sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain; it may chance of wheat or of some other grain: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is

raised in power: it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin ;. and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

SCRIPTURE SCHOOL READER.

PART THIRD.

POETICAL.

HABAKKUK.

GOD came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had horns coming out of his hand;
And there was the hiding of his power.
Before him went the pestilence,

And burning coals went forth at his feet.
He stood, and measured the earth:

He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;

And the everlasting mountains were scattered,

The perpetual hills did bow:

His ways are everlasting.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction:

And the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

Was the Lord displeased against the rivers?

Was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea,
That thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
Thy bow was made quite naked,
According to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

The mountains saw thee, and they trembled:

The overflowing of the water passed by:

The deep uttered his voice,

And lifted up his hands on high.

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation:
At the light of thine arrows they went,
And at the shining of thy glittering spear.
Thou didst march through the land in indignation,
Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,

Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked,

By discovering the foundation unto the neck.

Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages:
They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me:
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses.
Through the heap of great waters.

When 1 heard, my lips quivered at the voice:
Rottenness entered into my bones,

And I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble:

When he cometh up unto the people,
He will invade them with his troops.
Although the fig-tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

ISAIAH.

THE wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:

The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and

Sharon,

They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not:
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,

Even God with a recompense;
He will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
And the tongue of the dumb shall sing:
For in the wilderness shall waters break out,
And streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water:
In the habitation of dragons, where each lay,
Shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

And an highway shall be there, and a way,
And it shall be called, The way of holiness;

The unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those :

The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
No lion shall be there,

Nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon,
It shall not be found there;

But the redeemed shall walk there :

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,

And come up to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads:
They shall obtain joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

COMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,

That her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned:
For she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the

Lord,

Make straight in the desert a high-way for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain :

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together:

For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry?

All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth :

Because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it:

Surely the people is grass.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth :

But the word of our God shall stand for ever.

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain ;
O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength
Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule

for him:

Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd:

He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom,

And shall gently lead those that are with young.

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

And meted out heaven with the span,

And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,

And weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord,

Or being his counsellor hath taught him?

With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him,

And taught him in the path of judgment,

And taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket,