Part 153 (1/2)

At the first blast, smiled scornfully the king, And at the second sneered, half wonderingly: ”Hop'st thou with noise my stronghold to break down?”

At the third round, the ark of old renown Swept forward, still the trumpets sounding loud, And then the troops with ensigns waving proud.

Stepped out upon the old walls children dark With horns to mock the notes and hoot the ark.

At the fourth turn, braving the Israelites, Women appeared upon the crenelated heights-- Those battlements embrowned with age and rust-- And hurled upon the Hebrews stones and dust, And spun and sang when weary of the game.

At the fifth circuit came the blind and lame, And with wild uproar clamorous and high Railed at the clarion ringing to the sky.

At the sixth time, upon a tower's tall crest, So high that there the eagle built his nest, So hard that on it lightning lit in vain, Appeared in merriment the king again: ”These Hebrew Jews musicians are, me-seems!”

He scoffed, loud laughing, ”but they live on dreams.”

The princes laughed, submissive to the king, Laughed all the courtiers in their glittering ring, And thence the laughter spread through all the town.

At the seventh blast--the city walls fell down.

--_Victor Hugo_.

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THE ATTACK UPON AI.

_The Story of a Rout and an Ambush. Defeat Turned to Victory_.

(The spoil of the city of Jericho was ”devoted,” that is offered to the Lord, and could be the private property of no person.

How the greed of one soldier got the better of him, the evil consequences, the execution of the guilty soldier for disobedience of military orders, and the subsequent victory of the Israelites are told in the following chapter.)

But the children of Israel committed a trespa.s.s in the devoted thing: for Achan, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.

And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spoke unto them, saying, ”Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai.

And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, ”Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither; for they are but few.”

So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: and they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them at the descent: and the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads.

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And Joshua said, ”Alas, O Lord G.o.d, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? would that we had been content and dwelt beyond Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say, after Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall surround us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do for thy great name?”

And the Lord said unto Joshua, ”Get thee up; wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face? Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: yea, they have even taken of the devoted thing; and have also stolen, and lied also, and they have even put it among their own goods. Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed: I will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the devoted thing from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, There is a devoted thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the devoted thing from among you. In the morning therefore ye shall be brought near by your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come near by families; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come near by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come near man by man. And it {296} shall be, that he that is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.'”

So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel near by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: and he brought near the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zerahites: and he brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: and he brought near his household man by man; and Achan was taken. And Joshua said unto Achan, ”My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, and make confession to him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.”

And Achan answered Joshua, and said, ”Of a truth I have sinned against the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: when I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel; and they laid them down before the Lord. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his a.s.ses, and his {297} sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them up unto the valley of Achor.

And Joshua said, ”Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day.”

And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones, to this day; and the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor (that is, troubling), unto this day.