aw, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from
it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good
success whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou
shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a
good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for the
Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, "Pass
through the midst of 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 the Lord your God giveth
you to possess it.'"

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies
secretly, saying, "Go view the land, and Jericho." And they went, and
came into the house of a woman whose name was Rahab, and lay there.
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, there came men
in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the land."

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[Illustration]
MOUNDS MARKING THE SITE OF OLD JERICHO

From the road from Jerusalem to Jericho

From a photograph taken by Prof. D. G. Lyon
and used by his kind permission.

Jericho, "the city of palm trees," was the only important place in
the Jordan valley. In Bible times it was a beautiful and prosperous
city, but now it is only a waste. Its palm trees are gone and the
site is desolate. It was often conquered by the armies which passed
through Palestine. After its walls fell down before Joshua's hosts,
"no great man was born in Jericho; no heroic deed was ever done in
her. She never stood a siege and her inhabitants were always running
away." --_Smith_
[End illustration]

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And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring forth the men
that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they
are come to search out all the land."

And the woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said, "Yea, the
men came unto me, but I knew not whence they were: and it came to pass
about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the
men went out: whither the men went I know not: pursue after them
quickly; for ye shall overtake them."

But she had bro