Jacob and Esau's reunionTHE MEET-ING OF JA-COB AND E-SAU.
When Ja-cob was an old, old man Ra-chel bore him a son; and they called his name Ben-ja-min. And Ra-chel died. And it was hard for Ja-cob to have her die and leave him, for his love for her was great, and she was a good wife to him.
JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.
Ja-cobhad twelve sons, and he was more fond of Jo-seph than of all the rest; for he was the child of his old age. And he gave him a fine coat, and made a great pet of him. This did not please the rest of the sons, and they showed their hate of Jo-seph in all sorts of ways.
One night Jo-seph had a strange dream, and he told it to Le-vi, Sim-e-on, and the rest, and it made them hate him all the more.
He said, As we bound sheaves in the field, lo, my sheaf rose and stood up straight. And your sheaves stood round, and bowed to my sheaf.
And those who heard him said, Shalt thou in-deed reign o'er us? And his words and his deeds filled them with a fierce hate.
And it was not long ere he told them of a freshdream he had had, in which he saw the sun and moon and e-lev-en stars bow down to him. And he told it to Ja-cob, and his e-lev-en sons.
And Ja-cob took him to task, and said to him, What does this dream mean? Are all of us to bow down to the earth to thee? And he made up his mind to watch these signs, which might be sent of God.
JO-SEPH'S DREAM.
Now Ja-cob had large flocks of sheep and goats at Shech-em, and all of his sons but Jo-seph had gone there to feed them. And Ja-cob said to Jo-seph, Go and see if it be well with thy breth-ren, and with the flocks, and bring me back word.
And Jo-seph went out from the vale of Heb-ron to the land of Shech-em.
When he came there he found that his broth-ers had gone on to Do-than. AndJo-sephwent to Do-than and found them. And as soon as he came in sight they thought of a way in which they might get rid of him.
SHECH-EM, THE FIRST CAP-I-TAL OF THE KING-DOM OF IS-RAEL.
Come, let us kill him, they said; and throw him in-to a pit, and say that a wild beast ate him up. Then we shall see what will be-come of his dreams.
But Reu-ben heard it, and saved him out of their hands. And he said, Let us not kill the lad. Shed no blood; but cast him in-to this pit, and lay no handon him. For he meant to take him out of the pit, and bear him home to his fath-er.
But when Jo-seph came near these men who should have been kind to him, they took off his coat and threw him in-to the pit, which was dry, or he would have drowned. These old dry wells were left as traps in which to catch the wild beasts that prowled round in the dead of night, and well these bad men knew what would be Jo-seph's fate.
As they sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a lot of men and cam-els on their way to E-gypt, with spices, and balm and myrrh.
JO-SEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTH-ERS.
And Ju-dah—one of Ja-cob's sons—said, Let us not kill the lad, for he is of our own flesh, but let us sell him to these men. And the rest thought it was a good scheme. So they drew Jo-seph up out of thepit and sold him for a small sum, and those who bought the lad took him down with them to E-gypt.
And the bad men took Jo-seph's coat and dipped it in the blood of a kid they had slain. And they brought it to Ja-cob, and said, This have we found. Is it thy son's coat?
And Ja-cob knew it at once, and said, It is my son's coat. Jo-seph has no doubt been the prey of some wild beast. And his grief was great.
The men who bought Jo-seph brought him down to E-gypt and sold him to Pot-i-phar for a slave.
And the Lord was with Jo-seph, who served Pot-i-phar so well, that the rich man put him in charge of his home and lands. But Pot-i-phar's wife told false tales, and Jo-seph, who had done no wrong, was thrust in-to jail. Pha-ra-oh was then king of E-gypt. And it came to pass that he fell out with his but-ler and chief cook, and had them shut up in the same place where Jo-seph was bound.
And the man on guard put them in charge of Jo-seph, who went in and out of the ward as he chose. And one morn when he came in to them he saw they were sad, and asked them why it was.
And they said, We have dreamed dreams, and there is no one to tell us what they mean.
And Jo-seph said, Tell me them, I pray you.
And the chief but-ler told his dream to Jo-sephfirst. And he said, In my dream I saw a vine, that put forth three branch-es and brought forth ripe grapes.
