ing spent several years in the conquest of a considerable part of Canaan, though there remained "yet very much land to be possessed." Time would be necessary for the complete subjugation of the country. New wars must be carried on; the conducting of which was becoming too heavy a task for one of his years, and he was called, therefore, to the discharge of other and equally important duties.

After describing the land that was yet to be taken possession of, God directed Joshua to proceed to the division by lot of their inheritance, among the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh. The tribes of Reuben and of Gad, with the other half tribe of Manasseh, it will be recollected, had already received their portion on the other side of the Jordan.

This division, conducted under the direction of Eleazar the high priest, of Joshua, and of the heads, or princes of the various tribes, was begun at Gilgal, where the Israelites were still encamped, and was there completed with regard to the tribes of Judah, Ephraim, and the half tribe of Manasseh. The Levites had no part assigned them, except the cities and suburbs, which were appropriated for their peculiar residence.

While the preparations were making for this great work, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and

the chief men of the tribe of Judah, to which he belonged, that they might sustain him in the request, came to Joshua with a special application in his behalf. It was to claim as his own individual portion Kirjath-arba, or Hebron, which God had promised him by Moses, for an inheritance, forty-five years before. At that time, when the spies, of whom he was one, were sent from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the promised land, he remained faithful to the trust reposed in him, while all his associates, except Joshua, gave a false and discouraging account of their expedition.

"Behold," said he, "the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty-and-five years, ever since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day, as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain," (or mountainous region,) "whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said."

His request was granted, with the blessing of Joshua upon him; because, as we are told, "he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel." A signal illustration this of the vigor both of body and of character attending a long course of obedience to the will of God, and of the faithfulness with which the divine promises to one who pursues such a course are fulfilled.

Caleb, soon afterwards, took the place assigned him, driving thence the giants, the sons of Anak, and thus showing what faith in the Almighty, and a reliance on his arm, can accomplish.

He thence went up to Kirjath-sepher, intending to take it also, and declaring that whosoever would carry his design into effect should have his daughter in marriage. Othniel, one of his nephews, achieved the enterprise-the same who, afterwards, became a deliverer of his countrymen, and a judge among them.

In the division which was made at Gilgal, it seems that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh complained to Joshua, that their portion was too inconsiderable for a people as numerous as they were. He told them in reply, to go up to the mountainous and woody parts, possessed by the Perizzites and giants, and there enlarge their possessions, by making themselves masters of the country. When they expressed a dread of encountering so formidable an enemy, he re

proved them for their fears, assuring them that they would be fully equal to the enterprise.

Before the remaining tribes had their portions assigned them, the Israelites, under the divine direction, removed to Shiloh, and there set up the tabernacle of the Lord. This place being within the borders of the tribe of Ephraim, about twenty miles north of Jerusalem, and in the very centre of Canaan, was a convenient position for Joshua to occupy in the further arrangements that were necessary to be made. Here the ark remained for more than three hundred and fifty years, till it was taken by the Philistines in the time of the high priest Eli. At Shiloh Samuel began to prophesy; and it was the residence of the prophet Ahijah in the reign of Jeroboam.

Seven tribes had not yet received their inheritance. There is reason to believe that the spirit of prompt obedience to the command of God, in taking entire possession of the promised land, was declining very fast among the Israelites. Enriched with the spoils of their enemies, and living at their ease in the midst of an abundance of provisions, the fruits of their late victories, they were but little disposed to enter upon new wars, and encounter still greater hardships and dangers.

Joshua had to rouse them from their apathy. "How long," said he, "are ye slack to go to

possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you? Give out from among you three men for each tribe;" (twenty-one in all ;) "and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them, and they shall come again to me. And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coast on the north. Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God."

The survey was made and brought to Joshua, who immediately divided the land by lot among the seven remaining tribes. In making this division it was found that the tribe of Judah, already provided for, had a disproportionate share of territory, and that to adjust the distribution fairly, it would be necessary for one of the other tribes to be located within its borders. The casting of the lot decided that Simeon was to be this tribe, and thus, by the providence of God, a remarkable prophecy was fulfilled.

The patriarch Jacob had predicted on his dying bed, that Simeon and Levi, on account of their iniquitous conduct, in the massacre of the Shechemites, should be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel. And so it proved to be the