"The true prophet was Micaiah, the son of Imlah; and the other—I think his horns should have been made of brass, impudent fellow that he was—was called Zedekiah."
Other Bible stories were called for, which were found so interesting, and, as the younger children confessed, so new to many of them, that all agreed to begin a more systematic mode of reading the Scriptures—that treasury of historic truth, of varied biography, and of poetic beauty. John Wyndham remarked that the best thing about the romantic incidents in the Bible was, that you could be sure they had all really happened: and the events were told with so much simplicity, and the characters were so natural and life-like, that even a dull fellow like him, who had no more imagination than a door-post, could see it as if it were passing before his eyes. And another thing that struck him was, that all was related without the exclamations, and the comments upon the incidents and the people, which you find in common books: you were treated as if you had both sense and conscience enough to find out the moral intention of the narrative, and that made you think a great deal more than if it was explained out in full. The young people all got their Bibles, and counting the chapters, formed a plan for reading through the whole book once a year. They found that if they read three chapters a day, and occasionally an extra one, they could accomplish it: and resolved to begin in Genesis, the Psalms, and St. Matthew's Gospel, in order to give more variety. When this point was settled, Amy proposed capping Bible verses: she said they could have their books before them to help them a little, if their memories failed. One was to recite a verse, and the next another, beginning with the letter which ended the preceding passage; and if the person, whose turn it was, hesitated, any one else who first thought of a suitable sentence should recite it. But it ought to be something which made good sense, when disconnected from the adjoining verses: and it was a rule of the game, that if any one present did not understand the meaning of a quotation, they should talk it over until they got some light upon the subject.
Amy began: "'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.'"
"Stop!" cried Lewis. "For if that means that gentle, patient, forgiving people, shall become rich and great, I don't understand it at all."
"Certainly it cannot mean that," replied his sister Ellen. "I have heard it explained in this way:—they shall possess the best blessings of earth, by living in love and peace, and having easy consciences."
"That makes a very good sense, I think," said Tom; "but I have heard another explanation given, which I like better. The earth, in that place and in many others, can be translated land, with equal propriety; and as the land of Canaan was promised to the Jews as a reward, the heavenly Canaan is held out as a recompense to Christians."
"I'm satisfied," said Lewis. "Let me see—h—'Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken.'"
"'Never man spake like this man,'" added George.
"I think there are some words in the verse before that N," said Gertrude.
"But that is of no consequence," replied Amy. "When a clause makes a complete sense in itself, that answers, even if it is not at the beginning of a verse. You know that the division of the Bible into chapters and verses is quite a modern thing."