THE BLESSING OF MIGHT.

137

speaketh, that I must do? And Balak said to Balaam : Come now, I will bring thee to another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them thence. And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert. And Balaam said to Balak: Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did

as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. Now Balaam saw that it pleased Jehovah to bless Israel, so he went not, as at the other times, to find enchantments, but set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel dwelling according to his tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said :

Oracle of Balaam, Beor's son,

Oracle of the man whose eye is closed d;
Oracle of him that heareth God's words,
That saw a vision of Almighty,
Prostrate, with eyes unlocked.

How goodly thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, Israel!
Like shadowy vales,

Like gardens by a river;

Like aloes Jehovah planted,

Like cedars beside waters.

Water streameth from his buckets,
His seed hath abundant water.

Higher than Agag is his king,

Exalted is his kingdom.

God brought him out from Egypt;

His the wild bull's strength.

He eateth the nations his foes,
Their bones he sucketh,

With his arrows he shattereth.
He couched, he lay like a lion,
Or a lioness-who rouseth him?

Who blesseth thee is blessed;
Who curseth thee is cursed.

Then Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam: To curse my foes I called thee, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. And now flee to thy place: I thought to shew thee great honor; but, behold, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honor. And Balaam said to Balak Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah, to do good or bad of mine own mind; what Jehovah speaketh, that will I speak? And now, behold, I go unto my people; come, I will advise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. And he took up his parable, and said:

Oracle of Balaam, Beor's son,

Oracle of the man whose eye is closed;
Oracle of him that heareth God's words,
And knoweth knowledge of the Highest,
That saw a vision of Almighty,
Prostrate, with eyes unlocked.

I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh,

And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

CHAPTER XVI.

JOSHUA, i., iii.-xi., xiii., xiv., xviii., xix., xxiv.

CONQUEST OF CANAAN.

The Passage of Jordan—Circumcision of Gilgal-Siege of JerichoDefeat at Ai-The Devoted Thing-The Sin of Achan-The Ambush-The Capture of Ai-The Cunning Men of GibeonThey Become Tributary-League of the Southern Kings-Battle of Gibeon-Song of the Sun-Battle of Merom-Tabernacle of Shiloh-Warnings of Joshua-His Death.

Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah spake to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying: Moses my servant is dead; and now arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give them. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying: Pass through the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth you to possess. And they answered Joshua, saying: All that thou command-. est us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee, if only Jehovah thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. Whosoever shall rebel against thy commandment, and not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and of a good courage. And it came to pass, when the people removed from

CIRCUMCISION OF GILGAL.

141

their tents to pass over Jordan, that the priests bare the Ark of the Covenant before the people. And when they that bare the Ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the Ark were dipped in the brink of the water (and Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest), the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in a heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and the waters that went down toward the sea of the Arabah,—that is the Salt Sea-were wholly cut off. And the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all Israel passed over on dry ground. On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho; and they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

At that time Jehovah said to Joshua: Make thee knives of flint, and circumcise the children of Israel. So Joshua made him knives of flint, and circumcised the children of Israel at the Hill of the Foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua circumcised them all the people that came out of Egypt were circumcised; but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel had wandered forty years in the wilderness, till all the men of war who came forth out of Egypt had perished, because they obeyed not the voice of Jehovah; but their children, whom He raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised.