The LORD also shall roar out of Zion,

And utter his voice from Jerusalem;

And the heavens and the earth shall shake:

But the LORD will be the hope of his people,

And the strength of the children of Israel.

So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God
Dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain:

Then shall Jerusalem be holy,

And there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

LESSON LIII.

UZZIAH, KING OF JUDAH.

B.C. 810.-2 CHRON. xxvi. 3—21.

Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did.

And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.

And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims.

And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning* of the wall, and fortified them.

Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine-dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry. Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.

The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.

And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons,+ and bows, and slings to cast stones.

LIV.]

AMOS THE HERDSMAN.

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And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning* men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men :

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.

Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense : and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.

And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.

And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

LESSON LIV.‡

AMOS THE HERDSMAN.

ABOUT B.C. 800.—AMOS i. and ii. (abridged).

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof;

Because they have despised the law of the LORD,

And have not kept his commandments,

And their lies caused them to err,

After the which their fathers have walked :

* Skilful.

+ Separate.

Not for the younge: ones.

But I will send a fire upon Judah,

And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,

I will not turn away the punishment thereof;

Because they sold the righteous for silver,

And the poor for a pair of shoes;

And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every
altar;

And they drink the wine of the condemned* in the house of their god.
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them,"

Whose height was like the height of the cedars,
And he was strong as the oaks;

Yet I destroyed his fruit from above,

And his roots from beneath.

Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

And led you forty years through the wilderness,
To possess the land of the Amorite.

And I raised up of your sons for prophets,

And of your young men for Nazarites.

Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.

But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink;

And commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift,

And the strong shall not strengthen his force,

Neither shall the mighty deliver himself:

Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow;

And he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself:
Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
And he that is courageous among the mighty
Shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.

LESSON LV.+

AMOS' WARNING

ABOUT B.C. 800.-AMOS iv. and v.

Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth; the LORD, the God of Hosts, is his name.

* Wine bought with the unjust fines they have extorted.
+ Not for the little ones.

LV.]

AMOS' WARNING.

Hear ye this word which I take up against you,

Even a lamentation, O house of Israel.

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise :

She is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
For thus saith the Lord GOD;

The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred,

And that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten,

To the house of Israel.

For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel,

Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

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But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer

sheba :

For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,

And Beth-el shall come to nought.

Seek the LORD, and ye shall live;

Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it,
And there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood,

*

And leave off righteousness in the earth,

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,

And turneth the shadow of death into the morning,

And maketh the day dark with night :

That calleth for the waters of the sea,

And poureth them out upon the face of the earth :
The LORD is his name:

That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong,

So that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

And I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Though ye offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them :

Neither will Î regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs;

For I will not hear the melody of thy viols.+

But let judgment run down as waters,

And righteousness as a mighty stream.

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

But

ye have borne the tabernacle of

your Moloch

And Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to
yourselves.

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,
Saith the LORD, whose name is The God of Hosts.

* The bitterest of plants.

† Supposed to be a sort of harp.

LESSON LVI.

AMOS AND THE PRIEST OF BETHEL.

ABOUT B.C. 800.-AMOS vii. 7—17 ; ix. 8—15.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.

And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel:

I will not again pass by them any more:

And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate,

And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste;

And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.

Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son ; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit : *

And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.

For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

* Mulberry figs.