THE DREAMER]\n\nwas the captain of the guard and the keeper of the king\u2019s prison, and he\nput Joseph into the prison to wait upon the prisoners.\n\nThe king of Egypt was called Pharaoh. And in Pharaoh\u2019s prison at that\ntime were the king\u2019s chief butler and chief baker. One morning, when\nJoseph took them their breakfast, he saw that they both looked very sad.\n\nSo he said, \u201cWhat is the matter? Why do you look so sad?\u201d\n\nThey said, \u201cWe have each had a strange dream, and nobody can tell us\nwhat it means.\u201d\n\nJoseph said, \u201cTell me what it was.\u201d\n\nThen the butler answered, \u201cIn my dream I saw a vine with three branches,\nand ripe grapes grew upon them, and I pressed the juice into Pharaoh\u2019s\ncup.\u201d\n\nAnd Joseph said, \u201cI will tell you the meaning of that: in three days,\nPharaoh will take you out of prison, and you will again be his chief\nbutler. When that comes true, remember me and bring me out of this\nprison.\u201d\n\nThen the baker said, \u201cIn my dream, I had on my head three baskets full\nof bread for Pharaoh, and the birds came and ate the bread of the top\nbasket.\u201d\n\nAnd Joseph said, \u201cIn three days, Pharaoh will take you out of prison and\ncut off your head.\u201d\n\nAnd all this came to pass, for the third day was Pharaoh\u2019s birthday, and\nhe pardoned the chief butler, and beheaded the chief baker. The butler,\nhowever, did not remember Joseph.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE\n\n\nTwo years passed by, and Joseph was still in the prison. Then, one\nnight, Pharaoh dreamed. And in his dream he stood by the river, and\nseven fat cows were feeding on the bank, and seven lean cows came and\nate them up. And he dreamed again, and seven full ears of corn grew upon\none stalk, and seven thin ears ate them up. The next morning, when\nPharaoh told his dreams, nobody could explain them. Then, at last, the\nchief butler remembered Joseph. And he said to Pharaoh, \u201cThere is a\nslave in the prison who can tell the meaning of dreams. One time, when\nthe chief baker and I were there, he told us what our dreams meant and\nit came true.\u201d So Pharaoh sent for Joseph. And Joseph shaved himself and\nput on his best clothes, and went out of the prison into the palace.\n\nAnd Pharaoh told his dreams. And Joseph said, \u201cBehold, there come seven\nyears of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, and they shall\nbe followed by seven years of famine.\u201d And Joseph said, \u201cThe thing to do\nis this: Let food be laid up in storehouses during the good years to\nfeed the people during the bad years.\u201d\n\nPharaoh said, \u201cYou are the man to do it. You shall be in charge of this\nbusiness.\u201d And he took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph\u2019s hand,\nand dressed him in royal robes, and put a gold chain about his neck, and\nset him over the land of Egypt. And Joseph rode through the streets in\nthe king\u2019s chariot, and everybody bowed down before him.\n\nThen came the seven years of plenty, and everything grew by handfuls.\nJoseph made great storehouses, and put into them so much grain that it\ncould no more be measured than the sand of the sea. Then followed the\nseven years of famine, and nothing grew at all, and the people were very\nhungry, and they came to Joseph, and he opened the storehouses and sold\nthem food to eat.\n\nEven in Joseph\u2019s old home, the famine was upon the land, and Joseph\u2019s\nbrothers came down to Egypt to buy grain. But Benjamin, the youngest\nbrother, they left with their father. So they appeared before Joseph,\nand he knew them, but they did not know him. He sat upon a throne,\nruling the land of Egypt, and the poor farmers never thought of their\nbrother Joseph. And Joseph punished them for their wickedness.\n\n\u201cYou men,\u201d he said, \u201care spies.\u201d And he had them put in prison.\n\nThey said, \u201cWe are no spies. We are twelve sons of our father Jacob; one\nis with our father, and one is dead; and we have come to buy grain.\u201d\n\nAnd Joseph said, \u201cNow I will prove you. Let me see your other brother. I\nwill keep one of you in prison. The rest of you go and carry back your\ncorn, and bring me down your other brother.\u201d\n\nSo they left Simeon behind, and returned home very sad. And when they\nopened their sacks of grain, there was a bag of money in the mouth of\neach sack, just what they had paid. And they knew not what to think. But\nwhen they told their father what had happened and how the governor of\nthe land wanted to see Benjamin, Jacob would not let him go. \u201cI have\nlost Joseph,\u201d he said, \u201cand now Simeon is gone. I will keep Benjamin.\u201d\n\nBut by and by the grain was almost all eaten, and they began to be very\nhungry, and there was nothing to do but to go again to Egypt, and they\ndared not go without Benjamin. So one day his father kissed the boy,\nwith tears in his eyes, and let him go, and with him he sent a present\nin a basket for the governor, balm and honey, spice and myrrh, pistachio\nnuts and almonds.\n\nSo they came again to Joseph\u2019s palace, and Joseph\u2019s steward brought\nSimeon out of prison, and told them that they were all to come to dinner\nthat day at noon. So at noon they came, and Joseph met them, dressed in\nhis splendid garments, and he said, \u201cIs your father well, the old man of\nwhom you spoke?\u201d\n\nAnd they said, \u201cHe is well.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd is this your youngest brother?\u201d and he said, \u201cGod be gracious unto\nthee, my son.\u201d\n\nAnd suddenly he turned about and went into another room to hide his\ntears. Then he washed his face and came out, and they had dinner. But he\ngave Benjamin five times as much to eat as any of the others. So they\nhad a very pleasant time.\n\nNow Joseph had told his steward that when he filled the sacks, he should\nput into Benjamin\u2019s sack a silver cup. And nobody knew it but the\nsteward. So early the next morning, with Simeon and Benjamin, off they\nstarted very happily for home, singing as they went. And by and by, they\nheard a sound of voices following, and there was Joseph\u2019s steward and\nsome other men.\n\nAnd the steward said, \u201cStop, you thieves, and give me my master\u2019s silver\ncup which you have stolen.\u201d\n\nAnd the brothers stopped, and said, \u201cWe are no thieves. We have taken\nneither gold nor silver from your master\u2019s palace. Search us, and the\nman with whom you find the cup shall die.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d he said, \u201cthe man with whom the cup is found shall be my\nslave.\u201d So he searched the sacks, beginning with the oldest brother and\nending with the youngest, and in Benjamin\u2019s sack, there was the cup!\n\nAnd they all cried out in great grief, and tore their clothes, for that\nwas the custom, and back they went to Joseph\u2019s palace. And Judah, one of\nthe brothers, spoke to Joseph. \u201cMy lord,\u201d he said, \u201cyou asked to see our\nlittle brother, and we brought him down. And our father said as we came\naway, \u2018If mischief befall him, you shall bring down my gray hairs with\nsorrow to the grave,\u2019 and now if we go back without our brother, our\nfather will die. Let me take his place. I will be your slave; and let\nhim go.\u201d\n\nAnd Joseph sent everybody out of the room, except his brothers. And he\nsaid, \u201cI am Joseph. Come near to me, I pray you. I am Joseph your\nbrother, whom you sold into Egypt. And God has made me ruler of all\nEgypt.\u201d And as they were amazed, he said, \u201cDo you not see that I am\nindeed your brother? Go back now and bring my father, and all your\nflocks and herds, and your wives and children, and come and live with\nme.\u201d And he kissed his brothers. And the next day he gave them wagons\nfor his father and their wives and children, and sent them away.\n\nSo Jacob saw his son Joseph, for whom he had mourned as dead. And all\nthe family moved down to Egypt, and Pharaoh gave them pastures for their\nsheep.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nTHE BURNING BUSH\n\n\nJoseph and his brothers had many sons and daughters, and they in their\nturn had many sons and daughters; and even after they were grown up they\nwere all called the Children of Israel; for Israel, you remember, was\nthe new name of their father Jacob.\n\nAnd years passed, and years passed, and Pharaoh died, and another\nPharaoh reigned in his stead. And the Egyptians forgot how Joseph had\nsaved their fathers from starving in the seven years of famine. And they\nmade the Children of Israel their slaves, and sent them into their\nfields to work, and set taskmasters over them with whips. And the new\nPharaoh said to his princes, \u201cThe Children of Israel are more and\nmightier than we. We must keep them from increasing.\u201d So they made a law\nthat all the boy babies of the Children of Israel should be put to death\nas soon as they were born.\n\nNow there was a man and his wife who had two children, a girl of eight\nor ten, named Miriam, and a boy of three, named Aaron. And just at the\ntime of this law, there came a little new boy baby. And his mother hid\nhim, so that the Egyptians should not take him away and kill him. But it\nis very hard to hide a baby. So after three months his mother made a\nbasket of bulrushes, and put pitch on the inside to keep the water out,\nand laid the baby in the basket, and set the basket in the river, near\nthe bank among the reeds. And she told little Miriam to stay near, and\nsee what would happen. So Miriam hid herself in the bushes and watched\nand waited, and by and by who should come down to the water but the\nprincess herself, the daughter of Pharaoh. And the princess saw the\nbasket and sent her maid to fetch it. And when she opened it, there was\nthe baby. And the baby began to cry.\n\nAnd the princess said, \u201cThis is one of the babies of the Children of\nIsrael.\u201d And she was very sorry.\n\nThen Miriam came and said, \u201cPrincess, if you want a good nurse to take\ncare of the baby for you, I think I can find one.\u201d\n\nAnd the princess said, \u201cGo, find her, and bring her to me.\u201d\n\nSo Miriam went and brought the baby\u2019s mother. And the princess said,\n\u201cTake this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay you.\u201d\n\nSo the mother nursed her baby in peace, and when he became a big boy,\nshe took him to the king\u2019s palace, and he lived there with the princess\nas if he had been a prince himself. And his name was Moses.\n\nSo years passed, and the boy became a man. The princess had sent him to\nschool, and he had learned all that the best teachers could tell him. He\nwas very wise. But he never forgot that he was one of the Children of\nIsrael. When he saw his people working in the fields, and the\ntask-masters urging them with whips, he was sad and troubled. One day,\nas he passed by, and saw an Egyptian beating one of the Children of\nIsrael, he could restrain himself no longer. He saved the man and killed\nthe Egyptian. Then he found that the thing was known, and that Pharaoh\nhad discovered that he was really on the side of the Children of Israel.\nAnd he had to run away to save his life.\n\nNow the land which was next to Egypt was called Arabia, and to Arabia\nwent Moses, and there he found a well. And flocks of sheep were feeding\nby it, some of them tended by men and some by women. But the men were\nvery unkind to the women and kept them from drawing water for their\nsheep. And as Moses sat by the well, there came seven sisters with a\nflock of sheep, and the shepherds would not let them get any water. But\nMoses stood up and drove away the shepherds, and drew water for the\nseven sisters, and watered their flocks himself.\n\nSo the sisters went home to their father, and he said, \u201cHow is it that\nyou are come so soon to-day?\u201d They said, \u201cAn Egyptian beat the\nshepherds, and watered our sheep.\u201d\n\nTheir father said, \u201cWhere is the man? Why did you not bring him home to\ndinner?\u201d\n\nSo they found Moses, and brought him home, and when they knew that he\nhad no place in which to stay, they asked him to live with them. And\npretty soon he married one of the seven sisters.\n\nOne day, as Moses kept the flock of his father-in-law, and led them here\nand there for pasture, he came to a high mountain, and at the foot of\nthe mountain he saw a fire. There was a bush burning, and yet, as he\nwatched it, the bush was not burnt. And he said to himself, \u201cI will turn\naside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.\u201d And as he\ncame near, he heard a voice; and the voice said, \u201cMoses, Moses!\u201d\n\nAnd he answered, \u201cHere I am.\u201d\n\nAnd the voice said, \u201cI am the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.\nI have seen the sorrows of my people, the Children of Israel, how the\nEgyptians make them work, and whip them. Come now, return to Egypt, and\ntell\n\n[Illustration: MOSES BY THE BURNING BUSH]\n\nPharaoh to let my people go that they may meet me here at this\nmountain.\u201d\n\nBut Moses said, \u201cPharaoh will not hear me.\u201d\n\nAnd God said, \u201cI will make Pharaoh hear you.\u201d\n\nThen Moses said, \u201cI am no speaker.\u201d\n\nAnd God answered, \u201cLook, who is that coming?\u201d And Moses looked, and\nthere was his brother Aaron. And he ran to meet him and kissed him. And\nGod said, \u201cAaron shall go with you and speak for you.\u201d\n\nSo Moses went back to his father-in-law and told him what had happened\nat the burning bush. And the next day, Moses and Aaron started for\nEgypt. There they found the Children of Israel working very hard, and\nthe taskmasters beating them with whips to make them work harder. And\nMoses and Aaron said to the people, \u201cGod spoke to us in Arabia, and sent\nus to tell you to meet him there beside a mountain. He has seen your\naffliction and has promised to help you.\u201d And the people were very\nglad.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nTHE TEN PLAGUES\n\n\nOne day, as Pharaoh the king was sitting in his palace, in came one who\nsaid, \u201cTwo of the Children of Israel are at the door, and would like to\nspeak with you.\u201d\n\nAnd Pharaoh said, \u201cLet them come in.\u201d\n\nAnd in came Moses and Aaron. \u201cPharaoh,\u201d they said, \u201cwe have a message\nfor you from our God. He wishes you to give the Children of Israel a\nholiday, that they may go out into the country, and meet Him at a\nmountain in Arabia.\u201d\n\nThen Pharaoh was very angry. \u201cWho is your God,\u201d he said, \u201cthat I should\nobey Him? There is work to be done: there are cities to be built; this\nis our busy season; this is no time for a holiday.\u201d And Pharaoh sent\naway Moses and Aaron, and called for the taskmasters who had charge of\nthe Children of Israel, and said, \u201cThese people have asked for a\nholiday. They are idle. Give them more work.\u201d\n\nNow the Children of Israel were making brick and building the walls of\nhouses and towers; and the way to make brick was to take clay and mix it\nwith straw and bake it; and the taskmasters provided the straw. But the\ntaskmasters heard what Pharaoh said, and they stopped the supply of\nstraw. \u201cYou must get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it: but\nyou must make just as many bricks as you made before.\u201d And when the\nChildren of Israel could not do it, they were beaten with whips. So they\ncried out against Moses, saying, \u201cYou have done us harm instead of\ngood.\u201d\n\nThen Moses and Aaron went again to Pharaoh, and Aaron had a rod in his\nhand, and he threw it on the floor at the king\u2019s feet, and the rod\nbecame a serpent. But Egypt was a great place for tricks of magic.\nPharaoh had magicians at his court, who performed before him every day.\nSo he called for two magicians, and in came Jannes and Jambres, each\nwith a rod, and they cast their rods on the floor, and in a moment there\nwere two more wriggling serpents fighting with Aaron\u2019s serpent. And\nalthough Aaron\u2019s serpent chased these two and ate them up, Pharaoh only\nlaughed, and would not let the people go.\n\nBut the next morning, when the king went down to the river, there was\nMoses waiting for him. And Moses said, \u201cPharaoh, if you will not let the\npeople go, God will make this river red like blood, so that nobody may\ndrink out of it.\u201d\n\nAnd so it was. That great river, the Nile, which flows through the midst\nof Egypt, was red like blood, for a whole week. But when it cleared\nagain, Pharaoh said, \u201cI have seen it like that many a time, after the\nspring rains.\u201d And he would not let the people go.\n\nThen Moses called again upon the king, and said, \u201cPharaoh, if you still\nrefuse, God will bring frogs out of the river till they cover all the\nland.\u201d And so it was. The frogs came: first, along the bank; then,\nacross the road so that nobody could go that way; then in crowds and\ncrowds, crawling and hopping and skipping, up the streets and up the\nlanes and up the steps of houses. And at night, there were frogs in the\nbed; and in the morning, at breakfast, there were frogs on the table.\nAnd Pharaoh said, \u201cThis is more than I can bear. Take away the frogs,\nand I will do whatever you wish.\u201d\n\nBut after the frogs had gone back into the river, Pharaoh said, \u201cThat\nwas not so very bad. Almost every year, we have a plague of frogs.\u201d And\nhe would not let the people go.\n\nThen, week after week, all kinds of dreadful things came one upon\nanother. Once there were lice, like the dust of the ground; then there\nwere such swarms of flies that nobody could eat or sleep; after that,\nthe horses and cattle were all sick. Then people had boils; and there\nwas a very grievous hail, and thunder and lightning so that fire ran\nalong upon the ground. The locusts came, blown by the east wind, and ate\nall the leaves and the grass. And after the locusts there was a storm of\nsand, and for three days it was so dark, that people could feel it with\ntheir hands. And every time, when the trouble was worst, Pharaoh said to\nMoses, \u201cTake it away, and I will let the people go.\u201d\n\nBut when the plague was over, Pharaoh said, \u201cI don\u2019t believe that God\ndid it. It was only the weather or the wind.\u201d And he broke his promise.\n\nThus there were nine plagues. Then Moses said to the Children of Israel,\n\u201cThe tenth plague is at hand. This very night, Pharaoh will beg you to\ngo. Get yourselves ready. There is a long journey before you. Let every\nfamily prepare supper. Kill a lamb and roast it, and bake bread. But the\ntime is short; you cannot wait for the bread to rise; make it without\nleaven\u201d (or, as we say, without yeast). \u201cDo not even sit down at the\ntable: stand up, with your coats and hats on, and eat in haste. For\nto-night, God will send a sudden sickness upon the Egyptians, and in\nevery house there will be one dead. You must mark your houses. Take of\nthe blood of the lamb and strike it on the upper post and on the two\nside posts of your doors. Then God will pass over you when He comes to\npunish the Egyptians.\u201d\n\nAnd at midnight so it was. And there was a great cry through all the\nland of Egypt. And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. \u201cThis is the\nend,\u201d he said; \u201cget you gone out of the land, you and all your people.\u201d\n\nAnd the Egyptians hurried them. \u201cQuick!\u201d they said, \u201cgo out of Egypt\nbefore we all die.\u201d\n\nBut the Children of Israel said, \u201cShall we go with empty hands after all\nthe work which we have done for you? What will you give us?\u201d\n\nAnd the Egyptians gave them jewels of gold and jewels of silver. So they\ndeparted. There was a full moon that night, and in the light of it they\nmade their way out of all the cities where they lived, and they turned\ntheir faces toward Arabia. But now they went not only to meet God at the\nmountain, but to be a new nation, and never again to live as slaves in\nEgypt.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nTHE RED SEA\n\n\nIn the middle of the night, under the round moon, the Children of Israel\nstarted on their journey. The fathers and mothers carried the babies,\nthe boys and girls ran and danced beside them, and they drove their\nflocks and herds before them. And as they went, they talked about the\nten plagues, and especially about the last and worst of all, when the\nfirstborn died in every house in Egypt. \u201cExcept our houses,\u201d they said.\n\u201cGod passed over our houses, and saved our lives, and brought us out.\u201d\nAnd they said, \u201cWe must keep the memory of this night forever. When we\nhave a land of our own, and are settled there, then every year when the\nspring is green and the moon is shining full, we will have a supper of\nroast lamb and bread unleavened, such as we had to-night, and when the\nchildren say, \u2018Why do we have this supper and eat unleavened bread?\u2019 we\nwill reply, \u2018Children, this is the feast of the Lord\u2019s Passover, when He\npassed over our houses, and saved us from our slavery in Egypt.\u2019\u201d\n\nSo they journeyed all that night and all the next day. But in the\nmeantime, the Egyptians had begun to recover from their fear. \u201cYes,\u201d\nthey said, \u201cwe have indeed been stricken by a fearful pestilence. There\nis hardly a house in which there is not one dead. And Moses says that\nthis is a punishment upon us because we would not let the Children of\nIsrael go. But we are not so sure of that. How do we know that the\nChildren of Israel or their God had anything to do with it? We were\nfoolish to be frightened and let them go. Now there is nobody left to do\nour work. All our carpenters and masons, all our brick-makers and\nbricklayers, all our hired men, have gone away: and all our cooks and\nwasherwomen have gone with them. What shall we do? Come, let us go after\nthem, and bring them back.\u201d And Pharaoh sent for his chariot in which he\nrode when he went to war, and ordered his captains to bring up six\nhundred other chariots, the best that there were in Egypt. And there was\na great clattering of horses\u2019 hoofs, and a great clashing of swords and\nbattle-axes, in the street before the king\u2019s palace. And Pharaoh came\nout, and away they went, as fast as they could go, after the Children of\nIsrael.\n\nNow the Children of Israel, after a long day\u2019s march, were very tired,\nand they stopped to rest by the Red Sea. On the other side of the sea\nwas the land of Arabia, where they were going to meet God beside a\nmountain. And on the morrow, they expected to walk around the head of\nthe sea, and so reach the other side. But suddenly, in the far distance,\nas the sun was setting, there was a gleam of light, and they knew that\nit was the shining armor of the Egyptian soldiers. And there they were,\nthe poor Children of Israel, with the soldiers behind them and the sea\nbefore them, and no way of escape to either right or left. And they\ncried out against Moses, and said, \u201cWhy did you bring us here to die?\nWere there not graves in Egypt? Did we not tell you that we did not want\nto come? Oh, that we had stayed in our slavery! That was bad enough, but\nthis is worse.\u201d\n\nBut Moses said, \u201cDo not be afraid. Stand still, and see what God will\nshow you. God is on your side, and not an Egyptian shall be able to hurt\nyou.\u201d So the sun went down, and night came on. And with the night came\nthe fog, and the moon, and the wind. And the fog settled down on the\nEgyptians so that they could not see the Children of Israel. And upon\nthe sea the strong wind from the east blew and blew, so that it drove\naway the fog from the Children of Israel, and the clear moon shone upon\nthem. So it was like a pillar of cloud behind them, and a pillar of fire\nbefore them. And harder and harder blew the strong wind upon the shallow\nsea, till clear across from shore to shore there was a place where they\ncould see the bottom, like a narrow path of land across the sea. And\nMoses cried, \u201cGo forward!\u201d And into the sea marched the Children of\nIsrael, along the path of land, in the great gale of wind, with water on\nthe left and water on the right, and the spray dashing upon them.\n\nAnd when the Egyptian army got out of the fog, and came in sight of the\nsea, there were the Children of Israel more than half across. And the\ncaptains commanded the drivers of the chariots, and in they went, as\nfast as the horses could carry them, chasing the Children of Israel. But\nit was a bad road for chariots. Deeper and deeper, the wheels sank in\nthe mud. And then, as day began to dawn, the wind changed. Instead of\nblowing from the east, it blew from the west, and the water came back\nwith it, and the path was covered, and the sea returned to its strength.\nAnd when the sun arose, there were the Children of Israel safe on the\nshore of Arabia, but the Egyptians were nowhere to be seen. The sea had\ncovered them. They had sunk like lead in the mighty waters.\n\nAnd on the shore the Children of Israel sang a song of praise and\nthanksgiving. Moses led the voices of the men, and Miriam and all the\nwomen, with timbrels in their hands, joined in the chorus. \u201cSing ye to\nthe Lord,\u201d they sang, \u201cfor He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and\nhis rider hath He thrown into the sea.\u201d Thus God overthrew the Egyptians\nin the midst of the sea, and the Children of Israel were saved from\ntheir enemies.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nTHE GOLDEN CALF\n\n\nAfter the great adventure of the Red Sea, the Children of Israel started\non their way to the Mountain of the Burning Bush. They had never been\naway from home before, and they did not know how to behave. So when they\nwere uncomfortable, as people are likely to be on a long journey,\ninstead of taking it cheerfully, they complained and cried.\n\nOne time, they were very thirsty, and there was no water. And they all\nsaid, \u201cOh, that we had stayed in Egypt, where there was plenty of\nwater!\u201d And they said to Moses, \u201cWhy did you not let us alone? You have\nbrought us into this desert to kill us with thirst.\u201d But Moses found a\nspring of water coming out of a great rock, and gave them to drink.\n\nAnother time, they were very hungry, and there was nothing to eat. And\nthey cried out against Moses, and said, \u201cOh, that we had stayed in\nEgypt, by the fleshpots! You have brought us into this desert to kill us\nwith hunger!\u201d But Moses said, \u201cBe patient. God is taking care of you.\nHe will feed you.\u201d And when they waked up the next morning, the ground\nwas covered with something which looked like frost. And they gathered\nit, and ground it, and baked it, and it was very nice to eat. And the\nname of it was manna.\n\nSo they ate the manna, and they liked it so much that they said it was\ngood enough even for angels. But as day after day passed and there was\nmanna for breakfast, and manna for dinner, and manna for supper, and\nnothing else, they came to hate the sight of it. Again they wished that\nthey were back in Egypt. \u201cWhen we were in Egypt,\u201d they said, \u201cwe had\nfish to eat, and cucumbers to eat with it, and melons and leeks and\nonions and garlic. Now we have nothing but manna.\u201d So they went on their\nway complaining, and Moses had a very hard time with them.\n\nBut at last they came to the mountain where they were to meet God. And\nthere they pitched their tents, and put out their flocks and herds to\npasture. And on the morning of the third day, there was a great storm of\nthunder and lightning, and the mountain, which was called Sinai, was\ncovered with black clouds, and smoked like a volcano, and out of the\nsmoke and cloud came a sound like the blowing of a mighty wind, and like\nthe rolling of thunder, and like the voice of a loud trumpet. And the\nChildren of Israel were exceedingly afraid. But Moses said, \u201cI am going\nto climb the mountain. I am going up into the cloud and smoke and\nthunder. God told me that He would speak to us in this place. I am going\nup to meet Him.\u201d And he took with him a young man named Joshua.\n\n\u201cYou wait,\u201d he said to the people, \u201ctill I come back and tell you what\nGod says.\u201d\n\nSo Moses and Joshua climbed up the steep side of the mountain, and the\nblack cloud hid them from the people\u2019s sight. And the storm increased in\nfury. The lightning flashed its fires of red and green, the rain came\ndown in torrents, and louder and louder pealed the voice of the wind and\nthe thunder and the trumpet. And as the people stood watching and\nwaiting, they trembled so that their knees knocked together. But night\ncame, and Moses did not return. All the next day they waited, but he did\nnot appear. And the days grew into weeks, and the weeks into a month,\ntill the people said, \u201cMoses is dead. He lost his way, or he fell over a\ncliff, or he was struck by lightning. What shall we do? What shall we\ndo?\u201d And they made Aaron their leader.\n\nNow the people of Egypt, among whom the Children of Israel had lived so\nlong, had strange ideas about God. They thought that God lived in\ncertain animals. And they\n\n[Illustration: IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE SINGING]\n\nsaid their prayers to these animals, and made images of them to put in\ntheir churches. And as years passed and years passed, till the time of\nJoseph was as far away from them as the time of Columbus is from us, a\ngood many of the Children of Israel, being slaves in Egypt, forgot the\nreligion of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and became like the Egyptians.\nSo now they said to Aaron, \u201cMake us an image of God.\u201d And Aaron said,\n\u201cGive me your earrings.\u201d Now all the men and women wore gold earrings,\nand they gave them to Aaron, and he melted them together and made a\ngolden calf. And the people said, \u201cThis is our God.\u201d And they began to\npray to it, and to dance and sing around it.\n\nBut all this time, Moses was speaking with God. God told Moses what He\nwished the people to do. And these things were put in the Ten\nCommandments, and were written on two smooth tables--or, as we say,\ntablets--of stone. And Moses took the Ten Commandments, and started down\nthe mountain.\n\nAnd on the way he heard a noise; and he said to Joshua, \u201cWhat is that\nnoise?\u201d\n\nAnd Joshua said, \u201cIt sounds like shouting. There must be a battle.\u201d\n\nBut Moses said, \u201cIt sounds to me like singing.\u201d\n\nSo they came in sight of the camp. And there was the Golden Calf, and\nall the people singing and dancing around it. And Moses was so angry\nthat he took the tables of stone and threw them down the mountain, and\nthey broke in pieces. And the people were ashamed and afraid. And he\ntold them what a foolish and wicked thing they had done. \u201cGod,\u201d he said,\n\u201chas just been telling me that we must not worship images.\u201d And he\ndestroyed the Golden Calf.\n\nThen he went again upon the mountain, and asked God to forgive his\npeople. And God gave him the Ten Commandments over again. Thus the\nChildren of Israel met God at the mountain, and were told what they must\ndo, and were ready at last to start upon their journey to the Promised\nLand.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nTHE PROPHET AND THE KING\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when the world was younger than it is at present, and\npeople believed that all the animals could speak Hebrew if they only\nwould, a man was riding on an ass along a country road.\n\nSometimes the way went between wide farms which stretched out over the\nflat land. Sometimes it lay between vineyards, and had a stone wall on\nthe right and on the left. Sometimes the man hastened the ass, striking\nher with a stick; because he had been sent for by the king and was in a\nhurry. Sometimes he let the ass take her own time, and she strayed now\non this side of the road and now on that, cropping the thistles;\nbecause, although the man had been sent for by the king, he was not\nquite sure whether he ought to go or not.\n\nThe man\u2019s name was Balaam and the king\u2019s name was Balak. They were both\nof them heathen; that is, they did not know so much about God as the\nChildren of Israel knew. But God knew them, and to Balaam God sometimes\nspoke, and told him what was right and what was wrong; so that people\ncame to Balaam, even from distant lands, that he might tell them the\nwill of God. Thus before a battle, a general or even a king might come\nand say, \u201cTell me, Balaam, is God for me or against me? Shall I lose or\nwin?\u201d And Balaam would go away by himself and ask God, and God would\nspeak in Balaam\u2019s soul and teach him what to say, and Balaam would come\nback and say it. Many people thought that Balaam could do quite as he\nliked, and bless or curse as he pleased, and they said, \u201cSee, Balaam,\nhere is gold and silver: come now, bless me and curse my enemy.\u201d But\nBalaam would speak only that which the Lord God taught him to speak.\n\nBalak was the king of Moab. After the Children of Israel had come across\nthe Red Sea out of Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness and lived in\ntents till they grew strong enough to go to war. They had no country of\ntheir own, but they meant to take the country which God had promised to\nAbraham and Isaac and Jacob. There were already people living in that\ncountry, having walled cities and brave soldiers, and the Children of\nIsrael had to grow very strong indeed before they could hope to take it\naway from them. But now the time had come. The Children of Israel were\non the march. Only one country remained to be crossed before they came\nto the Promised Land: and that was Moab.\n\nSo Balak, king of Moab, was filled with fear, and he sent for Balaam.\n\n\u201cBehold,\u201d he said, \u201cthere is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they\ncover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now,\ntherefore, I pray thee, curse me this people, else shall they lick us up\nas an ox licks up the grass of the field.\u201d And the princes of Balak came\nto Balaam with these words.\n\nAnd Balaam said, \u201cStay here this night, and I will ask the Lord, and in\nthe morning I will tell you.\u201d So the princes stayed at Balaam\u2019s house,\nand in the night God spoke in Balaam\u2019s soul, and God said, \u201cDo not go to\nBalak. Thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed.\u201d\n\nAnd when the morning was come, Balaam told the princes that he could not\ngo.\n\nBut Balak was not satisfied. He sent more princes, and they came to\nBalaam with splendid promises. And Balaam answered, \u201cI must do as the\nLord says. If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I\ncannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more. But\nwait another night, and I will see if the Lord will speak again.\u201d\n\nAnd that night God did speak again, and God said, \u201cGo with the men, but\nyet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.\u201d So in the\nmorning he saddled his ass, and away he went with Balak\u2019s princes. And\nthus he rode, sometimes in haste and sometimes in doubt, between the\nfarms and vineyards.\n\nNow Balak had gone out to meet Balaam that he might take him to the top\nof a high hill whence he should curse the Children of Israel. And they\ntwo went together. And Balaam said, \u201cI am come in vain. The Lord God is\nagainst you. Even as I came, the ass on which I rode refused to go and\ncrushed my foot against the vineyard wall, and the ass said, \u2018Behold,\nthere is an angel in the way,\u2019 and lo, there was an angel with a drawn\nsword to keep me back! I cannot do you any good. I cannot curse the\nChildren of Israel.\u201d\n\nBut Balak urged him, and on they went. And as they climbed the hill, at\nlast the army of Israel came in sight, all in their goodly tents along\nthe valley, as gardens by the river\u2019s side, and as cedar trees beside\nthe waters. And Balak built seven altars and offered on every altar a\nbullock and a ram; and Balaam prayed amidst the altars, and God told him\nwhat to say, and Balaam cried aloud and blessed the Children of Israel.\nThen Balak took Balaam\n\n[Illustration: THE ASS AND THE ANGEL]\n\nto another mountain, to the top of Pisgah, and there built seven altars\nand offered on every altar a bullock and a ram; and Balaam prayed in the\nmidst of the altars, and again he cried aloud and blessed the Children\nof Israel. And so a third time, on a third mountain, from the top of\nPeor.\n\nThen Balak\u2019s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands\ntogether. And Balak said, \u201cI called thee to curse my enemies, and thou\nhast blessed them these three times!\u201d And Balaam answered, \u201cThat is what\nI told you before I came, what the Lord saith that will I speak.\u201d And he\nblessed them a fourth time. And Balaam rose up and went and returned to\nhis place: and Balak also went his way.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nTHE WALLS OF JERICHO\n\n\nThe Promised Land, toward which the Children of Israel were marching\nthrough King Balak\u2019s country, was bordered on that side by the river\nJordan. The Jordan flows through a very deep valley from a large lake in\nthe north to a large lake in the south: the northern lake is called the\nSea of Galilee, and the southern is called the Dead Sea. King Balak\u2019s\nland was beside the Dead Sea; so when they had passed through that\ncountry they came to the river, and thus to the first place where they\ncould cross over into the Promised Land. And on the other side of the\nriver was a city, called Jericho. The first thing to do was to attack\nJericho.\n\nMoses was now dead, and in his place Joshua was the leader and general\nof Israel. Moses had climbed one day to the top of Mount Pisgah, to the\nhigh place where Balaam had stood with Balak, and there had looked over\ninto the Promised Land. It lay before him, full of hills and valleys, a\ngood land and a large, with vineyards and olive trees, and streams of\nwater, and walled cities. There Abraham and Isaac and Jacob had fed\ntheir flocks. Moses had done his great work; he had brought his people\nout of Egypt, and had given them the laws of God, and had made them a\nnation and an army, and had led them to the very entrance of the\nPromised Land. Below were the people waiting and waiting; as they had\nwaited at the foot of Mount Sinai for Moses to come down. But this time\nhe did not come. On the mountain top, in sight of the Promised Land, he\ndied. And Joshua took his place.\n\nSo General Joshua sent two men to go as spies to Jericho. They were to\nenter very quietly into the city, without letting anybody know who they\nwere, and, having found out all they could, they were to come back and\nreport. So they went to Jericho and found a lodging place, and began to\nlook about. They saw that the town had a wall around it, and that the\ngate was shut every evening as the sun went down. And they could see at\na glance that the people were rich. But the men of Jericho discovered\nthe spies and told the king, and the king sent to their lodging place to\ntake them.\n\nBut the woman of the house, whose name was Rahab, was very good to the\nspies. Her house was by the city wall, and on the flat roof there were\nstalks of flax drying in the sun. So when the pursuers came knocking at\nthe door, Rahab hid the spies under the flax, and sent off the pursuers\non a vain search. And when they were gone she took a stout rope and let\ndown the spies out of her window down the wall, and while the pursuers\nran one way toward the river, the spies ran another way toward the\nhills, and so escaped.\n\nAnd Rahab said, \u201cWe have all heard about you here. We know how you came\nover the Red Sea, and how the Lord is with you; and we are all afraid.\nWhen you take the town, have pity on me and on my father and mother and\non my brothers and sisters, and save us alive.\u201d\n\nAnd the spies said, \u201cBind a scarlet line in this window by which we\nescape, and when we come back with the army of Israel we will spare all\nwho are in this house.\u201d\n\nThen they climbed down the rope, and away they went to the hills, where\nthey stayed three days till the pursuit was over. And they returned to\nJoshua, and said, \u201cThe Lord has delivered the city into our hands. They\nare all afraid of us.\u201d\n\nThen Joshua sent his captains among the people to tell them what to do.\n\u201cThe priests,\u201d he said, \u201cshall go down first into the river, and the\npeople shall follow.\u201d So the priests went, carrying the Ark of the\nCovenant; that is, the great chest in which were the Ten Commandments\ncut in stone, as Moses brought them down from Sinai. And as they went,\nit was like the Red Sea over again. They marched across as if the river\nhad been a sandy road. And in the middle of the river stood the priests\nwith the Ark till all the people were gone over. And they took twelve\nstones out of the river where the priests had stood, and built an altar\nwith them on the other side, and thanked God that He had brought them at\nlast into the good land which He had promised to their fathers.\n\nThe next thing to do was to take Jericho. At first, the men of Jericho\ncame out to fight, but they soon ran back and hid behind their walls and\nlocked their gate. And the Children of Israel made a camp around the\ncity so that nobody went out or came in.\n\nAnd Joshua said, \u201cForm a procession: first the armed men, then seven\npriests with trumpets, then the Ark, and then the people. And march\naround the city. Let the priests blow their trumpets, but let all the\nrest of you keep silence. Let nobody speak a word, until I tell you to\nshout. Then shall ye shout!\u201d So they marched around the city, and the\npeople of Jericho looked on from the walls in great amazement. And the\nnext day, they did it a second time; and the third day a third time, and\nso on for six days.\n\nAt last, on the seventh day, the Children of Israel rose up very early,\njust as the sun came up over Mount Pisgah. And that day they went around\nand around the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh\ntime, when the priests blew with the trumpets a longer and louder blast\nthan ever, Joshua cried to the people, \u201cShout! for the Lord hath given\nyou the city.\u201d And all the people shouted with a great shout. And the\nwalls fell flat, and the armed men marched straight in and took the\ncity.\n\nIndeed, the walls were already falling that day when the spies climbed\ndown over them hand under hand on Rahab\u2019s rope. For the true walls of a\ncity are the stout hearts of its citizens, and these had failed for\nfear. Thus the Children of Israel began the conquest of the Promised\nLand. But they spared the people who were in the house which had a line\nof scarlet bound in the window on the broken wall.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nTHE WEDGE OF GOLD\n\n\nThere was a soldier in the army of Joshua whose name was Achan. He had\ntaken part in the siege of Jericho. He had marched before the Ark around\nthe city; he had joined in with all his might when the army shouted with\na great shout; and he had rushed with the others into the streets when\nthe walls fell flat.\n\nNow Joshua had given strict orders that no man should take anything for\nhimself. All the gold and silver and whatever else was of value was to\nbe saved for the Lord: it was to be put into the common treasury. But\nAchan had stolen something.\n\nThe citizens of Jericho were neither strong nor brave to fight, but they\nwere rich. The sun beat down upon the town, and the mist came drifting\nin from the river, and it was very hot there, and the heat made the\npeople weak; but they lived in handsome houses, and wore fine clothes\nevery day, and had money to spend. To Achan, who had been born in the\nwilderness, and had never known any other roof than the top of a tent,\nand had never seen a city in all his life, the houses of Jericho seemed\nlike the magic treasure houses of the fairy stories.\n\nSo when Achan came with the other soldiers, running though the Jericho\nstreets, and breaking into the houses, he looked about him with great\nsurprise. And when, at last, in one house he found a wedge of gold, it\nblazed in his eyes like the sun shining in the clear sky at noon. Beside\nthe gold was a glittering pile of two hundred pieces of silver, and a\nsplendid cloak made in Babylon, stiff with embroidery and colored like a\njewel. And Achan was so dazzled by these riches that he did not see the\ndifference between right and wrong. He took them for his own. Under his\ngown he hid them, and back he hurried to his tent, and then he dug a\nhole in the earth in the middle of the tent and buried them.\n\nThe next day, Joshua sent two spies to visit the next city, which was\ncalled Ai. And they came back and reported that Ai was only a small\ntown, and that there was no need to send the whole army to take it.\nThree thousand men, they said, would be enough. Now Ai was built upon a\nhill. So up the soldiers climbed, expecting a quick and easy victory,\nbut the men of Ai came out to meet them like a pack of bears and tigers,\nand the men of Israel turned their backs like scared sheep, and ran away\ndown the hill as fast as they could go, and the men of Ai after them.\nSo it was a great defeat.\n\nAnd Joshua was troubled exceedingly, and he and all his captains tore\ntheir clothes and threw dust upon their heads, and lay down on the\nground before the Ark all day; for that was the custom when men were in\ngreat distress of mind.\n\nAnd as the night came on, Joshua cried, \u201cO Lord God, why hast thou\nbrought us into this land to give us into the hands of our enemies to\ndestroy us? O Lord, what shall I say when the men of Israel turn their\nbacks before their enemies?\u201d\n\nAnd God said, \u201cGet up, Joshua. Why do you lie upon the ground? There is\na thief in the camp. One of your soldiers has disobeyed your orders.\nFind him, and punish him; then shall you have victory instead of\ndefeat.\u201d\n\nSo the first thing the next morning, Joshua made the army pass before\nhim in a long procession, tribe after tribe, and he chose the tribe of\nJudah. Then he made the tribe of Judah pass before him, family by\nfamily, and he chose the family of Zerah. Then he made the family of\nZerah pass before him, household by household, and he chose the\nhousehold of Carmi. Then he made the household of Carmi pass before him,\nman by man, and he chose Achan. And there was Achan discovered before\nall the people.\n\nAnd Joshua said, \u201cMy son, tell me what you have done. Do not hide\nanything from me.\u201d\n\nAnd Achan answered, \u201cI have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. When\nwe took Jericho, I saw a shining wedge of gold, and a goodly garment,\nand a pile of silver pieces, and I coveted them and carried them away\nand hid them in my tent. There they are, buried in the earth.\u201d\n\nSo Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to Achan\u2019s tent, and there they\nfound even as Achan had said. And they took the gold and silver and the\ngarment and brought them to Joshua. And Joshua led Achan apart into a\nvalley, and said, \u201cWhy hast thou troubled Israel? The Lord shall trouble\nthee this day.\u201d And Joshua commanded, and the soldiers stoned Achan with\nstones until he died, and a great heap of stones was piled upon his\nbody.\n\nThen Joshua attacked Ai again. But this time he was more careful. He\nsent a great company of soldiers by night into an ambush behind the\ntown. And in the morning he marched up the hill, and when the men of Ai\ncame out again, very bold and fierce, he pretended to be frightened and\nmade his soldiers run away, so that the men of Ai ran after them. All\nthe men of Ai ran out of the town\n\n[Illustration: SO THEY STONED ACHAN]\n\nafter the men of Israel. Then suddenly Joshua stopped and lifted up his\nspear, and the soldiers in the ambush saw it and they ran into Ai and\nbegan to burn the town. And the men of Ai looked back, and there was the\nwhole town on fire. So they were between two armies. The army of the\nambush was at the top of the hill, and the army which had pretended to\nrun away was at the bottom. Thus the men of Ai were defeated with a\ngreat defeat.\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nTHE RELIEF OF GIBEON\n\n\nHigh among the hills of the Promised Land lay a town called Gibeon. Men\nwho ran away from the defeat at Ai came straggling into Gibeon, and told\nthe news. \u201cThe Children of Israel,\u201d they said, \u201care coming with a great\narmy. They have destroyed Jericho and Ai, and are on the march for\nGibeon.\u201d Then the Gibeonites held a council and considered what to do.\nAnd they took men and dressed them in the oldest clothes which they\ncould find, all rags and tatters, and put upon their feet the oldest\nshoes, all holes and patches, and gave them baskets in which were loaves\nof dry and mouldy bread. And they said, \u201cGo down now to the camp of\nIsrael and find Joshua and tell him thus and so.\u201d\n\nSo down they went, and came into the camp, walking very slowly, as if\ntheir feet were sore after a long journey, and as if they were too tired\nto go another step.\n\nAnd they said, \u201cWe come from a far country to ask you to make a league\nof peace with us.\u201d\n\nAnd the men of Israel said, \u201cHow do we know that you are telling us the\ntruth? It may be that you are our neighbors.\u201d And they brought them to\nJoshua, and Joshua said, \u201cWho are you, and from whence do you come?\u201d\n\nAnd the men of Gibeon answered, \u201cFrom a very far country. Why, these\nshoes we put on new the day we came away; and see them now. These\nclothes we had made for this journey, and we have worn them out on the\nway. This bread was fresh baked; it was taken hot out of the oven as we\nstarted; and now it is all dry and mouldy. The land where we live is\nover the hills and far away, but even there we have heard about you, and\nwe have come to ask you to give us a promise of peace.\u201d\n\nThen Joshua believed that what they said was true, and he made them a\nsolemn promise that there should be peace between the men of Israel and\nthe men of Gibeon. So they journeyed on together and after three days\nthey came to a town among the hills, and Joshua said, \u201cWhat town is\nthis?\u201d And the men of Gibeon answered, \u201cThis is Gibeon, where we live.\nBut you have promised that you will be at peace with us. You must not\ndestroy Gibeon as you destroyed Jericho and Ai.\u201d And the Children of\nIsrael were very angry, and they said, \u201cCome, let us kill them, and let\nus burn their city, for they lied to us.\u201d But Joshua answered, \u201cNo, we\nhave given them our promise, and we must do as we said.\u201d So they let\nthem live; but they made them their servants, to cut wood and draw\nwater.\n\nNow the kings of five neighboring cities, when they heard that the men\nof Gibeon had made peace with the men of Israel, were much displeased.\nAnd they gathered their armies together and came up against Gibeon. And\nthe Gibeonites sent messengers to Joshua, saying, \u201cCome up to us quickly\nand save us and help us, for now that we have become your friends all of\nour neighbors have become our enemies.\u201d So Joshua gathered together all\nthe people of war and all the mighty men of valor to fight with the\nkings who were encamped about the walls of Gibeon. All night they\nclimbed the hills, and came upon the kings suddenly in the early\nmorning, while all the camp was sleeping. And the kings and all their\nmen waked up in a great fright when they heard the trumpets blowing and\nthe men of Israel shouting, and they ran away, and the men of Israel ran\nafter them. And there was a great storm that day of rain and hail, and\nthe hailstones beat in the faces of the kings\u2019 men. As for the five\nkings, they hid themselves in a cave.\n\nSo Joshua and his soldiers chased the enemy down the long valley. And\nsomebody told Joshua where the kings had gone, and he had his men block\nup the mouth of the cave and leave a guard there, while the rest of the\narmy fought the battle. Now in the afternoon, as the sun began to go\ndown and the moon began to shine with a faint light, like a dim ball of\ngray silver, Joshua wished that the day might last all night. For he\nknew that as soon as it became dark the battle would be over and the\nenemy would escape. So he cried aloud and said. \u201cSun, stand thou still\nupon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.\u201d And it seemed as\nif the sun and moon stood still, that day was so long and the victory\nwas so great. And long after, the soldiers sang about it in their war\nsongs: how the stars in the sky fought on the side of Israel, and the\nsun and moon stood still to see the battle.\n\nBut at last the soldiers came back from following the enemy. And Joshua\nsaid, \u201cOpen the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings unto me\nout of the cave.\u201d So they took away the great stones and brought the\nfive kings. And Joshua made the five kings lie upon the ground before\nall the army, and he called his captains and said, \u201cCome near, and put\nyour feet upon the necks of these kings.\u201d And they came near and put\ntheir feet upon the necks of them. And Joshua said, \u201cFear not, be strong\nand of good courage; for thus shall the Lord do unto all your enemies\nagainst whom ye fight.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nTHE BATTLE OF THE GREAT PLAIN\n\n\nRight across the Promised Land, between the river and the sea, lay a\ngreat plain. Mountains stood about it on every side, and through the\nmidst of it ran a winding river, called the Kishon. Some of the tribes\nof Israel had settled among the hills on the north; others had settled\namong the hills on the south. But the plain itself was held by the\nenemy. They had a king named Jabin, and a general named Sisera, and nine\nhundred chariots of iron. And for twenty years, they mightily oppressed\nthe Children of Israel. They were so strong and cruel that the Children\nof Israel did not dare to show themselves, but went along the by-paths,\nor through the woods, keeping out of sight. And none of them had either\nshield or spear.\n\nNow there was a woman in the land who was braver than any of the men,\nand her name was Deborah. She was not only brave, but wise, so that\npeople used to come to her from all directions to ask her questions, and\nshe told them what to do. Thus she sat every day under a palm tree,\nlistening to the people and answering them. Many who came told Deborah\nhow poor and miserable they were, and how King Jabin\u2019s men, the\nCanaanites, troubled them, and stole all that they had, and were very\nbad to them. So Deborah knew how the land was filled with suffering.\n\nAt last, one day, she sent for a man named Barak. \u201cBarak,\u201d she said, as\nhe came under the palm tree, \u201cyou know how the Canaanites are treating\nour people, day by day, and year by year, and how since Joshua died we\nhave no leader. We must stop it. You must take the lead. God has spoken\nin my soul, and has told me that you are the man, and that this is the\ntime. Go now, and get an army.\u201d\n\nBut Barak said, \u201cDeborah, we are all afraid, and we have no shields or\nspears, nothing but sticks out of the woods, and Sisera has nine hundred\nchariots of iron. Am I to do this thing alone, or will you go with me?\nIf you will go with me, I will go: but if you will not go with me, I\nwill not go.\u201d\n\nAnd Deborah answered, \u201cI will surely go with you, but it will be a woman\nand not a man who shall have the honor of the victory.\u201d\n\nSo Barak sent messengers to all the tribes who lived among the hills by\nthe Great Plain. Some of the tribes said that they would not come, some\nsaid that they would think about it; but Issachar and Zebulun and\nNaphtali sent soldiers, until Barak and Deborah had ten thousand men. In\nthe meantime, Sisera gathered his great army, thousands upon thousands\nof footmen, and thousands upon thousands of prancing horses, and nine\nhundred chariots of iron. And Barak and his soldiers were on the side of\nMount Tabor, and Sisera and his soldiers were in the Great Plain. And\nthere came a storm out of the north, as if the clouds were an army in\nthe sky pouring water out of great buckets. And Deborah cried, \u201cUp,\nBarak; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into\nthine hand.\u201d And Barak rose up and his men with him, and down they\ncharged over the side of the mountain. And the Great Plain was filled\nwith mud by the beating of the rain, so that the wheels of the chariots\nsank like the wheels of Pharaoh\u2019s chariots in the Red Sea. And the\nKishon overflowed its banks. And the army of Sisera fled east and west,\nand the army of Barak followed them.\n\nNow Sisera, when he saw that he was defeated and that his chariot was\nstuck fast in the mud, leaped down in great haste and ran for his life.\nAnd as he ran he came to a tent away off among the hills, where a man\nlived whose name was Heber and his wife\u2019s name was Jael. Heber had no\n\n[Illustration: JAEL TAKES THE TENT PIN]\n\npart in the battle of the day. He lived by himself, and was neither on\nthe side of Barak nor on the side of Sisera. While the others were\nfighting he was in the distant pastures tending his sheep, and his wife\nwas at home alone. So Sisera came breathless and weary with running, and\nBarak was following him far behind. And Jael came out to meet Sisera,\nand she asked him to come in and hide. \u201cTurn in, my lord,\u201d she said,\n\u201cturn in to me: fear not.\u201d So he went in. And he said, \u201cGive me, I pray\nthee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.\u201d And she opened a\nbottle and gave him milk to drink. And he lay down in the tent, and she\ncovered him with a mantle, so that he was hid. And he said, \u201cIf anybody\ncomes to the tent, and asks, \u2018Is there any man here?\u2019 you must say,\n\u2018No.\u2019\u201d Then he went to sleep, for he was very tired.\n\nThen Jael took one of the big wooden pins which held the ropes of the\ntent, and in her other hand a workman\u2019s mallet, and when Sisera was\nsound asleep she went to him softly, and drove the pin straight through\nhis head. And Barak and his men came running by in pursuit of Sisera:\nand Jael came to the tent door, and said, \u201cCome here, and I will show\nyou the man whom you are seeking.\u201d And Barak came in, and there was\nSisera dead. This, you understand, was a long, long time ago, when\npeople did not know so much as we know now about the difference between\nright and wrong: and it was in the midst of war, when very dreadful\nthings are done. Anyhow, Sisera was dead, and the Children of Israel\nwere delivered from the Canaanites.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\nTHE ALTAR OF BAAL\n\n\nSometimes the Children of Israel fought with the people who lived in the\nPromised Land, as Barak fought with Sisera in the Great Plain. Sometimes\nthey made friends with them and learned their ways; and that was worse\nthan war, because their ways were very bad. They called God Baal, and\nthey thought that there were many Baals, one for each place. They\nbelieved that Baal sent the sun and the rain and made things grow in the\nfields, and they told the Children of Israel that if they wished the sun\nto shine and the rain to fall they must build altars to Baal and say\ntheir prayers to him. And some of the Children of Israel did so. They\nforgot God and served Baal. But the men who served Baal thought that\nBaal did not care whether they were good or bad, and so they did not\ncare either.\n\nNow, after the battle of the Great Plain there was peace for many years.\nAnd the Children of Israel had farms and pastures in the plain. There\nwere wide fields of wheat and barley, and droves of sheep and oxen.\nThen the Midianites came.\n\nThe Midianites were wild people who lived in the deserts beyond the\nJordan. They had no cities to dwell in, but wandered about from place to\nplace, riding on swift camels, sleeping in tents, and stealing cattle.\nAnd some of them came over and saw the Great Plain, how it lay shining\nin the sun, with the river winding in and out between the pleasant\nfarms. And they went back and told the others, and pretty soon, when the\nharvest was ripe, there came a great army of Midianites. They had two\nkings, named Zebah and Zalmunna, and two princes, named Oreb, \u201cthe\nRaven,\u201d and Zeeb, \u201cthe Wolf.\u201d The kings and the princes wore red cloaks,\nand had gold chains around their camels\u2019 necks; and all the dark-faced\nmen who rode behind them had great rings of gold hung in their ears.\n\nOver the Jordan they came, like swarms of locusts, and settled down upon\nthe Great Plain. They trampled upon the farms, and stole the wheat, and\ndrove away the sheep and oxen. Before they came the land looked like the\nGarden of Eden, but after they went away it was like a desolate\nwilderness. And the Children of Israel were poor and hungry and\nmiserable. And the next year, when they planted the fields again and the\nbarley and the wheat were ripe and ready for the harvest, over came the\nMidianites and destroyed the farms as they had done before. And so on,\nyear after year, until the Children of Israel hid themselves in dens\namong the mountains and in caves among the rocks. And it seemed as if\nGod had forgotten them.\n\nBut in a village beside the Great Plain there was an altar of Baal. It\nwas made of large stones piled together, and was on the top of a cliff,\nand a grove of trees stood around it. And one morning the people of the\nvillage waked as usual and looked up towards the altar of Baal, and,\nbehold, it was broken down. Not one stone lay upon another. And all the\ntrees of the grove were cut down. And in the place of the old altar was\na new one, made like an altar of God, and on it burned a great fire made\nof the wood of the sacred trees. So they asked who had done this thing,\nand they found that a young man named Gideon had done it. And they laid\nhold upon Gideon, intending to put him to death because he had destroyed\nthe altar of Baal.\n\nBut Gideon said, \u201cI have had a message from the Lord. Yesterday I was\nthreshing wheat, in a secret place among the rocks to hide it from the\nMidianites. And behold, there was a man, like an angel, sitting under an\noak, who said to me, \u2018The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I said, \u2018How can the Lord be with me when He has forgotten us all?\nOh, my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?\nThe Lord has cast us off and has delivered us into the hands of the\nMidianites.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd the man said to me, \u2018Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the\nMidianites.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I answered, \u2018O Lord, how shall I save Israel? My family is the\npoorest in my tribe, and I am the least in my family.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut he said again, \u2018Go and save Israel. I will be with thee.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd even then I could not believe that the Lord had chosen me. I hardly\nknew whether I was awake or dreaming. And I said, \u2018Wait here,\u2019 and I ran\nand fetched meat and bread in a basket and broth in a pot, and gave them\nto the man to eat, and he told me to put them on the rock. And so I did,\nand he put forth the end of the staff which he had in his hand and\ntouched them, and, behold, the rock blazed with fire and the bread and\nthe meat and the broth were consumed, and in the smoke the angel\ndisappeared.\n\n\u201cThen I knew that I had seen a vision from the Lord. This is why I went\nlast night and pulled down Baal\u2019s altar, and built the Lord\u2019s altar in\nthe place of it.\u201d And Gideon\u2019s father said, \u201cLet Baal look out for\nhimself.\u201d\n\nSo the people of the village, and of the country round about, knew that\nthe Lord had called Gideon, and that he would save them from the\nMidianites. And they turned away from serving Baal and served God, and\nwaited to see what would happen next.\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\nTHE BATTLE OF THE LAMPS AND PITCHERS\n\n\nOne day the word was brought to Gideon that the Midianites were coming.\nKing Zebah and King Zalmunna, and Oreb the Raven and Zeeb the Wolf, with\nthousands of fierce men on camels, were on the march. On they came\nacross the Jordan, and like locusts they began to spread over the Great\nPlain.\n\nAnd Gideon said to himself, \u201cDid I dream about the angel, or was it\ntrue? Did he sit beneath the oak, and tell me that God wished me to\nfight the Midianites? did he strike fire out of the rock and go up in\nthe smoke?\u201d And Gideon said, \u201cI will make sure. To-night I will spread\nout a fleece of wool and ask God for a sign. If in the morning the\nfleece is wet with dew while the earth around it is dry, then I will\nknow that the Lord has sent me.\u201d So he spread the fleece upon the\nground, and when he rose up early the next morning, the ground was dry\nand the fleece was so wet that he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a\nbowlful of water.\n\nBut still he was not satisfied. \u201cPerhaps,\u201d he said, \u201cit only happened\nso.\u201d And he asked for another sign. \u201cTo-night let the fleece be dry and\nall the ground be wet.\u201d And in the morning so it was. The ground was wet\nwith dew, but not a drop had fallen on the fleece.\n\nThen Gideon blew a trumpet and called the people together, and sent\nmessengers all about the country to call the fighting men, and there was\na great army. But when Gideon came to see the army he did not like the\nsoldiers\u2019 looks: it seemed to him that they were frightened. He was\nafraid that when they saw the Midianites they would run away. And he\nmade a speech. \u201cTo-morrow,\u201d he said, \u201cthere will be a hard battle. The\nMidianites are many in number and very fierce. Perhaps you would like to\ngo home. If you are afraid, if your knees are trembling, that is the\nbest thing to do. Go straight home to-day.\u201d And twenty-two thousand men,\nwith trembling knees and pale faces, drew a long breath of relief and\nwent home as fast as their legs could carry them. And there were left\nten thousand.\n\nBut Gideon did not like the looks of the ten thousand. Now there was a\nspring in that place. The water came clear and cold out of Mount Gilboa\nand became a river. And across the river were the Midianites in their\ntents as far as the eye could see. And very early in the morning Gideon\nbrought the ten thousand to the river and the spring and bade them\ndrink; and as they drank he watched them. Most of them threw themselves\nupon the ground beside the water and put their lips to the stream and\ndrank; and if there had been any Midianites hidden in the bushes they\ncould have shot the drinkers with arrows, for they were off their guard.\nBut three hundred took up water in their hands and drank, with their\nother hands holding their weapons and their eyes wide open. These three\nhundred Gideon chose, and sent the others home.\n\nSo the three hundred waited with Gideon for the going down of the sun.\nAnd when it was dark, and the lights were out in the camp of the\nMidianites, Gideon took his armor-bearer, and they two went alone, very\nsoftly, and crept about among the tents of Midian. The Midianites lay in\nthe valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were\nwithout number, like the sand by the seaside. And as Gideon and his\narmor-bearer passed a tent, they heard men talking.\n\nOne man said, \u201cI dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread\ntumbled into the army of Midian, and came into a tent and struck it so\nthat it fell and was overturned and lay upon the ground.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: GIDEON HEARS THE TELLING OF A DREAM]\n\nAnd the other man said, \u201cThat means the sword of Gideon, for into his\nhands has God delivered all of us this night.\u201d\n\nThen Gideon knew that the soldiers were afraid, and he went back to his\nown camp and called his three hundred men together.\n\nAnd Gideon divided the three hundred into three companies, a hundred in\neach company; and to every man he gave a trumpet and an empty pitcher\nand a lamp; but the lamp was what we call a torch, a burning stick. And\nGideon said, \u201cWatch me, and do as you see me do. When I blow my trumpet,\nyou all blow yours, and shout with all your might, \u2018The sword of the\nLord and of Gideon! The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!\u2019\u201d\n\nSo they all crept softly toward the enemy, every man with his lamp and\npitcher in his left hand and his trumpet in his right. And the\nMidianites were fast asleep, for it was almost midnight. And suddenly\nGideon gave the signal; he blew a great blast upon his trumpet, then\nwith the trumpet he broke the pitcher, and the torch he waved about his\nhead, shouting, \u201cThe sword of the Lord and of Gideon!\u201d And all the\nothers did the same, and there was a great blowing of trumpets and a\ngreat crashing of pitchers and a great shining of flaring torches, and a\ngreat sound of shouting. And the Midianites waked up in terrible alarm,\nand nobody knew what was the matter; and they looked this way and that,\nand in every direction there were shouting men and flames of fire. And\nthey ran like frightened sheep, some on foot and some on camels, down\nthe valley and over the Jordan, and out of the country; and they never\ncame back again.\n\nThat was the end of Zebah and Zalmunna, and of Oreb the Raven and Zeeb\nthe Wolf, and their fierce soldiers with them.\n\n\n\n\nXX\n\nTHE MIGRATION OF DAN\n\n\nThe Children of Israel were divided into thirteen tribes, as the\nAmerican people before the Revolution were divided into thirteen\ncolonies. For each of the twelve sons of Jacob became the founder of a\ntribe, except Joseph, who became the founder of two tribes, Ephraim and\nManasseh. The Promised Land was divided among these thirteen tribes or\ncolonies. But the tribe of Dan was not satisfied. They thought that the\nland which was given them was not large enough.\n\nSo the tribe of Dan sent five men to find another place for them to live\nin, and away they went into the north to find it; as if, in the early\ndays, the colony of Rhode Island had sent men to find them a new country\nin the woods of Maine. And on the way, they came to the house of a man\nnamed Micah.\n\nNow Micah had stolen some money which belonged to his mother. He had\ntaken eleven hundred pieces of silver. But afterwards he was very sorry\nfor the wrong thing which he had done, and he brought back the silver.\nAnd his mother took some of the silver and had it made into two images,\nto look like God: though nobody knows how God looks. And they built a\nlittle church, which they called the House of God, and in the church\nthey put the images so that they might look at them while they said\ntheir prayers. And the neighbors used to come to Micah\u2019s church; and\nMicah\u2019s son conducted the service till they could get a regular\nminister.\n\nOne day, there came walking along the road by Micah\u2019s house a young man\nnamed Jonathan, who was out in the world in search of his fortune. And\nhe stopped to speak to Micah. He told Micah that his name was Jonathan,\nand that he was a grandson of Moses, and that he was a regular minister.\n\nAnd Micah said, \u201cWhere are you going, Jonathan?\u201d\n\nAnd Jonathan said, \u201cOh, I am just wandering around looking for a good\nplace in which to stay.\u201d\n\nAnd Micah said, \u201cStay here with me, and take the service in my little\nchurch, and be a father and a priest to me and my family, and I will\ngive you a salary. Every year you shall have ten pieces of silver and\nyour board and clothes.\u201d That satisfied Jonathan, and he became the\nminister of Micah\u2019s church.\n\nNow Jonathan, in his wanderings, had become acquainted with the tribe\nof Dan, so that the five men who were looking for a new country knew him\nwell. And they came to the house of Micah just at church time, and heard\nthe priest saying the service. And they said one to another, \u201cThat is a\nfamiliar voice. It sounds like the voice of Jonathan.\u201d So they went in\nand found Jonathan. And they said, \u201cJonathan, who brought you here? What\nare you doing in this place? How much wages do you get?\u201d And Jonathan\nanswered all their questions. And the spies said, \u201cPray for us, that we\nmay have a prosperous journey.\u201d\n\nThen on they went, and presently they came to a little town called\nLaish. It stood beside the sources of the Jordan, and all around was a\nfair and fertile country. Moreover, the people were so far away from any\nneighbors that they had no walls, but lived quiet and secure, and never\nthought of danger. The five spies agreed that this was the very spot for\nwhich they were looking. So they went back to the tribe of Dan and said,\n\u201cWe have found the very place. It is a wide and beautiful land, with\nwoods and water, and the people know nothing about war. Come, let us go,\nand take the place away from them.\u201d For this, you remember, was so long\nago that people thought that some things were right which we now know to\nbe wrong.\n\nSo six hundred bold men of the tribe of Dan took weapons of war in their\nhands and started on the march for Laish. And as they went, they passed\nthe house of Micah. And the five spies said, \u201cDo you know what is here?\nThis man has images of gods, made of gold and silver. Might they not be\nuseful for us?\u201d So the six hundred stood at Micah\u2019s gate, and the five\nwent quietly into Micah\u2019s church, and brought the images.\n\nBut Jonathan saw them, and he cried out and said, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d\n\nAnd they said, \u201cHold your peace, lay your hand upon your mouth, and go\nwith us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it not better to be the\nminister of a tribe than the minister of one man?\u201d\n\nAnd Jonathan, when he heard that, was very glad. He let the spies steal\nMicah\u2019s images, and he himself went with them. So they all went upon the\nway to Laish.\n\nNow when they had gone a good way, they heard a noise of shouting; and\nthey looked back, and who should come running along the road but Micah\nand his neighbors. And they turned and said to Micah, \u201cWhat is the\nmatter with you? Why do you follow us and make all this noise?\u201d\n\nAnd Micah cried, \u201cYou have stolen both my priest and my gods, and away\nyou go. And you say, \u2018What is the matter with you?\u2019\u201d\n\nAnd the men of Dan said, \u201cMicah, take our advice: don\u2019t talk so loud.\nSome of us might possibly get mad and hurt you!\u201d So they went their way.\nAnd when Micah saw that they were too many for him, he turned and went\nback to his house. Then the men of Dan took Laish and settled in that\ncountry; and they built a church for Micah\u2019s images, and Jonathan became\ntheir priest.\n\n\n\n\nXXI\n\nTHE RIDDLE OF THE LION AND THE BEES\n\n\nOn the side of a green hill, in the midst of the Promised Land, lived a\nman named Manoah and his wife. They belonged to the tribe of Dan, but\nhad stayed behind when the six hundred went out to settle in the land of\nLaish. In the distance, along the edge of the sky, lay the sea; and\nbetween the hill and the sea were miles and miles of yellow cornfields,\nwith vineyards here and there, and groves of olive trees. But all of\nthis fair country belonged to the Philistines. And the Philistines and\nthe Children of Israel were enemies; and after the six hundred boldest\nmen of Dan had gone, the Philistines were very bad to those who were\nleft. Indeed, all of the Children of Israel were afraid of them.\n\nNow as Manoah and his wife looked out from their hillside over the\nPhilistine country, they said often one to another, \u201cOh, that we had a\ngood stout son to defend us against our enemies in our old age!\u201d And one\nday when Manoah came home from work, his wife said, \u201cWhat do you\nsuppose happened to-day? A strange man stopped and spoke to me, and said\nthat we would have a son. I was so frightened that I forgot to ask him\nwhence he came, and he did not tell his name. Indeed, I didn\u2019t know\nwhether he was a man or an angel. But he said that our prayer would be\nanswered and that God would send us a son.\u201d\n\nThe next day, the strange man came by again, and Manoah\u2019s wife was in\nthe field, and she saw him and called her husband.\n\nAnd Manoah said, \u201cAre you the man who spoke to my wife yesterday?\u201d And\nhe said, \u201cI am.\u201d\n\nAnd Manoah said, \u201cLet thy words come to pass. Only tell us how to bring\nup the child that he may be strong and sturdy.\u201d\n\nAnd the angel answered, \u201cLet neither the mother nor the child taste\neither grapes or wine, and never let his hair be cut.\u201d\n\nThen Manoah brought out bread and meat and laid them on a rock, and\nthere was a fire burning by the rock, and somehow,--whether the flame\ndazzled their eyes or the smoke was blown in their faces so that they\ncould not see,--when they looked, the man had disappeared.\n\nThen days passed and days passed, and God sent the child, as the man had\nsaid, and his hair was so yellow and his face was so bright that they\nnamed him Samson; that is, \u201cThe Little Sun.\u201d He grew up a stout lad, the\nstrongest in the neighborhood. He never tasted either grapes or wine,\nand every year his hair grew longer and longer, till they braided it in\nseven big braids hanging down his back. But if the boys with whom he\nplayed ever said anything about the length of Samson\u2019s hair, they said\nit when Samson could not hear them; for they were very careful not to\nmake him angry. Nobody could throw so high, or jump so far, or run so\nfast as Samson.\n\nAt last, it became time for Samson to be married, and he fell in love\nwith a Philistine girl who lived in a place called Timnath. And Samson\nwent down one day, with his father and mother, to call upon the father\nand mother of the girl, and there came out a young lion from a vineyard\nand roared against Samson. And Samson caught the lion and killed him\nwith his hands. Then, after a while, as the wedding day drew near,\nSamson and his father and mother went again to Timnath to the marriage.\nAnd as they went, they passed the place where Samson had killed the\nlion, and behold, among the dry bones of the lion there was a swarm of\nbees; and Samson took some of the\n\n[Illustration: SAMSON KILLS THE LION WITH HIS HANDS]\n\nhoney and gave it to his father and mother, and they went along the way\neating it.\n\nNow it was the custom in those days, at weddings, to tell riddles. And\nSamson told a riddle. And his riddle was this: \u201cOut of the eater came\nforth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.\u201d And the wedding\nguests tried to guess the riddle: one said this, and another said that,\nbut none was right. The game was that if any of the thirty guests could\nfind out the riddle within seven days, Samson was to give every man a\nshirt and a suit of clothes; but if they could not guess it, they were\nto give him thirty shirts and thirty suits of clothes. So the seventh\nday came, and nobody had guessed the riddle. Now the guests had gone to\nSamson\u2019s wife and said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t make your husband tell you the\nanswer to the riddle and then tell us, we will burn down your house.\u201d So\nSamson\u2019s wife came to him every day, and cried and cried, and said, \u201cYou\ndon\u2019t love me. If you loved me you would tell me the answer to the\nriddle.\u201d But he said, \u201cI have not told even my father or my mother.\u201d At\nlast, however, on the seventh day, she begged so hard that Samson told\nher: and straight she went and told the wedding guests. So just as the\nsun was going down on the evening of the seventh day, they came to\nSamson, boasting and laughing, and they said, \u201cWhat is sweeter than\nhoney? and what is stronger than a lion?\u201d Thus they guessed the riddle,\nand Samson paid the forfeit of thirty shirts and thirty suits of\nclothes.\n\n\n\n\nXXII\n\nTHE SECRET OF STRENGTH\n\n\nSamson was not the captain of an army, like Joshua and Barak and Gideon.\nHe fought the Philistines alone. He used to go out by himself, when they\nwere not looking for him, and surprise them. The favorite stories of the\nIsraelites were the adventures of Samson, as the favorite stories of the\nGreeks were the adventures of Hercules.\n\nOne time, they said, he caught three hundred foxes and tied their tails\ntogether, and in each knot he put a lighted torch, and away went the\nfoxes with the firebrands into the standing corn, and burned it down.\n\nAnother time, the Philistines were after him, and he let his neighbors\ntie him with ropes and leave him on a rock. And three thousand\nPhilistines were in pursuit, and when they saw him they gave a great\nshout and rushed upon him; and he burst the ropes, and picked up a dry\nbone, the jawbone of an ass, and fought the Philistines with it so that\nthey fled like frightened sheep.\n\nOnce he was in the town of Gaza, which had stout walls around it. And\nthey thought that they had him fast. But in the night, he took the great\ngates of the city, and picked them up, and the posts with them, and\ncarried them off. And when the Philistines awoke in the morning, Samson\nwas gone, and there were the gates away up on the side of a hill.\n\nBut at last, after Samson\u2019s wife was dead, he fell in love with another\nPhilistine woman, whose name was Delilah. And she was a false friend.\nFor the Philistines said to Delilah, \u201cCome now, get Samson to tell you\nthe secret of his strength, that we may have the mastery of him, and we\nwill give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.\u201d And she promised to do\nit.\n\nSo Delilah said, \u201cTell me, Samson, what is the secret of your strength?\nWhat is the way to bind you so that you cannot get loose?\u201d\n\nAnd Samson answered, \u201cIf I were bound with seven new bowstrings I should\nbe as weak as any other man.\u201d\n\nAnd Delilah said, \u201cOh, Samson, let me try; let me see if I can tie you\nso that you cannot get free.\u201d\n\nAnd Samson held out his arms, and she tied seven new bowstrings tight\nabout him with hard knots. And the lords of the Philistines were in the\nnext room, waiting.\n\nAnd Delilah cried, \u201cThe Philistines be upon thee, Samson!\u201d And he\nstarted up, and broke the bowstrings as if they were strings which had\nbeen scorched in the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.\n\nBut the next day, Delilah teased Samson again to tell the secret. \u201cYou\nmocked me, yesterday,\u201d she said, \u201cand told me lies. Now, truly, Samson,\nhow may you be bound so that you must stay bound?\u201d\n\nAnd Samson said, \u201cIf I were to be tied with new ropes which have never\nbeen used, then I should be as weak as any other man.\u201d\n\nSo Delilah took new ropes and tied him fast. And the lords of the\nPhilistines were in the next room, waiting.\n\nAnd Delilah cried, \u201cThe Philistines be upon thee, Samson!\u201d And he broke\nthe ropes as if they had been thread.\n\nAgain, the next day, she asked him the same question. And Samson said,\n\u201cIf the seven locks of my hair were woven into a web, I could not get\naway.\u201d And Delilah was weaving cloth upon a loom, and while Samson was\nasleep she wove his long hair into the web and cried again, \u201cThe\nPhilistines be upon thee, Samson!\u201d And straight he waked, and stood up,\nand pulled away the web and the loom together.\n\nThen Delilah said, \u201cHow can you say, \u2018I love you,\u2019 when every day you\nmock me and lie to me! Tell me true, what is the secret of your mighty\nstrength?\u201d\n\nAnd Samson told her true. \u201cIf they cut off my hair,\u201d he said, \u201cthen I\nshall have no strength at all.\u201d\n\nAnd Delilah knew that this time he had told the truth, and she called\nfor the lords of the Philistines. \u201cCome only this once,\u201d she said, \u201cand\nyou shall have him.\u201d And they came, and brought the silver pieces with\nthem.\n\nAnd Samson slept, in the heat of the day, with his head upon Delilah\u2019s\nknees. And the men came in softly and cut off the seven locks of his\nhair. Then Delilah cried, \u201cThe Philistines be upon thee, Samson!\u201d And he\nawoke, and saw the Philistines coming, and he stretched forth his great\narms, and they were like the arms of any other man. And the Philistines\nlaid hold upon him, and put out both his eyes.\n\nSo the Philistines brought Samson down to Gaza, and bound him with brass\nfetters, and put him in prison, and made him grind their corn. But his\nhair began to grow again. And at last, one day, the Philistines made a\ngreat feast in the temple of Dagon, their god. And there were crowds and\ncrowds of people, and all the lords of the Philistines; there were\npeople even on the roof. And they brought Samson from the prison that\nthey might look at him, and laugh at him. And a lad led him by the\nhand. And by and by Samson said to the lad, \u201cLead me to a pillar.\u201d Now\nthe temple roof rested on two huge pillars, quite near together. And\nSamson cried to God and said, \u201cO Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and\nstrengthen me, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged upon the\nPhilistines for one of my two eyes.\u201d And he thrust out his great arms\nwhere he stood between the pillars, and pushed them hard with all his\nmight, and they fell, and the roof fell with them upon the Philistines,\nand upon their lords, and upon Samson. So the dead which he slew at his\ndeath were more than they which he slew in his life.\n\n\n\n\nXXIII\n\nTHE BRAMBLE AND THE FIRE\n\n\nAbimelech was a king\u2019s son. His father was the brave Gideon who fought\nthe battle of the Lamps and Pitchers. But he had seventy brothers. So\nwhen Gideon died the question at once arose, \u201cWhich of all the princes\nshall be the king?\u201d This question was promptly answered by Abimelech. He\nwent to the men of a town called Shechem, and said, \u201cNo nation can have\nseventy kings. The right number is one. Now make me king, and I will be\nyour friend.\u201d And that pleased the men of Shechem. They gave Abimelech\nseventy pieces of silver, and he hired seventy bad men, and one black\nnight they set out from Shechem, every man with a piece of silver in one\npocket and a sharp knife in the other, and when they came back in the\nearly morning all of Abimelech\u2019s seventy brothers had been killed but\none. One brother, Jotham, the youngest of them all, escaped.\n\nNow the town of Shechem lay amidst the mountains. On one side was a\nmountain called Ebal, and on the other side was a mountain called\nGerizim. And that day, the men of Shechem heard the voice of some one\ncalling, and here they looked and there they looked to find where the\nvoice came from, and at last on Mount Gerizim they saw a boy. And there\nwas Abimelech\u2019s youngest brother, Jotham. And Jotham lifted up his voice\nand cried to the men of Shechem, and they came out of their houses and\nstood in the street to hear him.\n\n\u201cHearken unto me,\u201d he said, \u201cye men of Shechem, that God may hearken\nunto you. One time the trees resolved to choose a king, and they said to\nthe olive tree, \u2018Come thou and reign over us.\u2019 But the olive tree said\nunto them, \u2018Shall I leave my oil which honors God and man, and go to be\nking over the trees?\u2019 Then they said to the fig tree, \u2018Come thou and\nreign over us,\u2019 But the fig tree said, \u2018Shall I leave my sweetness and\nmy good fruit and go to be king over the trees?\u2019 Then they said to the\nvine, \u2018Come thou and reign over us,\u2019 But the vine said, \u2018Shall I leave\nmy wine which gladdens God and man and go to be king over the trees?\u2019\nThus the olive and the fig and the vine refused. Then said all the trees\nunto the bramble, \u2018Come thou and reign over us,\u2019 And the bramble\nconsented. \u2018Come,\u2019 said the bramble, \u2018and get under my shadow. But if\nyou play me false, out of me shall fire come till even the cedars of\nLebanon are burned.\u2019\u201d\n\nThus did Jotham speak, and lest anybody should fail to understand his\nfable, he told the men of Shechem what it meant.\n\n\u201cMy brother Abimelech,\u201d he said, \u201cis good for nothing. He is like a\nbramble in the field. And you have made him your king. Now look out for\nfire.\u201d So saying, he climbed down from the rock on which he stood, and\ndisappeared in the woods and ran away.\n\nAnd by and by the fire came. For after three years there was a quarrel\nbetween Abimelech and the men of Shechem. The men of Shechem began to\nrob the caravans as they went to and fro over the great roads through\nAbimelech\u2019s land. And in the autumn, when the grapes were ripe, and the\nmen of Shechem were all in the vineyards making wine and drinking it,\nthey defied Abimelech. They said that they were not afraid of him. And\nthey had for leader a man named Gaal, who wished to be king in\nAbimelech\u2019s place. \u201cWho is Abimelech?\u201d he said; \u201cwhy should we serve\nhim? Make me your captain, and I will look after Abimelech.\u201d And this\nthey agreed to do. But Zebul, the mayor of the city, sent word and told\nAbimelech.\n\nAnd Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night,\nand marched toward Shechem. Now early in the morning Gaal the rebel and\nZebul the mayor stood together in the gate of the city and looked out.\n\nAnd Gaal said, \u201cSee, there are people coming down from the top of the\nmountains.\u201d\n\nBut Zebul laughed and said, \u201cOh, you see the shadows of the passing\nclouds.\u201d\n\nAnd Gaal spoke again and said, \u201cSee! see! there are people coming over\nMidland Hill, and there are others gathering under the Magician\u2019s Tree.\u201d\n\nAnd Zebul said, \u201cWhere is your mouth with which you said, \u2018Who is\nAbimelech?\u2019 These are the people whom you have despised. Go out now and\nfight.\u201d\n\nSo Gaal went out and fought, and Abimelech beat him and chased him and\nall his followers into the town. And the men of Shechem fled into their\nstrong tower. And Abimelech and his men took axes in their hands and\nwent off into the woods; and Abimelech said, \u201cWatch me, and do as you\nsee me do, quickly.\u201d And he cut off a big branch of a tree and put it\nover his shoulder, and all the soldiers did the same. And down they came\nagainst the tower of Shechem, like a marching forest, like Birnam Wood\non its famous march to Dunsinane. The boughs they piled about the tower\nand set them on fire, and burned the tower and the men of Shechem with\nit.\n\nBut the next day, when Abimelech tried in the same way to burn the tower\nof Thebez, suddenly the end came. For a woman on the top of the tower\nhad a piece of a millstone in her hand, and as Abimelech came near she\nthrew the stone with all her might, and it hit him in the head. And that\nhe might die a soldier\u2019s death, he called his armor-bearer to come and\nkill him with his sword. Thus he died. And thus the evil both of the men\nof Shechem and of Abimelech was punished.\n\n\n\n\nXXIV\n\nJEPHTHAH\u2019S DAUGHTER\n\n\nHer father was an outlaw, like Robin Hood. For no fault of his he had\nbeen driven from his home, and had gone to live in the wild forest.\nThere he had been joined by other men, some bad and some good, who had\nbeen driven out like himself or had run away in fear of being punished.\nAnd they went on forays, stealing sheep and oxen. And people who had\nmoney in their purses were afraid to go by that way, lest Jephthah and\nhis merry men should fall upon them and send them back with empty\npockets, and sore heads into the bargain. Though I hope that Jephthah,\nlike Robin Hood, troubled only those who cheated their neighbors or were\ncruel to the poor. Anyhow, his fame spread through all the land of\nGilead, in which he lived, and everybody knew that Jephthah was a bold\noutlaw, and that he had with him a band of stout companions. In the\ngreenwood, with these wild men, lived a little girl; and she was\nJephthah\u2019s only child.\n\nThe land of Gilead was bounded by three rivers and a desert. In the\nnorth a river ran into the Jordan, and in the south a river ran into the\nJordan, and the desert lay along the east. And in the desert was a wild\ntribe called the men of Ammon. And the men of Ammon sent word to the men\nof Gilead and said, \u201cThe country in which you live belongs to us. That\nwas where our fathers lived. Come now, move out and let us in.\u201d And when\nthe men of Gilead heard that, they were sore distressed, for the men of\nAmmon were mighty men. \u201cWhere is a man,\u201d they said, \u201cwho can be the\ncaptain of our army? If he can lead us into battle and gain the victory,\nhe shall be the king of Gilead.\u201d And they sent to Jephthah and asked\nhim.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d they said, \u201cand be our captain, that we may fight with the men\nof Ammon.\u201d\n\nBut Jephthah said, \u201cDid you not hate me, and expel me out of my father\u2019s\nhouse? Why are you come to me now when you are in distress?\u201d\n\nAnd the men of Gilead said, \u201cIf you will be our captain so that we may\ndefeat our enemies, you shall be our king.\u201d\n\nSo Jephthah and his merry men and his little daughter came out of the\nwoods with the messengers of Gilead. And they all stopped at a church\nbeside the road and said their prayers. And there they told God what\nthey had promised. And Jephthah stood up and made a vow. \u201cO Lord,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cif thou shalt without fail deliver the men of Ammon into my\nhands, then it shall be that whosoever comes first out of my doors to\nmeet me when I return in peace, I will sacrifice to thee.\u201d For Jephthah\nthought that if he made a vow like that, the Lord would be more likely\nto give him victory. This, you understand, was a long time ago, when\npeople were very ignorant about God. Of this vow, Jephthah\u2019s daughter\nknew nothing.\n\nThus Jephthah became the captain. And he sent messengers to the king of\nAmmon and said, \u201cWhy are you come to fight me in my own land?\u201d And the\nking of Ammon answered, \u201cYour land is my land. Your fathers took it from\nmy fathers. Come now, give it up again peaceably.\u201d But Jephthah said,\n\u201cWhen our fathers came into these parts out of Egypt, your fathers were\nnot living here. They had been driven out by Sihon, king of the\nAmorites. And our fathers fought with Sihon and beat him in battle and\ntook his land, from one river to the other. It was not your land. And\nanyhow, all this happened three hundred years ago. The Lord be judge\nthis day between the men of Gilead and the men of Ammon.\u201d So they fell\nto fighting. And the men of Gilead gained a great victory.\n\nAnd Jephthah came home in triumph to his house, and all the women came\nout to meet him, who had stayed behind while the men went to battle. Out\nthey came, singing and dancing and playing on tambourines. And who\nshould be at the head of the procession but Jephthah\u2019s little daughter!\nSo she was the first person who came out to meet him when he returned in\npeace. She was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor\ndaughter. And when her father saw her he cried with a great cry, and\nsaid, \u201cAlas, my daughter! you have dealt me a worse blow than any that\nwas struck this day in battle: you have brought me down to the ground.\nFor I have vowed a vow to God, and I must keep it, and here you come to\nmeet me.\u201d\n\nThen Jephthah\u2019s daughter understood what the vow was, and that it meant\nher death. And she said, \u201cMy father, you have gained the victory: that\nis the great thing. Do to me according to what you have promised to the\nLord.\u201d It was all terribly wrong, though Jephthah did not know it. But\nhis daughter, like Iphigenia in another story, showed herself a martyr\nand a heroine. For the sake of her country, as she believed, she gave\nher life.\n\nSo they made Jephthah their king, but his happiness was gone. He fought\na battle with the men of Ephraim and drove them back over the river, and\nstationed his soldiers on the bank where they must cross. And when\nanybody came running, the soldiers said, \u201cAre you a man of Ephraim?\u201d and\nif he said \u201cNo,\u201d they said, \u201cSay \u2018Shibboleth.\u2019\u201d And if he said\n\u201cSibboleth\u201d they knew that he belonged to Ephraim, for the men of\nEphraim were not able to say _sh_. But every year the women of Israel\nspent four days in the mountain weeping and lamenting in remembrance of\nthe sacrifice of Jephthah\u2019s daughter.\n\n\n\n\nXXV\n\nTHE KING\u2019S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER\n\n\nAll the great-grandmothers were once as young as we are. So, when this\nstory begins, King David\u2019s great-grandmother was just about at the age\nwhen girls are graduated from the grammar school. She lived in Moab, in\nthe country of Balaam and Balak, and her name was Ruth. And at that time\na new family moved into that neighborhood from the land of Judah, from\nthe town of Bethlehem. The man\u2019s name was Elimelech, and his wife\u2019s name\nwas Naomi, and they had two sons. And by and by one of the sons married\na girl named Orpah, and the other married Ruth. Then ten years passed,\nand Elimelech and his two sons died, and Naomi and Ruth and Orpah were\nleft alone.\n\nThen Naomi took her two daughters-in-law each by the hand, and with\ntears in her eyes kissed them, and told them that she was going back to\nBethlehem. And at first they both said that they would go with her. But\nshe told them that they would better go home. \u201cI have no more sons,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cand no good house for you to live in.\u201d And Orpah went home,\ncrying as she went. But Ruth stayed with Naomi. \u201cIntreat me not,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cto leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for\nwhither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy\npeople shall be my people, and thy God my God.\u201d So they gathered their\nthings together and set out upon their journey. Over they went across\nthe river Jordan, and climbed the hills, and came at last to Bethlehem.\nAnd there they arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest.\n\nNow the next morning Ruth said to her mother, \u201cI must help to support\nmyself and you, so that we may not starve. Let me go into the fields and\ngather the barley which the reapers leave behind them.\u201d For they had a\ngood law in that country which said that the farmers must not gather up\nall of the wheat or the barley or the fruit, but must leave some for the\npoor. So Ruth went to glean the barley. The field in which she gleaned\nbelonged to a rich farmer whose name was Boaz. And pretty soon out came\nBoaz to see how the work was getting on, and he noticed Ruth and asked\nabout her. And the head reaper told him who she was. And Boaz was very\nkind to her.\n\n\u201cMy daughter,\u201d he said, \u201cstay with my maidens in my field. Nobody shall\nharm you. Gather as much as you can carry. When you are thirsty, go and\ndrink out of the men\u2019s bucket, and at noon when you are hungry come and\neat your lunch with us.\u201d\n\nAnd Ruth said, \u201cHow is it that you are so good to me, a stranger?\u201d\n\nAnd Boaz answered, \u201cI have heard about you, how you have left your own\nland and your own people to be a good daughter to my old friend Naomi.\u201d\n\nSo Ruth gleaned all day behind the reapers in the field of Boaz, and\nwhen she was thirsty she drank from their bucket, and when it was time\nfor lunch, she dipped her bread in the vinegar with the others, and Boaz\nhimself passed her the parched corn. And Boaz told the reapers to drop\nsome handfuls in her way; so that at night she had more than a bushel of\nbarley to take home.\n\nAnd Naomi said, \u201cMy daughter, where have you gleaned to-day?\u201d And Ruth\nsaid, \u201cIn the field of Boaz, and he was very kind to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d cried Naomi, \u201che is a near kinsman. Your husband\u2019s father was his\ncousin.\u201d So every day, through barley harvest and through wheat harvest,\nRuth gleaned from morning till night in the fields of Boaz.\n\nBy and by, good Naomi said to herself, \u201cBoaz has no wife, and Ruth has\nno husband. How pleasant it would be if they should marry!\u201d And so she\nplanned and planned\n\n[Illustration: BOAZ NOTICES RUTH AND ASKS ABOUT HER]\n\nhow she might bring it to pass. And one day she called Ruth and thus and\nso she said to her, and Ruth, who thought that everything that Naomi\nsaid was right, promised to do as she was told. And that night the wind\nwas blowing and the moon was shining, and Boaz was working late,\nwinnowing barley in the threshing-floor, he and his men, and after\nsupper he lay down on the floor at the end of the heap of barley and\nwent to sleep. And in the middle of the night he waked and turned over\nto sleep again, and there was Ruth.\n\nAnd Boaz said, \u201cWho is this?\u201d\n\nAnd she said, \u201cI am Ruth. My husband\u2019s father was your cousin.\u201d\n\nAnd he said, \u201cYou have done well, my daughter, to come to me. I will do\nwhatever you wish. Only there is a kinsman nearer than I. We must first\nsee him. Lie down now and sleep.\u201d So she lay down and slept, and the\nnext morning, before the day was light, she rose up and went home.\n\nAnd that day Boaz sat by the city gate, and the kinsman passed. \u201cHo!\u201d\ncalled Boaz, \u201cturn aside and sit down here.\u201d And Boaz called ten men to\nsit beside them. \u201cNow,\u201d said Boaz, \u201cNaomi has some land to sell which\nbelonged to our brother Elimelech. Will you buy it?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d the kinsman said, \u201cI will.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut wait!\u201d said Boaz. \u201cWhoever buys the land must take Naomi with it,\nand Ruth her daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is too much for me,\u201d said the kinsman, and he took off his shoe to\nshow that he would not buy.\n\n\u201cThen the land is mine,\u201d said Boaz. And the next day he married Ruth\namidst the rejoicings of all the people of Bethlehem. And by and by\nthere was a little boy named Obed, and he became the father of Jesse,\nand Jesse became the father of David.\n\n\n\n\nXXVI\n\n\u201cSAMUEL! SAMUEL!\u201d\n\n\nOne time, in the hill country, among the mountains of Ephraim, there\nlived a farmer named Elkanah. He and Hannah his wife were comfortably\nrich. They had fields of wheat and vineyards of grapes, and flocks and\nherds, and plenty of hay in the barn; but in one way they were\npoor,--they had no children. Sometimes Hannah cried because the house\nwas so empty and still, and there were no voices of children in it.\nSometimes she was so sad and lonely that she could not eat, and though\nher husband tried to comfort her, and said, \u201cHannah, am I not better to\nyou than ten sons?\u201d still she was full of grief. For children are the\nbest gift which God gives to man, and all the cornfields and vineyards\nand sheep and oxen in the world are not to be compared with them.\n\nOne day, Hannah went in to town, to Shiloh; and as she passed the church\nshe stopped and knelt down on the steps and prayed with all her heart\nthat God would give her a son. And Eli, the minister, was sitting on a\nbench by the church door. Eli was an old man, and his two sons, Hophni\nand Phinehas, who had become ministers in his place, were not only bad\nministers, but bad men, so that many people had stopped going to church.\nIn those days, when people went to church, they carried sheep with them,\nor other animals, to offer to God. This they did that they might show\nGod that they truly loved Him: they gave Him the best they had. But when\nthey came with their sacrifices, and the meat was in the pot cooking\nover the church fire, Hophni and Phinehas would send their servants,\neach with a great three-pronged fork in his hand, and they would thrust\ntheir forks into the pot, and whatever they brought up they would carry\naway to their masters. \u201cGive us meat,\u201d they said, \u201cfor the priests.\u201d And\nif anybody objected, the servants answered, \u201cIf you will not give it, we\nwill take it from you by force.\u201d Thus Hophni and Phinehas had plenty to\neat, and grew rich, and became more wicked day by day, but the number of\npersons who came to church grew less and less. So when Eli saw Hannah\npraying at the church steps he was surprised. Nobody had been to church\nto pray for a long time. He could not believe, at first, that she was\nreally praying; her lips moved, but she made no sound. And because he\nwas old and his eyes were bad so that he could not see well, he thought\nthat she was some drunken person.\n\n[Illustration: THE LAD SHALL BELONG TO THE LORD]\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d he said at last, \u201chow long wilt thou be drunken?\u201d But she\nsaid, \u201cSir, I am not drunken. I am praying my prayers.\u201d And she told him\nwhat she was praying for. And Eli said, \u201cMy daughter, go in peace. May\nthe God of Israel grant thy request.\u201d\n\nAnd the God of Israel did grant her request. God sent a little son to\nHannah and Elkanah, and they named him Samuel. And when the child was\ntwo years old, they went one day to the church in Shiloh, and there was\nEli sitting by the door. And they said, \u201cSir, do you remember the woman\nwho was here praying for a son? Here she is, and here is her son with\nher. And we have promised that the lad shall belong to the Lord. Take\nhim now and bring him up to be a minister of the church.\u201d And they went\naway, leaving the child behind them. And Eli took care of the little\nboy, and because his own sons had turned out so badly, he took the\ngreater pains with Samuel, and taught him to be obedient and honest and\nto tell the truth. And every year his mother came to see him and brought\nhim a little coat which she had made with her own hands.\n\nAt last, one night when Eli was so old that he could hardly see, and\nSamuel had grown to be a sturdy lad, they were both asleep in the same\nroom. There was a great box in the room called the Ark, and in it were\nthe two tables of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written, and\nover it hung a lamp which was kept burning every night.\n\nAnd Samuel heard a voice calling his name, \u201cSamuel!\u201d and he answered,\n\u201cHere am I,\u201d and ran to see what Eli wanted. But Eli said, \u201cI did not\ncall, my son; lie down again.\u201d\n\nSo Samuel went and lay down, and again there was a voice, \u201cSamuel!\nSamuel!\u201d And again Samuel ran to Eli, saying, \u201cHere am I,\u201d and Eli said,\n\u201cI did not call.\u201d And this happened a third time.\n\nThen Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli\nsaid to Samuel, \u201cGo lie down, and if you hear the voice again, say,\n\u2018Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.\u2019\u201d And pretty soon he heard the\nvoice again, \u201cSamuel! Samuel!\u201d and he said, \u201cSpeak, Lord, for thy\nservant heareth.\u201d\n\nThen the Lord spoke and said, \u201cBehold, I will do a thing in Israel at\nwhich both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. I will\npunish Eli and his sons for all the evil that is done, for they have\nbehaved themselves wickedly and he did not stop them.\u201d Then there was\nsilence, and by and by the lamp burned out, and the sun rose and it was\nlight, and Samuel got up and opened the doors and let the morning\nbreeze blow in. And Eli said, \u201cSamuel, what did the Lord say?\u201d And\nSamuel did not like to tell, but Eli urged him, and he told. And Eli\nsaid, \u201cIt is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nXXVII\n\nTHE BATTLE OF THE ARK OF GOD\n\n\nWell, things went on from bad to worse. One day a stranger came to Eli\nand stood before him as he sat on the bench by the church door. And the\nstranger said, \u201cHear what the Lord God says to you, Eli. I chose your\nfather to be my priest, to minister at my altar, to burn incense before\nme, and to offer the sacrifices of my people. And now you honor your\nsons more than you honor me, and they are making themselves rich by\nstealing the offerings which the people bring. Therefore it shall come\nto pass that your two sons shall die both of them in one day, and your\ngrandchildren shall be so poor that they shall stand begging at the\nchurch steps, saying, \u2018Give me a little money and a bit of bread, for I\nam hungry.\u2019\u201d But it was too late. The time to teach people to be good is\nwhen they are young, and Eli had let that time go by. He had allowed his\nsons to do whatever they pleased when they were small boys, and now he\ncould not stop them.\n\nThen the Philistines, the neighbors and old enemies of Israel, began to\nbe troublesome again. The Philistines lived in the long plain by the\nsea, and the Israelites lived among the hills, and a river ran from the\nhills into the plain, making a deep valley. Up this valley climbed the\nPhilistines, till they came to a town of the Israelites called\nBeth-shemesh. And in a field beside the town was a great rock called\nEbenezer. And there they had a battle, the Philistines against the\nIsraelites, and the Israelites ran away. And that night the Israelites\nheld a council and said, \u201cWhat can we do? for the Philistines are\nmightier than we.\u201d And they said, \u201cLet us go to the church in Shiloh and\nget the Ark of God. If we have that among us, it may save us out of the\nhand of our enemies.\u201d For they remembered how when their fathers crossed\nthe Jordan, at the beginning, the Ark was carried at the head of the\nhost; and how it was borne by the priests, with blowing of trumpets, at\nthe siege of Jericho. So they took the Ark out of the Shiloh church, and\nEli\u2019s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, carried it, one at one end and the\nother at the other. And when the Ark came into the camp, all Israel\nshouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again with the echo\nof it. \u201cLet God arise,\u201d they cried, \u201cand let his enemies be scattered.\nLet them also that hate Him flee before Him!\u201d For that was the battle\ncry of Israel.\n\nNow the Philistines in their camp heard the noise of the shout, and\nthey said, \u201cWhat is the meaning of the noise of this great shout in the\ncamp of the Hebrews?\u201d And they sent men to find out, and the men came\nback and said, \u201cGod is come into the camp! The God of Israel who smote\nthe Egyptians with plagues, and who has won the men of Israel so many\nvictories over their enemies, is in the camp. Woe unto us! Such a thing\nhas never happened since the Philistines became a nation. Woe unto us!\nWho shall deliver us out of the hands of this mighty God?\u201d And they held\na council to determine what to do. It was plain that they must make a\nchoice between two things: either they must run away as soon as they\ncould and as fast as they could, or else they must fight harder than\nthey had ever fought. Of these they chose the second, like brave men.\nThey said one to another, \u201cBe strong, O ye Philistines, and quit\nyourselves like men, that ye be not servants to the Hebrews as they have\nbeen to you: quit yourselves like men and fight.\u201d\n\nSo the battle came on again, and the Philistines fought like heroes, and\nthe Israelites were beaten worse than ever. They ran like sheep when the\nwolves are after them. And the Ark of God was taken; and the two sons of\nEli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.\n\nNow Eli was almost a hundred years old, and blind. And that day, while\nthe battle was raging afar off, he sat on his bench by the side of the\nroad, at the church door, and waited for the news. And his heart\ntrembled within him for fear. And by and by a man came running out of\nthe army from the scene of battle. His clothes were torn, and there was\ndust upon his head; so that all who saw him knew at once that the army\nof Israel had been defeated. But Eli could not see him. And all who saw\ncried out with a great cry, \u201cWhat is it? What has happened?\u201d And the\nrunner told them.\n\nAnd Eli heard the noise of the crying, and he said, \u201cWhat is the meaning\nof the noise of this tumult?\u201d And the man from the battle hastened to\nEli and said, \u201cI am he that came out of the army, and I am fled to-day\nout of the army.\u201d\n\nAnd Eli said, \u201cWhat is done there, my son?\u201d And the messenger answered,\n\u201cIsrael is fled from before the Philistines; and there has been a great\nslaughter among the people; and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are\ndead; and the Ark of God is taken!\u201d\n\nAnd it came to pass when the messenger made mention of the Ark of God\nthat Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his\nneck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. Thus the word\nof the Lord came true which He said to Samuel, that the wickedness of\nEli\u2019s sons should be punished in such a way that both the ears of all\nwho heard of it should tingle.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII\n\nFIVE GOLD MICE\n\n\nThe Philistines had five strong cities, and the strongest of these was\nAshdod, which means \u201cthe fort.\u201d When they had defeated the Israelites at\nBeth-shemesh, beside the great rock Ebenezer, and had taken away the Ark\nof God, they made all haste to get to Ashdod. Down they came along the\nvalley and across the plain till they drew near the sea. And they shut\nthe gates of Ashdod behind them. And the Ark of God they carried to the\ntemple of their own god, Dagon. For many people thought in those days\nthat there were as many gods as there were countries, each having its\nown. Thus they believed that the Lord was the god of the land of Israel,\nbut that Dagon was the god of the land of the Philistines. So in every\ncity they had a temple of Dagon. Samson had pulled down the one which\nbelonged to the city of Gaza, but they had built it up again.\n\nThey carried the Ark of God into Dagon\u2019s temple at Ashdod, and set it\ndown before Dagon\u2019s image. For to this image the Philistines said their\nprayers, and cried \u201cO Dagon, hear us!\u201d And they thought that the image\ncould hear them. They left the Ark before the Idol, and shut the temple\ndoors that night, and went home. But the next morning, when the\nPhilistines came to the temple at service time to thank Dagon for giving\nthem victory over the Israelites, behold the image of Dagon had fallen\ndown and lay upon the floor. That seemed very strange. But they set the\nimage up again, and shut the temple doors when the sun went down, and\nleft the Ark and the Idol together as before. And the next morning, when\nthey came in, behold, the image of Dagon lay on the floor again before\nthe Ark, and this time his head and both his hands were broken off.\n\nAnd not only did this strange thing happen, but the people of Ashdod\nbegan to feel sick. The plague broke out among them. And at the same\ntime, the mice began to eat the wheat and the vines. The mice came,\nnibbling and nibbling till they destroyed all that grew in the fields.\nAnd wherever the mice went, the plague went with them. And the people of\nAshdod said one to another, \u201cIt is on account of the Ark of God.\u201d And\nthey took the Ark and sent it to the city of Gath. And at Gath the same\nthing happened. The mice came and the plague followed them, and\neverybody was sick. And from this city it was taken\n\n[Illustration: THEY PUT THE ARK UPON A CART, AND THE MICE BESIDE IT]\n\nto another and another. And everywhere the mice and the plague appeared.\n\nAt last the Ark was brought to Ekron. And there it came to pass that all\nthe city cried out, saying, \u201cThey have brought about the Ark of the God\nof Israel to us, to slay us and our people.\u201d And that very day the mice\ncame, and the plague. And the men of Ekron sent and gathered together\nall the lords of the Philistines, and said, \u201cSend away the Ark of the\nGod of Israel, and let it go to its own place, that it slay us not and\nour people.\u201d And the lords of the Philistines sent for the priests and\nthe diviners, for all the wisest people of the land, and said, \u201cWhat\nshall we do to the Ark of the Lord? how shall we send it to its place?\u201d\nAnd the wise men said, \u201cMake a new cart, and take two cows and tie them\nto the cart, and bring their calves home from them. And take the Ark of\nGod and lay it on the cart, and in a box beside the Ark put five gold\nmice, one for each of your cities. And see what the kine will do. If\nthey go back home to their calves, then we shall know that this is all\nan accident, it just happened so; but if they go straight towards the\nland of Israel, then we shall know that it is the Lord\u2019s doing.\u201d\n\nSo they made a new cart, and five gold mice, and they put the Ark upon\nthe cart and the mice beside it, and they tied the two cows to the cart\nand took away their calves, and watched to see what they would do. And,\nbehold, the kine went straight towards the land of Israel, lowing as\nthey went, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left. Along\nthe valley road they went towards Beth-shemesh, and the lords of the\nPhilistines followed after them. And at Beth-shemesh, men were reaping\ntheir wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes and saw\nthe Ark and rejoiced to see it. And the cows came into the field of a\nman named Joshua, and there stood still. And it was the field in which\nthe battle had been fought when the Ark had been taken. And the cart\nstopped beside the great stone, Ebenezer. And the men of Beth-shemesh\ntook the Ark and put it on the top of the great stone, and the five gold\nmice beside it. And they took the cart and split it up and made a fire\nfor a sacrifice, and there upon the fire they offered God the kine for a\nburnt offering. And then they rejoiced and gave thanks unto the Lord.\n\n\n\n\nXXIX\n\nSAUL AND THE SEER\n\n\nThe asses had run away. They had found a hole in the fence and had got\nout into the road, and nobody knew where they were. So Saul\u2019s father\nsaid, \u201cSaul, the asses are lost. Take one of the men with you and go and\nfind them.\u201d And they went in search, Saul and the hired man. And here\nthey looked, and there they looked, down this way and down that, in the\nwoods and in the fields, but they were nowhere to be found. They hunted\nfor them for three days, in vain.\n\nAt last, Saul said to the servant, \u201cCome, let us go home. My father will\nfear that we are lost, as well as the asses. He will be anxious.\u201d\n\nBut the servant said, \u201cIn the next town there lives a seer. He is the\nwisest man in all the land. He can see through mountains and tell what\nis on the other side, and he knows what is going to happen to-morrow and\nnext year. Let us go to him. Perhaps he can tell us where the asses are,\nand which way we ought to take to find them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe ought not to go to the seer,\u201d said Saul, \u201cwithout a gift. We ought\nto take him some sort of present for his trouble. But our hands are as\nempty as our basket. What can we give him?\u201d\n\nAnd the servant answered, \u201cI have a little silver money in my purse.\nThat will I give to the man of God to tell us our way.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell said,\u201d replied Saul; \u201ccome let us go.\u201d So they went to the next\ntown to find the seer.\n\nThe city where the seer lived lay on the side of a hill, and there was a\nwell by the gate, and as Saul and his servant drew near they found young\nmaidens going out, with pitchers on their heads, to fetch water for\nsupper. And they said to the maidens, \u201cIs the seer here?\u201d And they\nanswered them and said, \u201cHe is: behold, he is before you. This is the\nday of a feast on the top of the hill, and of a sacrifice to the Lord.\nAnd already the people are waiting for the seer, for they will not sit\ndown to the table until he comes to ask the blessing. He will be coming\nout of the gate directly. You are just in time to meet him.\u201d And as they\nspoke there came an old man out of the gate, tall and wrapped in a\ncloak.\n\nAnd Saul said, \u201cWill you kindly tell me where the seer\u2019s house is?\u201d\n\nAnd the old man said, \u201cI am the seer. I am Samuel, the seer. I have been\nexpecting you. You must dine with me to-day, and spend the night.\u201d\n\nAnd when Saul said that he must go home, because his father would be\nworried about him and about the asses, Samuel said, \u201cThe lost asses have\nbeen found. And you are found also; for I perceive that you are he on\nwhom is the desire of all Israel.\u201d\n\nAnd Saul said, \u201cWhy do you speak so to me? My tribe is the least of the\ntribes, and my father\u2019s family is the least of the families of my tribe.\nWhat do you mean?\u201d But Samuel did not reply, and Saul followed him up to\nthe top of the hill, greatly wondering.\n\nNow there was a house at the top of the hill, and about thirty men who\nhad been invited to dinner were waiting in the parlor. In came Samuel,\nbringing Saul and his servant, just as they were in their dusty clothes;\nand Samuel gave them the best seats at the table, Saul on his right and\nSaul\u2019s servant on his left. And Samuel called the cook and said, \u201cBring\nme the portion of meat which I told you to set apart for me,\u201d and the\ncook brought in a leg of lamb and set it before Samuel. And Samuel said\nto Saul, \u201cI knew that you were coming, and when I sent the invitations I\nhad a place and a portion kept for you.\u201d So Saul ate with Samuel, and\nwas more and more astonished.\n\nAt last the feast was over, and the guests went down from the top of the\nhill to their houses in the city, and Saul and his servant went home\nwith Samuel. And as the sun went down, and the cool wind began to blow\nin the hot streets and the stars came out, Samuel took Saul upstairs to\nthe flat roof, and there they sat and had a long talk together.\n\nAnd Samuel said, \u201cSaul, I had a dream about you yesterday afternoon. I\nheard in my dream the voice of God saying, \u2018To-morrow about this time I\nwill send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint\nhim king over my people Israel.\u2019 And to-day, when I came to the gate and\nsaw you, the Lord said in my heart, \u2018There is the man of whom I spoke.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe next morning they rose as the sun was coming up over the side of the\nhill. And Samuel went with Saul to show him the right road. And as they\ncame out of the city into the open country, Samuel said, \u201cBid the\nservant to pass on before us, but you wait here a while that I may show\nyou what is the will of God.\u201d So the servant went on ahead, and they two\nwere alone. And Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it on Saul\u2019s head,\nand kissed him, and\n\n[Illustration: SAMUEL AND SAUL HAVE A LONG TALK TOGETHER]\n\nsaid, \u201cThe Lord has anointed you to be the king of Israel.\u201d Then Saul\nand his servant went towards home. And two men met them who said, \u201cSaul,\nthe asses are found, but your father is greatly worried about you. He is\nsorrowing for you, and saying, \u2018What shall I do for my son?\u2019\u201d\n\n\n\n\nXXX\n\nTHE BATTLE OF THE RIGHT EYES\n\n\nWhen Saul reached home after his adventure with the seer, he was very\nsilent. Three men had met him by the way, one with three kids, another\nwith three baskets of bread, and the third carrying a skin bottle of\nwine; and they had stopped and saluted him as some great person, and had\ngiven him two loaves. And down from the top of a hill had come a\nprocession of prophets with the music of tambourines and flutes and\nharps and cymbals, singing and dancing as they came, and Saul had felt\nmoved to join them, so that they who passed by and saw him were\nastonished, and said, \u201cIs Saul among the prophets?\u201d But of all this he\nsaid nothing. When his uncle Abner said, \u201cWhere have you been all this\ntime?\u201d he answered, \u201cWe went to seek the asses, and when we saw that\nthey were nowhere, we came to Samuel.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what did Samuel say?\u201d asked Abner.\n\n\u201cWhy, Uncle Abner,\u201d said Saul, \u201che told us plainly that the asses were\nfound.\u201d But the words of Samuel concerning the kingdom of Israel, he\ntold him not.\n\nPresently, Samuel called the people of Israel together and said, \u201cYou\nhave asked the Lord to give you a king, and the Lord has granted your\nrequest. This very day, even as I speak, the king stands among you. Come\nnow, pass before me tribe by tribe.\u201d So they passed before him tribe by\ntribe, and he chose the tribe of Benjamin. And he made the tribe of\nBenjamin to pass before him family by family, and he chose the family of\nKish, Saul\u2019s father. And he caused the family of Kish to pass before him\nman by man, but there was one man missing. Where was Saul? So they sent\nmen to find him, for he had hidden himself. And they found him and\nbrought him out, and there he stood before the people, the tallest and\ngoodliest man in all the country round, head and shoulders above\neverybody. And Samuel said, \u201cYou see him whom the Lord has chosen, that\nthere is none like him among all the people.\u201d And they all shouted with\na great shout, \u201cGod save the king!\u201d\n\nAs for Saul, though he was now a king, he went back the next day to his\nown home and went to work again on the farm as if nothing had happened.\nIndeed, it seemed for a time as if the people, in spite of their\nshouting, would not take him for their king. Some of them said, \u201cHow\nshall this man save us?\u201d And they despised him and sent him no presents.\nBut he was silent as before, and attended to his own business in the\nfield and in the barn, and held his peace.\n\nAt last, one day, news came of the Challenge of the Right Eyes. The king\nwas plowing when the messengers arrived, and as he came home in the\nafternoon, driving the oxen before him, he heard a great commotion among\nthe people. \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhat ails the people that\nthey weep?\u201d So they told Saul the news.\n\nThe men of Ammon, whom Jephthah had fought and chased away, had come\nback and laid siege to a town in Gilead called Jabesh. They had encamped\naround it, so that nobody could go out or come in, and the citizens\ncould get no food. So the men of Jabesh said to Nahash the king of the\nmen of Ammon, \u201cWe will surrender the city. Only make an agreement of\npeace with us, and we will be your servants.\u201d But Nahash answered, \u201cI\nwill make peace with you on one condition: that I may thrust out all\nyour right eyes.\u201d Then the men of Jabesh were in a sad plight, and they\nsaid, \u201cGive us seven days to find help. If at the end of the week, there\nis no one to save us, then we will come out, and you shall take our\neyes.\u201d Then they sent messengers across the Jordan, and it was their\nreport which made Saul\u2019s neighbors cry aloud.\n\nAnd when Saul heard it, the Spirit of God came upon him. His anger was\nkindled into a fierce blaze at the cruel threats of the men of Ammon.\nInstantly he took a yoke of oxen and killed them and cut them into\npieces. And he sent messengers each with a bleeding piece of flesh to\nall the towns of Israel; and the messengers cried, \u201cWhoever comes not\nforth after Saul to fight against the men of Ammon, so shall it be done\nto his oxen.\u201d And great fear fell on all the people, and they came out\nwith one consent. And word was sent to the men of Jabesh, \u201cTo-morrow by\nthe time the sun is hot, you shall have help.\u201d\n\nSo the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, \u201cTo-morrow we will come out to you,\nand you shall do to us all that is in your heart.\u201d But Nahash had no\nknowledge of the march of Saul. Saul marched his army all that night;\nand early in the morning he fell upon the Ammonites before they were\nawake, and attacked them on this side and on that, and beat them, and\nchased them back into the desert, till no two of them were left\ntogether. Then some said, \u201cWhere are the enemies of Saul, who would not\nhave him for their king? Let us put them to death.\u201d But Saul would not\npermit it. \u201cThere shall not a man be put to death this day,\u201d he said. So\nthey crowned Saul over again. \u201cCome,\u201d they said, \u201clet us renew the\nkingdom.\u201d And all the people promised to obey King Saul.\n\n\n\n\nXXXI\n\nTHE ADVENTURE OF THE GREAT TREMBLING\n\n\nThe wife of King Saul was named Ahinoam. They had five children, three\nboys and two girls. And the name of their eldest son was Jonathan.\nJonathan was like his father, tall and handsome, and he was as brave as\nhe was modest. It was said that he could run as fast as an eagle could\nfly.\n\nAt that time, most of the men of Israel who could run were running away,\nin fear of the Philistines. The Philistines had taken possession of the\nland. The Israelites had neither swords nor spears; and, in order to\nkeep them from making any, the Philistines had banished the blacksmiths.\nEvery time a man wanted to get his axe or his plow sharpened he had to\ngo to the country of the Philistines. There was little use, however, for\nplows or axes, for the Israelites were afraid to go to work either in\nthe fields or in the woods. They hid themselves in caves and in thickets\nand among the rocks and on the tops of the mountains and in pits. Some\nof them left the country, and went over the Jordan to the land of\nGilead. Saul, indeed, had six hundred soldiers, but they followed him\ntrembling.\n\nNow across the central mountains of the land, there was a pass, so that\nmen might go across the country from the Jordan River on the east to the\nMediterranean Sea on the west. The valley of Michmash led up from the\nJordan on one side and the valley of Ajalon led down to the sea-coast on\nthe other. On the south side of this deep and narrow pass was a place\ncalled Geba; there Saul was encamped with his six hundred trembling men.\nOn the north side was a place called Michmash; there the Philistines had\nso great an army that to count them was like counting the sand of the\nsea. There was a sharp rock on the north, called Bozez, the Shining; and\na sharp rock on the south, called Seneh, the Strong; and the wood lay\nbetween them.\n\nThen the young prince, Jonathan, spoke to his armor-bearer and said,\n\u201cCome and let us go over to the Philistine garrison. It may be that the\nLord will bless us, for it matters not to Him whether we be many or\nfew.\u201d\n\nAnd the squire, his armor-bearer, said, \u201cDo what you will; I will go\nwith you.\u201d\n\nNow King Saul was sitting under a tree on the other side of the camp,\nso that he did not know what Jonathan was doing.\n\nJonathan said, \u201cWe will climb down to the bottom of the pass and show\nourselves to the enemy. If they say, \u2018Stay there, you Israelites, till\nwe come down and get you,\u2019 we will stand still in our place. But if they\nsay, \u2018Come up here, if you dare,\u2019 then we will go up. That shall be a\nsign that the Lord is on our side.\u201d\n\nAnd pretty soon the watchmen of the Philistines saw two men in the wood\nat the bottom of the pass. And the Philistines said, \u201cSee, the Hebrews\nare coming out of the holes where they had hid themselves.\u201d And they\ncalled to Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, \u201cCome up to us, and we\nwill show you something.\u201d\n\nAnd Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, \u201cCome now, for the day is ours.\u201d\n\nAnd he climbed up the steep face of the pass on his hands and knees, and\nhis squire climbed up after him. And suddenly, when nobody was looking,\nthey fell upon the Philistines, shouting like a hundred men. And there\nwas a panic in the Philistine camp. Nobody knew just what had happened.\nSome thought that a great army of Israelites, twice the size of theirs,\nand every soldier as big as a giant, had attacked them. And they began\nto tremble, and those who were next beyond them trembled, and even the\nearth trembled, so that it was a very great trembling. And they ran one\nagainst another.\n\nAnd King Saul came out from under the tree where he had been sitting,\nand looked across the valley, he and his soldiers, and they said, \u201cWhat\nis the matter? What is going on in the Philistine camp? Why do they\nrun?\u201d And Saul said, \u201cSee who is gone from us.\u201d And it was found that\nJonathan and his armor-bearer were missing. So they knew that these were\nthe heroes who had scared the army of the Philistines. At first the men\nof Israel were uncertain what to do, whether to fight or to pray. Saul\nsent for the priest, and the priest gathered the people and began to\npray that they might know what all this meant and what God would have\nthem do. But while he prayed the noise in the camp of the Philistines\nwent on and increased, and it was plain that the multitude was running\nlike frightened sheep, and beating down one another as they ran. So Saul\nstopped the priest and called for the captain, and over they all went\ninto the battle. And there were men of Israel in the camp of the\nPhilistines, who had been taken prisoners, and they began to fight\nagainst their captors, and all the men who had hidden themselves in\ncaves and pits and among the rocks came out to see what all this noise\nand tumult meant, and when they saw that the Philistines ran away, they\nran after them. So there was a great defeat. And thus the day went until\nthe sun began to set.\n\nThen Saul took a great stone for an altar, and offered upon it the\nsacrifice of the people, and gave great thanks to God, and there was\npraise and rejoicing all that night. But the Philistines never stopped\nrunning till they had reached their own cities and had locked the gates\nbehind them.\n\n\n\n\nXXXII\n\nTHE BLEATING OF THE SHEEP\n\n\nIn the midst of the Adventure of the Great Trembling, a strange thing\nhappened.\n\nKing Saul, when he sent his soldiers to chase the Philistines, forbade\nthem to taste food till the setting of the sun. And this he did in a\nvery solemn manner, making a vow, like Jephthah. He said that if any man\nate anything before the sun went down, that man must be put to death.\nBut as the day went on, the soldiers grew very hungry. At last they came\nto a wood, where there were honeycombs lying on the ground; but no man\nput his hand to his mouth, for they remembered the king\u2019s vow. Then came\nJonathan and saw the honey, and before anybody could stop him he reached\nout a stick and took some honey on the end of it and put it in his\nmouth. For he knew nothing of the king\u2019s commandment.\n\nThen the sun went down, and after supper Saul said, \u201cLet us go again in\npursuit of the enemy.\u201d But the priest forbade it. The priest said that\nthere was sin in the camp. They must first find out the sinner and\npunish him as the king had vowed. And Saul said, \u201cCome near now, all\nyou chiefs, and let us see where the sin has been this day. For, as the\nLord liveth, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.\u201d But\nthere was not a man among all the people that answered him. Then said\nthe king, \u201cStand you all on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be\non the other side, and we will cast lots.\u201d And they cast lots, and Saul\nand Jonathan were taken; and they cast lots between Jonathan and Saul,\nand Jonathan was taken. And Saul said, \u201cMy son, what have you done?\u201d And\nJonathan answered, \u201cI did but taste a little honey with the end of the\nrod that was in my hand, and so I must die.\u201d And Saul said, \u201cGod do so\nand more also: for thou shah surely die, Jonathan.\u201d But up rose all the\npeople, and cried, \u201cShall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great\nsalvation in Israel? The hero of the battle, the king\u2019s son, shall he\ndie? God forbid: as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his\nhead fall to the ground: for he hath wrought with God this day.\u201d So the\npeople rescued Jonathan, that he died not.\n\nSomehow, King Saul was never the same man after that. It seemed as if\nthe dreadful strain and distress of that night had affected his mind.\nMuch of the time he was like himself; but again there were days when he\nwould speak to nobody, but would sit apart thinking dreadful thoughts.\n\nOne day, Samuel came to Saul and said, \u201cI have a message for you from\nthe Lord. He wishes you to go to war with the men of Amalek.\u201d Now the\nAmalekites were the oldest enemies of Israel. They lived down south in\nthe deserts, and had been the first to attack the Israelites when they\ncame out of Egypt. And ever since, they had been like the wild Indians\nin the days of our forefathers. They would dash up, with bows and\narrows, and fire upon the villages of the Israelites and kill the\npeople. \u201cNow,\u201d said Samuel, \u201cyou must go to war with these savages and\ndestroy them utterly. You must not leave any of them alive, and you must\ndestroy all that they have, that they may be no more a nation.\u201d\n\nSo Saul marched against the Amalekites, and won a great victory. But he\ndid not as Samuel had told him. He spared Agag, king of the Amalekites,\nand the best of the sheep and oxen. And back he came, and his victorious\narmy, driving the cattle before them, and bringing Agag as a captive.\n\nThat night the word of the Lord came to Samuel, and the Lord said, \u201cSaul\nhas turned back from following me, and has not performed my\ncommandments.\u201d And it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all\nnight. And early in the morning Samuel went to meet Saul, and Saul\ngreeted him and said, \u201cBlessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the\ncommandment of the Lord.