interpretation thereof, he worshiped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, "Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian."

He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. And he said unto them, "Look on me, and do likewise : and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, 'For the Lord and for Gideon.""

So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets, and brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal. And they cried, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon."

And they stood every man in his place round about the camp and all the host ran: and they shouted, and put the Midianites to flight.

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, "Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian."

And Gideon said unto them, "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you."

So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

SENNACHERIB

FROM THE BIBLE

SENNACHERIB, king of Assyria, sent messengers unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, "Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, 'Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.' Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?"

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord.

Then Isaiah the prophet sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard thee.' Thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mount against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall

not come unto this city,' saith the Lord. 'For I will

defend this city to save it, for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake.""

And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB

BY GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON

THE Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold,
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew

still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride:
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

THINK ON THESE THINGS

FROM THE BIBLE

WHATSOEVER things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger.

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

All down the hills of Habersham,
All through the valleys of Hall,
The rushes cried, "Abide, abide,"
The willful waterweeds held me thrall,

The laving laurel turned my tide,

The ferns and the fondling grass said, "Stay,"

The dewberry dipped for to work delay,

1 From Selections from Sidney Lanier, edited by Henry W. Lanier; copyright, 1916, by Charles Scribner's Sons. Used by permission of the publishers.