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 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Jaim Stuart Conning, D.D. 
 
 BM 107 .A57 1923 
 Altman, Addie Richman. 
 
 The Jewish child's Bible 
 stories 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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The Jewish Child’s Bible Stories 
 
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 MOSES AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 
 
THE 
 
 _ 
 
 Jewish Child’s 
 Bible Stories 
 
 TOLD IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE 
 
 oy 
 
 ADDIE RICHMAN ALTMAN 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 FOURTH EDITION, ENLARGED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 BLOCH PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 "The Jewish Book Concern** 
 
 1923 
 
Copyright, 1915, by 
 BLOCH PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 In launching this little volume upon the sea of juvenile 
 literature, I would say that I have taught the younger children 
 of Sabbath and Mission Schools for many years, but found very 
 few books of Bible Stories to assist me. Many of these books 
 are written by non-Jews, non-Jewish applications are made, and 
 non-Jewish views either implied or asserted. Even when written 
 by Jews, the stories seem intended for older children, and are 
 consequently beyond the mental capacity of the little ones. 
 
 I therefore began to tell these stories in my own way, with 
 but one end in view—to bring the ethical side of the Bible into 
 equal prominence with the religious thoughts. The results were 
 gratifying. I drew no moral, but told the stories in such simple 
 language that very young children could unconsciously deduct 
 their own inferences. 
 
 I have made no endeavor in either style or phraseology to 
 give this book any value from a purely literary standpoint. On 
 the contrary, the language is limited to a child’s vocabulary and 
 adapted to the comprehension of a child, consequently many 
 repetitions of the same words and of the same thoughts occur. 
 My sole aim has been to make these old, yet ever new, stories so 
 attractive to the children, that each one will hold their attention 
 and interest from beginning to end. Thus subconsciously, with 
 no effort on the part of the little ones, the Bible heroes and 
 heroines will become as familiar to them, and as dear, as those 
 of history, mythology and fiction. The illustrations were 
 selected with particular care, for the child absolutely requires the 
 
 3 
 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 assistance of the physical eye to thoroughly comprehend and 
 absorb any story. 
 
 In a few instances I have taken the author’s privilege to em¬ 
 phasize the ethical value at a slight expense of accuracy, but I 
 trust no one will take exception to this. 
 
 I also wish to give credit for the story of the “Charity 
 Trumpet” in the outer court of the Temple of Solomon, to Mr. 
 Louis Schnabel, He was once the superintendent of the Hebrew 
 Orphan Asylum of New York City, and was a man thoroughly 
 versed in the tales of the Midrash and Talmud. 
 
 Addie Richman Altman. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. The Garden. Adam and Eve - - - 7 
 
 II. Two Boys. Cain and Abel - - - 13 
 
 III. The Great Rain. Noah - - - - 20 
 
 IV. The Visit of the Angels. Abraham - 27 
 
 V. The Ram on the Mountain. Isaac - - 34 
 
 VI. The Brothers. Esau and Jacob 41 
 
 VII. The Dreamer. Joseph - - - - 49 
 
 VIII. The Governor of Egypt. Joseph 56 
 
 IX. The Baby in the Basket. Moses - - 66 
 
 X. The Great Leader. Moses 78 
 
 XI. The Woman Judge. Deborah - - - 88 
 
 XII. A Story of Love. Ruth 92 
 
 XIII. The Boy Priest. Samuel - - - 99 
 
 XIV. The Shepherd King. David- - - 105 
 
 XV. The Wise King. Solomon - - - 115 
 
 XVI. The Man of God. Daniel - - 125 
 
 XVII. The Story of Chanukkah - - - 133 
 
 XVIII. The Story of Purim - - - 141 
 
 5 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Moses and the Ten Commandments - - Frontispiece 
 
 Adam and Eve Leave the Beautiful Garden - - 8 
 
 Cain and Abel Offering Sacrifice - - - - 16 
 
 Noah Leaving the Ark ------ 24 
 
 The Angels Promise a Child to Abraham - - - 30 
 
 The Sacrifice of Isaac - - - - - - 36 
 
 Isaac Gives Jacob his Blessing - - - - 44 
 
 Joseph Sold by his Brothers - - - - - 52 
 
 Joseph Makes Himself Known to his Brothers 64 
 
 The Baby Boy Moses Hidden in the Bulrushes - - 68 
 
 Moses Presenting the Ten Commandments to the People of 
 Israel -------- 84 
 
 Deborah - .- -- -- -88 
 
 Ruth, throwing her arms around Naomi, said: “Entreat me 
 not to leave thee.” ------ 94 
 
 Hannah Brings her Little Boy Samuel to Eli - - - 100 
 
 David Playing the Harp before King Saul - - - 110 
 
 “Oh, Great King, do not cut my child in two,” cried the real 
 
 mother to Solomon 
 Daniel in the Den of Wild Lions 
 Judas Maccabeus 
 Esther Before the King - 
 
 - 116 
 128 
 - 136 
 146 
 
 6 
 
The Jewish Child s Bible Stories 
 
 I 
 
 THE GARDEN 
 
 ADAM AND EVE 
 
 Once upon a time, many, many years ago, there was 
 a beautiful garden, in a land very far away from here. 
 All the nicest plants you can think of, and trees, and 
 bushes, and grass, grew in this garden, which was just 
 like a big park. There were very tall trees covered with 
 bright green leaves, and other trees loaded with every 
 kind of fruit,—apples and pears, peaches and plums, 
 and oranges and bananas. 
 
 On the bushes there grew pineapples and berries, and 
 low down in the grass, pretty red strawberries peeped 
 out from under the little leaves. Then there were 
 flowers, oh! such lovely flowers, that seemed to grow 
 everywhere—red roses, and white ones, and yellow ones, 
 and carnations, and violets, and pansies, and buttercups, 
 and honeysuckle, and every other kind of flower. 
 
 7 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 There was also a wide river, that flowed along 
 through the garden. The river wound in and out among 
 the trees, and if you had been there, you could have seen 
 hundreds of fishes swimming in the water. There were 
 big ones, and little ones, and black, and white, and red, 
 and yellow ones too, that could be seen in the clear, 
 cool water. 
 
 Don’t you think that was the loveliest garden you 
 ever heard about? And there were other things there, 
 too. Birds were singing in the trees and some animals 
 were lying on the ground. Some of the animals were 
 running or walking around, and a man and a woman 
 were there. The man’s name was Adam, and the 
 woman’s name was Eve. 
 
 Do you know, or can you guess who made this lovely 
 garden; and all the things in it? It was the dear, good 
 God, who takes care of us all—our Father in Heaven. 
 He made the garden, and the river, and He made the 
 fish, and the birds, and the animals. 
 
 And He gave everything to Adam and Eve. God 
 told Adam and Eve they could live in the garden, God 
 also told them they could give names to the trees, and 
 flowers, and to all the living things. 
 
 8 
 
THE GARDEN 
 
 Adam and Eve were as happy as little children are 
 
 when they get a nice present, for all these beautiful 
 things in the garden were a present from God. But 
 
 God told them there was one fine tree, in the middle 
 of the garden, which they must not touch. 
 
 And God said to Adam and Eve: “You may eat 
 of all the fruit that grows in the garden, except from 
 this one tree. This tree is my own. Do not forget 
 what I have said, and do not touch it.” 
 
 Adam and Eve thought God was very good to give 
 them so many things. They made up their minds never 
 to touch God’s tree, even though they could see the big 
 red apples that were on it. 
 
 For many days, Adam and Eve were kept pretty 
 busy thinking about the names they would give to every¬ 
 thing. 
 
 At last, all the living things had names, and the 
 flowers and trees, too. Adam and Eve were kind and 
 gentle, and the animals and birds, and even the fish, 
 loved Adam and Eve, and they would run, or fly, or 
 swim to them whenever they were called, just as your 
 dog or kitty comes to you. 
 
 The happy times kept on until one day, when some- 
 
 9 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 thing dreadful happened. Adam had gone away to the 
 other side of the river, to get some peaches that grew 
 over there. Eve was walking around by herself. She 
 was near the middle of the garden, very near to God’s 
 tree, the tree with the ripe, red apples. Eve stopped 
 in the road, looked at them for a long time, and then 
 said: 
 
 “How nice those apples look! Don’t I wish I could 
 have just one!” 
 
 Just at that instant she heard a queer, hissing noise 
 near her. She looked around, and saw a large snake, 
 or serpent, coiled upon a bush near by. The serpent 
 looked right into Eve’s eyes, and said: 
 
 “Why don’t you take one, then, if you want it so 
 much? Nobody will see you.” 
 
 And then—just think of it! Eve was so naughty, 
 she picked an apple from God’s tree, and took a bite! 
 Wasn’t she foolish to believe what that snake said, to 
 believe that nobody saw her? We know who saw her, 
 and who knew what she had done, don’t we? 
 
 After Eve had taken a few little bites, she began to 
 feel sorry. And she was so ashamed of herself because 
 she had disobeyed, that she did not know what to do. 
 
 10 
 
THE GARDEN 
 
 She was afraid, too, and ran quickly to look for Adam. 
 When she found him, she told him what she had done, 
 and handed him the apple to take some, too. Adam 
 said: 
 
 “Oh, Eve, how could you have been so bad, when 
 God has beeen so good to us? Now I am sure we will 
 be punished.” 
 
 Eve began to cry, for she was very unhappy, just 
 like children are when they have been naughty, and are 
 afraid their papa will punish them. 
 
 “Anyhow, it was not my fault,” said Eve. “I would 
 not have touched the apple, but the old serpent told 
 me to, and you can blame him. I suppose you might 
 eat some of it now, as long as I did.” 
 
 And then Adam was just as naughty as Eve. He 
 ate some of the apple, and afterwards he was just as 
 ashamed and as unhappy as Eve. They were both so 
 scared they tried to hide themselves. They found a 
 place behind some very thick and tall bushes, and they 
 thought God could not find them. But God sees every¬ 
 thing. God knew what they had done, and He called: 
 
 “Adam and Eve, where are you?” 
 
 At first they did not answer, but when God said: 
 
 11 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 “I see you, Adam and Eve,” they came out of their 
 hiding pi ace. 
 
 God was very sad when He looked at them, and He 
 said: 
 
 “I am very sorry to punish you, but you did not obey 
 me. So you must leave my beautiful garden. You 
 must go away from here, and you will have to work to 
 get your food. You can never come back again, Adam 
 and Eve, for I cannot trust you.” 
 
 Adam and Eve were very sorry then, because they 
 had not obeyed, and because God could not trust them 
 any more. They had to leave the garden at once, for 
 God sent an angel to take them away. After they were 
 gone, the angel stayed by the gate to see that they never 
 came back. 
 
 And God told the wicked serpent, who was the cause 
 of all the trouble in the garden, that he must be punished, 
 too. His punishment was that he could never walk like 
 the other animals. And to this day, all the serpents have 
 to crawl on the ground, instead of walking on feet. 
 
 12 
 
II 
 
 TWO BOYS 
 
 CAIN AND ABEL 
 
 After Adam and Eve left the garden where they had 
 been so happy, they wandered around, outside of it. 
 They were very sorry they had been so naughty, but 
 that did not help them. They began to look for some 
 place where they could live. They found a cave near 
 a big, shady, tree, and they thought this would be a 
 good house. They began to work, and tried to be happy, 
 but they often thought of the lovely garden, and wished 
 they had obeyed. 
 
 One day, a little baby boy came to Adam and Eve. 
 They named him Cain, and when another little fellow 
 came along later, they called him Abel. Cain was two 
 years older than Abel, and he was very different from 
 him. Cain had dark hair and black eyes, and was a big, 
 strong baby, and Abel had light hair and blue eyes, 
 and was not very strong. 
 
 From the time they were both little children, they were 
 
 13 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 very different in everything they did. Cain always 
 looked cross, and angry, and miserable, and Abel was 
 cheerful, and sweet, and happy. Their parents had to 
 work very hard, and the little boys often had to help 
 their mother. 
 
 When Eve would call Cain, and tell him to bring 
 some wood, or clean up the yard, or go somewhere for 
 her, Cain would say in a cross voice: 
 
 “Oh, dear! I don’t want to work. I don’t like to 
 do things,’’ and when she made him do it he would get 
 very angry. 
 
 Whenever she called Abel, he would come running 
 and say in a cheerful way: 
 
 “Yes, mother, dear, I will help you,” and he would 
 go quickly and do it well. 
 
 Cain always thought every one was “down on him,” 
 but that was not true. He was so cross all the time that 
 he only thought so. Haven’t you often heard children 
 say that? They say some one is “down on them,” but 
 it is not very true. It is nearly always the child’s own 
 fault. 
 
 When Cain and Abel grew up, their father said 
 to them one day: 
 
 14 
 
TWO BOYS 
 
 “You are both big enough to work all day now, 
 so you must help me. You, Abel, are not very strong, 
 so you can take care of the sheep and goats. You must 
 watch them all day, so they don’t run away or get 
 lost. And you, Cain, can come out into the fields with 
 me. You can help plant the corn, and take care of 
 the fruit trees.” 
 
 So the boys began to work, and every day they left 
 home early in the morning. It was just the same as 
 before, for Cain was always cross and ugly, no matter 
 what he had to do; and Abel was happy as he could 
 be, caring for the animals, whether it was hot or cold, or 
 rainy, or fine weather. And so the years passed away. 
 
 One evening, in the fall of the year, after all the grain 
 and fruit were ripe, and when the little baby lambs and 
 goats had grown quite large, Adam said to the boys: 
 
 “God has given us fine weather, with plenty of sun¬ 
 shine and plenty of rain. All the seeds that we planted, 
 came up as we wanted them. The grain and fruit are 
 ripe. Our sheep and goats are well and tomorrow we 
 will show God that we are thankful to Him for all His 
 kindness. I want you to get up early tomorrow morning, 
 
 boys, and I will show you what to do.” 
 
 15 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 In those times, there were no temples, or churches, 
 where people prayed to God, and really the people did 
 not know how to pray. But way down in their hearts, 
 they felt they must show in some way that they loved 
 God—so listen to what they did. They went into the 
 fields to look for a large, flat stone. Then they picked 
 up sticks and laid them back and forth across the stone, 
 till they had a big pile of wood. 
 
 They called this stone with all the sticks piled on it, 
 an altar. Then they brought the best fruit and grain 
 that they had, and a little goat or lamb, and laid all on 
 the altar, and set fire to the wood. This was called a 
 sacrifice. The people thought God would notice the 
 sweet smell of the sacrifice, and that He would be glad. 
 
 Cain and Abel each built an altar. Abel was very 
 particular to have every piece of wood quite dry, so it 
 would burn well. He was very careful to pick up sticks 
 that were straight, and he laid them evenly. But Cain 
 was cross and angry, like he always was when he had 
 to do anything. He picked up all kinds of sticks, long 
 and short, and wet and crooked, and he laid them very 
 carelessly on the stone. 
 
 When the two altars were finished, the boys went 
 
 16 
 

 III 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y*?>, 
 
 * . At 
 
 
 CAIN AND ABEL OFFERING SACRIFICE 
 
- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TWO BOYS 
 
 away to get the sacrifice. Abel took his dearest little 
 lambkin and baby goat, killed them and put them on his 
 altar. Cain brought grain and fruit, and placed them 
 on his altar. Then they set fire to the wood, and stood 
 near by to watch it burn. 
 
 You should have seen how differently those two fires 
 burned! On Abel’s altar the flames burned brightly, 
 and the smoke rose up in a tall, straight line, nearly up 
 to the clouds. Abel was very glad, for he thought to 
 himself that God liked his sacrifice. You see, Abel had 
 done everything carefully, and whatever we do care¬ 
 fully turns out well. 
 
 But how was it with Cain? There he stood, doubling 
 up his fists at the fire, which was burning very badly. 
 He was angry when he saw how well Abel’s fire burned, 
 and he thought that even the fire was “down on him.’’ 
 Wasn’t that foolish when it was all his own fault? He 
 had brought wet wood, and was careless in piling it up, 
 and so he spoiled his fire himself. 
 
 Cain grew more angry every minute, and soon went 
 away. Abel waited till his fire was out, and then started 
 to look for his brother. Abel was sorry to see how 
 unhappy Cain always made himself by the foolish 
 
 17 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 things he did, so when he saw Cain in the next field he 
 went towards him to speak to him. But Cain would not 
 listen. He told Abel to keep still, and then—he struck 
 him! 
 
 Cain was so strong, he did not know how heavy and 
 hard he could strike. When he saw how Abel fell down 
 and did not get up again, he was frightened. He bent 
 down to look into Abel’s face, and saw that he was 
 dead. Cain surely did not mean to kill his own brother, 
 but he was so angry he did not know what he was 
 doing. 
 
 Just think how Cain must have felt! He started to 
 run away before any one could find out what he had 
 done, or before any one could see him. But Cain forgot 
 there is Some One who always sees us, and who always 
 knows what we do. Cain heard a Voice calling to 
 him: 
 
 “Cain, where is your brother Abel?” and Cain an¬ 
 swered : 
 
 “I am not my brother’s keeper.” (He meant that he 
 did not have to take care of his brother.) 
 
 Then God said: “I know what you did to your 
 brother. I know how bad and wicked you are, and I 
 
 18 
 
TWO BOYS 
 
 will punish you. You must go far away from here, and 
 you shall never, never have a home again.” 
 
 So Cain had to leave his father and mother. Cain 
 lived to be a very old man, but he could not forget what 
 he had done to his brother, and he was very unhappy 
 all his life. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE GREAT RAIN 
 
 NOAH 
 
 Many, many years passed away, and many children 
 were born. They grew up, and married, and had more 
 children, and there was a large number of people in the 
 world. But these people were not very good, and they 
 were very lazy. They did not want to work, and the 
 only thing they thought about was to have a good time. 
 They forgot all about the good God, and they often did 
 wicked things. 
 
 But there was one man, named Noah, and his family, 
 who were good, and loved God, and who always tried 
 to do what is right. God, who sees and hears every¬ 
 thing, knew how bad the other people were, and God 
 
 felt He must punish them, just like papas and mammas 
 punish their children when they have been naughty. 
 
 God knew that Noah and his family were good, so, 
 of course, He would not punish them. One day God 
 called to Noah and said: 
 
 20 
 
THE GREAT RAIN 
 
 “Noah, all the people around here are very wicked. 
 They do so many naughty things, and they make each 
 other so unhappy, that I must punish them. But you, 
 Noah, and your family have always been good, so I 
 will not punish you.” 
 
 Then God told Noah that he and his sons should 
 build a very large boat with a strong roof on top, and 
 cover it with tar and pitch, so that no water could get 
 inside. And God said: 
 
 “When it is finished, I will tell you what else you 
 must do.” 
 
 Noah called his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, 
 and the four men went into the forest together. They 
 took heavy axes with them, and cut down some tall, 
 strong trees. They chopped and sawed and ham¬ 
 mered, day after day, from morning till night. It was 
 very hard work, but, after a long time, the great big 
 boat was finished. 
 
 It was not a bit like the boats they have now. This 
 one was more like a house, for it had high walls, and 
 a slanting roof, and it was black as ink; for it was 
 painted all over with tar and pitch, so that no water 
 could get inside. This boat was called an ark, and be- 
 
 21 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 cause Noah and his sons built it, it was called “Noah’s 
 Ark.” 
 
 Then God spoke to Noah again. He said: “Now 
 go and get all the food you can find, for your family, 
 and for all the living things that you must take into the 
 ark. I am going to send a great rain,” said God, “and 
 it will rain so much that all the wicked people will be 
 washed away, and the world will be clean again.” 
 
 Then God told Noah that after he put the food into 
 the ark, Noah should collect animals and birds and 
 insects, and after they were safe in the ark, the rain 
 would begin. Noah and his sons had a great time 
 gathering all the living things together, but at last, there 
 
 they stood, two by two, in long, long lines. 
 
 There were camels, elephants, lions, bears, tigers, 
 wolves, foxes, deer, goats, sheep, donkeys, oxen, cows, 
 dogs, horses, squirrels, snakes, and mice; ostriches, 
 chickens, eagles, sparrows, storks, ravens, and doves; 
 frogs, locusts, caterpillars, ants, flies, turtles, bees, liz¬ 
 ards, and worms, and all the other living things you 
 can think about. 
 
 And just try to think how long it took to catch so 
 
 many animals, and to get them all in line ready to go 
 
 22 
 
THE GREAT RAIN 
 
 into the ark; for there were two pairs of some kinds of 
 birds and animals and insects, and seven pairs (14) of 
 other kinds of the living things. They all marched 
 into the ark, into the cages Noah had made for them, 
 and then Noah locked the doors. 
 
 Now God called again to Noah and said: “It is 
 your turn now, to go into the ark—you and your fam¬ 
 ily, for it will rain very soon. Do not be afraid, for 
 no harm can come to you. And when this great rain 
 is over, I promise you, there will never be so much rain 
 again.” 
 
 Noah and his wife, and Shem and Ham and Ja- 
 pheth with their wives (eight people in all), went into 
 the ark and closed the doors behind them. The rain 
 began to fall, and it rained and rained and rained, for 
 forty days and forty nights. There never was so much 
 rain, either before or since then; and it was called 
 ‘The Flood,” because it washed away the cities, and 
 the houses, and everything in them. 
 
 Every day Noah had looked out of the window to 
 see whether the rain was still falling, but at last, one 
 morning as he looked out, he saw there was no more 
 rain. The ark had been sailing on the water, for there 
 
 23 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 had been so much rain, that the water covered all the 
 ground, and it looked like an ocean. 
 
 As the water began to dry up, the ark settled on the 
 top of a mountain, and rested there. Noah opened 
 one of the windows, and sent out a raven, to see if the 
 ground was dry enough for them to leave the ark. But 
 the raven flew back and forth, back and forth and 
 Noah could not tell much about it. 
 
 Noah waited seven days, and then sent out a dove. 
 Towards evening he heard a soft “tap-tap-tap” on the 
 window, and when he opened it, there was the little 
 dove, all cold and wet and tired. There was so much 
 water all over the ground, that the little dove found no 
 place to rest. Noah took her into the ark again, and 
 gave her something to eat. 
 
 Noah waited seven days more, and sent the dove 
 out again. Towards evening he heard the same “tap~ 
 tap-tap” on the window. He opened it, and saw the 
 little dove. And what do you think? This time she 
 carried a little olive leaf in her mouth! And Noah 
 knew that the waters had dried up. 
 
 Still he waited seven days more, and when he sent 
 the dove out again, she did not come back. Then Noah 
 
 24 
 
NOAH LEAVING THE ARK 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE GREAT RAIN 
 
 and his sons removed the roof of the ark, and were 
 happy to see the sun again, and the dry land and the 
 green grass. 
 
 God spoke to Noah again and said: “Go out of 
 the ark now, you and your wife, and your sons and 
 their wives, and every living thing that is in the ark.” 
 
 That was a busy time for Noah and the whole fam¬ 
 ily, to get all those animals ready to leave, and it was 
 a great and happy procession that came out of that ark. 
 How glad the birds were to fly up into the branches 
 of the trees! How fast the animals ran into the woods! 
 And the insects crept into the grass and bushes so 
 quickly, that soon nothing was to be seen except Noah 
 and his family. 
 
 Noah told his sons that they must build an altar, and 
 bring a sacrifice, to show God that they thanked Him 
 for saving them from drowning. They went into the 
 woods, and looked for good, dry sticks for the altar. 
 The flames and smoke rose up into the air in a beautiful 
 straight line. 
 
 As Noah and his sons looked up towards the sky to 
 watch the smoke, do you know what they saw? There 
 up in the sky was the beautiful rainbow, with its seven 
 
 25 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 bright colors: red, yellow, blue, orange, green, violet and 
 indigo. 
 
 Then Noah heard the voice of God saying: 
 
 “I will bless you and your family, and I promise never 
 to send another flood. There will sometimes be heavy 
 clouds, and there will often be rainstorms, but there will 
 always be the beautiful rainbow in the sky. This will 
 show all the world that I remember what I told Noah. 
 The rairbow will be God’s ‘Bow of Promise’ forever.” 
 
 26 
 
IV 
 
 THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS 
 
 ABRAHAM 
 
 Once upon a time, in a country named Mamre, there 
 lived a very good man whose name was Abraham. He 
 owned hundreds and hundreds of acres of land, and had 
 thousands of oxen, and cows, and goats, and sheep. He 
 also had much silver and gold. He kept many servants 
 to do all his work for him, and they all lived in tents. 
 Abraham and his family lived in tents, too, because in 
 that warm country tents were more comfortable than 
 houses. 
 
 Abraham loved all the people around him, and he 
 was so kind to everybody that they all loved him. 
 Abraham loved God, and used to pray to Him at night 
 and in the morning. You see, at this time, the people 
 knew much more than they did when Adam and Eve 
 were living, for they had learned about things. So, al¬ 
 though they still built altars, and brought sacrifices, they 
 
 27 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 also knew how to pray to God to thank Him for all His 
 
 Abraham was good to every one, and always tried 
 to do things to make people happy and contented. Liv¬ 
 ing in the same house with Abraham was his nephew, 
 whose name was Lot. Lot had lived with his Uncle 
 Abraham for many years, from the time when he was 
 a very little boy. When he grew to be a man, Abraham 
 gave him many sheep and goats and cows and oxen for 
 his very own. 
 
 After about a year there were many little baby ani¬ 
 mals. You cannot guess how much land it took, and 
 how many big fields, covered with grass, they had to 
 have to give enough food to all the animals that belonged 
 to Abraham and to Lot. Of course, where there were 
 so many animals there had to be many men-servants to 
 take care of them out in the fields. These men often 
 quarreled, and made trouble for Abraham and Lot. 
 
 One day Abraham said to Lot: 
 
 “I do not like all these quarrels between our men. 
 You and I are relations, and we love each other, but our 
 servants quarrel too much. I own all the land around 
 here, and I want you to choose part of it for yourself. 
 
 28 
 
THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS 
 
 Then you can take your servants and your cattle away, 
 and that will stop the quarreling.” 
 
 Abraham and Lot went up on a high hill, and from 
 there looked around upon the beautiful fields and valleys. 
 Then Abraham said: 
 
 “All this land is mine, but you can choose any part 
 you like, and I will give it to you for a present. If you 
 want the fields on this side of the hill, take them, and I 
 will keep the others. Or, if you like the fields on the 
 other side better, take those, and I will keep these.” 
 
 Don’t you think Lot’s uncle was very kind? It all 
 belonged to Abraham, and he might have said: 
 
 “I am going to keep the nicest fields for my cattle, 
 because they are mine, and you can take those way over 
 there.” But he would not do anything so selfish, and he 
 let Lot choose for himself. 
 
 Lot looked around at the beautiful country. Then he 
 chose the fields that he wanted, and told his men to 
 take ail the cattle there. When he came back to Abra¬ 
 ham to thank him, and to bid him good-bye, Abraham 
 kissed him, and said: 
 
 “Good-bye, Lot. I hope God will take care of you, 
 and I hope you will be happy in your new home.” 
 
 29 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 But although Abraham was a very rich man he was 
 often sad, because he had no children. One day, when 
 he was sitting at the door of his tent, he saw three 
 strange men coming along the road. It was a very warm 
 day, and the men were hot and tired, and their shoes 
 were covered with dust. 
 
 Abraham, who was always kind and thoughtful and 
 considerate, called to the men to come into his nice cool 
 tent and rest there. He gave them seats, and then went 
 into the next tent, which was used for a kitchen. His 
 wife, Sarah, was there, and he told her to get some food 
 for the three tired men. 
 
 Abraham then filled a bucket with fresh water, took 
 some towels, and went back to his own tent. He knelt 
 down on the floor by the men, and took off their shoes 
 and stockings. He also bathed their feet in the nice cool 
 water, and the men soon felt rested and comfortable. 
 When the food was ready, the men ate it, and enjoyed 
 their dinner. 
 
 Late in the afternoon, when it was cool, the three 
 
 men rose to go. Abraham stood at the door with them 
 
 to say good-bye. They told Abraham they were not 
 
 travelers, but angels whom God had sent. The angels 
 
 30 
 
THE ANGELS PROMISE A CHILD TO ABRAHAM 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS 
 
 said God knew that Abraham s only wish was to have 
 children, and they promised that God would give him 
 his wish. Then they went away. 
 
 Abraham had two wives, Sarah and Hagar, and, 
 later, two little boys, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was 
 a wild, careless boy. He always wanted to be in the* 
 woods or any place outdoors, and he often worried his 
 father. He was not really a bad boy, but he was very 
 mischievous, and did many things that annoyed and 
 bothered people. 
 
 You will soon learn how much trouble that made for 
 him and for his mother, Hagar. The other boy, Isaac, 
 was a good little fellow, who liked to stay in the tent 
 with his mother, Sarah, and he loved to listen to the 
 wonderful stories his father told him. Isaac was very 
 obedient, too. 
 
 One day Abraham gave a party. Ishmael was quite 
 a big boy, and he knew how to behave well, if he wanted 
 to. But, like many other boys who try to show off when 
 there is company in the house, Ishmael did all sorts of 
 silly things that he thought were smart and funny. 
 
 Abraham and Sarah were very much ashamed of 
 him. After the party was over, Sarah told Abraham 
 
 31 
 
 / 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 that Ishmael must be punished. So the next day Abra¬ 
 ham told Ishmael that he must go away, and his mother, 
 Hagar, would go with him. 
 
 Abraham was sorry to punish Ishmael in this way, 
 but Sarah said she would not keep such a bad boy as 
 Ishmael in the same house as her little Isaac. You see, 
 she was afraid Ishmael would make Isaac just as bad 
 as he was. So they had to go away from his father’s 
 house. 
 
 They wandered for many days, through valleys and 
 over hills, picking berries to eat, and sleeping in the warm 
 thick grass. At last they came to a desert. It was very 
 hot there, and not a shady place to be seen. Ishmael was 
 so tired and thirsty he did not know what to do. He 
 lay down upon the hot sand and did not move. 
 
 His poor mother, Hagar, was very unhappy, for she 
 was afraid her boy would die if he did not soon get a 
 drink of water. She looked all around her, and, to her 
 great joy, saw a little pool of water not far away. After 
 Ishmael had a good drink, and had washed his face and 
 head, he felt better. By the time the sun set, he was 
 strong enough to walk again. 
 
 After a very long journey, Hagar and Ishmael found 
 
 32 
 
THE VISIT OF THE ANGELS 
 
 a place near the Wilderness of Paran, and they remained 
 there. Ishmael grew up to be a very strong and healthy 
 man, and he became a great hunter and archer. (An 
 archer is a man who can shoot well with bow and 
 arrows.) 
 
 33 
 
V 
 
 THE RAM ON THE MOUNTAIN 
 
 ISAAC 
 
 Do you know what a ram is? It is a very large sheep 
 with strong, curved horns. But before I tell you anything 
 more about that, we must go back to the tents of Abra¬ 
 ham, to see what he and little Isaac have been doing. 
 Abraham was a very old man now, but he was just as 
 good to every one as he always had been, and every¬ 
 body loved and trusted him. 
 
 Abraham was the same as a chief, that is, he ruled 
 over the people. But they did not call him a chief, they 
 called him a patriarch. That is a pretty long word for 
 you to remember; but I think you can if you try. 
 Pa-tri-arch. Abraham never went very far from his 
 tent because he was so old, but he always sat by the 
 open door. Every one could see him sitting there, and 
 could come to him when they wanted him to help them. 
 
 One day, when he was there by the tent door, he 
 heard a Voice calling: 
 
 34 
 
THE RAM ON THE MOUNTAIN 
 
 “Abraham!” and he answered: “Here am I.” 
 
 “Go up to the land of Moriah,” said the Voice again. 
 “Take the boy, Isaac, with you. Go up into the moun¬ 
 tain, and offer the boy as a sacrifice.” 
 
 Don’t you think Abraham must have felt very 
 unhappy to think that he had to take his little boy for 
 a sacrifice? Abraham loved God and had always 
 obeyed Him, so he knew he would obey now, even 
 though he felt very sorry to do so. 
 
 The next morning Abraham told two of the men- 
 servants to gather wood for the sacrifice. When they 
 brought it, Abraham tied a bundle of sticks together, 
 and fastened the bundle upon Isaac’s back. He took 
 a large sharp knife, and some dried grass to start the 
 fire, and they left home. 
 
 Little Isaac trudged along by his father’s side, often 
 singing to himself. He wondered where they were go¬ 
 ing, and what his father would do. When they had 
 come to the foot of the mountain Abraham told the two 
 men to wait there for him until he returned. The men 
 wondered why they had to stay there, but they obeyed. 
 
 As Isaac and his father were climbing up the side 
 of the mountain, Isaac began to ask all kinds of ques- 
 
 35 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 tions, like children always do, but his father only said: 
 
 “Wait, my son. You will find out when we reach 
 the top of the mountain.” 
 
 “Father,” said Isaac, “I only want to ask one ques¬ 
 tion more. May I?” 
 
 His father nodded his head, and Isaac said: 
 
 “I am carrying the wood for the fire, and I see your 
 knife, but where is the sacrifice?” 
 
 “God will provide the sacrifice,” answered Abra¬ 
 ham, but he turned his head away, so Isaac should not 
 see the tears in his eyes. 
 
 Isaac asked no more questions, but trotted along very 
 cheerfully with his bundle of wood. When they came 
 to a small open space at the top of the mountain Abra¬ 
 ham took the bundle from Isaac’s shoulders. The little 
 fellow straightened himself up, and threw back his 
 shoulders, for the bundle was heavy, and it was not a 
 very easy thing to carry up to the top of a mountain. 
 
 Abraham found a smooth stone, and Isaac helped lay 
 the sticks evenly and straight. Then Abraham said in 
 a low voice: 
 
 “Isaac, my son, God has sent no other sacrifice. I 
 must put you on the altar, for you must be the sacrifice.” 
 
 36 
 
/ 
 
 SACRIFICE OF ISAAC 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE RAM ON THE MOUNTAIN 
 
 Isaac was very brave. He did not scream, nor cry, 
 nor beg, but was perfectly still while his father tied him 
 down on the altar. Abraham stooped to pick up the 
 knife. At that instant he heard God’s voice calling 
 his name. 
 
 “Here am I,” answered Abraham, and God said: 
 
 “Do not harm the boy. I only wanted to see if you 
 would obey me, and if the boy would obey you. You 
 have both obeyed; but I do not wish such a sacrifice.” 
 
 As Abraham untied Isaac and lifted him from the 
 altar, he saw a big ram held fast in some bushes by his 
 strong horns. Abraham caught him, and he and Isaac 
 knew God had sent the sacrifice. God spoke again to 
 Abraham and said: 
 
 “You were obedient, even when you thought God 
 was not just. You were willing to give your own dear 
 little boy as a sacrifice. Therefore I will reward you 
 forever. I will bless you and all your people, and will 
 give you health and riches and happiness.” 
 
 Isaac loved his father and mother very dearly, and 
 always tried to please them. He grew up to be a fine 
 young man, and, when his father said it was time for 
 
 him to marry, he said he was willing. 
 
 37 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 Abraham had an old servant that he trusted with 
 everything. Abraham spoke to him, and said he must 
 go away and find a good wife for Isaac. 
 
 “How can I tell who will be a good wife?” asked the 
 servant. 
 
 “You will see many young girls in different places,” 
 said Abraham, “and the one who will be very kind 
 to you, she will be the wife for Isaac.” 
 
 The man got ready to go. He took ten fine camels, 
 and on their backs he loaded many presents for the 
 cousins of Abraham who lived in the nearest town. 
 Abraham had given him these presents to take with him, 
 and they were very handsome presents, because Abra¬ 
 ham was such a rich man. 
 
 One afternoon, a few days later, the old servant and 
 his camels came to the gates of a city. A large well was 
 near the gate, and many young girls stood around the 
 well. Each one had a jug or a pitcher in her hand, in 
 which to carry the fresh water home. They were laugh¬ 
 ing and talking, as one after the other filled her pitcher 
 with water, and none of them seemed to notice the man 
 or his camels. 
 
 One girl had been watching them, and she saw how 
 
 38 
 
THE RAM ON THE MOUNTAIN 
 
 tired and dusty they all looked. She walked over to 
 where the camels were resting on the ground, and the 
 servant said: 
 
 “Will you please give me a drink of water out of 
 your pitcher?” 
 
 “Yes, indeed,” she answered, “and I will draw 
 enough water from the well for all your camels to drink.” 
 
 She handed her pitcher to the man, and then went 
 back to the well. There was a watering-trough near 
 the well, and the girl filled it with water for the camels. 
 When she had finished drawing the water, the man 
 said: 
 
 “Who are you? What is your name? And is there 
 room in your father’s house for me?” 
 
 You see, he asked those questions to find out if the 
 young girl was as polite as she was kind. And she 
 said: 
 
 “I am the daughter of Bethuel. My name is Rebecca 
 and I am sure there is room in my father’s house for you, 
 and we have a place for your camels.” 
 
 The man saw she was sweet and kind and polite, so 
 he was sure she would be a good wife for Isaac. He 
 went home with her, and told her father that Abraham 
 
 39 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 had sent him. He gave her father many presents and 
 asked him to let Rebecca go back with him to be Isaac’s 
 wife. The father was willing, and in a few days the 
 man took Rebecca away. 
 
 While the faithful servant was away on his errand, 
 Sarah, Isaac’s mother, died. Isaac was very grieved 
 and sad. Waiting at home, with his father, he often 
 wondered if the servant would bring a young girl back 
 with him. Every day he walked along the road to the 
 city to look if they were coming. At last, one morning, 
 he saw a train of camels far down the road, and he knew 
 the camels were his father’s. 
 
 Isaac hurried to meet them and saw Rebecca. She 
 was so sweet and pretty that he loved her even before 
 he spoke to her. The servant told her this young man 
 was Isaac. Isaac was tall and handsome, and Rebecca 
 loved him, too. They all went home to Abraham, who 
 was very happy to see this lovely girl, and in a few days 
 Isaac and Rebecca were married. 
 
 40 
 
VI 
 
 THE BROTHERS 
 
 ESAU AND JACOB 
 
 Isaac and Rebecca had two sons named Esau and 
 Jacob. Esau was a boy who loved animals very much. 
 When he was a little boy he used to play with any ani¬ 
 mal he could, a cat or a dog or a horse or a rabbit. He 
 did not care what it was, as long as it was an animal, 
 and many times he used to stay out in the woods all day 
 long, and forget about his dinner. 
 