And Jo-seph said to him, In three days shall Pha-ra-oh lift up thine head, and put thee back in thy place, and thou shalt serve him as of old. But think of me when it shall be well with thee; speak of me to the king, and bring me out of this house.
And the but-ler said that he would.
JO-SEPH'S COAT.
Then the chief cook told his dream; and he said, In my dream I had three white bas-kets on my head. And in the top one were all sorts of bake meats for the king. And the birds did eat out of the bas-ket that I bore on my head.
And Jo-seph said to him, In three days shall Pha-ra-oh lift up thy head and hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat the flesh from thy bones.
The third day was the king's birth-day, and he made a great feast. And he put the chief but-ler back in his place, and hung the chief cook; just as Jo-seph had said he would do. But the chief but-ler gave not a thought to Jo-seph, nor spoke one good word for him to the king, as he had said he would.
Two years from this time the king had a dream, from which he woke, and then fell a-sleep and dreamt the self-same dream. This was such a strange thing that it made the king feel ill at ease. And he sent for all the wise men in the land to tell him what these dreams meant.
Then the chief but-ler spoke to the king, and said that when he and the cook were in jail, there was a young man there, a Jew, whom the chief of the guard made much use of. And we told him our dreams, and he told us what they meant. And it came out just as he said.
Then the king sent at once for Jo-seph, and said to him: In my dream I stood on the bank of the Nile. And there came up out of the riv-er sev-en fat cows, and they fed in a field near by. Then sev-en lean cows came up that were naught but skin and bone. And the lean cows ate up the fat cows. Andyet no one would have known it, for they were just as lean as when I first saw them. Then I woke, but soon fell a-sleep once more.
Then I dreamt, and in my dream I saw sev-en ears of corn come up on one stalk, full and good. And lo, sev-en ears that were thin and dried up with the east wind sprang up af-ter them. And the poor ears ate up the good ones.
Jo-seph said, For sev-en years there will be no lack of food in the land, and all will go well; and then there will come a time of great want, and rich and poor will be in need of food, and not a few will starve to death. Let the king choose a wise man to see that corn is laid up in the land when the good years bring the rich growth, so that there will be no lack of food in the years when the crops are small.
PHA-RA-OH'S DREAM.
And the king said to Jo-seph, Since God hathshowed thee all this there is none so wise as thou art. So he put him in charge of all the land of E-gypt, and he was to rank next to the king. And the king took a ring from his own hand and put it on Jo-seph's hand, and when he rode out, men bowed the knee, and his word was law in all the land. And Jo-seph took a wife, and he who was brought to E-gypt a slave, was now a rich man.
And there came years when the grain grew rank in the fields, and the crops were large. And Jo-seph saw that a large part of it was laid up, and that there was no waste of the good food. For the end of those rich years came and then there was a time of dearth in all the lands, when the earth would not yield, and men and beasts were in want of food.
But there was no lack of corn in E-gypt. And Jo-seph sold the corn that he had stored in the barns, and crowds came in to buy it.
When Ja-cob heard that corn could be bought in E-gypt, he told his sons to go down and buy some, that they might not starve to death.
And ten of them went down to buy corn in E-gypt. But Ja-cob kept Ben-ja-min at home, for fear he would be lost to him as Jo-seph was lost.
JO-SEPH AND HIS BROTH-ERS.
When Ja-cob's ten sons came to the place where Jo-seph was, they bowed down to the ground. AndJo-seph knew them at once, but they did not know him, or give a thought to his dreams.
And Jo-seph spoke in a rough voice, and said, Whence come ye?
And they said, From the land of Ca-naan to buy food.
And he said, Ye are spies, and have come to see how poor the land is.
And they said to him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are we come. We are all one man's sons; and we are true men, and not spies.
But Jo-seph would have it that they were spies.
And they said, There were twelve of us, sons of one man. Young Ben-ja-min is at home with his fa-ther, and one is dead.
And Jo-seph said, Go prove that ye are not spies; let one of the ten that are here go and fetch the young lad, Ben-ja-min. And he put them in jail for three days. And he said, Let one of you be bound, and kept in the guard-house, while the rest of you take back the corn that you need. And they said that they would do this.
Then he took Sim-e-on from their midst, and had him bound, and put in the guard-house.
And he sent word to his men to fill their sacks with corn, and to put back the price in each sack, andto give them food to eat on the way. And thus did Jo-seph do good to those who did ill to him.
When Ja-cob's nine sons went home they told all that had been said and done to them, and that the lord of the land bade them bring Ben-ja-min down to E-gypt or he would think they were spies, and their lives would not be safe.
Ja-cob said, My son shall not go down with you, for his broth-er is dead, and he is all I have left. If harm should come to him on the way, I should die of grief.
THE MEET-ING OF JO-SEPH AND BEN-JA-MIN.
When the corn they had brought from E-gypt was all gone, Ja-cob told his sons to go down andbuy more. And Ju-dah spoke up and said, The man swore we should not see his face if Ben-ja-min was not with us. If thou wilt send him with us we will go; but if thou wilt not send him we will not go down.
Then Ja-cob said, If it must be so, take Ben-ja-min with you, and may God give you grace with this man that he may send my two boys back to me.
So the men took Ben-ja-min and went down to E-gypt, and stood face to face with Jo-seph.
And they gave Jo-seph the gifts they had brought, and bowed down to the earth. And he asked how they all were, and if their fath-er was well; and when he saw Ben-ja-min he said, Is this the young broth-er of whom you spoke? And he said to the lad, God be good to thee, my son.
And Jo-seph's heart was so full at sight of the boy, and he longed so to throw his arms round him, that he had to make haste and leave the room that his tears might not be seen.
Then he came back and had the feast set out, and all did eat and drink, and were glad at heart. And when the time came for his guests to leave, Jo-seph told his head man to fill their sacks with corn, to put their gold back in the mouth of the sacks, and to put in the young lad's sack the cup from which Jo-seph drank at each meal.
This was done, and when they had gone out of the town Jo-seph bade his man go and say to them: My lord's cup is lost, and you must know who stole it.
And when the man came up with Ja-cob's sons, he said just what Jo-seph told him to say. And they were all in a rage, and said: Why does my lord say such things of us? If the cup is found on one of us, kill him; and make the rest of us slaves.
And each one of them cast his sack on the ground, and loosed it at the top. And the cup was found in Ben-ja-min's sack. Then they rent their clothes, and in great grief went back to Jo-seph's house and found him there. And they fell down at his feet.
JA-COB BLESS-ES JO-SEPH'S CHIL-DREN.
And Ju-dah said, God has found out our sins.Let us be your slaves; and take him as well in whose sack the cup was found.
Jo-seph said, No; but the man in whose sack the cup was found shall stay and serve me, and the rest shall go in peace.
Then Ju-dah, who had sworn that he would bring back the boy, said to Jo-seph: If we go home, and our fath-er sees the lad is not with us, he will die of grief. For his life is bound up in the lad's life.
Jo-seph could not keep back his tears, and when he had sent all the men of E-gypt out of the room, he said to his broth-ers, Come near, I pray you.
And they came near. And he said, I am Jo-seph, whom ye sold in-to E-gypt. But grieve not that ye did this thing, for God did send me here that I might save your lives. Go home and tell my fath-er that God hath made me lord of all E-gypt, and bid him come down to me at once. And say that he shall dwell near me, in the land of Go-shen, and I will take care of him.
Then he fell on Ben-ja-min's neck, and they wept; and he kissed his broth-ers and shed tears, but they were tears of joy.
Ja-cob took all that he had and went down to E-gypt. And three-score and ten souls went with him. And they dwelt in the land of Go-shen, and Ja-cob died there.
Jo-seph's breth-ren thought that he would hate them now that their fath-er was dead. And they fell down at his feet and wept and prayed that he would do them no harm.
Jo-seph bade them fear not, for he would take care of them and be kind to them. They had meant to do him an ill turn when he was a lad, but God had made it turn out for good, and it was all right. And Jo-seph lived to a good old age, and had two sons, whose names were E-phra-im and Ma-nas-seh.
THROUGH THE RED SEA AND THE WILDERNESS.
