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36

JERICHO

Joshua vi

I.

Around the walls of Jericho,
The Israelitish army go.

With steady tramp, their spears in hand,
They follow out the Lord's command.

Six days, six journeys, now are past;
The sun has risen upon the last.

Scarce had the first flush of the dawn
Announced that weary night was gone,

When forth from every well-known tent
The mighty hosts of Israel went.

Thus early start they on their way;
Seven rounds must be fulfilled to-day.

II.

Within the walls of Jericho,

In stern indifference wait the foe.

What care they for these haggard men
Who have commenced their march again?

How can they hope to overthrow
In such a way proud Jericho?

And so, with laugh and scornful glance,
They join the mazes of the dance,

And pass around the ruddy wine,
Rarest of all in Palestine;

While sounds of revelry rise high
Beneath the glare of noonday sky.

III.

Outside the walls of Jericho,
Steadily on the warriors go;

Six of the rounds already past,
And they have now commenced the last.

Throughout those ranks no sound is heard,
No merry jest, no cheering word.

There rises up no other sound

Than steady foot-beats on the ground.

Now suddenly they turn about,

And with one voice the people shout.

Down fall the walls of Jericho—

The heathen's power lieth low.

IV.

Low lie the walls of Jericho,

And through her halls her foemen go.
All hope for the city proud has fled,
For all her boasted host are dead,

And the ringing pavement of the street
Echoeth naught but the foeman's feet.

Thus did firm faith in God's commands
Prove mightier than human hands;

Thus did the strong right arm of God
Scatter the heathen hosts abroad;

Thus did He great honor lay

Upon the name of Joshua.

FRANK FOXCROFT

37

THE FALL OF JERICHO

Slowly the invaders emerged from the groves, but before the last lines had deployed into the plain, the silver trumpets rang out their clear summons that Israel should stand still; and then, for a moment, silence fell over the wide-spreading array. Behind lay the palm-belt, the camp, and the Jordan; before, trampled garden and fallen grove; then impregnable walls, and, beyond all, the land that had been promised them for a heritage, and to which sword and spear must now prove title.

Adriel looked northward, and, as he looked, the centre of the host seemed to separate to right and left. Out into the open plain marched six priests, two and two. Before them walked a man who seemed to have completed a century of human life.

His figure, once tall and commanding, was bent with age. A forehead, lofty, but worn and wrinkled, gave an appearance of thoughtfulness to a face placid and kindly. From under the sacred tiara flowed hair whiter than the snows of the north. Hardly in keeping with the age of the wearer seemed the rich and gorgeous garments that clothed his form, or the glittering breastplate that proclaimed his name and rank-Eleazar, the son of Aaron, high priest of Jehovah. All unarmed were the seven, but each bore in his hand a trumpet-not the straight silver clarion that sounded the rally or the charge, but the short curved horn of jubilee, shorn from the head of some patriarch of the flock.

But it was on what followed close behind the sacred escort that every eye was fixed; on which the hardiest veteran bent looks of mingled fear and veneration. Yet it seemed worthy of neither.

Borne on the shoulders of eight Kohathites, whose flowing garments reached to their feet, it seemed only a canopy of dark purple; but the host knew well the object which that canopy shut out from the gaze of man. No living human eye but that of him who wore the jewelled breastplate had ever looked upon the uncovered outlines of the Ark of God; yet every detail of its material, its workmanship, and its holy and awful contents, was graven deep in the heart of the humblest warrior in the ranks, and by look and silence they did it reverence.

For a moment the bearers and those who went before them paused, and then, turning slowly south

ward, they traversed the entire front of the left wing, and again halted before the men of Judah.

But now the escort was increased, for behind the Ark came one hundred picked men from the warriors of Gad, a chosen rear-guard. Then the order came to Judah that the foremost thousand of the tribe should march before the high priest; and man after man, line after line, surged forward, eager to assume the holy charge.

Ozias led these chosen troops, and close behind him followed Adriel; but ere the march commenced, Ozias turned and addressed them:

"Hear ye, men of Judah. Joshua, the son of Nun, hath commanded every captain in Israel that he speak to the people, saying: Seven times this day shall the walls of the city be encompassed, and no man shall shout or make any noise until the word goes forth. Then shall ye shout and ascend straightway against the city."

Ozias turned again and led the way, and the men of Judah followed close behind him with knitted brows and hands fast straining spear and shield. Eleazar and the priests marched next, before the purple canopy, and the rearward of the men of Gad pressed on behind the Ark.

Southward and westward passed the strange pageant, while the armies of Israel rested upon their spears and waited for the signal-nearer to the wall, and skirting its southern confines, while the horns of the priests rang out clear in the air of the early morning.

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