 Jacob was a quiet little boy, who always wanted to 
 be around his mother. He did not care for animals, and 
 he never went out with Esau. Sometimes the two boys 
 played together, but not very often. Isaac loved Esau 
 best, but the mother was fonder of Jacob, although she 
 loved Esau, too. 
 
 As Esau grew older he became a hunter, and he often 
 brought home the animals he had killed, for the family 
 to eat. Esau knew just how to clean the skins, and 
 how to dry them. Afterwards these skins were used for 
 
 41 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 rugs on the floor, and sometimes he hung them across 
 his back and shoulders, like a coat. 
 
 It pleased Isaac to see how much Esau could do, 
 and Esau liked to do things for his father. Esau had 
 learned to cook pretty well, and Isaac always was glad 
 to have Esau cook the fresh meat for him. Being out 
 in the air all the time, Esau’s skin was rough and hard, 
 
 and his face and hands were covered with hair. 
 
 Jacob, who stayed in the house so much, had skin as 
 
 soft as a girl’s, and he had no hair on his hands or his 
 face. Isaac could not see very well, for he was old, 
 and nearly blind. When his sons came near him, he 
 used to feel their hands and faces, and could tell who 
 it was, whether it was Esau or Jacob. 
 
 One day Isaac told Esau to get some venison, (deer’s 
 meat), and cook a nice meal for him. Isaac said: “Get 
 the meat, Esau, and after I have eaten of it, I will 
 give you my blessing.” 
 
 Do you know what a blessing is? It is a prayer to 
 God to ask Him to bless some person, to care for, and 
 to watch over that person. When any body says: “God 
 bless you,” it means God should take care of you. 
 
 Esau was very glad to get the venison for his father. 
 
 42 
 
THE BROTHERS 
 
 He wanted to please his father, and he wanted 
 his father to give him the blessing. He took his bow 
 and arrows, and he hurried off into the forest as quickly 
 as he could. 
 
 While Isaac was talking to Esau, Rebecca stood by 
 the door of her tent, and she heard what Isaac said. It 
 made her cross, because she loved Jacob best, and she 
 wanted Jacob to have the blessing. She stood there 
 thinking about it for a little while, and then went into 
 the tent where Jacob was. 
 
 She quickly told Jacob all about it, and then said: 
 “I am going to cook a fine dinner for your father. When 
 it is ready, you shall take it to him, and get his blessing.” 
 
 “Oh! I cannot do that,” said Jacob, “because my 
 father will know I am Jacob. Esau is a hairy man, and 
 I am a smooth man. My father will feel my hands and 
 my face, and he will know I am Jacob.” 
 
 “Never mind,” said his mother, “I will look out for 
 that. You just go and bring in some of the dried goat¬ 
 skins, and I will make you hairy.” 
 
 While Jacob was gone, Rebecca cooked some meat 
 just as Isaac liked it most, and made some little cakes. 
 When Jacob came back with the goat skins, she tied 
 
 43 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 them around his shoulders and his head. She also 
 pinned pieces of the skin over his hands. Then she gave 
 him the food for his father. 
 
 Jacob really did not want to deceive the poor old man, 
 who was so nearly blind, but his mother said he must do 
 as she told him. She said Esau was so wild, he would 
 not really care for the blessing, and she wanted Jacob 
 to have it. Jacob took the tray with the dinner on it, and 
 went to his father. When Isaac heard footsteps outside, 
 he asked: 
 
 “Is it you, my son Esau? How did you get back here 
 so soon?” And Jacob said: 
 
 “I found a deer near here, and you know, father, it 
 does not take very long to cook venison.” 
 
 “Come close to me, my son,” said Isaac. “I want 
 to know if you are Esau;” and when he felt the hairy 
 hands and neck, he said: 
 
 “Your hands feel like Esau’s, but your voice is 
 Jacob’s.” 
 
 The father took the food, and after he finished eating, 
 he said: “Come nearer to me, my son, and I will bless 
 you. I am old, and I cannot live much longer, but I 
 
 want to bless you before I die.” 
 
 44 
 
ISAAC GIVES JACOB HIS BLESSING 
 

 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE BROTHERS 
 
 Jacob knelt down at his father’s side, and bowed his 
 head. Isaac placed his two hands on his son’s head, and 
 gave him the same blessing that God had given to Abra¬ 
 ham long before, and which God had promised to his 
 children and children’s children. 
 
 Isaac told Jacob he would, some day, be the father 
 of many sons and of a great nation of people. Then he 
 asked God to bless Jacob with health and wisdom and 
 wealth; and Isaac kissed him on his head. Jacob rose 
 from his knees, and stood by his father. He thanked 
 his father and then went to tell his mother. 
 
 While Jacob was in the tent with his father, Esau had 
 come back with a large deer he had shot. He cut a slice 
 of meat from the tenderest part of the deer, and prepared 
 it with a nice sauce that his father liked. When it was 
 ready, he carried the dish into his father’s tent, and 
 called out cheerily: 
 
 “Here I am, father, and here is some fine venison I 
 have brought you.” 
 
 “Who are you?” asked poor old Isaac in a trembling 
 voice. “Who are you? I cannot see. Come nearer.” 
 
 Esau knelt down before his father, very close to him, 
 and said: “Don’t you know me, father? I am Esau, 
 
 45 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 and here is the meat you wished for. Eat it, I beg of 
 you, and then give me your blessing.” 
 
 Isaac was very sad when he heard his son beg for the 
 blessing, and he said slowly: 
 
 “Oh, my son Esau, I have given the blessing to your 
 brother Jacob. He brought me food, and I ate it. I 
 thought he was you, and I blessed him and his children 
 forever.” 
 
 “But, father,” cried Esau, “have you only one bless- 
 ing to give? Can you not bless me, too?” 
 
 Then Isaac rose from his chair, and laying his hand 
 on Esau’s head, answered: 
 
 “The blessing that should have been yours, I gave 
 to Jacob, and it can never be taken away from him. All 
 I can say to you is, that you will always be a good hunter, 
 and you will be a rich man and a great man.” Esau 
 then left his father’s tent, but he was very angry at 
 Jacob. 
 
 Rebecca had heard all that Isaac said to Esau, and 
 she told Jacob he must go away for awhile, until Esau 
 forgot all about the blessing; and then Jacob could come 
 back again. So Jacob went, but he was not very happy 
 when he thought of what had happened. He knew how 
 
 46 
 
THE BROTHERS 
 
 wrong it was to deceive his kind father, and to take away 
 the blessing from his brother. And he was very sorry 
 he had been so wicked. 
 
 One night he lay down to sleep in a field. He had 
 no covering and no pillow, so he laid his head on a big 
 flat stone. He slept, and had a queer dream. He 
 dreamed he saw a ladder that reached way up to the 
 sky, and that many angels were climbing up and down 
 the ladder. And he dreamed that God stood on the 
 top of the ladder. And he heard God say to him: 
 “Jacob, I will bless you with many blessings.” 
 
 When Jacob woke the next morning, he remembered 
 his beautiful dream, and he thought he had been in 
 heaven with God. Jacob said the field was holy ground. 
 He took the stone that had been his pillow, stood it up 
 on the spot where he dreamed he had seen the ladder, 
 and called the place “Beth-el,” which means “God’s 
 House.” 
 
 Then he knelt down by the stone, and prayed to God. 
 He said he was very sorry for what he had done to his 
 father and his brother, and he asked God to forgive him 
 for the wrong he had done. He promised God he 
 
 would always be a good man. And he kept his word. 
 
 47 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 Long afterward Jacob and Esau met again. They 
 talked together a long while, they gave each other 
 many handsome presents, and they became good friends. 
 
 48 
 
VII 
 
 THE DREAMER 
 
 JOSEPH 
 
 Jacob went to a beautiful land called Canaan, and 
 stayed there. He married, and had thirteen children, 
 twelve boys and one girl. He owned much land and 
 cattle, and people said he was a very rich man. Jacob 
 loved all his children, but he loved Joseph more than 
 the others, because Joseph was such a gentle and kind 
 boy. 
 
 The brothers of Joseph did not like him very much; 
 I suppose because the father loved him most. Joseph 
 liked to lie under the trees, on the nice soft grass, and 
 liked to listen to the singing of the birds. He loved to 
 watch the pretty, white clouds floating in the air nearly 
 up to the sky, and he would keep very quiet, and dream 
 away the time. 
 
 His brothers, just to tease him, called him the dreamer. 
 One day, Jacob gave Joseph a fine, new coat. That 
 made his brothers angry, for they thought Joseph did 
 
 49 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 not need another coat. The brothers used to go away 
 from home every morning to take the cattle to the fields. 
 
 Once Jacob called Joseph, and said: “Go and find 
 your brothers. I told them to go to the East fields. See 
 if they are there, and what they are doing, and come 
 back soon to tell me.” 
 
 Joseph went to look for them, but when he came to 
 the East fields, no one was there except an old man. 
 Joseph asked him whether he had seen his brothers. The 
 old man said they had not been near the East fields at 
 all, but he had seen them go way over to the West 
 fields. Joseph hurried to the other fields. 
 
 One of the brothers saw him coming, and said to the 
 others: “Here comes that dreamer Joseph, and I won¬ 
 der what he wants. When he goes back home, he will 
 tell our father we did not go to the East fields, and then 
 our father will not trust us any more. Let us kill Joseph, 
 and tell father a wild beast rushed out of the forest, and 
 ate the boy.’* 
 
 “Oh no,” said Reuben, the oldest brother. “Don’t 
 let us do that. That would be wicked and cruel. Let 
 us put him into that deep pit over there, and he cannot 
 get out.” 
 
 50 
 
THE DREAMER 
 
 Do you know why Reuben said this? Because he 
 did not want his little brother to be hurt, and because 
 he had made up his mind that after the brothers went 
 home, he would come back alone, and take Joseph out 
 of the pit. Then Reuben went away to look for some 
 sheep that had run off. 
 
 When Joseph came, the brothers caught hold of him 
 and took off his new coat. They let him down into the 
 pit, and left him there. After they had climbed up the 
 side of the pit, they killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s 
 coat in the blood. They did this, so that they could 
 show it to their father, and tell him a wild beast had 
 killed Joseph. 
 
 While they were busy with the coat, they noticed a 
 company of men and a train of camels coming along 
 the road. One of the brothers said: “These men are 
 strangers to us. This is the road that goes into Egypt. 
 If they are going into Egypt, let us ask them to buy 
 Joseph and take him along with them. That will be a 
 good way to get rid of him altogether.” 
 
 When the men came near, the brothers asked the 
 leader if they would like to buy a young boy who could 
 work for them, and they said yes. They went down 
 
 51 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 into the pit with ropes and pulled Joseph out. The 
 leader paid them twenty pieces of silver, and took Joseph 
 with him. 
 
 Towards evening, after the brothers had gone home 
 with their flocks, Reuben went down into the pit to get 
 his brother Joseph, but he was not there. Reuben cried 
 and sobbed, and ran after his brothers. 
 
 “Oh, where is my brother Joseph?” he cried. “I 
 could not find him in the pit. What did you do with 
 him?” 
 
 They showed Reuben the bloody coat, and said they 
 were taking it home to show their father what had 
 happened. 
 
 As soon as Jacob saw them, he said: “Where is my 
 boy—my Joseph? I sent him to the fields after you. 
 Tell me, where is my boy?” 
 
 After they had showed him the coat, poor Jacob 
 said: “This is his coat; and some wild animal must 
 have jumped on him and killed my Joseph.” 
 
 He cried and cried, and Reuben tried to comfort him. 
 But he would not be comforted, and he said he would 
 always mourn for his son. 
 
 Joseph was taken to Egypt and a man, whose name 
 
 52 
 
JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTHERS 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE DREAMER 
 
 was Potiphar, bought him from the men who had him. 
 
 Joseph had a good sweet face and a gentle manner 
 and kind ways, and Potiphar was very fond of him. 
 He was good to Joseph, for he saw how hard Joseph 
 tried to please everybody. Once when Potiphar had to 
 go into the country to attend to some business, he told 
 Joseph to do many things while he was gone. 
 
 Potiphar had a wife, who often told Joseph to do 
 things for her, and he always did them when he could. 
 But one day, she told him to do a very foolish thing. 
 Joseph knew it would be wrong if he did it, so he told 
 her he could not. This made her very angry, and when 
 Potiphar came home she told him that Joseph would 
 not obey her, and that he should put Joseph in prison. 
 And Potiphar did what his wife told him. 
 
 But God had always watched over Joseph. God 
 knew that Joseph had done what was right and honor¬ 
 able, so, even in the dark prison, God watched over him, 
 too. All the men belonging to the prison were kind to 
 Joseph, and before long, they took him out of the dark 
 cell where he was. They let Joseph help them in their 
 work, and he made friends with every one. 
 
 Just about this time, the butler who served the king, 
 
 53 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 did something wrong, and was put into the prison where 
 Joseph was. The butler remained in prison many 
 months. One morning as Joseph was going around 
 doing his work, he noticed how sad the butler looked. 
 
 Joseph, who was always kind to everyone, asked 
 what it was that worried the butler. The butler said 
 he had dreamed a queer dream, and he asked Joseph 
 if he could tell him what the dream meant. Joseph 
 told him to tell the dream, and maybe he could tell him 
 the meaning. 
 
 The butler said: “I dreamed I saw a grape-vine 
 with three branches on it. I saw the green leaves and 
 the ripe purple grapes. I held the cup of King Pharaoh 
 in my hand. I pressed the juice of the grapes into the 
 cup, and then I handed it to the king to drink.” 
 
 “I can easily tell you what that dream means,” said 
 Joseph. “The three branches are three days, and in 
 three days from now, King Pharaoh will send for you 
 to leave this prison. The king will set you free, and 
 you will be his butler again, and you will hand him his 
 cup of wine like you always did.” 
 
 The butler was very happy, and said to Joseph: “I 
 thank you for telling me what my dream means. Is 
 
 54 
 
THE DREAMER 
 
 there anything I can do for you after I leave this prison?” 
 
 “Yes,” answered Joseph. “When you are back in 
 the king’s palace, will you ask King Pharaoh to set me 
 free? I never did any wrong to anybody, and I do not 
 belong in Egypt at all.” 
 
 Everything happened just as Joseph said. Three 
 days later was the king’s birthday, and he made a feast 
 for all his servants. He sent to prison for the butler, and 
 let him work in the palace just as he used to do. But the 
 butler forgot all about poor Joseph in prison, and he did 
 not tell the king anything about what was going on there. 
 
 
 55 
 
VIII 
 
 THE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT 
 
 JOSEPH 
 
 Two years after Joseph was put in prison, King 
 Pharaoh had a strange dream. The king dreamed he 
 stood by the side of a river. He saw seven cows come 
 up out of the water to eat the grass that was growing on 
 the banks of the river. These cows were fat and 
 healthy cows, and while they were eating the grass, 
 seven other cows came up out of the water; but these 
 cows were thin and sick. For a minute, the sick cows 
 looked at the well ones. Then the thin and sick cows 
 ate up the fat and healthy ones. 
 
 Pharaoh woke up, and wondered what the dream 
 meant. While he was thinking about it, he fell asleep 
 again, and had another dream. This time, the king 
 dreamed he was standing by a field of corn, and on a 
 tall stalk, he saw seven ears of corn. They were large 
 ears full of corn. But just below them, on the same 
 stalk, there were seven very thin ears with very little 
 
 56 
 
THE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT 
 
 com on them. While the king was looking at them, 
 the seven thin ears swallowed the seven full ears. 
 Then the king woke up; and he was very much worried 
 by the dreams. 
 
 In those times, there were wise men in Egypt who 
 sometimes understood dreams, and could tell what the 
 dreams meant. King Pharaoh sent his servants to bring 
 all the wise men to the palace, so that he could tell them 
 his dreams. They came very quickly, but none of them 
 knew what the dreams meant. 
 
 Then the butler remembered Joseph, and said to 
 Pharaoh: “Great king, I am ashamed to say that I 
 forgot something, but I will tell you now. When I 
 Was in prison long ago, a young man was there who was 
 very kind to all the prisoners. I know he can tell the 
 meaning of dreams.” 
 
 The king sent to the prison for Joseph. But before 
 Joseph went to the palace he shaved himself. Then 
 he asked for clean clothes, which they gave him. 
 When Joseph was brought to the king, King Pharaoh 
 said: “My servants say that you understand dreams, 
 and can tell what any dream means. Is this true?” 
 
 Joseph answered in a low tone: “I cannot always do 
 
 57 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 that. Sometimes God puts the thoughts in my mind. 
 If you tell me your dreams, perhaps God will help me.” 
 
 Pharaoh told his two dreams, and Joseph listened 
 quietly. Then he said: “These two dreams are really 
 only one dream, because they both mean the same thing. 
 God sent these dreams to you, so that you may know 
 what will soon happen in your land.” 
 
 Joseph explained the dreams in this way: “The seven 
 fat cows and the seven full ears of corn mean seven years 
 of plenty; plenty of cattle, plenty of flocks and herds, 
 plenty of grain, plenty of water, plenty of everything. 
 The seven thin cows and the thin ears of corn mean 
 seven years of famine, when there will be very little to 
 eat. After the seven good years of plenty, there will be 
 seven years when the grain will not grow. The animals 
 will have very little to eat, and many will die, and the 
 people will not have much food either.” 
 
 Pharaoh did not speak for a few minutes, then he 
 said: “I think I understand the dreams now. Tell me, 
 Joseph, do you know what I can do to stop the bad years 
 from coming? What can I do, so that my people will 
 have enough to eat, and what can be done to get food 
 for the cattle and sheep?” 
 
 58 
 
THE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT 
 
 “God sent you these dreams,” said Joseph, “so you 
 can be ready when the bad years of famine come. First 
 of all, you must choose a good and wise man to be the 
 Governor of Egypt. Then you must let the people all 
 know that you trust this man. And the people must 
 obey the governor and do all he says.” 
 
 “Yes,” said the king, “and I know a man who will 
 make a good governor.” 
 
 “Then,” said Joseph, “this is what the governor must 
 do. He must order the men in every city in Egypt to 
 build store-houses,—places to pack away grain and 
 other food. The seven years of plenty will begin now, 
 so there is time enough to do everything. After the 
 store-houses are built, the people must carry food there. 
 The governor must lock up the store-houses so that no 
 one can touch the food, for it must be saved, and when 
 the seven bad years of famine come, there will be enough 
 to eat in Egypt.” 
 
 King Pharaoh had listened to all Joseph said, and 
 he could tell that Joseph was a very wise man. So he 
 said: 
 
 “Joseph, I will make you the governor of Egypt, and 
 you can order everything done just as you think best.” 
 
 59 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 1 - — 1 ■ " ----- ■ — — - -■ - . . i . ■ ■ 
 
 The king took a beautiful gold ring from his own 
 finger and gave it to Joseph. He put a long gold chain 
 around Joseph’s neck and sent for fine new clothes for 
 Joseph to wear. 
 
 So you see what happened to Joseph. Because he 
 had always been so kind to everyone, everyone loved 
 him. Because he loved God and trusted in Him, the 
 boy who had been sold by his brothers to be a servant, 
 became the governor of the great land of Egypt. 
 
