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BISHOP JOHN H. VINCENT
BISHOP JOHN H. VINCENT
I have been asked to prepare this little aid for your use in the Home—that first and greatest of schools. The school was founded by the Maker of men, and He called mothers to be its earliest and most important teachers. He prepared a text-book for it which we call His Word, illustrating it richly and fully from life and Nature, and filling it with His Spirit. Wherever it is known, as the children become the members of the Church, the citizens of the State, the people of the World, the Book goes
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CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNING OF THINGS.
CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNING OF THINGS.
Away back in the beginning of things God made the sky and the earth we live upon. At first it was all dark, and the earth had no form, but God was building a home for us, and his work went on through six long days, until it was finished as we see it now. On the first day God said, "Let there be light," and the black night turned to gray, and light came. God called the light Day, and the darkness Night, and the evening and the morning made the first day. Then God divided the waters, so that there
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Driven from Eden
Driven from Eden
God looked into their hearts and saw that Abel wished to do right, but Cain's heart was full of sin. Cain was angry because the Lord was pleased with the worship of Abel, and while they talked in the field Cain killed his brother. When the Lord said to Cain, "Where is thy brother?" he answered, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" And the Lord sent him away from home, to wander from place to place over the earth, and find no rest, but He promised that no one should hurt Cain, or kill him as h
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CHAPTER II. THE GREAT FLOOD.
CHAPTER II. THE GREAT FLOOD.
As the people of the earth grew to be many more and spread over the plains and hills, they also grew very wicked. They forgot God, and all the thoughts of their hearts were evil. Only Noah still worshipped God and tried to do right. The people had destroyed themselves, and so God said to Noah: "The end of all flesh is come; make thee an ark of gopher wood." He told Noah to make it of three stories, with a window in the top, and a door in the side. It was to be a great floating house, more than f
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The great flood
The great flood
So Noah did all that the Lord had told him to do, and seven days before the great storm he heard the Lord calling: "Come thou and all thy house into the ark," and that very day, Noah with his wife and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japtheth, and their wives, went into their great black house, and through the window in the top came flying the little families of birds and insects, from the tiny bees and humming birds, to the great eagles, and through the door on the side came the families of animals, tw
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Dove returns with an olive leaf.
Dove returns with an olive leaf.
After seven days again he sent out his good little dove, and she did not come back. So Noah was sure that the earth was getting dry, and that God would soon tell him to go out of the ark. And so he did. Think how glad the sheep and cows were to find fresh grass, and the birds to fly to the green trees. What a silent world it must have been, for there were none but Noah and his family in all the earth. Noah did not forget how God had saved them, and he made an altar of stone, and offered beasts a
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CHAPTER III. ABRAHAM—THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL.
CHAPTER III. ABRAHAM—THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL.
The people who lived four thousand years ago were very much like children who easily forget. They told their children about the great flood, but nearly all forgot to tell them of the good God who is the Father of us all, whom we should always love and obey. Yet there is always one, if not more, who remembers God, and keeps his name alive in the world. Abram had tried to do right, though there was no Bible in the world then, and no one better than himself to help him but God, and one day He calle
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The three strangers
The three strangers
And the Lord hid them in the little town of Zoar, while a great rain of fire fell upon the wicked cities of the plain, until they became a heap of ashes. Only Lot's wife looked back to see the burning cities, and she became a pillar of salt. The next morning when Abraham looked from Hebron down toward the cities of the plain, a great smoke was rising from them like the smoke of a furnace. At last the Lord's promise to Abraham and Sarah came true. A little son was born to them, and they called hi
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Hagar in the desert
Hagar in the desert
"Arise, lift up the lad," said the voice, "for I will make him a great nation." And God opened her eyes to see a well of water near. Then she filled the empty bottle, and gave the boy a drink, and God took good care of them ever after, though they lived in a wilderness. Ishmael grew up to be an archer, and became the father of the Arabs, who still live in tents as Ishmael did. But the Lord let a strange trial come to the little lad Isaac, also. His father loved and obeyed God, but there were hea
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On Mount Moriah
On Mount Moriah
Abraham had left the young men at the foot of the mount, and went with Isaac to the great rock on the top of the mount. "My father," said Isaac, "where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering," said his father, still obeying God, and believing His word, that Isaac should be the father of many nations. Abraham made an altar of stones, and bound Isaac and laid him upon it, but when his hand was lifted to offer up the boy, the Lord called to
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CHAPTER IV. ISAAC THE SHEPHERD PRINCE.
