the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle; and to settle it, Abram said that it would be best for his nephew and himself to separate from each other. He therefore bade Lot choose the part of the country in which he would like to live; and Lot chose a part near the river Jordan, whither he went with his family and servants, and sheep and cattle, and he set up his tent near the city of Sodom.

This plain was well watered everywhere; it was as the garden of the Lord: but the men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

When Lot had gone, God spoke to Abram, who remained in the land of Canaan, and told him how greatly He meant to bless him: making him the father of His chosen people. He bade him look around him, north, south, east, and west, telling him that all the land which he saw should be his own, to belong to him and his family for ever..

God also bade Abram go about the land wherever he pleased, as it was to be his. Then Abram removed his tent and dwelt in the plain of Mamre. And there again he built an altar and worshipped God.

While Abram lived thus in the plain of Mamre, he had before long to go to war to save his nephew, Lot, who was being carried away prisoner.

Four kings from the north came and fought against five kings in the south, where Lot lived; and the four kings from the north gained the victory, and carried off every thing they could find, and a great

many prisoners; and amongst the prisoners Abram's nephew, Lot.

When Abram heard of this he called together three hundred and eighteen of his people, who could fight, and with them he followed the four kings a long way; then at night he attacked them and overcame them, and brought back his nephew Lot, and all that were with him, and all that belonged to him.

The King of Sodom went out to meet the great chief who had done what the five kings of the south could not do. Also Melchizedek,

King of Salem and Priest of God, gave to Abram bread and wine, and blessed him in the name of the Lord. Thus great honour was shown to the man whom God had chosen.

But though honoured by men, Abram gave the honour to God; and to the priest of God he gave a tenth share of all the things which he had carried off in battle; and when the King of Sodom wished Abram to keep for himself the spoil which he had rescued from the four kings, Abram refused it: for he said that he had declared before his God that he would take no reward, lest the king might say that he, and not the Lord, had made him rich.

GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAM.

BRAM and Sarai had no children, and Abram often wondered how God meant that the land of Canaan should belong not only to him but also to his sons and grandsons and to his family after

him, and that he should be the father of a great nation. So he one day asked God how it could be.

God, Who talked with him like a friend, said that he should yet have a son, and bade him look up at the starry sky and try to count the stars, saying that the number of his descendants should be as the number of the stars of heaven.

And Abram believed what the Lord said to him, and his faith was reckoned as goodness in God's sight.

When God talked that day with Abram, telling him that his family should indeed dwell in the land of Canaan, Abram asked for a sign that it should be so. Then God bade him take a heifer, and a goat, and a ram, and a turtle-dove, and a pigeon, that they might, after the manner of those days, make an agreement.

Abram did as God commanded, and, keeping the birds for sacrifice, he divided the other animals into halves; and he watched beside them. At sunset Abram fell into a very deep sleep, and a great darkness fell upon him; and as he slept God spoke to him, saying that his family should for a time be strangers in a strange land, and should serve the people of that land, and should be ill-treated for four hundred years; but the people of that land God would judge, and the family of Abram should at last come out of the land of the stranger with great riches.

But this would not be until after the death of Abram, who should

die in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

Then, in the darkness, a light moved amongst the pieces of the animals which Abram had divided, and this was a sign that God made a covenant, or agreement, that it should be as He said.

After this God gave Abram a son, who was called Ishmael, and when Ishmael was fourteen years old, God one day spoke to Abram again about the great things He would do for him, telling him again that He would give that land to him and to his children after him; and I, He said, will be their God.

Then He told Abram that He would make another covenant with him, called Circumcision; and every boy when eight days old must be from thenceforth solemnly brought to God and made one of His own people by the cutting of his skin. And God said that Abram should now be called Abraham, which meant Father of a great multitude,' and also that his wife, Sarai, should now be called Sarah, which meant Princess.' And Sarah, He said, should have a son, who should inherit the blessings and promises.

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Now Abraham loved his son Ishmael, who was his only child and his companion, so he prayed the Lord to bless him: he said, O that Ishmael might live before Thee! Then God answered that He had heard his prayer for his boy, and that He had blessed Ishmael also, though the promises were for the son whom He was yet to give him, and whose name was to be Isaac.

After this, as Abraham was one day in the heat of noon sitting in the doorway of his tent, he looked up and saw three men standing by him; and seeing them, he rose up and ran to meet them, bowing down before them, and begging them not to pass by his tent, but to stop and rest under the tree, and bathe their feet, and eat some food.

The strangers did as the kind. chief invited them to do; and while they rested he hastened back to his tent and bade Sarah make cakes for them as quickly as she could. Then he fetched the best calf that he had, and told one of his young men to cook it. Then he took butter and milk and the calf, and set it before the three guests under the tree, and he stood by to wait upon them while they ate.

Then the Lord, Who was One of the Three, told Abraham again that he should have a son, and Sarah, who was in the tent, heard it. On hearing it she laughed in scorn, because she did not believe it. She only laughed within herself, in her own thoughts, as it were, and she was out of sight, as she supposed; but the Lord knew it, and said, Wherefore did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Sarah was afraid when she heard this, and said that she did not laugh; but the Lord could not be deceived, and He answered, Nay, but thou didst laugh.

Then the Three rose up, and went on their way.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN.

HE Three now journeyed towards the city of Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. As they went, the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?

The Lord then told Abraham for what purpose He was going to Sodom.

The city of Sodom, He said, and also the city of Gomorrah, another city of the plain, were exceedingly wicked; and He was now on His way to visit both cities, to judge whether or no they deserved punishment.

Then, while the Lord stood and talked with Abraham, the two who were with Him went on with their faces toward Sodom.

Now Abraham's nephew, Lot, had gone, as has been already said, to dwell in the plain, and had taken up his abode close to Sodom; and on hearing what the Lord said about the two cities, Abraham feared for his nephew. He therefore drew near to the Lord, to plead with Him.

First he asked the Lord whether He would spare the city if He found in it fifty good people.

The Lord answered, that if He found in Sodom fifty good people He would not destroy the city.

Then Abraham asked the Lord if He would spare the city if He found in it but forty-five good