people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.

19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord; for he is an holy God: he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

20 If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.

27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, to call to our minds all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us; it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.

29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in Mount Ephraim on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

31 And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived oshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel.

32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in Mount Ephraim,

LESSON LXXVI. JUDGES, CHAP. II. III.

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10 AND also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim :

12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

13 And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said,

and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

16 Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but went after idols.

18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge.

19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them: they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

20 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice :

21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died; that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

1 Now these are the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel by them; (even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; only that the generations of the children of Israel might know to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof :)

3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamoth.

4 And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments

of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves. Now the names of the judges whom the Lord raised up to deliver Israel, were these:

OTHNIEL, who delivered them out of the hands of Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, whom they served eight years. EHUD, who saved them from EGLON king of Moab, who kept them in subjection eighteen years.

SHAMGAR, who obtained a great victory over the Philistines. DEBORAH and BARAK, who delivered them from JABIN king of Canaan, and Sisera the captain of his host, who mightily oppressed Israel.

GIDEON, who delivered them from the Midianites, who so oppressed them, and destroyed their land, that they fled to caves, and dens, and strong holds, to hide themselves from them.

TOLA, who judged Israel twenty and three years, JAIR, who judged them twenty and two years. JEPHTHAH, who delivered them from the Ammonites.

SAMSON, the strongest man that ever lived, who began to deliver them out of the hands of the Philistines. ELI, who was both judge and high-priest. SAMUEL, who was both judge and prophet.

LESSON LXXVII. 1SAMUEL, CHAP. I.

Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3 And this man went up out of the city yearly to worship, and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.

4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but she had no child. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.

11 And Hannah vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

12 And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Éli thought she had been drunken.

14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid