Page images
PDF
EPUB

man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass, and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.

25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's houshold, and all that she had and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was noised throughout all the country.

LESSON LXXIII. JOSHUA, CHAP. XII.

NOW these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the, other side Jordan, toward the rising of the sun from the river Arnon unto Mount Hermon, and all the plain of the east.

2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

[ocr errors]

3 And from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Beth-jeshimoth; and from the south under Ashdoth-pisgah :

4 And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei;

5 And reigned in Mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites, and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

6 Them did Moses the servant of the Lord and the children of Israel smite: and Moses the servant of the Lord gave it for

a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon, even unto the Mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession, according to their divisions :

8 In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country: the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

9 The king of Jericho, the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el; the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, the king of Gezer, the king of Debir, the king of Geder, the king of Hormah, the king of Arad, the king of Libnah, the king of Adullam, the king of Makkedah, the king of Beth-el,

17 The king of Tappuah, the king of Hepher, the king of Aphek, the king of Lasharon, the king of Madon, the king of Hazor, the king of Shimron-meron, the king of Achshaph,

21 The king of Taanach, the king of Megiddo, the king of Kedesh, the king of Jokneam of Carmel; the king of Dor, the king of the nations of Gilgal, the king of Tirzah: all the kings thirty and one.

LESSON LXXIV. JOSHUA, CHAP. XXIII.

AND it came to pass, a long time after that the Lord had

given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.

2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:

3 And ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations because of you: for the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you.

4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward.

5 And the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and shall posye

sess their land as the Lord your God hath promised unto

you.

6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left:

7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you, neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:

[ocr errors]

8 But cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have done unto this day.

9 For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chace a thousand for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you:

11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God.

12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you;

13 Know for a certainty, that the Lord your God will no more drive out of any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.

:

14 And behold this day I am going the way of all the earth and ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.

15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.

16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off this good land which he hath given

unto you.

LESSON LXXV. JOSHUA, CHAP. XXIV.

AN ND Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood, in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; and they served other gods.

3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau : and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: And I brought your fathers out of Egypt and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea.

:

7 And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done în Egypt and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

:

8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.

13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them: of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

:

14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the

gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

16. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods :

17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed :

18 And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.

19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord; for he is an holy God: he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

20 If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.

27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, to call to our minds all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his heritance.

29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the on of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

31 And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and

« PreviousContinue »