GENESIS XX-ABRAHAM AND ABIMELECH

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30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

35 And they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. 37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

Chapter 20

1 Abraham sojourneth at Gerar. 2 Denieth his wife, and loseth her. 3 Abimelech is reproved for her in a dream. 9 He rebuketh Abraham, 14 restoreth Sarah, 16 and reproveth her. 17 He is healed by Abraham's prayer.

ND Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.

4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore

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GENESIS XXI-BIRTH OF ISAAC

her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. 12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

my father,

13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.1

17¶So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children.

18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Chapter 21

1 Isaac is born. 4 He is circumcised. 6 Sarah's joy. 9 Hagar and Ishmael are cast forth. 15 Hagar in distress. 17 The angel comforteth her. 22 Abimelech's covenant with Abraham at Beer-sheba.

SND the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken:

2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

This passage is obscure in the early texts. The Revised Version reads "behold, it (the money, about six hundred dollars) is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted." In a general way it implies that Sarah is thus compensated for the wrong done her.

The First Exiles

BY A. ZWILLER, OF THE CONTEMPORARY GER

MAN SCHOOL OF ART.

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"Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."-Gen., 3, 23.

F

OR man's disobedience he was not only expelled from Paradise, but expelled with a curse upon his head. In this picture Adam and Eve are shown in the first moments of their bewilderment. They have fled but a little way into the empty wilderness and then cast themselves down in stupor. The second half of their punishment, the hard labor and physical pain of life, has not yet come upon them. They realize only the first half, their exile. They have lost forever the beautiful plains of Paradise. Where it stood, they now see only the dark wall that excludes them, and the rock-bound gate guarded by the angel with the flaming sword.

Worse still, they are barred forever from the personal presence of the Lord; they can see only the distant light which, shining within Paradise, suggests His presence. The artist conveys, however, the thought of divine mercy, implying that even in the moment of man's punishment God was planning to save him; for the light rising above Paradise takes the mystic form of the cross, the promise of the coming Christ.