390 JOSHUA I—JOSHUA ASSUMES CONTROL according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it. 12 ¶ And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, 13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them; 15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD's servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sun-rising. 16 ¶ And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage. Chapter 2 1 Rahab receiveth and concealeth the two spies sent from Shittim. 8 The covenant between her and them. 23 Their return and relation. ND Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho.1 And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the country. Ancient Jericho was at this time the chief city of the Jordan valley, lying not far from the junction of the river with the Dead Sea, about two miles north of the ruins of modern Jericho. Rahab Hides the Spies BY FREDERICK R. PICKERSGILL, R. A., AN ENGLISH + "And the woman took the two men and hid them."Jos., 2, 4. J OSHUA began his great work warily. His people were encamped on the east bank of the Jordan. Across the river lay the huge high-walled city of Jericho, a mighty fortress standing as the south-east gateway of Canaan, and supposed to protect it securely from all such desert wanderers as the tribes of Israel. Joshua, gazing across the river at those tremendous walls, wondered how his people should surmount them, and sent two spies to report upon the land, even as Moses had sent him and his companions forty years before. The two spies entered the city boldly and went for the night to a public house, perhaps a sort of inn, kept by a woman named Rahab. But they had been seen, and recognized, and followed. Soldiers, sent by the king of the city, came in the gathering twilight, knocking at Rahab's door, telling her these men were spies. In a single instant, the woman had to make her everlasting choice between Jericho and Israel, between the old life and the new. Perchance she hesitated; but her woman-heart would not permit her to surrender her guests to destruction. She told the soldiers that the Israelites had stolen away into the night. |