Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is comely. Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem, He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel; He healeth the broken in heart, And bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars, He calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power, His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifteth up the oppressed. He casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving! Sing praises upon the harp unto our God! He covereth the heaven with clouds, He giveth rain upon the earth, He maketh grass to grow upon the mountains, He giveth to the beast his food, And to the young ravens when they cry. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse, Nor takes pleasure in the swiftness of a man: The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, In those that hope in his mercy. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise thy God, O Zion! For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee; He maketh peace in thy borders, He filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. He showeth his word unto Jacob, His statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not done so with every nation, They have not known his judgments. Praise Jehovah!—Ps. cxlvii. Footnote 73: Isaiah lvi. 2. Footnote 74: Isaiah lx. 1. “Amen!” exclaimed Helon. “Amen!” responded Elisama; and even Myron repeated “Amen!” END OF BOOK THE FIRST. BOOK II. CHAPTER I. THE PROMISED LAND. The way from Raphia to Gaza was travelled with very different feelings by the several members of our party. Helon, as he proceeded, was constantly looking to the right, towards the hills of Judah, which rose black and dark in the starry night, to the eastward of the road which they travelled along the coast. His feelings grew more intense with every glance; passages from the Psalms and the Prophets perpetually rose to his lips; and all the fatigues of the journey over the stony and sandy soil were forgotten in the reflection, that every step brought him nearer to the Promised Land. The history of his people passed in review before his mind, and his imagination applied every thing around him to cherish the illusion. Instead of a caravan of Phœnician traders, he seemed to be in the pastoral encampments of Abraham; with Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness; in the caravan of the queen of Sheba, when she came to visit Solomon; or amongst the exiles returning with Zerubbabel, to rebuild the ruined sanctuary.