Chapter II: Introduction

When the children gather at mother's knee, and the tiniest finds a place in mother's arms, and all clamor for a "story," "a story, mamma," how lovely is the picture--the living picture--that circle makes! Love, longing, wisdom, expectancy, faith, shining eyes, lips that move involuntarily, keeping time to the sweet movements of mother's lips! Blessed group! Happy mother!

When the stories mother tells are light and meaningless, full of rhyme and rollick, even their eyes are bright and faces radiant, and her own sweet face and voice give charm and weight and significance to the delicious nonsense she rehearses.

Why not give to this receptive and eager audience stories full of deepest meaning, facts, parables, myths charged with truth? Why not people little memories with heroes, saints, kings, prophets, apostles? Why not give stories to story-loving youngsters that will turn into immortal pictures and be transformed some day into living factors in the making of character? And why not give them as comparison the babe of Bethlehem, the boy of Nazareth, the lad of twelve years in the schools of the Temple, the man of gentle love, the preacher of righteousness, the worker of heavenly wonders, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace?

The Book of books is the children's Book. It is a story book. And the stories are "true stories." And the lessons to be drawn from them are numberless, and will come up out of the treasure-house of memory when mother's eyes are closed and her voice silent.

It is a great thing to put mother and the Book together in Baby's thought; in the big boy's memory; in the grown-up man's heart and life.

This book is mother's book; to aid her in doing the best and most lasting work a mother can do to sow seed and set out vines the branches of which shall reach into the world of spirits, and from which she and her children may long afterwards pluck fruit together in the eternal kingdom.

JOHN H. VINCENT.

CHAUTAUQUA, 1898.

CONTENTS.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

CHAPTER.

I. The Beginning of Things
II. The Great Flood
III. Abraham--the Father of the Faithful
IV. Isaac, the Shepherd Prince
V. Jacob, a Prince of God
VI. Joseph, the Castaway
VII. Joseph, a Servant, a Prisoner and a Saint
VIII. Joseph, the Savior of His People
IX. The Cradle that was Rocked by a River
X. Moses in Midian
XI. The Rod that Troubled Egypt
XII. Following the Cloud
XIII. In the Borders of Canaan
XIV. A Nation that was Born in a Day
XV. Samson, the Strong
XVI. Ruth
XVII. Samuel--the Child of the Temple
XVIII. The Making of a King
XIX. The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem
XX. The Power of a Pebble
XXI. Faithful unto Death
XXII. David, the Outcast
XXIII. Every Inch a King
XXIV. David's Sin
XXV. David's Sorrow
XXVI. The Building of the Golden House
XXVII. Elijah, the Great Heart of Israel
XXVIII. The Little Chamber on the Wall
XXIX. A Little Maid of Israel
XXX. The Two Boy Kings
XXXI. The Four Captive Children
XXXII. The Master of the Magicians
XXXIII. The Story of Jonah
XXXIV. Esther, the Queen

THE NEW TESTAMENT.

CHAPTER.

I. The Angels of the Advent
II. Following the Star
III. The Flight into Egypt
IV. The Boy of Nazareth
V. The Young Carpenter
VI. The Voice in the Wilderness
VII. Jesus in the Desert
VIII. The First Disciples
IX. The First Miracle
X. In His Father's House
XI. A Talk about the Breath of God
XII. A Talk about the Water of Life
XIII. Jesus in the Synagogue
XIV. Among the Fishermen
XV. The Healing Hand of Jesus
XVI. Following Jesus
XVII. Friends of Jesus
XVIII. The Lord of Life
XIX. Mary of Magdala
XX. Stories Told by the Lake
XXI. Stilling the Storm
XXII. Called Back
XXIII. Two by Two
XXIV. Walking the Waves--The Two Kingdoms
XXV. A Journey with Jesus
XXVI. The Christian Sabbath--Peter's Confession of Faith
XXVII. "And We Beheld His Glory"--A Father's Faith
XXVIII. The Lord and the Little Ones--Leaving Galilee
XXIX. At the House of Martha--The Good Shepherd
XXX. The Lesson Stories of Jesus
XXXI. The Voice that Waked the Dead--The Children of the Kingdom
XXXII. The Young Man that Jesus Loved
XXXIII. The Last Journey to Jerusalem
XXXIV. The Prince of Peace
XXXV. The Children in the Temple
XXXVI. The Last Day in the Temple
XXXVII. The Last Words in the Temple
XXXVIII. An Evening on the Mount of Olives
XXXIX. The Holy Supper
XL. The Night of the Betrayal
XLI. Despised and Rejected of Men
XLII. The King of Heaven at the Bar of Pilate
XLIII. Love and Death
XLIV. Love and Life
XLV. The Evening of Easter
XLVI. The Lord's Last Days with His Disciples
XLVII. "He Ascended into Heaven"
XLVIII. The Promise of the Father

AN AFTERWORD

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE OLD TESTAMENT

Moses and Zipporah at the well (color plate) . . . . . . _Frontispiece_

Driven from Eden

The great flood

Dove returns to ark with an olive leaf (color plate)

The three strangers

Hagar in the desert

On Mount Moriah

Isaac blessing Jacob

Meeting of Jacob and Esau

Jacob and Rachael

Jacob sold to the Ishmaelites (color plate)

Joseph makes himself known to his brothers

Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses (color plate)

The rod that troubled Egypt

Destruction of Pharoah's army

Moses descending from the Mount

The return of the spies

Crossing the Jordan

The young Samson

The death of Samson

Ruth and Naomi

Samuel speaking to the Lord (color plate)

The young shepherd boy (color plate)

David cutting off Goliath's head (color plate)

The spear struck the wall (color plate)

The garment of Saul

The death of Absalom

David mourning for Absalom

The Queen of Sheba before Solomon

Ravens bringing food to Elijah (color plate)

Elijah and the Angel

Elijah and the chariot of fire

Elijah raises the widow's son

In the fiery furnace

The handwriting on the wall

Daniel in the den of lions (color plate)

Jonah thrown on the dry land

Haman denounced by the Queen

THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Holy Child in the manger (color plate)

Following the star

The flight into Egypt

The Boy Jesus in the temple (color plate)

John the Baptist at the Jordan

The marriage at Cana

Jesus by the well (color plate)

Jesus in the synagogue

Jesus among the fishermen (color plate)

Jesus healing the sick

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus teaching by the sea

Jesus sleeping during the storm (color plate)

Jesus curing the little maid (color plate)

Feeding the five thousand

Jesus in the wheat fields

The little ones (color plate)

The good Samaritan

Jesus in the house at Bethany

The return of the prodigal

The Pharisee and the publican

Jesus entering Jerusalem (color plate)

Showing the penny

The two mites

The Passover supper (color plate)

Gethsemane

Jesus betrayed by Judas

The sin of Peter

Jesus crowned with thorns

Jesus before Pilate (color plate)

Jesus bearing the cross

The descent from the cross

The angel of the resurrection

The walk to Emmaus

The ascension

CHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE