April 21

1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water;

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that it in their hands.

9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

10 ¶ And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented

of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, you not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil

3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, say life from me: for it is better for me to die than to live

4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

6 And the LORD God prepared a guard and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the guard.

7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the guard that it withered.

8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind;

and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live

9 And God said to Jonah, Does thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death

10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not la-

boured, neither modest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

11 And should not I spare Niceveh, that great city, wherein are more than sisscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

We have here an illustration of the truth, that those who venture on Divine mercy will not be disappointed. This was not a repentance in word only, but in deed.

"Many wish to repent, yet so as not to part with their luxuries or the vanity of their dress, like the Greek who said he would 'like to be a philosopher; yet in a few things, not altogether.' To whom we may answer, 'Delicate food and costly dress agree not with penitence; and that is no great grief which never comes to light.'—Selected.

"It was a marvellous thing, that purple was outvied by sackcloth. Sackcloth availed, what the purple robe availed not." "The king had conquered enemies by valor; he conquered God by humility. Wise king, who, for the saving of his people, owns himself a sinner rather than a king. He forgets that he is a king, fearing God, the King of all; he remembereth not his own power, coming to own the power of the Godhead. Marvellous! While he remembereth not that he is a king of men, he beginneth to be a king of righteousness. The prince, becoming religious, lost not his empire, but changed it. Before, he held the princedom of military discipline; now, he obtained the princedom in heavenly disciplines."—S. Maximus.

"He who limiteth fasting to the abstinence from food only, he it is who, above all, dishonoreth it. Fastest thou? Show it me by its works. 'What works?' askest thou. If you see a poor man, have mercy; if an enemy, be reconciled; if a friend doing well, envy him not; if a beautiful woman, pass on. Let not the mouth alone fast; let eyes, too, and hearing, and feet, and hands, and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, clean from rapine and avarice! Let the feet fast, holding back from going to unlawful sights! Let the eyes fast, learning never to thrust themselves on beautiful objects, nor to look curiously on others' beauty; for the food of the eye is gazing. Let the ear, too, fast; for the fast of the ears is not to hear detractions and calumnies. Let the mouth, too, fast from foul words and reproaches. For what boots it to abstain from birds and fish while we bite and devour our brethren? The detracter preys on his brother's flesh."—E. B. Pusey, D. D.

Closet Promise.—Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee.—Psalm lxxxvi. 5.

Lord, who art me, ciful as well as just, Incline Thine ear to me, a child of dust? Not what I would, O Lord, I offer 'Tree, Alas' but what I can

Father Almighty, who hast made me man, And lude me look to heaven, for Thou art there,

Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer. Four things which are not in Thy treasury I lay before thee, Lord, with this petition; My nothingness, my wants, My sins, and my contrition. —Robert Southey.

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

Breakfast Motto.—He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that beheverth on Me shall never thirst.—John vi. 35.

Weekly Proverb.—One To-day is worth two To-Morrows.—Poor Richard.

DAILY BIBLE READING.—ALL ABOUT FEET.

Sunday.—Feet like Hind's Feet.—Psalm xviii. 1-50.

Monday.—Feet Hurt with Fetters.—Psalm cv. 1-45.

Tuesday.—Feet on a Rock.—Psalm xl. 1-17.

Wednesday.—Feet Swift for Mischief—Prov. vi. 1-19.

Thursday.—Feet Stumbling on Dark Mountains—Jer. xiii. 1-27.

Friday.—Feet Running to do Evil.—Prov. i. 8-33.

Saturday.—Feet that Bring Glad Tidings.—Rom. x. 1-21.

FROM THE OLD GERMAN.

How should the heart of a little child be? As pure as the iny that blossoms on the tea, As clear as the dews from the heavens that fall, As true as the merlot that hangs on the wall, As fresh as the fountain, as gay as the ink

That trills out its song 'twist the day and the dark, As glad as the angels when, soaring, they fly On the bright wings of love to their home in the sky —F. M. Traquer.

To do good, and to communicate, forget not.—Heb. xiii. 16.

I want to tell you another way of doing good. One Sunday the superintendent of a Sunday-school said to his scholars, "Children, I want each of you to bring a new scholar to the school with you next Sunday." "I can't get any new scholars," said several of the children to themselves. "I'll try what I can do," was the whispered response of a few others. One of the latter class went home to his father and said, "Father, will you go to the Sunday-school with me?" "I can't read, my son," replied the father, with a look of shame. "Our teachers will teach you, dear father," answered the boy, with respect and feeling in his tones. "Well, I'll go," said the father. He went, learned to read, sought and found the Saviour, and at length became a Bible distributor. Years passed on, and that man had established four hundred Sunday Schools, into which thirty-five thousand children were gathered! Thus you see what trying did. That boy's efforts, by God's grace, saved his father; and his father, being saved, led thirty-five thousand children to the Sunday-school!

SEVENTEENTH WEEK.

PEARL TEXT.—For all the promises of God in Him are Yeas, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.—2 Cor. 1. 20

For He hath given us a changeless writing, Royal decrees that light and gladness bring, Signed with His name in glorious ind. ring, Sealed on our hearts with His own signet ring. —F. R. H. Evergl.

I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity upon them. —Watts.

The promises often lose their sweetness because we have been eating of the grapes of Sodom. Our taste is at fault.—Sel.

People often err in trying to hasten the promises, confounding precepts with promises—breaking the precept to fulfil the promise.—Sel.

HELPS FOR THE DEVOTIONAL HOUR.