unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? and the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. (Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.) And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass 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 compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with 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 rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests blowing with the trumpets as they went. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout: for the LORD hath given you the city. So the people shouted, and the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

The rest of this book is occupied with the Conquest of Canaan, and its division among the twelve tribes. One of the four National Anthems in the collected Lyrics of Israel brings out the spirit of this period.

National Hymn of the Promised Land

O give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name:
Make known his doings among the peoples.
Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;

Talk ye of all his marvellous works.
Glory ye in his holy name:

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek ye the LORD and his strength;

Seek his face evermore.

Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;
His wonders, and the judgements of his mouth;
O ye seed of Abraham his servant,

Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the LORD our God:

His judgements are in all the earth.

He hath remembered his covenant for ever,

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations;

The covenant which he made with Abraham,

And his oath unto Isaac;

And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute,

To Israel for an everlasting covenant:

Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,

The lot of your inheritance:

When they were but a few men in number;
Yea, very few, and sojourners in it;
And they went about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
He suffered no man to do them wrong;
Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
"Touch not mine anointed ones,
"And do my prophets no harm."

And he called for a famine upon the land;
He brake the whole staff of bread.

He sent a man before them;

Joseph was sold for a servant:

His feet they hurt with fetters;

He was laid in chains of iron:

Until the time that his word came to pass;

The word of the LORD tried him.

The king sent and loosed him;

Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house,

And ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure, And teach his senators wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt;

And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

And he increased his people greatly,

And made them stronger than their adversaries.

He turned their heart to hate his people,

To deal subtilly with his servants.

He sent Moses his servant,

And Aaron whom he had chosen.

They set among them his signs,

And wonders in the land of Ham.

He sent darkness, and made it dark;

And they rebelled not against his words. He turned their waters into blood,

And slew their fish.

Their land swarmed with frogs,

In the chambers of their kings.

He spake, and there came swarms of flies,

And lice in all their borders.

He gave them hail for rain,

And flaming fire in their land.

He smote their vines also and their fig trees;

And brake the trees of their borders.

He spake, and the locust came,

And the cankerworm, and that without number,

And did eat up every herb in their land,

And did eat up the fruit of their ground.

He smote also all the firstborn in their land,

The chief of all their strength.

And he brought them forth with silver and gold:

And there was not one feeble person among his tribes.
Egypt was glad when they departed;

For the fear of them had fallen upon them.

He spread a cloud for a covering;

And fire to give light in the night.

They asked, and he brought quails,

And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
He opened the rock, and waters gushed out;
They ran in the dry places like a river.

For he remembered his holy word,

And Abraham his servant.

And he brought forth his people with joy,

And his chosen with singing.

And he gave them the lands of the nations;

And they took the labour of the peoples in possession:
That they might keep his statutes,

And observe his laws.

Hallelujah

When the people fall under the oppression of Jabin, king of Canaan, Deborah, a woman, rouses resistance; and Book of with the aid of Barak as commander in chief brings Judges victory. The startling incidents of this war are the subject of one of the most famous odes of ancient literature.

Men.
Women.
All.

Song of Deborah

For that the leaders took the lead in Israel-
For that the people offered themselves willingly-
Bless ye the LORD.

Men:

I, even I, will sing unto the LORD—

Women. I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel.
LORD, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,

All.

Men.

When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains flowed down at the presence of the LORD,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of the LORD, the God
of Israel.

1. THE DESOLATION

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,

In the days of Jael,

The highways were unoccupied,

And the travellers walked through byways;

The rulers ceased in Israel,

They ceased

Women. Until that I, Deborah, arose,

Men.

That I arose a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods;

Then was war in the gates:

Was there a shield or spear seen

Among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart is toward the governors of Israel—

Women. Ye that offered yourselves willingly among the people

All.

Men.

Bless ye the LORD!

Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,
Ye that sit on rich carpets,

And ye that walk by the way:

Women. Far from the noise of archers,

All.

All.

(Men.

In the places of drawing water:

There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD,
Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.

2. THE MUSTER

Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates-
Awake, awake, Deborah,

Awake, awake, utter a song: