JOSHUA CHAPTER 8 ~ 14

WEEK 38 JOSHUA 8

1 Now YHWH said to Joshua, “Do
Not be afraid, nor be dismayed,
Take all the folk of war with you,
And get up, go to Ai’s glade.
See, I have given into your hand
The king of Ai, his folk’s band,
His city, and all of his land.
2 “And you shall do to Ai and
Its king as once to Jericho
And its king. Only its spoil’s show
And its cattle you’ll take in stow
As booty for yourselves in crown.
Lay an ambush behind the town.”

Even You now, Beloved, see why the folk
Will not be honest with the clod in poke
If all must be given to temple store.
It took the death of greedy men and more
To show that armies will not fight and go
To battle without incentives to show.
Just promise them the booty and You find
Them honest and ready behind the blind.
Beloved, I take Your promises to me
Found in the noonday light, the mystery
Of leaf and needle on my mountain tree.
Beloved, I find the booty and the spoil
Without my waiting and without my toil
In gold of bud and bloom, of leaf in coil.

3 So Joshua arose, and all
The people of war at the call
To go up against Ai’s wall,
And Joshua chose once again
Thirty thousands of mighty men
Of valour and sent there by night.
4 And he commanded them to fight,
Saying “See, you shall lie in wait
Against the town behind the gate.
Do not go very far away,
But all in readiness there stay.
5 “Then I and all the folk with me
Will boldly approach the city,
And when they come out against us
As at the first, we’ll flee the fuss
Before them. 6 “For they will come out
After us till we’ve drawn in rout
Them from the city, for they’ll say,
‘They’re fleeing before us today
As at the first.’ Therefore we’ll flee
Before them. 7 “Then from your safety
You shall rise and take the city,
For YHWH your God will give you it.
8 “And when you have come in to sit
In the city, you shall set fire
To the city. By the desire
Of YHWH you’ll carry out the thing.
See, it is I who’s commanding.”

I do distrust the man who says that You
Command him to kill women, children too,
And fight the city, burn it to the ground
So that no life in it is to be found.
I do distrust, Beloved, the ones who say
Your voice spoke to them in the night or day
To wreck and tumble missiles on the poor
Because they might be evil to be sure.
The Bible is the record of how men
Who knew commandments well, and how and when
To do the right and just thing on the earth,
Still chose instead to call the wrong thing worth.
I pray Joshua was not among those too,
But more that I may do right when I do.

9 Joshua therefore sent them out,
And they went to lie in ambush,
And stayed between Bethel and route
To Ai, on the west side’s crush
Of Ai, but Joshua stayed
That night, among the people prayed.
10 And Joshua got up early
In the morning and gathered the
Army, and went up, he and all
The elders of Israel at call,
Before the people to Ai.
11 And all the people of the cry
Who were with him went up and came
Near, and they came before the claim
Of the city and camped upon
The north side of Ai at dawn.
And a valley was between them
And Ai. 12 So he took in hem
About five thousand men and set
Them in wait between parapet
Of Bethel and Ai, to west
Of the city. 13 And when they’d set
The people, all the army met
On the north of the city wall,
With the ambush upon the west
Of the city, Joshua went
That night into the valley bent.

Beloved, I lie in wait on the north side
Of Your city, and on the west I hide
My ready ambush, if perchance at dawn
When You awaken and in faith have drawn
The waters and perfumes of Your ablutions,
I might surprise You with my resolutions
And take You captive to my heart in love.
You smile at my naive plans and the glove
I leave to warn You of my stratagem.
But this is true beyond doubt, Treasured Gem,
That whether I spoil You or at Your hem
I stay to be Your slave of love well set,
The victory’s assured whatever’s met.
For I am Yours and You are mine to get.

14 It came to pass, when Ai’s king
Saw it, that the men of the ring
Hurried and rose early and went
Out against Israel and bent
On battle, he and all his folk,
At an appointed place and oak
Before the plain. But he did not
Know that there was an ambush plot
Against him behind the city.
15 And Joshua and all made free
As if Israel were beaten there
Before them, and fled by the stair
Of the desert. 16 So all the folk
Who were in Ai at a stroke
Came to pursue them. And they went
After Joshua and were sent
Away from the city. 17 So there
Was not a man left to his share
In Ai or Bethel who did
Not go out after Israel’s bid.
And they left the city open
And followed after Israel’s men.
18 Then YHWH said to Joshua, “Stretch
Out the spear in your hand to fetch
Against Ai, for I’ll give it
Into your hand, as it is fit.”
And Joshua stretched out the spear
In his hand toward the city’s gear.
19 So those in ambush hastened out
Of their place, they ran as in rout
As soon as he stretched out his hand,
And they entered the city band
And took it, and hurried to set
The city on fire without fret.
20 And when the men of Ai looked
Behind them, they saw they were cooked,
And indeed, the smoke of the city
Ascended to heaven without pity.
So they were trapped, no place to flee
This way or that, for Israel’s bee
Who had fled to the wilderness
Turned back on the pursuers’ dress.

Wherever I turn in my flight from You,
Beloved, along the fervent silver dew,
Along the lichen-crested stony view,
Or on the dry sand of the nearest shore,
Wherever I turn, You are at the door.
Bending a timid head not fit to meet
Your eye of love and judgement that would greet
Me, I turn once again, and find Your feet,
Brazen and burning, glittering to show
That You are there, though not seen, where I go.
Your strategy makes havoc of my life,
My plans, my plots, my most coveted strife.
From You I flee in love and fear to find
Refuge from You in Your heart intertwined.

21 Now when Joshua and the folk
Of Israel all saw the smoke
That the ambush had set on city,
They turned back and struck without pity
The men of Ai. 22 Then the others
Came out of the city, their brothers,
Against them, so that they were caught
Between Israel, some of them fought
On this side and some on that side.
And they struck them down to the hide,
So that they let none of them live
Or escape as a fugitive.

You strike me down as soon as I rise up
With blows on both sides and on plate and cup.
You do not let me live, Beloved, but take
My soul to Your own loving heart and wake
To love of me until my smouldering life
Extinguishes beneath Your cleaving knife.
I would arise and go, but as I stand
You slay me with the darts of love’s command,
And I fall once again beneath Your hand,
Shuddered and unmade to be reformed by
Your fingers that created earth and sky
And my soul and my breath once passing by.
The warfare that You make upon my soul
Returns each breath to be my soughten goal.

23 But the king of Ai they took
Alive, and brought him back to look
For Joshua. 24 It came to pass
When Israel had killed the crass
Inhabitants of Ai all
In the field, in the desert brawl
Where they pursued them, and when they
All had fallen by mouth of sword
Until they were consumed that day,
That all the Israelites in horde
Returned to Ai and struck down
With mouth of the sword the whole town.
25 So all who fell that day, both men
And women, twelve thousand in glen,
All the people of Ai’s den.
26 For Joshua did not draw back
His hand, which he stretched out not slack
With spear, but he fully destroyed
In Ai all who were employed.
27 Only the cattle and the spoil
Of that city Israel for toil
Took as booty for themselves, by
The word of YHWH which He made nigh
To Joshua. 28 So Joshua
Burned Ai and made it a heap
Forever, desolation raw
To this day forever to keep.

Beloved, You come to ravage soul and den
Where I hide out from You and denizen
Of this fast world that would devour my pate.
You come, and what I held with selfish grate
I give up to You willingly in love.
You rush upon my being with a glove
And boots of iron, and yet I give my own
To You and do not withhold glaive or throne.
Take all my oxen and take all my sheep,
Leave me bereft, either to laugh or weep,
But accept at my hand the sacrifice
Of life and living, my every device.
Beloved, take for Your own the empty glare
Of my holding, to be a real share.

29 And the king of Ai he hanged
On a tree until evening clanged.
And as soon as the sun went down,
Joshua commanded with frown
That they should take his carcass down
From the tree, cast it at the gate
Going into the city way,
And to raise over it a great
Heap of stones that stays to this day.

Beloved, You hung me out for all to see,
A dripping corpse at Ai’s gate’s decree,
And in my shame of graven innocence
I plotted to give my body’s incense
In burnt offering before Your glowing face.
Though I have been given that hostage grace,
My body still hangs for the craven race
To pillage and to mock upon the gate.
Such is my own and every servant’s fate
That comes to You, whether in hope of great
Or small in blessing. All meet the same rate.
There is no room for other in the dress
Of Your reality in wilderness.
The corpse dries up in fluttering duress.

