Theodore Gerald Soares

“ And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go."
And they said, "The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God."
And the king of Egypt said unto them, "Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their work? get you unto your burdens. Behold, the people of the land are now many, and ye make them rest from their burdens." ”

“ And David answered and said, "Behold the spear, O king! let then one of the young men come over and fetch it. And the Lord shall render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: forasmuch as the Lord delivered thee into my hand to-day, and I would not put forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed. And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation."
Then Saul said to David, "Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do mightily, and shalt surely prevail." ”

“ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." ”

“ And Pharaoh said unto his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is?" And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou: thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou." And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt." ”

“ And Moses spake these words unto all Israel, "I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and the Lord hath said unto me, 'Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.' The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee; he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." ”

“ And he said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
And the Lord said unto him, "Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. ”

“ And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and his shield-bearer went before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, "Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us." ”

“ And Solomon said, "Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great kindness, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. ”

“ And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and said unto them, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore doth the Lord bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones shall be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt?" ”

“ Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore he made thee king, to do justice and righteousness. ”

“ And Judah said unto Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time." ”

“ Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be fallen at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, 'There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.' And even he that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. ”

“ And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, "Lord, wherefore hast thou evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath evil entreated this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all."
And the Lord said unto Moses, "Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land." ”

“ Now the Lord had revealed unto Samuel a day before Saul came, saying, "To-morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be prince over my people Israel, and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me." ”

“ And Naaman said, "If not, yet I pray thee let there be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord." ”

“ What did God tell Moses? It might have seemed to the lonely exile that the Lord had forgotten all about the people in bondage. A commission is a duty given to a man: what was Moses' commission? At last God's plan for poor Israel was clear. ”

“ And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them. ”

“ The story of the deliverance from Egypt makes a long chapter, but it is full of exciting interest and shows the fearless character of the great leader who trusted in his God. It was a bold thing for Moses to return to Egypt and try to persuade the king to let Israel go. But when he was sent to threaten Pharaoh it was indeed a task requiring courage. Imagine a single man to-day demanding of the sultan of Turkey that he should free his slaves. ”

“ What report was brought to Abigail? What did the shepherds think of David? What did Abigail immediately do? David was in a great rage with Nabal, though of course he really had no right to any pay from the man. What vengeance had he decided to take? What do you think of that? How thankful it makes us feel that we live in times when we have strong laws, and no man is permitted to take the law in his own hands. ”

“ If thy father miss me at all, then say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.' If he say thus, 'It is well;' thy servant shall have peace: but if he be wroth, then know that evil is determined by him. Therefore deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee: but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? ”

“ So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, and armor and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. ”

“ And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, "Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been very good toward thee: for he put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great victory for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?" ”

“ And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab.
And the famine was sore in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said unto Obadiah, "Go through the land, unto all the fountains of water, and unto all the brooks: peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts." ”

“ And he answered, "It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: and she said, 'Let me glean, I pray you, and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' So she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, save that she tarried a little in the house."
Then said Boaz unto Ruth, "Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither pass from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? ”

“ And Ahab said to Elijah, "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?"
And he answered, "I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will utterly sweep thee away, and will cut off from Ahab every man child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and hast made Israel to sin. ”

“ There was a strong enemy on the western coast that was the most serious trouble to Israel. It was to save themselves from these people that the Hebrews had longed for a king. Imagine how we should feel if some foreign nation should capture New York and Chicago and St. Louis and San Francisco and should compel us to give up a large part of our crops every year. We should look for a great general to lead us to turn them out. What then did Saul feel was his first duty as king? He had with him his noble son: what was his name? The first blow was struck at the town of Geba: what followed at once? ”