Chapter XXXII: Preface (4)

The little village of Shunem nestled on the slopes of one of the
hills which surround the plain of Esdraelon, the scene of so much
stirring life and so many battles. Looking across the plain one sees
Mount Gilboa, where the great disaster befell the army of Israel
when King Saul and sons went down in the tide of defeat which rolled
over the host. It is supposed that the Philistine army was encamped
at Shunem before the battle. The town was very familiar to Elijah,
who often visited it on his travels
[End illustration]

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_How Elisha Healed the Waters_.

And the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful."

And he said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt therein." And they brought it to him. And he went forth to the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and said, "Thus saith the Lord, 'I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or unfruitfulness.'"

So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

_How Elisha Helped a Poor Woman to Pay a Debt_.

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, "Thy servant my husband is dead: and thou knowest that thy servant feared the Lord: and the creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen."

And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house?"

And she said, "Thine handmaid hath nothing in the house, save a jar of oil."

Then he said, "Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And thou shalt go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels; and thou shalt set aside that which is full."

So she went from him, and shut the door upon her {138} and upon her sons; they brought the vessels to her and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me yet a vessel."

And he said to her, "There is not a vessel more." And the oil stayed.

Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons upon the rest."

_How Elisha Brought to Life a Boy Who Had Died_.

And it happened one day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a woman of wealth; and she persuaded him to eat bread. And so, as often as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said to her husband, "Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, who passeth by us continually. Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a candlestick: and, when he cometh to us, then will he turn in thither."

And it happened one day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite."

And when he had called her, she stood before him.

And he said to him, "Say now to her, 'Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?'"

And she answered, "I dwell among mine own people."

And he said, "What then is to be done for her?"

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ELISHA RAISES THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON.

One of the most touching stories of the Old Testament is that of the
rich woman of Shunem, who made a little chamber for the stern
prophet Elisha, with a "bed and a table and a seat and a
candlestick." Richly did the good man repay this hospitality, when
he gave the dear little lad, the mother's only child, who was
sunstruck in the hot sunshine of the harvest days, alive and well
again back to her arms.
[End illustration]

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And Gehazi answered, "Verily she hath no son."

And he said, "Call her."

And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, "At this season, when the time cometh round, thou shalt embrace a son."

And she said, "Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thine handmaid." But, as Elisha had said to her, a son was born.

And when the child was grown, it happened one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said to his father, "My head! my head!"

And he said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called to her husband, and said, "Send me, I pray thee, one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again."

And he said, "Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? it is neither new moon nor Sabbath."

And she said, "It shall be well."

Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, "Drive, and go forward; slacken not the riding, except I bid thee."

So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, "Behold, yonder is the Shunammite: run, I pray thee, now to meet {142} her, and say to her, 'Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child?'"

And she answered, "It is well."

And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, "Let her alone: for her soul is vexed within her; and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me."

Then she said, "Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, 'Do not deceive me'?"

Then he said to Gehazi, "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child."

And the mother of the child said, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee."

And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing.

Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, "The child is not awaked."

And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door, and prayed to the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon him; and the flesh of the child became warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up and {143} stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

And he called Gehazi, and said, "Call this Shunammite."

So he called her. And when she was come to him, he said, "Take up thy son."

Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

_How a Great Soldier Was Healed of Leprosy_.

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

And she said to her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! then would he heal him of his leprosy."

And one went in, and told his lord, saying, "Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel."

And the king of Syria said, "Go now, go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel."

And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "And now when this letter is come to thee, behold, {144} I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest heal him of his leprosy."

And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send to me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me."

And, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, "Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."

But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.' Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.

And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, 'Wash, and be clean?'"

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SHUNAMMITE BOY

Photograph taken by Mrs. Frank L. Goodspeed of Springfield, Mass.,
and used by her kind permission.

This is a charming picture of a modern Shunammite boy. Just so must
have looked the son of the wealthy Shunammite of Elisha's day as he
left her in the morning to follow his father in the harvest fields.
[End illustration]

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Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, "Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a present from thy servant."

