ock-pines like tossing plumes
Over his bier to wave,
And God's own hand, in that lonely land,
To lay him in the grave?

In that strange grave without a name,
Whence his uncoffined clay
Shall break again, O wondrous thought!
Before the judgment day,
And stand with glory wrapt around
On the hills he never trod,
And speak of the strife that won our life
With the Incarnate Son of God.

O, lonely grave in Moab's land!
O, dark Beth-Peor's hill!
Speak to these curious hearts of ours,
And teach them to be still.
God hath his mysteries of grace,
Ways that we cannot tell;
He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep
Of him he loved so well.
--_Cecil Frances Alexander_.

{277}

JOSHUA

_The Story of the Hero Whose Genius as a Warrior Won
the Land of Canaan for Israel_.

(The Israelites found the land of Canaan occupied by a fierce and
warlike people with whom they fought many battles and waged long
campaigns. The story of this warfare is filled with deeds of cruelty
and violence, yet it is no more terrible than war has always been. We
cannot understand why God has permitted so much suffering, but we know
that in some cases at least the world has advanced in freedom through
the loss and sacrifice of war. Even in war men have grown less cruel,
and we may hope for the time when all war shall cease and men shall
live together as brethren.)

JOSHUA IS MADE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST.

_Spies Are Sent to Jericho_.

Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,
that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, saying, "Moses my
servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and
all this people, to the land which I give to them, even to the
children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread
upon, to you have I given it, as I spoke to Moses. From the
wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river
Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea to the
going down of the sun, shall {278} be your border. There shall not any
man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was
with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt cause this
people to inherit the land which I swore unto their fathers to give
them. Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according
to all the l