THE NEW PICTORIAL BIBLE

1	The Creation of Light.
	Gen. i. 1-3.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light: and there was light.

2	The Division of the Waters.
	Gen. i. 6, 7.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

3	Woman formed.
	Gen. ii. 22, 23, 25.

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

4	Adam naming the creatures.
	Gen. ii. 19, 20.

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.

5	The serpent deceiveth Eve.
	Gen. iii. 4, 6.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

6	Adam and Eve driven from the garden.
	Gen. iii. 23, 24.

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

7	Noah entering the ark.
	Gen. vii. 7-10.

And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

8	Babel built.
	Gen. xi. 4, 8.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9	Lot and his Daughters leave Sodom.
	Gen. xix. 15, 30.

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters, which are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

10	Abraham offereth Isaac.
	Gen. xxii. 10-12.

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

11	Joseph is cast into the pit.
	Gen. xxxvii. 23, 24.

And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours, that was on him. And they took him, and cast him into a pit; and the pit was empty, and there was no water to it.

12	Joseph tempted by Potaphar’s Wife.
	Gen. xxxix. 7, 10, 12.

And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie with her, or to be with her. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

13	The finding of Moses.
	Exod. ii. 5, 6.

And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side: and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrew’s children.

14	Moses smiteth the rock.
	Exod. xvii. 5, 6.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

15	Moses receiveth the Tables.
	Exod. xxxiv. 1, 4.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And he hewed two tables of stone, like unto the first: and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up into Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

16	Jericho compassed.
	Josh. vi. 12, 13.

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And seven priests, bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord, went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the reward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

17	The sun and moon stand still.
	Josh. x. 12, 13.

Then spake Joshua to the Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.

18	Samson’s Death.
	Judges xvi. 29, 30.

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were within.

19	David Killeth Goliath.
	1 Sam. xvii. 49, 51.

And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith.

20	Absalom caught up in the oak.
	2 Sam. xviii. 9.

And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.

21	Solomon’s Judgement.
	1 Kings iii. 25, 26.

And the King said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, (for her bowels yearned upon her son,) and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: but the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

22	Solomon’s Temple.
	1 Kings vi. 2, 3.

And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

23	Elijah fed by ravens.
	1 Kings xvii. 3, 4, 6.

Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

24	The Assyrians Overthrown.
	1 Kings xx. 20, 21.

And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

25	Elijah is taken up into heaven.
	2 Kings ii. 11, 12.

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that behold there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both assunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

26	Jezebel eaten by dogs.
	2 Kings ix. 35, 36.

And they went to bury Jezebel; but they found no more of her than the scull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again, and told him; and he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs, eat the flesh of Jezebel.

27	Belshazzar’s Feast.
	Dan. v. 3-5.

The king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of a hand that wrote.

28	Daniel cast into the den of lions.
	Dan. vi. 21, 22, 23.

Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.

29	Jonah is swallowed by a fish.
	Jonah i. 17. ii. 10.

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

30	The Salutation.
	Luke i. 30, 31, 32.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.

31	Wise men enquire after Christ.
	Matt. ii. 11, 12.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

32	The baptism of Jesus.
	Luke iii. 21, 22.

Now when all the people were baptised, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptised, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, like a dove, upon him; and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

33	John Baptist Beheaded.
	Matt. xiv. 6, 7, 8.

But when Herod’s birth-day was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me John Baptist’s head in a charger.

34	The Good Samaritan.
	Luke x. 33, 34.

A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35	Christ’s sermon on the mount.
	Matt. v. 1, 2, 3, 4.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted, &c. &c.

36	The Tempest
	Mark iv. 37, 38, 39.

And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow; and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and he said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

37	Christ healeth a bloody issue.
	Luke viii. 47, 48.

And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and, falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

38	The prodigal son.
	Luke xv. 21, 22, 23.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry.

39	The Parable of Lazarus
	Luke xvi. 20, 21, 22.

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.

40	The Last Supper.
	Matt. xxvi. 26, 27, 28.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it: For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

41	Jesus is accused before Pilate.
	Luke xxiii. 1, 2, 3.

And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this follow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.

42	The Crucifixion.
	Mark xv. 24, 25, 26, 27.

And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, The King of the Jews. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.