CHAPTER IV. ISAAC THE SHEPHERD PRINCE.
Before Abraham died, he thought much about his dear son Isaac, to whom he was going to leave all that he had. The young man had no mother, no sister, and soon he would have no father. So the old man called his old and faithful servant, and told him to go on a journey into the land of his fathers, and bring back with him a wife for his son Isaac. The children of Nahor, Abraham's brother, lived there still, and Abraham wished for his son Isaac a wife of his own people, who should be both good and
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CHAPTER V. JACOB, A PRINCE OF GOD.
CHAPTER V. JACOB, A PRINCE OF GOD.
Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. They did not look alike as twins often do, and they were very unlike in all their ways. As they grew up, Esau loved the forests and wild places. He made bows and arrows, and was a hunter, and brought home wild birds and deer, for his father was very fond of such food. Jacob helped his father with the flocks, and learned how to cook food from his mother, who loved him more than she loved Esau. One day Esau came home from hunting tired and hu
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Isaac blessing Jacob
Isaac blessing Jacob
After this Esau hated his brother, and said he would kill him. So Isaac called Jacob, and, blessing him again, sent him away into Syria to the house of Laban, where Rebekah had lived, and where Abraham's servant went to find her for his master's son. One night, when he was not far on his way, he lay down to sleep, with a stone for his pillow, on a hillside that looked toward his home, and he dreamed a wonderful dream. He saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and a vision of angels who were
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Meeting of Jacob and Esau
Meeting of Jacob and Esau
Again the Lord spoke to Jacob at Beth-el, and called him Israel, and blessed him. After they left Beth-el, they came near to Bethlehem, where many hundred years afterward the Lord Jesus was born, and there another little son was born to Rachel, and there too God sent for her, and took her to Himself, and there her grave was made....
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Jacob and Rachel
Jacob and Rachel
The little boy was named Benjamin, and was the youngest of Jacob's twelve sons, who became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the princes of a great nation. Jacob was almost home. His great family, with all the flocks and herds, had been long on the way, for they often spread their tents by the brooks in the green valleys, that the cattle might rest and find pasture, but at last the long caravan came slowly over the fields of Mamre to Hebron, and Isaac, whom the Lord had kept alive
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CHAPTER VI. JOSEPH, THE CASTAWAY.
CHAPTER VI. JOSEPH, THE CASTAWAY.
Of all the sons of Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin were the dearest to him, because they were the sons of his beloved Rachel, who had died on the journey from Syria into Canaan. They were also the youngest of all the twelve sons. When Joseph was about seventeen years old, he sometimes went with his elder brothers to keep his father's flocks in the fields. He wore a long coat striped with bright colors, which his father had given him, because he was a kind and obedient son, and could always be trusted
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Joseph sold to the Ishmaelites
Joseph sold to the Ishmaelites
Reuben, when his brothers went back to their flocks, went to the pit to try to save Joseph, but he was not there, and Reuben cried out, "The child is not, and I, whither shall I go?" The brothers who had been so cruel to Joseph brought his coat to their father, all stained with blood. They had themselves dipped it in the blood of a kid to deceive him, and he mourned long, and would not be comforted, for the beloved child that he believed had been torn in pieces by evil beasts....
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CHAPTER VII. JOSEPH, A SERVANT, A PRISONER, AND A SAINT.
CHAPTER VII. JOSEPH, A SERVANT, A PRISONER, AND A SAINT.
