The Tower of Babel.—Lot and Abraham.

W

HEN men of old built Babel's tower,
And tried the skies to reach ;

God punished them, with fearful power,

By changing all their speech.

And so they wandered all abroad,
And different language used,
Because they had defied the Lord,
And His good gifts abused.

Now, God loved Abram, and came down
In angel form to earth;

And changed to Abraham his name,

And promised Isaac's birth.

But on the cities of the plain,

Because they feared Him not,
Both fire and brimstone did he rain,
Destroying all but Lot.

But righteous Lot the Angels took,
His daughters and his wife,
Without the city-saying, Look
Not backwards, for your life.

Lot's wife the warning voice disdained,
Looked backwards as she went,

And there a monument remained
Of God's dread punishment.

The Tower of Babel. Lot and Abraham.
Burning of the Cities of the Plain.

The

OW, unto Shem, Ham, and Japheth were sons born after the flood. And the whole earth was of one language,

and of one speech.

And they said one to another, Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded.

And the Lord said, Behold the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Let us go down, and there

confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel.

Now Shem, Noah's eldest son, lived many years, and had sons and grandsons, and they also had grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And one of these was named Terah, who had three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran was the father of Lot. And Abram's wife was Sarai, and Nahor's wife was Milcah.

Now, the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And Lot also had flocks, and herds, and tents. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or, if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

Then Lot chose all the plain of Jordan, and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

Now, many kings came and fought with the King of Sodom and the King of Gomorrah, and they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And when Abram heard Lot was taken captive he armed his trained servants, and smote them and pursued them, and

brought again Lot and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

And the King of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of the kings.

And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the most high God which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus ? The Lord brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

And Abram believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.