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CHAPTER 43.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA.

THE ISRAELITES ENTER THE LAND OF CANAAN.

Now after the death of Moses, the Lord spake unto Joshua the Son of Nun, Moses' Minister, saying, Moses my Servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan unto the Land which I give to the Children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon, that have I given to you. From the Wilderness and Lebanon, to the great River Euphrates, and unto the great Sea toward the going down of the Sun, shall be your Coast. Be strong and of good courage, obey my law, and thou shalt make thy way prosperous, for the Lord God is with thee wherever thou goest. I will never fail thee nor forsake thee.— Then Joshua commanded the Officers, saying, Pass through the Host, and command the People, saying, Prepare ye Victuals, for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess this Land which God giveth you. And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee. Only be strong and of good courage, the Lord thy God be with thee as he was with Moses.

And Joshua sent out two men to spy secretly saying, Go view the Land, even Jericho. And they went and came unto Rahab's house, and lodged there. And the King of Jericho sent unto Rahab, bring forth the men, and she took and hid them, and said, I wist not whence they were, and at the shutting of the gate wher

it was dark, the men went out, whither they went I wot not, pursue and ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them to the top of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax. And the men pursued after them, and they shut the gate. And Rahab said to the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the Land, for we have heard what he did for you at the Red Sea. Now swear that ye will shew kindness to my Father's house, and give me a true token. And the men answered, Our life for yours, if ye utter not our business, we will deal kindly with you. Then she let them down by a Cord through the Window, for her house was upon the Town-wall. And the men said, Behold, when we come into the Land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in this Window, and take thy Father's house home to thee. And whosoever shall be with you in this house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And the two men returned to Joshua, and told them all that befel them. And said, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands, all the Land, for all the Inhabitants of the Country do faint because of us.

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and removed to Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the Children of Israel. And Joshua said, Come hither and hear the words of the Lord your God. Hereby ye shall know that the Living God is among you, and that he will drive out before you, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Parizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites; before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the Earth, passeth over before you into Jordan. Now take you twelve men, out of every Tribe a Man, and as soon as the feet of the Priests that bear the Ark rest in the Waters of Jordan, the Waters shall

staud on an heap. And as they that bare the Ark came unto Jordan, as the soles of their feet touched the brim of the Water, for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of Harvest, the Waters that came down from above stood upon an heap, and the Priests stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, until all the People had passed over, on dry ground, right against Jericho. And they took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, and Jordan pitched them on Gilgal, as a memorial to the Children of Israel for ever.

And when the Kings of the Amorites heard that the Lord had dried up the Waters of Jordan, behold, their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more. And they encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover, and on the morning they did eat of the old Corn of the Land, and the next day the manna ceased.

And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes, and behold, there stood a Man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua said, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he say, Nay, but as Captain of the HOST OF THE LORD am I come. And Joshua fell on his face and said, What saith my Lord unto his Servant. And the Captain of the Lord's Host said, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is Holy. And Joshua did so. Thus did the Lord renew unto Joshua, the assurance of protection he had given unto Moses.

CHAPTER 44.

THE TAKING OF JERICHO.

Now Jericho was straitly shut up. None went out, and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See I have given into thy hand, Jericho, and the King

thereof. Ye shall compass the City once every day for six days, and seven Priests shall bear before the Ark seven Trumpets of Ram's horns, and the seventh day, ye shall compass the City seven times, and the Priests shall blow with the Trumpets, and it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the Ram's horn, all the People shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the City shall fall down flat, and the People shall ascend up every man straight before him.

And Joshua commanded, and the seven Priests bearing the seven Trumpets passed on before the Lord, and blew with the Trumpets, and the Ark of the Lord followed them, and the armed men went before the Priests, and the rereward came after the Ark, the Priests going on and blowing with the Trumpets. And Joshua had commanded the People saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise till I bid you shout. So the Ark compassed the City six days, once every day; and the seventh day they compassed the City in the same manner, seven times. And at the seventh time when the Priests blew with the Trumpets, Joshua said unto the People, Shout for the Lord hath given you the City. And the City shall be accursed, and all that are therein, only, Rahab, she and all that in her house shall live. And keep yourselves from every thing in the City, for it is accursed, bring not the accursed thing into the Camp of Israel. But all the Silver and Gold, and Vessels of Brass and Iron are consecrated unto the Lord, they shall come into the Treasury of the Lord.

So when the People heard the sound of the Trumpets, they shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the People went into the City, every man straight before him, and they took the City. And

they utterly destroyed all that was in the City, save only Rahab and her Kindred,--and burnt the City with Fire. Only the Silver and Gold, and the Vessels of Brass and Iron, they put into the Treasury of the House of the Lord. So the Lord was with Joshua and his fame was raised throughout all the Country.

CHAPTER 45.

ΑΙ AND ACHAN.

BUT the Children of Israel sinned, for Achan the Son of Carmi, took of the accursed thing. And Joshua sent Men from Jericho to take Ai, and they fled before the Men of Ai, and Joshua rent his Clothes and fell upon his face before the Ark, he and the Elders of Israel, and the Lord said, Israel hath sinned, they have taken of the accursed thing, and have dissembled also, and put it among their own stuff. Therefore could not Israel stand before their enemies.

So Joshua rose

up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their Tribes, and the Tribe of Judah was taken, and the lot fell on Achan. And Joshua said, My Son give Glory to God, and make confession, and tell me what thou hast done. And Achan said, Indeed I have sinned against God, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred Shekels of Silver and a Wedge of Gold, then I coveted them and took them, and behold, they are hid in the Earth in the midst of my Tent.

So Joshua sent Messengers, and they ran unto the Tent, and behold it was hid in his Tent, and the Silver under it. And Joshua and all Israel took Achan, and the Silver and Gold, and all that he had, and stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire,

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