unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: Behold mine Angel shall go before thee nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people.

Afterward Moses came unto them and told them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.

Then the people went to work and built the tabernacle, after the pattern the Lord had given Moses. Gold, silver, brass, and precious stones were brought to them, and these were made use of by skilful workmen to beautify the house of God. Some made the coats of fine linen for the priests, and embroidered the hems most beautifully, in pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet. And they hung a little golden bell between each pomegranate. And Moses saw all the work that they did.

They had been a whole year in the wilderness; and at the end of the first month of the second year, the tabernacle was finished. Then the Lord told Moses to set up the tabernacle, and put the ark in it, and the table, and to bring in the candlestick, and light all the lamps that were in it. And he was to set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark, and to hang the curtains before the door.

The altar of the burnt offering was to be placed outside, and the laver, with water in it, between the altar and the Holy Place. When everything was in place, and Aaron and his sons had put on their garments, the cloud that had gone with the children of Israel to show them the way, rested over the tabernacle and covered it. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle so that Moses could not go into it.

CHAPTER XVI.

MOSES AS LAWGIVER-NADAB AND ABIHU-DEATH OF AARON— BALAAM'S ASS SPEAKS-DEATH OF MOSES.

THE tabernacle being finished God now revealed himself to Moses in it instead of on the mount. He appeared in a cloud over the mercy-seat between the golden cherubim, and from it he spoke to Moses and gave many laws for the children of Israel in addition to those he had given before.

Moses, at the command of God, consecrated Aaron and his sons to the office of priests, he brought them to the door of the tabernacle, where he washed them with water, clothed

them with beautiful garments, and then poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head to sanctify him. The fire upon the altar being once kindled the priests were to keep it always burning.

The blood of the animal offered as a burnt offering was to be sprinkled round about upon the altar. They were also to gather the wood and make the fire, and burn up all the parts of the animal that had been offered. The priest was commanded to offer a lamb every morning and evening; besides this three other sacrifices were to be offered. First, the Sin offering. Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the bullock, confessing their sins, and so transferring their guilt to the animal as a victim. The bullock was then slain, and its blood put upon the horns of the altar.

This offering represented our Saviour, who would bear our sins, and shed his blood to save us.

A second offering commanded was the Burnt offering. This was the offering of a ram, the blood of which was sprinkled upon the altar, and its body entirely burned by fire on the altar, teaching us that we are to give ourselves wholly to God.

A third was a Peace offering. Aaron and his sons placed their hands on the head of a ram. The ram was then slain, and some of its blood was put on the right ear, hand, and foot of Aaron and his sons, signifying that they were to hear and do the will of God and to walk in his commandments.

Aaron, as you know, had four sons. The eldest was named Nadab. One day he and his.brother, Abihu, took their lamps, or censers, and putting a coal of fire in each placed the incense on top. They had been anointed as priests unto the Lord, and should not have disobeyed the least of his laws. So God, to punish them, sent a fire from heaven, and Nadab and Abihu immediately fell dead.

Moses told Aaron that the Lord had said that those who came near him must come with reverence, that before all the people His name might be glorified. And Aaron held his peace, and the bodies of his sons were borne out of the camp and buried with no show of grief. For the people feared that God in his anger might burn up all the children of Israel.

And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle, lest ye die. That ye may put difference between what is holy and unholy, and what is clean and unclean, and may teach the children of Israel all the laws which the Lord gave to them by the hand of Moses.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, and told him that there were certain animals whose flesh the Israelites might eat, and other animals whose flesh they must not use for food. They were not to eat of all kinds of fishes, nor of birds, but were to eat only those that God set apart for their use.

The Lord told Moses what should be done in case of sickness, or of leprosy, so that the whole camp might not suffer from a plague. After the death of his two sons the Lord commanded Aaron to take two young goats, or kids, for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.

Aaron was to offer the ox as a sin offering for himself and his family. But he was to cast lots upon the two goats-one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scape-goat. The one on whom the Lord's lot fell was to be burnt as a sin offering, but the other goat was to be sent off alive into the wilderness, to bear upon its head the sins of the people. This was to show that a Saviour was to come into the world, who would be our scape-goat-sinless himself, but bearing the punishment of our sins.

All these laws were repeated over and over again to the children of Israel, that they might become perfect in them, and fit themselves for the holy land toward which they were journeying.

Some were very strict in keeping these laws, and one day, when they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, they brought him before Moses and Aaron and the assembled people. And they put him in prison until they could decide how they should punish him. The Lord told Moses that the man must die for the sin he had committed. And the man was taken outside the camp, and the people stoned him to death.

On certain days of the year they were to hold feasts, and these feasts were to be sacredly kept by all the Israelites and their descendants.