94 BATTLES OF THE BIBLE.

am to tell you presents a dreadful picture of the wick-
edness of the times. A Levite was travelling from
Bethlehem-Judah to Mount Ephraim. His wife was
with him, and his servant, and they travelled on asses.
When they were near Gibeah, a city belonging to the
tribe of Benjamin, the sun went down. They could not
pursue their journey in the dark, so they entered the city,
intending to remain there till morning. Inns were not
common in those days, and as no one offered them a
night’s lodging, the travellers could not make a better of
it than to sit in the street. While they were sitting
there an old man came up to them. He had been work-
ing in the fields all day, and now that the evening had
come he was wending his way homeward. Rest is plea-
sant after labour; we cannot know how pleasant it is
until we have laboured. That industrious old man
would enjoy the comforts of his home far more than the
idle people of the place who did nothing but mischief all
day. Though he lived in Gibeah, the old man did not
belong to Gibeah ; he was an Ephraimite. When he saw
the Levite sitting in the street he asked him to what place
he was bound, and from what place he had come. The
Levite told him, and added that no one had offered him
shelter for the night ; shelter was all he required, for
he carried with him provender for the asses, and food
for himself, his wife, and his servant. Heartily did the
old man from Mount Ephraim offer him, not only a
lodging, but insisted on supplying him with everything
else that was needful for comfort. No doubt this offer