JOSHUA SENDS SPIES INTO THE CITY OF JERICHO. THEY ARE HIDDEN BY RAHAB AND AFTERWARD COME BACK TO THE CAMP. THE PRIESTS CARRY THE ARK BEFORE THE PEOPLE, WHO GO OVER JORDAN ON DRY GROUND. THE LORD SPEAKS TO JOSHUA. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL TAKE JERICHO. ACHAN'S SIN AND PUNISHMENT. AI IS TAKEN.
AND the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, therefore, do thou arise and take the children of Israel over Jordan, into that land which I give them. Be strong and brave, and very careful to obey all that is written in the book of the law, so that thou mayest do well and prosper. And fear not, for I will be with thee to help thee wherever thou goest. Then Joshua spoke to the officers of the children of Israel, and said to them, Go through the camp and command all the people that they make food ready to take with them, for within three days you shall pass over Jordan.
And Joshua sent two men as spies over Jordan, to look at the land before the children of Israel should go into it. And the men crossed over the river to a city of Canaan, called Jericho, and went into the house of a woman named Rahab. And some one told the king of Jericho, that two spies of the children of Israel had come into the city and were at Rahab's house. Then the king sent to Rahab and asked her to bring out the men. Now the roofs of the houses in that country were flat, so that persons could walk on them. And Rahab took the two men up on the roof of her house, and hid them under some stalks of flax which were spread out to dry there.
And the king's messengers came, but could not find them. After the messengers had gone, Rahab went up and talked with the men. She told them that she knew the Lord had given the land to the children of Israel, for the people of Canaan had heard how he made the Red Sea dry for them to cross over it, and afterward helped them in fighting against their enemies. As soon as the people heard of these things, Rahab said, they were afraid of the children of Israel. Then she asked the two men to promise that they would remember her kindness to them, and not let her, or any of her family, be put to death, when the children of Israel should come to take the city of Jericho. And the men said that if she would tell no one of their coming, they would do as she asked.
Then they told her to take some scarlet thread and fasten it to the window of her house, so that they could see it from the outside, and tell which house was hers, when they should come back with all the children of Israel to take the city. And they promised that no one inside of her house should be harmed.
Now Jericho had a wall around it, and Rahab's house stood close to the wall, and was built up above it, so that there was a window in her house over the wall. And she let the two men down from that window, by a cord, outside of the wall, that they might flee from the city. For the gates of the city had been shut by the king's servants, to keep the spies from going out there. And Rahab told them to go and hide for three days in a mountain that was near, until the king's servants should cease looking after them. And the two men went and hid for three days in the mountain, as Rahab said, until the servants of the king had given up looking for them. Afterward they crossed over the river again, and went back to Joshua in the camp, and told him of all that had happened to them.
And Joshua and all the people rose up early in the morning and came to the banks of the river; there they stayed three days. Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, Make yourselves ready; to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you. For the priests shall carry the ark over Jordan before you, and it shall be, that as soon as their feet stand in the river, the waters shall cease to flow, and the priests shall walk through Jordan on dry ground.
And it came true as Joshua said; for on the morrow the priests took up the ark and carried it toward the river, and all the people followed after them. And when the priests came to the edge of the river, as soon as their feet touched the water, the water parted before them, and they walked out on dry ground into the middle of the river. There they stood with the ark, and waited while all the children of Israel passed over to the other side, into the land of Canaan.
The men of the two and a half tribes, who had asked to have their homes in the land of Gilead, went over also, as they had promised Moses to do, forty thousand of them, armed, to help their brethren fight against the nations of the land. After the people had gone over, the priests, carrying the ark, followed them. And as soon as they came up out of the river, and stood on the shore, the waters flowed in the river again, filling it as full as it had been before.
And the children of Israel made their camp at a place called Gilgal. There they found some of the corn that had grown in the land, and they parched it and did eat of it. And on the morrow after they had eaten the corn, the manna ceased coming. For forty years the Lord had sent it to them in the wilderness, where no grain grew. But now they were in Canaan, where there was plenty of food for them, therefore the Lord sent the manna no more.
And Joshua went out of the camp and came near to the walls of the city of Jericho. And he looked up and saw a man standing there, with a drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua came to him, and said, Art thou for us or for our enemies? The man answered, As captain of the Lord's army I am come. He called the army of Israel the Lord's army, and he meant to tell Joshua that he had come as their captain, to show them how they should gain the victory over their enemies. Then Joshua bowed down to the earth and worshipped him; for this man was the Lord; the same that came to Abraham's tent and told him that he would destroy Sodom; and that wrestled with Jacob when he was coming back from Laban's house into Canaan.
Now the people of Jericho had shut up the gates of the city, so that no one could go out or come in, because they were afraid of the children of Israel. But the Lord said he would give Joshua the victory over the king of Jericho; and he told him in what way the children of Israel should take the city. All the men of war among them, he said, should march around the city, once every day, for six days; and some of the priests should carry the ark around with them. Seven more priests were to go before the ark, and to blow on trumpets made of rams' horns. But on the seventh day the children of Israel were commanded to march around Jericho seven times, and the priests were to blow on the trumpets. Then, when the men of Israel should hear a long blast on the trumpets, they were all to give a great shout, and the Lord said that the wall of the city should fall down flat, so that they could go up into the city.
And Joshua told the children of Israel that only Rahab, and the persons who were in her house with her, should be saved alive; for the Lord had commanded that all the rest of the people of Jericho should be put to death. And Joshua said that all the silver and gold, and the vessels made out of brass and iron, which should be found in the city, belonged to the Lord, and must be put into the treasury where the things were kept which were given to him. Joshua commanded the people not to take any of these things for their own, lest the Lord should send a great punishment upon them for their disobedience.
And the people did as the Lord commanded. On the first day they marched around the city once, and after them came the priests that blew on the trumpets. Then followed the priests who carried the ark. On the second day they marched around the city again. So they did for six days. But on the seventh day they rose up early, before it was light, and marched around the city seven times. The last time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said to the children of Israel, Shout, for THE Lord has given you the city.
Then the people shouted, and, as they did so, the wall of the city fell down flat before them, and they went up into Jericho and took it. And Joshua told the spies who had been at Rahab's house before, to go and bring out all the persons who were there, as they had promised to do. And they went and brought out Rahab and her father, her mother, her brothers, and all who were with her. Afterward the children of Israel burned the city; but the silver and gold, and the vessels of iron and brass, Were put into the treasury of the Lord. And Joshua saved Rahab alive, and all her relations, because she hid the spies whom he had sent into Jericho. And after that she lived among the children of Israel,
And Joshua sent spies to another city of Canaan, called Ai. And the spies came back and told him that not many people lived there, and that only a small army of the men of Israel need go up to take the city. Two or three thousand of them would be enough, they said. So Joshua sent up about three thousand men. But when the men of Ai came out against them, the Israelites were afraid and fled, and the men of Ai slew about thirty-six of them.
Then Joshua was in great distress. He rent his clothes, and be, and the elders of Israel, bowed down with their faces to the earth, praying, until the evening. And Joshua cried to the Lord, saying, All the people of Canaan will hear how the children of Israel have fled before their enemies; and they will gather around us on every side and kill us, till none of us are left. But the Lord told him to rise up, and asked him why he lay with his face to the ground. There was sin among the children of Israel, the Lord said, and that was the reason they had been afraid, and not able to stand before their enemies. For one of them had taken some of the silver and gold that was in Jericho, and hidden it, instead of putting it in the treasury of the Lord. And the Lord said he would not be with them to help them again, unless they punished the man who had done this thing.
And he commanded Joshua to bring out all the people before him, that he might show who the man was. That man, the Lord said, should be burned with fire—he and all that he had. So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought out all the people, and the Lord showed him the man. His name was Achan. And Joshua said to him, Tell me now what thou hast done—hide it not from me. Achan answered, that when he had seen among the spoil in Jericho, a beautiful garment, and some pieces of silver and gold, he wanted them for his own; so he took them, and hid them in the ground under his tent,
Then Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to Achan's tent, and found the things hidden there as he said. And they took them out and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua and all the people, took Achan, and the beautiful garment, and the silver and gold which he had hidden, his sons also and his daughters, his tent and his cattle, and everything that he had, and brought them into a valley. There they stoned them with stones, and afterward burned them with fire. And over Achan's dead body they raised a great heap of stones, to show where it lay. Therefore the Lord was no longer angry with the children of Israel on account of this sin, because they punished the man who had done it. And the name of the valley was called Achor, which means Trouble.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, Fear not; take all the men of war with thee, and go up again to Ai, for now I will give thee the city, and the king of Ai, his people and his land. And the Lord commanded Joshua to do to the people of Ai as he had done to the people of Jericho; they were to be put to death for their sins. But he said that the gold and the silver which the children of Israel should find there, they need not put into the treasury of the Lord; they might take it for themselves.
So Joshua arose, and all the men of war, to go up against Ai. But they did not all of them go together. Joshua chose thirty thousand brave soldiers, whom he sent away in the night to go around behind the city, and hide where the people of Ai could not see them. The rest went with Joshua in front of the city. When the king of Ai saw the men who were with Joshua, he thought they were all that had come, and he marched out with his army to fight against them. Then those who were hidden behind the city, came into it and set it on fire. And the men of Ai looked back, and saw the smoke of their city going up toward heaven, and they knew not which way to go. Joshua and his men were in front of them, and those who had set the city on fire were behind them, so they could not escape. And Joshua put them to death, as the Lord commanded. But the gold and silver, and the cattle which were in Ai, the children of Israel took for their own.
And Joshua built an altar of great stones on the mountain called Ebal; and he covered the stones with plaster and wrote on the plaster the words of God's law, as Moses commanded the children of Israel to do before they crossed over Jordan.