turn the nation back to God when it had sinned.

It must be admitted that it is not very easy, especially for young
people, to read these books, and yet they are intensely interesting if
one can only realize that these words were spoken by living men, each
blazing with indignation against wrong, men of heroic character, who
were ready, if necessary, to look in the face of death, in their
speaking of the truth.

Little or nothing can be told of the personal history of many of these
men. Striking passages have been chosen from each of the prophets to
show the character of the message which they spoke.

{264}

ISAIAH

THE GREATEST PROPHET OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

(David and Solomon had long been dead. The kingdom of Judah was not so
strong as the old kingdom over which they had ruled. It was constantly
quarreling with the kingdom at the North, which had been separated by
rebellion. It was often in danger of being overcome by the greater
kingdoms about it. The kings were not always wise rulers. Many of the
people did not care to serve Jehovah alone. They wanted to serve other
gods as well. The rich were often cruel to the poor. Good men saw
these things with sorrow. They knew that God must punish such a
nation. One of these good men was Isaiah the Prophet, a citizen of
Jerusalem, and a friend of the kings of Judah. When he was a young man
he had a vision of the holiness of God and the sin of the people. This
vision made him a prophet, for it called him to the task of showing to
the people the holiness of God, which he himself had seen, and to the
necessity of turning away from sin.

This is how he tells of the vision which he saw:)--

I

THE CALL OF ISAIAH

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled {265} the temple.
Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he
covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain
he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said,--

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts:
the whole earth is full of his Glory."

And the foundations of the thresholds were moved at the voice of him
who cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, "Woe is
me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the
King, the Lord of hosts."

Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live