advice to be given us in vain. Thus shall we be honoured and respected even when we are young, and when we grow up, the truths and the precepts which we have learnt will be our guide. and our comfort in all the circumstances of life.

How precious is the word of God! When a copy of the Bible was found, Josiah was much moved on hearing it read. And shall not we, who have a Bible in every house, read and study it? Shall we not think of God's promises and his threatenings, and do all that we can to deserve his favour? Yes! we will diligently read this holy book; we will try to understand it, and to remember it; we will lay up its precepts in our hearts, and strive to be as good as the Lord our God requires us to be.

N

SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO.

(Daniel i. iii.)

THE people of Judah, as we have seen, did many things to offend God, and at last they brought upon themselves his severe displeasure. In order to punish them for their sins, and bring them to repentance, he delivered them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. This king carried away a part of the people, and part also of the holy vessels of the temple, to Babylon, which was the chief city of his empire, and afterwards many more of the Jews were carried away to the same place.

Among those who went first to Babylon, were three men, called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whom, with Daniel, the king chose from among the Jews, in order that they might be instructed in the language and in all the learning of the Chaldeans, and that they might live in his court, and be his minis

ters. They were righteous men, and feared the Lord always. When they had dainties offered them, they refused to eat them, because they thought that they were forbidden by the law of Moses; and on another occasion they shewed still more clearly how much they loved and fear their God.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold of an immense size; and when he had set it up in the plain, he ordered that every body should fall down and worship it, when they heard the sound of his instruments of music; and he at the same time made proclamation, that they who would not fall down and worship should be cast into a fiery furnace.

Now Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, knew that it would be very sinful to bow down before this image, for Jehovah their God had said expressly in his law, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the like

ness of any thing that is in the heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor worship them." (Exod. xx. 4, 5.) They therefore refused to bow down when they heard the music. And when it was told to Nebuchadnezzar, he was very angry, and commanded that they should be brought before him. When they appeared, he asked them whether it was true that they would not bow down before the image; and he told them what would be the consequence if they still refused. But they replied, that the God whom they served was able to deliver them from the furnace, and they thought he would deliver them; "but if not," said they, "be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and he commanded that the fur

nance should be heated seven times more than it was wont to be, and that these three men should be thrown into it. Accordingly, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown into the furnace, the fire of which was so hot that it consumed those who threw them in. But the God in whom they trusted was with them there, and sent his angel to save them. The king looked, and he saw them walking in the midst of the fire, and not hurt by it; and with them was a fourth person, who had the appearance of an angel. Then he commanded them to come forth, when it was found that not a hair of their head had been singed, nor had their clothes even the smell of fire. He also advanced them to great honour and dignity, and acknowledged that there was no other God who could deliver in that manner.

We here perceive the happiness of those who put their trust in God, and prefer