Part 152 (1/2)
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[Ill.u.s.tration]
LOWER FORDS OF THE JORDAN
From a photograph in the possession of Rev. Louis F. Giroux of the International College, Springfield, Ma.s.s., and used by his kind permission.
Jordan river is a narrow, winding stream flowing down on the eastern border of the ”Promised Land.” When not in flood its width does not average over two hundred feet and it is rarely over five feet deep at such times; in flood it becomes in places a mile broad. It is so winding that in sixty-five miles direct course it covers a distance of two hundred miles. There are some fifty fords across the river, and in Roman times it was spanned by bridges. This picture shows the ”lower fords.” At this point, or near here, the Israelites crossed.
”There are hundreds of other streams more large, more useful, or more beautiful; there is none which has been more spoken about by mankind”
[End ill.u.s.tration]
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And she said, ”According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
And they went, and came to the mountain, and hid there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. Then the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and pa.s.sed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had befallen them. And they said unto Joshua, ”Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us.”
THE Pa.s.sAGE OF THE JORDAN.
_The Israelites Leave the Jordan Behind Them as They Left the Red Sea_.
And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and they marched from s.h.i.+ttim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they lodged there before they pa.s.sed over. And it came to pa.s.s after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, ”When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your G.o.d, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall advance from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a s.p.a.ce between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not pa.s.sed this way heretofore.”
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And Joshua said to the people, ”Sanctify yourselves: for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, ”Take up the ark of the covenant, and pa.s.s over before the people.” And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
And the Lord said to Joshua, ”This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When ye are come to the brink of the waters of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.'”
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, ”Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your G.o.d.”
And Joshua said, ”Hereby ye shall know that the living G.o.d is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and all the people of the land. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth pa.s.seth over before you into Jordan. Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. And it shall come to pa.s.s, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.”
And it came to pa.s.s, when the people removed from their tents, to pa.s.s over Jordan, the priests that bore the ark of the covenant being before the people; and when they {287} that bore the ark were come to Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest), that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan: and those that went down toward the Salt Sea were wholly cut off: and the people pa.s.sed over right opposite Jericho.
And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all Israel pa.s.sed over on dry ground, until all the nation were pa.s.sed wholly over Jordan.
SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF JERICHO.
_How the Walls of the City Fell Down_.
And it came to pa.s.s, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went to him, and said to him, ”Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?”
And he said, ”Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and wors.h.i.+ped, and said to him, ”What saith my Lord to his servant?” And the captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, ”Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.”
And Joshua did so.