SOUND THE LOUD TIMBREL

This sacred song based upon the twentieth verse of the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Exodus ("So Mary, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand: and all the women went forth after her with timbrels and with dances") recalls to mind the marvelous escape of the Jews from the land of Egypt.

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea!
Jehovah has triumph'd His people are free,
Sing for the pride of the tyrant is broken,

His chariots, his horsemen, all splendid and brave How vain was their boast, for the Lord hath but spoken,

And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the wave. Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea; Jehovah has triumph'd His people are free.

Praise to the Conqueror, praise to the Lord!
His word was our arrow, His breath was our sword.
Who shall return to tell Egypt the story

Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride?
For the Lord hath look'd out from His pillar of glory,
And all her brave thousands are dash'd in the tide.
Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea;
Jehovah has triumph'd - His people are free!

THOMAS MOORE.

AIDS TO STUDY

Aaron (Ăr'un), brother of Moses,

the first high priest.

Exodus (Ek'só dùs), one of the
Books of the Bible.

Anacreon (À nǎk're on), a Greek Jehovah (Je hōv'a), another name

lyric poet.

chariot (chăr'i ot), a two-wheeled

car used in war or racing.

for God.

nettle (nět't'l), to irritate, pain. timbrel (tim'brěl), a small drum.

1. Why were the Israelites rejoicing? 2. Locate and name Egypt's dark sea. 3. Who is Jehovah? 4. How have His people triumphed? 5. Who is the tyrant mentioned in the third line? 6. How were his chariots and horsemen destroyed? 7. What is the meaning of the first two lines of the second stanza? 8. Why was it necessary to send some one to tell the Egyptians what had happened? 9. Do you know any other poems written by Moore?

1. What is the main thought of the poem? 2. Where do you find it expressed? How many times? 3. Can this poem be called a song of praise? 4. What opinion of the character of the Jewish people does the poet give us? 5. Write a description of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, or the destruction of the Egyptian army. 6. Point out the figurative expressions in this poem.

Oh, Peace! thou source and soul of social life,
Beneath whose calm, inspiring influence

Science his view enlarges, Art refines,

And swelling Commerce opens all his ports.

JAMES THOMSON.

THE PROPHET ELIAS 1

Among the valiant heroes of the Old Testament, there is none more remarkable than the great prophet Elias. The story of his marvelous deeds, as recorded in the Third and the Fourth Book of Kings, cannot fail to interest us. His humble life, his undaunted courage, his burning zeal, his brilliant triumphs, were so extraordinary that we are led to admire this great prophet.

At the time of Elias, Achab was King of Israel. Like many of his predecessors and successors, he left the religion of his forefathers for the pagan worship of Jezabel, his wife.

When Elias heard what the king had done, he went to him and denounced him for his apostasy. He told him that the vengeance of God would overtake him. Then to prove to the world that he was the servant of Jehovah, he performed a series of the most wonderful acts.

Elias said to Achab: "As the Lord liveth, in Whose sight I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth."

The word of the Lord came to him, saying: "Get thee hence, go towards the east, and hide thyself by the torrent of Carith, which is over against the Jordan. There thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there."

So Elias went, and did according to the word of the Lord; and the ravens brought him bread and flesh 1 Elias is sometimes spelled Elijah.

in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the torrent.

But after some time, the torrent was dried up, for it had not rained upon the earth.

66

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying: Arise, and go to Sarephta, and dwell there: for I have commanded a widow there to feed thee."

Elias arose and went to Sarephta. When he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow gathering sticks, and he called her, and said: "Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."

When she was going to fetch it, he called her, saying: "Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand."

She answered: "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but a mere handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse: behold I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it, for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

Elias said to her: "Fear not, but go, and do as thou hast said: but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth-cake, and bring it to me: and after, make some for thyself and thy son. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: 'The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.""

She went and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke to Elias.

And it came to pass, after this, that the son of the woman fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him.

The mother said to Elias: "What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? Art thou come to me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son?"

Elias said to her: "Give me thy son."

He carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to the Lord: "O Lord, my God, hast Thou afflicted also the widow, by whom I am maintained?"

Then he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord: "O Lord, my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech Thee, return into his body."

The Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived.

Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: "Behold, thy son liveth."