and if thou doest not well, sin croucheth at the door: and to thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

And it came to pa.s.s, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?"

And he said, "I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"

And he said, "What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; {23} when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth."

And Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it shall come to pa.s.s, that whosoever findeth me will slay me."

And the Lord said to him, "Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.

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THE STORY OF THE FLOOD.

_How the First Ship, "The Ark," Weathered the Storm_.

THE WICKEDNESS OF THE WORLD.

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord repented that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and birds of the air; for I repent that I have made them."

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

THE BUILDING OF "THE ARK."

Noah was a righteous man, and Noah walked with G.o.d. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and j.a.pheth. And the earth was corrupt before G.o.d, and the earth was filled with violence. And G.o.d saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all life had corrupted itself upon the earth.

And G.o.d said to Noah, "The end of all life is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence; and, behold, I will destroy life on the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt {25} pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A roof shalt thou make to the ark; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all life from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them."

Thus did Noah; according to all that G.o.d commanded him, so did he.

THE GREAT FLOOD.

And the Lord said to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female; of the birds also of the air, seven and seven, male {26} and female: to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the ground."

And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons'

wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of birds and of everything that creepeth upon the ground, there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as G.o.d commanded Noah. And it came to pa.s.s after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and j.a.pheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; they, and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind. And they went in with Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as G.o.d commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE END OF THE FLOOD.

By Moritz Oppenheim, born at Hanan 1801-died 1882.

"And the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."

[End ill.u.s.tration]

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And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all life died that moved upon the earth, both bird, and cattle, and beast, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living thing was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping thing, and bird of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

THE DOVE AND THE OLIVE LEAF.

And G.o.d remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and G.o.d made a wind to pa.s.s over the earth, and the waters a.s.suaged; the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of an hundred and fifty {30} days the waters decreased. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

And it came to pa.s.s at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more. And it came to pa.s.s in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry.

And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: every beast, every creeping {31} thing, and every bird, whatsoever moveth upon the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark.

THE RAINBOW IN THE SKY.

And G.o.d said, "I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all life be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pa.s.s, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all life. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between G.o.d and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth."

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THE STORY OF THE TOWER OF BABEL.

_A Foolish Plan and Its Failure_.

And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And it came to pa.s.s, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, "Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly."

And they had brick for stone, and pitch had they for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city. Therefore was the name of it called Babel (that is, confusion); because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

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TALES OF BRAVE WOMEN

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RUTH

PERSONS OF THE STORY.