and Joshua was now the leader of the host. God told him that the time
had come when the people of Israel were to enter Canaan; to which land
they had all this long time been travelling, but which previously they
had not been permitted to enter on account of their sin. A description
of this sin is given in the Bible, in the fourteenth chapter of
Numbers.

But the people were now to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. They
were a very great multitude, and the river lay before them. How were
they to cross? God told them! He commanded Joshua that the priests
were to take the ark of the covenant and to go before the people; who
were to follow a short distance behind. Could the priests and the
people walk across the deep water? No. But as soon as the priests
reached the river, and their feet were dipped in the water, God
divided the Jordan into two, leaving dry ground for the Israelites to
cross upon.

The priests carried the ark into the middle of the bed of the river
and then stood still, and all the people passed on before them. When
all were over, the priests carrying the ark moved forward also, and
the waters returned to their proper place again. But before they did
so, Joshua commanded twelve men, one from each tribe, each to take a
stone from the river's bed; and these stones were set up as a memorial
of the marvellous manner in which God had brought the Israelites
across the Jordan into Canaan.

[Illustration: CROSSING THE JORDAN.]