shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee." And they begged that she would bind a line of scarlet thread in the window from which she had let them down, that, when they came into the land, they might know her house from all the rest, and save her and all that were with her alive. Then she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window. And after hiding themselves three days in the mountain, for fear of their enemies, the men returned to the camp of Israel, and told Joshua all that had passed. And they said unto Joshua, "Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us."

E. I cannot see, Mamma, how Rahab could hide the men upon the roof of the house?

not built like ours, Du The houses in eastern countries, my love, are Lo so that persons might walk or lie upon the top of them; and these flat roofs were formerly often used, as indeed they still are, for drying raisins, flowers, flax, and for many other useful purposes.

After Joshua had heard the account which the spies brought him, he made haste to remove from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. And he commanded the people not to approach the river to cross it, until they should see the ark of the Lord, borne by the priests, enter it before them for the cloud of glory, which led their steps in the wilderness, had left them now; and the ark was in future to go before them by the command of the Lord in all their marches, to lead and direct them in

the way, and to be to them a sign of the Divine Presence amongst them; a sign that the Lord was with them still to guide and protect them.

And Joshua said unto the people, as they stood on the edge of the river Jordan, “ Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God; hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you : behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. And it shall come to pass that as soon as 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 from the waters that come down from above, and shall stand upon an heap.” And thus, Edward, it was. As soon as the feet of the priests touched the waters, the waters of Jordan went back, and stood upon an heap: thus a path was again opened for the people of God through the great waters, and they passed over on dry land, right against the city of Jericho. The same Almighty Hand which had divided the Red Sea before Moses, now opens a path through Jordan before Joshua, showing the people plainly, that as the Lord was with Moses, so he is now with Joshua. Again the waters obey the voice of their Maker. Jordan was now overflowing its banks, as it always did at the time of harvest; for the snows at this season of the year melted from the mountains, particularly from Mount Lebanon, at the foot of which it takes its rise; so that the waters were then at their very height. But what are times, or seasons, or fulness of tides, to that Almighty Being who made them all? The Lord of all the world approaches, and Jordan gives way before

him. Well may we exclaim with the holy David. "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest; and thou, Jordan, that thou wast driven back? The waters saw thee, oh God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid; the depths also were troubled: the waters returned at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. The sea saw God and fled; Jordan was driven back."

E. Those are very pretty verses, Mamma; I should like to learn them.

M. You may learn them, if you like, my love, to-morrow morning; I will mark them for you in your little Bible before you go to bed.

E. And now, dear Mamma, go on, if you please; I wish so much to hear what the children of Israel did when they got to the other side of the river.

M. As soon as they were safely passed over Jordan, and were come to Gilgal on the east side of Jericho, Joshua set up twelve large stones, which he had made the people take from the midst of the river Jordan, to be a kind of mark or remembrance to the people of Israel, and to their children, and their children's children, of the mighty work which the Lord their God had done for them in that place. So that when, in passing by, any little child might ask his father or mother what these great stones meant, they might tell him the wonderful story of the Lord drying up the waters of Jordan, that Israel might go through, and might teach him thus to fear the Lord for ever.

"And it came to pass, that when all the kings of the Canaanites and the kings of the Amorites heard what the Lord had done for his people, that their

B.C.

hearts melted for fear; neither was there any more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel.” For this mighty miracle was done in the face of the sun, that is, in the very middle of the day in the sight of all the people who dwelt round about the river, so that the news spread far and wide, filling every heart among the nations with fear.

In Gilgal the children of Israel pitched their tents, and here they began to eat of the corn of the land of Canaan; and the manna with which 1451. they had so long been fed now ceased to fall around them; neither had they manna any more; for now all the corn and fruits of the land of Canaan were before them, so that there was no reason for their being fed by a miracle any longer.

E. Mamma, I should like to look at the river Jordan upon

the

map. M. Get the book then, my love, and you shall see Gilgal too, where the tents of Israel were pitched. - This Jordan, which is the chief river in Canaan , rises, as we have said, at the foot of Mount Lebanon ; runs to the South through the middle of the country for about a hundred miles, and falls with great violence into the Lake Asphaltis or Dead Sea. The banks of this river are thickly covered with bushes, reeds, tamarisks, willows, oleanders, and other shrubs and trees, which form a hiding-place for many wild animals. In these thickets they used to hide themselves till they were driven out by the overflowing of the river, which happened at thetime of barley harvest. Along the river Jordan there was also a good deal