prophet told him that he knew where he had been, and how Naaman had alighted from his chariot and come to meet him. He told him that it was very wrong either to ask for money, or even to receive it for the cure which had been performed, and that for the wickedness he had committed, the leprosy which had departed from Naaman should cleave to him. And this came to pass immediately, for Gehazi went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

He

We see in this story the folly and the wickedness of telling lies. Gehazi thought that if he told a lie he would obtain money enough to buy many things on which he had set his heart. thought also that if he told a second lie, the prophet could know nothing of what he had done. But his lies were of no service to him; God caused the truth to be known, and instead of letting this

wicked man enjoy the fruits of his sin, he afflicted him with a dreadful disease.

We see here too, as in the case of Cain and David, how one sin leads to another. Gehazi told one falsehood that he might obtain money and fine clothes from Naaman; and then he told a second, to hide what he had done from the prophet his master.

But a lie cannot be hidden. It is commonly found out by men; and if it be not discovered by them, it is known to God, who hates deceit, and who will severely punish all those who practise it.

Then let me always watch my lips,

And keep my tongue from every ill,
Since God a book of reckoning keeps
For every lie that children tell.

JOSIAH, THE YOUNG KING OF JUDAH.

(2 Kings xxii., xxiii. 1-30; 2 Chron.
xxxiv. xxxv.)

JOSIAH was made king of Judah when he was only eight years of age. When he was sixteen years old he began to seek after the God of his fathers; and when he was twenty, he did many things which shewed that he was a good man, and a good king.

In those times there were no printed books, as there are now; and as it required much time and trouble to copy Bibles with a pen, there were very few to be had. Probably some parts of the Law of Moses had been read to Josiah, but not the whole. One day, however, a very good copy of that part of the Bible was found in the temple, and brought to Josiah by Shaphan the scribe, who also read it to him.

And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, and especially

the terrible threatenings of God against wicked men and wicked nations, he was very much troubled, and he rent his clothes, for he knew that the people over whom he ruled had acted very wickedly, and had done much to offend the Lord their God. He resolved that he would try to turn away the just displeasure of their Creator from them. Accordingly, he broke in pieces the images of the false gods which they worshiped, and destroyed their altars, and cut down. the groves which were planted in honour of them; and he burnt on the altar at Bethel the bones of all the priests who had ever ministered there. He also assembled the people together, and read to them the words of the Bible, which had been found in the house of the Lord; and he and all his people solemnly declared that they would obey the laws which they had heard.

After this, by the king's command, the people of Israel kept with great pomp

and ceremony the feast of the passover, which was intended to remind them of the deliverance of their fathers from Egypt; and during all the years that Josiah reigned, they worshiped Almighty God in the manner which he had direced.

Though Josiah was very young when he was made king, he did not act foolishly, and give way to the temptations which beset him. He soon shewed that he had an excellent disposition, and that he feared God. We are told that his heart was tender, and that he humbled himself before the Lord, which means that he was lowly in spirit, and willing to receive instruction. Let us then strive to be like him; let us not think that we know as much as those who are older than ourselves; and that we have no need of being taught; but let us listen attentively to those who are so kind as to instruct us, and never suffer their good