heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might."

After this there was prayer. Then the minister opened a cabinet and
brought out the Scriptures, which were written on long pieces of skin
made into a kind of paper. The pieces were kept rolled up when they
were not in use. The minister brought two of the rolls and laid them
on the reading desk. Someone read the Scripture lessons then, and
after that anyone in the congregation who wished could go up to the
front and explain what the lesson meant.

Like all the other Jews, Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday
mornings. One Saturday when he and his disciples were in the town of
Capernaum they went to the service as usual. When the time came to
explain the lesson, Jesus went up to the front. He surprised the
people as he always did; but something else happened which surprised
them even more.

There was suddenly a great commotion at the back of the synagogue. A
man began to cry out. There seemed to be some evil thing inside him,
which made him hate the very sight of Jesus. The people said that he
had "an unclean spirit."

Strange, wild words came pouring out of the man's mouth.

"Let me alone!" he cried. "What have I to do with you, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy me? I know who you are. You are the
Holy One of God!"

Jesus stood his ground, and spoke to the evil thing in the man.

[Illustration]

"Be quiet," Jesus said, "and come out of that man."

There was another wild shriek and then silence. The man looked around
him as though he wondered where he was. He was in his right mind
again.

The people were amazed by what they had seen and heard. On the way
home from the synagogue they asked each other,

"What kind of preaching is this, which makes a madman well again?"

Before the day was over, word of what Jesus had done had gone all over
town.

After the service, Jesus went to Simon's house, and there he found
more trouble waiting for him. Simon's wife's mother was sick in bed.
Jesus went to her bed-side, and took her hand, and helped her to her
feet. All at once the sickness left her, and she was able to prepare
the meal.

Jesus could rest in the afternoon, but when the sun went down in the
evening he had to go to work again. Everyone had heard of how he cured
people who were out of their minds, and of how he was able to heal the
sick. As long as the Sabbath lasted, the people had to stay quietly at
home. But once the sun had set th