of the Lord am I now
come."

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and said to
him, "What saith my Lord to his servant?" And the captain of the
Lord's host said to Joshua, "Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for
the place whereon thou standest is holy."

And Joshua did so.

(Now Jericho was closely besieged by the children {288} of Israel:
none went out, and none came in.) And the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I
have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the
mighty men of valor. And ye shall march around the city, all the men
of war, going about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And
seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark:
and the seventh day ye shall march around the city seven times, and
the priests shall blow the trumpets. And it shall be, that when they
make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of
the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the
wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up
every man straight before him."

And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them,
"Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven
trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord."

And they said unto the people, "Pass on, and march around the city,
and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord."

And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken unto the people, the seven
priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord
passed on, and blew the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the
Lord followed them. And the armed men went before the priests that
blew the trumpets, and the rear guard went after the ark, the priests
blowing the trumpets as they went.

{289}{290}

[Illustration]
THE PLAIN OF JERICHO, LOOKING TOWARD THE JORDAN
FROM THE HILLS TO THE WEST.

From a photograph taken by Prof. H. G. Mitchell
and used by his kind permission.

A view of the Jordan plain, showing the desolate
nature of the country.
[End illustration]

{291}

And Joshua commanded the people, saying, "Ye shall not shout, nor let
your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth,
until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout."

So he caused the ark of the Lord to pass around the city, going about
it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and t