But he said, "As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none." And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

And Naaman said, "If not, yet I pray thee let there be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but to the Lord. In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant; when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing."

And he said to him, "Go in peace." So he departed from him a little way.

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, "Behold, my master hath spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take something from him."

So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said, "Is all well?"

And he said, "All is well. My master hath sent me, {148} saying, 'Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment.'"

And Naaman said, "Be pleased to take two talents."

And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bore them before him.

And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master.

And Elisha said to him, "Whence comest thou, Gehazi?"

And he said, "Thy servant went nowhere."

And he said to him, "Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave to thee, and unto thy seed for ever."

And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

_How Elisha Returned Good for Evil_.

Now the king of Syria warred against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp."

And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down."

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LEPERS AT THE LEPER HOSPITAL, JERUSALEM
From a picture by Prof. D. G. Lyon and used by his kind permission

Leprosy was one of the terrible diseases in the days of the Old
Testament. It was much more prevalent then than now, and it spared
neither king nor commoner. "To be a leper was to be treated as dead--to
be excluded from the city as a corpse: to be spoken to by the best
beloved and most loving only at a distance: to dwell with none but
lepers; to be utterly unprivileged: to be denied the rites of the
temple and the synagogue: to go about with rent garments and covered
mouth, except when crying 'Unclean! unclean!' to find home in the
wilderness or in abandoned tombs; afraid to die, yet without hope
except in death."--_Gen. Lew Wallace in "Ben Hur"_
[End illustration]

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And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice. And the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, "Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?"

And one of his servants said, "Nay, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber."

And he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him."

And it was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! what shall we do?"

And he answered, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."

And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see."

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, "Smite {152} this people, I pray thee, with blindness." And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

And Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek." And he led them to Samaria.

And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, "Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see."

And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, "My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?"

And he answered, "Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master."

And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

_How the City of Samaria Was Sorely Besieged, and How It Was Wonderfully Delivered_.

And it came to pass that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and after they had besieged it for a long time, so that the city was in desperate straits, Elisha said, "Hear ye the word of the Lord: thus saith the Lord, 'To-morrow about this time shall a{153} measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'"

Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, "Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might this thing be?"

And he said, "Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof."

Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, "Why sit we here until we die? If we say, 'We will enter into the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; but if they kill us, we shall but die."

And they rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, "Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us."

Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, and entered into another tent, and {154} carried thence also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, "We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake us: now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household."

So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were."

And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's household within. And the king arose in the night, and said to his servants, "I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.'"

And one of his servants answered and said, "Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, and let us send and see."

They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see."

And they went after them as far as Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.

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RUINS OF SAMARIA

Samaria was splendidly situated to resist assault. On a hill 300 to
400 feet above the broad fertile valley, its battlements were beyond
bowshot of archers who might be stationed on near-by hills, and on no
side could catapults or towers be advanced. But the best situated
fortress may be starved out, and Samaria was in terrible distress when
one of those blind, unreasoning panics fell upon Ben-hadad's army, and
it fled away in the night with the city almost in its power.
[End illustration]

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And the people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. And the king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria"; and that captain answered the man of God, and said, "Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?" and he said, "Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof": it came to pass even so upon him; for the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.

_How Elisha Anointed a New King in Israel, and How a Terrible Fate Overtook the Wicked House of Ahab_.

(Ahab the wicked king died, but his son Joram, who was just as wicked as his father, reigned in his stead, and he was helped on in his wicked deeds by the wicked old queen mother Jezebel. But no matter how prosperous and powerful evil men may be, there always comes a time of retribution. Vengeance was now following fast on the footsteps of the wicked members of the house of Ahab. King Joram lay dying of a wound he had received in battle. Elisha saw that the time had come. He anointed privately as king, Jehu, a brave, headstrong young general of the army. Jehu did not wait for Joram to die, but made a bold dash for the throne. This story tells of the wild ride he took (we say, "he drives like Jehu," to the present day), of the way in which he beat down all obstacles in his path, and of the terrible fate which came to the house of Ahab.)

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And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said unto him, "Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber. Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, 'Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel.' Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not."

So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, "I have an errand to thee, O captain."

And Jehu said, "Unto which of us?"

And he said, "To thee, O captain."

And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, 'I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish. And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the rampart of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.'"

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And he opened the door, and fled. Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, "Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee?"

And he said to them, "Ye know the man and what his talk was."

And they said, "It is false; tell us now."

And he said, "Thus and thus spoke he to me, saying, 'Thus saith the Lord. I have anointed thee king over Israel.'"

Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, "Jehu is king."

So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. ( Now Joram kept Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria: but King Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.)

And Jehu said, "If this be your mind, then let none escape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel."

So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. Now the watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, "I see a company."

And Joram said, "Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, 'Is it peace?'"

So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, "Thus saith the king, 'Is it peace?'"

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And Jehu said, "What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me."

And the watchman told, saying, "The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again."

Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, "Thus saith the king, 'Is it peace?'" And Jehu answered, "What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me."

And the watchman told, saying, "He came even up to them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously."

And Joram said, "Make ready." And they made ready his chariot.

And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the field which had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?"

And he answered, "What peace, so long as the evil deeds of thy mother Jezebel and her witch crafts are so many?"

And Joram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, "There is treachery, O Ahaziah."

And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and smote Joram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, "Take him up, and cast him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for {161} remember how, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him; 'Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,' saith the Lord; 'and I will requite thee in this field,' saith the Lord. Now therefore cast him into this piece of ground, according to the word of the Lord."

But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, "Smite him also in the chariot": and they smote him on the way. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David.

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyelids, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, "Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master's murderer?"

And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, "Who is on my side? who?" And there looked out to him two or three servants.

And he said, "Throw her down."

So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trampled her under foot. And when he was come in, he ate and drank; and he said, "See now to this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter."

And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her {162} hands. Wherefore they came again and told him. And he said, "This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'In the rampart of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.'"

_How Elisha Had a Last Talk with the King_.

Now after many days Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!"

And Elisha said to him, "Take bow and arrows": and he took unto him bow and arrows.

And he said to the king of Israel, "Put thine hand upon the bow": and he put his hand upon it.

And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, "Open the window eastward": and he opened it.

Then Elisha said, "Shoot": and he shot.

And he said, "The Lord's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them."

And he said, "Take the arrows": and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Smite upon the ground": and he smote thrice, and stopped.

And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."

And Elisha died, and they buried him.

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TALES OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE

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THE STORY OF JONAH.

THE STORY OF A PROPHET TO WHOM GOD TAUGHT IN A WONDERFUL WAY THE LESSON OF OBEDIENCE.

_How Jonah Reluctantly Brought a Message of Repentance and Salvation to Nineveh_.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me."

But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid his fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was likely to be wrecked. Then the sailors were afraid, and cried every man to his god; and they cast forth the cargo of the ship into the sea, to lighten it. But Jonah was gone below: and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not."

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And they said, everyone to his fellow, "Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us."

So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, "Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?"

And he said unto them, "I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land."

Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "What is this that thou hast done?"

For the men knew that he had fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they to him, "What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm?" for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

And he said to them, "Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you."

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not: for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

Wherefore they cried to the Lord, and said, "We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee."

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JAFFA, THE ANCIENT JOPPA, LOOKING FROM THE SEA.
From a photograph belonging to Dr. W. J. Moulton
and used by his kind permission.

The city did not look just like this when Jonah came down to its
wharfs to escape from the command of the Lord. But it was a great
seaport, bustling with commerce in the days when the prophet found a
"ship" (about as large probably as a good-sized modern fishing boat)
bound to Tarshish, and "paid his fare" and took passage. Jaffa has the
only inside harbor between Egypt and Mount Carmel. At best the space
for shipping is very small. The entrance is very narrow and in high
seas very dangerous to enter.
[End illustration]

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So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and made vows. And the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly. And he said,--

"I called by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord,
And he answered me;
Out of the belly of hell cried I,
And thou heardest my voice.
For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas,
And the flood was round about me;
All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.
And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes;
Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
The waters compassed me about, even to the soul;
The deep was round about me;
The weeds were wrapped about my head.
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;
The earth with her bars closed upon me for ever:
Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord:
And my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
They that regard lying vanities
Forsake their own mercy.
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord."

And the Lord spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

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And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee."

So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."

And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles.

A PROCLAMATION.

_Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything: let them
not feed nor drink water: but let them be covered with sackcloth, both
man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn
everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their
hands. Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away
from his fierce anger, that we perish not?_

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

And he prayed to the Lord, and said, "I pray thee, O Lord, {171} was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee to Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live."

And the Lord said, "Doest thou well to be angry?" Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a shelter, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it ate the gourd, that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

And God said to Jonah, "Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?"

And he said, "I do well to be angry even unto death."

And the Lord said, "Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city; wherein are more than sixty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?"

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SAMSON.

THE STORY OF A MAN WITH A STRONG BODY, WHO OFTEN YIELDED TO TEMPTATION, AND WHO FELL BECAUSE HE WAS NOT STRONG IN SPIRIT.

_How Samson Slew a Lion and Made a Riddle_.

(There was a man of the tribe of Dan, whose name was Manoah, and he and his wife had a son whose name was Samson, and Samson had strength of body above all other men of his time.)

And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to be my wife."

Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the Philistines?"

And Samson said to his father, "Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well."

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel.

Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: {173} and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. And after a while he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went, and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. And Samson said to them, "Let me now put forth a riddle for you: if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment: but if ye cannot declare it to me, then shall ye give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment."

And they said to him, "Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it." And he said to them,--

"Out of the eater came forth food,
And out of the strong came forth sweetness."

And they could not in three days declare the riddle.

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And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, "Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to impoverish us?"

And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, "Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me."

And he said to her, "Behold, I have not told it to my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it to thee?"

And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?" And he said unto them,--

"If ye had not plowed with my heifer,
Ye had not found out my riddle."

And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

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_How Samson Burned the Cornfield and Slew His Enemies_.

At another time, Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing corn, and also the oliveyards.

Then the Philistines went up, and camped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men of Judah said, "Why are ye come up against us?"

And they said, "To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us."

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what then is this that thou hast done to us?"

And he said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them."

And they said to him, "We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines."

And Samson said unto them, "Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves."

And they spoke unto him, saying, "No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee."

And they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. When he came unto Lehi, the {176} Philistines shouted as they met him: and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.

And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith. And Samson said,--

"With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men."

_How Samson Carried Off the Gates of Gaza_.

And Samson went to Gaza. And it was told the Gazites, saying, "Samson is come hither." And they surrounded him, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, "Let be till morning light, then we will kill him."

And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

_How Samson Was Betrayed by His Own Weakness Into the Hands of His Enemies_.

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said unto her, {177} "Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee everyone of us eleven hundred pieces of silver."

And Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee."

And Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had men lying in wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."

And he broke the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

And Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound."

And he said to her, "If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."

So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."

And the men who were lying in wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

And Delilah said to Samson, "Hitherto thou hast {178} mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound."

And he said to her, "If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web in the loom." And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

And she said to him, "How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth."

And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was sorely vexed.

And he told her all his heart, and said to her, "There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my birth: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man."

And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he hath told me all his heart."

Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and his strength went from him.

And she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."

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THE VALLEY OF SOREK

From a photograph taken by Prof. D. G. Lyon
and used by his kind permission.

The valley of Sorek, a narrow gorge at its upper end, broadens out
into the lowlands of Judah at its lower end, and here in the
foothills overlooking the Philistine country was the home of Samson.
It was up this valley that the Philistines often made their
frequent raids against Jerusalem and the highlands of Judah. It was
here that the battle was fought when Israel was defeated under the
leadership of Eli's wicked sons, and "the ark of God was taken." The
modern railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem follows this valley.
[End illustration]

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