THE KING'S MIRROR 289 



they are at present." God heard Hezekiah's prayer and 

 said to Isaiah the prophet: "Return quickly to King 

 Hezekiah and tell him different tidings now from what 

 thou toldest before; for I have heard his prayer, and I 

 will add unto the days of his life fifteen years beyond 

 what I had intended for him, and I will deliver all his 

 realm from the attack of his adversaries." * 



Here is another instance which belongs to a much 

 later time. In the days when Jesus Christ was here upon 

 earth among men, one of his friends, Lazarus by name, 

 fell ill and died of the illness. Bethany was the name of 

 the town where Lazarus was buried. But when he had 

 lain four days in the grave, Jesus came to Bethany. 

 Now it would seem in Lazarus' case, as in that of all 

 others who have departed from this world, that an ir- 

 revocable sentence had been passed, seeing that he had 

 lain four days a dead man in the earth, death having 

 even appointed him a place in his kingdom. Jesus or- 

 dered Lazarus' grave to be opened, and calling him he 

 commanded him to tear himself away from the hands 

 of his dead companions. Thereupon Lazarus rose from 

 the dead, and he lived many days after that. There are 

 many other examples of this kind, but these are the 

 ones which we have preferred to bring to light; and since 

 our talk has been quite long, it seems unnecessary to 

 recount others, though they are plentiful. 



* II Kings, xx; Isaiah, xxxviii. The prayer is imaginary. 



