Page images
PDF
EPUB

earth do right? What did the Lord say? He said, if I find in Sodom fifty righteous, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

And when Abraham prayed again and said, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, though I am but dust and ashes. If there lack five of the fifty, wilt thou destroy the city for the lack of five? what did God say? He said, if I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

When he prayed again, and said if there are forty there? what was the answer? He said, I will not do it for forty's sake.

Then Abraham prayed and said, O let not the Lord be angry, and I will ask, if there shall thirty be found there? what did God say then? He said, I will not destroy it for thirty's sake

When Abraham asked again—If there shall be twenty there? what was the answer? God said I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.

When Abraham prayed again, O let not the Lord be angry and I will speak but this once, if there shall be ten found there? what did the I ord say? I will not destroy it for ten's sake. Then Abraham returned to his house.

Who came to Lot's house in Sodom, that evening? Two angels.

What did Lot say to them? Ife bowed himself down before them, and asked them to come in, and tarry all night.

Did the peopie of Sodom behave very wickedly that night? They did; and were about to break the door of Lot's house, but the angels smote them with blindness, so that they could not find the door.

What did the angels say to Lot in the morning? They told him, to take all his children and bring them out of that place, because the wickedness was so great, God must destroy it.

Did not Lot's sons-in-law believe him when he told them the Lord was about to destroy the city, and they must go out of it? They did not believe him, and would not go out.

Were the angels obliged to hasten Lot? They were, and laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hands of his two daughters, and led them out of the city.

[ocr errors]

What did the angels then say to them? Escape for thy life, look not behind thee-escape to the mountains, lest thou be consumed.

How did the Lord destroy those wicked cities? When the sun was up, the Lord rained upon Sodom and morrah brimstone and fire, and consumed them with all the inhabitants.

When Abraham rose early that morning, and walked abroad, and looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah what did he see? He beheld, and lo! the smoke of that burning country was rising up as the smoke of a furnace.

Was Abraham happy? He was a happy man, because he loved and obeyed God.

Did Abraham love and bless his son Isaac? He did, and when he was old he made his servant promise to be faithful to his son.

STORY OF JOSEPH.

Who were Isaac's sons? Esau and Jacob.

What can you tell me about Jacob? Jacob was the father of Joseph.

[ocr errors]

Had he other sons? He had twelve sons; but Joseph was the one he loved most.

Why was Joseph loved?

Because he was lovely; the fear and love of God were in him.

What did Jacob do for Joseph, that caused his brethren to hate him? He made him a coat of many colors, and when his brethren saw his father loved him most, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

What did Joseph dream? He dreamed that he and his brethren were binding sheaves together in the field, and that his brothers' sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. And he told it to his brethren, and they were very angry, and hated him the more for his dreain.

What did they think he meant by such a dream? They thought he expected them to bow down to him,

and serve him. And they said, will you indeed rule over us?

What is a dream? What we think of when we are asleep.

Do you ever dream?

When the sons of Jacob went away into the fields to take care of the sheep and cattle, who did Jacob send to see how they did? He sent Joseph; and when his brethren saw him coming they said, behold this dreamer cometh; let us kill him, and cast him into some pit; then we'll say, some evil beast has killed him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams?

Were all his brethren ready to kill him? No; Reuben, his eldest brother, said, let us not kill him, we can 'put him in a pit and let him die there; intending to come and take him out, when his brethren were gone.

How did poor Joseph feel when his brethren were about to kill him? Joseph, in anguish, cried to them to let him go, but they would not hear him. They stripped off his coat of many colors and threw him into a pit.

What is a pit? A deep hole in the ground.

What did they do then? They sat down to eat, and while they were eating they looked and saw a company of men with their camels, going to Egypt.

What did Judah say then? He said, it can be no profit for us to kill our brother; come, let us sell him to these men; let us not kill him, for he is our brother.

Did they sell him? They drew him out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver.

What did they do with Joseph's coat of many colors? They tore it in pieces, and killed a kid and dipped it in the blood, then carried it home, and showed it to their father.

Why did they do this? To make their father think some wild beast had killed him.

What did they say to their father, when they showed him the coat? This have we found; do you know whether it is your son's coat?

Did their father know the coat? He knew it, and said, this is my son's coat; an evil beast hath killed him;

poor Joseph is no doubt torn in pieces; and he rent his clothes, and mourned for his son many days.

Did his children try to comfort him? All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he would not be comforted; for he said, I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning; thus his father wept for him.

JOSEPH IN EGYPT.

What did those men who bought Joseph, do with him? They carried him away to Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar.

Was God with Joseph in Egypt? He was; Joseph loved God, and would not be wicked, and God was with him, and took care of him.

What did Potiphar do for him? He made him overseer over his house; for he saw that the fear of God was in him.

What is an overseer? the servants what to do.

One who takes care, and tells

Was Joseph faithful to Potiphar? He was, and God blessed Potiphar for Joseph's sake.

What was done to Joseph next?

On a time when Potiphar came home, his wife told him a lie about Joseph, and inade him think Joseph had done very wickedly.

What then? Potiphar was very angry with Joseph, and sent him to the prison and shut him in with the king's prisoners.

And was God with Joseph in the prison? He was; and the keeper of the prison made him overseer in the prison.

[ocr errors]

What did he do for the prisoners? He interpreted their dreams.

What induced them to tell Joseph their dream? When he came in to them one morning, he said, why do you look so sadly to-day? And they said, we have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpretër.

What did Joseph say? Interpretations belong to God; tell me your dream.

What did they tell him? The chief butler told him, he dreamed the king's cup was in his hand, and he pressed three bunches of grapes into it and made wine in the cup, and gave it to the king.

What did Joseph tell him his dream meant? He told him that in three days he should be let out of prison and stand before the king with his cup, to give him drink, as he used to do.

What did Joseph ask him to do, when he should be let out of prison? He told him to persuade the king to let him out also, for he said, I was stolen away from my own home and brought into Egypt, and I have done nothing here, that they should put me in this dungeon.

Was it done to the king's prisoners, as Joseph told them it should be? It was. The third day being the king's birth day, he took his prisoners out of the prison, and the chief butler he took to live with him again and give him his drink, but the baker was hanged as Joseph had told them he should be..

Did the butler remember to ask the king to take Joseph out of prison? No, he forgot him, and never told the king about him for two years.

JOSEPH BROUGHT TO PHARAOH.

How came the chief butler to remember Joseph when he had not seen him for two years? The king dreamed a dream that troubled him, and he sent for all his wise men, and no one could tell him what his dream meant; then the butler began to think how Joseph told him the interpretation of his dream, in the prison.

When persons get out of trouble, should they remember such as are in trouble? They should, and help them; for we live to do good.

Did king Pharaoh send for Joseph to tell him what his dream meant? When the butler told Pharaoh that Josephi interpreted his dream, he sent for him and Joseph came and stood before Pharaoh.

What did Joseph say, when the king told him that he wanted him to interpret his dream? He said, it is not in me, God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

« PreviousContinue »