43	The Ascension.
	Luke xxiv. 50, 51, 52.

And he led them out as far as to Bethany; and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

44	The Apostles speak divers languages.
	Acts ii. 2, 3, 4.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house, where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

45	Saul called to the Apostleship.
	Acts ix. 3, 4, 5.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus; and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

46	The Last Day.
	Matt. xxv. 31, 32, 33.

When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall put the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.

THE HISTORY

ABRAHAM, ISAAC, & JACOB,

EMBELLISHED WITH CUTS;

TO WHICH IS ADDED

AN ACCOUNT OF JONAH’S MISSION

TO THE

NINEVITES.

GLASGOW:

PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.

The History of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob

Sarah promised a Son.

Hagar being returned to Abram’s house, soon bore a son, who was called Ishmael. Thirteen years after, God appeared to Abraham to renew his covenant, and instituted circumcision as a token of the covenant, and promised him a son who should be the father of many kings. Abraham laughed to think that Sarah, ninety years old, should bear. A while after, as Abraham was sitting in the tent door he saw three men coming, and as his charity suffered none to pass without a refreshment, he ran to meet them. After they had eaten, they asked for Sarah, when the men, (who were angels) assured him that she would bear a son. Sarah overheard what was said, and laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure—my Lord being old also. The angels reproved Sarah for laughing, which she denied: they stated nothing was too hard for the Lord. They then rose up, and Abraham with them went on their way.

Lot entertains two Angels at Sodom.

After God’s promise to Abraham, that Sarah would shortly bear him a son, he was warned that Sodom was to be destroyed. Lot, seeing two angels coming to Sodom, ran to meet them, and entreated them to lodge with him. The angels at first refused, but Lot earnestly pressed them to come in. The men of Sodom surrounded the house, and demanded of Lot to deliver up the men, that they might satisfy their lust with them. He resisted them with all his powers, but still they insisted. Lot, pierced with sorrow, was on the point of delivering them up, had not the angels put forth their hand, and pulled him in; and having shut the door, they smote the men that were without with blindness: yet with all this it reclaimed not their fury; for they still sought to satisfy themselves, and they laboured hard to find the door to effect their purpose.

Lot and his Two Daughters.

The angel having warned Lot of his danger of remaining among the Sodomites, hastened him to depart from the city with his wife and two daughters, that they might not be consumed. They laid hold of him by the hand, ordering him to escape, and not to look behind him. Lot requested leave of the angels to retire to Zoar; and he had no sooner entered Zoar, than the Lord rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah from heaven. Lot’s wife, alarmed at a sudden noise, looking back, became a pillar of salt. Lot, affrighted, went up and dwelt in a mountain, his two daughters imagining that they and their father were the only remains of the inhabitants of the earth, thought it their duty not to suffer the generation of men to perish, made their father drink wine, and did not stop to commit incest in hopes of being mothers; and though we cannot think on that action without horror, yet their innocence did much lessen the guilt of it.

Abimelech afflicted by God.

Abraham being obliged, soon after the overthrow of Sodom, to quit his former abode, came to Gerar, where he was exposed to some danger by the king of that city, on account of his wife, as he had been by the king of Egypt. Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah, who called herself Abraham’s sister, as she had done in Egypt. But God, who was the protector of Sarah’s chastity, threatened that prince in the night-time, telling him he was a dead man if he offered to touch Sarah, for she was Abraham’s wife. Abimelech was horror-struck at having nearly committed so great a crime, and terrified by the threats of God, called all his officers and servants together, as also Abraham, and reproved him sharply for concealing the truth, to make him and his kingdom guilty of so great a sin. Abraham replied, that they were both of one father but different mothers.

Hagar and Ishmael cast out.

God fulfilled his promise to Sarah, and she brought forth a son in her old age. Abraham called him Isaac, and circumcised him the eight day. Sarah suckled him herself, though a great princess; and when the time of weaning Isaac was come, Abraham made a great feast to express his joy. In the mean time, while Sarah had so much reason to rejoice, Hagar’s son became cause of great trouble to her. This lad, disappointed in his hopes by the birth of Isaac, could not endure to see his father and mother delight so much in him, and began to behave himself abusively towards him. Sarah foresaw the fatal consequences of this hatred, and entreated Abraham to cast out the bond-woman and her son. This request greatly afflicted Abraham, but God advised him to do as Sarah had said. They were forthwith cast out; but an angel appeared and spoke comfortably to them in the wilderness, assuring her, her son would be the father of a great nation.