The king of Egypt, where Joseph was taken by the Ishmaelites, was called Pharaoh, and he had a captain of the guard named Potiphar, who bought Joseph for a house servant. Though he was the son of a Hebrew prince, Joseph did his work faithfully and wisely as a servant, and was soon made steward of the house, and was trusted with all that his master had, and the Lord made all that he did to prosper; but the wife of Potiphar was a wicked woman, who persuaded her husband that Joseph was a bad man, a
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CHAPTER VIII. JOSEPH—THE SAVIOR OF HIS PEOPLE.
CHAPTER VIII. JOSEPH—THE SAVIOR OF HIS PEOPLE.
The famine reached even to the fruitful land of Canaan, and Jacob, though rich in flocks and herds, began to need bread for his great family. So he sent his ten sons down into Egypt to buy wheat, keeping Benjamin, the youngest at home. When they came before the governor they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. Joseph knew them, though he acted as if he did not, and remembered his dream of his brother's sheaves bowing down to his sheaf. At first, he spoke roughly to them, and called
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Joseph makes himself known to his brothers
Joseph makes himself known to his brothers
"I am Joseph, your brother," he said, "whom you sold into Egypt," and he begged them to come near to him. "Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves," he said, for he saw that they were terrified, "for God sent me before you to save your lives by a great deliverance. It was not you that sent me hither, but God, and he hath made me a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." Then he told them to hasten and go to his father and tell him this, and ask him to come down at once, with all his flocks and
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CHAPTER IX. THE CRADLE THAT WAS ROCKED BY A RIVER.
CHAPTER IX. THE CRADLE THAT WAS ROCKED BY A RIVER.
After Joseph and all the sons of Jacob had grown old and had passed away, their children's children grew in numbers until they became a great multitude. The Pharaoh whom Joseph had served also died, and the king who followed him did not like the Hebrews. He feared them because they had grown to be strong, so he set overseers to watch them, and make them work like slaves. He treated them cruelly, and made them lift the great stones with which they built the tombs of the kings and temples of the g
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Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses
Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses
"This is one of the Hebrew's children," she said, and as the baby's sister came near she asked the princess if she should go and get a nurse from among the Hebrew women to bring it up for her, and the princess said to her, "Go," and the maid went and called the child's mother. The princess said: "Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." And the mother took her baby joyfully though she hid her joy in her heart, and carried him home to nurse and bring up for Pharo
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CHAPTER X. MOSES IN MIDIAN.
CHAPTER X. MOSES IN MIDIAN.
Moses had teachers, and was taught all the learning of the Egyptians, but his heart was with his own people. He was grieved when he saw their burdens, and heard their cries when their taskmasters struck them. Once, when he was a grown man, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and he struck the Egyptian and killed him, for he thought he ought to defend his people: and when he saw that the man was dead, he buried him in the sand. In a day or two Moses tried to make peace between two Hebrews who we
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CHAPTER XI. THE ROD THAT TROUBLED EGYPT.
CHAPTER XI. THE ROD THAT TROUBLED EGYPT.
So Moses took his wife and his sons and returned to Egypt, and the rod of God was in his hand; and Aaron, sent of God, came to meet him in the wilderness, and there Moses told him all that was in his heart, and all that God had sent him to do. When they came into Egypt they gathered the Israelites together, and Aaron spoke to them, and they believed his words, and the signs that Moses showed them. Afterward, they went to Pharoah and gave him the message of the Lord, and Pharoah said: "I know not
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The rod that troubled Egypt
The rod that troubled Egypt
But in the morning when Pharoah walked by the river the two men stood by him and said again: The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee saying: "Let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness," and then Aaron struck the waters of the river Nile with his rod, and the waters turned to blood. In all the land, in every stream and pond there was blood, so that the fishes died and no one could drink the water. But because the wizards could turn water to blood also, Pharoah's heart w
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CHAPTER XII. FOLLOWING THE CLOUD.
CHAPTER XII. FOLLOWING THE CLOUD.
