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THE BIBLE STORY

VOLUME ONE

THE GOLDEN BOOK

ARRANGED AND EDITED BY

REV. NEWTON MARSHALL HALL, D.D.

MINISTER OF THE NORTH CHURCH, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

AND

REV. IRVING FRANCIS WOOD, PH.D.

PROFESSOR OF

BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION
AT SMITH COLLEGE

Authors of "The Early Days of Israel” “Advanced Bible Studies" Etc.

CHICAGO

THE KING-RICHARDSON COMPANY

SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

BUFFALO

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES

The editors of this series believe that no task can be more important than that of winning the interest of children to their precious heritage, the Bible. The stories of the old Greek and Roman mythologies, the folk and fairy tales, have been given the child in beautiful form, suitably graded and arranged, with significant illustrations. The editors of this series attempt to do the same thing for the Bible: to take the matchless prose and poetry of the Bible and put it in the form which will make it most attractive to the child, to give the Bible an equal chance in the child's library with the "King Arthur Stories" and the tales of mythology.

Every parent desires to have the children of the home gain an acquaintance with the best that is in the Bible. Heretofore no text has been prepared which exactly met this need, giving appropriate passages for children of various ages. These volumes are especially designed to make "Sunday afternoon" reading attractive to children, putting the fascinating stories of the Bible in the same dress and on the same footing with the secular classics which have

always charmed. With such an arrangement it is believed that the child will read the Bible as freely as any book.

The plan of the Readers gives unity to each story and selection. Each story or episode is given in a complete form, and not merely as an extract. Passages which are clearly not relevant to the story or which involve unnecessary difficulties to a young reader are omitted. Obsolete words are modernized. Many versions, both ancient and modern, together with the original texts, have been compared in determining the translation. In every case the graphic, pictorial word which would appeal to the imagination of the child and enlarge its vocabulary has been sought. At the same time the effort has been made not to impair the literary strength and beauty of the older versions. Nothing has been omitted which is suitable to the mind. of the child, and everything has been arranged with the end in view of meeting the needs of the child.

This series does not aim to supplant the ordinary texts of the Bible nor to take the place of the common versions any more than literature readers take the place of literature. The editors have endeavored to select such passages of the Bible as are particularly suited to the child's mind, to present them in a novel and attractive form, and thus to arouse the interest of children, stimulating them to more careful study in later years.

This series is not, however, intended simply for children's reading. The editors believe that for general read

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