she bound the scarlet line in the window of her house.

And the men departed, and crossed over the river Jordan, and came again to Joshua, and told him all the things that had happened to them. And they told Joshua that all the men of the land of Canaan were afraid, and that their hearts were faint because of them; and they said, "Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land."

Deut. xxxiv. 9. Joshua i. & ii.

To prosper, is to go on well and happily. Men are prosperous when all things go well with them.

To meditate, is to think long and seriously upon a thing.

To have good success, or to succeed, is to obtain what we wish and seek for.

To keep secret, is to hide; to go secretly, is to go without being seen.

To view a land or city, is to see and look at it.

Chapter LXXX.

THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN, AND THE ENTERING INTO THE PROMISED LAND.

AFTER the two men, who had been sent to spy the city of Jericho, had come back to the camp at Shittim, in the plains of Moab, Joshua led the children of Israel to the banks of the river Jordan, which was about seven miles distant from Shittim, and they encamped there.

And after three days the officers of the children of Israel went through all the camp, and commanded the people, that when they should see the priests the Levites take up the ark of the Lord their God, and bear it onwards, they should rise up and follow it; for the ark was to lead them the way that they were to go.

And Joshua said unto the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you." The children of Israel were now to sanctify themselves,-to be careful to put away all that was unholy, or displeasing to God,

-for the Lord was about to lead them, as His own people, into the land which He had promised to them.

Then Joshua gathered together the children of Israel, that they might hear what the Lord their God would do for His people. And Joshua said unto them, "Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above." The waters of the river which were flowing downwards were to stop when they touched the feet of the priests who bore the ark, and the waters which were below the place where the priests should stand would flow on, and pass away; and so the bed of the river would be left dry for the children of Israel to walk upon.

Then the priests the Levites took up the ark of the Lord, and bore it onwards to the Jordan. And all the people removed from their tents, and followed after the ark. And when the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters of the river which came down from above were stopped: they could not flow past the place where the priests stood, but rose up in a heap on their right hand. And the waters which were below, flowed downwards towards the sea, and the bed of the river below the place where the priests stood was left dry.

Then the priests, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the children of Israel passed through the river on dry ground.

And when all the people, with all that they had, had passed over the Jordan, Joshua told twelve men whom he had prepared, one from each tribe, to take each man a great stone from the place where the ark of the Lord rested in the midst of the river. God had commanded that they should take these stones, and set them up in the place

where they should rest that night, that they might be a sign to their children in time to come, and a memorial for ever, to remind the children of Israel, how the Lord had that day divided the waters of the Jordan for them, that they might pass through on dry land.

And the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until all which Joshua had commanded was done. Then Joshua told them to come up out of the Jordan. And as soon as the priests who bore the ark of the Lord had come up out of Jordan, and the soles of their feet were placed on the dry land on the other side, the waters of the river returned into their place, and flowed on as they had done before.

Joshua iii. & iv.

To prepare, is to make ready beforehand.