*

vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might

prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.-Deuteronomy VI., VIII.

* Read this further description of the abundant water of the land, in Deuteronomy xi. 10-12: "For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; but the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: a land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year."

We must read also how the Lord let Moses see the promised land, which he was not to enter. The time was near for Moses to die, and he blessed the people as an old father used to bless his children before his death. Then he climbed to the top of Mount Nebo, which is still called Neba, "height,” rising nearly four thousand feet above the plain.

From this mountain-top the Lord showed Moses the land. He looked northward over the land of Gilead on the east side of the Jordan, towards Mount Hermon and Dan where the Jordan rises. Some who have visited the mountain say that

Mount Hermon itself can be seen. Then he looked westward over the land of Canaan. It is called by the names of the tribes to whom it soon was given. Naphtali reached to Mount Hermon. Manasseh lay in the middle of the land, including Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, which are plainly seen from Nebo. Ephraim lay south of Manasseh, and Judah, just across the Dead Sea, stretched away to the west towards the Mediterranean. Still to the left lay the open pastures of the South Country. Near by was the deep plain of Jordan, with

Jericho at the foot of the bluffs across the river, with its groves of palms. Zoar was a city of the plain, which we learned about in the story of Abraham and Lot. It was probably close under the mountain, near the northern end of the Dead Sea.

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho: and the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.-Deuteronomy XXXIV.

CROSSING THE JORDAN.

JOSHUA became the leader of the people after the death of Moses. He had been Moses' servant. We first learned of him when he led the men who fought with Amalek, before the people came to Mount Sinai. He was with Moses in Mount Sinai when the first tables of stone were broken. We remember him also as one of the spies, one of the two who encouraged the people not to be afraid to go into the land. Now he was to be the one, in the Lord's strength, to lead them in.

The way led across the Jordan. We must know what sort of a stream the Jordan is which forms the eastern border of the Holy Land, and which opened as a gate to let the chil