6 Did not David say that God requires not a sacrifice for sin? that it is sin itself to bring before his face burnt offerings, as offerings for sin? Did not Isaiah say the same? 7 The priest replied, My child, you are beside yourself. Do you know more about the laws of God than all the priests of Israel? This is no place for boys to show their wit. 8 But Jesus heeded not his taunts; he went to Hillel, chief of the Sanhedrim, and he said to him, 9 Rabboni, I would like to talk with you; I am disturbed about this service of the pascal feast. I thought the temple was the house of God where love and kindness dwell. 10 Do you not hear the bleating of those lambs, the pleading of those doves that men are killing over there? Do you not smell that awful stench that comes from burning flesh? 11 Can man be kind and just, and still be filled with cruelty? 12 A God that takes delight in sacrifice, in blood and burning flesh, is not my Father-God. 13 I want to find a God of love, and you, my master, you are wise, and surely you can tell me where to find the God of love. 14 But Hillel could not give an answer to the child. His heart was stirred with sympathy. He called the child to him; he laid his hand upon his head and wept. 15 He said, There is a God of love, and you shall come with me; and hand in hand we will go forth and find the God of love. 16 And Jesus said, Why need we go? I thought that God is everywhere. Can we not purify our hearts and drive out cruelty, and every wicked thought, and make within, a temple where the God of love can dwell? 17 The master of the great Sanhedrim felt as though he was himself the child, and that before him stood Rabboni, master of the higher law. 18 He said within himself, This child is surely prophet sent from God. 19 Then Hillel sought the parents of the child, and asked that Jesus might abide with him, and learn the precepts of the law, and all the lessons of the temple priests. 20 His parents gave consent, and Jesus did abide within the holy temple in Jerusalem, and Hillel taught him every day. 21 And every day the master learned from Jesus many lessons of the higher life. 22 The child remained with Hillel in the temple for a year, and then returned unto his home in Nazareth; and there he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter. CHAPTER 19. _Jesus at the age of twelve in the temple. Disputes with the doctors of the law. Reads from a book of prophecy. By request of Hillel he interprets the prophecies._ Again the great feast in Jerusalem was on, and Joseph, Mary and their son were there. The child was twelve years old. 2 And there were Jews and proselytes from many countries in Jerusalem. 3 And Jesus sat among the priests and doctors in the temple hall. 4 And Jesus opened up a book of prophecy and read: 5 Woe, woe, to Ariel, the town where David dwelt! I will dismantle Ariel, and she shall groan and weep: