Will you say this little prayer to God?—“O my Father, pray give me thy Holy Spirit, for Christ’s sake.” Our Father, seated in the sky, Thy holy name be praised still: Be thou obeyed as King most high, Let men, like angels, do thy will. Do thou our daily bread supply: Forgive our sins as we forgive: Yet help us still from sin to fly: Great, glorious King, forever live! LESSON XXVII. JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH. MATTHEW, xvi. 21 to end. JESUS knew everything that would happen, and he knew that he must soon die. He used to tell his secrets to his disciples; so he took them into a place by themselves, and said, I soon shall leave you: the wicked people will take me, and bind me with ropes, and beat me, and laugh at me, and nail me on a cross; but I shall soon be alive again. The disciples could not bear to hear Jesus talk of dying, for they loved him very much. They all looked very sad, and Peter said, You shall not die; but Jesus said, I must die to save men, and to please my Father. The Father had desired Jesus to die, and he would not disobey his Father. Most of the people who wished to kill Jesus, lived in a great town called Jerusalem. Jesus used to go to Jerusalem very often, and he used to preach there. Why did some people hate Jesus?—Because he told them of their wickedness. He used to say to them, You do not love God, who is my Father, but you are proud and vain. You wish to kill me. You tell lies. You are unkind to poor people. You pretend to love God, but while you are saying your prayers, you are thinking how good you are. Your hearts are full of wickedness. You are the children of the devil. Jesus wished them to turn from their wickedness. It grieved him to see how they hated his Father, and that they would not turn from their wicked ways. The wicked people were angry with Jesus, and said, God is not your Father. But Jesus said, He is my Father, and I came down from heaven, where he lives, and I shall go back to him some day. At last the people took up stones to throw at him: but Jesus did not choose to die yet, so he easily got away and went to a place where they could not find him. There he staid with his disciples a good while. LESSON XXVIII. LAZARUS. JOHN, xi. 1-17. JESUS staid with his disciples in a place by himself. The wicked people, who wanted to kill him, could not find him, but Jesus’ friends knew where he was. Jesus had more friends besides his disciples. One of his friends was called Lazarus. Lazarus had two sisters; their names were Martha and Mary. These three all lived together. They all three loved Jesus, and Jesus loved them. Jesus used often to come and see them, and sit in the house and talk to them. Martha liked to make a fine dinner when Jesus came, but Mary liked to sit and listen to his sweet words. At last Lazarus fell very sick.