The gospel of Christ was to go forth to every nation; and the miracle of Pentecost indicated that it was the Divine purpose that each nation should hear in their own tongue wherein they were born, the wonderful works of God. Hence the Scriptures have been translated into hundreds of languages, and to-day six hundred millions of people, comprising all the leading races and nations of the earth, may have access to the Word of God in their native tongues. Nevertheless, no translation can perfectly express the delicate shades of thought which are uttered in another language, and it often becomes necessary and desirable to recur to the original Scriptures, and by searching them to find out the precise meaning of those words which were given by the Holy Ghost, and which are "more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold." For while, speaking in a general way, we have faithful translations, which give us with great accuracy the sense of the Scriptures as a whole, yet there are times when we desire fuller and more accurate information concerning particular words uttered by those men to whom the Holy Ghost was given to bring all things to their remembrance, to guide them into all truth, and to show them things to come. Frequently there are depths of meaning which the casual reader does not fathom, and the study of the Greek and Hebrew becomes as needful as it is agreeable to those who love God's law, who delight in his gospel, and who have time and opportunity to prosecute such studies. There are few lovers of the Bible who do not at times wish that they might clearly know the precise sense of some one original word which may sometimes be obscurely translated; or who would not be delighted to inquire of some competent scholar as to the meaning of certain expressions contained in that Book of God. Such persons are glad to study the original Scriptures, that they may learn, as far as possible, exactly what God has said to man. The learning of a living language from those who seek it is no trifling task; but a language which must be learned from books, presents much greater difficulties; and to many persons the mastery of the Greek tongue looks like the labor of a lifetime. It is; and yet it is possible for studious Bible readers to learn the things they specially need to know, with an amount of labor which need not appall or dishearten any diligent student.