Byand by there rose up a new King in E-gypt who knew not Jo-seph. He was called Pha-ra-oh, as this was the name by which all the kings of E-gypt were known. And he said there were more He-brews, or Jews, in the land than there ought to be, and if war should break out, and these Jews should take sides with the foes of Pha-ra-oh and his race, they would be sure to win. So he set them hard tasks, and made them bear great loads, and did all he could to vex them, and still they grew in strength. God had said they were to be as the stars in the sky,and as the sands of the sea, that no one could count. And the king of E-gypt tried to stop this thing.
And he made it a law that if a boy child was born to the He-brews it should be put to death at once; but a girl child might live. And this was the cause of great grief to the poor bond-slaves, who were forced to do the will of the great king.
One day the prin-cess went down to bathe in the stream that ran near her house. And her maids went with her. And as she stood on the shore of the Nile, she caught sight of a small boat built like an ark, that was hid in the reeds, and sent her maids to fetch it out.
When the prin-cess looked in the ark she saw the child. And the babe wept. And the prin-cess tried to soothe it, but the child cried the more, for her voice was a strange one. And she said, This is a He-brew child.
And one of her maids spoke up, and said, Shall I get thee a He-brew nurse, that she may nurse the child for thee?
And the prin-cess said, Yes; go.
And the maid brought her own and the babe's moth-er, to whom the prin-cess said, Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay thee for it.
And the wo-man took the child and took care of it.
baby mosesTHE FIND-ING OF MO-SES.
And the child grew, and was brought down to Pha-ra-oh's house, and the prin-cess made him her son, and gave him the name of Mo-ses: which means "Drawn out."
One day, when Mo-ses had grown to be a man, he went out to look at those of his own race, and to watch them at their tasks. And while he stood there a man from E-gypt struck one of the Jews; and when Mo-ses looked to the right and to the left and saw that no one was near, he slew the one from E-gypt and hid him in the sand.
And the next day, when he went out, he saw there was a fight be-tween two He-brews. And he said to the one who was in the wrong, Why did you strike that man?
And he said, Who made thee our judge? Dost thou want to kill me, as thou didst the one from E-gypt?
And Mo-ses was scared, for he thought no one knew of this deed.
As soon as it came to the ears of the king, he sought to slay Mo-ses. But Mo-ses fled from him, and dwelt in the land of Mid-i-an, and found a wife there, and took care of the flocks of Jeth-ro, his wife's fath-er.
One day as he led his flock out in search of food he came to Mount Ho-reb, and there he saw a flameof fire stream out of a bush, and the bush was not burnt in the least.
As he drew near the bush the Lord spoke to him out of the flame, and Mo-ses hid his face, for he dared not look on God.
The Lord said, The cry of the chil-dren of Is-ra-el has come up to me, and I have seen how ill they have been used. And I will send thee to Pha-ra-oh that thou mayst bring them forth out of the land of E-gypt.
But Mo-ses was loth to go.
Moses and pharaoh's daughterMO-SES BROUGHT BE-FORE PHA-RA-OH'S DAUGH-TER.
And the Lord said, What is that in thine hand? And Mo-ses said, A rod, And the Lord said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it was changed to a snake, and Mo-ses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Mo-ses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And Mo-ses did so, and it was a rod in his hand. Andthe Lord said, Put now thy hand in on thy breast. And he put it in, and when he drew it out it was white, and like a dead hand. And he put his hand in once more, and drew it out, and it was like the rest of his flesh.
Then Mo-ses said, O, my Lord, I am not fit to do this work, for I am slow of speech, and a man of few words.
And the Lord said to him, I will be with thee, and teach thee what thou wilt say.
Still Mo-ses was loth to go, and the Lord was wroth with him, and said, Take Aa-ron with thee. He can speak well. And thou shalt tell him what to say and do, and I will teach you, and with this rod in thy hand thou shalt do great things, as if thou wert God.
So Mo-ses took his wife and his sons and put them on an ass, and went back to E-gypt with the rod of God in his hand.
And Mo-ses and Aa-ron went in to the king and begged him to let the He-brews go out of the land. And he would not, but laid more work on the men, and bade them make bricks with-out straw, and do all sorts of hard tasks.
And the Lord sent plagues on the land, and the ponds dried up, and all the large streams were turned to blood, and the fish died, and the stench of themmade the air scarce fit to breathe. And there was no wa-ter they could drink. Then there came a plague of frogs, and they were so thick in the land that Pha-ra-oh said he would let the chil-dren of Is-ra-el go if Mo-ses would rid him of the frogs at the same time.
But the king did not keep his word, for as soon as he found the frogs grew less, he said the He-brews should not go.
Then the Lord smote the land with lice; but still Pha-ra-oh's heart was hard.
the bushMOS-ES AT THE BURN-ING BUSH.
Then the Lord sent flies in such swarms thatthere was no place that was free from them, and they made the food not fit to eat.
And the king told Mo-ses he would let the bond-slaves go to serve their God, but they were not to go far till the land was rid of flies. Then Mo-ses went forth and prayed to God, and the flies left the land. But still the king's heart was hard, and he would not let them go.
Then the Lord sent worse plagues: the flocks and herds died; there were boils on man and beast; the crops did not come up, and rain, hail, and balls of fire came down from the sky. And still the heart of the king was as hard as stone. Then the Lord sent lo-custs, that ate up all the hail had left, and there was not a green leaf on the trees nor a blade of grass to be seen in the whole land.
And the king bade Mo-ses to set him free from this plague. And the Lord sent a strong west wind, that blew the flies in-to the Red Sea. Yet Pha-ra-oh would not let the He-brews go.
Then the Lord told Mo-ses to stretch out his hand, and there came up a thick cloud that made the land so dark that the folks staid in bed for three days. And Pha-ra-oh said to Mo-ses, Get thee out of my sight. For if I see thy face thou shalt die.
And Mo-ses said, Thou hast well said: I will see thy face no more.
And the Lord sent one more plague on E-gypt: he smote the first-born of men and of beasts, and a great cry was heard through the land. And then Pha-ra-oh had to let the chil-dren of Is-ra-el go, for he could not keep up this strife with God. And Mo-ses led the He-brew chil-dren out of E-gypt, and the Lord sent a cloud by day and a fire by night to show them the way.
And when they were in camp by the Red Sea, they looked up and saw Pha-ra-oh and his hosts, and were in great fear lest he should kill them. And they cried out to the Lord, and blamed Mo-ses that he had brought them in-to such straits.
dancingMIR-I-AM, THE SIS-TER OF MO-SES, AND THE WO-MEN OF IS-RAEL SING-ING PRAISES.
As they came to the Red Sea, Mo-ses raised his rod and the sea rose like a wall on each side, andthe chil-dren of Is-ra-el went on dry land through the midst of the sea.
Then Pha-ra-oh and his hosts came close in the rear, and passed down be-tween the great sea-wall that rose at the right hand and at the left. And the waves that had stood still at a sign from God were let loose, and the king and his horse-men were swept out of sight.
When the chil-dren of Is-ra-el came out of the Red Sea they were three days with naught to drink. And when they came to a stream, called Ma-rah, they found it bitter. And they said to Mo-ses, What shall we drink?
And Mo-ses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and when he had cast a branch of it in the stream it was made sweet at once. And they came to E-lim, where were ten wells and three-score palm-trees, and there they made their camp.
It was not long ere there was a great cry for bread.
And Mo-ses plead with God, and when the sun went down that day quails flew in-to the camp, and they had all the meat they cared to eat. At dawn of the next day, as soon as the dew was off the ground, there came a rain of what was at first thought to be hail-stones.
crossing on dry landTHE CROSS-ING OF THE RED SEA.
But Mo-ses said it was food that God hadsentthem to eat, and they were to take all and no more than they would need for one day. For they were to trust in God that he would feed them each day. On the sixth day they were to take what would last them for two days, for no food fell on the day of rest.
This new food was called man-na.
As they went on they came to Reph-i-dim, but found no wa-ter to drink. And they found fault with Mo-ses. And Mo-ses cried out, Lord, what shall I do to these, who have a mind to stone me?
At this time they were near Mount Ho-reb, where God spoke to Mo-ses out of a bush that was on fire, yet not burnt.
Moses and tabletMO-SES AND THE TA-BLES OF THE LAW.
And God told Mo-ses to take his rod in his hand and go on till he came to a rock. And this rock he was to strike with his rod, and wa-ter would flow out of it. And Mo-ses did as the Lord told him, and when he struck the rock the wa-ter ran out.
In the third month from the time they left E-gypt, the chil-dren of Is-ra-el came near Mount Si-na-i, and went in-to camp. And Mo-ses went up to the top of the Mount, and the Lord spoke to him there.
On the third day a thick cloud of smoke rose from Mount Si-na-i, and a loud noise that made those that heard it quake with fear. And Mo-ses led his flock out of the camp, and they came and stood at the foot of the mount. And they said to Mo-ses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us lest we die. But Mo-ses told them that God had not come to make them die, but to make them fear to do aught that did not please him.
And God gave to Mo-ses two blocks of stone on which were the Ten Laws that the chil-dren of Is-ra-el were to keep.
oasisWELL AND PALM-TREES IN THE DES-ERT.
THE RIV-ER NILE IN E-GYPT.
Now while Mo-ses was in the mount, face to face with God, those whom he had brought out of E-gypt were in camp at the foot. And Mo-ses staid so long that they made up their minds he would not come back. So they said to Aa-ron, Make us a God that we can bow down to. And Aa-ron bade them throw all the gold they had in-to the fire. And they did so, and it took the form of a calf. And when God saw this he was not pleased, but bade Mo-ses make haste down the mount.
When Mo-ses came down from the mount with the two flat stones in his hands, and drew near the camp, and saw what had been done, he was in a great rage. He cast the blocks of stone out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mount.
Then he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire till there was nought left of it but a fine dust. And Mo-ses begged God to blot out the sins of those whom he had led out of E-gypt.And the Lord told Mo-ses to hew out two blocks of stone like to the first, and bring them up with him to the top of Mount Si-na-i.
This Mo-ses did, and the Lord wrote on them the Ten Laws that all were to keep if they would reach the land they sought.
They were more than two-score years on the road, and in that time they met with plagues, and there was strife in their midst, yet as they went there was the fire by night and the cloud by day to show that the Lord was with them.
When they came to Mount Hor and were yet a long way from Ca-naan, Aa-ron died, and there was great grief at his loss. They were sick at heart and foot-sore, and spoke hard words of God and Mo-ses. There is no bread here for us, they said, and no wa-ter, and we loathe this man-na. And for this sin God sent snakes in-to their camp, and they bit the chil-dren of Is-ra-el so that a few of them died. Then they plead with Mo-ses to rid them of the snakes, and make their peace with God.
And Mo-ses prayed for them. And God told him to make a snake like to those which bit his flock, and set it up on a pole. And all those who would look at this brass snake should be made well.
Mt. SinaiMOS-ES ON MOUNT SINAI.
And Mo-ses did so. And this sign was meant to show forth Christ, who was to heal men of their sins, and to be raised up on a cross.
angel with sword and BalaamBA-LAAM AND THE ASS.
And Mo-ses led his flock till they came to the plains of Mo-ab. And Ba-lak, the king of that land, thought they had come to fight with him, and he sent a man named Ba-laam out to curse them and drive them back. He told Ba-laam he would make him a rich man if he would do this thing, and as Ba-laam was fond of wealth he said he would dotheking's will. So he set forth on his ass, and had not gone far when he met an an-gel with a drawn sword in his hand. Ba-laamdid not see him, but the ass did and turned out of the road. But the an-gel went on and stood in a place where there was a wall on each side.
When the ass came to the place she went close to the wall and tried to get by. But she hurt Ba-laam's foot and he struck her and made her go on. And the an-gel went on and stood in a place where there was no room to turn to the right hand or the left.
Then the ass shook with fright and fell down on the ground. And Ba-laam struck her with the staff that he had in his hand.
And the Lord made the ass speak like a man, and say, What have I done to thee that thou hast struck me these three times?
Ba-laam said, To make thee move on: I would there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill thee.
Then the ass said, Am I not thine? and have I been wont to do so to thee? And Ba-laam said, No. Then the Lord made Ba-laam see the an-gel that stood in the way with a drawn sword in his hand, and Ba-laam bowed his face to the ground.
Then the an-gel said, Why hast thou struck thine ass these three times? Lo, I came out to stop thee, and to turn thee from the way of sin. And the ass saw me, and turned from the path, and if she had not done so I would have slain thee.
