come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king's

servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head; and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate; let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour. And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his

house mourning, and having his head covered. And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared. So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee; and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom. Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and queen. And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold, also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's anger pacified. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was unto her. And the king took off his ring which he had taken

from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And he wrote in the king's name and sealed it with the king's ring, to reverse the order which had gone forth to destroy and slay the Jews. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace. And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple, and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. And the Jews had light, and gladness, and joy and honour.

God had made Haman rich, and had blessed him with friends and children, and the favour of the king. But because one poor man amongst hundreds and thousands did not rise up and bow before him, and treat him with respect, he could not be happy, but was ready to pay a large sum of money to induce the king to kill multitudes of innocent people, who had never done him any harm, so that Mordecai, who had affronted him, might be killed amongst them. We must be very careful not to harbour any feeling of revenge or spite against those who displease us. For we, too, like the wicked Haman, have the seeds of pride and revenge within us, and by cherishing them, might at last, like him, fall into terrible sin.

What was the name of king Ahasuerus's queen, and who was she?

Who was Haman?

What was his great fault?

Why did he want to kill all the Jews?

What did Ahasuerus make him do to Mordecai?

How did Haman's revenge against Mordecai recoil upon himself?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

JOUR Jewish children, captives, came
From old Jerusalem;

Many there were, Jews too, in name, But none were like to them.

In Babylon as slaves they served,

When amongst heathens brought,
But, faithful to their God, observed
The laws their fathers taught.

Babylon's king, a heathen he,
A golden image made,

To which he ordered every knee
Should bow when music played.

All, but the Jewish children, down
Before the idol bowed,

But they a higher worship own,
Nor join the heathen crowd.

Then by the cruel king's decrce,
Shadrach and Meshach too,
With Abednego, bound, these three,
Into the fire they threw.

But God preserved them even there,
And sent His angel down
To guard them with a tender care,

That all His power might own.

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CHAPTER XXXI.

Daniel and the three Children. Daniel interprets the King's Dream. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are cast into a fiery Furnace.

N the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, you have already heard that

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, one of his princes, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's sons, and of the princes, children in whom there was no blemish, but well-favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge and understanding science, to stand in the king's palace, and to whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them for three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, four, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, unto whom

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