us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge between many peoples, and shall reprove strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all the peoples will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven away, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth even for ever.

And thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come; yea, the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee, is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee as of a woman in travail? Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and shalt dwell in the field, and shalt come even unto Babylon; there shalt thou be rescued; there shall the Lord redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see its desire upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he hath gathered them as the sheaves to the threshing-floor.

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples: and thou shalt devote their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

LX. THE PROPHET'S VISION OF GOD.

HABAKKUK 3:2-19.

O Lord, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid:
O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years,

In the midst of the years make it known;

In wrath remember mercy.

God came from Teman,

And the Holy One from mount Paran.

His glory covered the heavens,

And the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had rays coming forth from his hand:
And there was the hiding of his power.
Before him went the pestilence,
And fiery bolts went forth at his feet.

He stood, and measured the earth;

He beheld, and drove asunder the nations:
And the eternal mountains were scattered,
The everlasting hills did bow;

His goings were as of old.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction:

The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
Was the Lord displeased against the rivers?

Was thine anger against the rivers,

Or thy wrath against the sea,

That thou didst ride upon thine horses,

Upon thy chariots of salvation?

Thy bow was made quite bare;

The oaths to the tribes were a sure word.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

The mountains saw thee, and were afraid;
The tempest of waters passed by:

The deep uttered his voice,

And lifted up his hands on high.

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;

At the light of thine arrows as they went,

At the shining of thy glittering spear.

Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,

For the salvation of thine anointed;

Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked,

Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck.

Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors:

They came as a whirlwind to scatter me:

Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

Thou didst tread the sea with thine horses,

The heap of mighty waters.

I heard, and my belly trembled,
My lips quivered at the voice;

Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place:

That I should rest in the day of trouble,

When it cometh up against the people which invadeth him in troops.
For though the fig tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labour of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;

The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength.

LXI. IN THE LAST DAYS.

MAL. 2:17. Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or where is the God of judgement?

MAL. 3:1-5, 13-18. Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand

when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. And I will come near to you to judgement; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers; and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages.

Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein have we spoken against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and are delivered.

Then they that feared the Lord spake one with another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day that I do make, even a peculiar treasure; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

MAL. 4:1-6. For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I do make, saith the Lord of hosts.

Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and judgements. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

LXII. CAIN AND ABEL.

GEN. 4:2-14. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that whosoever findeth me shall slay me.

LXIII. THE VISIONS AND THE REALITIES OF
JOSEPH'S YOUTH.

GEN. 37:3-36. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.