Abraham offereth up Isaac.

Isaac being now arrived at the age of twenty-seven, God, to try Abraham, commands him to take his son, whom he loved, and offer him up upon a mountain. He remembered he had received his son from God, and his great faith stifled all the thoughts which did arise in him about the divine promises so often repeated to him, that from the very Isaac whom he was now about to offer, his posterity should be multiplied as the stars of heaven. Accordingly he rises early in the morning, and takes Isaac his son, and two servants, cleaves the wood for the burnt-offering, and binding Isaac his son, laid him on the altar, and stretching forth his hand, took the knife to slay him. God, seeing constancy in the father, stops his hand by an angel from heaven. Hereupon Abraham, seeing a ram caught in a thicket by the horns, offered him up to God instead of his son, and returned to his house.

The Death and Burial of Sarah.

Isaac being restored to his parents by the command of him who first bestowed him, he was the comfort of his mother in her old age, who, being arrived at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years, died. Abraham having wept over her some time, considers of providing a burying place for her. He addresses the children of Heth, stating he was a stranger, and that he wished a burying place to bury the dead, out of his sight, which was kindly granted, requesting him to take choice of all their sepulchres. Abraham, who would not be beholden to any man, entreated them to sell him a field which had a double cave, but they wanted him to accept of it as a free gift, but Abraham was immoveable, and forced Ephron to tell him that the field was worth four hundred shekels of silver, which Abraham paid down, and there he buried Sarah.

Isaac’s Marriage with Rebekah.

Abraham being old, and thinking to take a wife for his son Isaac, resolves not to allow him to marry any of the daughters of the Canaanites; but despatches Eliezer his steward to Mesopotamia to take a wife for his son. Being come near the city of Nahor, he prayed that God would direct him to the person he had allotted to be his master’s son’s wife, by this token, that the damsel he should ask to draw water for himself and his camels, should do it frankly. Rebekah came, and Eliezer ran to meet her, and desired water to drink, which she readily gave him, and hasted to draw for his camels. This faithful servant, satisfied that she was the person, presents her with many presents, when she ran home to her brother, who instantly ran to meet Abraham’s servant, brought him home, and set down meat before him but would eat none till he got an answer to his business. A favourable answer being given, he prepared to return home.

Esau sells his Birthright to Jacob.

After the happy consummating of Isaac’s marriage with Rebekah, Abraham lived many years, till at length transported to that better and heavenly country; having spent one hundred and seventy-five years in the exercise of holy virtues and graces. God, after his death, multiplied his blessings on Isaac his son. But they had been twenty years married without having any children, when Isaac prayed the Lord for his wife’s sake for children, and he was heard, and Rebekah was delivered of male twins. The Divine oracle stated that the elder should serve the younger. When these two children were grown up, Jacob, the youngest, on a time sold lentil pottage, and Esau, returning from hunting, extremely hungry, with greediness desired this pottage; which Jacob perceiving, would not part with it till he had promised to sell him his birthright in consideration thereof, to which Esau agreed.

Isaac blesseth Jacob instead of Esau.

Esau having sold Jacob his birthright, Rebekah, who had a tender love for Jacob, ratified the right by a holy piece of craft. Isaac being sensible of his great age, and willing to bless his children ere he died, called Esau his eldest, whom he loved, to him, to hunt some venison, and make savoury meat that he might bless him. Rebekah told Jacob to fetch two kids, that she might make savoury meat to Isaac. She then dressed Jacob in Esau’s dress and put the skins of the kids upon his hands and smooth of his neck, that his father might suppose him to be Esau, which had the desired effect; for he received his father’s blessing by this deception. Scarcely had he made an end of blessing Jacob, when Esau came in from hunting, prepares his savoury meat, brings it to his father, and desires him to eat that he might bless him. The holy patriarch, perceiving the deception, trembled, and Esau cryed bitterly. Isaac, moved with his cries, blesseth him also, but subjects him to Jacob.

Jacob’s Mystical Ladder.

The anger of Esau against Jacob was too visible to be hid from Rebekah; and the tender love she had for Jacob caused her to send him away for a time, though grieved to let him out of her sight. To reconcile her husband Isaac to it, she spoke of his marriage—how grieving it would be if her son Jacob would marry any of the daughters of the land of Canaan, as Esau had done against their wish. Jacob was sent away, more like a fugitive than the son of a rich person. Being overtaken by night, he was obliged to take up his lodgings upon the earth, with no softer pillow than stone. Here he dreamed that he saw a ladder, the top of which reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. He was the Lord above it, who encouraged him to proceed on his journey, and promised that his seed should be as the dew of the earth, as in him should all nations of the earth be blessed.

Jacob serveth for Rachel and Leah.

Jacob assured by the vision of the Divine protection, went cheerfully on his way to Haran, and meeting some shepherds near a well, which had a great stone at the mouth thereof, asked them whither they knew one Laban, a grandchild of Nahor. They answered, yes; and that Rachel his daughter was coming thither with his sheep. Jacob no sooner saw her, then he went and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, watered his sheep, kissed her, and made himself known to her. She ran with the tidings to her father, who came forth, kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told him of his brother’s fury, stating that he wished to serve him; to which Laban agreed, that Jacob should serve him seven years for Rachel, which term he finished; but Leah was falsely put into Jacob’s bed, which displeased Jacob; but Laban appeased him by promising him Rachel at the end of other seven, which he also completed.

Jacob’s return to his birth-place.

The blessings that God so plentifully showered down upon Jacob excited Laban’s envy, so that he perceived it prudent to leave Mesopotamia. For this purpose he calls his two wives, and tells them of his design, which they approving of, he went off privately, taking family and possessions. Laban, informed of their sudden departure, and missing some of his idols, pursues them seven days. As soon as he overtook them, he reproached Jacob for stealing his daughters; and however right it might be to return to his country; it was very unjust to steal the idols. Jacob declared his ignorance of any such thing, whereupon Laban examined his whole effects, and at last enters Rachel’s tent; but before his coming she hid them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them; and desired her father not to take it ill that she did not rise, as she was unwell. Laban, forced to return without them, made a covenant with Jacob, after which they lovingly took leave of each other.

Jacob wrestleth with an Angel.

Jacob having thus escaped the hands of Laban, began to think how he might escape those of Esau, whereupon he sent messengers before him that he might find grace in his sight. Upon their return they declared that he was at the head of four hundred men coming to meet Jacob, which filled him with extreme fear. Jacob, to soften his brother’s heart, prepared great presents to him, left orders for his wives and children to pass over the brook Jabbok by night, while he remained on the other side. He betakes himself to prayer for a happy meeting with his brother, when an angel appeared unto him, and wrestled with him until day, when the angel touched the hollow of his thigh, and caused him to halt, and gave him the new name of Israel, with the assurance that he had nothing to fear from men, and in particular from his brother Esau.

Jacob’s sons kill all the people of Shechem.

When Jacob was returned from Mesopotamia, a city of the Shechemites, an accident happened which caused him a great deal of sorrow. Dinah being gone abroad to see the daughters of the land, their king took her by force, and ravished her; but desired to get her to wife. Jacob was grieved at his daughter’s defilement; and his sons, dissembling their rage, requested the Shechemites to be circumcised, that the mutual intercourse they proposed should take place. They consented; and on the third day, when their pain was most sensible, Simeon and Levi took their swords, and came upon them, and slew all the males, without sparing the king himself or his son, whose unlawful lust caused this bloodshed. The rest of Jacob’s sons pillaged the city, and carried all the spoil along with them, taking all their little ones and their wives captives. Jacob was extremely troubled at this, their revenge.

AN ACCOUNT OF JONAH’S MISSION

TO THE

NINEVITES.

Jonah was the son of Amittai, a prophet of Gath-hepher in Galilee. Some Jews would have him to be the son of the widow of Sarepta, raised to life by Elijah, but the distance of time renders it almost impossible; nor is it a whit more certain that he was the son of the Shunamite restored to life by Elisha, or the young prophet who anointed Jehu.

