“As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.” (Is. lix., 21) 3. Teaching.—The gift of speech is of service also in communicating our thoughts, feelings, and convictions to our fellow-men. They who are able to read the Word of God and to understand it, ought to read and expound it to those who are less favoured; they who feel the presence of God, and comprehend His holiness, goodness, and unity, ought to direct the hearts of their brethren to God, His words and works. It is a special duty and privilege of the Jew to proclaim and teach the Existence and the Unity of God—‏יחוד הבורא‎. “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” (Deut. vi. 7). “Happy are we! how goodly is our portion, and how pleasant is our lot, and how beautiful our heritage! Happy are we who early and late, morning and evening, twice every day, declare, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One’!” (Daily Prayers, Morning Service). 4. Reverence of the Name of God.—The mention of the name of God ought to make us most careful about that which we utter in connection with it. If a person makes a promise or statement on oath carelessly or with levity, he shows that he has no reverence of the name of God; no fear of God. It is only through such irreverence that a person is capable of breaking the third commandment. Blasphemy, a sin treated in the Bible as a capital crime, has likewise its source in want of due reverence of God’s name. In order to preserve and strengthen that reverence we must avoid pronouncing the Divine name too frequently. Hence arose the custom of substituting such words as ‏השם‎ “the Name,” ‏המקום‎ “the Omnipresent,” for the names of God, and employing in ordinary writing letters like ‏ה‎ or ‏ד‎ or ‏יי‎ instead of any of the Divine names. In writing single letters instead of the full names we also intend to guard ourselves against causing irreverence towards the name of God; as our writing is frequently destroyed or liable to be thrown among the refuse. This precaution, dictated by a feeling of reverence for God and His name, serves at the same time to strengthen that feeling. [35]