صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

day, and feethe that ye will feethe: and that which remaineth over lay up for you,to be kept until the morning

10....So the people refted on the feventh day. And the house of Ifrael called the name thereof manna; and it was like coriander-feed, white: and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

11...And Mofes faid, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, fill an omer of it, to be kept for your generations; that they may fee the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.

12....And Moles faid unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generation. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years until they came to a land inhabited.

1....

CHAPTER XV.

A BLASPHEMER STONED.

Now

OW the son of an Ifraelitish woman, whofe father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Ifrael; and this fon of the Ifraelitifh woman and a man of Ifrael ftrove together in the camp: and the Ifraelitifh woman's fon blasphemed the name of the Lord, and curfed.

2....And they brought him to Mofes and they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be fhewed them. And the Lord fpake unto Mofes, faying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation ftone him.

G

3....And thou shalt fpeak unto the children of Ifrael, faying, Wholdever curfeth his God fhall bear his fin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord,he fhall. furely be put to death, and all the congregation fhall certainly fione him as well the firanger as he that is born in the land, when he blafphemeth the name of the Lord, he fhall be put to death.

4....And Mofes fpake to the children of Ifrael, that they fhould bring forth him who had curfed out of the camp, and ftone him with ftones. And the children of Ifrael did as the Lord commanded.

REMARKS.

The foregoing paffage of facred hiftory is a folemn and awful warning against profane curfing and fwearing this is an heinous evil that fhall not go unpun.. ihed; for the Lord will not hold them guiltless who take his name in vain. As profane fwearing is offenfive to heaven, it quenches the good fpirit, hardens the heart, and tupifies the confcience, and plainly betokens a depraved and ungodly mind.

Profane language is, moreover, contemptible for its. vulgarity, or ill manners. It violates the rules of good breeding; it is a grofs infult upon any well bred and refpectable company; it degrades a gentleman to a level with a clown; and in a lady, it is peculiarly indelicate and disgusting.

A youth who wishes for innocence and peace of mind and to be refpe&table in the world, will carefully fhun fuch foul and polluted language.

1..

CHAPTER XVI.

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF GIDEON.

Now

A. M. 2759.

OW the children of Ifrael did evil in the fight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian feven years. And because of the Midianites the children of Ifrael made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caverns, and ftrong holds.

2....And fo it was, when Ifrael had fown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east and they encamped against them, and deftroyed the increase of the earth, and left no fufte-, nance for Ifrael; for they came up with their cattle, and their tents, as grafshoppers for multitude; both they and their camels were without number. And Ifrael was greatly impoverished because of the Midian. ites; and the children of Ifrael cried unto the Lord.

3.And the Lord fent a prophet unto the children of Ifrael, who faid unto them, Thus faith the Lord God of Ifrael, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the houfe of bondage, and I delivered you out of the hand of all who oppreffed you. And I faid unto you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites in whofe land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

4...And there came an Angel of the Lord, and fat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joath and his fon Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-prefs, to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and faid unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor

5....And Gideon faid unto him, O my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers have told us of, faying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt ? But now the Lord hath forfaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

6....And the Lord looked upon him, and faid, Go in this thy might, and thou fhall fave Ifrael from the hand of the Midianites: have I not fent thee? And he faid unto him, Oh my Lord wherewith fhall I fave If. rael? Behold my family is poor in Manaffeh, and I am the least in my father's houfe. And the Lord faid Ato him, furely I will. be with thee, and thou fhalt fmite the Midianites as one man.

7....And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy fight, then fhew me a fign that thou talkeft with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my prefent, and set it before thee, And he laid, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour; the flesh he put in a bafket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and prefented it.

8....And the Angel of God faid unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did fo. Then the Angel of the Lord put forth the end of the Ataff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rofe up fire out of the rock, and confumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the Angel of the Lord departed out of his fight.

9....And when Gideon perceived that he was an Angel of the Lord, Gideon faid, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have leen an Angel of the Lord face to face.

And the Lord faid unto him, Peace be unto thee, fear not thou fhalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord.

10....And it came to pass the fame night, that the Lord faid unto him, Take thy father's young bulloek, and throw down the altar of Baal which thy father hath, aud eut down the grove that is by it; and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the bullock, and offer a burnt facrifice with the wood which thou fhalt cut down.

11.... Then Gideon took ten men of his fervants, and did as the Lord had faid unto him; and so it was, be caule he feared his father's houfehold, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

12.... And when the men of the city arofe early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was caft down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the fecond bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. And they laid one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired, and afked, they faid, Gideon the fon of Joafh, hath done this thing,.

13....Then the men of the city faid to Joafh, Bring out thy fon, that he may die because he hath caf down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cat down the grove that was by it. And Joafh faid unto all who ftood against him, Will ye plead for Baal ? will ye fave him? He that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilft it is yet morning: if he be a God, let him plead for himself, because one hath caft down his altar.

14....Then all the Midianites, and the Amalekites,

« السابقةمتابعة »