"God led the people," says the Word, as they came up out of Egypt. He gave them the two leaders by whom He had broken the power of Pharaoh, and set His people free, and He also set a great cloud in the air, just above and before them, to lead them in the right way. It was to them the presence of the Lord. By day it rose white and beautiful against the blue sky, and moved slowly before them. At night it stood still while they rested, and shed light over all the camp, for there seemed to be a fire
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Destruction of Pharaoh's army
Destruction of Pharaoh's army
Then a great shout went up from the host of Israel. Moses led them in a song of praise, and Miriam, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine, and the women followed her in dances as they answered in a chorus of praise:— "Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider hath he thrown into the sea." Soon they took up their journey, the cloudy pillar going before. There was but little water by the way, and after three days of thirst, they came to the waters of Marah, bu
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Moses descending from the Mount
Moses descending from the Mount
While they still camped around the mount they began to build the Tabernacle. Moses told the people to bring gold, and silver, and brass, and wood. They also brought precious stones, and oil for the lamp, and fine linen, and they gave so willingly that at last Moses told them that there was more than enough. These were put in the hands of two wise men whom the Lord had chosen and taught to do the work, and they had willing helpers among the people, for wise hearted women did spin with their own h
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CHAPTER XIII. IN THE BORDERS OF CANAAN.
CHAPTER XIII. IN THE BORDERS OF CANAAN.
While the host of Israel was in camp at Paran, the Lord told Moses to send men before them into Canaan to spy out the land. So he sent twelve men who walked through the land and saw the people, and the cities and the fields and the fruits. They were forty days searching the land and they brought from the brook Eschol a cluster of grapes so large that two of them bore it on a staff between them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs....
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The return of the spies
The return of the spies
When they came into the camp they said that the country where they had been was good, and flowing with milk and honey, but the people were strong, and the cities had very high walls. They said they saw giants there. Caleb, who was one of the twelve, and a good and true man, said: "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it," but the men who were with him were afraid of the giants, and said they felt like grasshoppers before them. Then there was great weeping among t
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CHAPTER XIV. A NATION THAT WAS BORN IN A DAY.
CHAPTER XIV. A NATION THAT WAS BORN IN A DAY.
The time had come for the people to cross the river Jordan, and enter their own land, and the Lord told Joshua to prepare the people for their last journey before going over Jordan. Joshua first sent two men over the river to see the land. They went to the walled city of Jericho, and to the house of a woman named Rahab. The king heard that they were there and sent for them, but the woman hid them under the flax that she was drying on the roof of her house. Afterward she let them down by a rope t
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Crossing the Jordan
Crossing the Jordan
After the Ark had come up from the bed of Jordan, and there was not one of all the thousands of Israel left behind, the waters came down from the place where they had stayed, and flowed down into the Dead Sea, and overflowed the banks of Jordan as before. The stones were heaped in Gilgal where they camped, and directly before them rose the walls of Jericho, and here they kept the passover. For forty years they had been fed with manna from heaven as they camped or journeyed in the wilderness, but
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CHAPTER XV. SAMSON THE STRONG.
CHAPTER XV. SAMSON THE STRONG.
All the days of Joshua—and he lived to be an hundred and ten years old—the Israelites were conquering the people who lived in Canaan, and dividing it among the tribes. Joshua was a father to them, as Moses had been, and when at last they were at rest, each tribe within its own borders, and they had begun to build their houses, and plant their fields, Joshua spoke words of loving counsel to the people, and they set up a stone under an oak tree, as a sign that they would always serve the Lord and
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The young Samson
The young Samson
They tried for seven days to guess the riddle, but they could not, and then they told Samson's wife to find it out for them, or they would burn her house. She begged him with tears to tell her, and at last he told her of the honey comb in the body of the lion, and she told the young men, so that at the end of the seventh day they said to Samson, "What is sweeter than honey?" and "what is stronger than a lion?" He saw that he had been betrayed, so he paid his debt, a suit of clothes to each guest
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CHAPTER XVI. RUTH.
CHAPTER XVI. RUTH.
