father say these words, I laughed in myself, and yet I was troubled
and angry in my soul. And at last I answered and said, "Whichever of
these things you honour as a god, it is folly. The god Zucheus, who
is the god of my brother Nahor, is more honourable than your god
Marumath, for he is adorned with gold finely wrought, and when he is
old he will be fashioned over again; but if Marumath is broken or
injured he will not be renewed, for he is only of stone. And again
the god Joauv, who stands next to Zucheus, is more honourable than
Barisat, for he is covered with silver; but as for Barisat, you made
him yourself with your axe, and, look, he is fallen upon the earth,
and the fashion of his likeness is destroyed, and he is burnt to
ashes, and you say, 'To-day I will make another, and he shall
prepare my food to-morrow.'

"But I say to you, my father, the fire is mightier than all your gods
of gold and silver and stone and wood, for it can devour them all.
Yet I call not the fire god, for it is weaker than the water which
can subdue it. Yet again I call not the water god, for the earth
swallows it up. Neither call I the earth god, for it is subject to
men that till it, and to the sun that gives light to it. Neither call
I the sun god, for it is overcome by the darkness of night. But I say
that there is one true God who hath made all these things; who hath
made the heavens blue, and the sun golden, and the moon and stars
white and shining, and hath raised up the earth from among the
waters, and breathed into thee the breath of life, and hath sought me
out in the trouble of my soul; and would that He might reveal Himself
unto us!"

And as I was speaking these words to my father in the court of his
house, there came from heaven the voice of a Mighty One speaking out