SOLO.-To him who alone doeth great wonders: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. II SOLO. To him that by understanding made the heavens: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. SOLO.-To him that spread forth the earth above the waters: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. SOLO.-To him that made great lights: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO.-The sun to rule by day: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO.-The moon and stars to rule by night: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. III SOLO.-To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO. And brought out Israel from among them: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO. With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. SOLO. To him which divided the Red Sea in sunder: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO. But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. IV SOLO. To him which led his people through the wilderness: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. SOLO. To him which smote great kings: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO. And slew famous kings: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO.-Sihon king of the Amorites: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO.-And Og king of Bashan: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO.-And gave their land for an heritage: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO.-Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. V SOLO.-Who remembered us in our low estate: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever: SOLO. And hath delivered us from our adversaries: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. SOLO. He giveth food to all flesh: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. SOLO. O give thanks unto the God of heaven: CHORUS. For his mercy endureth for ever. DEUTERONOMY: THE THEOCRACY ESTABLISHED, AND FAREWELL OF MOSES TO ISRAEL Book of Deu teronomy The era of the wilderness is brought to a climax by the Book of Deuteronomy: the Farewell of Moses to Israel. Its literary form is a succession of orations, with song, having all the effect of a dramatic movement. The opening situation presents Moses, who alone appreciates the Promised Land, informed by God that he is to see it with his eyes, but never to enter it. This Announcement of his Deposition is the subject of the first oration. The second is the Delivery of the Covenant to the Leaders and Elders. The commands of God which hitherto Moses has made by word of mouth are now embodied in a written Book of the Covenant, which at the end of this oration is read at length, and handed over to the custody of the Levites and Elders. The oration itself is a solemn appeal for the observance of this covenant. It contains one passage which, after the recovery of the Book of Deuteronomy in the reign of Josiah, was repeated by every pious Israelite every day of his life. Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates. The third oration is connected with a solemn ritual. One of the institutions of the Promised Land was to be the Ceremonial of the Blessing and the Curse. Two adjoining mountains were named, Gerizim the Mountain of the Blessing, and Ebal the Mountain of the Curse; the twelve tribes were divided, six on each of these mountains; in the valley between was the Ark of the Covenant surrounded by Priests and Levites: each Blessing and each Curse was intoned by these, the People answering Amen. In this case some undulating ground in the Jordan valley takes the place of the two mountains, and the Ceremonial is rehearsed. Before it is completed Moses interrupts, and in language of oratory goes over the ground of the blessings and curses. Oration at the Rehearsal of the Blessing and Curse And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the young of thy flock. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneadingtrough. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee: they shall come out against thee one way, and shall flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy barns, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee for an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee; if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasury the heaven to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them; and shalt not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneadingtrough. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy kine, and the young of thy flock. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to fray them away. The LORD shall smite thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The LORD shall smite thee with madness and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart: and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled alway, and there shall be none to save thee. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to save thee. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nought in the power of thine hand. The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: so that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head. The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto |