by the devil, and disobeyed God by eating of the fruit forbidden to be used. Adam followed the example of his wife, and to please her, also disobeyed God.

7. By this disobedience our first parents were made unhappy, as well as their posterity, and incurred the miseries of life and the penalty of death. Adam and Eve deserved as well as the rebellious angels the wrath of God: but God was willing to give time for repentance, and promised them a Redeemer.

8. However, the children of Adam and Eve greatly increased. But they soon forsook the worship of the Lord, and fell into all sorts of excesses. God, to punish them, sent a universal deluge: all perished, excepting Noah, his wife and his children, reserved to re-people the earth.

9. The new people were not long in imitating the former; and they became even more wicked. God gave them up at last to their own wickedness; and chose Abraham and his family to make unto himself a nation of faithful worshippers.

10. To load the patriarch with blessings, God renewed to him his promise of the Saviour of the world; who was to be born of his race, and by whom all nations, after wandering a long time, should embrace the way of repentance.

11. God confirmed the covenant which he made with Abraham. He spoke again to Isaac, son of Abraham, and to Jacob, his grandson, of the promise of the Messiah which should come; and gave to Jacob the name of Israel.

12. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in Palestine, without having there any permanent dwelling. Their life was simple and laborious: they fed large flocks. God blessed their work, because they were faithful; and they were respected by the princes and inhabitants of the country.

13. Jacob had twelve children, who are called the twelve patriarchs; that is to say, the first fathers of the Israelites, and the head of the twelve tribes. This was the origin of the Israelites, who are also called Hebrews.

14. Une famine universelle obligea Jacob à quitter la terre de Canaan, et à se retirer avec ses enfants dans l'Égypte, où tout abondait par la prévoyance de Joseph, un des fils de Jacob, et celui qu'il aimait le plus.

15. Joseph avait été vendu par ses frères à des marchands ismaélites, et son père l'avait pleuré comme mort. Mais Dieu l'avait conservé miraculeusement; et Pharaon, roi d'Égypte, lui avait donné tout pouvoir dans son royaume. 16. Jacob, reçu en Égypte par lui, s'y établit avec sa famille; et là, près d'expirer, il bénit ses enfants, chacun en particulier. Parmi ses enfants, Juda devait être le plus célèbre. C'était de Juda que la Palestine devait un jour tirer son nom, et s'appeler la Judée. De ce même nom, tous les Hébreux devaient aussi un jour être appelés Juifs.

17. Jacob, en bénissant Juda, lui annonça la gloire de sa postérité; et lui promit que le Messie, l'attente de toutes les nations, sortirait de sa race.

18. La famille de Jacob devint un grand peuple. Elle conserva la loi des patriarches; et servit le Dieu d'Abraham, d'Isaac et de Jacob, que l'Égypte, plongée dans l'idolâtrie, ne connaissait pas.

19. Cependant, un autre Pharaon monta sur le trône, et ne se souvint plus des services de Joseph. La jalousie de ce prince et de tous ses sujets lui fit prendre la résolution d'exterminer tous les Hébreux. Dieu les délivra de son pouvoir par la main de Moïse, par des prodiges inouïs.

20. L'Égypte fut frappée de dix terribles fléaux, qu'on appelle les dix plaies de l'Égypte. L'eau des rivières fut changée en sang. Des insectes piquants et rongeurs remplirent toutes les maisons, et ne laissèrent aucun repos aux Égyptiens. Dieu envoya la mortalité et des ulcères terribles, sur les hommes et sur les animaux. La grêle ravagea les moissons; dont les restes furent dévorés par des sauterelles qui couvraient la face de la terre: toute l'Égypte fut couverte de ténèbres épaisses. Enfin, Dieu envoya son

14. A universal famine caused Jacob to leave the land of Canaan, and to retire with his children into Egypt, where everything was in abundance, owing to the foresight of Joseph, one of Jacob's sons, and the one he loved the most.

15. Joseph had been sold by his brethren to some Ishmaelitish merchants, and his father had mourned for him as dead. But God preserved him miraculously; and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had given him all power in his kingdom.

16. Jacob was received by him in Egypt, and settled there with his family; and there, his death drawing near, he blessed his children, each one separately. Amongst his children, Judah was to be the most illustrious. It was from Judah that Palestine was one day to take its name, and to be called Judea. From this same name, also, all Hebrews were one day to be called Jews.

17. Jacob, whilst blessing Judah, informed him of the glory of his posterity; and promised him that the Messiah, the desire of all nations, should be of his tribe.

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18. The family of Jacob grew into a great nation. preserved the law of the patriarchs; and served the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, whom Egypt, buried in idolatry, knew not.

19. However, another Pharaoh ascended the throne, and the services of Joseph were no longer remembered. The jealousy of this prince and of all his subjects made him take the resolution of exterminating all the Hebrews. God saved them from his power by the hand of Moses, by unheard-of wonders.

20. Egypt was visited by ten terrible plagues, which are called the ten plagues of Egypt. The water in the rivers was changed into blood. Stinging and gnawing insects filled all the houses, and left the Egyptians no rest. God sent pestilence and terrible sores, both on man and beast. Hail spoiled the harvests; and what remained was devoured by locusts covering the face of the earth: all Egypt was in thick darkness. Lastly, God sent his angel,

ange, qui en une nuit fit mourir tous les premiers-nés des Égyptiens, depuis le fils du roi assis sur son trône jusqu'au

fils de la servante.

21. Alors Pharaon écouta la voix de Dieu, et laissa sortir les Israélites. La mer Rouge s'ouvrit devant eux, pour leur faire un passage; et un peu après, ils virent flotter sur les eaux les corps des soldats de l'armée de Pharaon: pas un ne fut sauvé.

22. Peu après que les Hébreux furent entrés dans le désert par lequel ils devaient passer pour entrer dans la Terre promise, Dieu leur apparut sur le mont Sinaï, avec un étonnant appareil de majesté et de puissance, au milieu des éclairs et des tonnerres. Il écrivit de son doigt, sur deux tables de pierre, les dix commandements, qu'on appelle le Décalogue; et il leur donna la loi sous laquelle ils devaient vivre dans la terre de Canaan jusqu'à la venue du Messie.

23. Les Hébreux, infidèles aux ordres de Dieu, tombèrent dans l'idolâtrie et dans toutes sortes de déréglements. Pour les en punir, Dieu les condamna à errer pendant quarante ans dans le désert. Il ne les abandonna cependant pas: au contraire, il les nourrit de la manne, fit sortir de l'eau du rocher, les défendit de l'ardeur du soleil par une nuée qui les suivait, &c.

24. Le temps étant arrivé où Dieu avait résolu de donner aux Israélites la terre promise à leurs pères, Moïse, leur législateur, les mena jusqu'à l'entrée de cette terre. Josué les y introduisit, et la partagea entre les douze tribus.

25. Dieu enfin suscita David, qui acheva la conquête du pays. La royauté fut établie dans sa famille. Dieu lui promit que le Christ sortirait de lui. David était aussi

de la tribu de Juda, dont le Messie devait naître, selon l'oracle de Jacob. David chanta dans ses Psaumes les merveilles du Sauveur qui devait venir; il en vit la figure personne de Salomon, son fils et son successeur.

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who in one night destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians, from the son of the king on his throne to the son of the servant.

21. Then Pharaoh hearkened unto the voice of God, and allowed the Israelites to depart. The Red Sea opened before them, to form a way for them; and shortly after, they saw floating on the waters the bodies of the soldiers of the army of Pharaoh : not one was saved.

22. Soon after the Hebrews had entered into the wilderness through which they had to pass to the Promised Land, God appeared to them on Mount Sinai, with a wonderful display of majesty and power, in the midst of lightning and thunder. He wrote with his finger, on two tables of stone, the ten commandments, called the Decalogue; and he gave them the law under which they should live in the land of Canaan until the coming of the Messiah.

23. The Hebrews, unfaithful to God's commandments, fell into idolatry and all kind of depravity. In order to punish them, God condemned them to wander during forty years in the wilderness. He did not, however, forsake them on the contrary, he fed them with manna, drew water from the rock, protected them from the heat of the sun by a cloud which followed them, &c.

24. When the time had arrived when God resolved to give to the Israelites the land promised to their fathers, Moses, their legislator, conducted them to the borders of that land. Joshua introduced them into it, and divided it among the twelve tribes.

25. Lastly, God raised up David, who completed the conquest of the land. Royalty was established in his family. God promised that the Christ should spring from him. David, likewise, was of the tribe of Judah, from which the Messiah should be born, according to the word of Jacob. David sang in his Psalms the wonders of the Saviour who would come; he saw him in type in the person of Solomon, his son and successor.