November 6

9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both avander; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My

father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more, and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;

14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; and Elisha went over.

15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

16 ¶ And they said unto him, behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some moontime or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.

17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought three days, but found him not

18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

Elijah's translation is intended to be a representation of a good man's death in its noblest aspect. In all the various forms in which the inevitable day of death may come upon us, what we should most wish for would be that our death, like Elijah's, should seem to those we leave behind but as the completion of that which they have already known. Elijah had seemed in life a firmer defence and guard to his country than all the chariots and horsemen that were ever pouring in upon them from the surrounding tribes, and so he seemed when he passed away lost in the flames of a fiery chariot and the fiery horsemen.

Elijah's work was done; but the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha, who was himself altogether different in aspect, in character, in life, from his mighty predecessor. At first the succession seems like a deterioration. The glow, the rush, the genius, the inspiration, the awe, the prowess, seem to have died with the master. Yet if the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elias, it was "Eliseus the prophet" who dimly prefigured Christ.

"In what follows after Elijah has been taken up, we have a dim foreshadowing of the history of the Church, above all the Apostolic Church, after the ascension of its Lord. (1) Elisha wrought a miracle with the mantle of Elijah, the mantle of our ascending Lord has fallen upon the Church. (2) Elisha wasted not his time in idle lamentations; he girt himself to his own work. The Apostles returned to Jerusalem; and when they received the promise of the Father, they became witnesses to Christ in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth."—R. C. Trench.

Closet Promise.—The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.—Rom. viii. 18.

What will it matter, by and by, Whether my path below was bright, Whether it wound through dark or light, Under a gray or a golden sky. When I look back on it, by and by?

What will it matter, by and by, Whether unhelped I toiled alone, Dashing my foot against a stone,

Missing the charge of the angel nigh, Bidding me think of the by and by?

What will it matter, by and by, Whether with laughing joy I went Down through the years, with a glad intent; Never believing, nay, not I. Tears would be sweeter by and by?

What will it matter, by and by, Whether with cheek to cheek I've lain Close by the pallid angel, Pain; Soothing myself through sob and sigh? "All will be chewwise by and by!"

What will it matter? Naught, if I Only am sure the way I've trod, Gloomy or gladdened, leads to God; Questioning not of the bow, the why, If I but reach Him by and by.

What will I care for the unshared sigh, If, in my fear of slip or fall, Closely I've clung to Christ through all; Mindless how rough the path might lie, Since He will smooth it by and by?

Ah! it will matter, by and by, Nothing but this—that joy or pain Lifted me skyward, helped me gain, Whether through rack or smile or sigh, Heaven—home—all in all, by and by! —Selected.