 During the next seven years, the years of plenty in 
 Egypt, Joseph was very busy. He watched the work¬ 
 men build the great store-houses and he made all the 
 farmers bring a certain amount of grain to put into them. 
 So, when the good years had passed away, there was 
 enough food in the many store-houses in Egypt to last 
 for the seven bad years that were coming. 
 
 But in the other lands around Egypt, no one had tried 
 to save up, and they all had to go to Joseph, the gover¬ 
 nor of Egypt, to buy what they needed. Down in the 
 land of Canaan where Jacob and his family lived, there 
 was hardly any food for the cattle to eat. 
 
 Jacob told his sons they must go to Egypt to buy com. 
 They did not want to go. Do you know why? Just be- 
 
 60 
 
THE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT 
 
 cause they remembered how they had sold their brother 
 to men who took him to Egypt. They were afraid they 
 would meet Joseph and they thought Joseph would do 
 them some harm. But they did not know that Joseph 
 was the governor of Egypt. 
 
 Jacob said they must go, and gave them money to buy 
 corn. Each one of the brothers took a big bag to carry 
 back the corn. When they came to Egypt, they went to 
 the store-house where Joseph was selling grain. They 
 saw Joseph standing there, and bowed down to him be¬ 
 cause he was the governor. They did not know he was 
 their brother, for when they sold him he was a boy, and 
 now he was a man. 
 
 It was thirteen years since Joseph was sold, but as 
 soon as he saw his brothers, he knew them again. He 
 made believe he did not know them, and spoke very 
 roughly to them. He said: “What do all you men want 
 here?” 
 
 “We came from the land of Canaan to buy corn,” 
 answered the brothers. 
 
 “I do not think so,” said Joseph. “I think you are 
 spies, and that you came here to see what is going on 
 in Egypt.” 
 
 61 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 “No, great governor,’’ said Reuben, “we are not 
 spies. We are brothers, and we came to buy corn. We 
 do not want to know what is going on in Egypt.” 
 
 They then told Joseph that there were twelve brothers 
 in their family, but now, one was dead. (You see, they 
 thought Joseph was dead.) Reuben said their young¬ 
 est brother was at home. When Joseph said they must 
 bring their youngest brother to see him, Reuben said: 
 “Our father will not let him come. He loves our 
 brother, Benjamin, so much, that he always wants him 
 at home.” 
 
 “Tell your father,” said Joseph, “that Benjamin 
 must come. And I will keep one of you here until he 
 does come.” 
 
 He pointed to one of the brothers and two officers 
 took him away. Joseph ordered his servants to fill the 
 bags with corn, and sent his brothers to bring Benjamin 
 back. The brothers, all except the one Joseph had kept 
 with him, went home. They were afraid to tell their 
 father that the governor of Egypt wished to see Ben¬ 
 jamin, but they had to. 
 
 “No, no,” said the father. “I cannot let my Ben¬ 
 jamin go to Egypt. Many years ago, I sent Joseph out 
 
 62 
 
THE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT 
 
 into the fields to you, and he never came back. If any- 
 thing should happen to Benjamin, so that he cannot come 
 back to me, I would die of sorrow.” 
 
 But after sometime, when all the corn was used up, 
 Reuben told his father they must have more food for 
 the cattle. He said Egypt was the only place where 
 they could buy corn. He begged so long for Benjamin 
 to go with them, that at last, the father consented. 
 
 When they came to Egypt, to the governor’s house, 
 Joseph said: “How is your father? I hope he is well.” 
 
 “Yes,” said Reuben, “he is quite well.” 
 
 “Is this your brother, Benjamin?” asked Joseph, as 
 he looked at the pretty boy standing by Reuben. 
 
 “This is our brother, Benjamin,” said Reuben, “and 
 he is our father’s darling.” 
 
 Joseph did not answer, but rushed out of the room. 
 He was so glad to see his little brother, that he began 
 to cry, and he did not want any one to see him cry. 
 When Joseph came back into the room, he sent all the 
 servants away. Then he said to his brothers: “It is true, 
 I am the governor of Egypt, but I am also your brother, 
 Joseph, the boy you sold so many years ago.” 
 
 The brothers all looked so scared, that Joseph said 
 
 63 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 quickly: “You need not be afraid, I will not harm you, 
 for I forgave you long ago. That was God’s way to 
 make me a great man, and now I am the greatest man 
 in Egypt, except the king. I am rich and I can do what¬ 
 ever I like, and I want all of you to come here to live. 
 Now go home and bring our father to me.” 
 
 Joseph gave them corn, and sent them away. They 
 went back to Canaan and told their father, Jacob, all 
 that had happened. When they said Joseph was alive, 
 and was the good, wise governor, Jacob folded his hands 
 in prayer to God, and thanked Him for His goodness. 
 
 Reuben said Joseph wanted the whole family to come 
 to Egypt and stay there. That he wanted them to bring 
 all their cattle and flocks and herds and Joseph would 
 give them all the land they needed. So one day, they 
 all started from Canaan to go to Egypt. 
 
 It was just like a parade. There was old father 
 Jacob and his ten sons—for Joseph and Benjamin were 
 
 in Egypt. Then there were all the wives and children 
 and grandchildren, and the servants and the flocks and 
 herds. The older people rode in wagons that Joseph 
 had sent from Egypt, the children rode on camels, and 
 the strong men walked. 
 
 64 
 
JOSEPH MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BROTHERS 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT 
 
 Pharaoh was a good king, and he loved Joseph. He 
 was very glad that Joseph’s family was coming to 
 Egypt, and he told Joseph to choose the best land there 
 was for his father and brothers. Just before they all 
 reached the city where Joseph lived, they saw Joseph 
 coming to meet them in his chariot. 
 
 Jacob and Joseph were very, very glad to see each 
 other again, as you can imagine, and Jacob thanked 
 God for giving him such happiness. They all found 
 homes near Joseph’s palace, and Joseph was always 
 the good true son and brother to them, and he remained 
 the good and wise governor all his life. 
 
 65 
 
IX 
 
 THE BABY IN THE BASKET 
 
 MOSES 
 
 Many years after Joseph’s death, there was another 
 king in Egypt whose name was Pharaoh, too. But this 
 Pharaoh was a rough and cruel man and a bad king, 
 while the other Pharaoh, who lived when Joseph was 
 the governor, was a kind man and a good king. 
 
 During these years many children were born, and 
 grew up, and got married, and they had children; and 
 when this Pharaoh was made king, there were thous¬ 
 ands and thousands of Hebrews in the land. The people 
 of Egypt called the Hebrews, Israelites, and I will tell 
 you why. After old father Jacob had twelve sons, God 
 said his name should be Israel, and that all his people 
 should be called Israelites. 
 
 When these Israelites first came into Egypt, they were 
 very happy, because King Pharaoh, Joseph’s friend, was 
 very good to them. But the new king was very cruel. 
 He said that they must work for him, and be his slaves. 
 
 66 
 
THE BABY IN THE BASKET 
 
 Slaves are people who have to work from morning until 
 night every day, and who never get any money for their 
 work. The masters send food to them, give them ugly 
 little cabins to live in, and give them poor clothes to 
 wear. And that is all they have. 
 
 One day King Pharaoh said: “There are too many 
 Israelites in Egypt, and we must do something to get 
 rid of them. I will make a new law. It is that every 
 baby boy that is born to these people must be killed 
 right away.” Don’t you think he was a cruel king? 
 And just think how unhappy that law made those poor 
 people—to have to kill their dear little baby boys! 
 
 There was one woman who said she would not have 
 her baby killed, so she hid him for three months. Then 
 she was afraid that some of the king’s soldiers would 
 find him. So she made a basket of bulrushes, which 
 
 is a thick, heavy grass that grows along the edges of a 
 lake or a river. She made it in the shape of a little 
 
 boat, and covered it with tar, so the water could not 
 get inside. She put some soft cotton in the bottom of 
 the little boat, and laid her little boy on the cotton. 
 She then set the basket in the weeds that were down 
 by the river, and told her daughter Miriam to watch 
 
 67 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 it. The girl hid behind some trees to see what would 
 happen to the baby. Soon she saw the lovely princess, 
 the daughter of King Pharaoh, coming down to the 
 bank of the river. 
 
 The princess was walking slowly along with some 
 of her maidens when she saw the little basket, and she 
 sent one of the girls to bring it to her. When she lifted 
 off the cover, she saw that sweet little baby boy. He 
 looked at her with his big black eyes, and smiled up 
 into her face. The princess said: “What a darling 
 baby! He must belong to some Israelite woman, and 
 I know she put him in this basket to save his life. He 
 is too sweet to die, and I will take him home with me 
 to keep for my very own.” Just then she saw Miriam. 
 She motioned for her to come near, and said: “I have 
 just taken this little boy out of the water. I will keep 
 him for my own and he shall live with me in the palace. 
 Can you find some woman to be his nurse?” 
 
 You can imagine how glad Miriam was, and she told 
 the princess she would bring a nurse to the palace in a 
 few minutes. She ran home as fast as she could, and 
 told her mother to go to the palace at once. The mother 
 was very happy, for now she could stay with her own 
 
 68 
 
THE BABY BOY MOSES HIDDEN 
 IN THE BULRUSHES 
 

 
 
 
THE BABY IN THE BASKET 
 
 little baby. She went quickly to the palace, and the 
 princess said: “I want you to nurse this little boy. I 
 just found him out in the river, and I have named him 
 Moses. Moses means ‘taken out of the water,’ and 
 I took the child out of the water. Now be sure to 
 take good care of the little fellow.” 
 
 You may be sure that the nurse, who was his own 
 mother, took good care of the little Moses and was 
 very kind to him. Moses grew up to be a fine boy, 
 and he loved the princess and his mother-nurse very 
 dearly. When he was old enough, the princess got 
 good teachers for him, and he learned everything that 
 a prince should know. He loved to study, and to learn 
 about things, and when he grew to be a man, he was 
 very wise. 
 
 All the people of Egypt, the Egyptians and the 
 Israelites, all loved Moses very much. He was gentle 
 and kind to everyone, and he was very good to animals. 
 But, although Moses lived in the king’s palace, and was 
 treated like a prince by everybody, and although he had 
 everything he wished for, he was always sad. I won¬ 
 der if you can guess why. 
 
 He knew he was an Israelite and he was sad because 
 
 69 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 he had everything to make him comfortable and happy, 
 and his people had nothing at all but hard work. You 
 see, his mother had told him many stories when he 
 was little. They were all about his own people, and he 
 loved them. It made him sad that he could net do 
 anything for them to help them in some way. 
 
 One day he went out for a walk. He passed a place 
 where a number of men were building a new house. 
 The workmen were all Israelites and the man who 
 watched them at work was an Egyptian. One of the 
 Israelites was carrying a heavy load of bricks. He 
 stumbled over a loose board in the floor and the bricks 
 fell down. The Egyptian took his whip and struck the 
 poor Israelite. This made Moses so angry that he 
 struck the Egyptian. 
 
 Of course, it was very wrong for Moses to do that, 
 but I suppose he could not help it when he saw how 
 rough the man was and how cruel, too. Afterwards 
 Moses thought how foolish he had been, for he could 
 not go around and strike every Egyptian who was cruel 
 to an Israelite. So he thought that just now the best 
 thing he could do would be to go away from Egypt 
 till he could find some way to help his people. 
 
 70 
 
THE BABY IN THE BASKET 
 
 He went far away into the country and stopped at 
 a farm house. He asked the farmer if he could give 
 him some work to do on the farm. Just think of that! 
 Why, he might have remained in the palace and be a 
 prince and have anything he wanted there! But Moses 
 said as long as the other Israelites had to work, he 
 would work, too. So he began by taking care of sheep. 
 
 One evening, after he had brought the sheep home 
 and counted them to see if all were there, he noticed 
 that one little lamb was gone. Moses was cold and 
 tired and hungry, but he did not mind that at all, when 
 he thought of the little lamb out all alone on the hill¬ 
 side. He hurried back to the hills where the sheep had 
 been all day, to look for the lamb. 
 
 Moses could not see it anywhere for it was nearly 
 dark, but he heard a soft, low ‘baa-baa.” He knew 
 the little lamb must be close by. He looked around 
 and there it was, lying on the ground under a bush, all 
 tired out and shivering with cold. Moses took it in 
 his arms, wrapped his own coat around it, and, although 
 he was so tired himself, he carried that heavy little lamb 
 all the way home. And then he fed it before he had 
 his own supper. 
 
 71 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 One day, when Moses was walking alone, he saw 
 a bush that looked as if it were on fire. He walked 
 nearer to it, and saw that though there was a big flame 
 around it, the bush did not burn out. And he heard a 
 Voice speaking from out of the bush, and he knew it 
 was the Voice of God. And the Voice said to him that 
 just as the bush was burning and was not destroyed so 
 would the people of Moses never be destroyed. And 
 Moses took off his sandals and bowed his head in prayer, 
 for he knew he was standing on holy ground. 
 
 Moses had a brother, Aaron, who was also a very 
 good man. Moses and Aaron often spoke to each 
 other about the hard work their people had to do. 
 They tried to think of some way to set them free and 
 take them away from Egypt. They both prayed God to 
 help them, or tell them what to do. 
 
 At last, one day God spoke to Moses and said: “Go 
 back to Egypt and take your brother Aaron with you. 
 Ask Pharaoh to let your people go into the desert, so 
 they can bring sacrifices to God. If the king does not 
 let the people go, tell him God will punish him. ’’ 
 When Moses and Aaron came to the king, and told 
 him what God had said, Pharaoh answered: “I do 
 
 72 
 
THE BABY IN THE BASKET 
 
 not believe a word you say. Your God will not punish 
 
 such a great king as I am, and I will not let your people* 
 
 »» 
 
 g°- 
 
 Then God sent the punishments, one after the other, 
 till Pharaoh let the people go. He sent the “Ten 
 Plagues” upon the land of Egypt. (A plague is some¬ 
 thing which gives us pain or worry or unhappiness.) 
 
 This was the first plague. All the water was changed 
 into blood. In the rivers and lakes and fountains, 
 and even in the glasses and pitchers, all over, wherever 
 there was any water, it turned into blood. No one had 
 any water to drink, and everybody was afraid. The 
 king was frightened, as well as the people, and he sent 
 for Moses and said: “If your God will make the water 
 J clean again I will let your people go.” 
 
 Moses prayed to God to change the blood back to 
 water again, and God did so. But when Pharaoh saw 
 that the water was clean, he changed his mind and 
 would not let the people go. Then God sent the 
 second plague. 
 
 Frogs came. They came from the woods and from 
 the rivers and from the grass. Millions of frogs came 
 and they hopped everywhere. Into houses and pan- 
 
 73 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 tries, into bureau drawers and wardrobes, upon tables 
 and chairs and even in the beds, there was nothing but 
 
 frogs. 
 
 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses again. He told him 
 if the frogs were taken away he would let the people go. 
 Moses prayed to God to remove the frogs, and soon they 
 all hopped back to the places from which they came. 
 But when they were all gone, the king said he would 
 not let the people go. 
 
 Then the third plague was sent. Ugly bugs came. 
 They crawled over everything, and bit everybody. 
 But still the king would not let the people go. 
 
 The fourth plague was flies. There were thousands 
 and thousands of flies everywhere. 
 
 The fifth plague was a sickness among all the cattle. 
 They were so sick that many died. 
 
 The sixth plague was boils, great big ugly sores. All 
 the Egyptians got them all over their bodies, and the 
 boils hurt them badly. 
 
 The seventh plague was a great hail-storm. The 
 hail fell so fast and in such big lumps, that the fruit 
 on the trees and the grains in the fields were destroyed. 
 The eighth plague was locusts. Locusts are insects 
 
 74 
 
THE BABY IN THE BASKET 
 
 something like grasshoppers, and the locusts ate every¬ 
 thing that was left after the hail-storm. 
 
 The ninth plague was darkness. Even in the day 
 time, it was as dark as in the middle of the night, and 
 there was no sun, nor moon, nor stars, to give any light. 
 
 During this time, always after each plague came, 
 Pharaoh sent for Moses, and told him the same thing 
 over and over again. He said if God took away the 
 plague, he would let the people go. Then each time 
 after the plague was taken away, Pharaoh changed his 
 mind and would not let the people go. 
 
 After the ninth plague, God said to Moses: “I will 
 send one more plague upon Pharaoh and the whole land 
 of Egypt. After that, he will surely let you go.” 
 
 God told Moses that in the middle of the next night, 
 the oldest or first-born child in every Egyptian family 
 would die—not only the first-born of every family, but 
 the first-born of all the cattle too. God promised that 
 nothing would happen to the Israelites, because God 
 loved them more than the Egyptians. 
 
 When God told Moses what he must do to save 
 the Israelites, Moses sent men around to all the peo¬ 
 ple. He told them to go from one house to another 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 wherever an Israelite lived, and told them to say this: 
 “Take as many lambs as you need, and kill them. Then 
 take a little bunch of hyssop (a small plant that grows 
 in Egypt), and dip the leaves in the lamb’s blood. 
 Sprinkle this blood on the side of each door of an Is¬ 
 raelite’s house. After that is done, let every one go 
 inside of the houses, and stay there. No one must go 
 out again until morning comes.” And everything was 
 done just as Moses wanted, just as God had ordered it. 
 
 Then God spoke to Moses again. He said: “See 
 to it that the people obey me and stay inside their 
 houses tonight. For tonight, I, your God, will send 
 the Angel of Death into every house in Egypt, except 
 those houses where the blood was sprinkled on the door¬ 
 posts. The Angel of Death will pass over those houses, 
 and no one who is in them will be harmed. For all 
 the years to come, let the children of Israel remember 
 the Passover, and thank God that the Angel of Death 
 did pass over those houses in Egypt.” 
 
 And that night, at midnight, there was much weep¬ 
 ing in Egypt, for in every house and in every barn, and 
 in every field, some one was dead. But in the houses 
 of the Israelites all was well. 
 
 76 
 
THE BABY IN THE BASKET 
 
 In that same night, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron 
 to the palace, and said to them: “Go! go! you and 
 your people. Take your flocks and your herds with 
 you and go! I never want to see any of you again.” 
 
 Moses gave the order, and the people packed their 
 things very quickly, for they were so poor, they did 
 not have much to pack. Many of them had some dough 
 ready to make bread, but there was no time to bake it, 
 so the women took it as it was. And when they were 
 hungry, they made flat crackers out of the dough which 
 they had brought with them. These crackers are called 
 “matzoh,” and thousands of Jews, all over the world, eat 
 them each year at Passover time, instead of bread. 
 
 At last, every one was ready to start. The Egyp¬ 
 tians were so glad the Israelites were going away, and 
 so glad that the God of Israel had stopped the plagues, 
 that they gave them many presents of gold and silver. 
 
 Passover is to the Jews what the Fourth of July is to 
 Americans. It is the day that celebrates the indepen¬ 
 dence of the Jews, just as the Fourth of July celebrates 
 the independence of America. Passover freed the Jews 
 from the King of Egypt, and the Fourth of July freed 
 the Americans from the King of England. 
 
