68 BATTLES OF THE BIBLE.

the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt; and all
that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that were
beyond Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og,
king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.” You observe
they were artful enough to mention only those events
which had happened a considerable time before ; they
take no notice of the miraculous passage of the Jordan,
nor of the fall of Jericho, nor of the taking of Ai. If
they had heard of any of these things in their own
country it could not be very far distant. Hearing of
these wonderful things which they had enumerated, the
elders and all the inhabitants of their country sent them
to meet the people of Israel, and to profess themselves
their servants, that they might be induced to make a
league with them. They then said that their dry mouldy
bread was new and hot when they left their homes ;
their old torn bottles were new when they brought them
away, and it was the very long journey, they said, which
had made their clothes and shoes so worn. The Israelites
were deceived by these things ; they believed the story
the people told them, and Joshua and the princes of the
congregation made a league with them, and swore to let
them live.

Marianne. Was it right, grandfather, for the Gibeonites
to tell that story ?

George. Surely it was; they could not have saved
their lives any other way.

Grandfather. It is not right to tell a lie though it be to
save our lives. They professed a respect for the God of