brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth. "And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee. "And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house and the king and his throne be guiltless. : "And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. "Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the Lord thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. "Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. "And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished. "For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth He devise means that His banished be not expelled from Him. "Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid. "For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. "Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee. "Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. "And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid: "To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. "And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. "And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant. "So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. "And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face." NOTES.-Joab was David's nephew, son of Zeruiah, David's sister. David made him chief captain of all his army, because in the attack on the stronghold of Jebus Joab was the first to scale the fortress. Avenger of blood-According to the law of Moses, if a man killed another intentionally, the nearest of kin to the murdered man had the right to kill him wherever he found him. QUESTIONS. What was the parable of the two brothers? Who made it? Who spoke it? To whom? What was David's judgment? Who is meant by "the heir?" What did the woman ask might be done with the free pardon? Why could not David give one to Absalom? What had Absalom done? Who was his brother? Where was Absalom? How did David still punish him? How did Absalom behave? What would you call his conduct to his father? What became of him? CHAPTER LXXXIX. PARABLES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT (continued). THERE are two other parables spoken by prophets. One of these was to reprove the King of Israel for letting the King of Syria escape, when God had given him into his hands. Ahab, King of Israel, had humbled himself before God, and the Syrians had been defeated once; but they excused the defeat by saying the God of the Hebrews was a god of the hills, and so had helped them by sending down a storm upon their enemies. They thought if they could draw them into the plain, they should have them in their own power, and the "god of the hills" could not help them there: so they brought up very great armies, till they covered all the plain of Esdraelon like swarms of grasshoppers, a very great multitude." 66 So God said, He would shew them that He was not a "god of the hills" only, but of all the world; and He came down and helped the two little companies of the Israelites, that looked only like two little flocks of kids on the mountains, and He smote the Syrians, so that they all fled, and Benhadad, their king, was taken prisoner. Then he humbled himself before the King of Israel, and put a halter round his neck, and fell on his face before him, and offered to become his servant, and to give up Damascus to him. Then the King of Israel had pity on him, took him up into his chariot, called him his brother, and made peace with him. But God was angry with him for doing so: because Benhadad had defied God, who had given him into the hands of Ahab to punish him for his unbelief. 3. THE ESCAPED PRISONER. "A certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the Lord, Smite me, pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. I "Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou THE AC Wi Edited by CAN Printed FIRST BOOK, 100 SECOND BOOK, 1 THIRD BOOK, 20 FOURTH BOOK, FIFTH BOOK, 32 SIXTH BOOK, for SIXTH BOOK, for SIXTH BOOK, for E HISTORY OF ENG Extra Fcap SPECIMENS OF F to the 19th EMINENT ENGLI OUTLINES OF NA Illustrated, OUTLINES OF N don. 192 1 OUTLINES OF DO London. 1 OUTLINES OF P ELOCUTION IN HISTORY OF EN LL.D., Lon HISTORY OF S Illustration HISTORY OF GRE HISTORY OF RO HISTORY OF FR. HISTORY OF INI LANDMARKS OF Extra Fcap. OLD TESTAMENT NEW TESTAMENT |