made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffic of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country. And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pounds of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver it was nothing accounted of in the days of

Solomon. For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish® with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

6. This name seems to have been applied by the Phoenicians to any very remote trading port. Thus a ship of Tarshish meant a ship fit and equipped for the longest voyages.

XXV

THE STORY OF ELIJAH

(I Kings xvii, xix)

Introductory Note.-In the reign of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, Israel became permanently divided into two kingdoms. The tribe of Judah and Benjamin, as the Kingdom of Judah, adhered to the house of David at Jerusalem; while the other tribes, as the Kingdom of Israel, established their seat of government at Samaria. The two kingdoms, though often hostile, retained a consciousness of racial unity and, to some extent, a common religion. The national religious organization in neither kingdom, however, was strong enough to check the tendency of the Israelites to assimilate in religious and social customs with the heathen nations around them. Both kingdoms were, from time to time, recalled to their religious duty by the teaching of independent preachers known in the English Bible as "prophets." Of these prophets the greatest was Elijah, who lived at Samaria, in the region of Ahab, the seventh king of Israel. Ahab's queen, Jezebel, was a Tyrian princess, and through her influence the worship of Baal, the god of the Phoenicians, had wholly supplanted the national religion in Israel.

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead,' said unto Ahab :-"As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."

And the word of the Lord came upon him, saying: -"Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide

1. Region east of the Jordan.

thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there."

So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying:"Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee."

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said:"Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said:-"Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand."

And she said:-"As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

And Elijah said unto her:-"Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake

2. A small town on the coast road between Tyre and Sidon, beyond the limits of Israel.

first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah.

And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah:-"What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son ?"

And he said unto her:-"Give me thy son." And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said:—“O Lord my God, hast Thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?" And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said: "O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child's soul come into him again." And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down. out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him