there were that said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, because of the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and our vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we are bringing into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.

And I was much grieved when I heard their cry and these words. Then I consulted with myself; and afterward I called a great assembly. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren, that were sold unto the nations; and would ye even sell your brethren, and should they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found never a word. Also I said, The thing that ye do is not good, seeing that he that oppresseth his brother reproacheth his Maker: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God? Now restore to this people, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, also the money, and the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that ye exact from them. Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, even as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they would do according to this promise.

NEHEMIAH VIII

Then all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law. And he brought the book before the assembly of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And he opened the book in the sight of all the people, and read therein from early morning until midday; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. And he read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and he gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

And Ezra, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. (For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.) Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye grieved; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. And all the people went their way with gladness of heart, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

THE BOOK OF JOB

JOB I, II

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away his heart from evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred cattle, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Now it fell on a day when his sons and daughters were feasting in their eldest brother's house, that there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the cattle feeding; and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away: yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, Fire is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and made a raid upon the camels, and have taken them away, yea, and have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone

to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were feasting in their eldest brother's house; and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped; and he said, Naked came I into the world, and naked shall I return hence: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. And his wife said unto him, Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce God, and die! But he said. unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips, nor charge God foolishly.

JOB IV, V

Now a thing was secretly brought to me,
And mine ear received a whisper thereof.
In thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falleth on men,
Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones to shake.
Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair of my flesh stood up.

It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof;

A form was before mine eyes:

There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

Shall mortal man be more just than God?
Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants;
And his angels he chargeth with folly:

How much more them that dwell in houses of

clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust!

But as for me, I would bow before the Almighty,
And unto God would I commit my cause;
Who doeth great things and unsearchable,
Marvellous things without number:

Who setteth up on high those that are low,
And exalteth to safety those that mourn.
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot perform their enter-
prise.

They meet with darkness in the daytime,

And grope at noonday as in the night.

But the meek he saveth from the sword of their mouth,

Even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
So the meek hath hope,

And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

JOB V

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.

For he maketh sore, and bindeth up;

He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
He will deliver thee in six troubles;