\u201d And Samuel said, \u201cWhat, then, is the meaning\nof this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen\nwhich I hear?\u201d And Saul said, \u201cThe people spared the best of the sheep\nand oxen to sacrifice them to the Lord.\u201d And Samuel said to Saul, \u201cStop!\nlet me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.\u201d And Saul said,\n\u201cSay on.\u201d And Samuel said, \u201cThe Lord sent you on a journey, and said \u2018Go\nand utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites.\u2019 Why did you not obey?\u201d\nAnd Saul said, \u201cI have obeyed the Lord: except that the people brought\nAgag and the sheep and oxen to sacrifice them to the Lord.\u201d And Samuel\nsaid, \u201cHath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices\nas in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than\nsacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Because thou hast\nrejected the word of the Lord, he hath rejected thee from being king.\u201d\n\nAnd Saul fell down before Samuel and cried, \u201cForgive me, and the Lord\nforgive me; I have sinned.\u201d But Samuel turned to go away. And Saul\ncaught hold of Samuel\u2019s cloak, and the cloak rent. And Samuel said,\n\u201cThus hath the Lord torn from you the kingdom of Israel this day.\u201d And\nSaul cried, \u201cDo not tell the people: honor me now, I pray thee, in the\nsight of the people.\u201d And to this Samuel consented. He went with Saul,\nand with his own hands hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord. But from\nthat day he sought another king to set over Israel in the place of\nSaul.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIII\n\nA SHEPHERD OF BETHLEHEM\n\n\nThe largest farm in Bethlehem belonged to a man named Jesse. Although he\nwas now advanced in years, he had lived on the farm all of his long\nlife, and his father had lived there before him. Indeed, it was still\nremembered in the neighborhood how Jesse\u2019s grandfather, as he harvested\nthe wheat and barley of his broad acres, had fallen in love with a poor\ngirl named Ruth, who worked among the gleaners, and had married her, to\nthe surprise and delight of the village.\n\nThe corn in the little valleys of the hill farm stood so thick that it\nseemed to laugh and sing as it danced with the wind. Apples grew in the\norchard, and grapes in the vineyard. Morning and evening the cows came\nto be milked, and Jesse\u2019s wife made the milk into cheese and butter.\nSheep lay along the hillside, and she spun the wool into stout clothes\nfor Jesse and their sons and daughters.\n\nThere were eight sons, most of them grown into tall men; and one of the\nolder daughters had three boys, who were sturdy lads, Joab and Asahel\nand Abishai. About of an age with these three boys was Jesse\u2019s youngest\nson, whose name was David.\n\nThere was a gleam of red in David\u2019s hair and a glow of red in David\u2019s\ncheeks, and he was as brave as he was handsome. His part of the\nfarm-work was to tend the sheep. In the wild woods near by were lions\nand bears, who looked with hungry eyes upon the sheep, and David had to\nfight them. When he went out to the pasture he carried not only a bag\nwhich his mother had filled with things to eat, but a thick stick and a\nsling. Sometimes he fought the lions and bears with the stick, and\nsometimes with the sling; and if the boys of Bethlehem could throw as\nwell as the left-handed sons of the Benjamin family near by, David could\nsling a stone at a hair and hit it. This was an accomplishment which he\nafterwards found useful.\n\nMost of the time, however, the tending of the sheep was an occupation so\neasy and peaceful that David found leisure to gaze at the clouds, and at\nthe stars, and to make songs and sing them, to the great satisfaction of\nthe sheep, accompanying himself upon a harp. He had his music lessons,\nand practiced several hours a day.\n\nOne day, while David was out in the hill pasture, there came to the\nvillage an old man, driving a cow, and having in his hand a horn of\nprecious oil. When the men of Bethlehem saw him they were as frightened\nas if the cow had been a red lion and the horn had been attached to a\nunicorn. For the old man was Samuel, the prophet, who, they thought,\ncould call down thunder and lightning out of the clear sky. And they\nsaid, \u201cDo you come peaceably?\u201d\n\nAnd Samuel said, \u201cPeaceably. Come with me, all of you, while I offer a\nsacrifice to the Lord.\u201d\n\nSo the men followed Samuel till they came to the village well. But David\nwas minding the sheep. And after the sacrifice, Samuel held his horn of\noil high above his head and looked about among the men. At first his eye\nlighted on Eliab, David\u2019s oldest brother; for he looked like a king in\nthe clothes of a farmer. But the Lord spoke in Samuel\u2019s soul and said:\n\u201cThe Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward\nappearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.\u201d So it was also with\nDavid\u2019s other brothers.\n\nThen said Samuel to Jesse, \u201cAre these all the sons you have?\u201d\n\nAnd Jesse answered, \u201cThere is one more, the youngest. He is keeping the\nsheep.\u201d\n\n\u201cSend,\u201d said Samuel, \u201cand fetch him.\u201d\n\nSo David came, ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look\nupon. And when Samuel saw him, immediately he poured the horn of\nprecious oil upon him. Then Samuel went away, leaving the people\nperplexed and wondering. But David knew in his heart that he had been\nchosen to be the king of Israel.\n\nNow King Saul was every day growing worse of his disease. Trouble and\ndisappointment and a perplexed conscience and the stress of war were\ntelling terribly upon him. He could not sleep. At times, he was beside\nhimself, and acted like a crazy man. At last, the doctors told him that\nthe best remedy for him was music. \u201cFind a man,\u201d they said, \u201cwho is a\ncunning player on the harp; and it shall come to pass that when the evil\nspirit is upon thee he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be\nwell.\u201d\n\nAnd somebody said, \u201cI know a young man in Bethlehem, a son of Jesse, who\nis cunning in playing. He is a mighty valiant youth, and good, and\ngood-looking.\u201d\n\nAnd the king said, \u201cTell him that I want him.\u201d\n\nAnd the next day there was great excitement among Jesse\u2019s neighbors.\nThere was David at the farm gate, and his father and mother and his\nbrothers and sisters telling him good-by, and the king\u2019s messengers in\nwaiting. On one side of David was an ass laden with loaves from his\nmother\u2019s oven; on the other side was a little kid of the goats; and over\nhis shoulders was a skin of wine made from the grapes which grew on the\nwarm side of the hill. These were gifts for the king. And in his hand\nwas his harp.\n\nThus the shepherd boy became the minstrel of the king. And when the evil\nspirit came upon Saul, David took his harp and played with his hand, and\nthe music refreshed Saul, and he was eased of his distress. And the king\nloved the boy, and he made him his squire, to bear his armor.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIV\n\nDAVID FIGHTS THE GIANT\n\n\nThus did David divide his time: part he spent in the court of King Saul,\nand part in the country on his father\u2019s farm.\n\nThen there came a war, and the king went out to battle. Instead of the\nmusic of the harp he listened to the music of the drums. But David was\nneeded at home, for his older brothers were in the army, and he kept the\nsheep.\n\nOne day his father said to David, \u201cDavid, I want you to take these ten\nloaves of bread and this basket of parched corn to your brothers in the\narmy, and here are ten cheeses for their captain; and bring me word\nagain about your brothers and about the war.\u201d\n\nAnd David made his way down a long valley till by and by he came to a\nlevel plain. There was a hill on one side of the plain to the east, and\nanother hill on the other side to the west, and these hills were full of\nsoldiers. On the western hill the Philistines had their camp, and on the\neastern hill were the forces of the Israelites; and between them across\nthe plain ran a little brook.\n\nAnd as David drew near he heard a noise of shouting. The Philistines\nshouted with a great shout, and the Israelites answered. And then there\ncame a voice, like the voices of ten stout men in one, and called out\nsomething which David was too far away to understand. And when he came\nnearer, there he saw in the middle of the plain, with his back to the\nPhilistines and his face to the army of Israel, a mighty giant. The\ngiant was ten feet high, and all his clothes were made of brass. He had\na helmet of brass upon his head, and a breastplate of brass upon his\nbreast, and a target of brass upon his back, and boots of brass upon his\nfeet. In one hand he carried a huge spear, in the other hand a sword.\nBefore him went his squire, bearing his shield.\n\nAnd this is what the giant said, \u201cChoose you a man for you,\u201d he cried,\n\u201cand let him come to me. If he be able to fight with me and kill me, we\nwill be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, ye\nshall be our servants, and serve us.\u201d And not a man of all the hosts of\nIsrael dared to go out and fight him.\n\nThen the soul of David was stirred within him. He spoke to the first man\nwhom he met. \u201cTell me,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat does this mean?\u201d\n\nAnd the man answered, \u201cYonder is Goliath, the giant of Gath. Every day\nhe comes out at this hour and defies our army. King Saul has promised\nthat whosoever shall face him and overcome him shall have a great reward\nin gold, and the hand of the princess, as well. But nobody is bold\nenough to try it.\u201d\n\nDavid said, \u201cI will try it.\u201d\n\nSo the word came to his brother Eliab that David had offered to fight\nGoliath; and Eliab did not like it. It seemed to him, as it often seems\nto older brothers, that the boy was still a child. As for King Saul,\nwhen they told him, he smiled and shook his head. \u201cYou are not able,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cto fight with this Philistine, for you are but a youth, and he a\nman of war from his youth.\u201d\n\nBut David said, \u201cI have fought lions and bears since I was ten years\nold. I have seized them by the beard and killed them. I can do the same\nwith this Philistine. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the\nlion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand\nof this Philistine.\u201d\n\nEven so, it seemed like the proposal of a lamb to fight a wolf. But what\nelse could be done? At last, the king took David into his own tent, and\noffered him his armor. But the king was the tallest man in the army, and\nthe shepherd boy was short of stature. Saul\u2019s helmet came down over\nDavid\u2019s ears, and his coat of mail touched David\u2019s heels. He put them\noff. \u201cI can fight best,\u201d he said, \u201cin my own way.\u201d\n\nAnd David took his staff in his hand,--the stout stick with which he\nkept the sheep,--and he had his sling, and from the bank of the brook he\nchose him five smooth stones. And thus he went out into the plain\nbetween the armies, and faced the giant.\n\nAnd the giant in all his armor came, and his squire carried his shield\nbefore him, and when he looked to see what champion the Israelites had\nfound at last, there was but a boy,--a red-cheeked boy with a staff in\none hand and a sling in the other.\n\nThe giant was very angry. \u201cAm I a dog,\u201d he cried, \u201cthat thou comest at\nme with a stick? I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air and to\nthe beasts of the field, and they shall pick thy bones.\u201d\n\nAnd David answered, \u201cThou comest to me with sword and spear and shield;\nbut I come to thee in the name of the Lord God of hosts, whom thou hast\ndefied.\u201d\n\nThus the champions drew together, while the two armies watched in\nbreathless silence. And David ran to meet the giant. And even as he ran,\nhe put his hand into his shepherd\u2019s bag, and took out a smooth stone and\nput it in his sling and slung it. Up went the sling, out went the\nstone, down went the giant. Straight as an arrow, the stone struck him\nin the forehead. And David ran, and with the giant\u2019s sword cut off the\ngiant\u2019s head.\n\nThen did the Philistines flee, and the men of Israel raised a great\nshout and chased them.\n\n\n\n\nXXXV\n\nUNDER THE KING\u2019S DISPLEASURE\n\n\nAfter David killed the giant, he kept the sheep no longer. He lived at\nthe court with the king, and became a soldier. Saul made him a general\nof the army, and everybody praised him. When the Philistines came again,\nDavid led the men of war to battle, and when they came back in victory\nthe women came out to greet them at the gate of every city as they\npassed, dancing and playing on instruments of music, and singing,--\n\n    \u201cSaul hath slain his thousands,\n     And David his ten thousands.\u201d\n\nBut that displeased Saul, and in his displeasure his old malady\nreturned. And now his insanity began to take a dangerous form. One day\nwhen his madness was upon him, and David was playing on the harp to\nquiet him, the king said to himself, \u201cI will kill David!\u201d And his spear\nwas in his hand, and as David played he threw it at him. But he missed\nhis aim.\n\nNow the king had promised that whoever killed the giant should have not\nonly a reward in gold, but the hand\n\n[Illustration: DAVID ESCAPES BY THE WINDOW]\n\nof the princess. But there were two princesses, Merab and Michal. Saul\nhad intended to give David the hand of Merab, but already Michal had\ngiven him her heart. While David was only a shepherd and a minstrel, the\nyoung princess, listening to his music, had fallen in love with him. And\nDavid, as he played, had played to her.\n\nSo the mad king made a plot. \u201cVery well,\u201d he said, \u201cyou shall have\nMichal, but first you must bring me as a dowry the heads of a hundred\nPhilistines.\u201d For he thought that in the battle, David would be killed.\nBut David went out into the enemy\u2019s country, and when he came back he\nbrought two hundred Philistine heads. So he married the princess, amidst\ngreat rejoicing.\n\nBut hardly had the wedding guests gone home when the king made another\nplot. He determined to send men to seize his son-in-law and kill him.\nBut Michal heard of it. And that night, as she looked out of her window,\nthe princess saw in the dim light the forms of men moving about among\nthe trees. And she said to her husband, \u201cDavid, you must save your life\nthis very night; to-morrow will be too late.\u201d And she took a stout rope\nand let it down out of a back window, and when nobody was looking David\nclimbed down and ran away.\n\nThen Michal took a wooden image which stood in a corner of the best\nroom and carried it to David\u2019s bed. She laid a pillow of goat\u2019s hair\nunder its head, and tucked in the bedclothes about its chin, and in the\ndark it looked like David. Pretty soon there came a loud knocking at the\nstreet door.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d said Michal.\n\nA man\u2019s voice answered, \u201cWe are come from the king with a message for\nDavid.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Michal, \u201cyou can\u2019t see him to-night; he has gone to bed\nsick.\u201d\n\nSo the men went back to Saul, and the delay was long enough to enable\nDavid to get out of the city, where the king could not find him.\n\nThen the men returned and knocked again, louder than before.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d said Michal.\n\nAnd a man\u2019s voice answered, \u201cSick or well, we must see David.\u201d And the\nman and his companions had daggers in their hands.\n\n\u201cCome in, then,\u201d said Michal, \u201cand I will take you to his room.\u201d\n\nAnd when they came into David\u2019s room and saw David, as they supposed,\nlying in the bed asleep, they drew their daggers with one accord and\nstabbed him with all their might. And the daggers stuck in the wooden\nimage!\n\nNow David had another friend at court beside his wife the princess, and\nthat was his wife\u2019s brother, Jonathan. Jonathan loved David as his own\nsoul. Indeed, Jonathan had given David his own royal robe, and his sword\nand his bow, and had said, \u201cAfter my father is dead, you shall be king\nand not I.\u201d\n\nSo David sent word to Jonathan, and said, \u201cFind out how serious this is.\nIs it only your father\u2019s madness getting worse, or does he really intend\nto take my life?\u201d\n\nAnd they made this plan. The next day there was to be a great dinner at\nthe king\u2019s house, and David\u2019s place would be empty. And Saul would\nnotice the empty place, and Jonathan would listen to hear what he would\nsay, and would let David know.\n\nAnd Jonathan said, \u201cThe day after to-morrow I will go out into the field\nwith my bow, as if I meant to shoot at a mark. And you be hiding. I will\nshoot five arrows and send the boy to fetch them. If I say, \u2018Here, boy,\nthe arrows are on this side,\u2019 then you may know that all is well. But if\nI say, \u2018Go farther, the arrows are beyond you,\u2019 then flee for your life.\nBut promise me now, David, that when you come, as you surely will, to be\nprosperous and great, you will be good to me and to my children.\u201d And\nDavid promised.\n\nSo at the feast, the place was empty. And Saul said, \u201cWhere is David?\u201d\nand Jonathan said, \u201cHe has gone to Bethlehem.\u201d And Saul rose up in\nfierce anger and took his spear and tried to kill his son.\n\nThen the next day, Jonathan went out with his bow and shot five arrows,\nand as the boy went to pick them up, he called, \u201cGo farther, the arrows\nare beyond you.\u201d And David knew that there was but a step between him\nand death. And Jonathan sent the boy home and found David, and they both\nwept bitterly. Then Jonathan returned to his father\u2019s house, and David\nfled as fast as he could go into the wilderness.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVI\n\nTHE CAVE OF ADULLAM\n\n\nWhen David fled for his life from the displeasure of King Saul, he\nbecame an outlaw, like Robin Hood.\n\nOn the way he stopped at a village called Nob, where the Ark of God was\nkept. And he asked the priest for bread and a sword. And the priest\nsaid, \u201cThere is no bread here except that which is on the holy table.\u201d\n\nAnd David said, \u201cLet me have that.\u201d So the priest gave him five loaves.\nAnd the priest said, \u201cThere is no sword here except that with which you\ncut off the giant\u2019s head. It is wrapped up in a cloth.\u201d\n\nAnd David said, \u201cI am on the king\u2019s business, and in great haste, and I\nhave no sword. There is none like that; give it to me.\u201d So the priest\ngave him the sword. But a man named Doeg, the king\u2019s chief herdsman, saw\nwhat was done, and told the king.\n\nThen David went to Bethlehem to his father\u2019s farm and told the bad news\nof the anger of the king. \u201cHe has threatened to kill me. Indeed, he has\nalready tried twice to kill me, once with his own hand. You and mother\nmust go at once to a place of safety. Come, let me take you to our\ncousins in Moab, the family of my great-grandmother Ruth.\u201d So over they\nwent, across the Jordan, and put themselves under the protection of the\nking of Moab.\n\nAs for David, he found a place of refuge in the Cave of Adullam. And\nthere men gathered about him.\n\nThe first to come was Abiathar. He had been a priest at Nob, and he told\nDavid what had happened. Doeg had gone straight to Saul. \u201cI saw the son\nof Jesse coming to Nob,\u201d he said, \u201cand the chief priest gave him bread\nfrom the holy table and the giant\u2019s sword.\u201d And Saul sent for the chief\npriest, and the priest said, \u201cHere am I.\u201d\n\nAnd Saul frowned upon him, and said, \u201cWhy have you conspired against me\nwith the son of Jesse, and have given him a sword to slay me?\u201d\n\nAnd the chief priest answered, \u201cWho is so faithful among all your\nservants as David, your son-in-law, and honorable in your house? I knew\nnothing of any trouble between you and him.\u201d\n\nThen the king\u2019s old madness came upon him, and he called for men to kill\nnot only the chief priest, but all the other priests. And at first,\nnobody would do it. Not a man would lift his sword to strike those\nunarmed, innocent men. Finally, Doeg did it. He fell upon them with such\nfury that only one escaped. Abiathar escaped, and became one of David\u2019s\nband.\n\nAnd others came, till there were six hundred men. Some had chosen the\noutlaw life because they were in distress, some because they were in\ndebt, some because they were discontented and were weary of peace and\nquiet and desirous of adventures. A wild and hardy life they had, among\nthe hills, under the stars, fighting the Philistines, chasing the\nAmalekites, defending shepherds from the attacks of brigands, and making\nrich sheepmasters pay for their protection.\n\nThere was Abishai, David\u2019s nephew. One day David was fighting the\nPhilistines, and the army of the enemy lay about Bethlehem. And in the\nmidst of the battle, in the dust and heat, David was very thirsty; and\nhe looked across the valley over the heads of the struggling soldiers,\nand there in the distance were the green trees of his native village.\nAnd David said, \u201cOh, that one would give me drink of the waters of the\nwell of Bethlehem, that is by the gate.\u201d And Abishai and two others who\nstood by and heard these words started straight for Bethlehem. Running\nand hiding and fighting, they made their way through the Philistine\narmy, and filled a cup with water and brought it back and gave it to\nDavid. And David would not drink it. He said it was too sacred to drink,\ngained as it was by the peril of men\u2019s lives. He poured it solemnly upon\nthe ground. That was Abishai\u2019s adventure.\n\nThere was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. One time, he went down into a\npit on a snowy day and single-handed fought a lion and killed him.\nAnother time he was attacked by an Egyptian, eight feet high, whose\nspear was like a weaver\u2019s beam. Benaiah had only a stick in his hand\nwhen the Egyptian fell upon him; but he plucked the spear out of the\nEgyptian\u2019s hand, and slew him with his own spear. That is the sort of\nman Benaiah was.\n\nThere was Jonathan, another of David\u2019s nephews. He had a fight with a\nPhilistine, on each of whose hands were six fingers, and on each of his\nfeet six toes, and the man was big in proportion. But he was not big\nenough to vanquish Jonathan.\n\nThere were eleven men of God, whose faces were like the faces of lions,\nand their feet as swift as the wild roes on the mountains. Once in the\nspring, when the water of the Jordan was in full flood, brimming from\nbank to bank, they swam across and put to flight, some east and some\nwest, the people who lived on the other side.\n\nDavid also had his share of danger. Once he ventured into a Philistine\ncity and entered the service of the Philistine king. And the Philistines\nfound out who he was. \u201cThis,\u201d they said, \u201cis the man who killed our\nchampion the giant.\u201d And they proposed to make an end of him. And David\npretended to be crazy. He opened his mouth so that his spittle fell down\nupon his beard; he scrabbled on the doors of the gate; so that the king\nsaid, \u201cSee, the fellow is mad.\u201d Thus he escaped.\n\nIn such adventures David and his men of Adullam passed their days.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVII\n\nTHE OUTLAW AND THE SHEEPMASTER\n\n\nThere lived in the land of Israel, among the southern hills, a man named\nNabal, with Abigail his wife. Nabal had three thousand sheep and a\nthousand goats, and his pastures reached farther than the eye could see;\nbut he had a stingy and sullen temper. Abigail, however, was as generous\nas she was beautiful.\n\nThey were shearing sheep, one day, on Nabal\u2019s farm, and there were good\nthings to eat and drink, and the shepherds were all very merry, when\nsuddenly they saw ten men coming up along the dusty road. One was\nAbishai, and one was Jonathan, and one was Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,\nand the other seven were lusty outlaws, and they came with a message\nfrom their captain, David. \u201cPeace,\u201d they said, \u201cbe to thee and to thy\nhouse, and unto all thy great possessions. We have protected thy\nshepherds in the fields, as they will tell thee. We have driven off the\nAmalekites who came to steal the sheep. Remember us, now, and send a\ngift to David the son of Jesse.\u201d\n\nAnd Nabal was very angry. \u201cWho,\u201d he said, \u201cis David, and who is the son\nof Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from\nhis master. Shall I take my bread and my water, and my flesh that I have\nkilled for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not whence they\nbe?\u201d\n\nTo this the ten men listened in grim silence, and straightway turned\nabout and went away, and Nabal and his shepherds watched them till they\nwere lost to sight over the top of the hill.\n\nBut one of the shepherds ran in and told Abigail. \u201cMistress Abigail,\u201d he\ncried, \u201can evil thing has happened. David sent men to salute our master,\nand he railed on them, and sent them away empty. But, indeed, David and\nhis band were very good to us shepherds. We were not hurt, neither\nmissed we anything, as long as we were in the fields. They were a wall\nto us, both by night and by day. What shall we do? You know the might of\nDavid; he will come and destroy us all. And not one of us dares say a\nword to Nabal.\u201d\n\nThen Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves of bread, and two\nskin bottles of wine, and five sheep dressed for roasting, and five\nbaskets of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two\nhundred cakes of figs. These she packed on the backs of asses, and said\nto her servants: \u201cGo on with these before me. I will come after you.\u201d\nAnd without a word to Nabal she hurried to meet David.\n\nThus they climbed the hill, the servants and the mistress, and there at\nthe bottom was a cloud of flying dust, and under the cloud was David\nwith his men, hastening with all speed to punish Nabal.\n\nAnd when Abigail saw David she alighted and bowed down to the ground\nbefore him. \u201cLet not my lord,\u201d she said, \u201cregard my husband, who is a\nfoolish person. See, here is a present, all that you can wish. Do not\nshed blood without a cause. I know that the Lord will certainly make my\nlord victorious over all the land, because my lord fights the battles of\nthe Lord and does no evil. And the enemies of my lord shall the Lord\nsling out as from the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass, when\nthe Lord shall have made thee ruler over Israel, thou wilt be glad to\nremember that thou hast shed no blood without a cause, or in revenge.\u201d\n\nAnd David said to Abigail, \u201cBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, which\nsent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be\nthou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from\navenging myself with my own hand. For in very deed, as the Lord God of\nIsrael liveth, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely by\nthe morning light both Nabal and all that belong to him should have\nperished miserably.\u201d\n\nThen David received her gift, and said to her, \u201cGo up in peace to thy\nhouse. See, I have harkened to thy voice and have accepted thy person.\u201d\nSo Abigail turned about and went one way, and David turned about and\nwent the other way.\n\nNabal\u2019s men were eating and drinking, as Abigail came home, sitting at a\nfeast fit for a king. Nabal was drunken, and merry with the foolish\nmerriment of drink. So she told him nothing, either less or more, until\nthe morning light.\n\nThen she said, \u201cNabal, yesterday your life was in great danger, and I\nsaved you. David was on his way here with four hundred men, and I met\nhim and turned him back.\u201d\n\nAnd Nabal was so filled with terror that his heart, for the moment,\nceased to beat: as if he had been walking in his sleep and had waked to\nfind himself on the very edge of a steep cliff. And his fright and the\nliquor he had drunk brought on a sudden sickness. He went to bed, and\nnever got up again: and in ten days he was dead.\n\nNow David\u2019s wife, the princess Michal, had been taken from him by the\nking and married to another man. And, anyhow, it was then the custom\nfor men to have more wives than one. So when the tidings of the death of\nNabal came to David, his heart turned toward the brave and beautiful\nlady who had stopped him on the road. And again a band of messengers\nfrom David approached the house which had once been Nabal\u2019s, but this\ntime they asked in David\u2019s name not for bread and meat, but for the hand\nof Abigail. And Abigail, remembering the grace and courtesy of the bold\noutlaw, consented.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVIII\n\nTHE ADVENTURE OF THE KING\u2019S SPEAR\n\n\nWherever King Saul went he carried his tall spear. When he sat at the\ntable, he had it close beside him, as his son Jonathan knew by sad\nexperience. He even took it with him when he went to bed, leaning it\nagainst the wall beside his pillow as he slept. Of course, then, when he\nwent to capture David he bore his spear over his shoulder. Thus he set\nout, and three thousand men with him.\n\nWord had come to the king that David was hiding in a certain place. Men\ncame one day from a place called Ziph, and said to Saul, \u201cO king, David\nhas hid himself in the hill of Hachilah. Come quick, and catch him.\u201d\n\nFor the men of Ziph, like a great many other quiet people, were much\nafraid of David. Indeed, we may well believe that while lion-killers and\ngiant-slayers are very pleasant persons to meet in the pages of books, a\nband of five or six hundred of them might be objectionable neighbors.\nNabal was not the only sheepmaster who wished that they were all in\nJericho, or in some other remote place on the other side of the river\nJordan. So the men of Ziph did their best to get rid of them. \u201cNow is\nthe time,\u201d they said, \u201cto capture David. He and his men are hiding in\nthe hill of Hachilah.\u201d\n\nSo Saul set forth, with his three thousand, and to the hill of Hachilah\nthey came. And being tired after their long march, the first thing that\nthey did was to pitch their camp on the side of the hill. Then they laid\nthem down and went to sleep, for it was dark. Saul had five times as\nmany men as David, so nobody was afraid. They did not take even the\ncommon precaution of a guard to keep awake and watch. Saul slept, and\nhis uncle Abner the captain slept, and all the soldiers slept, in the\nshelter of the rocks and under the thick bushes. And the moon came out\nand looked upon Saul\u2019s camp, and there they lay, all the three thousand,\nsound asleep, while a single spark of light reflected from the sky shone\non the tip of the spear which showed where the king lay beneath.\n\nThen from behind the rocks, high up the hill of Hachilah, who should\ncome softly creeping but David himself. He saw the sleeping camp, and in\nthe midst of it the king\u2019s spear stuck in the ground by the king\u2019s\npillow. And he spoke to Abishai, who was beside him. \u201cWho,\u201d he said,\n\u201cwill go down with me to Saul to the camp?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: DAVID WITH THE KING\u2019S SPEAR]\n\nAnd immediately Abishai spoke up and said, \u201cI will go with you.\u201d\n\nFor Abishai thought that David was the best and bravest of all men, the\nvery pattern of heroism and chivalry.\n\nSo down they went, stealing silently along among the sleeping soldiers,\nlike Gideon among the tents of the Midianites. And there lay Saul\nasleep, with a jug of water on one side of him, and his spear stuck in\nthe ground on the other.\n\nThen whispered Abishai to David, \u201cGod hath delivered thine enemy into\nthy hand this day. Now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee. See,\nhere is his spear,--the spear with which he tried to kill thee,--let me\npin him with it to the earth. One blow will be enough.\u201d\n\nBut David answered, \u201cDo not touch him. It is true that he tried to kill\nme, and is here in pursuit of me. But he is the Lord\u2019s anointed. He is\nthe king of Israel. I will leave him in the Lord\u2019s hands. Let the Lord\nbring him in his own good time to his appointed end, by sickness or by\nbattle. I will not hurt him. Take away his jug of water and his spear,\nand let us go back.\u201d\n\nAnd this they did. They took away the jug of water and the king\u2019s spear,\nand departed. And no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awakened: they\nwere all asleep.\n\nThen David stood on the top of the hill, and called with a loud voice in\nthe still night, \u201cAbner!\u201d he cried, \u201cHo, Abner! Answerest thou not,\nAbner?\u201d\n\nAnd Abner suddenly wakened at the voice of David, and sat up, and looked\nabout him much confused, and said, \u201cWho calls?\u201d\n\nAnd David answered from the hill in the light of the moon, \u201cThou art a\nvaliant man, Abner! Thou art a mighty captain! Thou art a prudent master\nof the king\u2019s body-guard! The king has been in peril of his life, while\nyou slept. There came one even to his side to kill him, and you knew it\nnot. Where is the king\u2019s jug of water? Where is the king\u2019s spear?\u201d\n\nAnd Saul awoke and recognized the voice of David. And he said, \u201cIs this\nthy voice, my son David?\u201d\n\nAnd David said, \u201cIt is my voice, O king. Why dost thou pursue me? What\nhave I done against thee? What evil is in my hand? Thou hast believed\nlies about me.\u201d\n\nThen Saul was deeply moved, and said, \u201cI have done wrong. Return, my son\nDavid. I will do thee no more harm, because my life was precious in thy\nsight this day. I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.\u201d\n\nBut David answered and said, \u201cBehold, the king\u2019s spear. Let one of the\nyoung men come over and fetch it. May the Lord spare me, as I have\nspared the Lord\u2019s anointed.\u201d\n\nAnd Saul replied, \u201cBlessed be thou, my son David. Thou shalt do great\nthings and prevail.\u201d\n\nThus David forbore a second time from taking his revenge upon his\nenemies. Then David and his six hundred went upon their way, and Saul\nand his three thousand went back along the road by which they came.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIX\n\nIN THE LAND OF THE ENEMY\n\n\nIn the midst of David\u2019s troubles with the king of Israel he received a\npresent from the king of Gath. The king of Gath gave him a town.\n\nIt happened in this way. As weeks grew into months, and David, in spite\nof Saul\u2019s fair words, did not dare to trust his head within reach of\nSaul\u2019s spear, he said to himself at last, \u201cI am afraid that I shall some\nday perish at the hand of Saul. What shall I do? Whither shall I turn?\nHow can I get beyond his reach? I will go over to the enemy. I will\noffer my sword, and the swords of my six hundred men, to the\nPhilistines.\u201d\n\nAnd that he did. And Achish, king of Gath, to whom he went, received\nhim. But many of the Philistines were in doubt. They feared that David\u2019s\ncoming was but a plot to defeat and destroy them. \u201cSome dark night,\u201d\nthey said, \u201cDavid will rise up and kill us.\u201d\n\nThen David said to Achish, \u201cGive me, I pray thee, some small place in\nthe country, where I may dwell.\u201d And Achish gave him the border town of\nZiklag, far from the princes of the Philistines. So all the band with\ntheir wives and children settled in Ziklag.\n\nHaving Ziklag for their headquarters, they went out on forays and fought\nthe Amalekites. They brought away whatever they could lay their hands\nupon, and no Amalekites remained to tell the tale. And when they came\nback from these adventures, Achish would say, \u201cWhere have ye made a raid\nto-day?\u201d And David would answer, \u201cWe have been in the south country, in\nthe land of Judah.\u201d For in those days men did not understand, as we do,\nhow wrong it is to tell a lie. And Achish believed this false report,\nand said to himself, \u201cDavid is making war on his own people. He will\nnever dare to desert us now and go back to his own land.\u201d\n\nAt last, the time came for another war between the Philistines and the\nIsraelites. In all the towns of the Philistines men were busy shaping\nbows and arrows; the blacksmiths at their flaming forges were sharpening\nswords and spears; soldiers were drilling on every village green,\ncaptains were making plans, and the army was assembling. Achish sent for\nDavid. \u201cNow,\u201d he said, \u201cwe are to make a great march against your old\nenemy, King Saul, and we shall need your help.\u201d That was very hard for\nDavid; but when the march began, there he was with his six hundred,\nbringing up the rear. What else could he do?\n\nFortunately for David, the Philistine leaders would not have him. \u201cWhat\ndo these Hebrews here?\u201d they said. And Achish answered, \u201cThey are trusty\nmen. David has been sent into exile by Saul, his master, and has come\nwith us to fight against him.\u201d But the princes and the captains were not\nsatisfied. \u201cMake this fellow return,\u201d they said; \u201che will attack us from\nbehind. He will reconcile himself to Saul by bringing him our heads.\u201d\n\nSo Achish was obliged to dismiss David. \u201cThe princes will not have you,\u201d\nhe said. \u201cCome now, to-morrow morning by the first light, rise up and\nget you gone.\u201d And when the sun rose on the morrow, David and his men\nwere on their way to Ziklag.\n\nBut when they came in sight of Ziklag, their joy was turned to\nlamentation; for, behold, the whole place was on fire. A cloud of black\nsmoke covered the town, and underneath the smoke were heaps of ashes.\nNot a living soul remained. The Amalekites had come and destroyed the\ntown, and had carried away the women and children into captivity.\n\nAt first, the whole six hundred sat down upon the ground and cried. Then\nthey got up with stones in their hands, and began to mutter something\nabout throwing them at David\u2019s head. But Abiathar, the priest said: \u201cThe\nthing to do is to follow the Amalekites. Quick! let us pursue and\novertake them!\u201d\n\nSo off they started on the run, and never stopped till they came to the\nbank of the brook Besor. And then two hundred men lay down and declared\nthat they could go no further. But the others pushed still forward over\nthe brook.\n\nBy and by, in a field, they found a man who, at first sight, seemed to\nbe dead. But they raised him up, and gave him bread and he did eat, and\nthey made him drink water, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs\nand two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit came to\nhim again. For he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water three days and\nthree nights.\n\nAnd David said, \u201cTo whom belongest thou? and whence art thou?\u201d\n\nAnd he said, \u201cI am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my\nmaster left me, because three days ago I fell sick. We had been on a\nraid, and had burned Ziklag.\u201d\n\nAnd David said, \u201cCanst thou bring me down to this company?\u201d\n\nAnd after David had promised neither to kill him nor to give him up to\nhis master, the man agreed to act as guide.\n\nAs the sun was setting, they came in sight of the Amalekites, eating and\ndrinking and dancing like wild Indians, because of the great spoil which\nthey had taken. And David smote them so suddenly and fiercely that they\nwere surprised and overcome. Four hundred of them, young men on swift\ncamels, escaped, but all the spoil remained. There was nothing lacking,\nneither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters: David recovered\nall.\n\nBut meanwhile, in the north, along the Great Plain, the army of the\nPhilistines was marching day and night to give battle to the army of\nKing Saul.\n\n\n\n\nXL\n\nTHE WITCH OF ENDOR\n\n\nIn the old days, almost everybody believed in witches. Even wise men\nthought that there were old women who had made a bargain with the Prince\nof Evil: the old women had sold their souls, and in return had been\ngiven power to see into the future, to hurt their enemies without\ntouching them, and to talk with those who had been long dead.\n\nThis strange belief, which is now held only by ignorant or superstitious\npersons, came from two facts.\n\nIt is a fact that the world in which we live is so full of wonders and\nmysteries that almost anything seems possible. It is also a fact that\none of the most mysterious and wonderful things in the world is the\nhuman mind: some people, just by using their minds, can speak to others\nmiles away,--that is called telepathy; some people, just by using their\nminds, can make others do what they wish them to do and see what they\nwish them to see,--that is called hypnotism. These powers of the mind\nare still beyond our understanding, but we do not believe that they have\nany more connection with the Prince of Evil than wireless telegraphy or\nthe electric light. In the old days, however, men and women who had\nthese powers were called wizards and witches, and it was thought that\nthe best thing to do with them was to put them to death.\n\nNow King Saul had driven the witches and the wizards out of the land.\nBut afterwards it came to pass that he was exceedingly desirous to know\nwhat was in store for him in the near future. The Philistines were\nmarching along the Great Plain, and Saul had mustered all his men to\nmeet them, and there was to be a great battle; and Saul was afraid.\n\u201cOh,\u201d he cried, troubled and perplexed, \u201cif Samuel were here, he would\ntell me what to do. Oh, for a single word with Samuel!\u201d But Samuel was\ndead.\n\nAt last, Saul said to his servants, \u201cGo, seek me out a witch, that I may\ngo to her and inquire of her.\u201d His servants said: \u201cThe witches have been\ndriven out, but there is still one remaining, in a hiding place, at\nEndor.\u201d And Saul disguised himself, and took two men with him, and went\nto Endor. And they came to the witch\u2019s house by night.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d said the witch.\n\n\u201cOne in distress,\u201d said Saul, \u201cwho wishes a moment\u2019s speech with a\ndeparted spirit.\u201d\n\nAnd the witch said, \u201cI cannot help you. The king has banished all the\nwitches. If he were to find me, he would take my life.\u201d\n\nBut Saul answered, \u201cI am able to protect you. Only do as I ask and there\nshall no harm befall you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is it,\u201d asked the witch, \u201cwith whom you wish to speak?\u201d\n\nAnd Saul said, \u201cSamuel.\u201d\n\nThen the witch began to use her mind. The first thing which her mind\ntold her was that her visitor was no other than the king himself. And\nthis the king confessed. \u201cBe not afraid,\u201d he said, \u201conly bring Samuel to\nspeak with me.\u201d Then the witch\u2019s mind told her what Samuel would say, if\nhe were yet alive. She thought of the Philistine army and of Saul\u2019s few\nsoldiers. She thought of the sternness of Samuel, and how he had in his\nlifetime rebuked the king. It was plain that Samuel, if he could speak,\nwould declare the sure defeat of Saul, and would say that it was a\ndivine punishment upon him.\n\nNow the house was as dark as the black night, except where a dim light\nshowed the witch\u2019s face and deepened the surrounding gloom. And suddenly\nthe witch cried with a loud voice, and put her hands before her eyes;\nand Saul said, \u201cWhat do you see?\u201d And she said, \u201cI see a god ascending\nout of the earth.\u201d And Saul said, \u201cWhat form is he of?\u201d And the woman\nanswered, \u201cAn old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle.\u201d\n\nWhen Saul heard that, he bowed down with his face to the ground. \u201cWhat\ndoes he say?\u201d said he.\n\nIn the darkness of the room, and in the confusion and mystery of the\nmoment, Saul knew not whether the answering voice was that of the witch\nor of the prophet. But there was a Voice. And the Voice said, \u201cWhy hast\nthou disquieted me to bring me up?\u201d And Saul answered, \u201cI am sore\ndistressed; for the Philistines make war upon me to destroy me, and God\nis departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets nor\nby dreams: therefore have I called thee, that thou mayest make known\nunto me what I shall do.\u201d\n\nAnd the Voice said, \u201cWherefore dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is\ndeparted from thee, and is become thine enemy? Because thou obeyedst not\nthe voice of the Lord, therefore he hath rent the kingdom out of thine\nhand and given it to David. And to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be\nwith me.\u201d\n\nThen Saul fell straightway all along upon the earth, and was sore afraid\nbecause of the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him,\nbecause he had eaten nothing all the day nor all the night. And the\nwitch said, \u201cLet me set a morsel of food before thee, that thou mayest\nhave strength when thou goest on thy way.\u201d But Saul said, \u201cI will not\neat.\u201d At last, however, he got up from the floor and sat upon the bed,\nand ate, he and his two companions, and went away into the night.\n\nAnd on the morrow it happened as the Voice had said. The Philistines\nfought and the men of Israel fled and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa.\nAs for Saul and his sons, the archers hit them with their arrows; so\nthey died, the king and his three sons, that same day together.","title":"The Garden of Eden: Stories from the first nine books of the Old Testament","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":42537}