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II

not obsolete, but that modern life might much to its benefit apply the principles enunciated by the seers of Palestine?

Not merely for the sake of making, as it were, a holiday ex cursion into the contiguous territory of post-Biblical writings, have we extended our selections beyond the limits of the Biblical canon. The firm conviction that prophetic inspiration did not cease when Malachi's ministry had ended, but that as in the Bible, so in the writings of the later periods the voice of God spoke to the chosen few to whom comes the divine call:—this conviction that the great teachers of the second Temple and the dispersion are full of the same spirit as quickened the tongue of the masters of the first Temple and the captivity and the restauration, induced us to make the additions. What better means is there to show that whatever its outward fate and form the soul of Israel's religion is ethics; that there is its quickening force and the vital spark from God's altar touching to eloquence its lips, than the presentation of the post-Biblical writers and writings?

We are confident that the book in this form will not be merely a useful guide to instruction in the class-room, but will be a welcome aid at home in the hands of a good and devoted mother who is desirous of acquainting her children with the treasurers of our rich ethical literature. And the wants of the thousands who are scattered throughout this land, isolated as Jews among communities where the cultivation of Jewish thought and association is absolutely impossible, may be, we hope, met to a certain extent by this collection. A text book in the ordinary sense it is not; it stands to reason that the selections are not intended to be used in the order they are here arranged. We are hopeful that in whatever sequence they may be studied or even merely read, they will be apt to plant a deeper love and reverence for Israel's literature and a more profound knowledge of our mission.

CHICAGO, ILL., November 12, 1889.

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PART I.

PROPHETIC SERIES.

ETHICS OF THE LAW.

2.

I.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

1. I AM THE ETERNAL, thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.

3.

4.

5.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain : for the LORD will not let him go unpunished that taketh his name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates; for the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

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8.

Thou shalt not steal.

10.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

(Exodus, Chap. XX, 1-17)

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6.

II.

LAWS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

AND THE LORD spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I, the LORD thy God, am holy.

Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my Sabbath: I am the LORD your God.

Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molton gods: I am the LORD your God.

And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD ye shall offer it at your own will.

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

7. And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of God: I am the LORD.

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14

15.

16.

Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not go about as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the LORD.

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: but thou shalt reprove thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.

Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

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