read them to the children of Israel, so that they might never forget God's commandments.

Neither ought we to forget God's commandments. They are written up in some churches, that we may read them. Did you ever see them? I should like you, my dear children, to learn these commandments; and I will tell you the meaning of them over again.

One of these commandments was, "Thou shalt have no other gods but me." God wished the Israelites to love him better than any thing else. But they did not. We shall hear of their wickedWe ought to love God better than everything else; for there is no one so kind and so good as God.

ness.

O God, how terrible wert thou,

When from the mountain's burning brow
Thy voice was heard!

Thunders and lightnings with thee came,
And thickest smoke and raging flame
Around appeared.

Well might each heart with terror thrill,
As loud--more loud-and louder still

The trumpet grew.

Well might a thousand lips implore
To hear thine awful voice no more,
Lest death ensue.

And yet the voice they could not bear
Is heard above, by angels fair,
With great delight;

When Adam dwelt in Eden's ground,
He heard that voice, nor did the sound
His soul affright

But when thy law he disobey'd,
For fear of thee-in deepest shade
He hid his head.

Thy thunderings' roar, and lightnings' blaze,
Would thus no righteous soul amaze,
Nor fill with dread.

And Israel too had broke thy law-
So trembled when they heard and saw
Thy dreadful power:

The God who made the thunders roll,
They knew could plunge each sinful soul
Where flames devour.

And have I not deserved to die?
How shall I dare to venture nigh
Thine awful throne!

My sins would fill my soul with dread,
Did not the blood that Jesus shed,
For all atone.

CHAPTER XXVIII

MOSES, OR THE GOLDEN CALF.

Ex. xxxii.

MOSES stayed in the mount forty days and forty nights. How did the Israelites behave when he was gone?

At first they behaved well, but at last they grew tired of waiting-they grew impatient. They wanted to go on to Canaan quickly, but the cloud stopped at the top of the mountain, and they were

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not allowed to go on unless it moved, and unless Moses told them to move: and now Moses was on the top of the mountain, they began to think he would never come back; so they went to Aaron, and said to him, "Make us some gods to before us, for we do not know what is become of Moses."

go

How wicked a thing to ask! But you know they had lived in Egypt, where they had seen people worship idols, and they had learned to do the same.

Aaron was afraid that they would kill him, if he did not make an image to please them. So he said, "Bring me your gold earrings." And the people brought him their golden earrings.

How did they get so many golden things?

The women of Egypt had given them gold before they set out on their journey.

Aaron melted all the earrings in the fire; then, when the gold was soft, he took a knife and cut it into an image. He made it in the shape of a calf. The people in Egypt worshipped calves.

As soon as the Israelites saw it they began to praise it, and say, "This is he who brought us out of Egypt." Then Aaron put it on a high place, and built an altar before it, and said that they would have a great feast the next day.

The next day they rose up early. They spent the day in worshipping the calf. They took their lambs and goats, and offered them on the altar of

sacrifices to the calf, and then rose up to sing and dance, all the while praising the calf.

You remember that they had promised a little while ago always to obey God, but they did not keep their promise. One of the ten commandments was, "Thou shalt not make an image, and bow down to it." How soon they broke that commandment !

Moses was at the top of the mountain talking with God. He did not know what they were doing, but God knew: and he said to Moses, "Go down; the people you brought out of Egypt have made a golden calf, and are worshipping it. I am very angry with them, and I will kill them all; but I will save you, Moses, and your children."

Moses was grieved to hear that the Lord was angry, and he entreated God to forgive the people. "Remember," he said, "how you have brought them out of Egypt, and how you promised Abraham that you would bless his children." And the Lord heard Moses' prayer; and determined that he would not kill them all. How kind Moses was to pray for the people; How kind God was to say that he would not kill all the people!

Then Moses went quickly down the mount, with the book of stone in his hand. When he had almost come to the bottom of the mount, he heard the noise of singing, and he knew that it was the Israelites praising their calf. At last he came to the tents, and he saw the calf, and the people danc

ing round it, like mad or drunken people. It was a dreadful sight for Moses to see. He grew more angry still, and he threw down the stone book upon the ground, and broke it into pieces. The Israelites had broken God's laws, and Moses broke the book in his anger and his grief. Moses would not give that stone book to these wicked people.

Do you not think the people must have been afraid when they saw Moses again?

They had thought they should never have seen him again: but he had caught them in their wickedness.

He took the calf—(and no one tried to hinder him) he threw it again in the fire: then afterwards he ground it into powder, and threw it into some water, and made the Israelites drink that bitter water.

Moses was very angry with Aaron for having made the calf. Moses said to him, "Why did you let the people be so wicked ?"

Aaron said, "do not be angry with me: the people chose to be wicked, and they asked me to make the calf; I did it to please them."

This was a bad excuse. Aaron to make the calf.

It was very wicked in

We should not do wick

ed things, even when people ask us.

Moses told some of the men to take swords, and to kill a great many people; and they killed three thousand men with swords. And God made a great many other people fall very ill.

These were the punishments that God sent to