October 19

Numbers xiii. — 17. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain;

18. And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

19. And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strongholds;

20. And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean; whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now, the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

23. And they came unto the brook of Esheol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

24. The place was called the brook Esheol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

25. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

26. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

27. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us; and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

28. Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very

great; and, moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.

29. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south; and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

30. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

31. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

32. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search it is a land that catch up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

33. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Numbers xiv. — 1. And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

3. And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

4. And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Esheol has commonly been located in the vicinity of Hebron; and one may now find clusters on the vines of that lovely valley which would corroborate the statement in verse 23. But Mr. E. H. Palmer, who, in 1870, traversed the desert of Dh very thoroughly, places Esheol farther south, near to

'Ain el Gadis, in which he finds the ancient Kadesh. No doubt that region was once quite fertile; and Mr. Palmer reports "miles of hillsides and valleys covered with the small stone heaps, in regular swaths, along which the grapes were trained, and which still retain the name of grape-mounds."

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 127, 172, 184.

Almighty and everlasting God, in whom we live and move, and have our being, we, thy needy creatures, render thee our humble praises for thy preservation of us from the beginning of our lives to this day, and especially for having delivered us from the dangers of the past night. We thank thee that we have been kept from the alarm of sickness, of fire, of robbers, of sudden death, and have awaked in peace to behold the day. O Lord! we beseech thee, lift upon us the light of thy countenance, that we may begin the day in the consciousness of thy love, and may spend it joyfully in doing thy will. [May the children of this fam-

ily learn to please thee, their Father in heaven, in all that they think and say and do! and in these things may we all have the spirit of little children!] Keep us from malice and anger, from envy and pride, from covetousness, worldliness, and all sin. May we be useful in the world and in the Church of Christ! May our kindred and friends be prospered in their lawful undertakings and desires, and all be partakers of thy grace! Mercifully forgive our sins, lead us safely through the perils of this life unto the heavenly rest, and save us with an everlasting salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.