Lesson II.

AND he said, Take the arrows.

And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of GOD was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas

now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
And Elisha died, and they buried him.
And the bands of the Moabites invaded
the land at the coming in of the
year.

Ry. Thou hast heard. p. xxviii.
Lesson III.

AND it came to pass, as they were
burying a man, that, behold, they
spied a band of men; and they cast
the man into the sepulchre of Elisha :
and when the man was let down, and
touched the bones of Elisha, he
revived, and stood up on his feet. So
Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-
hadad his son reigned in his stead.
And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took
again out of the hand of Ben-hadad
the son of Hazael the cities, which he
had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz
Three times did
Joash beat him, and recovered the
cities of Israel.

Now Elisha was fallen sick of his his father by war.

And

sickness whereof he died. Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he

said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

Ry. I have sinned. p. xxviii.

VOL. II.

Ry. Hearken. p. xxix.

THURSDAY.

Of the 2nd Book of Kings.

Lesson I. Chap. xvii.

IN the ninth year of Hoshea, the

king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their GOD, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel,

f

and of the kings of Israel, which they | sins of Jeroboam which he did; they had made. And the children of Is- departed not from them; until the rael did secretly those things that LORD removed Israel out of his sight, were not right against the LORD their as he had said by all his servants the GOD, and they built them high places prophets. So was Israel carried in all their cities. away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

So
that after him was none like him
among all the kings of Judah, nor
any that were before him. For he
clave to the LORD, and departed not
from following him, but kept his
commandments, which the LORD com-
manded Moses. And the LORD was
with him; and he prospered whither-
soever he went forth: and he rebelled
against the king of Assyria, and served
him not. He smote the Philistines,
even unto Gaza, and the borders
thereof, from the tower of the watch-
men to the fenced city.

Ry. Thou hast heard. p. xxviii.

Lesson III.

TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

FIRST NOCTURN.

Of the 2nd Book of Kings.

Lesson I. Chap xx.

IN those days was Hezekiah sick
unto death. And the prophet
Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him,
and said unto him, Thus saith the
LORD, Set thine house in order; for
thou shalt die, and not live. Then
he turned his face to the wall, and
prayed unto the LORD, saying, I
beseech thee, O LORD, remember now
how I have walked before thee in
truth and with a perfect heart, and
have done that which is good in thy
sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
Ry. Prepare. p. xxvi.

Lesson II.

AND it came to pass, afore Isaiah

was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the GOD of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver

thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

AND it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah AND Hezekiah said unto Isaiah,

and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their GoD, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

Ry. Hearken. p. xxix.

Ry. God is the hearer. p. xxvi.
Lesson III.

What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It

is a light thing for the shadow to go the pare in heart, for they shall down ten degrees: nay, but let thesee God. And how is it written in shadow return backward ten degrees.another place: Who can say, I have And Isaiah the prophet cried unto themade my heart clean? The answer is LORD: and he brought the shadow in this wise, that a perfect heart in ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. Py. The LORD that. p. xxvii.

SECOND NOCTURN.

Hezekiah's case is spoken of, because the destroyed idols, opened the doors of the temple, broke in pieces the brazen serpent, and performed all the other acts which Scripture re

From the Exposition of S. Jerome the cords.
Priest on Isaiah.

Lesson IV.

L. 11 on Isaiak, chap. 38. LEST the heart of Hezekiah should

be lifted up, after such incredible
triumphs, and a victory out of the
midst of captivity, he is visited by
bodily sickness, and he hears that he
is about to die: in order that he
might turn to the LORD, and bend
to His decree. And the same thing
happened in the case of the prophet
Jonah; and in the threat pronounced
against David, that which was foretold
came not to pass.
Not that GOD
changed His decree, but because He
would call man to the knowledge of
Himself. For the LORD repenteth
Him of the evil. Hezekiah turned his
face to the wall, because he could not
go to the Temple; either towards the
wall of the Temple, close to which
Solomon had erected his palace, or
simply towards the wall, lest he
should appear to exhibit his tears to
them that sat by.

R. Saul hath slain. p. xxvii.
Lesson V.

AND hearing that he was to die, he

does not pray for life, and many years, but leaves it to God's judgment, what He would be pleased to give him. For he knew that Solomon had pleased GOD, because he did not ask for longer years of life. But when about to depart to the LORD, he sets forth his conduct; how he had walked before Him in truth, and with a perfect heart. Happy is that conscience, which, in the time of affliction, can call to mind good works. Blessed are

Py. Ye mountains. p. xxvii.

Lesson VI.

AND he wept sere, on account of the

LORD's promise to David, which he saw would perish by his own death. For at that time, Hezekiah had no sons: since, after his death, Manasseh began to reign in Judah, when he was Whence it is but twelve years old. evident that Manasseh was not born

till the third year of the restored life of Hezekiah. Wherefore all this weeping is, because he lost all hope that CHRIST should be born of his seed. Others allege, that even holy

men

are afraid of death, because of their doubt as to the judgment, or their ignorance of what dwelling place they shall have by God's decree.

Ry. vi. I took thee. p. xxvii.
Rz. vii. I have sinned. p. xxviii.
Ry. viii. Two Seraphim. p. xxviii.

MONDAY.

Of the 2nd Book of Kings.

Lesson I. Chap. xxii.
OSIAH was eight years old when

JOSI

he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD,