STORIES OF THE BIBLE THE PEOPLE OF THE CHOSEN LAND BY MYLES ENDICOTT ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DORÉ AND OTHER EMINENT ARTISTS VOLUME I. EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO COPYRIGHTED By EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 1897 [Illustration: CREATION OF LIGHT] [Illustration: CREATION OF THE SUN AND MOON.] STORIES OF THE BIBLE. THE CREATION. Many, many years ago there was no earth. There were no plants, nor animals; no sun; no moon; neither were there any people. All was darkness. Then God looked into the darkness and said, "Let there be light." And light came. And out of the new light God created the blue sky, the deep sea, the beautiful grass-covered earth, the plants, the trees, and the many-colored flowers. [Illustration: THE CREATION OF ANIMALS. (_Raphael._)] And in the blue sky he placed the golden sun, the silver moon, and the stars that shine like jewels in the sky. Then, in the water he placed the fishes; on the earth, the animals; and in the tree tops the birds sang their praises. "This shall be for a home for man," the Creator said; and so, one morning, there woke to life in the Garden of Eden a man and woman--beautiful and good and pure. To the animals God had given strength and speed, and fur for protection from the wind and rain. To the birds he had given plumage, brilliant and warm. To the fishes, fins and scales. Then man came; and to him was given intelligence, and reason, and power to grow in wisdom; for by these was he to protect himself from the elements and gain dominion over all the earth,--the fishes, the birds, and the animals thereof. Then God blessed everything he had made; for he loved what he had made, and surrounded it with all that was beautiful and good. "Of every tree in the garden ye may eat," He had said to Adam and Eve, "except the tree of Knowledge-of-Good-and-of-Evil. Of that eat not lest ye die." THE CREATION. The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled Heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. The unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator's power display, And publishes to every land The work of an almighty hand. Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth; Whist all the stars around her burn, And all the planets, in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole.