Light in the Lions' Den by Marianne Hering & Marianne Hering

Author:Marianne Hering & Marianne Hering
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books, JUVENILE FICTION / Religious / Christian / Historical
ISBN: 9781624057373
Publisher: Focus on the Family
Published: 2017-02-07T05:00:00+00:00

Anatu stopped praying. She turned to Beth. “We will offer a blood sacrifice to Adad,” the priestess said. “Girl, go bring me a dove.”

“I can’t do this,” Beth said. “I can’t worship a false god.”

Anatu raised an eyebrow. The priestess said, “Did I just hear you say ‘false god’?”

Beth reached for the headdress on her head. She pulled out the hairpins.

“I not only can’t do this,” Beth said, “but I won’t. I’m not a child of Adad.” She took off the headdress and threw it on the ground. It made a loud clanging sound.

“Be careful what you say, girl,” Tanzi said. Worry filled his voice. He was wringing his hands.

“I won’t bring you a dove. You’ll just kill it,” Beth said. “And I won’t pray to any god except the one true God.”

Anatu’s face showed mock interest. “And who is this one true God?” she asked. “You’re risking your life for Him.”

“He’s the God of the Jews,” Beth said.

Anatu looked bored. She glanced at her dress and brushed off a small piece of dirt. “The Jews are a scraggly bunch. They’re captives now. That shows their God is weak. He can’t protect them.”

Frava and Katav exchanged glances.

“We’ve heard of the Jewish God.” Katav said. “He is the one our enemy worships. But we don’t fear Him.”

“Then this girl is our enemy too,” Anatu said. “She deserves death.”

Beth felt her heart sink to her stomach. She opened her mouth to say something. But her mouth was too dry.

Tanzi raised a hand to Anatu. “O priestess,” he said, “I beg permission to speak.”

A sudden warm wind swept across the rooftop. It filled Beth with hope.

Anatu’s long hair danced in the breeze. She didn’t say anything. She seemed to be in a trance. She stood still with her arms lifted high.

Tanzi went on talking. “I was alive when three men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were living,” he said. “Forty years ago King Nebuchadnezzar tried to burn them alive. But their God performed a miracle to save them.”

Frava said, “Enough, old man. We didn’t come here for a history lesson. We came here for the favor of Adad. We want his blessing on our plan.”

Katav poured the contents of his jar on the altar.

The altar glowed with orange-and-black flames. The flames burned off thick, gray smoke.

Frava said, “Priestess, continue with the prayers. We have offered sesame oil.”

“No,” Anatu said. “I’ve received a message from Adad.” She lowered her arms. “He said that the God of the Jews is powerful. Do not bring harm to His followers.”

Katav laughed. “I don’t need Adad’s help. Or the help of any god.” He looked at Frava. “Let’s go to the royal court. The king will sign the decree today. By noon tomorrow, our enemy will be dead.”

Frava pointed a finger at Anatu. He said, “You’ll regret listening to this girl.” He threw his jar on the ground. It crashed and broke into pieces. The oil seeped into the stone floor. “We’ll send the tower guards to arrest her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.