In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, there was a famine in the land, and an Israelite, who lived in Bethlehem, took his wife and his two sons into Moab where there was food. After a while the Israelite died, and the two sons married women of Moab. After two years the sons died also, and their mother, Naomi, longed for her home in Bethlehem, for there was no longer a famine there. So she took Ruth and Orpah, her sons' wives, and started on the journey into the land of Israel. But before t
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Ruth and Naomi
Ruth and Naomi
Boaz remembered that it was the custom in Israel for the nearest relative of a man who had died, to take care of the wife who was left, and so he went to the gate of Bethlehem where the rulers met to hold their court, and spoke to the elders and chief men about Ruth. He also wished them to be witnesses that he was going to take Ruth to be his wife. Then the rulers all said, "We are witnesses," and they prayed that God would bless Ruth and make Boaz still richer and greater. So Ruth became the ho
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CHAPTER XVII. SAMUEL—THE CHILD OF THE TEMPLE.
CHAPTER XVII. SAMUEL—THE CHILD OF THE TEMPLE.
The Tabernacle that was built in the wilderness, and was brought into Canaan by the priests was set up at Shiloh in the very centre of the land of Canaan, and once every year the tribes came to it to worship and offer sacrifices. After it had come to Shiloh to stay it was called the temple. When Eli was high priest a man named Elkanah came up from Ramah to worship, and Hannah his wife went with him. She was a good woman, and very sorrowful, because she saw other wives with sons and daughters aro
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Samuel speaking to the Lord
Samuel speaking to the Lord
"For the child I prayed," she said, "and the Lord has answered my prayer. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord." Eli was very glad and gave thanks to the Lord, and took the little boy to help him in the service of the temple. Every year his father and mother came to bring offerings to the Lord, and his mother always brought him a little coat which she had made. Over it was a linen garment called an ephod, such as the priests wore. Eli was an old
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CHAPTER XVIII. THE MAKING OF A KING.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE MAKING OF A KING.
When Samuel was old he made his sons judges in his place, but they were not holy men like their father. They loved money, and would judge unjustly, if money were given to them as a bribe. So the people came to Samuel at Ramah and said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord told him to do as the people had asked him to do, for they had not rejected him as judge, but the Lord as their King, and now they must learn what kind of a king would reign over them. So Sa
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CHAPTER XIX. THE SHEPHERD BOY OF BETHLEHEM.
CHAPTER XIX. THE SHEPHERD BOY OF BETHLEHEM.
After Saul had been king of Israel for a few years, Samuel was deeply troubled about him, for he had hoped that he would be as truly a king as he looked, but he had a strange and wilful spirit that led him to turn away from the counsel of the Lord and follow his own way. Samuel had been grieved again and again by Saul's rashness, until at last he said to him when he had taken the spoil of the enemy to sacrifice to the Lord, "To obey is better than sacrifice; because thou hast rejected the word o
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The young shepherd boy
The young shepherd boy
Samuel saw a noble youth, "ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to." He had been told that he must not look on the outward appearance "for the Lord seeth not as man seeth," and so he waited a little until the Lord said: "Arise, anoint him, for this is he." Then he took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren, and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward, and Samuel went back to his house in Ramah. It may be that his father and his b
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CHAPTER XX. THE POWER OF A PEBBLE.
CHAPTER XX. THE POWER OF A PEBBLE.
Saul the sullen was still king over Israel, although he had departed from the Lord, and in His sight he was no longer a king. He was very gloomy and dark in his mind, for he had driven the Lord's spirit away, and his light was gone. His servants tried to amuse him, and told him of David, the son of Jesse, who was a skillful player on the harp, and a brave and handsome youth. So Saul sent for David, and David, bringing presents from his father, came to the king's house. Saul was greatly pleased w
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David cutting off Goliath's head
David cutting off Goliath's head
Saul had forgotten the youth who played upon the harp before him, for when he sent for him after the battle he said, "Whose son art thou, thou young man?" and David answered, "I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite." And Saul took him to live with him from that day....
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CHAPTER XXI. FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
CHAPTER XXI. FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
Saul had a son named Jonathan, and he loved David as his own soul. He took off his princely robes, even to his sword, and his bow, and his girdle, and made David wear them; and David acted wisely in all that the king gave him to do. There was great joy and much feasting over the Death of Goliath and the flight of the Philistines, and wherever Saul went, the women came out of the cities to meet him, singing and dancing, and the song with which they answered one another was, "Saul hath slain his t
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The spear struck the wall
The spear struck the wall
It was clear that David could not live near the king, and so he talked with Jonathan, his friend, who said, "God forbid, thou shalt not die," but David said, "Truly there is but a step between me and death." Then they made a promise to each other before the Lord that should last while they lived. They promised to show "the kindness of the Lord" to each other while life should last. Jonathan told David that he might go away for three days, and they went out into a field together. They feared the
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CHAPTER XXII. DAVID THE OUTCAST.
CHAPTER XXII. DAVID THE OUTCAST.
For seven years King Saul hunted David from one end of the land of Israel to the other. The evil spirit of jealousy and hate had full possession of him, and David, with a few faithful men, was driven from one stronghold to another, until he cried, "They gather themselves together; they hide themselves; they mark my steps when they wait for my soul. What time I am afraid I will trust in thee." He had escaped again and again from the hand of Saul, and now he was down in the desert country by the D
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The garment of Saul
The garment of Saul
"The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master," he said "to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord," and in this way he kept his servants from harming Saul, and after Saul awoke he went out of the cave. David also went out of the cave and cried, "My Lord the King!" And when Saul turned David bowed down to him and asked him why he listened to men who said that he wished to harm the king, and then he told him how the Lord had given him into his hand
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CHAPTER XXIII. EVERY INCH A KING.
CHAPTER XXIII. EVERY INCH A KING.
After Saul's death David came back to live with his own people, for he was of the tribe of Judah. He went to Hebron, the old home of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for the Lord had told him to go there, and the men of his tribe came to Hebron and anointed him king. The other tribes did not come, for Saul's son and the captain of his host, Abner, were still holding the kingdom. But when both were killed by an enemy, then all the other tribes came to Hebron and made a league with him, so seven years a
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CHAPTER XXIV. DAVID'S SIN.
CHAPTER XXIV. DAVID'S SIN.
The army of Israel was at war with the Ammonites, and Joab was the chief captain. David did not go out with the army, but stayed in his house in Jerusalem. One evening he was walking on the flat roof of his house, as the people of that country always do, and he saw a little way off a very beautiful woman. He sent a servant to ask who she was, and found she was the wife of Uriah who was in the army with Joab, fighting the Ammonites. Then a great temptation was set before David, and instead of goi
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CHAPTER XXV. DAVID'S SORROW.
CHAPTER XXV. DAVID'S SORROW.
David had a very beautiful son named Absalom. From the crown of his head to the soles of his feet there was no fault to be seen in him. His hair was thick and long, and his beauty was much talked of through all Israel. But the Lord who looks upon the heart saw that the heart of Absalom was wicked and false. He killed his brother Amnon, and then fled to another country and stayed three years. When he returned he tried to see his father, but David would not see him for two years. Then Absalom forc
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The death of Absalom
The death of Absalom
Then Joab sent two messengers to carry news of the victory to the king, who sat between the city gates, while a watchman stood over the gates on the city wall. When the watchmen saw the two men running, one after the other, he cried out and told the king. The first man cried as he came, "All is well," but when the king said, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" he could not answer, and when the second messenger cried, "Tidings, my lord, the king," again David asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?"
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David mourning for Absalom
David mourning for Absalom
The people who had come back joyful because the enemy had been conquered were distressed by the grief of the king, so that Joab persuaded David to come down to the gate and meet the people. After this those who were left of the followers of Absalom begged the king to come back to Jerusalem, and so he came, and thousands came to meet him. He had only forgiving words for those who had injured him, and for Barzillai and the men of Gilead who had fed them and shown them great kindness in the darkest
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CHAPTER XXVI. THE BUILDING OF THE GOLDEN HOUSE.
CHAPTER XXVI. THE BUILDING OF THE GOLDEN HOUSE.
