r 0 By the Author of "Till; PI:I.-P OP DAY" 'PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT." Etc. 1 JNE UPON L Or a Second Series ot The Earliest Religious Instruction the In- /vf t*'/* _ _ _ HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY CONTENTS. LESSON. ?AO«. 1. The Creation. Gen. i 7 2. The Sin of Adam. Gen. iii 12 3. Cain and Abel. Gen. iv 16 4. The Flood. Gen. vi. 5-22; vii.; ix 19 5. Abraham, or the Promised Land. Gen. xii. 1-9.. 24 6. Abraham, or the Promised Child. Gen. xv. 5, 6; xviii. 1-17; xxi. 1-6 26 7. Abraham, or the Trial of Love. Gen. xxii 29 8. Jacob, or the Heavenly Dream. Gen. xxiii.; xxv. 7-1 1, 20, 21, 27-34; xxvii. ; xxviii 33 9. Jacob, or the Long Journey. Gen. xxix. 1-23, 26, 28; xxx-43 37 10. Jacob, or the Meeting. Gen. xxxi. 1-7, 9, 17, 18, 20-24; xxxii.; xxxiii.: xxxv. 1-7 40 11. Joseph, or the Pit. Gen xxxvii. 1-25 44 12. Joseph, or the Slave. Gen. xxxvii. 24-35 48 13. Joseph, or the Prisoner. Gen. xxxix. 1-6, 17-23.. 52 14. Joseph, or the Butler and the Baker. Gen. xl 55 15. Joseph, or the Release. Gen. xli. 1-53 -59 16. Joseph, or the Lord of Egypt. Gen. xli. 53-57; xlii 64 17. Joseph, or the Feast. Gen. xliii 71 18. Joseph, or the Forgiving Brother. Gen. xliv; xlv. 1.15 78 19. Joseph, or the Long-lost Son. Gen. xlv. 16 to end; xlvi. 1-7, 28-34; xlvii. 1-12; 1 84 CONTENTS. LESSON. 20. Moses, or the Basket of Bulrushes. Exod. L 7-14, 15-22; ii. i-io 91 21. Moses, or the Pious Choice. Exod. ii. 11-15.... 97 22. Moses, or the Burning Bush. Exod. ii. 16 to end; iii. ; i «. 1-23, 27-31 101 33. Moses, or the First Plagues. Exod. v.; vi. 1-13; vii. ; viii. ; ix. 1-12 107 24. Moses, or the Last Plagues. Exod. ix. 13-35; x.; xi.; xii. 1-37 HI 25. Moses, or the Red Sea. Exod. xiii. 20-22; xiv.; XV. 1-22 Il8 26. Moses, or the Manna and the Rock. Exod. xvi.; xvii. 17 123 27. Moses, or Mount Sinai. Exod. xix. ; xx. ; xxiv.; xxxi., 18 , . . 128 28. Moses, or the Golden Calf. Exod. xxxii. ; xxxiv.133 29. Moses, or the Tabernacle. Exod. xxxv. ; xxxvi.; xxxvii 138 30. Mo-ses, or the Priests. Exod. xxxviii.; xxxix.; xl.144 31. Moses, or the Journey of the Israelites 148 32. Moses, or the Twelve Spies. Num. xiii.; xiv. 1-40.151 33. Moses, or the Sin of Moses and Aaron. Num. xx. 1-13, 22-29 156 34. Moses, or the Serpent of Brass. Num. xxi. 4-9... 160 35. The Death of Moses. Deut. xxx.; xxxiii.; xxxiv.i64 36. Joshua, or Rahab. Josh, ii 169 37. Joshua, or the River Jordan. Josh, iii.; iv.; v. I, ii. 12 : 175 38. Joshua, or the Walls of Jericho. Josh. v. 13-15; vi.179 39- Joshua, his Death , 185 PREFACE. THE design of this little work is to lead children to understand and delight in the Scriptures. If adults meet with difficulties in the sacred text, which commentaries often remove, children must necessarily meet with many more, some of which this little book may clear up. Since it is evident that commentaries would not suit the volatile minds of children, however simply they. might be written, some other kind of help ought to be provided for them. The best assistance would no doubt be af forded by the parent's voice: for no book can so forcibly arrest the attention, or touch the heart, as the remarks of a tender parent. But where chil dren do not enjoy this advantage, a book may in some measure supply its place; and where they do possess it, may recall to mind parental instruction. Many interesting histories have been omitted, be cause the writer feared to swell the size of the work, and judged it better to relate the principal events in detail than to give an abridged account of all. But these omissions may be supplied, by God's help in another work. LINE UPON LINE. LESSON I. THE CREATION. GENESIS i. MY DEAR CHILDREN: — I know that you have heard that God made the world. Could a man have made the world? No; a man could not make such a world as this. Men can make some things, such as boxes and baskets. Perhaps you know a man who can make a box. Suppose you were to shut him up in a room, which was quite empty, and you were to say to him, You shall come out when you have made a box, — would the man ever come out? No — never. A man could not make a box, except he had something to make it of. He must have some wood, or some tin, or some pasteboard, or some other thing. But God had nothing to make the world of. He only spoke, and it was made. Making things of nothing is called creating. No one can create anything but God. 8 LINE UPON LINE. Do you know why God is called the Creator? It is because he created all things. There is only one Creator. Angels cannot create things, nor can men. They could not create one drop of water, or one little fly. God was six days in creating the world. I will tell you what he did on each day: i. On the first day, God said, Let there be light, and there was light. ii. On the second day, God spoke again, and there was water very high : that water is called the clouds. There was also water very low. There was nothing but water to be seen: God rilled every place with air: but you know the air cannot be seen. in. On the third day, God spoke, and the dry land appeared from under the water; and the water ran down into one deep place that God had prepared. God called the dry land Earth, and he called the water Seas. We walk upon the dry land. We cannot walk upon the sea. The sea is always roll ing up and down ; but it can never come out of the THE CREATION. great place where God has put it. God spoke and things grew out of the earth. Can you tell me what things grew out of the earth? Grass, and corn, and trees, and flowers. IV. On the fourth day, God spoke, and the sun, and moon, and stars, were made. God ordered the sun to come every morning, and to go away in the evening, because God did not choose that it should be always light. It is best that it should be dark at night, when we are asleep. But God lets the moon shine in the night, and the stars also; so that if we go out in the night, we have a little light. There are more stars than we can count. v. On the fifth day, God began to make things that are alive. He spoke, and the water was filled with fishes, and birds flew in the air, and perched upon the trees. VI. On the sixth day, God spoke, and the beasts came out of the earth: lions, sheep, cows, horses, and all kinds of beasts, came out of the earth, as well as all 10 LINE UPON LINE. kinds of creeping things, such as bees, ants, and worms, which creep upon the earth. At last, God made a man. God said, Let us make man in our own likeness. To whom did God speak? To his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; His Son was with him when he made the world. God made man's body of the dust, and then breathed into him. The man had a soul, as well as a body. So the man could think of God. Afterward God made the woman of a piece of the flesh and bone from the man's side, as you have heard before. God gave all the other creatures to Adam and Eve; and he blessed them, and put them into the garden of Eden, and desired Adam to take care of the garden. When God had finished all his works, he saw that they were very good. He was pleased with the things he had made. They were all very beautiful. The light was glorious; the air was sweet, the earth was lovely, clothed in green; the sun and moon shone brightly in the heavens; the birds, and beasts, and all the living creatures, were good and happy, and Adam and Eve were the best of all, for they could think of God, and praise him. VII. You know there are seven days in the week. Now, on the seventh day, God did not make any- THE CREATION. 11 thing; but he rested from all his works. He called the seventh day his own day, because he rested on it. This is the reason people rest on the seventh day, and call it God's day. It is the day for prais ing God. None of the creatures that God had made in the six days could praise him with their tongues, except Adam and Eve. Angels in heaven can praise God, and men upon earth. My little children, do you ever praise God? You have learned little hymns in his praise. Perhaps you know the hymn that begins, — And now another day is gone, I'll sing my Maker's praise." Does God like to hear you praise him? Yes; when you think of him while you are praising him. Angels always praise God with their hearts, and so should we. Let us now count the things that God made on each day: — First day, Light. Second day, Air and Clouds. Third day, Earth and Sea, and the things that grow. Fourth day, Sun, Moon, and Stars. Fifth day, Fishes and Birds. Sixth day, Beasts and Creeping Things, and Man. Seventh day, Nothing. God rested. 12 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON II. THE SIN OF ADAM. GENESIS iii. You remember that God put Adam and Eve in a garden. They lived very happily; never quarreled; were never sick, nor in pain. Adam worked in the garden. His work was pleasant; for it was never too hot nor too cold in that garden ; and there were no weeds nor thistles growing out of the ground. You know there was one tree of which Adam might not eat. The name of the tree was — The tree of knowledge of good and evil. God had said, that if Adam ate of it he should die. Adam and Eve might eat of all the other trees in the garden. Do you think that they had fruit enough without eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? They did not wish to eat of it, as God had told them not. They loved God. He was their friend, and used to walk and talk with them in the garden. Now you shall hear how Adam and Eve grew wicked. You know that there are a great many wicked angels; one of them is called Satan, and he is the prince of the wicked angels. Satan knew that if Adam and Eve grew wicked they would die and go THE S71V OF ADAM. & to hell. Satan hated them, and wished to make them unhappy; so he thought, I will try and per suade them to eat that fruit which God has told them not to eat. So Satan put on the body of a serpent, and came into the garden. He saw Eve; he pretended to be kind, and said to her, Why do you not eat of the fruit? But she said, God has told us not to eat of the fruit, and that if we do we shall die. But the serpent said, No; you shall not die: but this fruit will make you wise like God. The woman was afraid to eat; but she looked, and thought the fruit nice; she looked again and thought it pretty; and she thought, I should like to be wise. So she took the fruit, and gave some to Adam. Sad was that hour ! no more happy days for Adam and Eve. They knew they had done wrong; they were afraid of God. Soon they heard his voice in the garden; they went and hid themselves among the thick trees. They wished they had some cloth ing to cover them; but they only had some leaves that they sewed together. God called Adam, and said, Where art thou? Then Adam said, I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself. Then God said, Who told you that you were naked? have you eaten of that 14 LINE UPON LINE. tree? Then Adam said, The woman you gave me to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. God said to the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And she said, The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. God was angry with them all, but most of all with the serpent. God cursed him, and said, You shall always crawl upon the ground and eat the dust. Then God said to the woman, You shall often be sick, and Adam shall be your master, and you must obey him. And God said to Adam, You shall work hard and dig the ground; thorns and thistles shall grow; you shall have bread to eat; but you shall be obliged to work so hard that drops of sweat shall often stand upon your forehead: you shall be sad while you live, and at last you shall die: your body was made of dust, and it shall turn into dust again. What great punishments these were! How sad Adam and Eve must have felt when they heard them! But this was not all; they were not allowed to stay in the garden. God drove them out, and God would not let them come into the garden again; so he desired an angel with a fiery sword to stand near it: yet God showed his pity by giving them clothes made of skins of beasts. They had tried to make clothes of the leaves of the tree, but God gave them better clothes. THE SIN OF ADAM. 15 The Lord God said to his Son, Behold the man was one of us, knowing good and evil; but lest he put forth his hand and take of the tree of life, and live foiever, he put him forth from the garden 01 Eden. Where do you think the souls of Adam and Eve must go when their bodies were dead? To Satan? That was what Satan hoped. But God had deter mined to send down his blessed Son to save Adam and Eve, and their children, from hell; and Jesus had promised to come. Adam and Eve knew that a Child should one day be born, who should save people from going to hell. So they had some comfort in their hearts when they went out of the garden. It was a long while before Jesus did become a little child, and did come into this world; but at last he came and died upon the cross. My little children, was it not very kind of the Father to send his beloved Son to die for us? Ought we not to love him very much? 16 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON III. CAIN AND ABEL. GENESIS iv. AFTER Adam and Eve were turned out of the gar den, they had two little children; their names were Cain and Abel. Cain was wicked, like Satan; but Abel was good: for though his heart was naughty, yet God put his Holy Spirit in it, so that he loved God. Abel was sorry for his sins, and asked God to forgive him; and God did forgive him. Cain and Abel were obliged to work hard, like Adam their father. Cain dug the ground and planted trees, and reaped corn. Abel took care of the sheep; he was a shepherd. Now I will tell you how Cain and Abel behaved to God. God did not walk and talk with people • then, as he had done in the garden : but he did speak sometimes, and he allowed people to pray to him. You know that Jesus had promised to die for Adam and his children, and that was the reason God was so kind to them. God wished them always to remember that Jesus had promised to die for them; so he taught them a way of keeping it in their mind. CAIN AND ABEL. 17 He told them to heap up stones (this heap was called an altar), and then put some wood on the altar: then to take a lamb, or a kid, and to bind it with a rope to the altar: then to take a knife, and to kill the lamb: and then to burn it on the altar. Doing this was called offering a sacrifice. When people did this, God wished them to think how he would one day let his Son die for their sins. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, he was like the lamb tied to the altar. Abel brought lambs, and offered them up to God; and Abel thought of God's promise, so God was pleased with Abel, and with his sacrifice. But Cain did not obey God, he brought some fruit instead of a lamb; and so God was angry with Cain and did not like his sacrifice. Then Cain was very angry and hated Abel, be cause he was good, and because God loved him best. Cain was envious of Abel. Then God spoke to Cain, and said, Why are you angry? If you will love and serve me, I shall be pleased with you ; but if not you shall be punished. Still Cain went on in wickedness. Now, hear what he did at last. One day he was talking with Abel in a field, when he rose up and killed him. Abel's blood was spilled upon the ground; Abel was the first man that ever died. Cain began by 18 LINE UPON LINE. hating Abel, and ended by killing him, though he was his brother. Soon Cain heard the voice of God calling him. God said, Where is your brother Abel? I know not, answered wicked Cain ; am I my brother's keeper? But God said, I have seen your brother's blood upon the ground; and you are cursed. You shall leave your father and your mother, and go far away. Then Cain said unto God, My punishment is greater than I can bear! O let me not be killed! God said, You shall not be killed, but you shall go to a place far off. So Cain went and lived a great way off, and built houses for himself and his children. They lived in wickedness ; they were the children of the devil, and cared not for God. So Adam and Eve lost both their sons in one day; for Cain went a great way off, and Abel died. How they must have wept as they put dear Abel in the ground! But they must have wept still more .to think that Cain was so wicked. Why did they eat the fruit when Satan bade them? If they had not eaten the fruit they would never have been unhappy, Cain would not have been wicked, and Abel would not have died. But THE FLOOD. 19 God had pity on Adam and Eve, and gave them an other son, who was made good by God's Spirit; he was called Seth. The children of Seth feared God ; and God loved them, and called them his children. LESSON IV. THE FLOOD. GENESIS vi. 5-22; vii. ; viii.; ix. CAIN had a great many children; Seth had a great many children. At last Adam and Eve died, and Cain died, and Seth died; but still there were a great many people in the world. Were the people good or wicked? At first some were good, but at last they all grev; wicked, except one man: his name was Noah. The Spirit of God was in his heart, and he loved God. God was very angry with the wricked people, and he determined to punish them. God said to Noah, I shall make it rain so much that all people shall be drowned, except you, and your wife, and your children. Then God told Noah to make a great ark. An ark is like a boat or a ship. Noah made a great ark, which would swim upon the top of the water when God should drown the wicked people. 20 LINE UPON LINE. Noah made the ark of wood. He cut down trees, and cut boards, and fastened them together. He made one door in the ark, and one little window at the top. Noah told the people that God was going- to , drown the world, and advised them to leave off their 'wickedness. But they would not mind. Still they went on eating and drinking, and not thinking of God, nor trying to please him. God did not choose that all the beasts, and birds, and insects should be drowned : so he desired Noah to get some birds of every sort, and some beasts of every sort, and some insects of every sort, and to bring them into the ark. God could make all these animals go quietly into the ark. Noah put corn, and fruit, and grass into the ark for them to eat when they were in the ark. So Noah got some birds of every sort; some doves, some ravens, some eagles, some sparrows, some larks, some goldfinches, and many others, and they flew in at the window. Noah got some beasts of every kind; some sheep, some horses, some dogs; and he got some insects of every kind: some butter flies, some ants, some bees. All these went into the ark; for God made them gentle and obedient. Then Noah himself went in with his wife, his three sons, and their wives. How THE FLOOD. 21 many people were there in the ark? — Eight people. But Noah did not shut the door: God shut the door, and Noah knew that he must not open it till God bade him. Then it began to rain. It rained all day and all night. What did the wicked people think now? How they must have wished that they had minded Noah! If they climbed trees, the water soon reached to the tops; if they went up high moun tains, as high as the clouds, the water rose as high as they: for it rained forty days and forty nights. All beasts, and birds, and men, and children died, except those that were in the ark. At last, nothing was to be seen but water, and the ark floating upon the top of the water. How long did Noah live in the ark? Almost one whole year. A long while after it had left off raining, Noah wished to know whether the waters were dried up. He went among his birds, and he chose a raven and let it out of the window. A raven is a fierce bird. It did not like the ark; though there were no trees to be seen, nothing but water, yet the raven would not go back to Noah, but went on flying night and day over the water. When Noah saw that the raven did not come back, he went again among his birds and chose 22 LINE UPON LINE. a dove. A dove is a very gentle bird. Noah put it out at the window; and when it saw nothing but water, the dove came back to the ark. Noah knew when his bird was come back (perhaps it pecked at the window) and he put out his hand and pulled it in. Noah waited seven days, then Noah sent the dove out again; and this time the dove saw some trees; yet the dove did not stay, but plucked off a leaf with its beak, and came back to Noah. Noah waited seven days more, and then he sent out the dove again, and this time it did not come back. Now Noah knew that the earth was dry, but he waited in the ark until God told him to go out. At last God said, Go out of the ark, you and your wife, your three sons, and their three wives, and the birds, and the beasts, and all the creeping things. When the door was open, the beasts came out. When the window was open, the birds flew out. How glad they must have been to perch again among the trees! Noah saw the green hills and fields again, but where were all the wicked people? he would never see their faces again. Noah remembered God's goodness in saving him from being drowned. He made a heap of stones THE FLOOD. 23 for an altar; he took some beasts and birds, and offered a sacrifice to God. God was pleased with this sacrifice. Then God made a very kind promise to Noah. He said, I will never drown the world again. When it rains, do not think there will be a flood. Look up in the sky after the rain, and you will see a bow. That shall be the sign that I remember my promise. Have you seen a rainbow? How large it is! What beautiful colors it has! It puts us in mind of God's kind promise not to drown the world any more. You know why God made this kind prom ise. It was because the Lord Jesus would one day die for people's sins. At last Jesus did come down and die; and one day he will come again, and then he will burn the world. I hope we shall then be saved, as Noah was; but if God should find us caring only for eat ing, and drinking, and playing, and not trying to please him, we shall be burned up. 24 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON V. ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED LAND. GENESIS xii. 1-9. NOAH'S sons had many children, and they had many children, and at last there were a great many people in the world. Were these people good or bad? They were bad. They did one very wicked thing. They cut down trees, and made the wood into little images, like dolls; then stuck them up and kneeled down and prayed to the images, and said, These images are our gods; they made us, and they gave us food to eat. These images were called idols. Most of the people in the world worshiped idols instead of the true God. Sometimes the idols were made of wood, sometimes of stone, or silver, cr gold. Kow glad I am, my dear children, that your mother did not teach you to pray to idols! When you first could speak they told you about the true God, and taught you to pray to him. God looked down from heaven and saw the peo ple worshiping idols, and God was very angry. But he did not kill them all, because Jesus had said he would die for the sins of men. Then God said, I will choose one man, and teach him to love me, and be my servant. Now there ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED LAND. 25 was a man called Abraham. His father and his friends worshiped idols. God said to Abraham, Leave your own home and your own friends, and go to a country which I will show you, and I will ( bless you and take care of you. Abraham did not know where God would tell him to go, yet Abraham went because God told him to go. Abraham was obedient. Abraham had a wife, called Sarah, whom he loved very much. Sarah went with Abraham. Abra ham took some sheep, and cows, and asses with him, and some servants, who drove them and fed them. But where could Abraham sleep at night? There were very few houses to be seen; only fields and trees. Abraham slept in a tent. He made the tent with long sticks, and covered it over with skins of beasts. Abraham could move his tent from place to place; for he had to travel a great many miles over high hills and wide rivers. At last he came to a beauti ful country, full of trees and flowers, and grass and corn. This was the place that God chose Abra ham should live in. This place was called Canaan. Abraham still lived in a tent. Sometimes he made a heap of stones, called an altar, and offered sacrifices of beasts to God. Abraham never wor shiped idols; but all the people in Canaan did. 26 LINE UPON LINE. God often spoke to Abraham, and said, I will bless you, and take care of you, and no one shall hurt you. God was pleased that Abraham had left his own home when he told him; and God called him his friend. Dear children, I hope that you will be like Abra ham, and that you will mind what God says in the Bible. God has not told you to leave your home; but he has told you to believe in Jesus, to be good and gentle like him, to speak the truth, and to love him, and he has promised to take you to heaven. If you obey God, he will call you his friend. How pleasant to be God's friend! LESSON VI. I ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED CHILD. GENESIS xv. 5, 6; xviii. 1-17; xxi. 1-6. ABRAHAM and Sarah lived in a tent in the lan% of Canaan. They had no little child. Abraham was a very old man, and Sarah was an old woman. They were both much older than your grandfather and grandmother. Abraham was almost a hundred years old, and Sarah was almost ninety. ABRAHAM, OR THE PROMISED CHILD. 27 One night God said to Abraham, Come out of your tent, and look up at the sky. What do you see? The sky was full of stars, more than could be counted. And God said, You shall have a great' many grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and they shall have more children, and they shall have more children, till there are as many children as there are stars in the sky; and they shall live in the land of Canaan, and the wicked people shall be turned out of it. Now Abraham had not even one little child: yet he believed that God would do as he had promised. It was right of Abraham to believe all that God said: for God always speaks the truth and keeps his word. One day Abraham was sitting in his tent. It was about twelve o'colck in the day, and it was very hot indeed but the tent was under a tree. Abraham looked up, and he saw three men a little way off. He ran to meet them, and bowed down, and said to one of the men, My lord, pray come and rest yourself, and let me bring a little water to wash your feet, and a little bread for you to eat, and then you can go on your journey. And the men said that they would rest themselves. Who do you think these men were? They were angels, though they looked like men. They had 28 LINE UPON LINE. come from heaven with a message from God to Abraham. For you know that God sends his angels with messages to men. Angels are often near us, though we cannot see them. The angels sat outside the tent, under the shade of the tree. Sarah was in the tent. Abraham said to Sarah, Take some flour, and make some cakes, and bake them quickly. Then Abraham ran to his cattle, and took a fat calf, and said to one of his servants, Kill it, and roast it quickly. When it was ready, Abraham brought some but ter, and some milk, and the cakes, and the calf, and spread the dinner under the tree. The three men began to eat, and Abraham stood by them. While they were eating, they said to Abraham, Where is Sarah your wife? And Abraham said, She is in the tent. Then one of the men said, Sarah shall have a son. Sarah heard what the angel said, and she could not believe that she would really have a child now she was so very old: so she laughed to herself. The angel said, Why did Sarah laugh? She shall certainly have a son. Then Sarah said, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. But the angel said, You did laugh. Then the three men got up, and went on further. Abraham walked with them a little way, and then came back to his tent. ABRAHAM, OR THE TRIAL OF LOVE. 29 Do you think that God remembered his prom ise? The next year Sarah had a son. His name was Isaac. He was a good child, and God loved him. Abraham and Sarah were much pleased with their little son. So you see that God kept his promise. He had said that Abraham and Sarah should have a little son, and he gave them a son. It was right of Abra ham to believe God's promise, and God, too, was pleased with Abraham for believing what he said. Sarah did not believe at first: but she believed after ward: and God was pleased with her, too. My little children, you should believe all God's promises. What has God promised? To give you the Holy Spirit, if you ask him. Do you believe his promise? Then pray to God to give you the Spirit. He will keep his promise and give him to you. LESSON VII. ABRAHAM, OR THE TRIAL OF LOVE. GENESIS xxii. AT last, Isaac grew up to be a man. He lived in a tent, as Abraham and Sarah did. They all three loved God, and loved each other very much. It was a happy little family. 30 LINE UPON LINE. Now you know that Abraham had a great many things. He had cows and asses, sheep and goats, tents and servants, silver and gold. But he had one thing that he loved more than any of these. What was that? His son, his dear son Isaac. He loved him more than anything else he had. Yet there was one person whom Abraham loved even better still. Who was that? God. Why ought Abraham to love God better than all? Be cause God had given him all he had. At last, God said he would try Abraham, to see whether he loved him more than anything in the world; more even than he loved his son Isaac. You have heard how Abraham used to burn lambs upon altars. Now God said to Abraham, Take your son Isaac, and offer him up on an altar in a place that I will show you. Was not this a very hard thing for Abraham to do? But Abraham wished to do all God told him; because Abraham loved God so much. So Abra ham cut down some wood to burn ; he put the wood upon an ass, and he told two of his servants and Isaac to come with him. He left Sarah in the tent at home. They all walked on for three days ; at last5 they saw a high hill a great way off ; Abraham knew that was the place where he was to build the altar. So he said to his servants, Stay down here with the ABRAHAM, OR THE TRIAL OF LOVE. ass, while I and the lad go and worship God on tke top of the hill. He took the wood off the ass, and bound it round Isaac with a rope. Then he took some fire in one of his hands, and a knife in the other, and Abraham and Isaac walked up the hill together. Isaac did not know that his father was going to offer him as a sacrifice: he thought that his father would offer a lamb. So he said, Father. Abra ham answered, Here am I, my son. And Isaac said, Here is fire, and wood; but where is the lamb? My son. said Abraham, God will find the lamb; but Abraham did not tell Isaac that he was to be the lamb. At last they came to the top of the hill. Then Abraham took stones, and built an altar; and he took the wood off Isaac's back, and laid it on the altar. Now the time was come when Isaac must know who was to be the lamb. The rope that had bound the wood was fastened round the hands and feet of Isaac, and he was laid upon the wood like a lamb. Then Abraham took the knife, and lifted up his hand to kill Isaac when he heard a voice calling, Abraham, Abraham! It was an angel speaking from heaven. The angel said, Do not kill your son, nor hurt him at all; for now God knows that 32 LINE UPON LINE. you love him, because you have given him your only son. How glad was Abraham to untie the rope that bound Isaac, and to find that he need not kill him! Abraham saw a ram caught in the bushes by the horns; and he went and caught it and offered it up as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. Abraham thanked God very much for having given him back his son, and the angel called to him -out of heaven again, and said, God is much pleased with you for having given up your son: and God will bless you, and all your children, and grandchildren, and their children, and one of your children's children shall make all people happy. Whom did the angel mean ? He meant that Jesus would one day be a child, and make people happy and take them to heaven. A very, very long time afterward, you know that Mary had a child, who was the Son of God. When the angel had done speaking, Abraham and Isaac went down the hill together; there was no wood now on Isaac's back. Abraham was very glad. They found the servants where they had left them with the ass; then they all went back together to Sarah. Are you quite sure that Abraham loved God? JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 33 How do you know that he did? Because he obeyed God, and he was ready to kill his son when God told him. Ought you to love God better than everything? Yes, you ought to love God best. And why? Be cause God gave you everything. You love your father and mother very much ; but you ought to love God better still. You ought to love God much better than you do your play, or your pretty things, or nice things to eat. Now, if you love God best, you will do what he tells you. You will not tell lies, for God tells you not; you will not fall into passions, and call people names: but you will try and please God. Then you will be like Abraham. LESSON VIII. JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. GENESIS xxiii.; xxv. 7-11, 20, 21, 27-34.; xxvii.; xxviii. ABRAHAM and Sarah were very old. At last Sarah died, and Abraham wished to bury her, but he had not a piece of ground in Canaan to bury her in; so he gave some of his silver to the people in 34 LINE UPON LINE. Canaan, and bought a field. The field was full of trees, and there was a cave in it. Abraham took the dead body of Sarah and put it in the cave. At last Abraham died, and Isaac his son buried him in the same cave where Sarah lay. Abraham will rise again out of that cave at the last day. Abraham's spirit is not dead: it is with God now; and at the last day his body will live too, and you will see him; and if you love God as Abra ham did, you will sit down with Abraham in heaven. Isaac married a good woman named Rebekah. She lived in the tent where Sarah used to live. Isaac and Rebekah had two Tittle sons. They were called Esau and Jacob. They were twins; that is, they were the same age: but they were quite un like each other. Their faces were unlike, and their hearts were unlike. Esau was wicked from a child; but Jacob was good and loved God. When Esau was a man he became a hunter. He had a bow and arrows; and he used to go in the woods and shoot birds and stags; he used to bring them home and dress them for dinner; and he used to give some of his nice meat to his father Isaac. It was not wrong in Esau to hunt, and to cook the meat; but his heart was wicked: he did not care for God; and he loved meat and drink more than God. JACOB, OR THE HEAVENLY DREAM. 35 Jacob was a shepherd; he staid at home near his tent with his father and mother, and his sheep and goats. He loved God, and prayed to God very often. I am sorry to tell you that Isaac loved wicked Esau better than he loved good Jacob. Shall I tell you why? Because Esau brought him nice meat. That was a very bad reason for loving him best. But Rebekah loved Jacob, and God loved Jacob, and God did not love Esau. Do you think that Esau and Jacob loved one another? They did not; Jacob sometimes behaved unkindly to Esau; and so Esau hated Jacob and wished to kill him. One day Esau said, My father will soon die, and then I will kill my brother Jacob. Rebekah heard that Esau meant to kill Jacob some day, and she was frightened, and called Jacob and said to him, Your brother Esau means to kill you. This is what you must do : go to your uncle, who lives a great way off, and stay with him. Soon Esau will leave off being angry then I will send for you to come home. Jacob did as his mother advised. He took leave of his father Isaac, and Isaac blessed him before he went. Jacob did not ask his father to give him anything. He took no servant with him, no sheep, 36 LINE UPON LINE. no goats — not even an ass to ride upon. He only took a stick in his hand, and set out upon his jour ney. Jacob felt very sad. He was a poor stranger, pnd he was going to a far country which he had never seen. Should you not feel very sad if you were to leave your father and mother, and to go alone into a country a great way off? He had no tent, nor house to sleep in by the way; so when night came he took some stones for a pillow, and lay down to sleep on the ground. There were bears and wolves in that country; but God took care of him. God knew how sad he was ; and God made him dream the sweetest dream that you ever heard. In his sleep Jacob saw a great many steps reach ing up to the sky, and on the steps beautiful angels ; some going up, and some coming down; and at the top he saw God himself. Then Jacob heard a voice, and God spoke to him, and said, I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac, and I wil take care of you wherever you go; and I will bring you home again; and your children shall live in this land of Canaan, where you are sleeping. Then Jacob awaked out of his sleep, but now his heart was glad: he knew that God and his angels were watching over him. He wished never te for- JACOB, OR THE LONG JOURNEY. 37 get the place where he had this sweet dream; so he took the stones which had been his pillow, and made them into a heap. Now, he thought, I shall be able to find the place, when God lets me come back to Canaan, as he has promised. He could not offer a sacrifice upon the stones, because he had no lambs, but he poured some oil upon them, and he prayed to the Lord, and said, Since God will take care of me, and give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, and bring me home again, he shall be my God, and this stone shall be God's house. Jacob felt sure that God would take care of him, and bring him home again, because he had prom ised that he would. God takes care of you, my children. He sends his angels down from heaven to watch over you, as they did over Jacob. LESSON IX. JACOB, OR THE LONG JOURNEY. GENESIS xxix. 1-23, 26-28; xxx. 43. THEN Jacob went on his journey. He traveled for a great many days ; at last he came to a place where there was a great deal of grass. In that place there 38 LINE UPON LINE. was a well, and there was a great stone upon the top of the well. A great many sheep were round the well ; and some men were with the sheep. These men were shepherds. There was very little water in that country where Jacob was. He must have been glad to see a well. Jacob said to the shepherds, Do you know a man called Laban ? — (That was the name of Jacob's uncle.) Yes, said they. Then Jacob said, Is he well? The shepherds answered, He is well; and here is his daughter Rachel coming with the sheep. Jacob was very glad to hear this, for Rachel was Jacob's cousin. He ran to her, and he kissed her, and he sobbed and wept. Why did Jacob cry? I think he cried for joy; for people sometimes cry for joy. Jacob had not seen a friend in a long while, and he was glad to see his cousin. Rachel did not know who Jacob was, till he said, T am your cousin, and am come from a great way off. Then Rachel ran, and said to her father Laban, My cousin Jacob is come: I found him sitting by a well. Then Laban was glad, and ran out to meet Jacob, and kissed him and said, You must come home to my house: I am your uncle. JA COB, OR THE L ONG JO URNE Y. 39 Jacob told Laban that he would take care of his sheep: and so Jacob was Laban's servant. Jacob was a good shepherd, and sat up to guard the sheep at night from lions and bears. He cared not for the heat by day, nor the cold by night. j Laban had two daughters: one was called Leah, and the other Rachel and Laban gave them to Jacob to be his wives. So Jacob had two wives. No one may have two wives now, but then some persons had two wives, yet even then it was much better to have only one wife. God gave Jacob a great many little children. I will not tell you their names, because they were so many. Jacob lived a long while in some tents with his wives and his little children. At first he took care of Laban's sheep only. At last Laban gave Jacob some sheep and goats of his own. Jacob had plenty of bread to eat, and raiment to wear, as God had promised; for God always keeps his promises. But Jacob could not forget his father and mother, and Canaan, where he had lived when he was a little boy. He knew that God had promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham's children, and Isaac's, and to his own children and he wished to live there again. I will now write down the names of the good men who first lived in Canaan ; and I will write down the names of their wives. 40 LINE UPON LINE. Abraham, Sarah. Isaac, Rebekah. Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.- LESSON X. JACOB, OR THE MEETING. GENESIS xxxi. 1-7, 9, 17, 18, 20-24; xxxii.; xxxiii.; xxxv. 1-7. AT last Jacob said to Laban his uncle, I have been your servant a long while, and now I want to go home. But Laban would not let Jacob go away; and he behaved very unkindly to Jacob; so that Jacob wished more and more to go home. Once, while Jacob was taking care of the sheep in the field, he fell asleep, and he had a dream, and in his dream he heard God say to him, Go home to your father, and I will be with you. When Jacob awoke, he sent a servant to fetch Rachel and Leah, for he wanted to speak to them; and he said to them, God has spoken to me in a dream and has told me to return home to my father. Then Rachel and Leah said, We will go with you. Then Jacob packed up all his things — his tents, and his clothes, and his furniture, and all he had. JACOB, OR THE MEETING. He put his things on the backs of his camels and asses. He placed his wives and his eleven children on camels, too. He told his servants to drive all his sheep, cows, goats, and asses and camels. So they all set out. Laban did not see Jacob go away; for Jacob's tents were not close to the place where Laban lived. At last Laban heard that Jacob was gone; then he was angry, and he went after Jacob, and he begged Jacob to come back; but Jacob would go to Ca naan. Jacob was pleased to go back to Canaan; but there was one thing that frightened him. He re membered that Esau had once said he would kill him; he was afraid lest he should now come and kill him and his children. Soon Jacob heard that Esau was coming with four hundred men. Jacob now thought that Esau was indeed coming to kill him. So he began to pray to God, and said, O God, thou hast been very kind to me, and given me a great many things — do not let Esau come and hurt me and kill my wives and my little children. Thou didst promise to take care of me. God heard Jacob's prayer. Jacob thought to himself, I will send a present to show Esau that I wish to behave kindly to him. So he took a great many goats, and sheep, and cows, 42 LINE UPON LINE. and asses, and camels, and told his servants to drive them on before, and to tell Esau that he had sent them as a present. Jacob prayed to God all through that night. In the morning Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. Jacob did not run away; but he went up to Esau, and, as he walked, he stopped seven times, and bowed down to the ground. And Esau put his arms round Jacob's neck and kissed him, and they both wept. God made Esau's heart more kind. How glad Jacob was to find that his brother was grown kind! Jacob had prayed to God to make him kind, and God had heard his prayer. Esau looked up and saw Rachel and Leah, and the little children: and Esau said, Who are these? And Jacob said, These are my children, that God has been so kind as to give me. Then Rachel and Leah bowed themselves to the ground, and the maids bowed themselves, and all the children bowed, even the youngest, who was quite a little child. He was Rachel's child and his name was Joseph. Then Esau said to Jacob, I met a great many sheep, and cows, and goats — why did you send them on before you? Jacob said, They were a pres ent for you. JACOB, OR THE MEETING. 43 Esau answered, I have enough, my brother ; keep what you have for yourself. Pray take my present said Jacob, for God has given me a great deal. And Jacob begged Esau so much to take it, that a> last he took it. Esau said to Jacob, Let us take our journey to gether; and I will go on first. But Jacob said, I cannot go as fast as you do, for I have many little children with me, and young lambs and kids; and if one day we were to drive them too fast, they would die. So Jacob would not go with Esau. Then Esau went home to his own house, which was a great way off; for Esau did not live in Ca naan. But Jacob staid in the land of Canaan, for he wished to live there. You see that God had let Jacob come back to Canaan, as he had promised. Jacob did not forget the sweet dream I told you of. He went to that very place once more; he had made a heap of stones to mark the place; so he could find it again. There he built an altar, and offered sacrifices to God, who had been so kind to him. God had given him food and clothes, as he had promised; and he had given him many more things besides: for God had given him wives and children, and servants and cattle; and God had made his brother kind to him, and had let him come back to Canaan. Jacob 44 LINE UPON LINE. loved God very much, and he thanked him for his kindness. Has not God been very kind to you, my dear children? Tell me what things he has given. Can you think of ten or twelve things he has given you ? Food, clothes, etc., etc. Sometimes people have been unkind to you, and God has made them grow kind. How much you ought to love God! LESSON XL JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. GENESIS xxxvii. 1-25. JACOB saw his old father Isaac again: and then Isaac died, and Jacob and Esau buried him in that same cave where Abraham and Sarah had been put. They will all rise together at the last day: for Isaac wished to live in the country that is better than Canaan, that is, in heaven. Esau, you know, did not live in the land of Ca naan; but Jacob chose to live in Canaan, with his children and his cattle. All the sons were grown up to be men, when Benjamin was still a little baby. Joseph was next youngest to Benjamin. He was a big boy, and he was the best of all the children. JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. 45 The ten elder sons were wicked men. They used to take care of the sheep and goats; and when Joseph was with them they grieved him by their wicked behavior. They were also very unkind to him, and always spoke roughly to him. Jacob loved Joseph the best, and this made the others envious. They hated him because he was the pet and the darling. Jacob gave a beautiful present to this dear son. It was a very pretty coat made of many colors, — yellow, blue, green, pink, red, purple; and Joseph used to wear it. The brothers were very envious when they saw this coat. It is Satan that makes people envious. We should pray to God to keep us from being envious. You will hear what wicked things these brothers did because they were envious of Joseph. One night Joseph had a strange dream. He thought he was in a field of corn with all his brothers, and that they were making up large bun dles of corn, called sheaves. He thought that each of his brothers made a sheaf, and that all his bro thers' sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. Joseph thought this a very strange dream, and he told it to his brothers. But when they heard it they were very angry, and said, We suppose you mean that we shall bow 46 LINE UPON LINE. down to you, though you are younger than we are! And so they hated him more than they had done before. Soon after, Joseph had another strange dream. He thought he saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars in the sky, and that they bowed down to him. This dream was more strange than the other; and he told it to his father, as well as to his brothers. His father was surprised, and said, Does the sun mean me, and the moon your mother, and the stars your brothers, and shall we bow down to you? Yet Jacob thought that God had sent the dream to Joseph, and would make it come true; but the brothers were more and more angry. Now Joseph's brethren had a great many sheep and goats to take care of, and there was not enough grass for them all near the tents, so they took their iiocks a great way off, that they might eat fresh grass. Joseph staid at home with his old father; and Benjamin staid at home, because he was quite a little child. At last Jacob wished to know how his sons were ; so he said to Joseph, Go and see your brothers, and come back and tell me how they are, and how the flocks are. Joseph was always ready to do what his father wished: so he set out on his way. He took no ass JOSEPH, OR THE PIT. 47 to ride upon, and no servant; but putting on his pretty coat, he wished his dear father good-by. He little thought how long it would be before he should again see that dear father's face. Joseph went a great way, but could not find his brothers. At last a man saw him, and said, Whom are you looking for? And Joseph answered, I am looking for my brothers — can you tell me where they are feeding their flocks? Then the man told him which way they were gone. Joseph took a great deal of pains to find his brothers. Now the brothers saw Joseph coming when he was far off. They knew that it was Joseph; and they said to each other, Here this dreamer comes: let us kill him and throw him into a deep hole, and tell our father that a lion or a bear has eaten him up! So when Joseph came up to them, they seized hold of him. He came to them full of love and kindness; but they looked fiercely upon him; and he wras indeed like a gentle lamb in the midst of lions and tigers. He was like the Lord Jesus when the wicked Jews seized him in the garden. The brothers were going to kill him, but one of the brothers, named Reuben, said, Do not kill him, but only throw him into a pit. This brother was kinder than the rest, and meant to take him out of 48 LINE UPON LINE. the pit and bring him back to Jacob. The brothers agreed not to kill him. But first they took off his pretty coat. He cried bitterly when he saw what they were going to do to him! He begged them to spare him, and to let him return to his father! — but they would not hear; for their hearts were harder than stones. They threw him into the deep, dark pit; and there he lay, hungry and thirsty and weary — with out one drop of water to quench his thirst. It grieved Joseph to think that he should not return to his father, who perhaps would think that he was dead! The wicked brothers cared not for his groans, but they sat down and began to eat their dinner. God saw them from his throne in heaven, and was much displeased. LESSON XII. JOSEPH, OR THE SLAVE. GENESIS xxxvii. 24-35. WHILE the brothers were eating, they looked up and saw some people coming along. As they came JOSEPH, OR THE SLAVE. 49 nearer they saw camels, and men riding on them. I will tell you who these men were. They lived in a country a great way off, and they had been to some hills, where sweet things grew, called spice, and balm. They had plucked these sweet things, and had put them in large bundles on the backs of their camels. They were going to carry them to a country a great way off, and to sell them for money. This was their way of getting their living, and it was a good way; yet they were wicked men, as you will see. One of the brothers, called Judah, said, Let us sell Joseph to those men: for it would be better to sell him than to kill him: we shall get some money if we sell him: and it would be very cruel to kill Joseph, as he is our brother. Yet, was it not very cruel to sell Joseph? This brother was not really kind. The other brothers said that they thought it was a good plan to sell Joseph. So they called to the men, and asked them if they would buy a young boy. And the men said, Yes. How much will you give us for him? said the brothers. We will give you twenty pieces of silver, said the men. Then Joseph's brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit. He thought they were going to let him re- 50 LINE UPON LINE. turn to his father; but he soon found that his brothers were not going to be kind. The men and the camels were waiting outside the pit. The men paid the money to the brothers, and then took Joseph and carried him away with them. When Joseph was gone, the brothers said, What shall we tell our father when he asks us where Joseph is? — we will not say we have seen Joseph, but we will say we have found his coat on the ground ! Then the brothers killed one of their young goats, and dipped the pretty coat in the blood. We will show our father this bloody coat, said they. So they carried the coat home, all covered with blood; and they took the money also for which they had sold Joseph. Do you think they were happy in their hearts? ?vThe wicked cannot be happy; for God has written down their wickedness in his book, and they must feel afraid. Poor Joseph with the wicked men was not so unhappy as they : for God was his friend. Old Jacob had been thinking of his sons while they were gone. How glad he must have been when he heard the bleating of their sheep, and knew they were come home! He must have looked to see whether Joseph was with them. But no — his JOSEPH, OR THE SLAVE. 51 sons came up to him. In their hands they held a bloody coat, which they showed to Jacob, and said, We have found this — Do you think it is your son's coat, or not? Jacob knew that coat, and said, It is my son's coat : a lion or a bear has eaten him up, and has torn Joseph to pieces! How Jacob wept for his darling child! How sorry he was that he had sent him alone to seek his brothers! The wicked brothers tried to com fort Jacob, and said, Do not weep so much; but Jacob would not hear. No ; I shall die : and then I shall be with Joseph : for I never shall be happy any more. How sad it was to see this poor old man, leaning on his stick, his gray hair, and his face full of sad ness, while he thought that his dear boy was eaten up by the lion or the bear! His little Benjamin was a comfort to him. Jacob would never let him go away, nor would he trust him with his brothers, though he did not know how wicked they had been. These brothers first had envied Joseph, then they had sold him, and then they had told a lie to hide their sin. Children sometimes try to hide their faults by telling lies, and so they make God more angry than he was before. My dear children, remember that God always sees you: and that he hates liars, and will not let them live with him in glory. 52 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON XIII. JOSEPH, OR THE PRISONER. GENESIS xxxix. 1-6, 17-23. THE men who had bought Joseph, took him to a country a great way off. It was called Egypt, When they got to Egypt they tried to sell him, as if he had been a horse or a cow. In this country, where we live, no one sells men. In some coun tries men are sold, and are called slaves: they are beaten and made to work very hard, but are not paid any money for their labor. Poor Joseph was sold as a slave. Do you not hope that a kind man bought him? And it was a kind man who bought him. There was a very rich man who knew the king, and he bought Joseph to be his slave. His name was Potiphar. He took Joseph home with him. He did not send him to work in the house. So Joseph had not very hard work to do. Joseph tried to be a good servant. Though he wished very much to be with his father, he did not waste his time in fretting, but took great pains to please his master. When his master told him to do anything, he did it so well that his master was quite pleased with him. It was God who made JOSEPH, OR THE PRISONER. 53 Joseph able to do his work so well; and Joseph's master knew that it was God that helped him to do things well. I suppose that Joseph had told him; for his master did not know the true God, but wor shiped idols. His master liked him better every day. At last his master said to Joseph, I can trust you so well, that I will give you the charge of the other ser vants when I am out. Take care of the house, and all the things in it, of the garden and of the fields ; for I can trust you. So Joseph had the care of everything, and all the other servants minded what he said: and he might do what he liked when his master was out. But Joseph behaved the same as if his master were watching him; for he knew the eye of God was always upon him. There are many children who be have ill as soon as their parents go out of the room; such children do not fear God. Though Joseph had the care of nice things to eat, and beautiful things to wear, he only took what his master allowed him to take. He was always busy — sometimes in the house, and sometimes in the field; and God made the things grow well in the field; and the work go on right in the house. Potiphar took no trouble himself, for he found that Joseph could manage all for him. LINE UPON LINE. So Joseph had now all he could wish for: but he could not forget his father, and his little baby brother Benjamin. As for his mother, Rachel, you know that she had died some time before. , Now you shall hear what a sad thing happened to Joseph. Potiphar had a wicked wife. She wished Joseph to be turned out of the house, for Joseph had found out how bad she was; so she did not like to see him. This wicked woman said to Potiphar, Your slave, Joseph, that you think so good, is very wicked, and when you are out he behaves very ill. Then she told Potiphar of bad things that she said Joseph had done. Potiphar was so foolish as to believe her, and he fell into a great rage and said, Joseph shall be put into prison. So some men took Joseph and brought him to the prison, which was in Potiphar's house. Joseph was put into prison; and his feet were hurt by great iron chains, which were fastened round them. There were a great many men in the prison, and most of them had done bad things, but Joseph had done nothing wrong. God still loved Joseph, and he could make him happy even in a prison. There was a man who kept the keys of the prison. JOSEPH, OR THE BUTLER AND THE BAKER. 55 and took care of the prisoners: he was called the keeper of the prison. Sometimes keepers are very unkind, but God put it into the keeper's heart to love Joseph. Joseph had a very sweet countenance or look, and he behaved well to the keeper, and minded all he said. At last the keeper took the chains off Joseph's feet, and allowed him to walk about the prison, and toke care of the prisoners. The keeper found that he could trust him, and that Joseph managed things well. It was God who made Joseph do everything so well; for God was Joseph's friend, and was always watching over him to comfort him. Joseph hoped that God would some day let him get out of prison. LESSON XIV. JOSEPH, OR THE BUTLER AND THE BAKER. GENESIS xl. THE prison, you remember, was in the house of Potiphar. One day Potiphar brought two men to Joseph, and said to him, Take great care that these men do not get out of prison. I give them under your charge. So you see Potiphar thought Joseph 56 LINE UPON LINE. could be trusted: perhaps he had found out that Joseph was not so bad as he had once thought,— still he did not let Joseph out of prison. I will tell you who these men were that Potiphar brought to Joseph: they were the servants of the king of Egypt. The king of Egypt had a great many servants to wait on him. One of his servants used to bring him wine in a cup to drink. This servant was called his butler. Another man used to bake things for his dinner, and bring them to the king. He was called the baker. The butler and the baker had both offended the king. So the king said to Potiphar, the great cap tain, Put these men into prison. Then Potiphar brought them to Joseph, and told him to keep them safe. Joseph shut them up in a room together, and gave them bread and water every day, and took great care of them. One morning, when Joseph came to see them, he observed that they looked very sad indeed. So Joseph said to them, Why do you look so very sad? Then they answered, We have each had a very strange dream to-night, and we think our dreams have some meaning, but we cannot find it out; and there is nobody in the prison who can tell us. Then Joseph said, But my God knows all things: he could tell the meaning. Only tell me your dreams. JOSEPH, OR THE BUTLER AXD THE BAKER. 57 The butler told his dream the first. He said, I thought I saw a tree such as grapes grow upon — a vine. It had three branches, but no grapes. While I was looking, I saw little buds, and they turned into grapes, and they grew ripe. I picked the grapes and squeezed them into a cup, and made wine, and then brought the cup to the king for him to drink, as I used to do. This was the butler's dream, and God told Joseph the meaning of it. You saw three branches, said Joseph ; something will happen to you in three days. The king will send for you to be his butler again. When the baker heard this pleasant meaning, he thought that his dream would be pleasant too; so he began to tell it. The baker said, I dreamed that I was carrying three white baskets on my head, the one on the top of the other. In the baskets there was baked food, and the birds came and picked the food out of the top basket. The baker thought that Joseph would say, In three days you shall be baker again to the king. But this dream had a sad meaning. Something- will happen to you in three days, said Joseph. The king will send for you, and will hang you upon a tree, and the birds will pick your flesh off your bones. So, while the butler was pleased with what 68 LINE UPON LINE, Joseph had told him, the poor baker was sorry, because he knew that he must die. Joseph had one little favor to ask of the butler. You can guess what it was. When you are with the king of Egypt, said Joseph, giving him his wine, will you tell him about me? Tell him I am shut up in prison and cannot get out. I once lived in a land a great way off, and I was stolen away, and now I am shut up in this prison, though I have done nothing wicked to deserve it. Beg the king to let me out. You see Joseph did not tell of his brothers' wick edness in having sold him. In three days the king sent some men to the prison to fetch the butler and the baker. It was the king's birthday, and the king had made a feast for his servants, and he had thought of the butler and baker, and had said, Let the butler come back to me; and let the baker be hanged; I will not forgive him. So, now both the butler and the baker knew that Joseph had told them the truth. Did the butler remember Joseph when he was with the king? No, he forgot him. The butler was unkind, and worse than unkind — he was ungrateful. Joseph had been kind to him, yet he was not kind in return; therefore I call him ungrateful. Many chil dren are ungrateful to the parents who were kind to JOSEPH, OR THE RELEASE. 59 them when they were little; and all people are un grateful to Cod, who has given his Son to die for them. Poor Joseph waited in vain. No one came to let him out of prison. One day passed, then another; summer came, arid then winter: but Joseph was still shut up. Yet God had not forgotten him. Why did God make him wait so long? That he might learn to be patient. My dear child, if God lets you be sick a long while it is to make you patient. You should think to yourself, God will make me well when he thinks best, but perhaps he means to take me to heaven instead. LESSON XV. JOSEPH, OR THE RELEASE. GENESIS xli. 1-53. I HAVE told you of the great king of Egypt. He was the king of the country where Joseph was. His name was Pharaoh. He had many servants. He sat upon a throne, wore beautiful clothes, a chain of gold round his neck, a ring upon his hand, and a crown of gold upon his head. He lived in a fine house, and rode out in a chariot drawn by many t? LINE UPON LINE. horses; and as he passed by, people bowed down to the ground. One night this great king had two very strange dreams. I will tell you what they were. He thought he was standing by a river, and that seven fat cows came out of the river, and began to eat the grass that grew near This was a pleasant sight; but soon after he saw seven very thin cows (more ugly than any cows he had ever seen) come out of the river; and they ate up the seven fat cows; ind yet after they had eaten them, they looked as thin as they did before. Then the king awoke. But soon he fell asleep, and dreamed that he saw a stalk of corn with seven fine ears growing on it. While he was looking he saw another stalk, with seven very bad ears of corn on it, and these bad ears ate up the seven good ears. These were Pharaoh's two dreams. He thought them very strange, and longed to know the mean ing of them. In the morning he told his servants to find some people who said they could tell the meaning of dreams. Many men came who pre tended to be wise, but they could not tell the king the meaning of his dreams. The king was very unhappy, but what could he do? At last the butler thought of Joseph. He had not thought of him for a long while, and now he JOSEPH, OR THE RELEASE. 61 felt sorry. He said to the king, I do remember my faults this day. You know, O king, that you were once angry with me and with your baker, and that you shut us up in prison, in the house of the cap tain Potiphar. While we were in prison, the baker and I each had a dream, an.d a young man, a ser vant, told us the meaning of our dreams, and said that the baker would be hanged, and that I should be let out of prison, and so it was; the baker was hanged, and you sent for me back to be your butler, just as the young man had said. Then Pharaoh told his servants to fetch the young man out of prison. So the servants came to the prison, and said to the keeper, We are come to fetch Joseph; the king wants to speak to him. Joseph was glad to hear this. He saw that God had heard his prayer. He was dressed in very poor clothes, not fit for a king to see. So the servants gave him neat clothes, and brought him to the king. He came into the king's house, and stood before him. The king said, I hear that you can tell the meaning of dreams. It is not I myself, said Joseph, that can tell the meaning, but my God can ; and I know that he will tell the meaning of your dreams. Then Pharaoh told Joseph his two dreams — the dream about the seven cows and the dream about the seven ears. 62 LINE UPON LINE. When he had done speaking, Joseph answered,— Both your dreams have the same meaning. This is what is going to happen. The next seven years a great deal of corn will grow in the fields; but af terward hardly any corn will grow in the fields for seven years. The seven fat cows meant the seven years when much corn would grow and the seven thin cows meant the seven years when very little corn would grow. God sent you these dreams that you might know what is going to happen. Now what could the king do? First, there would be a great deal of corn, then scarcely any. Could you, my little child, advise the king what to do? Joseph gave him some advice. He said, Save up some of the corn, when there is so much, that you may have some when there is none growing in the fields. You should look for a very wise man, who will save up the corn, and put it in large barns; or the people will die when no corn grows in the fields. Pharaoh was much pleased with Joseph for tell ing him the meaning of his dreams; he believed what Joseph said, and so did all Pharaoh's ser vants. And the king Pharaoh said to his servants, Where can I find so wise a man as Joseph? He shall save up the corn. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, You are so very JOSEPH, OR THE RELEASE. 63 wise that you shall help me to manage all the people in the land. Everyone shall mind you as they do me, and you shall be the greatest person next to me. Then Pharaoh took the ring off his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand: and he gave him beautiful clothes like his own, and a gold chain to wear round his neck. He gave him a fine chariot to ride in, and desired people to bow down when they saw him. So Joseph was made a great lord; but he would not be idle. He went about all the country in his chariot to buy corn, and he built large barns every where, and filled them with corn, and so he did for seven years. He did not spend his time in eating and drinking, but always doing good to people. He was glad he was let out of prison, and he thanked God. He was not happy because he \vore fine clothes; but he was glad to be able to do good to people, by saving up corn. He married a wife, and he had two little boys; yet still he thought of his dear old father, and hoped that he should one day see him again; and he thought of little Benja min, and hoped his brothers had not killed him, nor put him in a pit, and he hoped that his brothers were sorry for their wickedness. He did not feel angry with his brothers. Joseph knew that it was 64 LINE UPON LINE. God who had let them sell him for a slave, and that God had let them do it that he might save up corn in Egypt. It is God that makes all things happen; and God has wise reasons for all that he does. If he lets us be sick, it is for some good reason. One day we shall know why God let us be sick, or let wicked people hurt us, or take away our things. You know why God let wicked people kill the Lord Jesus. It was, that he might die instead of us, and save us from hell. LESSON XVI. JOSEPH, OR THE LORD OF EGYPT. GENESIS xli. 53-57; xlii. You have heard, my children, how Joseph was made almost as great as the king. A great deal of corn grew in the fields next year and the year after, and for seven years after the king's dream. But then scarcely any corn grew. The poor people came to king Pharaoh and said, We have nothing to eat, and we shall die. Then Pharaoh said, Go to Joseph; he can help you. So the people went to Joseph, and he opened his large barns full of JOSEPH, OR THE LORD OF EGYPT. 65 corn, and sold the corn to the people. They brought money, and large bags or sacks. Joseph took the money, and filled the sacks with corn. A great many people came to buy corn. Some came from a long way off; but Joseph had enough corn for all. Among the people who came, there were ten men who had come from a far country. Each of them had an ass, and on the ass a sack, and in their hands they brought money. Who do you think these were? They were Joseph's brothers. Joseph remembered them, though he had not seen them for twenty years. He knew those cruel brothers, who had sold him for twenty pieces of silver. If he pleased he might have punished them. He might have told his servants to kill them. Do you think Joseph will punish his brothers, or do you think he will be kind to them? Now you shall hear how he behaved to them. The brothers thought Joseph was a great lord, and they did not know that they had ever seen him before; for he wore fine clothes, and he was grown to be a man, and he had another name, which the king had given him. So when the ten brothers saw him, they bowed down to the ground before him. Then Joseph remembered his dream about the sheaves bowing down to his sheaf, and he saw that God had made it come true. 66 LINE UPON LINE. Joseph felt ready to forgive his brothers; but he wished first to see whether they were sorry for their wickedness, and whether they loved their father and little Benjamin; so Joseph did not tell them who he was. He even pretended to be un kind. He spoke to them in a rough voice and said, Where do you come from? They said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food. But Joseph said he did not believe they spoke truth. You come, he said, to see what a bad land this is, with no corn growing in it, and you mean to bring some king with soldiers to fight us. No indeed, said Joseph's brothers, we do not. We are ten poor brothers, and we are come to buy food. But Joseph said he would not believe what they said. The brothers answered, We are all brothers, and once there were twelve of us; but one is dead, and the youngest is with our father, who is an old man. They tried to make Joseph believe what they said, but he pretended not to believe them. At last, Joseph said, I must see your youngest brother. I shall send one of you to fetch him, and I shall keep the rest in prison till he comes back with the youngest brother. The brothers were much frightened when they heard this: for they knew their father would not choose to part with Benjamin, lest he should be killed. So not one of the brothers said he would go and fetch Benjamin. JOSEPH, OR THE LORD OF EGYPT. 67 Joseph put them all in prison, and kept them shut up together for three days. While they were shut up they had time to think of their wickedness to Joseph. When people are shut up, they have time to think and to pray. I hope, dear children, when you are shut up as a punishment, that you pray to God to make you good. The brothers were very much frightened: they did not know what Joseph was going to do with them. At last Joseph came to them in the prison and said, This is what you must do, and then you shall live: for I fear God. How much surprised the brothers must have been when they heard Joseph say that he feared God! for the other people in Egypt worshiped idols. Joseph said, I will only keep ONE of you shut up in the prison, and all the rest of you may go back, and take corn home with you: but when you come again you must bring your youngest brother with you, or I shall think that you have not spoken truth : but if you do bring him, I will believe you. The brothers were glad to think that they might go back, yet it made them sad to hear that one of them would be kept in prison. They remembered their wickedness to Joseph, and they said one to another, It was very wicked of us to treat him as 68 LINE UPON LINE. we did. How he begged us to spare him, and we would not! and now God is punishing us for it. Joseph heard what they said, and it made the tears run down his cheeks; so that he was obliged to go out of the room to weep. He did not like to see them unhappy; but you know he wanted to find out whether they were kind to Benjamin, and whether they loved their old father, and whether they were sorry for all they ha-d done. When Joseph came back he took one of the bro thers, called Simeon, and said that he would keep him in prison till the others brought their youngest brother with them . So Joseph had Simeon bound with ropes, or chains, while the other brothers stood round. Then they remembered how once poor Joseph had been bound, and sold for a slave. Simeon was left alone in the prison, and did not know whether his brothers would ever come back, and whether he would ever be let out. Before the brothers set off to go home, Joseph said to his servant, When you fill those men's sacks with corn, put back into their sacks the money that they paid me for it, and give them also something to eat by the way. Joseph wished his poor brothers to have some food by the way. And the servant did as Joseph told him; but Joseph's brethren did not know what the servant had done. JOSEPH, OR THE LORD OF EGYPT. 69 How glad these brothers were to get away from Egypt, and to come back to their father and to their little children, who had scarcely anything left to eat! When they were come home they told their father all that had happened. There was a great lord, they said, who sold corn to the people; and he spoke very roughly to us, and said that we were not come to buy corn, but that we only wanted to see the land, that we might bring men to fight the poor hungry people that lived there. He called us spies. We told him that we were not spies, but were twelve brothers : — that one was dead, and that one was with our father in the land of Canaan. But the lord would not believe us, and told us we must bring our youngest brother with us; and he took Simeon, and shut him up in prison, and said that he would not let him out till we came back with Benjamin. Poor old Jacob was sad when he heard all this. Then the brothers began to open their sacks of corn, and they were quite surprised to find their money at the top of their sacks: but they were not pleased, for they thought that someone had put the money there to get them into disgrace, and that when they went back to Egypt they should be pun ished for stealing: so thev were much frightened. 70 LINE UPON LINE. They had not stolen this money; but they were thieves, for they once had stolen Joseph and sold him for twenty pieces of silver. They were more afraid than ever of going back to Egypt, and of seeing the great lord: yet they wished very much to go, for they had only brought a little corn, and they wanted more, and they knew that poor Simeon would remain in prison till they went back to Egypt. How could they persuade Jacob to let Benjamin go? For Jacob said, No, I cannot trust Benjamin with you, lest some harm should happen to him. You have taken away two of my children, Joseph and Simeon, and you would not bring Benjamin back if I were to let him go. If any evil were to happen to him, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Jacob felt that it would break his heart to lose Benjamin, he loved him so very much. So the brothers were obliged to stay in Canaan j for they knew it would be of no use to go to Egypt, except Benjamin went with them. What trouble they now were in! God was punishing them for their wickedness. JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. 71 LESSON XVII. JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. GENESIS xliii. As the brothers could not persuade Jacob to let Benjamin go with them, they were obliged to stay in Canaan. Soon they had eaten up all their corn, and none grew in their fields, and what could they do for food? Jacob saw how hungry they were, and at last he said, Go again, buy us a little food. Then they said, We cannot go without Benjamin for the man who sold corn said we should not see him unless we brought our youngest brother. If you will let Benjamin come with us, then we will go. Jacob was very unhappy when he heard this, and he said, Why did you tell the man you had a brother? it was behaving very unkindly to me to tell him. Then the brothers answered, The man asked us so many questions. He said to us, Is your father alive? Have you another brother? Could we think that he would say, Bring your youngest brother? Still Jacob did not like to let Benjamin go. One of the brothers (called Judah) said, I will take care of Benjamin if you will let him go. I 72 LINE UPON LINE. promise to bring him back to you ; and if I do not, I will take all the blame. For we and our little children shall die if you do not let him come. Jacob saw it was of no use to refuse any more, or they would all die, and Benjamin too. So he gave Benjamin into the care of Judah. But Jacob was afraid of the man being unkind to them, and of his saying they had stolen the money. So he said to them, Bring the man a present. What could they bring? They had gardens, with fruit and flowers growing in them. Pick some nuts and almonds off your trees, said Jacob; and take a little of that sweet stuff called balm, and myrrh; and take some spices, and a little honey; and take them with you as a present to the man. Jacob knew that the man was very rich, and that he did not want any thing, but he sent a present to show that he wished to please him. Besides, said Jacob, take the money back that you found in your sacks — take more money in your hands to buy more corn, and take Benjamin, and go to the man. Jacob's heart was full of pain when he said this. Then he began to pray to God. May God give you mercy before the man, and send home Simeon and Benjamin. This was Jacob's prayer. When Jacob wished Benjamin good-by, he thought of how he once had parted with his Joseph, JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. 73 the day he sent him to look for his brothers, when he put on his pretty coat and never returned; and he feared that he should never see Benjamin again. The brothers took the present, the sweet present, with them, and they each took some money in their hands, and they took their asses, and their empty sacks; and Judah took care of Benjamin. So they parted from their old father, and their wives and their little children, and they set out on their journey. They all felt very sad that day. The brothers were frightened. They were afraid they should be taken up as thieves when they got to Egypt. At last they came to Egypt. They went to the place where Joseph was selling the corn. Joseph saw them. He looked to see whether Benjamin was with them, and was much pleased to see him! Benjamin was a baby when Joseph had seen him last, yet Joseph knew that it was Benjamin. As' soon as he saw his brother he called his chief servant, who managed his house, and said to him, Take those ten men to my house, and get a great dinner ready, for they must dine with me to-day. The brothers did not hear what Joseph said to the servant. The servant came to them, and told them to come with him. So they came, and he brought them to Joseph's own house — a fine large 74 LINE UPON LINE, house. Yet the brothers were not pleased, but very much frightened. Ah ! said they to each other, we are going to be put into prison; and we shall be kept in prison to work hard, we and our asses. They thought of their poor father, and of what he would do. When they got to the door of the house, they came up to the servant and said, Sir, we came here once before to buy a little food, and we paid money for it; but when we got home we opened our sacks and found the money in them, and here we have brought more money to buy more corn. We can not tell who put the money in our sacks. It was quite right of the brothers to bring back the money; but once they had stolen money. Now they were speaking truth, but once they had told lies. The servant answered them very kindly, and said, Fear not, God is your father — God gave you that money, and put the money into your sacks. You see the servant knew about God. Who could have taught him about God? The people in Egypt worshiped idols. It must have been Joseph who had taught his servant. How happy the brothers were now! They soon found that they were not going to be put into a prison, but that they were to dine in a fine house. JOSEPH, OR T HE FEAST. 75 What could make the man grow so kind? They did not know the reason. While they were waiting, the servant went and brought poor Simeon out of prison. He had been shut up a long while. The servant told them that dinner would not be ready till twelve o'clock; and while they were waiting he brought them water to wash their feet, and he gave some food to their poor, tired, and hungry asses. The brothers said, Let us get our present ready, while we are waiting for the lord to come in. So they went out, and got ready the balm and spices, the honey, and nuts, and almonds. At last Joseph came in from selling the corn, and the brothers came into the house, and brought the present in their hand, and they bowed down upon the ground. The eleven brothers bowed down, as the sheaves had done in the dream. This time Joseph spoke very kindly to them. He asked them how they were; but most of all he wanted to know how his father was. Is your father well? he asked. You said you had an old father. Is he yet alive? They said, Yes, our father is well, and he is alive; and as they spoke they bowed down their heads to the ground. Then Joseph looked for Benjamin, and when he saw him he longed to throw his arms round his 76 LINE UPON LINE. neck, and kiss him, but he would not do it yet. He only said, Is this your younger brother that you told me of? And then he made this little prayer, God be gracious to thee, my son. When Joseph had said this, he felt the tears com ing into his eyes, and he could not help crying; so he went quickly out of the room, and there he cried by himself. He loved this young brother very much. One reason why he loved him was, that Benjamin was the son of his own mother, Rachel, while many of the others had another mother, Leah; for Jacob, you know, had two wives. Now the dinner was ready: so Joseph would not stay in his room: but first he washed his face, that no one might see that he had been crying, and then he tried to look cheerful, and he said to his ser vants, Put the dinner on the table. In the room where they were to dine there were three tables. One was for Joseph's servants, an other was for Joseph himself (for he always dined at a table by himself), and the other table was for the eleven brothers. Joseph told them where to sit: he made the eldest sit first, and then the second, just according to their age, and he made Benjamin sit last. The brothers were surprised at Joseph's knowing which was eld est, and which was second, for it is hard to tell how JOSEPH, OR THE FEAST. 77 old a grown-up man is ; but Joseph knew them bet ter than they thought he did. Now they all sat down to dinner. It was long since they had eaten such a dinner, and they had made a great journey, and were tired and hungry, and thirsty. Joseph sent them nice things from his table, but he sent five times as much to Ben jamin as to any of the others. Were the brothers envious of Benjamin because Joseph sent him the most? No, they were not. Once they had been envious of Joseph — but now they were not envious. They ate and drank, and they were merry. Joseph could see them all — and it was a pleasant sight to him. Once they had eaten their dinner while he lay in the pit, and they had given him none. Yet he would not treat them so, but would return good for evil. You remember how kindly Jesus behaved to peo ple who were unkind to him. God is kind to us, though we do many things to offend him. If a child is unkind to you, should you be unkind too? If your brother has a cake, and will not give you any — if you afterward have a cake, should you give him some, or should you not? Oh! you should do as Joseph did, and be kind to those who have been unkind to you. 78 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON XVIII. JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER. GENESIS xliv.; xlv. 1-15. THE brothers spent a happy day with Joseph. They did not go home that day, but waited to set out on the morrow. You know that they had come to buy corn, and they had brought empty sacks with them. Joseph called his servant, and said to him secretly, Fill the sacks of those eleven men with corn, and put their money that they have given me for the corn back into their sacks. And put my silver cup into the sack of the youngest. The servant filled the sacks with corn, and put the money into them. And he put the silver cup into Benjamin's sack; and then he gave the sacks to the brothers. They did not know that the ser vant had put money or a cup into them. The next morning, as soon as it was light, the brothers rose up, took their asses and their sacks, and set off to return home to their father. How glad they were to get away safely— not one left be hind! What a pleasant history they thought they should have to tell their father! How much surprised he JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER. 79 would be to hear of the great lord's kindness — and how glad he would be to see Benjamin again! But soon all their joy was turned into grief. They had gone but a little way, when someone called them. It was Joseph's servant; he came running after them. What has made you, said he, behave so ill to my lord, after all his kindness to you? Why have you stolen his silver cup, out of which he drinks? The brothers were much surprised to hear that the cup was stolen. Why should you think, said they, that we have taken it? we would not do such a wicked thing. Did we not bring back the money when we thought it had been put in our sacks by mistake? And now, would we steal a silver cup out of your lord's house? None of us have taken it. If one of us have taken it, let him die, and let all the rest be slaves to your lord. They said this, because they were quite sure that none of them had taken it. No, said the servant, it shall not be so: the one who has taken the cup shall not be killed he shall only be a slave to my lord, and the others shall not be slaves : they shall all go home. Then the servant told them to open their sacks: so the eldest brother took down his sack: the ser vant looked in among the corn, but could find no 80 LINE UPON LINE. cup. Then the second opened his sack, but there was no cup hid in it. The third showed his, and each brother showed his in turn. At last Benja min showed his. How much were they all sur prised when they found the silver cup in it! You know that Benjamin had not stolen it. You know that the servant had put it in the sack when he rilled it with corn. The servant said to Benjamin, You must come back with me to my lord. He was going to take him for a slave, and never let him return home but he said that his brothers might go home. And would they go and leave Benjamin behind? No, said they, we will go back with Benjamin. You see that they loved Benjamin, and would not leave him alone in his distress. They put their sacks again on their asses, and fol- . lowed the servant to Joseph's house. Their hearts 'were bursting with grief, and they cried as they went. Joseph was in his house waiting for them. Joseph was very glad to see them all come back with Ben jamin, and to see them crying so much lest Ben jamin should be kept to be a slave. Now Joseph saw that they loved Benjamin very much. When they saw Joseph they fell with their faces on the ground. JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER. 81 Joseph spoke to them as if he were angry, and said, What is this wicked thing that you have done? Do you remember that Judah had promised to take care of Benjamin? So Judah began to beg Joseph to forgive Benjamin. Judah knew that it would be of no use to say that Benjamin had not taken the cup, so he only begged Joseph to take pity on them. God is punishing us for our sins, said Judah, and we can say nothing; we must all be your slaves. No, said Joseph, not all ; only he who stole the cup, he shall be my slave : let the others go back to their father. Joseph wanted to see whether the brothers would go back and leave poor Benjamin to be a slave. Judah then came nearer to Joseph, and began to beg for Benjamin with all his heart. Let me speak a word to my lord, said he, and do not be angry with me, for I arn as afraid of you as I am of the king. When we first came to buy corn, you asked us if we had a father and a brother, and we said, Yes, we had an old father, and a little brother that he loved very much indeed; and then you said that we must bring our brother to show you. Then we said we could not, because our father would not part with him, but you said we must bring him. So when we went back to our father, we told him 82 LINE UPON LINE. what you had said, but he would not let Benjamin go. No, said he, I had a dear child that I think was eaten up by a lion or a bear. If I let Benjamin go, perhaps some harm will happen to him, and then I shall die of grief, and these gray hairs will go down with sorrow to the grave. Then I promised my father that I would take care of Benjamin. I cannot go home without him. If I were to go back without Benjamin we should see our father die. Let me be your slave instead of Benjamin, and let him go home to his father: for I could not bear to see my father die of grief. Was it not kind of Judah to say this? Now Joseph saw that Judah did indeed love Ben jamin and his old father. Now Joseph would tell his brother who he was, and would tell them that he had forgiven them. Joseph felt ready to burst into tears, yet he did not go out of the room to weep, as he had done before; but he said to all his servants, Go out of the room; and Joseph was left alone with his brothers. He cried so loud, that all the servants heard him, though they were not in the room. / At last he said, I am Joseph. Is my father yet alive? Were the brothers pleased? No , they were frightened: — they could not speak, and they dared not come near him. JOSEPH, OR THE FORGIVING BROTHER. 83 Joseph did not wish to frighten them he longed to put his arms round them and kiss them. He saw that they were unhappy at the thoughts of their wickedness in having sold him ; so he tried to comfort them. Do not grieve because you sold me, said Joseph. God let you do it that I might save corn to feed your children. I wish you all to come and live with me here. You must bring my old father with you and your children, and I will feed you all. Look at me, and you will see that I am indeed your own brother Joseph. It is my mouth that speaks to you. Go and tell my father what fine things I have in Egypt, and bring him here to live with me. This was the loving way in which Joseph spoke. Then he threw his arms round Benjamin's neck, and wept as he kissed him; and Benjamin wept too upon Joseph's neck. Afterward Joseph kissed all his brothers, and wept as he kissed each: and then his brothers no more felt afraid of him, but began to talk to him. They saw Joseph had quite forgiven them, and that he had loved them with all his heart. They could not have expected such kindness, and it made them the more sorry for their own wicked ness. You see that Joseph did not make his brothers happy till he found that they were really sorry, and had left off their wickedness. 84 LINE UPON LINE. How like is Joseph to Jesus Christ, who forgive- us all our sins when we are really sorry! You re member how he forgave that poor woman who washed his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. She was sorry for all her sins, and Christ told her he had forgiven her. It is the Holy Spirit who makes people sorry for their sins. LESSON XIX. JOSEPH, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. GENESIS xlv. 16 to end; xlvi. 1-7, 28-34; xlvii. 1-12; 1. BEFORE Joseph told his brothers who he was, he had sent the servants out of the room; yet he had sobbed so loud that the servants had heard, and soon they knew the reason why Joseph had sent them out. The servants were glad to hear that Joseph had found his brothers. Joseph had told the people of Egypt of his brothers' wickedness. Pharaoh, the king, heard of the brothers being found; and he, too, was glad, for he loved Joseph. He called Joseph, and said to him, Your brothers must come and live near you, and you must send for all the little children; and they shall have the best JOSEPH, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. 85 food in all the land to eat. We will give them houses, fields, and gardens, and they shall live to gether. We must send wagons to bring the little children, their mothers, and your old father: but they need not bring their things, for we will give them every thing they want. You see how kind the king was. Joseph got wagons, with some beasts to draw them, and he gave his brothers some food to eat as they traveled home. He also made them some handsome presents, for Joseph was very rich. He gave them each two suits of clothes ; but to Benja min he gave five suits of clothes, besides a great deal of money. He sent a present to his father: ten asses that carried all kinds of good things; and ten asses more that carried a great deal of bread and other food for his father to eat by the way. When all the things were ready, Joseph told his brothers to go to Canaan, and to come back quickly. He gave them one piece of advice before they went. Take care, he said, that you do not quarrel by the way. Old Jacob had been longing to see them, much fearing lest Benjamin should not come back safely. At last they came, and he saw that not one was missing. They told him the joyful news. Joseph is alive: LINE UPON LINE. and is the great lord that sells corn in the land of Egypt. Perhaps you think Jacob was delighted; but no, he would not believe them. No, said he, my son has long been dead. But we have seen him, said they. It can not be true, said Jacob. Then the brothers told him what Joseph had said. He desires us all to come and live with him, and he sends for you. Still Jacob could not believe them. Only come and see the wagons he has sent, and then you will believe us, said they. So they took Jacob to see the wagons, and when he saw them he did believe: and then he was glad. It is enough, said Jacob. Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die. The brothers told their wives and their children that they must leave Canaan, and take a long jour ney. They got into the wagons, and set out. Jacob was lame and old, and he rode in a wagon, but the brothers were strong enough to walk. And they took their sheep, and cows, and goats, and camels, and asses with them, and all their things. They had to travel a very long way. No doubt the little chil dren were much pleased, for children are fond of making journeys. At last they all came into the land of Egypt JO SEP PI, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. 87 Long before they came to Joseph's house they saw a fine chariot coming toward them. It was Joseph's. It stopped, and Joseph got out of it. Jacob stepped out of his wagon. His hair was gray, his legs were weak, and he could hardly walk. Joseph was a fine and glorious lord. He ran to meet his father, threw his arms round his neck ; and then he wept for a long while. The last time Joseph had kissed his father was when he was a boy, dressed in his pretty coat, and was going to look for his brothers to see how they did. How many sad days had Jacob spent since that time, in thinking of him! And now, at last, he had found him again. The brothers did not feel envious now when they saw Jacob and Joseph folded in each other's arms. Now, said Jacob, let me die, since I have seen your face, Joseph, once more. Then Joseph said to his father and brothers, I will go and tell Pharaoh that you are come. So Joseph went to Pharaoh the king, and said, My father and brothers, and their flocks, and all that they have, are come. And then he brought five of his brothers, and showed them to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to them, What is your employment? We are shep herds; but there is no grass in Canaan for our LINE UPON LINE, sheep. Will you give us some fields where we can feed them? Pharaoh said that he would give them a ereat many fields, that they might live there all together, with their children and their flocks. Joseph wished them to live all together, because the people in Egypt worshiped idols. Joseph wished the king to see his dear old father, so he brought him to the king. The king treated him with great respect, because Jacob was a very old man. Even kings should pay respect to old men. Jacob lifted up his hands over Pharaoh's head, and prayed God to show him kindness. This was called blessing him. Jacob blessed Pharaoh, be cause he had been very good to Joseph. Jacob must have loved Pharaoh very much. Pharaoh said to Jacob, How old are you? Jacob said, I am one hundred and thirty years old, but I am not as old as my fathers were; and my life has been full of troubles. Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again, and went away to the place Pharaoh had given him to live in. There he lived, with all his children round him. Joseph did not live with him, but he often came to *ee him. Jacob at last fell sick, and he knew that he soon JOSEPH, OR THE LONG-LOST SON. 89 should die. He sent for all his sons that he might bless them before he died. Jacob had been lame a long while, and now he was almost blind, and very weak, and sick. When his sons came, he sat upon the bed, and called them one by one, that he might give a bless ing to each. After he had blessed them he said, I am soon going to die; bury me in the cave in Canaan where Abraham my grandfather is buried, and Isaac my father. He said a great deal more, and at last he gathered up his feet into the bed, and died. His spirit went to God, and he is still with him in heaven. His body will rise from the cave at the last day. Joseph fell upon his father's face when he was dead, and wept upon him, and kissed him. Those gray hairs had not gone down in sorrow to the grave, for God had comforted Jacob before he died. Joseph took his father's body to Canaan, to put it in the cave where Abraham and Isaac were. All the brothers went with Joseph, and a great many servants, and chariots, and horses. Afterward they came back to Egypt. A very sad thought came into the minds of the brothers. They said to each other, Perhaps Joseph has only been so kind to us to please his father; per- 90 LINE UPON LINE. haps he has not really forgiven us; and now per haps, he will punish us. So they sent a servant to Joseph, and told the servant to say to Joseph, Your father, before he died, told us to beg you to forgive us our great wickedness. So pray forgive us. When Joseph heard this message he began to weep. Why did he weep? Because he was sorry his brothers should think he could be so unkind to them. Soon his brothers came and fell down before him, and seemed much afraid. Joseph said, Fear not: it was wrong of you to sell me, yet God made it turn out for good; because when I was in Egypt I saved the corn, and so you were kept from dying of hunger. I will still feed you and your little chil dren. He spoke very kindly to them, and comforted them. Joseph lived to be a very old man, and at last he died. . This is the history of Joseph. He is now in heaven with his dear Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph forgave his brothers, and Christ has forgiven him; for Joseph committed sins, though they are not' written down in the Bible. You have heard the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God loved them all three. Abraham was the grandfather, Isaac the father, and Jacob the son. MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES. 91 God had promised the land of Canaan to the chil dren of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: that is, to the great-great-grandchildren. God would not forget that promise. But he had made them a better promise than that: he had promised them that Jesus Christ should one day be born into the world, and should save them from their sins. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob often thought of that promise. At last Christ did come, and now Christ is in heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as Abel, Noah, and Joseph, and all good men, whose sins Christ has forgiven. Oh, my children, may you be with them one day! LESSON XX. MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES. EXODUS i. 7-14, 15-22; ii. i-io. You have heard how Joseph and his brothers lived happily in Egypt for a long while. At last they grew old and died, but they left a great many chil dren; and their children had a great many children; till at last there were hundreds and thousands of people. These people were the grandchildren of Jacob, and his great-grandchildren and their chil dren. 92 LINE UPON LINE. Did you know that Jacob had two names? His other name was Israel. It was a name that God had given him. All the sons of Jacob were called the children of Israel, or the children of Jacob; and the grandchildren of Jacob were called by this same name, "children of Israel." There were some men, and some women, and some children, and all of them together were called "children of Israel." The grown-up people were called "children of Israel." They did not live in Canaan, you remember; they had left Canaan, because no corn grew there for a long while: they lived in Egypt, and took care of their sheep. When the good king Pharaoh lived they were very happy. At last he died, and there was another king of Egypt; he was called Pharaoh. You shall hear what he did, and then you shall tell me whether you think he was good. He knew that the children of Israel had come from a great way off, and he said, There are so many of them, perhaps they may some day fight against me with swords, and kill me and my ser vants. I will make them work hard, and I will try to kill them with hard work. So he desired that they should make a great many bricks, and build very high walls. He sent some of his men to make them work hard. The children of Israel were used to taking care MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES. 93 of sheep, and that is a pleasant employment. Shep herds lead their flocks to the green fields, and by the side of the quiet waters, and they sit under the shade of a tree when the sun is hot. Is not this pleas ant? But now the children of Israel were obliged to dig up the clay, and to make bricks, and to dry them in the sun; and if they did not make a great many bricks, the men whom Pharaoh had sent beat them. So now they were very unhappy ; they often sighed, and groaned, and shed tears. Yet ill this hard work did not kill them; so the king thought of another plan. He said, Let every boy-baby be thrown into the river. He did not order the girl-babies to be drowned, because they would not be able to fight with swords when they grew up. Whenever the king heard that one of the children of Israel had a little boy-baby, he sent his men to throw it into the river. There was a very good woman who had a little boy-baby; she was one of the children of Israel. This woman knew that God would take care of her child, and she prayed to God to take care of it. She hid her baby, so that Pharaoh's men could not find it. I do not know where she put it, but God taught her to hide it in a very safe place. When the baby was three months old, she found 94 LINE UPON LINE. that she could not hide him any more. What could she do with her baby? Close by the great river of Egypt there grew a great many reeds and bulrushes, which are like very high, thick grass. She took some bulrushes and made them into a large basket. She wished to make a basket into which the water should not come ; so she got some pitch, and covered the basket with pitch. Then she put her little baby inside, and took the basket in her arms. No one could tell what was in the basket. She went to the river-side, and laid the basket among the great rushes, close by the water; she knew that God would not let the child be killed, and so she left it, trusting in him. She had a little girl of ten years old. This little girl was the baby's sister. She stood a great way off, to see what would become of her baby-brother. Soon she saw some ladies walking by the river-side. One of these ladies \vas king Pharaoh's daughter. She was a princess. The other ladies were her maids, and they were going with the princess to some place where she could wash. The princess was looking at the rushes, when she* saw something very strange peeping out among them. When she saw it, she said to one of her maids, Go and see what it is. So the maid went, MOSES, OR THE BASKET OF BULRUSHES- 95 and found the basket. She took it up and brought it to the princess. The princess opened the basket, and saw a sweet babe. It was fair and lovely. It began to weep. Poor infant! it was used to lie in its mother's arms, but now there was no one to feed it or to comfort it. The princess pitied the child. She had heard how her father had desired that every baby should be thrown into the river, and she said, I suppose this is the baby of one of the children of Israel. She did not wish it to be thrown into the river. The baby's sister had come nearer, and had seen what the princess had done. She saw that the princess pitied it; so she said, If you want a nurse, I could find you one who could nurse the child for you. The princess said, Go. Whom did she call? The baby's mother. When she was come, the princess said to her, Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you wages. How glad the mother was to take care of it ! She saw that God had heard her prayers, and saved her child from being drowned. The mother could teach it about God as soon as it could understand. But she was not allowed to keep it always. When it was a big child, the prin cess sent for it to cor^e and live with her, and she 96 LINE UPON LINE. called it her son. She gave it a name. I shall call it Moses, she said; which means "drawn out," for he was drawn out of the water. The princess lived in a fine house, and had a great many servants. Moses had beautiful clothes, nice things to eat, and servants to wait upon him. He had no hard work to do; yet he was not idle, but learned a great many things. The princess told wise men to teach him. He knew the names of the stars; the names of beasts, and birds, and plants. He learned about all these things, and grew very wise. One thing these wise men could not teach him — even about God; for they worshiped idols. Yet Moses did know about God, for his father and mother knew the true God, and when he was little Moses lived with them. Of all things Moses knew, this was the best. He was wiser than all the men in Egypt, for he knew the true God. He was brave as well as wise, and all the people in Egypt praised him, and paid him respect. Was Moses happy? No; and I will tell you why, in the next lesson. MOSES, OR THE PIOUS CHOICE. 97 LESSON XXI. MOSES, OR THE PIOUS CHOICE. EXODUS ii. 11-15. I HAVE told you how very hard the poor children of Israel worked in making bricks. When Moses had grown to be a man, this thought came into his mind: I live in a fine house, and am as great as a prince. I have no work to do; but my poor cousins, the children of Israel, they are working like slaves. Cruel men are beating them. Can not I help them? This thought made him sad. Do you remember the promise God made to Abraham about his great-great-grandchildren? These children of Israel were the great-great-grand children of Abraham. Abraham's child was called Isaac; Abraham's grandchild was Jacob; and Abraham's great-grand children were Joseph and his brothers. Now Jo seph's children were Abraham's great-great-grand children, and their children were his great-great- great-grandchildren. The children of Israel called Abraham their great-great-great-grandfather: only they had never seen him; he died before they were born. You, my little child, had a great-great-grand- 08 LINE UPON LINE. father. I do not know what his name was, but I know he has been dead a long while. If he were alive, he would call you his great-great-grandchild. I am now going to tell you about these great- great-grandchildren of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and about their children: and I shall always call them the "children of Israel." What promise had God made to Abraham about them? He had said that they should live in the land of Canaan — that sweet land, full of hills and rivers, grass and flowers, sheep and cows, milk and honey. God had said to Abraham, I will give this land to your children. Not to Isaac, but to his great-great- great-great-grandchildren, and to their children, and to their children. Moses had heard of this promise; perhaps his mother had told him of it. He had heard how he had been saved from being drowned when he was a little baby, and he believed that God would let him bring the children of Israel into Canaan. He wished to save them from being slaves among the wicked people of Egypt, and to make them happy in that pleasant land of Canaan. It was kind of Moses to wish to help the poor children of Israel. Moses left the king's fine house and all his fine things and he went to the place where the poor Israelites were working hard. (The children of MOSES, OR THE PIOUS CHOICE. 99 Israel were sometimes called Israelites.) He wished to see whether they remembered God's promise to Abraham, and whether they wished to go to Ca naan. When Moses came to the place in Egypt where the children of Israel were working, how sad was the sight he saw! There they were, laboring in the heat of the sun. They worked from morning till night. They dug up the clay to make bricks : — that was hard work. Then they made the bricks; they put them in heaps to dry them in the sun. Then they carried them to build the great walls for Pha raoh. They were forced to make a great many bricks, and the cruel men that Pharaoh had sent beat them when they were tired. They groaned and cried, but still they were made to do their tasks. For the men set them a task: not such a little task as you have to do, but a great task. The men said, You must make so many bricks. I do not know how many they told them to make, but a great many. If they did not do their task, the men would beat them. Moses was very sorry to see how the poor chil dren of Israel were treated. One day he saw one of the task-masters (the cruel men were called task masters) beating one of the children of Israel. 100 LINE UPON LINE. Moses could not bear to see the poor slave treated so cruelly. Moses looked to see whether there were any more task-masters near; — he saw no more. So • he killed the task-master, and then dug a hole in 'the ground, and covered it over with the earth. Do you think it was wrong of Moses to kill the task-master? It is very wicked to kill people, for God has commanded people not to kill each other, But God may have people killed if he chooses- Moses had been sent by God to kill this wicked man, that he might show the poor Israelites that he was come from God to make them happy. So it was not wrong in Moses to kill the man, because God had sent him to do it. One of the Israelites saw him, and soon king Pharaoh heard of it; and Pharaoh was very angry, and tried to find Moses, that he might have him killed. So Moses was obliged to go into a country a great way off, where the king could not find him. I will tell you another time what happened to Moses in that country. God loved Moses, and he took care of him wherever he went. Moses might have lived always in a fine house, and ridden in a chariot, and had many servants ; but you see how much he loved the poor children of Israel. Do you not think that he was like the Lord Jesus, who left his throne in heaven to save us from going to hell? MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 101 Moses wished to please God more than to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; he knew that God loved the children of Israel, and he knew that God would one day help him to take them into Canaan. LESSON XXII. MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. EXODUS ii. 16 to end; iii. iv. 1-23, 27-31. MOSES was grieved to leave the poor children of Israel groaning in Egypt; but he was forced to hide himself from Pharaoh. He took nothing with him on his journey. But God was with him. Though he could not see him, Moses knew he was near him, and this was his com fort. At last Moses came to a place where there was much grass, and a great many sheep. Here, also, there was a well, and Moses sat down by the side of it; for he had taken a long journey. He had no house, no bed, and no friend. He was like Jesus, who had nowhere to lay his head. But you will see that God will take care of him. Soon there came seven girls to the well. They 102 LINE UPON LINE. were sisters, and they took care of their father's sheep. They brought their sheep with them to give them water. First they let down some pails, or buckets, into the well, and then poured the water into some great troughs that stood near, and the sheep drank out of the troughs. While they were doing this some shepherds came to the well and tried to drive them away, that their own sheep might drink water out of the troughs ; but the poor girls had filled the troughs with water, and it would have been very unfair to take the water from their sheep. But the men were stronger than they were, and often behaved in this way to- them. Moses did not like to see weak people ill-treated: and he was very strong: so he stood up, and would not let the shepherds send the girls away, but helped them to draw water for their sheep. The poor girls thought that Moses was very kind, because he was only a stranger, and yet he had helped them. When they came home to their father, he said, How is it that you have come home so soon to-day? And they said, A stranger was by the well, and he would not let the shepherds drive us away, and he drew water for our sheep. Then the father answered, Where is the man? Call him, and ask him to come and eat bread with us. So the girls called Moses, and asked him to MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 103 come to their house. It was God who put it into the man's heart to be kind to Moses. The old father asked Moses to live with him and his daughters, and Moses said he would. Moses took care of the old father's sheep, and he married one of the seven girls. Then the old father was called Moses' father-in-law, because he was the father of his wife. Moses had once been a fine prince, and had rid den in a chariot; but now he led his sheep to eat grass among the green hills. There was one thing that must have made Moses sad. What was that? He knew that the children of Israel were still groaning at their hard work. Could he be happy while they were so miserable? You know that he could not, because Moses loved these poor people. The children of Israel were indeed working hard. King Pharaoh had died; but there was another king Pharaoh, as wicked as he had been. At last the children of Israel cried to God to help them, and God heard their prayers; and he remem bered the promise made to Abraham, and he deter mined to save them. Now you shall hear what God did to help them. One day Moses was with the old father's sheep, among the high hills. He was quite alone. He t04 LINE UPON LINE. looked up, and saw a bush on fire. He went on looking, and the bush was still burning, but was not more burned away than at first. This surprised him very much, and he said, I will go and look at the bush, and see why it is not burned up. He was just going up to it, when he heard some one speaking to him. The voice came out of the bush. Whose voice could it be? It was the voice of God, who said to him, Moses, Moses! He an swered, Here am I. Then God said, Come not near this place, for I am here. I have heard the children of Israel crying to me in their trouble, and I remember that I prom ised Abraham that his children should live in Ca naan, and I am going to send them to Canaan. Moses, you must go to Pharaoh, and tell him to let them go. Was not this a hard thing for Moses to do? But God said, I will be with you, and help you. Then Moses said, But perhaps the children of Israel will not choose to come out of Egypt. They will say, We will not go with you, Moses ; you are not speak ing the truth; God has not really spoken to you. What shall I do then? said Moses Then God said that he would teach him to do wonderful things. God said, What do you hold in your hand? Now Moses had a long stick in his MOSES, OR THE BURNING BUSH. 105 hand, called a rod. He used to help his sheep to get out of holes with his rod, and when he climbed high hills, he leaned upon his rod. So when God said, What do you hold in your hand? Moses an swered, A rod. Throw it upon the ground, said the Lord. And Moses did so, and it was turned into a serpent. Mo ses was afraid of the serpent, and began to run away from it. Then God said, Take hold of it by the tail. So Moses took hold of it, and it was turned again into a rod. God said to Moses, When you go to Egypt, do this wonderful thing before the children of Israel, to show them that I have sent you ; but if they will not believe you, do this thing, too, that I will show you. Put your hand into your bosom. So Moses put in his hand, and then he drew it out, and it was leprous; that is, it was all covered over with white spots. Then God said, Put your hand in again; and he put it in, and pulled it out again, and then it was as well as it was before. 1 Then God said to Moses, If the children of Israel will not believe that I have really spoken to you, let them see you do this wonder. But, said Moses, I can not speak well ; I do not know the words to say. Then God told Moses that Aaron, his brother, should go with him, and speak for him. You hav* 106 LINE UPON LINE. not heard of Aaron before. He could speak well, and he was a good man, and loved God. Moses went back to his father-in-law, and told him that he must go back to Egypt; and he took his wife and his two little sons with him. As Moses was going to Egypt, he met his brother Aaron, and Aaron was glad to see him, and kissed him. Then Moses and Aaron went together to the land of Egypt. They found the poor Israelites at their hard work, crying and groaning. Aaron said to them, God has sent us to tell Pharaoh to let you go to the land of Canaan. Then Aaron did the wonders that God had shown Moses when he spoke to him from the bush. You know what wonders I mean. Did the people of Israel believe what Aaron said? Did they wish to go to the land of Canaan? Yes, they did; and they thanked God for having heard their prayers. I have often told you, my dear child, that God hears people's prayers. I hope that you, my dear child, will always pray to him when you are un happy. The children of Israel did believe, and they said, We will go; and they bowed their heads, and thanked the Lord for his goodness. But Moses could not take them out of Egypt till Pharaoh had given them leave. MOSES, OR THE FIRST PLAGUES. 107 LESSON XXIII. MOSES, OR THE FIRST PLAGUES. EXODUS v.; vi. 1-13; vii.; viii; ix. I-I2 THE next day Moses and Aaron, and some of the children of Israel with them, went in to speak to king Pharaoh. He was a proud and wicked man, and he worshiped idols. It was Aaron who spoke to Pharaoh. He said, The Lord God desires you to let the children of Israel go. Do you think Pharaoh did let them go? No, he spoke proudly, and said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord, nei ther will I let Israel go. This was his proud answer. He was now more unkind than before to the chil dren of Israel, and ordered the task-masters to make them work harder; so that the children of Israel cried still more bitterly. As Moses and Aaron came out from king Pha raoh, they saw some of the children of Israel waiting for them. These men said to Moses and Aaron, You have only done us harm by asking Pharaoh to let us go. He makes us work harder than ever. It was ungrateful of the children of Israel to speak in this manner to Moses, who had tried to help them. Moses was very meek and gentle, and 108 LINE UPON LINE. he did not answer angrily, but he went and prayed to God, and asked what he must do now. God told him to go in to the king Pharaoh and to show him the wonder of the serpent. So Moses and Aaron went in. Moses said to Aaron, Take this rod and throw it on the ground! And Aaron threw it down, and it became a live serpent; then afterward it was turned into a rod again. Would Pharaoh now say he would let Israel go? No, he would not; his heart was very hard and he cared for nothing. So God told Moses to do another wonderful thing, and I will tell you what it was. Moses and Aaron went early in the morning down to the side of the great river, and waited there till Pharaoh came; for he came there very often to bathe. Then they said to him, Because you would not do as God desired, and let Israel go, now you shall see what God can do. Then Aaron took the rod, and lifted it up over the water; and, in a moment, the water was turned into blood. When Pharaoh saw this wonder, did he say that he would let the people go? No, his heart was very hard, and he would not obey God. Pharaoh turned back, and went into his house, and would not obey God. The people of Egypt had nothing to drink, for all MOSES, OR THE FIRST PLAGUES. 109 the water in the ponds was turned into blood, and all the water in jugs, and basins, and cups, was turned into blood. The fish in the river died, and a very bad smell came from the river. The people dug holes in the ground to get water. The water was blood for a whole week. As Pharaoh would not mind, God sent him an other plague. Aaron stretched out the rod, and frogs came running out of the river, and out of the ponds, hundreds and hundreds of frogs. They ran into the streets, and into the houses, and went into the bedrooms, and into the beds ; they went into tht kitchens, and got among the food; they went even into Pharaoh's house, and into his bed. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, Pray to God to take away the frogs. I will let the children of Israel go-. Moses went and prayed to God, and God made all the frogs die, so that the people swept the dead frogs into heaps, and these heaps had a very bad smell. But still Pharaoh said, I will not let the people go. So God sent another plague. Aaron stretched out the rod, and turned all the dust into nasty little insects, that crawled over the men and over the beasts; but Pharaoh would not mind this plague. Then God sent swarms of flies, that came in at the windows, and spoiled every thing, in-doors and 110 LINE UPON LINE. out-of-doors. But no flies came near the children of Israel. Then Pharaoh said, I will let the children of Israel go, if God will take away the flies. Then Moses prayed to God, and God took all the flies away. Then Pharaoh said, I will not let the people go. So another plague was sent. The beasts fell very sick — the horses and asses, the camels, the cows, and the sheep — and a great many of them died. Yet Pharaoh would not let the people go. Afterward God made a great many boils come upon all the men, and women, and children, but not upon the children of Israel, only upon Pharaoh's people. They were so sick that they could not stand: yet Pharaoh would not mind, for his heart grew harder and harder. I have now told you of six plagues. Try and remember what they were: I. Water turned into blood. 2. Frogs. 3. Small insects. 4. Flies. 5. Death of the beasts. 6. Boils. I shall soon tell you of some more plagues that God sent to Pharaoh. God was much stronger than Pharaoh, and was able to make him do what he commanded him to do. Was it not very wicked of Pharaoh not to mind God? And was it not very foolish of Pharaoh not MOSES, OR THE' LAST PLAGUES. Ill to mind so great a God? God will punish every body who does not obey his commands. My dear children, God has given you many com mands. He has told you not to tell lies, nor to fall into passions, nor to be unkind. I hope you will try \o obey God's commands. For if you think in your heart, as Pharaoh did, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? — will not God be very angry with you? LESSON XXIV. MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. EXODUS ix. 13-35; x-5 XM xn*« I'37« ONE morning Moses and Aaron rose up very early and went to Pharaoh, and said to him, To-morrow God is going to rain great hail-stones from the sky, — such hailstones as were never seen in Egypt be fore. They will kill all men and beasts that are out- of-doors. Therefore you must keep your cows and horses, and asses in the stables, or they will be killed. A great many of the men of Egypt heard Moses and Aaron say this. Some of them believed their words. They kept their beasts in their stables, and told their servants to keep in-doors. But some of 112 LINE UPON LINE. the men who heard did not believe, and let theii beasts remain in the fields, and their servants with them. The next day Moses stretched out his rod toward the sky and God sent thunder, and hail and fire, which ran along the ground. It was a most dread ful storm. Such a storm was never seen before. The noise of the hailstones and of the thunder must have made every one tremble who heard it. But how glad those must have been who were in their houses! Many beasts and men were killed, and grass and corn were burned up by the fire, and the trees were broken. Yet there was no hail where the children of Israel were. This storm frightened Pharaoh, and he sent for Moses and Aaron, and said, I have sinned: only pray the Lord to send no more thunder and hail, and I will let the children of Israel go. Moses said, I will go out of the city, and I will stretch out my hands to God, and he will not send any more thunder and hail: but still I know you will not obey God yet. So Moses went out of the city, for he did not fear the storm. Then he stretched out his hands, and God made the hail and thunder stop, and he made the rain leave off. Did Pharaoh let Israel go? No: when he saw that the storm was over he would not. All Phara- MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. oh's servants were wicked, too; for they did not wish him to let the Israelites go. Then Moses and Aaron went to king Pharaoh again, and said, God will now send locusts into your country. What are locusts? They are insects about the size of a child's thumb. Thousands of them fly close together in the air, and they perch upon the trees, and eat up all the trees and fruit. Pharaoh and the servants were very angry when they heard that the locusts were coming, and they spoke roughly to Moses and Aaron and drove them out of the house. Moses stretched out the rod and God made the wind blow very hard, and next day the wind blew a great many locusts into Egypt. The locusts made the sky look black as the wind blew them along: but they did not stay in the air; they perched on the trees, and ate up the fruit that the hail had left; they covered the grass and ate it up, and they even came into the houses. Pharaoh and his servants thought that they should soon have nothing to eat. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. I have sinned, he said, against the Lord, and against you. Only forgive me this once, and pray to God to take away the locusts, and I will let Israel go. 114 LINE UPON LINE. So Moses prayed to the Lord. God sent another wind, and it blew the locusts away, and they fell into the sea, and there was not one locust left in Egypt. But Pharaoh still said, I will not let Israel go. How sad it must have been to have walked in the fields after the locusts had been there! It was the pleasant spring, but it looked like winter. There were no leaves on the trees, there was no tender grass; all was bare as in winter. What misery had Pharaoh's wickedness brought upon the land. The next time Moses did not tell Pharaoh what God was going to do. Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven, and in one moment God made it dark. It was darker than ever it is at night. There was not the least light, except where the children of Israel lived; — there it was quite light. The people of Egypt were very much frightened. They were doing their work, or eating, or walking, when all at once this darkness came on. They stopped, and sat down in the place where they were, and never moved, night or day. Now they had time to think of all their wickedness. It was dark for three days and three nights, and then it grew light. But was Pharaoh sorry for his wickedness? No, his heart was harder than ever. He said to Moses, MOSES, OR THE LAST PLAGUES. 115 Get away! you shall never see my face again. If you come unto me any more, you shall die. Then Moses said, You shall see my face no more. God spake to Moses again, and said, I am going to send another plague. At night I shall come into every house in Egypt, and kill the eldest son of every person. But this is what I desire the children of Israel to do. Let each man take a lamb, a lamb without spot, and kill it, and eat it that night with his family: and let them take the blood of the lamb, and put some blood outside the door; and when I pass I shall see the blood, and I will not kill the eldest son in that house. Let the people in the house stand round the table while they eat the lamb. Let them all be dressed ready for a journey. So all the children of Israel killed young lambs, roasted them, and ate them at night. They stood round their tables with their sticks in their hands. They ate some bread with the lamb, and some bitter herbs. They did not forget to put some blood on the posts of the door, for then they knew they were safe. The men of Egypt went to bed that night as usual, but in the middle of the night the eldest son in each house died. No one saw God's angel enter in, but yet he did come. No bars nor bolts could keep him out; but when he saw the blood on the door, then he passed_over the house. 116 LINE UPON LINE. What a dreadful cry the fathers and mothers made in Egypt, when they found their eldest sons were dead! They rushed out of their houses weep ing. Our darling son is dead! said one. And so is mine! said another. And mine! There never was such dreadful crying heard in Egypt before. Even Pharaoh's eldest son was killed, as well as the sons of the poor people. Pharaoh rose up at night, and called for Moses and Aaron; but it was dark, so they did not see his face. Go, said Pharaoh, and take the children of Israel with you; they may take their sheep and cows with them, and all that they have. And all the men of Egypt begged the children of Israel to go away as fast as possible, for they were afraid that God would kill them all. Then the Israelites said to the women of Egypt, Do give us some gold and silver before we go. And they said, We will give you what you want: only go. The Israelites had done a great deal of work in Egypt, and it was right they should have some money given to them. So the women of Egypt gave them a great many beautiful things to take with them. The Israelites went away in a great hurry. They took their things just as they were. They put bread in their bags — they drove their sheep, cows. MO SES, OR THE LAST PL A G UES. 117 nnd asses, before them, and so they set out in the night. There was a great crowd of people — more people than live in any great town, except London. No little child could have counted them. So at last they came out of Egypt, where they had been slaves so long. God had remembered his promise to Abraham, and Abraham's children were on their way to the land of Canaan. God said to Moses, They must never forget my kindness in bringing them out of Egypt. They must eat a lamb every year, as they have done to night. Eating the lamb shall be called eating the Feast of the Passover. Why was this supper called the Passover? Be cause God passed over the doors where the blood was seen. Of whom does the lamb that each family killed make you think? Of Jesus. That lamb's blood saved the eldest son in the fam ily from being killed; and Jesus' blood saves all people who love him from being punished in hell. How kind it was of Jesus to shed his blood for us! We ought never to forget his kindness. Now count how many plagues God had sent Pharaoh and the people of Egypt, — i. Water turned into blood. 2. Frogs. 3. Small insects from the dust. 4. Flies. 5. Death of the 118 LINE UPON LINE. beasts. 6. Boils. 7. Hail and thunder. 8. Locusts. 9. Darkness. 10. Death of the eldest sons. I hope, dear children, that you will obey God, and not make him angry with you. You know why God does not send such dreadful plagues now. Jesus is praying for us, and God is waiting that we may repent. LESSON XXV. MOSES, OR THE RED SEA. EXODUS xiii. 20-22; xiv. ; xv. 1-22. THE children of Israel had begun their journey to Canaan. But they had to travel a long way before they could reach that pleasant place. How could they find their way? God himself showed them the way. He went before them in a dark cloud. The cloud moved, and they moved after it. But a black cloud could not be seen at night, so at night God made the cloud shine like fire. In the day the cloud was a shade from the sun, and in the night the fire gave light to the Israelites. When the cloud or fire stopped, then Moses desired all the people to set up their tents on the ground. This was called "encamping." MOSES, OR THE RED SEA. 119 And as soon as the cloud moved, the people fold ed up their tents, and placed them on the backs of their camels and asses, and went on their journey. The children of Israel went very fast till they came to the sea-side. Then the cloud stopped, and they set up their tents close by the sea. The sea was called the Red Sea. Perhaps you think that the water of this sea was red like blood: but the water was like other water, though it was called the Red Sea. They had not been long in their tents before they heard a great noise : it was a noise of wheels and a noise of horses. They looked, and saw, a great way off, Pharaoh and a number of soldiers in chariots, and on horses. Pharaoh had been sorry that he had let them go, and he was coming after them to bring them back. The Israelites were very much frightened. What could they do? They could not get over the sea, for they had no ships ; yet, if they stayed where they were, Pharaoh and his men would soon overtake them, and fight against them, and Pharaoh's men could fight far better than they could. What could they do? They cried to God to help them. This was right: but they did something else that was not right, — they began to speak angrily to Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? We 120 LINE UPON LINE. would rather have died there than come here: for we shall certainly be killed. It was ungrateful to say this to Moses: but he answered them meekly, Do not be afraid: God will fight for you, and you shall never see the faces of Pharaoh and his men again. Then Moses went and prayed to God; for Moses knew that God would save the children of Israel. Then God said to Moses, Lift up your rod over the sea, and I will make a dry path for the Israel ites to walk upon. So Moses lifted up his rod, and the waters obeyed him; and part of the waters was lifted up on one side, and part on the other, and seemed like two walls of water, while a dry path was seen between. The Israelites walked in the path, and all their cattle with them. It was the evening when they began to cross the sea, and they were walking across all the night : yet it was not dark. I will tell you why it was not dark. You know that the cloud in the sky shone brightly in the night, and gave light to the Israelites. But God did not choose that Pharaoh should see the light; so God made the black cloud move backward, and it stood in the sky between the Israelites and Pharaoh: the bright side was turned toward the Israelites, and the dark side toward Pharaoh, so the Israelites saw MOSES, OR THE RED SEA. 121 a bright light: but the armies of Pharaoh were in the dark, and they could not go fast because it was S3 dark; but the Israelites walked quickly along the dry path, and by the morning they got to the land that was on the other side of the sea. They had not yet got to Canaan, but they had got over the sea, and they were on their journey to Canaan. Now I will tell you whether Pharaoh and his men got over the aea or not. When they came to the edge of the sea, they saw a dry path through the sea, and the walls of water on each side; so they went along the dry path. When they had gone about half way across the sea, and were hoping soon to overtake the Israelites, God looked at them through his cloud. Pharaoh and his men heard dreadful noises, and they were very much fright ened. It was God who made them afraid. They could not make their chariots go on, and they thought that God was going to help the Israel ites to kill them: so they said to each other, Let us turn back. Ah! it was now too late: God was going to de stroy those wricked men. They drove as fast as they could, that they might get out of the water, but it was too late: for the walls of water fell down and covered them all, and they lay like stones at the bot tom of the sea. 122 LINE UPON LINE. This was the end of Pharaoh and of his wicked servants. The Israelites had got safely over to tne other side of the sea. As soon as they had got over, God desired Moses to lift up his rod, and to make the walls of water fall down and cover the dry path. Moses had done as God told him: and so Pharaoh and his men, who were in the middle of the sea, had been drowned. In the morning the Israelites heard no sound of chariot-wheels coming after them, but they saw some of the dead bodies of Pharaoh's men lying on the edge of the sea; for the sea, which moves up and down, had tossed them upon the land. Now the Israelites saw that the cruel men could hurt them no more: God had punished them for their wickedness, and had saved the poor children of Abraham as he had promised. This was a happy morning for the Israelites. They thanked God for his goodness in saving them, and they sang together a beautiful song of praise. The song began with these words: "I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." The sea was called the "Red Sea." The women made sweet music, and sang these same words. Moses' sister, Miriam, who had watched him when a baby, played the music, and the women sang with her. MOSES, OR THE MANNA AND THE ROCK'. 123 How pleasant it must have been to have seen the poor Israelites singing and rejoicing! A little while before they had been working hard in the sun, they had been beaten by cruel men, and had cried and groaned: now they were slaves no more, but they were on their way to a sweet land, where they might live happily. Dear children, there is a sweeter land than Ca naan. I hope we shall live there some day. Ought we not to praise God for telling us how we may get to that sweet land? God will help you, dear chiU dren, to get there, if you ask him very often. Satan, you know, is trying to get your souls; but God is stronger than Satan. God did not let Pharaoh hurt the Israelites, and God can prevent Satan hurting vou. LESSON XXVI. MOSES, OR THE MANNA AND THE ROCK. EXODUS xvi.; xvii. 1-7. THE children of Israel were very glad that they had got away from their cruel masters. Now they had got no work to do, and they had a kind master, even Moses. Ought they not to be good and happy? They were now in a very large wilderness. I 124 LINE UPON LINE. will tell you what sort of a place this wilderness was. There were hardly any men or houses in it; but there were lions and bears, which roared and howled; and there were serpents which bite, and scorpions which sting; there were no rivers, nor brooks, but there were high hills and dark pits. There were scarcely any fruit-trees or corn-fields, so that there was very little to eat: and the Israel ites could not sow corn, nor plant fruit-trees, be cause they were traveling. What could the poor Israelites do for food? There was such a number of people, that they wanted a great deal of food to feed them. They had taken a little bread with them in their bags, when they had left Egypt: but they ate it up very soon. What ought they to do now? They ought to pray to God. He loved them, and would not let them starve. But these naughty Israelites began to grumble. They went to Moses and Aaron, and said, We wish we had died in Egypt. At least we had bread and meat there, as much as we could eat; but now we shall be starved. You have only brought us out of Egypt to kill us. How ungrateful they were to Moses and to God! Yet Moses did not answer roughly. He knew that God heard their wicked words; and God did hear them. God called to Moses, and said, I have heard them, and I will feed them. MOSES, OR THE MANNA AND THE ROCK. 125 Did they deserve to be fed? Oh, no! How do you think God would feed them? He would rain clown bread from heaven. Was not this kind? Next morning the children of Israel, when they looked out at their tent doors, saw the ground was white. They looked to see what made the ground \vhite, and they saw little round white things on the ground. They said to each other, What can this be? We never saw anything like it before. Then Moses said, This is the bread that God hath sent you from heaven; gather it, and take it to your tents. So all the men got jugs and baskets, and gathered the manna for themselves, for their wives, and for their little children; and there was enough for them all; not too much, nor too little, but just enough. They tasted it and found it was as sweet as honey, and they called it manna. Then they took it home, and their wives cooked it for dinner; they crumbled it, and baked it, and made it into cakes. They had manna for break fast, for dinner, and for supper ; nothing but manna. It was nice and wholesome. God sent it very early, before it was light, and everyone was obliged to get up early to gather it, because, when the sun was hot, it melted away; so that if the Israelites did not get up soon, they had no food. Moses said to them, Do not save any of the 126 LINE UPON LINE. manna, for God will send you some every day. If it is all gone at night, do not be afraid; trust God. He will send you more. But some of the people chose to save some of the manna. They were dis obedient and ungrateful. They looked at their manna next morning, but it was full of worms. They could not eat it, but were obliged to throw it away. How foolish it is not to mind what God says. Soon afterward the people had no water to drink. There was no river in the wilderness, and very few wells, or ponds. Do you think God would let them die of thirst? These naughty Israelites thought God would. So they went to Moses, and spoke very angrily. Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? You mean to kill us, and our little children and our cattle, with thirst. They were so angry, that Moses thought they would throw great stones at him and kill him. Yet Moses did not answer, but began to pray to God. What shall I do for these people? said Moses. Then God said to Moses, Take your rod, and go up a hill, and let some of the people go with you. Then, when you are come to a high place close by the rock, strike the rock, and the water shall come out. So Moses took some people with him, MOSES, OR THE MANNA AND THE ROCK. 127 and struck the rock, and the water came running out. A rock is a hard, dry place, yet God made water come out of it. The water came running down. The people at the bottom of the hill saw the water running down like a river, and flowing upon the dry ground. What a pleasant sight for the thirsty people! Their mouths were dry, and their tongues were stiff, their throats burning but now they might stoop down and drink, or they might fill their jugs writh water. The poor cows, and sheep, and asses, ran to the water to drink. You see how kind God had been to the people in their distress. Ought they not to trust him always, and to feel sure that he would help them? God is very kind to you, dear children. You ought never to murmur like the Israelites, but to thank and praise God. /28 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON XXVII. MOSES, OR MOUNT SINAI. EXODUS xix. ; xx.; xxiv.; xxxi. 18. THE Israelites went on traveling through the wil derness. The wilderness was very large, and it would be a long time before the people could get to Canaan. They soon came to a very high mountain. It was called Mount Sinai. It was the same moun tain where Moses had seen the bush on fire when he was keeping his sheep. Now he had brought the children of Israel to that very place where God had first spoken to him. The Israelites placed their tents near the bot tom of the mountain for the cloud had stopped, and so the Israelites knew that they ought to wait in that place. God told Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, for he had something to say to him. So Moses went up. Then God said to him, You see how kind I have been to the children of Israel in bringing them out of Egypt ; go down and ask them whether they will do what I desire them: for if they will, they shall always be my own dear people. So Moses went down and asked them if they MOSES, OR MOUNT SINAI. 129 would obey God. And they said, Yes, we will do all that the Lord tells us. Then Moses went up to the top of the mountain again, and told God what the people had said. They say, We will do all that you command us. Then God said, I am now going to let the peo ple hear my voice, and they shall see me speak to you, Moses. Go down, and tell them to get ready. So Moses went down and said, In three days you will hear God's voice, and see him in a cloud at the top of the mount. Get ready and wash your clothes. So the people washed their clothes, that they might all stand in clean white clothes before the Lord. Moses desired men to put rails all round the mount, that no one might go up to the mount, or even touch it. Not even the sheep must eat the grass upon that mount, for it was the mount of God. In three days, early in the morning, the people heard a loud voice, and they all trembled. Moses desired them to come out of their tents and to look upon God. What a dreadful sight they saw! The mountain was shaking and moving up and down. On the top a great fire was seen, and a thick cloud, and such a smoke went up as filled the sky writh black- 130 LINE UPON LINE. ness and darkness. There were thunders and lightnings, and a sound came out of the fire. It was like the sound of a trumpet, and every moment it grew louder and louder. Even Moses himself was frightened, and said, I tremble, and am afraid. The Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the top of the mount. So Moses went up, and all the people saw him go. He went up on the shak ing mount, and into the midst of the smoke. When Moses came up, God said to him (but God did not speak very loud), Go, tell the people not to come up after you, for they must not come up this mountain. And Moses said, I have put rails round the mount. But still God said, Go and tell them not to come near, for God knew how bold and disobedient the people were. So Moses went down and said, Do not dare to touch the mountain, or you will be killed. Then God spake very loud indeed, so that all the people heard; and as they heard they trembled. What did God say in that loud voice? You have often heard the words at church. These are the words that God said : I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (or from the place where you were slaves). I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. MOSES, OR MOUNT SINAI. 131 II. Thou shall not make images, and worship them (such images are called idols). III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, because in it God rested from his works. V. Honor thy father and thy mother. VI. Thou shalt not kill. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery (that is, a man must not take away another mans wife, nor must a woman go away from her husband and have another husband). VIII. Thou shalt not steal. IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor (that is, no one may tell lies of other people). X. Thou shalt not covet (or wish for other people's things). This was what God said on the mount, and then he said no more. The people were glad when God had left off speaking, for they could not bear the sound of that terrible voice; but while he was speaking, they had gone further and further away. Moses loved God. God talked to him and told him to come up and stay with him at the top of the mountain; and so Moses staid with God forty 132 LINE UPON LINE. days and forty nights, and all that time he neither ate bread nor drank water: but God kept him alive, and talked to him out of the thick cloud. At the end of the time God gave Moses a book. What kind of a book? It was not made of paper, like the books you have seen. It was made of stone. It had only two leaves, and on those leaves very little writing. God made this stone book, and God had written in it with his own ringer. You would like to know what was written in it. God had written in it all the words he had spoken in the loud voice from the cloud. The ten things God had told the Israelites are called the Ten Commandments. He had written them down that Moses might read them to the children of Israel, so that they might never forget God's commandments. Neither ought we to forget God's command ments. They are written up in our churches, that we may read them. Did you ever see them? I should like you, my dear children, to learn these commandments: and I will tell you the meaning of them over again. One of these commandments was, Thou shalt have no other gods but me. God wished the Israelites to love him better than anything else. But they did not. We shall hear of their wicked- MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 133 ness. We ought to love God better than every thing else; for there is no one so kind and so good as God. LESSON XXVIII. MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. EXODUS xxxii. ; xxxiv. MOSES staid in the mount forty days and forty nights. How did the Israelites behave when he was gone? At first they behaved well, but at last they grew tired of waiting — they grew impatient. They want ed to go to Canaan quickly, but the cloud stopped at the top of the mountain, and they were not allowed to go on unless it moved, and unless Moses told them to move : and now Moses was on the top of the mountain, they began to think he would never come back; so they went to Aaron, and said to him, Make us some Gods to go before us, for we do not know what has become of Moses. How wicked a thing to ask ! But you know they had lived in Egypt, where they had seen people worship idols, and they had learned to do the same. Aaron was afraid that they would kill him, if he did not make an image to please them. So he 134 LINE UPON LINE. said, Bring me your gold earrings. And the peo ple brought him their golden earrings. How did they get so many golden things? The women of Egypt had given them gold before they set out on their journey. Aaron melted all their earrings in the fire; then, when the gold was soft, he took a knife and cut it into an image. He made it in the shape of a calf. The people in Egypt worshiped calves. As soon as the Israelites saw it they began to praise it, and say, This is he who brought us out of Egypt. Then Aaron put it on a high place, and built an altar before it, and said that they would have a great feast the next day. The next day they rose up early. They spent the day in worshiping the calf. They took their lambs and goats, and offered them on the altar of sacrifices to the caif, and then rose up to sing and dance, all the while praising the calf. You remember that they had promised a little while ago always to obey God, but they did not keep their promise. One of the ten command ments was, Thou shalt not make an image and bow down to it. How soon they broke that com mandment ! Moses was at the top of the mount talking with God He did not know what they were doing, MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 135 but God knew: and he said to Moses, Go down; the people you brought out of Egypt have made a golden calf, and are worshiping it. I am very angry with them, and I will kill them all; but I will save you, Moses, and your children. Moses was grieved to hear that the Lord was angry, and he entreated God to forgive the peo ple. Remember, he said, how you brought them out of Egypt, and how you promised Abraham that you would bless his children. And the Lord heard Moses' prayer, and determined that he would not kill them all. How kind Moses was to pray for the people! Kow kind God was to say that he would not kill all the people! Then Moses went quickly down the mount with the book of stone in his hand. When he had al most come to the bottom of the mount he heard the noise of singing, and he knew that it was the Israelites prasing their calf. At last he came to the tents, and he saw the calf, and the people dancing round it, like mad or drunken people. It was a dreadful sight for Moses to see. He grew more angry still, and he threw down the stone book upon the ground, and broke it into pieces. The Israelites had broken God's laws, and Moses broke the book in his anger and his grief. Moses would not give that stone book to those people. 136 LINE UPON LINE. Bo you not think the people must have been afraid when they saw Moses again? They had thought they should never see him again, but he had caught them in their wickedness. ^ He took the calf— (and no one tried to hinder him)— he threw it again in the fire; then afterward he ground it into powder, and threw it into some water, and he made the Israelites drink that bitter water. Moses was very angry with Aaron for having made the calf. Moses said to him, Why did you let the people be so wicked? Aaron said, Do not be angry with me: the people chose to be wicked, and they asked me to make a calf. I did it to please them. This was a bad excuse. It was very wicked of Aaron to make the calf. We should not do wicked things, even when people ask us. ^ You have heard how the stone book was broken. God did not make a new one himself, but he told Moses to make a book of stone, and then God wrote the ten commandments in it, as he had done in the other book. God called Moses up into the mountain again, find then God wrote the ten commandments in the stone book. God told Moses to stay with him alone on the mountain forty days and forty nights. God talked to Moses as friends talk to one an- MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF. 137 other.He did not speak in that loud voice which had frightened the Israelites, nor did he make it thunder, and lighten, and smoke, when he talked to Moses. Moses liked being with God upon the mountain. Why was not Moses afraid of God? Because God's Spirit was in him. Dear children, you will love God like a father, if God's Holy Spirit is in you. God let Moses see some of his glorious brightness but God would not let him see his face, because Moses would have died had he seen God's face. The angels and the people in heaven see God's face, but men upon earth could not bear such brightness. I will tell you soon what God said to Moses, when he was alone with him on the mountain. Moses ate no bread, and drank no water, while he was alone with God. At last Moses came down again to the people, with the stone book in his hand. This time the Israelites were not worship ing an image; they came up to Moses to speak to him ; but when they looked at his face they were afraid to come near him; even Aaron, Moses' bro ther, was afraid. What could the reason be? The reason was, Moses' face shone like the sun, and they could not bear such brightness. And what made his face shine? He had been talking with God and looking upon his glory, and this had made 138 LINE UPON LINE. his face so bright. For God is brighter than the sun, and the angels who look upon God are bright like him. Whenever Moses talked with God his face shone for a long while afterward. When he had done talking he wore a thick veil over his face. I hope, dear children, that your faces will one day shine bright in heaven. If you love God now, I am sure one day you will see him in heaven, and then you will be like the angels. LESSON XXIX. MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. EXODUS. MOSES had been with God upon the mount a great many days. I have not told you what God was teaching him, but now you shall hear. God was showing him how to make a beautiful house. Whose house was it to be? The house of God. God did not need a house, for his throne is in the sky; but he was so kind as to say that he would let the Israelites make him a house in the wilderness. When Moses came down from the mount he called all the people around him. He wanted to MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. 139 speak to them. He said first, God desires you to do no work on the Sabbath-day, but to worship him, and he is going to have a beautiful house made, where you can come and pray to him. Who will bring me things with which to make the house? Had the children of Israel any beautiful things that they could bring to Moses? You remember that the women of Egypt had given them a great deal of gold and silver, and cloth and linen. They had made a calf with some of their gold, but they had a great deal more beside. But do you think they would give these things to God? — or would they say, We cannot spare our things: we mean to make fine clothes, and to make our tents look pretty inside? Do you think they would part with their pretty things? Yes, they would. They all went to their tents after Moses had spoken to them. They opened their boxes and their baskets, and they took out gold and silver earrings, and they took out beautiful pieces of cloth; some were blue, some were purple, and some were scarlet: and a great deal of fine white linen, and skins of sheep and goats, and beautiful kinds of wood. They brought all these things to Moses. What a large heap there must have been! Some of the rich men had beautiful shining stones, and sweet spices, and on; and they brought 140 LINE UPON LINE. them to Moses. Moses was pleased to see that the people would give their things to God, and most of all, he was glad that they liked to give them. They did not feel sorry when they gave them, but they were glad that they had something to give. If we feel sorry when we give things, God is not pleased. Who was to make the beautiful house? It was very hard to make such a beautiful house as God would choose to have. Moses called the children of Israel and said, God has made two men very clever in cutting stones, in carving wood, and in making all kinds of curious things, and he has told me their names. Then Moses called these two men, and he gave them all these beautiful things and said, Now be gin to make the house, and I will tell you what you shall make. And Moses called everyone to help them : and he told the two clever men to teach the others. It is God who makes people clever: so that when peop-le can make beautiful things the)'- should not be proud, but they should thank God. So all the people began to work. The women spun blue, and purple, and scarlet thread, and wor sted, the men made the thread into linen and cloth; they cut the wood with saws and hammers; they MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. 141 melted the gold and silver in the fire, and then made altars, and candlesticks, and shovels, and tongs, and basins, and many other things. They worked hard for many months, till all the things were finished. I will now tell you what sort of a house God had told Moses to make. It was not a house made of bricks or stone; because this house was to be moved from one place to another : so it was not fastened to the ground, but was made like a tent, and it could be moved very easily. You never saw so large a tent as this tent was. It was as big as a very large room. It was called The Tabernacle. There were a great many boards that were placed upright on the ground, and close together. These boards were the walls of the house: but there were no boards at the top ; curtains were thrown over the house to cover the top. There was no door to the house, but a curtain hung down in front, and that curtain was instead of a door. There was no floor to the house : green grass was the only floor. The house was very beautiful; for the boards were covered with gold, and the curtains were blue, purple, and scarlet, and there were five posts of gold in front, over which a curtain hung down for the door, of which I told you before. The house had two rooms inside. The first room was the largest. I will tell you about the beautiful things that were paced in it. 142 LINE UPON LINE. In the first room there were three very beautiful things. 1. In the middle, an altar of gold ; but no lambs were burned up on it, only sweet spices, which made the tabernacle smell most sweet. The burning spices were called incense. 2. On one side there was a golden table and on the table twelve loaves. They were called the shew bread, or holy bread. There was fresh bread put there every Sabbath-day. 3. On the other side there was a golden candle stick with seven lamps. There was no window in the Tabernacle, but these lamps made it light. This room was very beautiful and sweet, but there was another room still more beautiful. It was the inner room on the other side of the curtain. There was a curtain between the big room and the little room. This curtain was instead of a door. It was called The Veil. In the little room there was a golden box, with golden angels on the top. This box was called The Ark. Inside the box the book of stone was placed. But what made this room so glorious was, that God used to come down in his cloud, and fill this little room with his brightness. The cloud rested between the golden angels on the top of the box. MOSES, OR THE TABERNACLE. 143 The top of the box was called the mercy-seat because God sat there, and God is full of love and mercy. This little room was called The Holy of Holies. It had no window in it, and no candle, but yet it was light. The glory of God made it light; for God, you know, is brighter than the sun. What a sweet place this little room must have been! It makes me think of heaven, for there God lives, and there he shines. But heaven is not a little place. It is a very large place, and it will hold all the people who have loved God on earth, besides all the angels. I will not tell you any more about the tabernacle now: but I will write down the names of things in the tabernacle. Can you remember what they were? In the first room, — i. The golden altar. 2. The table of the shew- bread. 3. The golden candlestick. In the little room, or Holy of Holies, and The Ark. 144 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON XXX. MOSES, OR THE PRIESTS. EXODUS xxxviii. ; xxxix. ; xl. HAVING told you what kind of a place the taber nacle was, I am now going to tell you of some things that were placed outside of it. You know that houses often have a garden round them. The tabernacle had no garden round it, but there was a large piece of ground near it, called the court; and there were posts round the court. These posts were placed at a little distance from each other, and curtains were hung between the posts; so that there was a wall of curtains round the tabernacle. In this court there were two things of which I shall speak to you. i. A brass altar. This altar was very large. It was not like the little altar of gold inside the tabernacle. This altar was not for the burning of spices, but for the burn ing of beasts, such as sheep, goats, bulls, and calves. You know that God had desired the people to offer beasts to him as sacrifices. Do you remember the reason? What promise had God made a long, long while before? He had promised to send his son to die for men. God wished people always to remem- MOSES, OR THE PRIESTS. 145 her this promise, so he told them to kill beasts, and to sprinkle their blood, and to burn their bodies. Abel, Noah, and Abraham offered sacrifices. This brass altar was for the sacrifices. The lamb was to be killed, and its blood would flow all round the altar, and the smoke of the burn- ing would go up to the sky. A brass basin was placed in the court. It was very large, and it was filled with water for people to wash in. I shall soon tell you who washed in this basin. Who was to offer the sacrifice? Aaron. God said that Aaron was to be the "High Priest." Aaron was to offer the sacrifices, to burn the in cense, and to light the lamps of the candlestick. God said that Aaron might go into the little room, the Holy of Holies. God would not allow any person but Aaron to go in there, and he only allowed him to go in once every year. Aaron might lift up the veil, and see the cloud upon the mercy-seat. Moses might go in as well as Aaron; and God promised to speak to him in that little room. I am glad, my dear children, that there is a brighter place where we may go one day, and hear God speak to us. God desired Moses to have some beautiful clothes 146 LINE UPON LINE. made for Aaron to wear. The two clever men, of whom I told you before, knew how to make them. 1. Aaron was to wear a white dress, with long sleeves. 2. A robe of blue. He was to wear this over the white dress. Little golden bells were hung round the edge of it; and they would sound sweetly as Aaron moved along. 3. An ephod made of white linen, worked all over with purple, scarlet and gold. Aaron was to wear the ephod over the blue robe. 4. A band round his waist called a girdle. It was made of white linen, and was worked with pur ple, scarlet thread, and with gold wire. 5. A breastplate. Aaron was to wear this in front. It was made of linen covered with twelve shining stones. It was to be fastened to Aaron's shoulders by gold chains. 6. A miter. Aaron was to wear a high white cap upon his head, called a miter. A piece of gold was on the miter, and on the gold was written, "Holi ness to the Lord." Aaron ought to be holy be cause he was to offer sacrifices to God. Aaron was to wear no shoes upon his feet; but he was often to wash his feet and his hands at the brass basin. Aaron had four sons. God said that they should MOSES, OR THE PRIESTS. 147 help him to offer sacrifices. Aaron's sons v/ere to wear white clothes, but not the same beautiful clothes as Aaron. They were to be called Priests, and Aaron was to be called High Priest. It was a long- time before the tabernacle was made. Though all the people worked very hard, yet the things were not finished for almost a year. At last God desired Moses to set up the taber nacle. Moses set up the boards for the walls of the tabernacle, and covered the top with curtains; and he placed the ark in the Holy of Holies; and he put the table, and the candlestick, and the golden altar, in the largest room; and he set up the posts, and the curtains, all around the court; and he put the brass altar and basin in it. Then Moses poured sweet oil upon all the things: this pouring oil was called "anointing." Then Moses put upon Aaron his beautiful robes, and put the white clothes upon his sons, and anointed their heads with oil. Then God came down in his cloud, and his brightness, filled the whole place ; and so God showed that he would have it for his new house. Was it not pleasant for the Israelites to think ihat God lived in a house in the midst of them? The cloud could be seen outside the tabernacle as well as inside, and in the night it shone like fire. How 148 LINE UPON LINE. kind it was of God to let the people see some of his brightness! God wished them to be very good, and to obey all he said. God is very near us, too, though we can not see him; but we hope to see him some day. What place is much more beautiful than the tab ernacle was? Heaven. If we get to Heaven, we shall be much more glorious than Aaron was, and we shall see God's face forever and ever, and so we shall be quite happy. LESSON XXXI. MOSES, OR THE JOURNEY OF THE ISRAELITES. Now the Israelites had a place in which to worship and to offer sacrifices. Every morning the priest offered up a lamb on the brass altar, and burned incense on the golden altar in the tabernacle. And every evening they offered another lamb, and burned some more incense. God sent some fire down from heaven to burn the sacrifices with, and the priests never let the fire go out; and the priests always kept the lamps burn- ing in the tabernacle. Every Sabbath-day the priests placed some fresh bread on the golden table; AfO SES-JO URNE Y OF THE ISRAELITES. 