Part 3 (1/2)

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The teacher also made sure that they knew about that part of the Scriptures called the Law The Ten Cos which told people what they must do and what they must not do in order to please God The boys learned how God gave the Co flashed and thunder crashed, at the far-off mountain of Sinai

The teacher told them stories of all that had happened to the Jewish people in the years gone by But the most important was the story of the Passover This story explained why their parents went to Jerusale

Now this hat every Jewish boy had to learn about the Passover, and remember always:

Once there was a time, hundreds of years before, when the Jews did not live in Palestine They lived in Egypt, where they were slaves They wanted to escape, so that they ht have a country of their ohere they could be free

One spring night God sent a disease into Egypt, and thousands died of it There was not an Egyptian home where the oldest child in the family did not die But none of the Jews died Therefore, they said that God _passed over_ their doors that night

Then there was a great uproar and cla their sick, and burying their dead The tiet away Under their leader, Moses, they began their long journey toward Palestine

The Jewish people never forgot what God did for the of each year was held the Feast of the Passover, to give thanks to God for the help he had given the:

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”O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: For his mercy endureth for ever”

To the Passover feast every faht a lamb to be killed as a sacrifice to God Only the best could be given to God They chose a lamb that hite, and pure, and fine, and precious Then they roasted the lamb, and ate it What a feast they had, so solemn and so joyful, as they remembered all that God had done!

Everyone knew the best place to hold the Passover feast was at Jerusale came round, the people said to one another, ”It is Passover tireat city

When the boys heard the story, they understood why their parents went there in the spring

When Jewish boys were twelve years old, and could read the Hebrew language, and knew the psal to obey the Law--then they were practically grown up At this age a boy could be called ”a son of the Law” He could go along with his parents to Jerusalem when it was Passover time

Each year Joseph and Mary liked to be in Jerusalem for the Passover

When Jesus elve years old, he was ”a son of the Law,” like other boys his age, and for the first time he ith them Many friends and relatives kept them company as they started on the road

Now frohtyway to walk

It would have been easier to ride in a cart; but nobody traveled that way in Palestine The roads were too rough and narrow for anything but walking Donkeys and horses e, but the people went on foot There were no bridges, and so the only way to get from one side of a river to the other was to find a shallow place and wade across

It would take two or three days to go froht, there was not likely to be any place to sleep along the road, except under the open sky and the stars

There were three stages to their journey The first was the pleasant part, through Galilee When the travelers left Nazareth that day, the sky was clear and the air was fresh The fields lay lovely in the sunlight The roads were full of people from many countries There were always ypt, and back to the East again Galilee was beautiful, and Galilee was busy

Sooner or later the time must come to leave pleasant Galilee behind

But which ould they go froh Samaria? That would have been the shortest and the easiest way The only thing against it was that the people of Sa years before, Samaria had been the honers ca them Then their ways became so different that the people of Jerusalem said they were not Jewish any more They were bitter rivals of the Jews, and it was hardly safe to go ae of their journey, the long road down the valley of the river Jordan But they did not find this very pleasant, either High above the river stood the banks, and it seereat, deep ditch And down there was the road they had to take In some places they came to slime and mud, and dead trees and twisted roots

But soes It was hot at the north end of the Jordan, when first they came to it; and the farther south the travelers went, the hotter grew the weather

Very hot, very tired, and very thirsty, they finally reached the last stretch of the journey--across country from the Jordan to Jerusalem

They were nearly there But the last part of the trip was the hardest of all Around thely rocks, and hardly a drop of water anywhere to drink No wonder nobody went to Jerusaleay caravans of Eastern merchants here Galilee seemed very far away