It is certain, that he predicted that God would restore to the Hebrews, the cities which the Syrians had taken from them during the reigns of Ahab, Jehoram, Jehu, and Jehoahaz, 2 Kings, xiv. 25. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai the prophet which was of Gath-hepher. We have also the book of Jonah, where God ordered him to go to Nineveh and warn the inhabitants of their approaching destruction.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and built by Asshur the son of Shem; Genesis, x. 11, “Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh.” It was one of the largest cities in the world. In Jonah’s time it was a city of three day’s journey, or would require him three days to go through it, proclaiming its overthrow. It then had about one hundred and twenty thousand infants in it, whom we cannot suppose above the eighth or tenth part of its inhabitants: one learned writer says it was sixty miles in circumference; and another writer says it was larger than Babylon. It was surrounded by a wall about two hundred feet high, and so thick, that three chariots abreast might have been driven along the top: on the wall were built one thousand five hundred towers, each two hundred feet higher than the wall; this city was very early noted for wealth, idolatry, and whoredom.

Fearing that the Lord might forbear punishing them if they repented, and so seemingly tarnish his honour, Jonah shipped himself at Joppa for Tarshish, when a storm quickly pursued the ship wherein he was. The heathen mariners awaked him, and required him to call on his God for deliverance. Lots being cast to discern for whose sake the storm arose, the lot fell on Jonah, who with shame confessed his guilt to the mariners, and desired them to cast him into the sea, that the storm might be stayed, which with reluctance, they were at last obliged to do; whereon the storm immediately ceased. A large fish swallowed up Jonah, and retained him safe in her belly for three days. There he earnestly prayed to the Lord, at whose command the fish vomited him alive on dry land. His orders to warn the Ninevites of their approaching destruction were immediately renewed, and all obedient, he hasted to that vast city, and travelled in it above a day’s journey denouncing their ruin if they did not repent within forty days. When the inhabitants heard this, they were greatly afflicted; a fast of three days both for man and beast was appointed, and they cried mightily to God for the preventing of this stroke; he heard their prayers, and long delayed their ruin. Displeased with the divine mercy, Jonah angrily wished to die, rather than live and see his prediction unfulfilled. While he sat without the city, waiting for his desired view of Nineveh’s ruin, God caused a gourd quickly to spring up to overshadow him from the scorching heat of the sun, but next day, a worm having bitten its root, it suddenly withered. The scorching sun and blasting wind vehemently beating on Jonah, he fainted and angrily wished to die, and averred to God himself that he was right in doing so. The Lord bid him think, if he had pity on the short-lived gourd, was there not far more reason for his and their maker to pity the penitent inhabitants of Nineveh?

Nineveh at last was destroyed about one hundred years after Jonah. The Medes and Persians had several times laid siege to it, but were diverted by various accidents; but after the massacre of the Tartars in Media, they repeated the siege, Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar being the commanders: after they had lain before it three years, the river Tigrus or Sycus, being exceedingly swollen, washed away two and a half miles of the wall; when the waters assuaging the besiegers rushed into the city, and murdered the inhabitants, who lay buried in their drunkeness, occasioned by an advantage which they had just before gained over the enemy. When the king, whose name we suppose was Sardanapalus, heard the city was taken, it is said, he shut up himself, family, and wealth to the value of about twenty-five thousand millions sterling, in the palace, and then set fire to it, and destroyed all that was in it, and it was fifteen days before the flames were quenched.

It is hard to say what was the gourd that covered Jonah’s head at Nineveh: Jerome says, it was a small shrub, which, in the sandy places of Canaan, grows up in a few days to a considerable height, and with its large leaves forms an agreeable shade. It is now generally thought to be the Palma Christi, which is somewhat like a lily, with large smooth and black spotted leaves; one kind of it grows to the height of a fig-tree, and whose branches and trunk are hollow as a reed; there is also the wild gourd, which creeps along the surface of the earth, as those of cucumbers; its fruit is of the size and form of an orange, containing a light substance, but so excessively bitter that it has been called the gall of the earth.

I have now given you a short account of the History of Jonah, which could be greatly enlarged if space would permit—also the command given by God to preach at Nineveh—Jonah’s disobedience to that command—the pursuit and arrest of him for that disobedience by a storm, in which he was asleep—the discovery of him and his disobedience to be the cause of the storm—the casting of him into the sea, for the stilling of the storm—the miraculous preservation of his life there in the belly of a fish, which was his preservation for further services. We have also Jonah’s praying unto God: in his prayer we have, the great distress and danger he was in—the despair he was thereby almost reduced to—the encouragement he took to himself in this deplorable condition—the assurance he had of God’s favour to him—the warning and instruction he gives to others—the praise and glory of all given to God—his deliverance out of the belly of the fish—and his coming safe and sound upon dry land again—his mission renewed—and the command a second time given him to go preach at Nineveh—his message to Nineveh faithfully delivered, by which its speedy overthrow was threatened—the repentance, humiliatian, and reformation of the Ninevites hereupon—God’s gracious revocation of the sentence passed upon them, and the preventing of the ruin threatened. We have also Jonah’s repining at God’s mercy to Nineveh, and the fret he was in about it—the gentle reproof God gave him for it, Jonah’s discontent at the withering of the gourd, and justifying of himself in that discontent—God’s improving of it for his conviction, that he ought not to be angry at the sparing of Nineveh. Man’s badness and God’s goodness serve here for a foil to each other, that the former may appear the more exceeding sinful, and the latter the more exceeding gracious.

From all this we may learn, First, that though God may suffer his people to fall into sin, yet he will not suffer them to lie still in it, but will take a course effectually to show them their error, and to bring them to themselves, and to their right mind again. We have reason to hope that Jonah, after this, was well reconciled to the sparing of Nineveh, and was as well pleased with it, as ever he had been displeased.

Second, that God will justify himself in the methods of his grace toward repenting returning sinners, as well as in the course his justice takes with them that persist in their rebellion, though there are those that murmur at the mercy of God, because they do not understand it, (for his thoughts and ways therein are as far above ours as heaven is above the earth) yet he will make it evident that therein he acts like himself, and will be justified when he speaks. See what pains he takes with Jonah, to convince him that it was very fit that Nineveh should be spared. Jonah had said, I do well to be angry, but he could not prove it; God says, I do well to be merciful, and proves it; and it is a great encouragement to poor sinners to hope that they shall find mercy with him, that he is so ready to justify himself in showing mercy, and to triumph in those whom he makes the monuments of it, against those who is evil because he is good; such murmurers shall be made to understand this doctrine, that how narrow soever their souls and their principles are, and how willing soever they are to engross divine grace to themselves, and those of their own way, their is one Lord over all, that is rich in mercy to all that call on him, and in every nation, Nineveh as well as in Israel, he that fears God, and works righteousness, is accepted of him, and he that repents and turns from his evil way shall find mercy with him.

Did not the fate of this prophet typify our Saviour’s being cast into the raging sea of divine wrath; his lying a part of three days in the grave; his glorious resurrection from the dead; and the publication of his gospel to multitudes of perishing sinners that followed.

We cannot close more fitly, perhaps than by extracting a few lines from the powerful summing up by the poet Young.

“What am I? and from whence?—I nothing know,

But what I am: and since I am, conclude

Something eternal: had there e’er been nought,

Nought still had been: eternal there must be.

But what eternal?—Why not human race?

And Adam’s ancestors without an end?

That’s hard to be conceiv’d. Yet grant it true,

Whence earth and these bright orbs?—Eternal too?

Grant matter was eternal, still these orbs

Would want some other father;—much design

Is seen in all their motions, all their makes:

Design implies intelligence, and art;

That can’t be from themselves, or man; that art

Man scarce can comprehend, could man bestow?

Who motion, foreign to the smallest grain,

Shot through vast masses of enormous weight?

Who bade brute matter’s restive lump assume

Such various forms, and gave it wings to fly?

Has matter innate motion? then each atom,

Asserting its indisputable right

To dance, would form an universe of dust:

Has matter none? Then whence these glorious forms

And boundless flights, from shapeless, and repos’d?

Has matter more than motion?—has it thought,

Judgment, and genius?—is it deeply learn’d

In mathematics? Has it fram’d such laws,

Which but to guess a Newton made immortal?—

If so, how each sage atom laughs at me,

Who thinks a clod inferior to a man!

If art to form, and counsel to conduct,

And that with greater far than human skill,

Resides not in each block—a Godhead reigns—

And if a God there is, that God how great!”

THE

HISTORY OF MOSES;

GIVING AN

Account of his birth, his being found by Pharaoh’s daughter in the ark of bulrushes, and the miracles wrought by him for the deliverance of the children of Israel.

EMBELLISHED WITH CUTS.

GLASGOW:

PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.