Then he said to Ba-laam, Go with the men the king has sent, but say on-ly what I shall tell thee.
So Ba-laam went with the men, and when Ba-lak heard that he was come he went out to meet him. The next day Ba-lak took Ba-laam to a high place, from whence he could look down on the camp of Is-ra-el, and curse them.
But the Lord would not let him curse them, but made him speak good things of them. This was done on three high mounts, and at last the king was wroth, and said to Ba-laam, I sent for thee to curse my foes, and lo, these three times hast thou blest them.
on Mt NeboMO-SES ON MOUNT NE-BO.
And Ba-lak bade him make haste and go backto his own home. And Ba-laam went off as poor as he came, for Ba-lak gave him none of his gold.
The Lord brought Mo-ses and his flock to the banks of the Jor-dan, which they would have to cross to reach the land of Ca-naan. And while they were there, Mo-ses went up to the top of Mount Ne-bo to talk with God. And God told him how large the land was that he would give to the chil-dren of Is-ra-el. And he said that Mo-ses should look on it, but should not step foot in the land. And Mo-ses died on Mount Ne-bo, and though an old man, was well and strong till the Lord took him. And no one knows in what part of the earth his grave was made.
HOW JOSHUA AND JEPHTHAH FOUGHT FOR THE LORD.
WhenMo-ses died, Josh-u-a took charge of the chil-dren of Is-ra-el, and sought to do God's will, as Mo-ses had done. And Josh-u-a sent word through the camp that in three days they would cross the Jor-dan. And when they set foot in the stream the waves stood back as they did in the Red Sea, and they went through Jor-dan on dry ground. And asthey came up out of the stream the waves closed up and there was no path-way through them.
The chil-dren of Is-ra-el made their camp at a place called Gil-gal; and as there was no lack of food in this good land, the Lord ceased to rain down man-na for them to eat.
The next day Josh-u-a left the camp and came near to the walls of Jer-i-cho. There he met a man with a drawn sword in his hand. And Josh-u-a said, Art thou for us or for our foes?
And the man said, As prince of the Lord's host am I now come. And at these words Josh-u-a fell on his face to the earth; for he knew it was the Lord that spoke to him.
soldiersPASS-ING THROUGH THE JOR-DAN.
The Lord told Josh-u-a to have no fear of theking of Jer-i-cho, for the chil-dren of Is-ra-el should take the town. All their men of war were to march round the town once each day for six days. Some of the priests were to bear the ark, which held the things they made use of when they went in to talk with God, and some were to blow on rams' horns.
And the next day—when the six days were at an end—they were to march round the town sev-en times, and the priests were to blow their horns. And when the men of Is-ra-el heard a long loud blast they were all to give a great shout and the wall would fall flat to the ground, and they could march in and take the town.
Josh-u-a bade his men do all the Lord had said; and told them to make no noise with their voice as they went their rounds till he bade them shout. And when the priests blew their horns for the last time, Josh-u-a cried, Shout! for the Lord is with us! and there was a great shout and the wall fell, and they took the town; and the fame of Josh-u-a spread through all the lands.
Josh-u-a fought with more than a score of kings and won their lands from them; but yet there was much land in Ca-naan for which the chil-dren of Is-ra-el would have to fight.
But as the years went on, Josh-u-a grew so old that he could not lead his men to war as he used todo. And he called his flock to him and told them how good the Lord had been to them. And he bade them love the Lord and serve him, and put from them all strange gods. He said, Choose ye this day whom ye will serve; but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
JoshuaJOSH-U-A AND THE STONE OF WIT-NESS.
And the men said, The Lord hath done greatthings for us, and him will we serve, for he is our God.
And Josh-u-a took a great stone and set it up 'neath an oak tree that stood near where the ark was kept at Shi-loh. And this stone, he said, was to be a sign of the vow they had made there to serve the Lord. And when the talk was at an end, the men went to their own homes.
And ere long Josh-u-a died. And they laid him in the part of the land that God gave him as his own, on the north side of the hill of Ga-ash.
Then the chil-dren of Is-ra-el went to war with the tribes that were in the land of Ca-naan, as Josh-u-a had told them to do. But they did not drive them all out, as they should have done, but made friends with those that were left, and were led in-to sin, and were made to serve as bond-slaves. And when they were sick of their sins, and sought the help of the Lord, he sent men to rule them, and to lead them out to war and set them free from these friends who proved to be the worst kind of foes.
Now there was a man in Is-ra-el whose name was Jeph-thah. He was a brave man, and had done great deeds, but the chil-dren of Is-ra-el were not kind to him, so he fled from their land, and went to live in the land of Tob. But when the Jews had need of a man to lead them out to war, they thoughtof Jeph-thah. And they said, Come, and be at the head of us when we go out to fight the Am-mon-ites.
And Jeph-thah said, If I go with you, and win the fight, will you make me judge in Is-ra-el?
And they said they would.
Now ere the fight took place, Jeph-thah made a vow that if the Lord would let him win he would give to God—that is, would slay and burn as if it were a lamb—the first who came out of his doors to meet him when he went back to his home.
Jeph-thah should not have made this rash vow, and need not have kept it if he had asked God to for-give the sin.
He went out to fight the Am-mon-ites, and by the help of the Lord the chil-dren of Is-ra-el were set free from them.
daughter dancingJEPH-THAH AND HIS DAUGH-TER.
When the fight was at an end Jeph-thah went back to his home, and the first to come out to meet him was his own child, a fair young maid, whose face was bright with joy. She was all the child that Jeph-thah had, and when he saw her he rent his clothes and told her of the vow he had made.
And she said, My fath-er, if thou hast made a vow to the Lord, do with me as thou hast said. And he took his child and did to her as he had said he would, and all the young girls in Is-ra-el wept for her.
Jeph-thah was a judge for six years, and then he died.
SAMSON: THE STRONG MAN.
TheJews kept on in their sins, and took no pains to please the Lord, and so fell in-to the hands of the Phil-is-tines.
And there was at that time a man in Is-ra-el whose name was Ma-no-ah. Both he and his wife served the Lord; and they had no child. And God sent one of his an-gels to the wife of Ma-no-ah to tellher that she should have a son who was to be brought up to serve the Lord, and to do his work.
Ere long Ma-no-ah and his wife had a son, to whom they gave the name of Sam-son.
And the child grew, and the Lord blest him. And when he was grown up he went to Tin-muth, where he met a Phil-is-tine wo-man and fell in love with her.
Then his pa-rents plead with him to find a wife in Is-ra-el, and not to take this one who was no friend to his race. But Sam-son would not give her up.
So they went with him to Tin-muth. And on the way a li-on ran out and roared at him. And Sam-son put his arms round the beast and tore him with his hands as if he had been a young kid. But he did not tell his fath-er and moth-er what he had done.
The time soon came when Sam-son was to set the Jews free from the Phil-is-tines. And he went down to one of their towns and slew a few of their men, and then went back to his own home, while his wife stayed in Tin-muth.
When it was time to bring the wheat in from the field, Sam-son went down to see his wife, and took with him a young kid. But when he came to the house her fath-er would not let him go in, and told him that she was his wife no more, but had gone tolive with some one else. Then Sam-son was in a great rage, and he went and caught more than ten score fox-es, and set bits of wood on fire, and tied these fire-brands to their tails, and let them loose in the fields and vine-yards of the Phil-is-tines.
And they set fire to the grain, and burnt it all up.
And the grape-vines and fruit trees were burnt, and much harm was done.
When the Phil-is-tines found out that it was Sam-son who had done this they took his wife and her fath-er and burnt them to death. And Sam-son fought and slew a host of the Phil-is-tines, and then went on the top of a high rock called E-tam to stay there.
Then a crowd of men went up with a rush to the top of the rock, and they said to Sam-son, We have come to bind thee, that we may give thee in-to the hands of the Phil-is-tines.
Sam-son made them swear that they would not put him to death, and they bound him with strong cords and brought him down from the rock.
As they drew near the camp of the Phil-is-tines a great shout went up from the men there. And the Lord gave Sam-son such strength that he broke the cords from his arms as if they had been burnt threads.
And Sam-son took up the jaw-bone of an ass,and with it he fought the Phil-is-tines and slew a host of them.