The time was near when David must leave his people and go to his God, and his chief thought was about the house of the Lord that he had longed to build, that the Ark of God might be at rest, and that the people might have a place of worship for all time to come. He knew that his son Solomon was to build the temple, but he was still young, and David made ready as far as he could for the building of the house. There were men at work in the quarries, cutting great stones, and there were men in the
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The Queen of Sheba before Solomon
The Queen of Sheba before Solomon
Solomon had many ships upon the sea that brought riches from every land He learned much of the world in this way, and as he grew older and from his throne of gold and ivory judged his people, he dropped many wise sayings that were written in a book by the scribes and are now called the "Proverbs of Solomon." But in Solomon's latter days his wives, who were daughters of heathen kings, turned his heart from the Lord. When his father sinned he repented at once, and his heart never turned to idols,
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CHAPTER XXVII. ELIJAH THE GREAT HEART OF ISRAEL.
CHAPTER XXVII. ELIJAH THE GREAT HEART OF ISRAEL.
During the reign of Jehoshaphat, fourth king of Judah, and Ahab, sixth king of Israel, after the division of the kingdom, there came out of Gilead Elijah, a prophet of the Lord. Two of the kings of Judah, and all of the kings of Israel had been wicked men, and the Lord sent Elijah to Ahab, king of Israel, to tell him that there should be no rain for years in the land of Israel, and then only as Elijah should ask for it. Ahab was more wicked than the kings that reigned before him, and had built a
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Ravens bringing food to Elijah
Ravens bringing food to Elijah
Then Elijah was told to go to Zarephath, for a woman there had been told to feed him, and he went at once. As he came near the city gate he saw a woman gathering sticks, and he asked her to bring him a cup of water and a little bread. She told him that she had but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse, and she was going to bake it for herself and son, that they might eat it and die. Then Elijah said, "Fear not; go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake f
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Elijah and the angel
Elijah and the angel
Then the Lord told him to go out and stand on the mount before the Lord, and he passed by. There was a great wind that split the mountains, and broke the great rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still, small voice. When Elijah heard that, he wrapped his face in his mantle and stood at the door of the cave, and the Lord asked again
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Elijah and the chariot of fire
Elijah and the chariot of fire
Then he took Elijah's mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters of Jordan again, and they parted, and he went over, and he knew that the power of the old prophet's spirit had been given to him. Fifty young men, sons of the prophets, saw him return, and they said, "The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha," and they bowed themselves to the ground before him....
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CHAPTER XXVIII. THE LITTLE CHAMBER ON THE WALL.
CHAPTER XXVIII. THE LITTLE CHAMBER ON THE WALL.
Elisha did many wonderful things in the strength of the spirit that Elijah's God gave him. He changed the waters of Jericho, so that they were no longer poisonous, by casting salt in the spring. He brought water for the thirsty armies of three kings who had gathered to battle, by telling them to dig ditches in a valley of Edom, and watch for the water to come, without wind or rain. When the morning dawned the valley was full of running water. He helped a poor widow to pay a debt and take care of
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CHAPTER XXIX. A LITTLE MAID OF ISRAEL.
CHAPTER XXIX. A LITTLE MAID OF ISRAEL.
There was war almost all the time between Israel and Syria. A band of Syrians from Damascus would often come into a village of Israel and take the people away for slaves. One little girl who was carried off by the Syrians became a slave in the house of a Syrian general called Naaman, and was a maid to Naaman's wife. Naaman was a great man, and beloved by all, but he had a disease that could never be cured. It was leprosy. He could go about, but he could not touch others without giving them the d
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CHAPTER XXX. THE TWO BOY KINGS.
CHAPTER XXX. THE TWO BOY KINGS.
There were many kings over Israel from the days of Solomon until the time when they were carried away captives to Babylon. The kingdom was divided soon after Solomon's death, and a king reigned in Jerusalem over the kingdom of Judah, and another in Samaria over the kingdom of Israel. There were a few kings who tried to follow that which was right, but the most of them were men who were given to idolatry, and who did not help the people to remember the true God. The Lord sent them prophets to rem
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CHAPTER XXXI. THE FOUR CAPTIVE CHILDREN.
CHAPTER XXXI. THE FOUR CAPTIVE CHILDREN.