149 and when they put the fresh bread on it they took away the old bread, and ate it themselves. The people went into the great court of the taber nacle to worship God, and to see the lamb killed and burned on the altar. Afterward they saw Aaron go into the tabernacle to burn incense. The people stood in the court while Aaron was in the taber- nac1e praying for them. They waited till he came out again to bless them. He lifted up his hands and said, "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee." Who prays for us in heaven? Who will come one day and bless us? The Lord Jesus Christ. He is our High Priest. While the people had been making the taberna cle, they had staid in one place near the great mount, Sinai; but soon after it was finished the cloud of God moved. Then the priests blew two silver trumpets to tell the people that they were to move to another place. Then the people packed up their tents and furni ture, and put them on the backs of their camels and asses. Then the priests went into the tabernacle, and covered all the things in it with blue cloths. No one might look while they were covering the things. Then they gave them to some men to carry upon their shoulders: but they covered the ark with the 150 LINE UPON LINE. beautiful veil, and they carried it themselves. There were two long golden sticks fastened to it; the priests held the ends of the sticks, and so they car ried it. Then the priests desired some men to carry the curtains and the posts, and the boards of the taber nacle. The priests went first with the ark, and all the people followed them, and God in the cloud showed them the way. When the cloud stopped, the priests and the people stopped, and set up the tabernacle and the tents. In this manner the Israel ites traveled all through the wilderness. What a happy people they were, to have such a God to show them the way to Canaan ! They ought always to have been praising him for his goodness. He fed them with manna, and gave them water from the rock, and he had promised to bring them to a sweet land. Besides all this he had promised to send his son to die for them; and the lambs were killed, you know, to make them remember that promise. I hope we shall not forget how Jesus died upon the cross. And I hope we shall get to that sweet land, called heaven. God wishes us to get there, and Jesus Christ is praying for us. MOSES, OR THE TWELVE SPIES. 151 LESSON XXXII. MOSES, OR THE TWELVE SPIES. NUMBERS xiii.; xiv. 1-40. AT last the Israelites came quite near the land of Canaan. They could see the tops of the high hills that were in Canaan, and they wished to know what sort of a land it was, and what sort of people lived in it. So the Israelites came to Moses and said, We wish to send some men to look at the land, and we wish them to come back and tell us what kind of a land it is. Would Moses send some men? Moses wanted to know whether God would like some men to go. Soon God said to Moses, Send twelve men into Canaan to see the land. So Moses called twelve of the children of Israel, and said to them, Go into Canaan, and walk up among the high mountains, and look at the land: see whether there are many people living in the land, and what kind of people they are; whether they are strong or weak: see whether there are many trees, and much corn and grass in the land: and bring back some fruit, to show us the kind of fruit that grows in the land. So the twelve men set out on their journey. 152 LINE UPON LINE. These men were called the twelve spies. They walked up and down the hills, and by the side of the water. They saw sweet gardens, and some fields covered with sheep, and some fields full of corn, and trees laden with fruit; and they saw holes in the trees, which the bees had filled with honey, so that honey dropped on the ground. They saw large towns with high walls round them, and they saw many strong men, and some of them were giants. At last they came to a brook or pond. A vine grew by it, and on the vine there were ripe grapes —one of the bunches was very large. They said, Let us bring it back to show to the children of Israel. One man could not carry this bunch by himself. So they took a staff, or stick, and fastened the bunch of grapes to the staff, and one man held one end of the staff, and another held the other. The rest of the men picked figs and other fruit, and carried them back to the tents. The spies were forty days looking at the land of Canaan. When they came back, the people saw the beautiful bunch of grapes. There were no such grapes in the v/ilderness. The spies then said, The land of Canaan is a fine land, full of milk and honey; but we can not get into it, for the people live in great towns with high walls : they are very strong, and some of them are giants, and when we saw them, we felt as if we were as little grasshoppers. MOSES, OR THE TWELVE SPIES. 153 Then the children of Israel were very much frightened, and they began to murmur and to weep. Ah! said the people, we shall be killed if we try to get in. Two of the spies were very good men; their names were Joshua and Caleb. They did not wish to frighten the people: and Caleb stood up and said, Let us go into the land, for we can conquer the people that are in it. But the ten other spies said, No, we can not, because the people of Canaan are stronger than we. These ten spies were very wicked men, because they knew that God had promised to help the Israel ites to conquer the men of Canaan, and they ought to have told the people to trust in God. The Israelites cried all night long, and they were angry with Moses and Aaron for bringing them out of Egypt, and said, O that we had died in Egypt, or in the wilderness! The people of Canaan will kill us with their swords, and they will kill our wives and our little children! They spoke in this way all night long, instead of praying to God to help them. At last they said, Let us go back into Egypt. They knew that Moses would not take them back. So they said, We can make another man captain over us, and he will take us back to Egypt. 154 LINE UPON LINE. Moses and Aaron heard these wicked words; they were full of grief, and they fell down on the ground on their faces. They were grieved to see the people so wicked. Then Joshua and Caleb stood up and said to the , people, We have seen the land, and it is a very beautiful land; and if we trust in God he will help us to fight: but the people of Canaan have no God to help them; therefore we ought not to be afraid of them. The children of Israel would not listen to Joshua and Caleb, but were going to kill them with stones, when God shone brightly upon the tabernacle, so that the people saw that he was angry. Moses was lying on his face on the ground, but God spake to him, and said, How long will this peo ple provoke me? I will kill them with a plague. Then Moses prayed to God for the people. O pardon this people, he said, their great sin. Thou hast forgiven them many times, and thy mercy is very great. I God heard Moses' prayer, and said, I have par-l doned them. I will not kill them all now, but they shall not come into Canaan: only their children shall come in. They shall stay in the wilderness forty years, and they shall all die in it; and when their children are grown up, they shall go into the MOSES, OR THE TWELVE SPIES. 155 land of Canaan. But there are two of the men who shall go into Canaan, — they are Caleb and Joshua. Moses told the children of Israel what God had said, and when the people heard it they were very unhappy, and they murmured. « The ten wicked spies soon fell sick and died, but Joshua and Caleb lived still. How sad it was for the people to think that they should never see that sweet land of Canaan, but should die in the wilderness! Yet they deserved to die, because they had not believed what God had said. God has promised to give us his spirit if we ask him, and to take us to heaven. Do you believe this promise, dear children? Then you will ask God for his spirit. But if you do not care about heaven, then you will not pray to God for his spirit. Then God will be angry, and at last he will say that you shall never get to heaven. 156 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON XXXIII. MOSES, OR THE SIN OF MOSES AND AARON. NUMBERS xx. 1-13, 22-29. THE children of Israel lived in the wilderness a great many years. They moved about from place to place, and at last came to a place where there was no water. How do you think they behaved? Did they pray to God, or did they murmur? They murmured against Moses and Aaron, as they always did when they were unhappy. They said, O that we had died before this time! Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this wilderness? Here there are no figs, no grapes, no kind of nice fruit, and now there is no water to drink ! They forgot that it was because of their own wickedness that they were still in the wilderness; for if they had obeyed God, they would then have been sitting under their own trees, eating their own fruit in Canaan. Moses and Aaron were very much grieved to hear them murmur, and they went away from the people, and fell on their faces before the tabernacle; and soon God spoke to them. He said, Take the rod and call the people, and go to the rock and MOSES— SIN OF MOSES AND AARON. 157 speak to it, and water shall come out of the rock, and then the people and the beasts shall drink. So Moses took the rod (the rod was kept near the ark). Then Moses and Aaron called the people to gether, and told them to look at what they were going to do. Moses and Aaron felt very angry with the people, and they said, Hear now, ye rebels! (which means grumblers?) must we fetch water for you out of this rock? Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and the water came flowing out in streams, and the people and the cattle began to drink. Do you think that Moses and Aaron had behaved right? Had God told them to strike the rock? God had said, Speak to the rock. Was it right to speak so impatiently, and to say, Must we fetch water for you, ye rebels? Moses and Aaron had been in a passion. God was displeased with them. Do you think that God will punish them? God loved Moses and Aaron; yet he would punish them when they did wrong. He would forgive them and take them to heaven, but he would give them some punishment. You shall hear what the punishment should be. Soon afterward, God said to Moses and Aaron, Because you have done this, you shall not go into Canaan: you shall die in the wilderness. 158 LINE UPON LINE. What a great punishment this was! Moses had often longed to see that sweet land of Canaan; he had often wished to see the Israelites happy in their own houses and gardens; he had longed to see the place where Abraham had built altars and wor shiped God; but now he must die in the wilderness. He prayed to God to excuse him this punishment, but God would not. God said, Ask me no more to do this. Then Moses knew that he must bear his punishment. Moses was the meekest man in all the world. The Israelites had often spoken ungratefully to him, and he had made no answer. Yet at last he himself fell into a passion. You see how much God hates pas sion. God wishes us to be very meek, like the Lord Jesus Christ, who never spoke an angry word. Are you meek, my dear child? Can you bear to be pushed and slapped, and not push and slap again? If a child takes your place, can you ask him gently to let you have it? and if he will not, can you take another quietly? When children call you rude names, can you be gentle, and not call them rude names, too? A meek child can do all these things. God can make you very meek, my dear child. Will/ you pray to God to make you meek, like Jesus? Moses, too, was very meek, though he fell into a passion once. MOSES— SIN OF MOSES AND AARON. 159 Was it unkind of God to punish Moses and Aaron? God can not be unkind, but he will punish people for disobedience. God wished to show the Israelites that he would not allow any person to be disobedient, not even Moses. At last the time came for Aaron to die, for God chose Aaron to die first. God said to Moses, Go up to the top of the hill with Aaron, and take Aaron's eldest son with you; and Aaron will die on the top, and you must put his clothes upon his son. God chose Aaron's son to be high-priest in stead of Aaron, so he was to wear Aaron's clothes. So Aaron put on his beautiful high-priest's clothes; his blue robe with the golden bells, and his ephod over it, his shining breast-plate, and his white miter, with the golden writing upon it. Then Aaron walked with Moses and his son to the top of the hill, and all the people looked at them as they were walking up. Aaron knew that he should never walk down that hill, but still he obeyed God, and bore his punishment meekly. When they were come to the top, Moses took the beautiful clothes off his brother Aaron, and put them on Aaron's son. Moses parted from his brother Aaron on the top of that hill: for there Aaron died. Moses and the son left him dead upon the top, and came down 160 LINE UPON LINE. the hill together. Then the people saw that Aaroi-- was dead, and that there was another high-priest. Aaron's soul went up to heaven, for God had for given him. If he had not spoken so angrily he would have lived to see the land of Canaan. Moses knew that he should die very soon; but God did not choose him to die yet. LESSON XXXIV. MOSES, OR THE SERPENT OF BRASS. NUMBERS xxi. 4-9. THE children of Israel traveled in the wilderness a great many years. Sometimes, when they were close to Canaan, the cloud moved the other way, and the Israelites were obliged to go on traveling in the wilderness. This made them very unhappy, for they longed very much to get into the sweet land of Canaan. If they had not behaved so ill in the wilderness, they would soon have got to Canaan; but God punished them by not letting them get in. How do you think they bore their punishment? You know that they were always ready to murmur. They spoke against God and against Moses. They said, Why have you brought us out of Egypt? We MOSES, OR THE SERPENT OF BRASS. 161 shall die in the wilderness. There is no bread here, nor any water, and we do not like this manna. Was the manna nice food? It was fit for angels — spotless white, and sweet as honey; it came down from heaven, and did not grow out of the ground as corn does. Yet these ungrateful Israelites said that they hated it, and were tired of eating it. God sent them a dreadful punishment this time. You know there were wild beasts and horrible ser pents and scorpions in the wilderness, but God took care of the Israelites, so that they were not hurt by them; but now God sent serpents, whose mouths burned like fire. These serpents came rushing among the tents. The Israelites could not get away from them. If the Israelites climbed up a high place, the serpents could climb after them, and they could get through the smallest places. Many, many of the Israelites, were bitten by these serpents. After they had been bitten they grew sick, and were full of pain, and got worse and worse, till at last they died. There was no medicine that could cure these bites ; no plaster could make them well: every person who was bitten was sure to die. The Israelites came to Moses, and said, We have sinned; we have spoken against the Lord, and against you; pray to the Lord that he take the ser pents from us. For the serpents were still among the tents. 162 LINE UPON LINE. Did Moses pray to God for the people? or did he say, You deserve to be punished, and I will not help you? Moses was kind and forgiving, and he prayed for the people. The Lord heard Moses* prayer, and he did more than Moses asked; for God not only called away the serpents, but he told him how to cure the people who were bitten by the serpents. What do you think God told Moses to do? Did he tell Moses to give them some medicine; or to put a plaster to the bites ! You will be surprised to hear the strange things that God told Moses to do. He said, Take some brass, and make it into the image of a serpent, and put it on a pole, and tell the people who are bitten to look at it, and those who look shall be made well. Was not this a strange way of making them well? Moses believed God. He took some brass, and made it soft in the fire; and then made it like one of the fiery serpents, and put it on a pole, and lifted it up, where every one could see it, and called to the sick people to look quickly at the serpent and be made well. The people who were bitten could crawl to the door of their tents, and lift up their dying eyes toward the serpent. After they had looked their pain went away; and they felt well and strong: they could walk and praise God. MOSES, OR THE SERPENT OF BRASS. 163 And now, dear children, do you know that a serpent has bitten us? A serpent has bitten our souls. What serpent do I mean? The old serpent, the devil. He has bitten our souls; that is, he has made us naughty. You have heard how he made Adam and Eve naughty in the garden of Eden. We are naughty, too, because we are Adam's children. Who can make our souls well of this bite? who can save us from dying forever and ever? who can give us eternal life? The serpent of brass was lifted up on a pole — Jesus was lifted up on the cross: — Now we must look at Jesus. What do I mean by looking at Jesus? I do not mean looking at him with our eyes; it would not save us to see Jesus on the cross. A great many wicked people saw him die, and were not saved. The "looking," I mean, is thinking of him, and loving him. When you think of Jesus having died for you, and when you love him for it, then you look at him with your heart. I hope, children, that you will look at Jesus with your heart, that you may be saved from sin, and Satan. 164 LINE UPON LINE. LESSON XXXV. THE DEATH OF MOSES. DEUTERONOMY xxxi.; xxxiii.; xxxiv. THE time was almost come for Moses to die. The Israelites were very soon to go into Canaan, but Moses was not to go there with them. Moses had written a great many books while he had been in the wilderness, and now he had almost finished them. Should you like to know what Moses had written about in these books? He had written about how God made the world, how Adam ate the fruit, how Cain killed Abel. He had written about Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; he had written about Joseph and his brethren; he had written about himself, how he had been saved from the water when he was a baby. He had writ ten about the ten plagues, and the ten command ments, and the tabernacle; he had wrritten about his own sin. All I have told you, Moses had writ ten down in five books: they have all been copied in other books, and we can read all Moses wrote, for it is in the Bible. But how did Moses know all these things? He was not born when God made the world. How could he write about things he never saw? Could THE DEA TH OF MOSES. 165 any body have told him how God made the world? No one was born when God made the world; no one but God could tell him, and God did tell him. God spake to Moses by his spirit; while Moses was writing with his pen, God was putting thoughts in his mind; so he always knew what to write. Moses did not write in such books as you have seen. His paper was rolled up like a piece of cloth at the shop. He wrote five rolls, and these he called his books. If you had read in Moses' book, you must have unrolled it as you read it. When Moses had done writing his books he called the priests, and told them to take care of his books. Moses said to them, You must read these books to all the Israelites, the men, the women, and the little children, that they may know how to please God. Moses knew that he must soon leave the Israel ites. He wished very much that some good man should take care of them after he was dead; for he loved them very much, though they had behaved so ill to him. So Moses begged God to give them to the care of some good man; and God heard his prayer and said to Moses, I have found a man, who will take care of the children of Israel after you are dead. Who do you think this man was? It was Joshua, LINE UPON LINE. one of the good spies: he had helped Moses to do God's work for forty years; so that Moses had taught him a great deal. Moses was very glad that Joshua would take care of the Israelites when he was dead. Moses called Joshua and said to him, God will let you take the children of Israel into Canaan; you must be very brave, for you will have to fight against the wicked people: but God will help you: so do not be afraid. God never will leave you, nor forsake you. ^ Moses wished to speak to the people before he died, and advise them to be good; so Moses called all the people together, and told them he was going to die. I am very old, said he. I am a hundred and twenty years old this day. I offended God, and I must not go into the land of Canaan; but Joshua will take you there. Remember to obey God, and to love him, and he will always bless you; but if you worship idols and are wicked, God will punish you. God told Moses to teach the people a song, that they might sing it after he was dead. This song was about God's kindness to the children of Israel. After Moses had taught the people the song, he blessed them, and then he left them forever. God said to Moses, Go up that high mountain THE DBA TH OF MOSES. 167 alone : I can not let you go into Canaan, but I will let you see that beautiful land of Canaan from the top of that mountain. Moses was glad that he might see Canaan, though he might not go in. So Moses went up the; mountain quite alone. He was very old, yet he was not weak; he could walk as well as when he was young, and he could see as well; for his eyes were not dim; — he read, and wrote, and saw things far off. God had not let him grow weak or blind. I think the Israelites must have felt very sad when they saw Moses go up that mountain all alone, and when they knew they should see him no more. When Moses was at the top of the hill, he looked and saw the land of Canaan a great way off. It was a beautiful land, and full of green hills, and riv ers, of fields ripe with corn, and with trees laden with fruit. Moses was glad that the children of Israel would live in such a sweet land, where they might worship God. When Moses had looked at the land, he died. No friend was near to close his eyes, or to hear his last sigh : no brother's hand was there to wrap him in his grave-clothes, or to cover him with the green earth. Would God leave Moses' body to be eaten by the wild beasts, to be pecked by the birds of the air? No; God himself buried Moses; not upon the top 168 LINE UPON LINE. of the hill, but in some secret place under the hill. No one knows where Moses lies, but the angels who carried his soul to God — they know ; for they watch over God's dear children in the dust. When the last trumpet sounds, Moses will rise from that grave, and shine like the stars in the sky. Thus Moses died. He was the only man to whom God talked to as a friend : God spoke to Moses face to face, as friends talk to each other. I shall tell you no more of Moses; but you will see him in heaven, if you go there. You remember that he might have been a prince in the land of Egypt. King Pharaoh's daughter saved him from the water, and she gave him fine things, and called him her son. But Moses wished to help the poor children of Israel, and he did not choose to be a prince in Egypt. Was it not much better that Moses should help the poor children of Israel, than that he should be rich and grand? You see that God loved Moses, and made him his friend, and took him to heaven when he died. Now, my dear children, I hope you will be like Moses. I hope that when you are grown up, you will try to help poor people, and teach them about God. Think, dear children, how kind Jesus has been to you. He left heaven that he might save us, and that we might know God. JOSHUA, OR RAHAB. 169 LESSON XXXVI. JOSHUA, OR RAHAB. JOSHUA ii. THE Israelites were now come close to the land of Canaan. They were sorry that Moses was dead; but Joshua was now to take care of them instead of Moses. Joshua was to tell them what to do. God would speak to Joshua, and Joshua would tell them what God said. The Israelites would soon have to fight a great deal. Whom would they have to fight against? The wicked people who lived in Canaan. God chose that they should be killed to punish them for their wickedness and God chose that the Israelites should live in their land instead of them. There was a great river that rolled between the Wilderness and Canaan. The Israelites would be obliged to cross the river before they could get into (Canaan. The Israelites could see the green hills of Canaan on the other side of the river, and they saw a great town also with high walls all around it. This town was called Jericho. It was in Canaan, and wicked people lived in it. The Israelites knew that they would soon have to fight against the peo ple who lived in this town. 170 LINE UPON LINE. Joshua told two of the Israelites to go to the town, and to look at it, and to come back and tell him about the town, and about the people who lived in it. These men were called "spies," because they were 'sent to spy, or to look at, the town. Joshua did not wish the people of Jericho to know when these two spies came into the town, lest the wicked people should kill them. So they went to the town when it was almost dark. The spies got over the river: there was one place in the river where the water was not very deep, and where peo ple could get over. This was called a ford. The gate of Jericho used to be shut when it was dark; but the spies came just before the gate was shut. They went to the house of a woman named Rahab, who kept an inn. Her house was built upon the wall of Jericho. The spies hoped that nobody had seen them come into Jericho; but some people had seen them, and these people went and told the king of Jericho that two Israelites were in Rahab's house. The king of Jericho knew that the Israelites meant to come and fight against him, so he wanted to kill these two spies, and he sent some men to Rahab's house to bring them to him. What could the poor spies do? where could they go? But God took care of them. He put it into Rahab's heart to be kind to them. Rahab had taken JOSHUA, OR RAHAB. the spies, when they first came, to the top of her house, to hide them. The roof of her house was not slanting, like the roof of this house; it was flat, like the floor. On the roof of Rahab's house there were a great many stalks of flax. What is flax? Flax is a plant: and the stalks of flax are made into thread. Rahab had spread the stalks upon the roof of her house to dry them. When the spies had climbed up the stairs to the top of the house, she told them to lie down; and she covered them all over with the stalks, so that nobody could see them. The men who were come to bring the spies to the king of Jericho could not find them in Rahab's house, so they went to look for them outside the city, among the hills, and by the river-side. When the king of Jericho's men were gone, Ra hab crept up the stairs to speak to the spies. It was night, so she could talk to them on the roof without being seen. The men came from under the heaps of flax. Rahab had been taught to worship idols ; but you will see that she now believed in the true God, and not in idols. She had a great favor to ask of the spies. She was very much afraid lest, when the Israelites should come over the river to fight against Jericho, they should kill her and her friends : so now she begged the spies to promise to save her, and those she loved. 