HEBREW SCRIPTURES. PENTATEUCH.

IN

SELECTION I.

N the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

God called the dry land Earth; and

A theory of creation, probably suggested the gathering together of the waters to Moses by the teachings of the learned called he Seas: and God saw that it Egyptians among whom he was educated, was good. And God said, Let the and by him transcribed into the language earth bring forth grass, the herb and imagery of the ancient Hebrews. yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herbs, yielding seed after their kind, and trees yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third period.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first period.

5 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God caused the two great lights to appear; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: the stars also he caused to appear. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to 4 And God said, Let the waters divide the light from the darkness: under the heaven be gathered to- and God saw that it was good. And gether unto one place, and let the the evening and the morning were dry land appear: and it was so. And the fourth period.

3 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God caused the firmament to appear, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second period.

I

6 And God said, Let the waters hold, I have given you every herb bring forth abundantly the moving bearing seed, which is upon the face creature that hath life, and fowl that of all the earth, and every tree, in may fly above the earth in the open the which is the fruit of a tree yieldfirmament of heaven. And God ing seed; to you it shall be for meat. created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth period.

7 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind and it was so. And God created the

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had created, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth period

SELECTION II.

Showing the piety and uprightness of
of the Israelites.
Abram, the ancient ancestor of the race
of the Israelites.

AND Abram went up out of
Egypt, he, and his wife, and

beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every all that he had, and Lot with him, thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the

8 And God said, Let us create man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every first: and there Abram called on creeping thing that creepeth upon the name of the LORD.

2 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able

the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed to bear them, that they might dwell them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Be

together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

3 And Abram said unto Lot, Let Mamre, which is in Hebron, and there be no strife, I pray thee, be- built there an altar unto the LORD. tween me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we

¶ Abraham's intercession for Sodcm.

AND the LORD said, Shall I hide

from Abraham that thing which

I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD,

are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,) to do justice and judgment; that even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves the one from the other.

the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

2 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and

4 Abram dwelled in the land of see whether they have done altoCanaan: and Lot dwelled in the cities gether according to the cry of it, of the plain, and pitched his tent which is come unto me; and if not, toward Sodom. But the men of I will know. Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

3 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the 5 And the LORD said unto Abram, righteous with the wicked? Peradafter that Lot was separated from venture there be fifty righteous withhim, Lift up now thine eyes, and in the city: wilt thou also destroy look from the place where thou art and not spare the place for the fifty northward, and southward, and east-righteous that are therein? That be ward, and westward: for all the land far from thee to do after this manwhich thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thine offspring for ever. And I will make thine offspring as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thine offspring also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

6 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of

ner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

4 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

5 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which

righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

am but dust and ashes: peradventure and took two of his young men with there shall lack five of the fifty him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

7 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

8 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with, Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

¶ Abraham's unquestioning obedience, even to what afterward proved to be a mistaken sense of duty.

3 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

4 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took

AND it came to pass after these the knife to slay his son.

And the

things, that God did try Abra- angel of the LORD called unto him. ham, and said unto him, Abraham: out of heaven, and said, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am. And Abraham: and he said, Here am I. he said, Take now thy son, thine And he said, Lay not thine hand only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, upon the lad, neither do thou any and get thee into the land of Mo-thing unto him: for now I know riah; and offer him there for a burnt that thou fearest God, seeing thou offering upon one of the mountains hast not withheld thy son, thine only which I will tell thee of. son from me.

2 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass,

5 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him