will command his children, and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, and to do judgment and justice, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now* and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to me; or whether it be not so, that I may know. And the men turned from thence and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty just persons within the city. Wilt thou destroy and not spare the place for the fifty just persons that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the just with the wicked: and for the just to be in like case as the wicked, that be far from thee He that judgeth all the earth will not pronounce this judgment. And the Lord said to him, It l find in Sodom fifty just men within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, and I am dust and ashes. Perhaps there shall be five less than fifty just persons; wilt thou destroy all the city for want of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake to him yet again, and said, Perhaps there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh, let

* I will go down, &c. - The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the way of speaking and acting amongst men; for he knoweth all things, and needeth not to go any where for information. Note here, that two of the three men who came to him went away immediately towards Sodom, and are called angels; while the third, who is called the Lord, remained with Abraham.

not my Lord be angry and I will speak. Perhaps there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have begun to speak to my Lord; perhaps there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once; perhaps ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the Lord departed after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding countries, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever sprung out of the ground. And Abraham was early in the morning at the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and towards all the land of the plain, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities wherein Lot dwelt.

[Ezekiel the prophet thus makes mention of this event:-]

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations. As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom, thy sister, hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom, thy sister: pride, fulness of bread, security through prosperity was in her and her daughters, and they did not take hold of the hand of the poor and the needy. But they were lifted up, and committed abomination before me; and I took them away, as I saw good.*

[Our blessed Lord also speaks of it, when he says:-) And thou, Capernaum,† which are exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for thee.‡

[St. Peter too writes about it:-]

For if God, reducing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example to those that should afterwards be impious, and delivered just Lot, distressed with the profligate life of the wicked; (for in seeing and hearing, that just person dwelling among them day after day, afflicted his righteous soul with their lawless deeds) the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, but to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment, to be punished. ||

[St. Jude also writes:-]

I will, therefore, put you in remembrance, though ye once knew, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, did afterwards destroy them that believed not: and the angels who kept not their principality, but left

* Ezekiel xvi. 1, 2, 48-50.

† Capernaum. The town in which the Lord Jesus chiefly resided while he was in Galilee, and where he performed many miracles. It is said, on this account, to have been as it were exalted to heaven; but not profiting by its advantages, it was held by our Lord as more guilty than Sodom and Gomorrah.

their own habitation, he hath reserved under darkness, in everlasting chains, unto the judgment of the great day. As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbouring cities, in like manner, having given themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.*

Morsel,

Knead,

Hearth,

'Thence,

WORDS, &C. TO BE EXPLAINED IN LESSON XIII.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIII.

WHERE did God appear to Abraham ?
When Abraham lifted up his eyes, what did he see?
How did Abraham shew his hospitality?

What reason does God give for informing Abraham what

he was about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah?

Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?

What reason did Abraham give that God should not destroy these cities?

For the sake of how many would God have spared these cities?

When Abraham rose in the morning, what did he see?

LESSON XIV.

Isaac born. Trial of Abraham's Faith.
В. С. 1898.

FROM GENESIS XXI. AND XXII,

AND the Lord visited Sarah as he had promised, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken,

For Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born to him. And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

And it came to pass that God did try Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of Moriah,* and offer him there for a burntoffering, upon one of the mountains which I shall shew thee.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took with him two of his young men, and cut the wood of the burnt-offering, and rose, and went to the place of which God had spoken to him. And on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the youth will go yonder and worship, and will return to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac, his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?

* Moriah. Vision, so the word is rendered in the Douay Version. It occurs again, 2 Chron. iii. 1, in which passage there is an obvious reference to its derivation, from the word signifying to see.