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came with his armies and besieged Jerusalem, just as Jeremiah the prophet had foretold. He took the king and the princes of Judah captive, and carried away their precious things from the temple and the palaces into his own land, and put them in the temples of his gods. Before twenty years had passed the whole nation had been driven into captivity, and their holy house had been burned, and the ark of the covenant lost or destroyed. As the kingdom of Israel had als
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In the fiery furnace
In the fiery furnace
Then the king with his eyes fixed upon the glowing door of the furnace said, "Lo I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Then he went near the door of the furnace and cried, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth and come hither!" Then they came out before the king and all the people, who saw that the fire had no power over their bodies, for no hair of their head was
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CHAPTER XXXII. THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS.
CHAPTER XXXII. THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS.
The Lord saw that the heart of Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up with pride because he was king of a great people, and had conquered many weaker nations. He was proud of his royal city, Babylon. The walls of Babylon were sixty miles in length, and in them stood one hundred brazen gates. There were wonderful palaces, and statues, and bridges, and gardens. The river Euphrates ran through the city, and near the king's palace was a hill covered with trees and flowering plants from many lands, called the
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The handwriting on the wall
The handwriting on the wall
So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king told him that if he would read the writing on the wall he should be clothed royally and be made the third ruler in the kingdom. "Let thy gifts be to thyself," said Daniel, "and give thy rewards to another, yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation." Then Daniel reminded the king of that which fell upon his father Nebuchadnezzar, when he had grown proud and hard-hearted toward God and men, and, though he
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Daniel in the den of lions
Daniel in the den of lions
Then a stone was laid over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with that of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed. That was a long night for Darius the king. He could neither eat nor sleep, and he would hear no music, but very early in the morning he went to the den of the lions and with a very sorrowful voice cried: "O Daniel, servant of the living God! is thy God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee from the lions?" Then up from the pi
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CHAPTER XXXIII. THE STORY OF JONAH.
CHAPTER XXXIII. THE STORY OF JONAH.
More than eight hundred years before the birth of Christ a prophet named Jonah lived in the land of Israel. He had given the Lord's messages to his own people, and they had listened to them, and a part of their country had been saved by obeying the Word of the Lord as it was brought to them by Jonah. But when the Lord wished to send Jonah to warn a great city in Assyria to repent of their sins, he did not wish to go. Nineveh was a very old and a very great city. It was built soon after the flood
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Jonah thrown on the dry land
Jonah thrown on the dry land
The second time Jonah heard the voice of the Lord telling him to go to Nineveh and preach the words that should be given him to say, and this time he obeyed. It was a long journey to Nineveh, and when Jonah reached it he found that the city was so great that it would take three days to walk around the walls. The walls were a hundred feet high. And so broad that three chariots could be driven on them side by side. The walls had fifteen hundred towers, each two hundred feet high. Inside the walls
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CHAPTER XXXIV. ESTHER, THE QUEEN.
CHAPTER XXXIV. ESTHER, THE QUEEN.
About five hundred years before Christ King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) reigned over Persia. In the third year of his reign he gave a royal feast to all the princes and nobles of Persia and Medea, in Shushan, the royal city. It lasted one hundred and eighty days, and was very costly, for the king wished to show the great men from all his provinces the riches and glory of his kingdom and of his palace. At the end of these days he made another feast to all who were in Shushan, a feast of seven days, and wh
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Haman denounced by the queen
Haman denounced by the queen
Haman was overcome with fear at this, and the king was so angry that he rose up and went out into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make a plea for his life, and when the king came in he found Haman fallen at the queen's feet. One of the king's chamberlains who knew what the king wished told him of the gallows at Haman's house that had been made for Mordecai, and the king said, "Hang him thereon," and they did so, and the king's anger was pacified. That day the king gave Haman's house to the
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THE NEW TESTAMENT.
THE NEW TESTAMENT.
There was an old priest named Zacharias, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, where Abraham the father of the Jewish people used to live. He went to Jerusalem when it was his turn to serve in the temple, and once while he was offering the incense of sweet spices on the golden altar, he saw through the rising smoke an angel standing on the right side of the altar. The good priest was frightened, but the angel said, "Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard," and he promised that to him an
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