172 LINE UPON LINE. Poor Rahab said, I know that God will let the people of Israel come and live in Canaan. Every body is very much frightened lest you should kill them. We have heard how your God helped you to pass through the Red Sea. I know that your God is the only true God. Now promise, that when you come to this town you will not kill me, nor my father and mother, and brothers and sisters. I have been kind to you, and will you be kind to me? Do you think that the spies would promise to save Rahab and her friends? Oh yes! How kind she had been to them in hiding them! Besides this, Rahab feared God. The spies promised that they would not let her be killed, or her father or mother, or brothers or sisters. There was one thing the spies desired her not to do, that was, not to tell any body about their having been to Jericho. The spies said, If you will not tell any body about our having come here, we promise to save your Life, and the life of your father and mother, and brothers and sisters. Then Rahab helped the spies to get out of the town. Could the spies go out at the gates? It was night, and the gates were shut. If the spies waited till the morning, the people of Jericho would see them going out, and would kill them. But Rahab found a way of letting the spies go. Her house was JOSHUA, OR RAHAD. 173 built on the walls of Jericho. One of the windows in her house looked toward the green hills outside of Jericho. The window was high ; so Rahab took a rope, and tied the rope round one of the men, and let him down from the window, and then she tied the rope round the other man, and let him down. When the men were standing on the ground out side the wall of Jericho, they called to Rahab, who was looking out of the window, and they said, Take that red rope, and bind it to your window; bring your father and mother, and brothers and sisters, into your house. If they stay in it with you, we promise that they shall not be killed when the Isra elites come to fight against this town; but if you, or any of your relations, are walking in the streets when we come, then, perhaps, you or they may be killed. Neither may you tell any other person about our having come here; you must keep it a secret. When the spies had said this they went away, and they hid themselves among the hills for three days, lest the men of Jericho should be watching by the river to kill them. At the end of three days they got over the river, and came back to Joshua, and told him all that had happened. Joshua was glad to hear that the people of Jericho were so much frightened, and he felt sure that God would help him to conquer all the people in Canaan. 174 LINE UPON LINE. The spies told Joshua about Rahab. They said, You will know which house is Rahab's, because she has bound a red rope to the window. Joshua de sired that nobody would kill the people in the house with the red rope on the window. Rahab brought her father and mother, and broth ers and sisters, into her house: and she did not tell any of the wicked people of Jericho about the spies. Nobody knew why she bound a red rope to her window. Do you think that Rahab felt frightened now? Could she not trust the spies? Would they break their word? How Rahab must have thanked God for promising to save her when the people of Jer icho would be killed! My dear children, there is a day coming when a great many wicked people will be killed and burned in the fire. You have heard of the judgment-day. Do you not hope that God will save you in that day? Then do as Rahab did. Ask God to promise to save you. He will save you if you ask him. If you are really afraid of God, as Rahab was, you will often pray to him, to forgive you for Jesus Christ's sake. God will hear you, and he will remember his promise on the judgment-day, and he will not let you be hurt. JOSHUA, OR THE RIVER JORDAN. 175 LESSON XXXVII. JOSHUA, OR THE RIVER JORDAN. JOSHUA iii.; iv.; v. i, n, 12. THE people of Israel were now close to Canaan; but a deep river ran between the wilderness and Canaan. It was called the river Jordan. How were the Isra elites to get over it? Could they go over in boats? How could wood be got to make boats for so many people? Could they make a bridge? The people in Canaan would have shot arrows at the Israelites while they were making a bridge. Could they swim over? How could the children and the women swim? and how could they take their tents over? God could help them to get over. How had they got over the Red Sea? You shall hear what God told Joshua to do. Joshua rose up early in the morning, and he said to the people, Look and see where the priests take the ark, and do you follow them, but do not go too near. Then Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark and walk on. The ark (which was a golden box) was covered with a blue cloth, that none might see it, or see the golden angels on the top. Two long 170 LINE UPON LINE. sticks were run through the rings joined ^ die ark, and the priests held the ends of the sticks. The priests took up the ark when Joshua bade them. They went to the edge of the water, not knowing what they were to do. They were dressed in white, and their feet were bare. Joshua called to them, and desired them to stand still. Then he spoke to all the people. Now, In, said, you will see a great wonder th^t God is going to do: when the priests put their fe^t in the water a dry path shall be made. All the people were coming out of their tents, they had got all their things ready for their journey and were looking at the priests. Then Joshua desired the priests to put their feet into the water. As soon as they touched it, the water stood up like a wall on one side, and there was a dry path made through the river. The priests walked along till they came to the middle of the river: then they stopped, and Joshua said to the people, Now do you pass over Jordan. While the people were crossing, the priests stood quite still in the middle of the dried-up river. At last, all the people had got over in the land of Canaan, except twelve men that Joshua had desired to stay on the other side. Why had Joshua desired them to stay? Joshua JOSHUA, OR THE RIl'ER JORDAN. 177 said to them, See where the priests are standing; there are great stones lying near them: take up twelve great stones and bring them over with you into Canaan. These twelve men walked through the dry path : each took up a great stone in his arms and carried it to the other side. Then Joshua said to them, Put the twelve stones by the side of the river in Canaan. Why do you think the stones were to be put there? It was that the people might never forget this great wonder of making a path in Jordan. God knew that, a long time afterward, little children would see the twrelve stones, and would say to their fathers, What are these stones for? Then their fathers would say, These stones were once at the bottom of the water; but God made a path for us, and we have put the stones here to keep God's kindness in our minds. God is pleased that children should wish to know the meaning of what they see. God wishes little children to know about his goodness, and the wonders he has done. All this time the twelve men were walking through with the stones, the priests were standing still in the river. At last Joshua said to the priests, Come up out of Jordan ; so the priests came up out of the river. As soon as the priests put their feet on the dry land in Canaan the water rolled along, and the river looked as it had done before. 178 LINE UPON LINE. How happy the Israelites must now have been! They had wandered forty years in the wilderness, but at last they were safely arrived in Canaan. God had been very good to them, and he would help them to fight against the wicked people of Canaan. Why did God desire that the people in Canaan should be killed? Because they went on worship ing idols, and doing a great many wicked things, so God chose to punish them. The king of Jericho saw the Israelites come over the river. He could look at them over his high walls. He was very much frightened, and so were all the people in Jericho. Only Rahab was not frightened; she knew she was safe; she believed in the true God. The priests put down the ark: all the Israelites set up their tents, and waited outside Jericho. Ra- hab's red cord could be seen upon her window on the wall. So the Israelites knew which was her house, and Joshua told them not to hurt the people who were in it. The gates of Jericho were kept fast shut, that the Israelites might not get in: no one in Jericho went out, and no one came in, but every body kept inside the town. Those wicked people would never again walk by the river-side : the day of their death was very near. JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 179 Ah ! why did not they turn to God before it was too late? My dear children, the day of judgment will come to us at last. Now is the time to be sorry for our sins, and to ask God for his holy spirit. If children will go on telling lies, quarreling, and fighting, be ing bold and disobedient, they will surely come to, a sad end. But I hope, dear children, that you will love God, and that you will be saved. LESSON XXXVIII. JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. JOSHUA v. 13-15; vi. THE children of Israel had placed their tents all round the city of Jericho, but they waited till God told them what to do. They could not get through the strong gates, unless God helped them. Joshua was the captain of the Israelites. He was a very brave man. He trusted in God to help him, and that made him brave. I will now tell you a very wonderful thing that happened to Joshua while he was on the outside of Jericho. One day he looked up, and he saw a man 180 LINE UPON LINE. standing before him a little way off. The man looked as if he was a soldier, and he held a sword in his hand. Joshua knew that this man was not one of the Israelites: but he could not tell who he was. Joshua went up to the man, and said, Are you come to help us to fight? or are you come to help the people of Jericho? Then the man answered, I am come as captain of the army of the Lord. Now Joshua knew who this man \vas. Can you tell me who he was? He was greater than a man, greater than an angel. He was the Lord from heaven, even Jesus Christ. When Joshua knew who the man was, he fell down with his face upon the ground, and worshiped him, saying, What will my Lord say to his servant? (Joshua called himself God's servant.) Then the great captain of God's army said, Take your shoe off your foot, because this is holy ground. Johsua took it off, and waited to know what the Lord would say to him. Why was the ground holy? Because God was there. You know the priests wore no shoes when they walked in God's house. The Lord told Joshua how he was to fight against Jericho. Such a way of fighting was never known JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 181 before. You shall soon hear what the Lord told Joshua to do. When the Lord was gone back to heaven, Joshua called the priests, and all the people of Israel, and showed them what they must do. Joshua told some of the priests to take up the ark. Then he called seven more priests, and said, Each of you must take a trumpet (or ram's horn), and walk before the ark. You know that a ram is a sheep, and that it has crooked horns.) Then Joshua called all the soldiers, and told them to go before the priests, and he told the rest of the people that had not swords or spears (that is, the women and chil dren), to walk behind the priests. Where were they all to walk? Joshua desired them to walk round the city of Jericho. The soldiers with their swords and spears went first: next came seven priests dressed in their white clothes, blowing the trumpets. Then came the priests carrying the ark, and behind them all the people, but with no swords or spears. You never saw such a great number of people walking along. Before they set out, Joshua told them not to make any shoutings, but to wait till he said, Shout! What is shouting? Calling out loud. Soldiers shout when they have conquered. The Israelites were not to shout till Joshua told them. 182 LINE UPON LINE. They all walked once round Jericho. The people of Jericho heard the trumpets blowing, and they saw the men with swords and spears. I dare say they thought the Israelites were going to shoot their arrows over the walls, and try and beat down the walls. How much frightened they must have been! Rahab took care to keep in her house, with all her dear friends. The Israelites walked once round, and then Joshua brought them back to their tents. Are you not surprised to hear this? What was the use of walking round? You will hear what happened in the end. The next day Joshua made the people and the priests walk round once more, and then brought them home. Then, the next day after, they went round again: and the next day, and the next day. Six days, one after the other, they walked round Jericho, and came home to their tents again, with out having fought. The Israelites behaved well in doing as Joshua told them, instead of asking why they must walk round without fighting. Do you think that the people of Jericho began to laugh at the Israelites, and to think that they would never get into the city? At last, after six days, Joshua told the Israelites JOSHUA, OR THE WALLS OF JERICHO. 183 to get up very early in the morning, as soon as it was light. He told them to walk all round as be fore; but when they had walked round, he did not tell them to go back to their tents, but to walk round again. That day they walked round seven times: they spent the whole day in walking round and round the city of Jericho. When they had just finished walking round the seventh time, Joshua said to the people, Now, when the priests blow again with the trumpets, you may shout: for God has given you the city. You will soon get in; you must kill all the people, except Rahab and her friends that are in her house. You will find many beautiful things in Jericho, but you must not keep any thing for yourselves: but you must bring the cups of gold and silver, and brass and iron, to the Lord; and you must not keep any thing for yourselves. Bring all you find to the house of the Lord ; for God has cursed Jericho, and every thing in it. When Joshua had done speaking, the priests blew again with the trumpets, and the people gave a great shout. At the same moment the walls of Jer icho fell down. Now the men of Jericho saw that the day was come when they must die. The two spies ran quickly to Rahab's house, and brought her out, and her father and mother, and 184 LINE UPON LINE. brothers and sisters, and led them to a safe place near the tents of the Israelites. Rahab and her friends brought all their things with them out of the house; so they could make tents, and live together. O happy Rahab ! Now she could learn more about the true God; she could see God's priests offering sacrifices on the altar, and could hear how her sins might be forgiven by the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who would come into the world. But what happened to the people of Jericho? They were all killed, the men, the women, and the children, even the sheep, and cows, and all the beasts were killed; not one was left alive. The Israelites killed them with their swords. Then they set fire to the houses, and burned them all up; but the cups and basins, made of gold and silver, and brass and iron, they brought to the priests for God's house. What would the priests do with the basins? They would put in them the blood of the sheep and goats that they sacrificed on the altar. All the other people in Canaan heard about Jeri cho, and they were more frightened than before. They said, What a great captain Joshua is! But you know who was the captain that fought for Joshua. Who was it threw down the walls? Was it not the man whom Joshua had seen? He was a captain over thousands of angels that filled JOSHUA, HIS DEATH. 185 the air, and obeyed all he said. The angels are stronger than men; and Jesus is their captain, and he is God himself. He can break down walls and he can build them up; he can kill, and he can make alive; he can shut us up in hell, and he can lift us to heaven. LESSON XXXIX. JOSHUA, HIS DEATH. You have heard what the Israelites did to Jericho. There were a great many other cities in Canaan be side Jericho. The Israelites fought against the other cities of Canaan. All the people of Canaan heard of it, and were much afraid of Joshua; but still they took their swords and spears, and fought against them. And whom do you think conquered? God always helped the Israelites; so they always conquered. They went all through Canaan. First they went to one city, and killed the people in it; then they went to another city, and killed the people in it; so they went to hundreds of cities, till they had killed almost all the people in Canaan. God did not make the walls of the other cities to fall down, like the walls of Jericho, but the Israelites were obliged to fight very hard before they could get in. 186 LINE UPON LINE. At last, Joshua said to the children of Israel, Now the people of Canaan are dead, I will give you places to live in. So he gave to each of the Israel ites a house, full of beautiful things, and a garden, a field, and a well of water. Now the Israelites rested. They sat down undef the fig-trees and vines in their own gardens, and ate the figs and grapes that grew on them, and they drank water out of the wells in their gardens. Did the Israelites build their own houses? No; they lived in the houses of the people of Canaan. The wicked people had built the houses, and they had dug the wells, and planted the trees in the gar dens; but God had taken them away from these wicked people, and had given them to the Israelites. When the Israelites sat in their gardens they ought to have thought to themselves, How kind of God to give us so much! How much we ought to love him! Has not God given you a great many things, my dear child? Ought not you to love God very much? Why did God give so many things to the Israel ites? Were the Israelites good? No; they were naughty. Then why was God so kind to them? You remember the promise God had made to Abraham. God had said that he would give Canaan to his children's children. And did God keep his JOSHUA, HIS DEA TH. 187 word? Oh yes! He remembered his promise, and he brought the Israelites into Canaan. So the rea son God was so kind to the Israelites was, because he had promised Abraham he would be kind to his children. There was one thing which Joshua did not forget to do; that was, to place the tabernacle in Canaan. He set it up in the middle of Canaan, at a place called Shiloh. Now the Israelites would not be obliged to move it about any more. Joshua told them all to come up and worship God in the tabernacle : but some lived so far off that they could not come often. So they came only some times to the tabernacle. God desired the Israelites not to worship the idols that the wicked people in Canaan had made. The Israelites would find their idols in the fields and gar dens; and some of these idols were made of silver and gold : but the Israelites were not to keep them, even if they were pretty images; they were not to take the idols into their houses: but they were to burn them in the fire: because God hated the.se idols. At last Joshua grew very old and he knew that he must die. So he called a great many of the Israel ites together, that he might speak to them before he died. 188 LINE UPON LINE. Joshua stood near a great oak-tree while he spoke. He said to the Israelites, I am soon going to die. Whom will you worship after I am dead? Will you worship idols, or will you worship God who has been so kind to you? Now which do you think the Israelites would choose to worship? They all said, We will worship God. Then Joshua said, If you choose to worship God you must not worship idols too. Then they said, We will serve God. Now, said Joshua, you have promised to serve God only. You must keep your promise. Then Joshua took a book, and wrote down what the people had said. Afterward Joshua took a great stone, and put it under the oak, and said, See this stone; I have put it here to make you remember your promise always. Then Joshua told all the people to go home. Very soon afterward Joshua died. He was more than a hundred years old when he died. Did the Israelites keep their promise? Did they worship idols, or did they not? At first they did not worship idols. But at last they grew tired of serving God, and began to worship idols, and to do other wicked things. My dear children, your parents have not taught you to worship idols, but you have done other JOSHUA, HIS DEATH. 189 naughty things. Have you never been disobedient, nor told lies, nor fallen into passions? What can you do to please God? Speak the truth, obey your parents, and be very kind to each other. These are things that please God. Do not you wish to please God who has been so kind to you, and has given you food, and clothes, and a house, and kind friends, and a body, and a soul, and who has even given his son to die for you? Ask God to make you love him, and wish to please him. THE END. KJBL1CAT1ONS OF HENI^Y ALTEMUS COMPANY ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED VADEMECUM SERIES The most popular works of standard authors carefully printed on fine paper, with illuminated titles and frontispieces. Full cloth, ornamented, boxed. Price, 40 cents. i ABBE CONSTANTIN, THE. Halery. . . 2 ADVENTURES OK A BROWNIE. Mulock. . 3 ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. Car roll. . . 4 AMERICAN NOTES. Kipling. .. 5 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. .. 6 AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST TABLE Holmes. . . 7 A SON OF THE CAROLINAS. Sattcrthwaite . . 10 ALLEGORIES OF THE HEART. Hawthorne. . . 12 BACON'S ESSAYS. .. 14 BARRACK-ROOM BALLADS AND Dimes Kipling. 15 BATTLE OF LIFE, THE Dickens. . . 16 "BiGLOW PAPERS, THL Lowell. .. 17 BLACK BEAUTY. 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By author of "Laddie," etc. ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED DEVOTIONAL SERIES. An entirely new line of popular Religious Literature, carefully printed on tine paper, daintily and durably bound in handy-volume size, with illuminated title pages. Admir ably adapted for presentation purposes. Full white vellum, handsome design in gold, boxed. Price, 50 cents. i ABIDE IN CHRIST. Murray. .. 3 BEECHER'S ADDRESSES. 4 BEST THOUGHTS. Prom Henry DrummonA, 5 BIBLE BIRTHDAY BOOK. .. 6 BROOKS' ADDRESSES. 7 BUY YOUR OWN CHERRIES. Kirto*. Publications of Henry Altemus Company Altemus' Illustrated Devotional Series Continued .. 8 CHANGED CROSS, THE. .. 9 CHRISTIAN LIFE. Oxendcn. . . 10 CHRISTIAN LIVING. Meyer. .. 13 COMING TO CHRIST. Havcrgal. .. 14 DAILY FOOD FOR CHRISTIANS. . . 17 DRUMMOND'S ADDRESSES. .. 18 EVENING THOUGHTS. Haver gal. .. ig GOLD DUST. . . 20 HOLY IN CHRIST. Murray. .. 21 IMITATION OF CHRIST, THE. A'Kempis. . . 22 IMPREGNABLE ROCK OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, THE. 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Publications of Henry Altemus Company Altemus' In Hi* Name Series Continued THOMAS ARNOLD. . . 22 FAITH. WILUAM E. GLADSTONE. .. 23 THE CREATION STORY. ASHTON OXENDEN. . . 24 THE MESSAGE OF COMFORT. DEAN STANLEY. .. 25 THE LORD'S PRAYER AND THE TEN COM MANDMENTS. ELISABETH ROBINSON SCOVIL. .. 26 HYMNS OF PRAISE AND GLADNESS. . . 27 MORNING STRENGTH. . . 28 EVENING COMFORT. HANNAH WHITALL SMITH. . . 29 DIFFICULTIES. REV. F. B. MEYER. . . 30 THE HEAVENLY VISION. . . 31 WORDS OF HELP FOR CHRISTIAN GIRLS. HESBA STRETTON. . . 32 JESSICA'S FIRST PRAYER. . . 33 JESSICA'S MOTHER. R. W. CHURCH. . . 34 THE MESSAGE OF PEACE. ROBERT F. HORTON. . . 35 THE MEMOIRS OF JESUS. HENRY WARD BEECHER. . . 36 INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS. . . 37 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. . . 38 TWELVE CAUSES OF DISHONESTY. E. S. ELLIOT. . . 39 EXPECTATION CORNER. J. R. MILLER. . . 40 THE OLD AND THE NEW. Publications of Henry Altemus Company Altemus' In His Name Series Continued DR. A. T. PIERSON. .. 43 THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD. 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Publications of Henry Altemus Company ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED DAINTY SERIES OF CHOICE GIFT BOOKS ^ Bound in half-white vellum, illuminated sides, with numerous illustrations. Price, 50 cents. .. i THE SBLVER BUCKLE. M. Nataline Crump- ton. .. 2 CHARLES DICKENS' CHILDREN STORIES. .. 3 THE CHILDREN'S SHAKESPEARE. .. 4 YOUNG ROBIN HOOD. G. Manville Fenn. .. 5 HONOR BRIGHT. Mary C, Rows ell . . 6 THE VOYAGE OF THE MARY ADAIR. Frances E. Crompten. .. 7 THE KINGFISHER'S EGG.. L. T. Meade .. 8 TATTINE. Ruth Ogden. .. 9 THE DOINGS OF A DEAR LITTLE COUPLE. • Mary D. Brine. . . 10 OUR SOLDIER BOY. G. Manville Fenn ..ii THE LITTLE SKIPPER. G. Manville Fenn. .. 12 LITTLE GERVAISE AND OTHER STORIES .. 13 THE CHRISTMAS FAIRY. John Straw Winter. ... 14 MOLLY THE DRUMMER BOY. Harriet T, Comstock. ... 15 How A "DEAR LI-TTLE COUPLE" WENT ABROAD. Mary D. Brine. ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED ROSE-CARNATION SERIES A series of charming gift books. Illu minated sides with numerous half-tone illus« trations. Price, 50 cents. ... i THE ROSE-CARNATION. Frances £. Cromfc ton. .. 2 MOTHER'S LITTLE MAN. Mary D. Brine Publications of Henry Altemus Company Altemus' Illustrated Rose-Carnation Series Continued . 3 LITTLE SWAN MAIDENS. Frances E. Cramp- ton. . 4 LITTLE LADY VAL. Evelyn Everei* Green, ,. 5 A YOUNG HERO. G. Manville Fenn. . 6 QUEEN OF THE DAY. L. T. Meadc. . 7 THAT LITTLE FRENCH BABY. John Strange Winter. . 8 THE POWDER MONKEY. G. Manville Fenn. . 9 THE DOLL THAT TALKED. Tudor Jenks. . 10 WHAT CHARLIE FOUND TO Do. Amanda M. Douglas. ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED ONE-SYLLABLE SERIES FOR YOUNG READERS Embracing popular works arranged for the young folks in words of one syllable. Profusely illustrated. Handsomely bound in cloth and gold, with illuminated sides. Price, 50 cents. FABLES. 2 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 4 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. 5 BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 6 Swiss FAMILY ROBINSON. 7 GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. 9 A CHILD'S STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 10 A CHILD'S STORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 11 BIBLE STORIES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. 12 THE STORY OF JESUS. Publications of Henry Altemus Company ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS Charming stories beautifully illustrated in color and daintily, yet durably bound. Cloth. Price, 50 cents. i NURSERY TALES. .. 2 NURSERY RHYMES. .. 3 THE STORY OF PETER RABBIT. .. 4 THE FOOLISH Fox. . . 5 THREE LITTLE PIGS. , 6 THE ROBBER KITTEN. ALTEMUS' MOTHER GOOSE SERIES Entirely new editions of the most popular books for young people. Each volume con taining about seventy-five illustrations, in cluding full-page colored pictures. Half vellum, illuminated sides. 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Bound in cloth, dec orated. Price, 50 cents. i AN EASTER LILY. Amanda M. Douglas. .. 2 THE PEARL RING. Mary E. Bradley. .. 3 BLITZEN, THE CONJURER. Frank M. Bick- nell. .. 4 AN UNINTENTIONAL PATRIOT. Harriet T. Comstock. .. 5 A SHINING MARK. William E. Barton. .. 6 Miss APPOLINA'S CHOICE. Ellen Douglas Deland. .. 7 A BOY LIEUTENANT. F. S. Boivley. . . 8 POLLY AND THE OTHER GIRL. Sophie Swett. . . g HERM AND I. Myron B. Gibson. .. 10 SAM. M. G. McClelland. . ii BOBBIE. Kate Langky Bosher. Publications of Henry Altemus Company ALTEMUS' CLASSICS SERIES A selection of the works of standard authors handsomely printed and substan tially bound in cloth. Price, 40 cents; full calf, boxed, $1.00. .. i BAB BALLADS AND SAVOY SONGS. Gilbert. . . 2 BATTLE OF LIFE, THE. Dickens. .. 3 BIGLOW PAPERS, THE. Lowell . . 4 CAMILLE. Alexandre Dumas, Jr. . . 5 CARMEN. Merimee. .. 6 CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES, A. Stevenson. .. 7 CHIMES, THE. Dickens. .. 8 CHRISTMAS CAROL, A. 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