 77 
 
X 
 
 THE GREAT LEADER 
 
 MOSES 
 
 Soon after the people of Israel left Egypt, they chose 
 Moses to be their captain and leader. They said if he 
 would lead the way, they would follow him. Moses 
 prayed God to give him a sign where to lead them, and 
 God said to him: “I will put a pillar of cloud in the sky. 
 Then I will send a wind to blow the cloud in the way 
 I want it to go, and you must follow the cloud. At day¬ 
 time, it will be a dark pillar of cloud, and at night, it 
 will be a bright column of fire. In that way, you can all 
 see it by night as well as by day/' 
 
 Moses looked up towards the sky, and there was the 
 pillar of cloud. All day long they followed it, and 
 when night came, the cloud changed to a bright pillar 
 of fire. When it was time to rest, the cloud stood still 
 and did not move at all. Then the people rested. 
 
 After the Israelites had left Egypt, Pharaoh began 
 to think how stupid he had been to let them go. These 
 
 78 
 
THE GREAT LEADER 
 
 people had done all the hardest work, and now Pharaoh 
 wanted them back. He commanded his soldiers to get 
 ready to follow them, and bring his chariots. (A chariot 
 is a kind of carriage.) 
 
 Pharaoh had six hundred chariots, and thousands 
 and thousands of soldiers, and they all hurried to catch 
 the Israelites. These poor people were resting near a 
 body of water called the Red Sea , when they saw 
 Pharaoh’s army coming. They were frightened. They 
 told Moses it was all his fault for taking them away 
 from Egypt, and they said they would all be killed. 
 
 “Do not be afraid,’’ said Moses. “God has helped 
 us so far, and He will still take care of us. You need 
 only wait a little while, and you will find out that the 
 Egyptians will never bother us any more.” 
 
 God made a very strong east wind to blow over the 
 sea. This wind swept the waters far to the sides, and 
 made a path right through the middle of the sea, and 
 Moses led them across the Red Sea just as if it were 
 dry land. 
 
 When Pharaoh saw this, he said to his soldiers: 
 
 Forward, march! Follow quickly while the water 
 is gone.’’ 
 
 79 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 But God was taking care of His people, and He 
 stopped the wind from blowing, just when the Egyp¬ 
 tians started to cross the sea. All the water flowed 
 back again to the middle of the sea, and drowned the 
 wicked king and the soldiers who had been so cruel to 
 the Israelites. Then the people believed that God was 
 taking care of them, and they trusted Moses again. 
 
 And now they began their long journey through the 
 desert, where they followed the pillar of cloud by day 
 and the pillar of fire by night. It did not take very long, 
 before the people had eaten all the food they brought 
 with them from Egypt. They put all the blame on 
 Moses again, and said it was his fault they had nothing 
 to eat. 
 
 Moses prayed to God again, and God said: “Tell 
 your people I will send them enough to eat. Tell them 
 I will send them Manna.” (Manna is a kind of seed 
 or berry that grows in warm countries, and is very good 
 to eat. It is white and sweet, and it tastes like cake.) 
 
 God said: “Every morning I will send a rain of Man¬ 
 na, and the people shall pick it up from the ground. 
 They must take only enough for one day’s food, and 
 must not save any for the next day. On the sixth day, 
 
 80 
 
THE GREAT LEADER 
 
 they must pick up enough for two days, because there 
 will be no Manna on the seventh day, for the seventh 
 day is the Sabbath.” 
 
 Most of the people obeyed Moses, and when the 
 Manna fell to the ground, they took only what they 
 needed for one day. But some of them were very 
 greedy, just as children sometimes are. They took more 
 than they could eat and tried to save it. And what do 
 you think happened? The Manna turned black, and 
 smelled so bad, they were glad to throw it away. 
 
 But on the sixth day they gathered enough for two 
 days, because no Manna would be sent on the Sabbath. 
 That Manna did not turn bad, and the people were very 
 careful afterwards, not to take too much Manna on the 
 week-days. So, for awhile they were contented. Then, 
 one day, they found fault with Moses again, and said: 
 “Here we are, traveling around in this desert, with noth¬ 
 ing to eat but Manna, and now we cannot even find 
 water to drink. It is all your fault for taking us away 
 from Egypt.” Moses prayed God to show him where 
 he could find water. 
 
 God told Moses to go back where he would see a 
 large rock near their camp, and told him to strike the 
 
 81 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 rock with his staff and water would flow from it. Moses 
 did as God told him, and a stream of water flowed out of 
 the rock. So the people had all the water they needed. 
 
 Moses was very patient with the people, although 
 they gave him trouble all the time. He governed them 
 as well as he could, but they acted like a crowd of 
 naughty children. Moses often went away by him¬ 
 self to pray to God to help him, and once he asked God 
 to give him some rules or laws, which the people would 
 have to obey 
 
 And God said that Moses was right. “You need 
 laws to govern the people and I will make the laws. 
 These people are like little children, and always want 
 something they cannot have. They must live here in 
 the desert for many years, until they get some sense.” 
 Then God spoke again: “There will come a day when 
 I, your God, will lead you out of this desert into the 
 Promised Land. That is the land I promised to Abra¬ 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob, a land where everything grows 
 and where all the people will be happy. But not yet. 
 You cannot go there until the people are fit to go.” 
 
 Moses returned to the camp, gave the charge of the 
 people to Aaron, and then went up the mountain to 
 
 82 
 
THE GREAT LEADER 
 
 pray. He stayed there a long time, praying earnestly 
 to God for the good of the people, and then God said: 
 “Go back to the camp now. Tell the people to wash 
 their clothes, to clean their tents, and to wash them¬ 
 selves. When everything is perfectly clean, tell your 
 people to pray to God. In three days I, the Lord God, 
 will speak to them from the top of Mount Sinai.” 
 
 On the morning of the third day, the people saw a 
 thick black cloud upon the mountain. They heard the 
 sound of a trumpet coming from the top of the mountain, 
 and they were afraid. The trumpet call grew louder 
 and louder, and the cloud grew thicker and blacker. It 
 looked like heavy smoke, and the top of Mount Sinai 
 seemed all on fire. 
 
 Moses prayed out loud now and asked if God was 
 on the mountain top, and a Voice answered :“I am the 
 Lord, thy God, who brought thee out of the land of 
 Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” 
 
 Then the Voice spoke these words: 
 
 1. THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GOD BUT ME. 
 
 2. THOU SHALT NOT MAKE ANY IMAGE OF GOD. 
 
 3. THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF GOD IN 
 VAIN. 
 
 83 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 4. REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT 
 
 HOLY. 
 
 5. HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 
 
 6. THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 
 
 7. THOU SHALT NOT DO ANY WRONG ACT. 
 
 8. THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 
 
 9. THOU SHALT NOT LIE (“bear false witness”). 
 
 10 . THOU SHALT NOT COVET (“covet” is to want 
 
 other people’s things). 
 
 The Voice of God,—the thunder and lightning,—the 
 smoke and fire on Mount Sinai,— the loud tones of the 
 trumpet—all these things frightened the people very, 
 very much. They trembled and moved far back away 
 from the mountain, and they cried out to Moses: “After 
 this, you speak to God alone. We beg you to do this, 
 and then tell us what He has said. But do not let God 
 speak to us again for we are afraid of Him.” 
 
 “You need not be afraid of God,” said Moses, “for 
 God loves you all. He wanted to show you how great 
 He is; and He wanted you to be good people, and obey 
 the Ten Commandments that He gave you this day from 
 Mount Sinai.” 
 
 84 
 

 
 MOSES PRESENTING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 
 TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE GREAT LEADER 
 
 The commandments were written on two stone tablets, 
 and .they were very dear to all the people. They called 
 them the “Holy Law” because they were given by God, 
 and they wanted a safe place to keep them. Moses let 
 them make a little house just for the Law. They called 
 it an ark, for it kept the Holy Law just as safe as that 
 big ark kept Noah so long before. 
 
 But it was a very different kind of an ark. It was 
 made of the finest kind of wood, and had ornaments on 
 it of real gold and silver. Instead of a door, it had a 
 heavy velvet curtain all trimmed with gold. The cur¬ 
 tain hung on large gold rings, and could be moved from 
 side to side. So you see, it was not very much like 
 Noah’s ark, was it? 
 
 The people of Israel had many troubles in after years. 
 They had many wars with other people, and they wan¬ 
 dered from place to place as time passed on, but 
 wherever they went, they carried the ark with them. 
 Sometimes the men would take turns in carrying it, and 
 sometimes it was placed in a small wagon that the men 
 pushed or pulled along. But it was always with them. 
 They said the Holy Law was the most precious thing 
 they had. 
 
 85 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 Moses himself made many laws to govern the people, 
 and they became orderly, good, and were willing to work. 
 For forty years they lived in the desert, when one day, 
 Moses heard the Voice of God calling him again. God 
 said: “Go to the top of Mount Neboh, and I will show 
 you the land I promised to the Israelites.” 
 
 Then Moses sent for Joshua who was a very good 
 man. Moses knew the people loved Joshua, so Moses 
 'made him the new leader. Moses was a very old man 
 by this time, and he knew he would die soon, even be¬ 
 fore the people could go into the Promised Land. He 
 saw the beautiful land from the mountain top, and then 
 came back to his people. 
 
 Moses called them together to talk to them once 
 more before he said good-bye. He spoke very kindly 
 to them, and told them that Joshua would be the next 
 leader, and, would take them into the Promised Land. 
 He said he was too old and too tired to do anything more 
 for them, and he blessed all the people, and said good¬ 
 bye. 
 
 Moses took his staff, and went up the side of Mount 
 Neboh for the last time. God caused a heavy cloud to 
 cover the whole mountain. Moses laid down to rest and 
 
 86 
 
THE GREAT LEADER 
 
 fell into a deep sleep. He never woke again, for God 
 had called him home. 
 
 When the people saw that Moses did not come back, 
 they knew he must be dead, and they sobbed and cried, 
 to think they would never see him again. They had 
 loved Moses dearly, because he had always been kind 
 and just and patient. There never was any man, either 
 before or since that time, who was greater than Moses. 
 
 87 
 
XI 
 
 THE WOMAN JUDGE 
 
 DEBORAH 
 
 Our stories have been only about boys and men, but 
 there were many good and wise women in those days, 
 and the Bible tells some pretty stories about them, too. 
 And the first one I will tell you will be about Deborah. 
 Before the Israelites had any kings, they used to have 
 chiefs and judges to rule over them. And in the time 
 of the judges, there was all kinds of trouble. 
 
 The Israelites never looked for a fight or for war— 
 they did not want it—they wanted to live a quiet, peace¬ 
 ful life. But there were many people living in the 
 country all around them, who were wild and rough 
 and who always wanted to fight or have war. And 
 these rough neighbors worried the Israelites very much 
 and very often; so the judges had to be very wise in 
 order to settle all the troubles. 
 
 One of the very best of the judges was a woman, 
 and her name was Deborah. She lived in a tent which 
 
 88 
 

 
 DEBORAH 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE WOMAN JUDGE 
 
 was set under a large palm tree near Mount Ephraim. 
 Do you remember how Abraham used to sit at the door 
 of his tent? And do you remember how all the people 
 came to him, and how he always settled their quarrels? 
 Well, Deborah did the same thing, and the people came 
 to her with all their troubles. 
 
 Deborah lived in a warm country, where there was 
 no winter, no snow or ice, and no cold weather at all. 
 And there Deborah sat by the door of her tent, in the 
 shade of that large and beautiful palm tree. The tree 
 was known as “Deborah’s Palm,’’ and all the people, 
 even if they lived many , many miles away, knew that 
 they could always find Deborah sitting there. They 
 knew that Deborah was good and wise, and they knew 
 whatever she told them to do, would be the right thing. 
 
 Deborah could settle the little quarrels, but often, 
 the wild tribes who lived in the mountains, hundreds 
 and thousands of them, would come to fight the Israel¬ 
 ites. Deborah knew she must have an army, too, who 
 could fight these wild neighbors. So she ordered all 
 the men to come to a great meeting, and when they were 
 all together, she formed them into an army, just as easily 
 as the boys in the street form a little company of make- 
 
 89 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 believe soldiers, only Deborah’s men were really soldiers. 
 
 One day she sent for Barak, the general of the army. 
 When he came she said to him: “Our neighbors are 
 giving us too much trouble. Call the officers and all 
 the soldiers together, and go out to fight.” 
 
 “If you will go with the army,” said Barak, “I will 
 go too; but I will not go without you.” Just think of 
 that—a brave, strong general, to say to a woman that 
 he would not go to war without her! But can you 
 guess why he said it? Not because Barak was afraid, 
 but because he knew how wise and good Deborah was, 
 and he wanted her there to help the soldiers and cheer 
 them up. 
 
 Deborah said: “I will go with you, but you will 
 not need me. The God of Israel is always on the side 
 of the Right, and we are in the right. Sisera, the general 
 of the other army is a very wicked man, and we will 
 win in this fight.” 
 
 And what Deborah said came true. She stood on 
 a little hill near the field of battle, and she saw that 
 the Israelites were winning. When the battle was over, 
 Deborah commanded the bugler to sound the bugle 
 
 call that brought the soldiers together. He did this, 
 
 91 ) 
 
THE WOMAN JUDGE 
 
 and when they formed in companies all around Debo¬ 
 rah, and wanted to cheer for her, she held up her hand 
 for silence. Then she sang a song of praise and thanks 
 to God, for letting the Israelites win the battle, and 
 in it she prayed God always to be good to His children. 
 
 Some day, when you are older, you can read the 
 words of this song in the Bible. 
 
 9 ! 
 
XII 
 
 A STORY OF LOVE 
 
 RUTH 
 
 Do you remember about the famine, long ago, when 
 Joseph was the governor of Egypt, the time when 
 there was very little to eat in the whole country? Well, 
 in the time of the Judges, long after Deborah died, 
 there was a great famine, too. In one town, many people 
 packed their things and moved away. In this town 
 there lived a man named Elimelech, with his wife 
 Naomi, and their two sons. 
 
 When Elimelech saw how little food there was, he 
 told his family they must move away from the place. 
 They went to the country of Moab where there was 
 plenty of everything, and made their home there. When 
 the two sons were old enough, they married two young 
 girls, Orpah and Ruth, who lived in Moab. After 
 awhile Elimelech died, and Naomi went to live with 
 her children who had their own house. 
 
 But poor Naomi was sad all the time, for she missed 
 
 92 
 
 < 
 
A STORY OF LOVE 
 
 # ' - - - ' ■ - 
 
 her good husband and her own land. She could not 
 speak to any one in Moab, because she did not under¬ 
 stand the language. Orpah and Ruth had tried to learn 
 a little Hebrew, so as to talk with Naomi, but they did 
 not know very much. Naomi was very homesick too, 
 and often wished she could go back to her old home. 
 
 One day Naomi’s son was taken very sick and died. 
 Soon after that, the other son was taken sick in the same 
 way, and he died too. Can you imagine how unhappy 
 Naomi was? Her husband and her two dear sons were 
 all dead, and she was alone in a strange city, far, far 
 away from her home and her relations. Of course, she 
 had Orpah and Ruth, but they were not her very own. 
 They belonged in Moab, and Naomi thought that now 
 both girls would go back to their fathers’ houses. 
 
 One day Naomi and the two girls were sitting to¬ 
 gether in their room. Naomi said: “It is many years 
 since I came to Moab to stay here, and now there is 
 no more famine in my own land. I am an old woman, 
 and I want to go back to my home and my people. I 
 want to be where I can pray to God in my own old way, 
 and that is very different from your way here in Moab. 
 
 The girls said they would go with her, but Naomi 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 i 
 
 answered: “No, no. I am old and you are young. 
 You stay here in your own country, with all your friends, 
 with people you know and love.” Naomi took her 
 handkerchief and dried her eyes. Then she spoke 
 again: “You have been good girls. You have been 
 good wives to your husbands, my dear sons, and you 
 have been kind to me. I ask my God to bless you both. 
 My clothes are all packed and I am going now, so I will 
 say goodbye to both of you.” 
 
 Orpah kissed Naomi many times and left her. But 
 Ruth stood still and said: “I cannot leave you alone, 
 dear mother Naomi.” 
 
 “See, Ruth,” said Naomi, “Orpah has gone back to 
 her people; won’t you go, too?” 
 
 But Ruth threw her young strong arms around the 
 neck of the lovely old Naomi, kissed her, and begged 
 her to let her go back to Bethlehem to the old home 
 with her. 
 
 Naomi shook her head and said, “No, no,” once more, 
 but Ruth answered: “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to 
 return from following after thee. Whither thou goest, I 
 will go and where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people 
 shall be my people and thy God my God.” 
 
 94 
 
RUTH, THROWING HER ARMS AROUND NAOMI, SAID: 
 “ENTREAT ME NOT TO LEAVE THEE.” 
 
- 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A STORY OF LOVE 
 
 Those are the beautiful words and sentences, just as 
 they are printed in the Bible. I put them in the story 
 because I want you to know them. But perhaps some of 
 the little folks who hear or read these stories will not 
 understand what Ruth meant, so I will tell you again in 
 another way. Ruth said to Naomi: 
 
 “Please do not send me away from you. Let me 
 follow you, and let me go to your home to live there 
 with you. I want your people to love me, just as if 
 they were my own people. I want you to teach me 
 to pray to your God, so He can be my God too.” 
 
 Wasn’t that just lovely of Ruth to talk like that to 
 Naomi? But Ruth loved Naomi as much as any of 
 you love your own dear Mama. That was why she 
 would not let her go away all alone. 
 
 When Naomi saw that Ruth was in earnest, and 
 loved her enough to go away with her, she was very 
 glad. She never said to either of the girls, how scared 
 she was to take that long journey to Bethlehem from 
 Moab all alone, and she was happy to have Ruth for 
 company. 
 
 They came to Bethlehem just at the time when the 
 grain was ripe. All the fields were filled with men and 
 
 95 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 women. The rich men who owned all the corn and 
 barley and wheat had sent out their servants and all 
 the men who worked on the farms, to cut down the grain. 
 When it was all cut down and dried by the sun, it was 
 brought home and put away in the barns. 
 
 Naomi had a cousin who lived in Bethlehem—a very 
 rich man whose name was Boaz. Boaz owned many 
 fields and he had many men and women working there 
 for him, to cut down the grain and to put it away in the 
 barns. 
 
 Now there was a law that Moses had given to his 
 people long ago at the time that he made all the laws 
 for them, and it was this: When the ripe grain is cut 
 down in the fields, no one dare touch any grain that 
 grows in the corners—the four corners of the field, this 
 grain must be left for the poor. 
 
 Was not that a kind law? Men who were poor, did 
 not own land and had no grain, so when the servants 
 of the rich men left the grain in the four corners of the 
 fields, the poor people had the right to go there at certain 
 times and pick it all up. This law was obeyed by every 
 one who owned fields of grain, and the servants of Boaz 
 
 were told to leave the grain alone that grew in the corners. 
 
 96 
 
A STORY OF LOVE 
 
 For a few days after Ruth and Noami had come to 
 Bethlehem, Ruth watched the men and women at work 
 in the fields. Then she said to Naomi: “May I go 
 out into the fields to pick some barley?” 
 
 Naomi said: “Yes, you may go for we are very poor, 
 and there is much grain left in the comers. And Ruth, 
 I want you to go to the fields that belong to my cousin 
 Boaz, and gather the barley there.” 
 
 Boaz had never seen Ruth before, so when he saw her 
 in the field, standing in the corner and placing the barley 
 in her apron, he asked one of his servants: “Who is 
 that strange girl? I have never seen her before.” 
 
 “That is Ruth—the beautiful young woman from 
 Moab. She left her home and all her people to come 
 here with Naomi, and to take care of her because she 
 is old and lonely.” 
 
 Boaz said to his servants: “Leave plenty of barley 
 in the corners, and whoever goes near Ruth must drop 
 some of the barley on the ground near her, so that she can 
 see it and pick it up.” 
 
 One day, when Boaz was walking across the field, he 
 spoke to Ruth, and said: “Tell me why do you stand in 
 the sun all day? You work as hard as my servants do/’ 
 
 97 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 “Because I love Naomi,’’ answered Ruth. “She is 
 poor, and she is too old to work. So I am gathering all 
 the grain I can.” 
 
 Boaz looked at the pretty girl for a moment, and then 
 said: “At noontime, go and sit by the other girls and eat 
 the food that they brought with them.” 
 
 He went to his servants and told them to give her some¬ 
 thing to eat at noon, and to be very kind to her. Then he 
 went back to the house, for Boaz was a very rich man, 
 and had a fine house. He thought of Ruth many times 
 that day, and said to himself: “Ruth is a beautiful girl, 
 and she is as good and as kind and as helpful as she is 
 beautiful.” 
 
 Boaz was lonely in his big house, all alone with his 
 servants. One day he went to see his cousin Naomi and 
 asked her to come and live in his house. He said :“I love 
 your daughter Ruth and I want to marry her, and then 
 you both can live with me.” 
 
 Ruth loved Boaz too, so they were married; and the 
 poor girl from Moab became the rich lady of Bethlehem. 
 But she always remained the same kind-hearted, sweet 
 and helpful Ruth, and was good to the poor, and did 
 
 whatever she could for them. 
 
 98 
 
XIII 
 
 THE BOY PRIEST 
 
 SAMUEL 
 
 Many years after the death of Joshua, in a small town 
 near Shiloh, there lived a man named Elkanah and his 
 wife Hannah. They loved God very much, and prayed 
 to Him every morning and every night, and Hannah 
 talked to God just like you talk to your father. 
 
 Once she prayed to God to send her a little baby boy, 
 and said: “Dear God, if you send me a little baby boy, 
 you will make me very happy. Just as soon as he is old 
 enough to walk, I will let him go to Shiloh, and be a 
 priest like Aaron was.” 
 
 Shiloh was the city where the Israelites used to go to 
 bring sacrifices. They worshipped God in theTaber- 
 nacle; and Eli was the name of the head priest there, or 
 “high priest,” as he was called. The Tabernacle was 
 something like a temple, only not so fine, and the priests 
 lived near there. 
 
 99 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 One day the little baby boy that Hannah had prayed 
 for, came to her home. She named him Samuel. She 
 was very happy to have this little baby for he was good 
 and sweet and pretty. Although Hannah loved her little 
 boy very much, she did not forget her promise, and when 
 Samuel was two years old, his father and mother took 
 him to Shiloh to the Tabernacle. 
 
 The good old priest Eli was sitting near the gate, and 
 said to Hannah: “Who is that little child? Why do you 
 bring him here?” Hannah answered: “I prayed to God 
 once to send me this little boy, and I promised he should 
 learn to serve God and be a priest. I have brought him 
 here to keep my promise, and will leave him here to serve 
 in the Tabernacle.” 
 
 Eli told little Samuel to kiss his mother good-bye, after 
 which she went back to her home. Eli took the little boy 
 with him to his own house. He showed Samuel a small 
 room with a tiny bed, and a chair and table in it, and 
 said: “This will be your own little room. I sleep in the 
 next room. If you want me at night you can call me, and 
 I will come to you. If I want you for anything, I will 
 call you to come to me. 
 
 Samuel was happy in the house of the good priest Eli, 
 
 100 
 
HANNAH BRINGS HER LITTLE BOY SAMUEL TO ELI 
 

 
 
 
 
 
THE BOY PRIEST 
 
 and he was such a cheerful, good and merry little fellow 
 that every one loved him. But though he liked to play, 
 just like other little boys do, he loved to go to the Taber¬ 
 nacle with Eli, and always helped the kind old priest in 
 every way he could. 
 
 Once every year, Samuel’s father and mother came to 
 Shiloh to worship God, and every year Hannah brought 
 a nice new coat for her boy. And as the boy grew older, 
 he was tall and beautiful. He was kind to every one, 
 and was now very helpful to Eli. He helped him more 
 
 with the sacrifices and the prayers every day. 
 
 One night, while Samuel was asleep, he thought he 
 
 heard some one call his name. He jumped out of bed, 
 went into Eli’s room and said: “Here I am,—I heard you 
 call me,” 
 
 “But I did not call you,” said Eli. “Go back to bed 
 again.” 
 
 Samuel obeyed, but soon afterward, the boy heard his 
 name called again. He jumped up, hurried into Eli’s 
 room, and asked what Eli wanted. 
 
 Eli said he did not call, and sent the boy back to bed. 
 In a little while, he heard the call again. Again he 
 hurried into Eli’s room and told him. Then Eli knew 
 
 101 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 it was God who was calling the boy, and he said to 
 Samuel: “Go back to bed once more, and when you 
 hear the voice again, you must answer, because it is 
 God who called you.” 
 
 Samuel did as Eli said, and it did not take long 
 before he heard the call again: “Samuel! Samuel!” 
 
 ”1 am here, O God,” said the boy. 
 
 Then God told Samuel that Eli was a very old man 
 and would die soon, and that God wanted Samuel to be 
 the priest afterwards. So, after Eli’s death Samuel was 
 the high priest, and he taught the people many good 
 and wise things. 
 
 After the Israelites came into the Promised Land, 
 they chose different places where they put up their tents 
 for their homes. They planted many kinds of fruit trees 
 and nut trees, and all kinds of grain, mostly wheat and 
 barley and oats. They tended their sheep and goats 
 and cattle, and lived a quiet peaceful life for many 
 years. 
 
 But they had some neighbors living in different towns 
 near there, who often made trouble for them. The 
 Israelites had good laws, and they had chiefs to rule. 
 These chiefs were called Priests and Judges. But the 
 
 102 
 
THE BOY PRIEST 
 
 Israelites thought if they had a king, the neighbors 
 would be afraid of him, and then they would not be so 
 troublesome. 
 
 So the Judges called a meeting of the men of all 
 the tribes of Israel to talk it over. They had the meet¬ 
 ing and chose a man named Saul to be their king. 
 Samuel was sorry for this. He knew there was many 
 a man in Israel who would be a better king than Saul, 
 but he did not say what he thought. 
 
 After Saul was king for awhile, he said and did 
 many things that were not right. Then God called 
 to Samuel, and said to him: “You know Saul is not a 
 very good man, so you must have another king. There 
 is a family of very good men in Bethlehem, and one of 
 that family is to be King of Israel. Go to Jesse, who is 
 the head of the family, and ask him to let you talk to all 
 his sons. Then I will tell you which one shall be king.” 
 
 Samuel went to Jesse’s home, and asked to see the 
 sons. Jesse called them one after the other, until seven 
 fine men stood before Samuel. Then Samuel asked: 
 “Is this all? Have you no other son?” 
 
 “There is only one more,” answered Jesse, “but he 
 is a young boy and takes care of the sheep.” 
 
 103 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 “Send for him, so that I can see him,” said Samuel. 
 
 When the boy came, Samuel saw how beautiful he 
 was. He also heard the Voice of God saying: “This 
 is the boy David, whom I want for the King of Israel. 
 Go now, get some holy oil, pour a little on his head and 
 anoint him with it.” 
 
 Then Samuel took a horn filled with the holy oil. He 
 poured a few drops on the boy’s head, rubbed it into 
 his hair, and said a little prayer. In former times this 
 was always done when a new king was chosen. 
 
 Now, Saul was very sorry for the wrong things he had 
 done, and he promised he would obey all God’s com¬ 
 mandments and be a good king. So, although David 
 had been made the real king, when the holy oil was put 
 on his head, just now Saul was king. 
 
 104 
 
XIV 
 
 THE SHEPHERD KING 
 
 DAVID 
 
 The nearest neighbors to the Israelites were the 
 Philistines. These people wanted the rich land that 
 belonged to the Israelites, so the king of the Philistines 
 went to war against the king of the Israelites. The 
 Philistines were all very large and tall men, many of 
 them were giants. The king of the Philistines had 
 placed his army on the side of a tall mountain. Saul’s 
 army was on the side of another mountain. Between 
 these two mountains there were smooth fields, called a 
 valley. 
 
 One morning, a man from the Philistine army came 
 down the mountain-side, and went out into the valley. 
 The man was a big giant, and his name was Goliath. 
 He had a heavy brass helmet on his head, his coat was 
 made of little pieces of steel joined together, and he Had 
 
 metal coverings on his arms and legs. In one hand he 
 
 105 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 carried a big shield, in the other hand he held a spear 
 that was as high as a lamp-post, and hanging down 
 from a wide leather belt, was a very long sword. 
 
 Goliath looked so fierce and ugly, it was enough 
 to frighten anybody. He looked around him at the 
 two armies on the two mountains, and then shouted 
 in a voice as loud as thunder: “I am a Philistine. You 
 are the soldiers of Saul, king of Israel. Send a man 
 down here in the valley to fight with me. If he wins 
 the fight and kills me, all the Philistines will be your 
 servants and work for you. But, if I win and kill your 
 man, all the Israelites must be our servants and work for 
 us. Now, send down your man!” 
 
 Saul and his soldiers heard what Goliath said, but 
 they were afraid to send any man down, because they 
 had no tall men in their army who could fight such a 
 great big giant. And every morning, Goliath stalked 
 out into the valley to shout the same words, but no man 
 was willing to fight with him. 
 
 The brothers of David were in Saul’s army, and 
 every day young David came into the camp of Israel to 
 bring food to his brothers. When he heard what 
 
 Goliath was shouting, David said: “I am not afraid. 
 
 106 
 
THE SHEPHERD KING 
 
 I will fight with him.” Saul told him he was too young, 
 and was not strong enough, but David said: “I know I 
 am young, but I am strong. Once a lion came into the 
 field where I was watching my father’s sheep. The 
 lion took a lamb, and I killed the lion. Another time 
 a bear came and tried to take one of the sheep, and I 
 killed him too.” 
 
 “If you were able to kill the lion and the bear,” said 
 the king, “I am sure you are not afraid of this giant. 
 Go, and may God take care of you.” 
 
 Saul gave David his own heavy coat of steel and 
 iron, and his own helmet and sword. Can you imagine 
 how funny little David looked after he dressed himself 
 in a man’s clothes? He felt as funny as he looked. 
 He thanked the king, then took off the things and said 
 they were too big and too heavy for him to wear. Then 
 he picked up his staff, that is, the little stick with which 
 he used to keep the sheep together, and walked away. 
 
 David went over to a little stream that flowed down 
 the mountain-side. There he found five smooth stones, 
 and he put them in a little bag he carried. In his hand 
 he held a sling,—a kind of heavy cord with a loose 
 
 knot at the end. If a stone is put carefully into a good 
 
 107 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 sling, it can be thrown at any one with very much force. 
 
 David ran down into the valley, and when the giant 
 saw the little fellow he laughed out loud, and said; 
 “Is this the man you people of Israel send out to fight 
 with me? He is nothing but a boy, and I will show 
 you how easily I can kill him.” 
 
 David said: “You come to me with a sword and a 
 spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord our 
 God of Israel. He will give me strength to kill you 
 even if I am a little boy, for God is on our side.” 
 
 David quickly took a stone from his bag, fastened it 
 in the sling, and threw it with all his might. The stone 
 struck the giant right in the middle of his forehead, and 
 it hurt him so much that he fell down upon the ground. 
 What a noise it made when that big man, with his heavy 
 spear and sword and shield, and his steel coat and brass 
 helmet all fell on the ground together! 
 
 David ran over to where Goliath fell, stooped down, 
 and pulled the giant’s own sword out of its case. It 
 was very heavy but David pulled hard. And with 
 that big sword he cut off the giants’ head. 
 
 The Philistine soldiers were so much suprised to see 
 that little boy go out to fight Goliath, that they all stood 
 
 108 
 
THE SHEPHERD KING 
 
 still to watch him. But when they saw that their great 
 man was dead, they all ran away. The soldiers of 
 Israel shouted for joy, and chased them far out of the 
 country; and that was the end of the war. 
 
 David went back to the camp, and Saul said to him: 
 “Who are you? and what is your father’s name?’’ 
 
 “I am David,’’ said the boy. “My father’s name 
 is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem.’’ 
 
 Saul liked David, and he sent word to Jesse that he 
 wanted David to stay with him. David had a very 
 sweet voice, and could sing many songs, and they some¬ 
 times called him the sweet singer of Israel. He could 
 play on the harp very well, and whenever Saul was 
 tired or worried, he asked David to play and sing for 
 him. 
 
 Now King Saul had a son whose name was Prince 
 Jonathan, and Jonathan and David soon were the best 
 friends. In those old times when a king or a prince 
 loved any one very much and wanted him for a friend, 
 the king or the prince took off something of his own and 
 gave it to the friend. Do you remember how that good 
 king Pharaoh took off his gold chain from his own neck 
 and gave it to Joseph? So, Prince Jonathan took off 
 
 109 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 his fine cloak, and gave it to David, and also gave him 
 his sword and belt, and his bow and arrows. And 
 they promised each other always to be friends. 
 
 David obeyed Saul and behaved so well that Saul 
 made him a captain in the army. It did not take long 
 before the soldiers loved Captain David more than they 
 did King Saul. This made Saul angry, and one day 
 when David was playing on the harp and singing, Saul 
 threw his spear at David and nearly hit him. If that 
 heavy spear had hit David, it might have killed him. 
 David left the room and went to look for Jonathan. 
 
 After David told Jonathan all about it, he asked: 
 “What have I done that King Saul wants to hurt me? 
 He might have killed me with that spear.” 
 
 “I am sure,” said Jonathan, “that my father does 
 not want to kill you. Is there anything I can do for 
 you?” 
 
 “I will not go back to the palace now,” David said, 
 “but I want to stay with you for a few days. I want 
 you to talk to your father about me, and then tell me 
 what he says, I think King Saul does not like me any 
 more.” 
 
 “I have often told you, David,” said Jonathan, 
 
 110 
 
DAVID PLAYING THE HARP BEFORE KING SAUL 
 
THE SHEPHERD KING 
 
 “that I love you and will always be your friend. True 
 friends always try to help each other, and I will help 
 you all I can.” 
 
 Jonathan went to his father, and told him David 
 was going away. He begged his father to tell David 
 to come back, and said: “I love David and he is good 
 and kind. I beg you to send for him to stay here.” 
 
 But Saul would not, and Jonathan was very unhappy 
 when he left his father’s room. He did not like to tell 
 David that Saul did not like him any more, but he had 
 to do so. And when David went away, Jonathan and 
 David kissed each other many times, and both of them 
 were very sad to think they would not see each other 
 again. 
 
 The neighboring tribes always gave Saul much 
 trouble, and after David went away, another war be¬ 
 gan. And in one of the battles, both Saul and Jonathan 
 were killed. 
 
 When the news was told to David, he was very 
 sorry, for he knew that now he would never see his dear 
 friend Jonathan any more. David wrote some very 
 nice verses about his friend. They are in the Bible, 
 
 in the part called “The Second Book of Samuel.” 
 
 Ill 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 David was now the real king of Israel. He soon 
 stopped all the wars. He began to build a city, the 
 city of Jerusalem, and he sent for all the people of Israel 
 to come there to live. He taught them how to pray, 
 and he was the first man who thought of building a 
 Temple. David had wished to build a great temple 
 in Jerusalem, but he did not live long enough. His 
 son Solomon built it afterwards. 
 
 When David was quite an old man, he said he was 
 tired of being king. He wanted his son Solomon to be 
 king instead of him. But David had another son named 
 Absalom. Absalom wanted to be the king, so he 
 called all his friends together and said: “My father 
 is too old to be king any longer. Would you like to 
 have me for your king?” 
 
 Absalom was a very handsome young man, with 
 big blue eyes and golden curls that came down to his 
 shoulders. All the men who came to the meeting were 
 his friends. 
 
 “Yes,” said the men, “we want you for our king, 
 because King David is too old.” 
 
 Absalom said: “Then go all through the land, and 
 say to every one you meet ‘Absalom is king.’ ” 
 
 112 
 
THE SHEPHERD KING 
 
 When David heard about this, he was very angry, 
 for David had said Solomon was to be king, and now 
 Absalom had disobeyed him. So David called his 
 soldiers out, told them to look for Absalom and his 
 friends, and bring them back as prisoners. It was a 
 very large company of soldiers that David sent to look 
 for Absalom and his friends, and they found Absalom 
 in a thick forest. 
 
 When Absalom saw his father’s soldiers coming in¬ 
 to the woods where he was hiding, Absalom was 
 frightened. When he saw how all his friends were 
 caught and made prisoners he was badly scared. He 
 knew how wicked he had been, and he was afraid to 
 be taken prisoner, and brought back to the king. He 
 saw a mule tied to a tree near him. He untied the rope 
 and jumped on his back. He thought he could ride 
 away so fast, that the soldiers could not catch him. 
 
 And then a dreadful thing happened. You know 
 Absalom had long, curly hair, and when he was riding 
 so fast his hair flew back in the wind. As he was riding 
 along his hair caught in the branch of a tree. It pulled 
 him off the mule so roughly that it broke his neck! 
 
 Wasn’t that horrible? And yet Absalom deserved 
 
 113 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 the punishment because he did very wrong. First, he 
 disobeyed his father’s wishes, for he knew that his 
 father wished Solomon to be king. Then he called 
 all his friends to help him fight against his father. 
 When the soldiers came back and told King David, 
 he cried and sobbed to think that his son Absalom 
 whom he loved so much, was dead. 
 
 114 
 
XV 
 
 THE WISE KING 
 
 SOLOMON 
 
 | 
 
 From the time that Solomon was a small boy, his 
 father, King David, made him study, and Solomon 
 loved to learn. He learned to read and write and 
 spell just like any other little boy. When he was 
 older he studied all about the sun and moon and stars, 
 and about rocks and trees and flowers, and about 
 animals and birds and insects. 
 
 One night Solomon had a strange dream. He 
 dreamed that he heard the Voice of God saying: 
 “Ask for something that I shall give you.” 
 
 And Solomon answered: “You were good to my 
 father David, and you have been good to me. I am 
 king now, but sometimes I feel like a little child who 
 cannot understand things. I want to be a good king 
 to my people, so I beg this of you. Make me wise. 
 Give me wisdom to rule the people well, and to judge 
 
 115 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 for them. And teach me to know the difference be¬ 
 tween right and wrong. This is all I ask.” 
 
 Solomon might have wished for all kinds of nice 
 things, but you see, all he asked for was wisdom. 
 That pleased God, who said: “Because you wished 
 for wisdom, when you might have wished for money 
 or long life or many other things, I will give you your 
 wish. I will give you a wise heart and head to under¬ 
 stand all things. I will also give you the things you 
 did not ask for—I will give you riches and honor and 
 greatness.” 
 
 This was Solomon’s dream, but it all came true. 
 God made Solomon so wise that he understood what 
 the little birds said when they chirped or sang in their 
 pretty nests in the trees, and he understood what the 
 animals said when they roared or growled or cried out. 
 He also knew what the trees were saying when the 
 little leaves shook and when the big branches swung 
 up and down in the wind. 
 
 Solomon was a very wise judge. A judge is a man 
 who settles any quarrel. When some men had a quar¬ 
 rel, about cattle or houses or lands they owned, if they 
 could not agree, they went to Solomon and told him. 
 
 116 
 
“OH, GREAT KING, DO NOT CUT MY CHILD IN TWO,” 
 CRIED THE REAL MOTHER TO SOLOMON 
 

 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE WISE KING 
 
 Solomon listened to them quietly, settled the business 
 for them, and the men went home perfectly satisfied. 
 
 Once two women quarreled. Each woman had a 
 little baby, but afterwards, one baby was taken sick 
 and died. The woman whose baby died, wanted a 
 little baby so much, that she took the baby that belonged 
 to the other woman, and she kept it. She would not 
 give it back to its own mother. After they had quar¬ 
 reled a long time about it, the real mother said they 
 should take the baby to King Solomon, and let him 
 settle it. 
 
 When they stood before the king, each woman said 
 “this is my baby.” Solomon sent for a soldier, and 
 when he came, Solomon said: “Take your sword. 
 Cut the baby in two pieces, and give a piece to each 
 woman.” 
 
 One woman cried out: “Oh, great king, do not 
 cut my little child in two. Give it to that woman. 1 
 would rather give her my own dear baby, than let your 
 soldier hurt it.” 
 
 The other woman said. “Great king, you may cut 
 the child in two pieces if you want to. I don’t care.” 
 
 Which woman do you think was the real mother? 
 
 117 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 Yes, the woman who would not let them hurt the baby. 
 And Solomon gave her the little child, and punished 
 the other woman. 
 
 Now I will tell you about the wonderful temple that 
 King Solomon gave orders to build, which is still called 
 ‘"The Temple of Solomon.” 
 
 Solomon loved God very much, and he wanted this 
 temple to be the most beautiful thing that ever was 
 made. So he sent men all through the forests for wood. 
 He told them to cut down the largest and finest trees 
 they could find—cedar trees, fir trees, and olive trees 
 —and bring them back to the city. He sent other 
 men to the mountains, to dig out great rocks of granite 
 and marble and onyx, and bring them into the city. 
 And other men were sent to the mines, to get gold and 
 silver and copper and precious stones. 
 
 Then they began to build this great House of God. 
 They took the largest rocks, cut them into big, smooth 
 blocks, and used them for the cellar and the outside 
 walls. They used the fine wood for the roof and 
 doors and window-frames. The windows were made 
 of colored glass, and they had every pretty color you 
 can think of. The pillars, that is, the posts that held 
 
 118 
 
THE WISE KING 
 
 the roof up—were made out of pure white marble and 
 onyx. All the decorations or trimmings in the whole 
 building, were made out of real gold and silver. 
 
 The altar was made of cedar-wood and then covered 
 with gold. The ark that held the Holy Law was made 
 of gold and precious stones. The altar was separated 
 from the rest of the temple by heavy chains of solid 
 gold. On the ceiling, and on all the doors, were fine 
 pictures cut into the wood. This is called carving, and 
 the carvings in the temple were of angels and flowers, 
 and everything was ornamented with gold. It took 
 seven years to build the temple. 
 
 When the temple was finished, King Solomon sent 
 for all the chiefs and captains and all the people of 
 Israel, to come to Jerusalem to dedicate the temple. 
 (To dedicate a temple means to ask God to bless the 
 temple, and to bless all the people who come there to 
 pray and to worship God.) 
 
 When all the people came, Solomon prayed an earnest 
 prayer to God. He asked God to take care of the temple, 
 and to watch over all the people, and to make the 
 leaders good and brave. 
 
 When Solomon had finished this prayer, he blessed 
 
 119 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 the whole congregation and said: “May the Lord, 
 our God, be with us, as He always was with our fathers. 
 May we always love Him, and may He ever help us 
 to keep His commandments. And may all the people 
 in the whole world know, that the Lord is God, and 
 there is no other God.” 
 
 Every one left the temple after Solomon ended the 
 blessing. But they did not go to their homes because 
 the king had invited them to a great feast. All the 
 people stayed in Jerusalem the rest of that day, and all 
 were happy and contented. 
 
 King Solomon was the richest man in the world. 
 Besides the wonderful temple that he built, he built 
 a fine palace for himself out of pure white marble, and 
 he built a magnificent court-house. He also built a 
 high stone wall around the city of Jerusalem. He owned 
 many cities and many ships that sailed on the sea. 
 
 Everybody in that part of the world had heard about 
 Solomon, and the wise things that he did. Many people 
 came to visit him just to see if what they had heard was 
 true. And these people brought with them many presents 
 made of silver and gold and jewels for the king. Three 
 times a year King Solomon himself offered sacrifices 
 
 120 
 
THE WISE KING 
 
 in the court-yard of the temple, and thousands of people 
 came there to worship God. 
 
 In a country very far away from Jerusalem, there 
 lived a queen, beautiful and rich and wise and good. 
 She was the Queen of Sheba, and many people had 
 heard of her and traveled in her country. They told 
 of all the wonderful things that Solomon had done, 
 what a good, wise king he was, and how he loved and 
 worshiped God. The Queen of Sheba wanted to find 
 out if all these things were true, so she made up her 
 mind to go and visit King Solomon. 
 
 She told her officers to get gold and jewels for presents 
 to take with her. The servants brought a long train 
 of camels, they were loaded with all that was needed 
 for the journey, and they started for Jerusalem. It was 
 a very long way, and they had to ride many miles 
 through a hot, dry, sandy desert, where there were no 
 trees, nor grass, nor water, nothing but the hot sun and 
 the sandy ground. 
 
 At last, they reached Jerusalem. They saw the great 
 wall, the wonderful temple, and all the other fine build¬ 
 ings. And at a distance, Solomon’s marble palace shone 
 
 in the sunshine like diamonds. Solomon came to the 
 
 121 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 gates of the city to meet the queen, and he showed her 
 everything she wanted to see. He invited her to come 
 to his palace and stay there as long as she liked. 
 
 She went to the palace, and saw the king’s throne 
 that was made out of ivory and gold, and the golden 
 
 chairs. She looked through the finely-painted windows, 
 each one different from the other, and all of them were 
 
 painted in many colors. When they sat down to dinner 
 in the marble dining-hall, the queen saw that all the 
 dishes and spoons and knives and forks were made of 
 pure gold. 
 
 After the meal was over, Solomon took the queen 
 into the temple, and she saw that everything was true 
 that she had heard. When they were going out of the 
 temple into the court-yard, the queen noticed a brass 
 trumpet that was as long as the side of a small house. 
 She stood still before it, and said: “I did not hear 
 about this. Is it a trumpet? What is the good of it?” 
 
 “No one knows how good it is, and no one knows 
 how much good it does.” said Solomon. 
 
 “Why, what do you mean?” said the queen. “How 
 can a trumpet do any good?” 
 
 Solomon answered: “You have seen many beauti- 
 
 122 
 
r 
 
 THE WISE KING 
 
 ful things that have cost much money, and you have 
 met very many rich people here in Jerusalem. But there 
 are very many poor people here, too. Long ago, when 
 Moses made laws for the children of Israel, he said 
 the rich people must help the poor. Moses said: ‘We 
 must give all that we can to the poor; not because we 
 think we are doing a good deed, but because it is right 
 for us to help them.’ That is why I had this trumpet 
 made and placed here.” 
 
 Solomon then told the queen how the trumpet had 
 been made, and said: ‘‘The rich person stands in front 
 of the great mouth of the trumpet, and puts in some money 
 or food or clothing or anything he wants to give away. 
 The different things slide down the trumpet to the small 
 end, where the poor people stand. Each one gets his 
 turn, and takes out the things that the rich men put into 
 the large end. The trumpet was made so wide at the 
 large end that the rich people cannot see the poor ones, 
 and the poor ones never know who gave them help.” 
 
 ‘‘Indeed you are a great and wise king,” said the 
 queen. ‘‘I did not believe half of what they told me 
 about you, but now I know how good you are. There 
 were many good and wise things you do that 
 
 123 
 
 no one 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 told me, because they did not know. Ah! Solomon, 
 how happy your people must be with such a king to 
 rule over them.” 
 
 When, in a few days, the Queen of Sheba said she 
 must go home, Solomon gave her so many presents that 
 her camels had very heavy loads to carry. After the 
 queen said good-bye to King Solomon, she held his 
 hand and said: “I have been thinking about it, and I 
 know now why you are so rich. It is because you are 
 wise, and know how to rule the people. It is because 
 you love your God and pray to Him. That is the reason 
 why He has always helped you, and blessed you.” 
 
 124 
 
XVI 
 
 THE MAN OF GOD 
 
 DANIEL 
 
 You have surely all seen that old picture of a man 
 in a cage full of lions, where the lions did not hurt the 
 man at all. The name of the picture is: “Daniel in 
 the Lions’ Den.” Did you not know the story about 
 it is in the Bible? Well, it is, and there are other things 
 about that same Daniel, which you shall hear now. 
 
 There was a country called Babylon, and the king 
 of that country was named Nebuchadnezzar. (Isn’t that 
 a pretty hard name?) There had been a war, and Neb¬ 
 uchadnezzar took many men as his prisoners. Daniel 
 was one of the prisoners. Daniel had three friends who 
 were also taken prisoners. The king soon found out 
 that Daniel and his friends were all wise men who had 
 studied and learned very much, so he gave orders to the 
 captain of his guards to be kind to them. 
 
 But though these men were prisoners, the king often 
 
 125 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 sent for them when he was bothered about something, 
 so that they might tell him what to do. You remember 
 how Joseph used to explain dreams, and Daniel could 
 do the same thing. One night the king had a dream. 
 In the morning when he awoke, he had forgotten what 
 the dream was. He tried to think about it but he could 
 not remember anything, except that it was a dream he 
 did not understand, and it worried him. 
 
 All the kings used to have wise men to explain their 
 dreams, so Nebuchadnezzar sent for his wise men. 
 When they were all in the palace the king said: “I 
 had a dream last night, so I sent for you to explain it.” 
 
 “What was your dream, great king?” asked the wise 
 men. “Tell us so that we can explain it.” 
 
 “Oh,” answered the king, “I have forgotten what 
 the dream was.” 
 
 “But, great king, how can we explain the dream if 
 you cannot tell us what is was? Please try to think.” 
 
 “I cannot think,” said the king. “You say you are 
 wise men, and if you cannot tell me what my dream 
 was I will not have you any more. So you may go and 
 I will give an order to my officers to drive all the wise 
 men out of my country.” 
 
 126 
 
THE MAN OF GOD 
 
 The king gave this foolish order, and the officers 
 went to Daniel and his friends, because they were wise 
 men, too. They told Daniel the king had commanded 
 that all the wise men must be sent out of the land. 
 Daniel said to the officers: “Do not do this now. Do 
 not send us away yet. Let me speak to the king first. 
 Ask him if I may go to him tomorrow morning.” 
 
 After the officers had gone away, Daniel said to 
 his friends: “If God does not help us now, the king 
 will drive us away out into the desert. So let us all pray 
 tonight to God. Let us ask Him to watch over us and 
 take care of us. Let us thank God for all His goodness 
 to us, and for the wisdom He gave us.” 
 
 Daniel’s friends went to their own rooms, and when 
 Daniel was alone he prayed to God again, and said: 
 “Oh God, I pray you, give me the same dream tonight 
 that Nebuchadnezzar had last night, and then I can 
 explain it to the king.” 
 
 And God loved Daniel and answered his prayer, and 
 that night Daniel dreamed the same dream that the king 
 had dreamed the night before. When Daniel awoke 
 the next morning his first thought was of God, and he 
 said: “I thank you and praise you, God of my fathers, 
 
 127 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 1 
 
 for your goodness to me, and because you sent me this 
 dream. Now I can tell it to the king and nothing will 
 happen to the wise men of Babylon, nor to my friends.” 
 
 The officer that Daniel had sent to the king, now 
 came again and told Daniel to go to the palace, for the 
 king wanted him. Soon Daniel stood before the king 
 who said: “Can you tell me what my dream was, and 
 can you explain it?” 
 
 “No, king,” said Daniel. “I cannot, but my God 
 can.” 
 
 “What do you mean?” asked the king, and Daniel 
 said: “There are many things that no one can explain— 
 neither the wise men, nor the teachers, nor the priests. 
 But there is a God in heaven, who has helped me under¬ 
 stand your dream and now I can explain it to you.” 
 
 For a moment Daniel was still. Then he said: “You 
 dreamed you saw a statue or image of a gieat, tall man. 
 The head was made of gold, the breast and arms were 
 silver, the body was brass, the legs were iron, and the feet 
 were clay. Suddenly a heavy stone fell through the air, 
 and hit the statue on the feet. The feet were made of 
 clay and when the stone struck them they broke to pieces, 
 
 just like a cup would break. Then the great big statue 
 
 128 
 
DANIEL IN THE DEN OF WILD LIONS 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE MAN OF GOD 
 
 fell down, and was broken and bent and spoiled. And 
 in the dream you saw how the stone was changed into a 
 high mountain.” 
 
 “Yes,” answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “that was 
 my dream; and now tell me quickly what it all means, 
 for I do not know.” 
 
 “O king,” said Daniel, “the meaning is plain. The 
 golden head means you, for that was the best part of the 
 whole statue. You are a good king and you know how 
 to govern the people, and your country is fine. After 
 you are dead, there will be many other kings, but none 
 of them will be good. In the statue that you saw in your 
 dream, the silver came next to the gold. Silver is not 
 as good as gold, and the next king after you will not be 
 as good as you. Next to the silver came the brass, and 
 then the iron, and last of all the clay. The brass and 
 iron and clay mean other kings, each one worse than 
 the other, and at last, just like the stone broke the clay 
 feet and ruined the statue, this whole land will be 
 ruined.” 
 
 “But,” said the king, “what does the stone mean, 
 and why did it grow to be a mountain?” 
 
 “The stone means the people of Israel. There are 
 
 129 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 l 
 
 not very many of them here now, but there will be more 
 and more, and when they are strong enough they will 
 fight the people who always trouble them. When that 
 time comes, they will conquer all their enemies and 
 be as strong as a mountain. Then they will teach the 
 world about the One, true God.” 
 
 “Your God is a great God,” said the king slowly, 
 “and He made you very wise. I will make you ruler 
 of one of my countries, and I will make your three 
 friends rulers too.” 
 
 Time passed on, and Nebuchadnezzar was taken sick. 
 He could not rule over his land any more, so they had 
 another king. The new king’s name was Darius, and 
 he loved Daniel so much, that he made him the chief 
 over all the princes and officers. Of course, the princes 
 and high officers did not like this, and they wished they 
 knew something bad about Daniel to tell the king. 
 
 Daniel was so good that they could not find anything 
 bad to tell, and they were afraid to make up a story, 
 because they knew the king would punish them for tell¬ 
 ing him something that was not true. These men all 
 knew that Daniel prayed to God three times a day— 
 
 at morning, at noon, and at night. They knew too, that 
 
 130 
 
THE MAN OF GOD 
 
 Daniel loved God more than he loved the king or any 
 one else in the world. 
 
 So they went to King Darius with a plan. They 
 talked to the king about it so much that he made this si lly 
 law: for thirty days no one was allowed to pray to God. 
 Whoever did pray during this time, was to be thrown 
 into a cage or den of wild lions. Everyone obeyed this 
 law except Daniel. You see, that was what those bad 
 men wanted—to get Daniel into trouble. They were 
 sure Daniel would not obey such a law, and they thought 
 that was a good way to make Darius angry at Daniel. 
 
 Just as if there was no new law about praying, Daniel 
 kept on like he did before, and prayed three times every 
 day. When the officers heard about it they went to 
 the palace and told the king. Darius was very sorry 
 because he loved Daniel, but he was very angry too, 
 to think that Daniel did not obey the law. So he said: 
 “Take him tonight and throw him into the lions’ den. 
 We will see if his God will save him.” 
 
 So Daniel was pushed into the cage of wild lions, 
 and the gate of the cage was locked. The king could 
 not sleep that night because he was so sorry about Daniel, 
 
 and so sure the lions would eat him up. 
 
 131 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 In the morning, very early, the king went to see what 
 had happened. And what do you think? There was 
 Daniel, safe and sound, lying by the lions who were 
 all fast asleep! 
 
 And the king said: “And your God took care of 
 you after all.” 
 
 “King Darius,” answered Daniel, “God is greater 
 than any king. In the night He sent an angel to watch 
 over me. When the lions saw the angel they became 
 tame and did not hurt me. Then they went to sleep.” 
 
 The king was very glad and took Daniel back to 
 the palace with him, and said he should always stay 
 there. He also punished the bad officers who had told 
 him to make such a stupid and wicked law. Then the 
 king thought of something he could do to make Daniel 
 happy. He knew how dearly Daniel loved God and 
 he had seen for himself how God watched over Dan¬ 
 iel. 
 
 King Darius called all the people together to a big 
 meeting. He told them what a great God there is 
 in heaven above us, and how good He is to all who 
 love Him. And Daniel taught the people how to pray 
 and love God. 
 
 132 
 
XVII 
 
 THE STORY OF CHANUKKAH 
 
 JUDAS MACCABBEUS 
 
 It was many hundred years after King Solomon built 
 the beautiful Temple in Jerusalem. All the Jews in 
 the land went to the Temple on Saturdays and holy 
 days, to pray to God, to thank Him for His goodness, 
 and to ask Him to take care of them. While Solomon 
 lived the people were happy, because he was a wise 
 and good king. Things were different after he died, 
 and there were ether kings who were not so wise and 
 good as Solomon. 
 
 Often there was trouble for the Jews from the people 
 who lived in other countries. These other people some¬ 
 times had a wicked king who liked to fight, and there 
 were many wars. Some kings were not kind to the 
 Jews and they were unhappy. 
 
 One king was very cruel. His name was Antiochus 
 (An-ti-o-chus). He lived in a country called Syria. 
 
 133 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 He did so many wicked things that he was called the 
 madman. Antiochus did not pray to the One God, as 
 we do; he prayed to idols. An idol is an image which 
 is made of wood, or stone, or iron. Sometimes it is in 
 the shape of a man, and sometimes it is like an animal, 
 or like a bird. King Antiochus bowed and prayed to 
 his stupid images, and his people all did the same. All 
 the people except the Jews, who knew better. The 
 Jews prayed to God. 
 
 The king ordered the Jews to pray to the idols, like 
 the others did. When they said they would not bow 
 to idols, the king sent an army of soldiers to fight them. 
 The king had so many soldiers, that they drove almost 
 all of the Jews out of Jerusalem. When the poor Jews 
 were gone, the soldiers climbed up the hill to where the 
 wonderful Temple stood. They went into the Temple, 
 took all the beautiful gold and silver ornaments and 
 everything else that was in the Temple, and carried all 
 away. Nothing was left but the roof and the walls. 
 
 Then some of the soldiers went off to find pigs, and 
 when they had a big drove of them, they brought them 
 to the Temple and chased them in. Do you know why 
 they did this? For this reason: They knew the Jews 
 
 134 
 
THE STORY OF CHANNUKAH 
 
 hated pigs because they are so dirty. I am sure you 
 can imagine how angry, and sorry, and unhappy the 
 Jews were when they heard that their loved Temple was 
 full of pigs! Then Antiochus did another dreadful 
 thing. He ordered an idol set up in a public place, 
 where all the people passed very often, and he said 
 every one must bow to it. Wasn’t that wicked? 
 
 A few miles away from Jerusalem, there was a small 
 town called Modin. An old man named Mattathias 
 (Mat-ta-thi-as) lived there. He had five splendid sons, 
 big, and brave, and good. Mattathias and his sons 
 were very sorry for what had happened in Jerusalem, 
 and they prayed that God would give strength to the 
 Jews to win the Temple back again. 
 
 One day Mattathias went to Jerusalem, and when he 
 saw that ugly idol, he was very angry at the king who 
 ordered it to be put there in the street. While he was 
 standing near it, he saw a Jewish man walk past the 
 idol and bow down before it. Then Mattathias was 
 more angry than before. He struck the other man and 
 said: 
 
 “How dare you bow to an idol? Do you not know 
 that is a sin? You know God said in His command- 
 
 135 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 ments, ‘Thou shalt have no other God but me’, and yet 
 you do this wicked thing. You ought to be ashamed 
 of yourself.” 
 
 Mattathias would not stay in Jerusalem any longer. 
 When he returned to his home in Modin, he told his 
 sons and his neighbors what had happened. They were 
 all as angry as Mattathias, and they asked: 
 
 ‘‘What are you going to do? Tell us and we will 
 help you.” 
 
 ‘‘We must raise an army of Jews,” said Mattathias. 
 “That is what we must do first; and when we have 
 enough men, we are going to fight the soldiers of King 
 Antiochus. We will drive them out of Jerusalem, for 
 God will help us.” 
 
 44 Who will go to get the soldiers for us?” said one 
 of the neighbors. 
 
 “We will go,” said the sons of Mattathias. 
 
 They did as they said. The five sons went in dif¬ 
 ferent directions, and stopped in every house where 
 Jews were living. In each house, the men were ready 
 to go to fight for their religion, and before long they 
 had quite a big army. 
 
 One of the sons of Mattathias was named Judas. 
 
 136 
 
JUDAS MACCABBEUS 
 
 From the statue by Max Kalish 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •* .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE STORY OF CHANNUKAH 
 
 He was a big and handsome man, and people called 
 him the Maccabbee, which means Hammer. He was 
 so strong, that when he struck anything or anybody, it 
 was like the blow of a hammer. Everybody loved 
 him, and all the Jewish soldiers were pleased when 
 Mattathias said Judas would be general of the army. 
 
 Judas Maccabbee had a banner made, which he car¬ 
 ried into every fight. On the banner were the words 
 “Mi Cho-mo-cho Bo-e-lim Ado-noi,” which mean 
 “Who is like Thee, O God, among the mighty?” The 
 first letters of these words, in the Hebrew, spell MAC¬ 
 CABBEE. 
 
 When his army saw that bright banner waving ahead 
 of them, they followed it without any fear, for they 
 knew Judas was there in the front ranks. On the road, 
 they met many of the king’s soldiers, and several small 
 battles were fought before they reached Jerusalem. A 
 big battle was fought in the city of Jerusalem. Judas 
 Maccabbee conquered the king’s soldiers and drove 
 them out far past the city gates. Then they marched 
 towards the Temple. When the Jewish soldiers saw 
 how bad everything looked, they were very sad, but 
 
 Judas said: 
 
 137 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 “This is no time to be sad. We should be glad, very 
 glad. I am glad God gave us strength to drive away 
 the enemy. I am glad the Temple is standing, even 
 if it is empty and dirty. And I am glad we can clean 
 it and make it beautiful again.” 
 
 When his soldiers saw how cheerful Judas was, they 
 smiled at him, and said: 
 
 “We are glad too, and we will all work hard to 
 make this House of God look like it did before King 
 Antiochus took it away from us.” 
 
 You cannot imagine how busy they were and how 
 hard the men worked. Some brought rakes to scrape 
 the dirt from the walls and the floor. Some brought 
 spades to shovel it up, and others brought big wooden 
 boxes to carry all the rubbish away. When they had 
 done all this, they called the women to come and help 
 them; and they washed the windows, and cleaned the 
 walls, and scrubbed the floors, till everything looked 
 like new. When all was in good order, Judas said 
 they must dedicate the Temple again, just as King 
 Solomon had dedicated it hundreds of years before. 
 (If you have forgotten what “dedicate” means, turn 
 back to page 119.) 
 
 138 
 
THE STORY OF CHANNUKAH 
 
 A lamp was hung over the altar in the Temple. 
 Judas filled it with oil and lit it. Then he sent some 
 soldiers around the country to all the Jews, and told 
 them the Temple was ready for them to come and pray 
 to God. All the people came. They thanked God 
 for giving them strength to conquer their enemies; they 
 thanked Him for giving them the Temple, where they 
 could worship the One true God; and they sang songs 
 of praise to the Father in Heaven who is so good to 
 all His children, large and small. 
 
 Then Judas said: 
 
 “Year after year, let us remember this day. It shall 
 be called Chanukkah, the Feast of Lights. Each year, 
 the grown-up people must tell the children this story of 
 how God helped us gain a victory, and of how brave 
 the Jews are. In order that the children may remem¬ 
 ber better, it will be a good idea if you light little can¬ 
 dles in your homes every night for eight nights.” 
 
 Then the people all went to their homes, and for 
 eight nights they lit the little candles, and told the 
 children the story of Chanukkah. 
 
 It is more than two thousand years since all these 
 things took place, but year after year, in December, 
 
 139 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 when Chanukkah comes round, the lights are burning 
 in many Jewish homes. I wish they could be lit in 
 every home and for every child. Then you would re¬ 
 member the heroes who fought the wicked king’s sol¬ 
 diers. Then you would love them all, Mattathias and 
 his four brave sons, and the great hero, Judas Maccab- 
 bee, bravest of all. 
 
 140 
 
XVIII 
 
 THE STORY OF PURIM 
 
 QUEEN ESTHER 
 
 Once upon a time, in the city of Shushan, in Persia, 
 there was a young Jewish girl named Esther. She had 
 no dear parents, for both had died when Esther was 
 very small. She lived with her cousin, Mordecai, who 
 was poor and could not give her any nice dresses to 
 wear. Esther was a very pretty girl. She had two 
 long, thick braids of hair, which hung far down below 
 her waist; she had big black eyes, and the whitest teeth 
 you ever saw. 
 
 Mordecai was very kind to the little girl and she was 
 happy. She never thought whether her dresses were 
 fine or plain, and she did not care. She knew her 
 
 clothes were always clean, and she was careful to keep 
 them so. She loved Mordecai, although she knew he 
 was poor. He had only a very small house, but the 
 room was clean, and they had enough to eat, and had 
 plenty of fresh air. 
 
 i 
 
 ;i 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 Their small cottage was on a side street in the city, 
 and not very far away on a fine, wide street, was the 
 palace where the king of Persia lived. The king’s 
 name was Ahasuerus. That is a long, hard name, but 
 I think you can read it: A-has-u-e-rus. The king’s 
 palace was very large and elegant, and was built out 
 of blocks of pure white marble. The palace stood in 
 the middle of a garden, and all kinds of trees and flow¬ 
 ers grew in it. There were some fountains from which 
 the water spouted up into the air, and then fell back 
 into a large basin. If you could have looked into the 
 basin, you would have seen many little fish swimming 
 around all the time. 
 
 There was a high wall all around the garden, and 
 there was a heavy gate on the front side, near which 
 was a large tree. No matter how hot the sun shone, it 
 was cool and shady under this tree. Mordecai often 
 took a little stool, set it down near the gate, and sat 
 there in the shade, when he had nothing else to do. 
 The king sometimes saw him seated there, but he was 
 a kind king, and he did not send the old man away. 
 
 King Ahasuerus had many soldiers in his palace; 
 many officers were in the rooms to be companions for 
 
 142 
 
THE STORY OF PURIM 
 
 the king; he had many men and women to do every¬ 
 thing for him, but he was not happy. He had one 
 friend, Prince Haman, who was always with him, but 
 the king was lonesome. He wanted to get married, and 
 he did not know any girl he wished to marry. That 
 made him sad. One day, the king and one of his 
 princes were talking together about it, and the prince 
 said: 
 
 “If you do not know any nice young girls, I will tell 
 you how to find some. There are many pretty girls in 
 this big country that belongs to you. All you will have 
 to do, is to send some officers to every town to find the 
 girls, and bring them to Shushan, to the palace.” 
 
 The king liked this plan and he sent officers to pick 
 out the pretty girls. The officers told the girls the king 
 wanted a wife. The girls were glad to go to Shushan, 
 because every one of them wished she could be the wife 
 of King Ahasuerus. 
 
 As one of the officers was going out through the gate, 
 he saw Mordecai and stopped to speak to him. Mor- 
 decai asked the officer where he was going, and he an¬ 
 swered : 
 
 “The king sent me to bring some pretty girls to the 
 
 M3 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 palace. He wants to get married and he does not know 
 any girls. Do you know any who are pretty and sweet 
 and good and kind?” 
 
 Mordecai said: “I do not know many girls, but I 
 know one who is kind and good to everybody.” 
 
 “Who is that girl? Does she live near or far away?” 
 asked the officer. 
 
 “Her name is Esther,” said Mordecai. “She lives 
 near, and if you would like to see her, I will take you 
 to her home.” 
 
 The officer said he would go, and Mordecai took 
 him to his own house. Esther had on a very simple 
 cotton dress, but it was neat and clean. When she saw 
 the officer come into the room with Mordecai, she said, 
 with a very pleasant smile: 
 
 “Good morning! Won’t you please take a seat?” 
 
 The officer smiled back at her and said he had no 
 time, but he promised to come again. As he went out 
 of the room, he said to Mordecai: 
 
 “I like Esther, because she is sweet and polite. Esther 
 must go to the palace on the day when all the other 
 girls will be there. I will come and get her.” 
 
 The officer left, and Mordecai said to himself: 
 
 144 
 
THE STORY OF PURIM 
 
 “I hope the king will like my Esther, and I hope he 
 will marry her. When she is a queen she can do many 
 things to help the Jews.” 
 
 Every girl in Persia hoped the king would like her, 
 just her alone, and make her his queen. I mean all the 
 girls except Esther, because she did not know anything 
 at all about it. At last it became known, that on a cer¬ 
 tain day, all the girls would be in the palace. Then 
 Mordecai told Esther she was to go, too. Esther was 
 bashful, and said to Mordecai: 
 
 “Why should I go? I don’t think the king will like 
 me. A king wants a tall, splendid girl for his wife, a 
 girl who has fine clothes and a girl who is pretty.” 
 
 “Do you think so?” said Mordecai. 
 
 ‘“Yes I do. I am small, and I am not pretty, and 
 I have no fine clothes.” 
 
 “Esther, my child, all that does not count. If you 
 are small, you will grow; never mind about being 
 pretty, because maybe the king will think you are pretty; 
 and the king will not care anything about your clothes, 
 if you look neat and clean.” 
 
 “But I am afraid to go to the palace alone,” said 
 Esther. 
 
 145 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 “Do not be afraid, Esther, for no one will harm you.” 
 
 At last, when the great day came, Esther was taken 
 into the grand ballroom in the palace. There were, 
 oh! so many girls there, and Esther was told to stand 
 near a window, where the king could see her as soon 
 as he entered the room. Esther had on a cheap little 
 white dress. It was the best she had, but there was 
 no trimming on it. Her long braids were tied with a 
 small blue ribbon. Her cheeks were rosy red, her eyes 
 shone brightly, and when she smiled at the other girls 
 they saw her pretty white teeth. 
 
 Esther saw the lovely dresses the other girls wore, 
 but do you think she wished she was dressed like they 
 were? Indeed not. Esther did not worry about what 
 kind of clothes she had. But she liked to see pretty 
 clothes, just as every one else does, and she was happy 
 to look at the handsome silk dresses and the fine lace 
 dresses, and the chains and bracelets and earrings the 
 other girls had. Maybe those girls wondered how it 
 happened that a girl who wore such cheap clothes could 
 have been invited to the palace, and they thought: 
 
 “The king will not look at such a poor girl/’ But 
 they were mistaken. 
 
 T46 
 
ESTHER, BEFORE THE KING 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE STORY OF PURIM 
 
 The wide doors were thrown open by two soldiers. 
 Several officers, dressed in their gay uniforms, marched 
 in, two by two, and then came the king. He was fol¬ 
 lowed by Haman and many more officers. The king 
 was tall and fine looking. He wore an elegant cloak, 
 embroidered with gold and jewels, over his uniform. 
 His golden crown was on his head and he carried a 
 golden scepter in his hand. 
 
 Everybody in the room bowed low, when the king 
 walked to his golden throne and sat down on one of the 
 velvet throne chairs. The other chair remained empty. 
 The king glanced around the room and looked at every 
 girl carefully, but he did not see any one he liked. 
 Then he looked at Esther, standing so bashfully by the 
 window, and said to Haman, who stood beside him: 
 
 “Who is that lovely girl with the long braids of hair? 
 I mean the one in that plain white dress.** 
 
 “Her name is Esther,” said Haman. That is all I 
 know about her. But does your majesty really wish 
 to marry her?” 
 
 “I certainly do,** said the king.- “She is the only girl 
 in the room that I like, and I want her for my wife and 
 my queen.’* 
 
 147 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 Think of that, children! The great and powerful 
 king did not care for any one of the rich and beautiful 
 girls he saw, and the only girl he liked was Esther. 
 Then the king married her and he gave her handsome 
 clothes to wear, and put a golden crown on her head. 
 He said she was his queen and placed her next to him 
 in the other chair on the throne. Then he gave a feast 
 and invited nearly all the people in Shushan; and there 
 was joy in the land. 
 
 One day, Haman asked the king to give an order 
 telling every one to bow down to Haman, whenever 
 they saw him. Mordecai said he would not bow to 
 any one but God. When Haman heard what Mor¬ 
 decai said, he was very angry and said he would pun¬ 
 ish Mordecai. Haman hated the Jews and he made 
 up his mind to kill all those in Persia. He went to 
 the king and told him Mordecai was a Jew and said: 
 
 “The J ews are not good people. They do not pray 
 to our gods and their laws are not like our laws. It 
 is not good for you to have such people in your land.” 
 
 The king said: “If you tell me the Jews are not 
 good people, of course I believe you; and I will allow 
 you to do anything you like to them.” 
 
 148 
 
THE STORY OF PURIM 
 
 Then that wicked Haman sent officers to every gov¬ 
 ernor, in every state, with the order from the king that 
 on the thirteenth day of Adar (Adar is a month in the 
 early spring) every Jew was to be killed. Wasn’t 
 that terrible? 
 
 When Mordecai heard this, he sat by the gate of 
 the palace and cried out loud, and Esther heard him. 
 She sent one of the soldiers to ask what was the mat¬ 
 ter. Mordecai told the soldier what Haman had done 
 and said: 
 
 “Go back and tell Esther all about it. Tell her 
 she must go to the king, and beg him to save her 
 people from being killed.” 
 
 When the soldier told Esther she said she could only 
 go to the king when the king sent for her. When 
 the soldier told Mordecai that, the old man said: 
 
 “Go again to Esther, and tell her she must go to 
 the king. If she does not go, she will be killed the 
 same day as the other Jews.” 
 
 When Esther heard this, she dressed herself in her 
 best dress and put the golden crown on her head. She 
 looked very beautiful, but she was afraid to go to the 
 king, because he had not sent for her. She stood out- 
 
 149 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 side the door of the king’s room and she began to trem¬ 
 ble and cry. Then she said to herself: 
 
 It will not do any good to cry. That will not help 
 any one. I will not cry and I will try to be brave. I 
 will pray to God, and ask Him to make the king kind to 
 me, and let me help my people.” So Esther said a 
 little prayer and begged God to help her, and when 
 she had finished her prayers she was not afraid any 
 more, and she went to the king. When he saw her, 
 he smiled at her and held out his golden scepter. She 
 smiled then, because she knew that was a sign that the 
 king was glad to see her. The king asked her what 
 she wanted of him, and Esther said: 
 
 “I have been told that on a certain day, the king’s 
 soldiers are going to kill all the Jews in Persia.” 
 
 “That is true,” said the king. I gave the order to 
 Haman. Tell me, Esther, why do you ask?” 
 
 “Because the Jews are my people and Mordecai is 
 my cousin,” said Esther. “I am a Jewish girl, and if 
 all the Jews are to be killed, I will be killed.” 
 
 Then the king was sorry he had given such an order. 
 He loved Esther and he did not want her to be killed* 
 He asked her what he could do and she said: 
 
 150 
 
THE STORY OF PURIM 
 
 “Please give another order to your soldiers. Tell 
 them they must not kill or hurt any Jews.” 
 
 The king said: “A king in Persia, cannot change 
 any order he has given. I cannot change it, but I will 
 do something else. Go to your cousin Mordecai. Tell 
 him on the day when my soldiers will try to kill the 
 Jews, they should fight the soldiers. I will order the 
 soldiers to let the Jews fight them, and your people 
 will be saved.” 
 
 Esther thanked the king, and said: 
 
 “Prince Haman says he will hang my cousin on a 
 gallows he has just had made.” 
 
 The king looked at Haman who was in the room, 
 and said angrily: 
 
 “I, the king, have been very kind to you, because 
 I thought you were good, but now, I think you are a 
 very wicked man. First you tell me to give an order 
 to kill all the Jews, and then you build a gallows on 
 which to hang Mordecai. The Jews never did you 
 any harm, yet you want to kill them all. You shall 
 be punished.” 
 
 Haman was frightened when he heard the king call 
 for two officers. They came into the room at once, 
 
 151 
 
THE JEWISH CHILD’S BIBLE STORIES 
 
 and the king said: “I have found out that Haman is a 
 very wicked man. Take him away and put him in prison. 
 Tomorrow morning let the soldiers hang him on the 
 same gallows he had built for Mordecai.” 
 
 Haman fell on his knees before the king. He cried 
 and begged the king to let him live. 
 
 “No,” said the king. “You would not have saved 
 the life of even one Jew, and I will not let you live. 
 Soldiers, take him away.” 
 
 Thus was Haman punished. When the day came 
 when the Jews thought Haman was going to have themi 
 killed, the soldiers only “made believe” they were 
 fighting, and not one Jew was killed. 
 
 The Jews were so happy, they arranged a big feast 
 and they called it Purim. They were so thankful, 
 that they gave presents of food, and clothing, and 
 money, to all the poor men and women and children 
 in the land. All this happened long ago, but each 
 year the Jews remember Purim, and give presents of 
 all kinds to any poor persons they know. 
 
 152 
 
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 GAYLORD 
 
 
 
 PRINTED IN U S A.