THE GREAT GENERAL. 47

into the treasury of the house of the Lord. The city
was burnt.

George. Did the people not get anything at all ?

Grandfather. They were forbidden to touch anything.
The city of Jericho was in a peculiar manner taken by
the Lord, therefore everything it contained specially
belonged to Him. It was the first city taken in the
land of Canaan, and the first fruits are due to God.
A curse was to descend on whoever took to themselves
anything that was in Jericho. A curse was also de-
nounced against the man who should build Jericho.
“ He shall lay the foundation thereof in his first born,”
says Joshua, “ and in his youngest son shall he set up
the gates of it.”

George. Was it ever built afterwards ?

Grandfather. It was’ built by Hiel the Bethelite in
the days when Ahab was king of Israel, and the curse,
as it had been prophesied by Joshua, descended upon
Hiel—his eldest son died at the commencement of the
work, and his youngest son at the completion of it.

Johnnie. Then the people would be afraid to live in it.

Grandfather. No, for no curse had been denounced
against those who might inhabit it, and no curse came.
It was honoured by the prophet Elisha, who sweetened
its waters. He changed the salt rivulet into a fresh
stream, which rendered the plain of Jericho fair and
fertile. | Moses calls it the city of palm trees. It
was also famous for its balsam trees. In later times it
was a place of importance, second to none in Judea