correction; she trusted not in Jehovah; she drew not near to her God. Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing till the morrow.”—Zeph. 3:1-3, AS.

A shocking account, but it was in that shameless nation that meek and teachable persons who would “call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent” were to be found, and the same is true in today’s world, where meek and teachable men of humility are to be found in a world that has rebelled.—Zeph. 3:9, AS.

Are you such a person? Are you willing to follow God’s way, to accept his instructions and to conform to them? Tens, yes hundreds of thousands of persons today are coming out of the proud and shameless system, and, like Enoch and Noah, in meekness and humility are walking with God. Not only that, but they extend to you a hearty invitation to join with them in this course that leads to the greatest blessings and happiness, and that will put you in the way of everlasting life. Will you heed that invitation?

Discovering the Bible

Amazing discoveries have brought to light the better-understood Bible. How can you discover this Bible for yourself?

“TRULY (good Christian Reader) wee neuer thought from the beginning, that we should neede to make a new Translation”—so spoke a group of Bible translators in the nearly forgotten preface to the King James Bible. That was in 1611. In this twentieth century, when more Bible translations are being made than ever before, few persons have realized to what great degree modern-speech translations are needed. Not many years ago even Bible scholars and translators did not fully realize the pressing need. What has brought about this revolutionary view in thinking? Discoveries that have made possible a better-understood Bible; discoveries many of which are stranger than fiction.

One of the most exciting Biblical discoveries was made by a German scholar, Count Tischendorf, who journeyed to Palestine in 1844. His quest was for ancient copies of the Bible written in the original tongue. Tischendorf had spent his whole life searching for these handwritten copies of the Bible. His journeys often took him to out-of-the-way places. It was not unusual, then, for him to find himself one day at the monastery of St. Catherine, situated at the foot of Mount Sinai. In the hall of the monastery the German scholar saw “a great and wide basket,” which excited his interest. It contained old and tattered parchments. The monks were using them to start fires.

What the monks were using to kindle fires was the very thing Tischendorf had spent his life to find! Here were more than a hundred leaves—pages of a Bible in very old Greek handwriting. Because the writing was all in capital letters with no divisions between words, Tischendorf knew he had found what scholars call an “uncial” manuscript, a rare find indeed! He could not conceal his exultant joy. Surprised, the monks perceived that they had been burning something valuable; they quickly took away the basket. But they did allow him to take away forty-three of the leaves.

Tischendorf took his discovery to Germany. His find was regarded as sensational, for the parchments were attributed to the fourth century A.D. The find excited other scholars; they too wanted to obtain the rest of this Biblical treasure. Not wanting any scholars to get to the monastery before him, Tischendorf kept the location of his find a secret.

Not being a wealthy man, Tischendorf never found it easy to find the means for travel. But in 1853 he was able to go back to the monastery. The monks were uncooperative. Tischendorf left with nothing but a single tiny scrap with a few verses from Genesis.

JOURNEY OF 1859

Six more years passed before he could go back again. This time he was cautious and concealed his purpose. And even though he had now come armed with a commission from the czar of Russia, he talked about everything except Bible manuscripts. After spending several days in a chilly, dark library he was ready to leave; for there was no trace of the treasure he had once saved from the fire. Had it been burned after all? Tischendorf called for the camels to be brought to the gates the next morning.

On the last night, in a casual way, he talked to the monastery steward about Bible manuscripts. As they entered his cell for refreshments, the steward, eager to show his own learning, remarked: “And I, too, have a Septuagint,” an ancient Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures. From a shelf over the door of his cell the monk took down a bulky bundle wrapped in red cloth. Before Tischendorf’s astonished gaze were not only the leaves he had saved from the flames fifteen years before, but other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures. Trying to disguise his unbounded joy, Tischendorf asked to borrow the volume for the night. “There by myself,” said Tischendorf, “I gave way to my transports of joy. I knew that I held in my hand one of the most precious Biblical treasures in existence, a document whose age and importance exceeded that of any I had ever seen after twenty years’ study of the subject.”

How to persuade the monks to give up this treasure—that was Tischendorf’s problem. He solved it by suggesting that the monks present it as a gift to the czar of Russia, the acknowledged champion of the Eastern Orthodox churches. After long negotiation the Codex Sinaiticus, as the manuscript came to be called, was presented to the czar. In return the monks received 9,000 rubles. In 1933 the Soviet government sold the manuscript to the British Museum for $500,000. There it remains today, this priceless treasure, one of the most important ancient manuscript Bibles in existence.

But even before Tischendorf’s time the long parade of ancient manuscript finds had begun. We may go back many years