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النشر الإلكتروني

"As the

give him back to her, even from the dead. Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth," said the mother of the child, "I will not leave thee."

Wonderful, indeed, was her faith, when even death could not shake it. She had seen the child, whom she had so tenderly nursed and loved, droop and die: why did she not lay him in the grave, as her neighbours and her friends had so often done before her, with the bodies of those whom they had lost? She had never known the souls of the dead to come back to their bodies again; why, then, was she so anxious to see the man of God? Why was she so unwilling to leave him, until she had brought him to her child? Was it not her faith that taught her all this? Did it not enable her to believe most firmly that the power of God was greater than death? and that, though most persons when they died turned to the dust from which they came, yet might her child be restored to her, if such were the will of God?

E. What did Elisha do for her, mamma?

M. He arose, my love, and followed her to her home: that home, which had been so happy when he last was there, and which was now turned into a house of mourning.

Gehazi had gone on before them, and laid the prophet's staff on the face of the child; this he did by his master's desire, who did not know but that the Lord might allow even the touch of his staff to awake the dead. Gehazi had done as he had been told, but there were no signs of returning life; "there was neither voice nor hearing." Wherefore he went again to meet Elisha, and told him, saying, "The child is not awaked." "And when Elisha was come into the

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her child was given back to her even from the dead. I will only tell you that, before she would suffer herself to embrace her son, she fell at the prophet's feet, and bowed herself to the ground; silently offering up to God, in that humble posture, the praises of her thanks ful heart.

TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY EVENING.

NAAMAN THE SYRIAN,

E. DID the prophet Elisha work any more miracles, mamma, after he raised the Shunammite's child from the dead?

M. Yes; there were more miracles worked by Elisha, I think, than by any other prophet, either before or after him. In the same chapter which tells us the interesting story I have just been relating to you, we find two other miracles mentioned.

The first was performed at Gilgal, where there was at this time a famine. Elisha, and the sons of the prophets, were sitting down to dine upon some pottage, into which by mistake some poisonous gourds had been put. “ And it came to pass, that, as the men were eating of the pottage, they cried out and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot; and they could not eat thereof."

E. What did Elisha do then ?

M.“ He called for some meal and cast it into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat;" for there was no longer“ any harm in the pot The sons of the prophets knew very well that a hand

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M. It does, my love, extending to the east of Mount Lebanon, which you know formed the northern boundary of the Holy Land. And now can you tell me what the chief town of Syria was?

E. Let me see, mamma; just let me look on the map. Is this it? is it Damascus ?

M. Yes; Damascus was the capital of the Syria of which we are now speaking : for at different times the name was given to different portions of country in that part of Asia. The Syria which had Damascus for its capital was once conquered by David ; but the kings who followed Solomon were unable to keep it under their power; and it was now governed by a king of its own, who was not subject to the king of • Israel.

Now, in the days of Elisha, there was a very great man in Syria, called Naaman. He was the captain of the armies of the king of Syria, and much valued by his master, and held in great honour by all around him; because he had gained great victories for his country, and delivered her from her enemies on every side. For “ Naaman was a mighty man in valour.”

Great, honourable, and mighty, beloved by his king and his country, yet Naaman was far from happy : nay, even the poorest servant of his house was happier than he: for Naaman was a leper. I think I have told you before, that a leper is a person afflicted with a very shocking disease, called leprosy, which covers the whole body, and makes the flesh as white as snow. It is a sickness which no medicine can cure; Naaman had, no doubt, searched far and wide for any physician who might be able to heal him ; but there was none;

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