30 Now Joshua built an altar
To YHWH God of Israel for star
In Mount Ebal, 31 as Moses who
Was the servant and slave of YHWH
Had told folk of Israel to do,
As it is written in the Book
Of the Law of Moses to look,
“An altar of whole stones on which
No man has wielded iron pitch.”
And they offered on it burnt offerings
To YHWH, and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 And there, before Israel’s folk he
Wrote on the stones a new copy
Of the law of Moses, which he
Had written. 33 Then all Israel,
With their elders, officers well
And judges, stood on either side
Of the ark before the priests’ ride,
The Levites, who carried the ark
Of covenant of YHWH in park,
The stranger as well as he who
Had been born among their own crew.
Half of them were in front of Mount
Gerizim and half in account
In front of Mount Ebal, as Moses
The servant of YHWH once discloses,
That they should bless there Israel’s folk.
34 And afterward he read and woke
All the words of the law, the blessings
And cursings, and by the addressings
Of all that’s written in the book
Of the law. 35 There was not a nook
Of all that Moses had commanded
Which Joshua did not read handed
Before the congregation of
All Israel, with women, love,
The little ones, and strangers who
Were living there among their crew.

Some would covet to stand in place to hear
The voice of Joshua ring on the ear.
Beloved, I am one greater blessed than those
Who hear Your voice sound in the scrawling rows
Of Scripture bent to cantillation’s flows.
Some would covet to read the writing on
The cribbled stones on Ebal that were drawn
By Joshua to show the way of life.
But I have peace and solace in the strife,
As I hear Your voice in remembering
Solicit sound to set the messaging.
Beloved, I take hold of far Ebal’s stone
And stand with it before Your shining throne
And plead the billet-doux that I have known.

JOSHUA 9

1 It came to pass when all the kings
Who were on this side of the springs
Of Jordan, in the hills and in
The lowland parts and also in
All the coasts of the great sea by
Lebanon, the Hittite foreby,
The Amorite, the Canaanite,
The Perizzite, and the Hivite,
Also the Jebusite heard that,
2 They gathered to fight there where sat
Joshua and Israel at bat.

All kings and presidents gather to fight
Me also, my Beloved, in laws of sprite
That war against Your word and Your command.
They are in number like the waves and sand
Upon the sea-shore, where I come to stand.
They make exception to the rule You gave
That no man should send others to the grave
And take the life that no man knows to give,
While You and I say let every man live.
They make exception to the right of all
To celebrate the Sabbath with no call
Of boss to labourer nor man to beast,
But that all living things on Sabbath feast.
For these two only are my foes increased.

3 But when those who lived in Gibeon
Heard the thing Joshua had done
To Jericho and Ai, 4 they
Were wily and went on a day
Making to be ambassador.
And they took old sacks for their score
On their donkeys, old wineskins torn
And patched, 5 and old sandals and worn
On their feet, and in old clothes dressed,
And all the bread in their sacks messed
Was dry and mouldy. 6 And they went
To Joshua, the regiment
At Gilgal, and said to him and
To the men of Israel they scanned,
“We have come from a far country,
Now therefore, make with us treaty.”

Make the deceitful who come in the name
Of other than they are and to their shame
My servants to serve me and not me them,
I pray, Beloved, and seek Your stratagem.
They come on donkeys made of steel and tone
Of rubber and plastic on plastic throne,
They come with old wineskins of emerald glass
And in sandals fastened with velcro’s mass,
And nibble pastries. But I see the row
Of their deception. Beloved, let me go
Out from the presence of the wicked ones
Who make treaties in lies upon their buns.
Their missiles underground and secretly
Haunt widows and orphans beside the sea.

7 Then the men of Israel said to
The Hivites, “It may be that you
Live among us, so how can we
Make with you any peace treaty?”
8 But they said to Joshua, “We
Are your servants.” And Joshua
Said to them, “Who are you by Jah,
And where do you come from?” 9 So they
Said to him, “From a far country
Your servants have come faithfully,
Because of the name of YHWH your
God, for we’ve heard on a far shore
Of His fame, and all that He did
In Egypt, 10 “and all that He did
To the two kings of Amorites
Who were beyond the Jordan sites,
To Sihon king of Heshbon, and
Og king of Bashan, who at hand
Was at Ashtaroth. 11 “Therefore our
Elders and all the dwellers’ tower
Of our country spoke to us, saying
‘Take provisions with you for staying
On the journey, and go to meet
Them, and say to them, “We are meet
To be your servants, now therefore,
Make covenant with us in corps.”’
12 “This bread of ours we took out hot
For our provision from our plot
On the day we left to come here,
Now look, it’s dry and mouldy gear.
13 “And these wineskins which we have filled
Were new, and see, they’re torn and spilled,
And these clothes and shoes have become
Old because of the journey run.”
14 Then the men of Israel took some
Of their provisions, but when done
They did not ask counsel of YHWH.
15 So Joshua made peace with crew,
And made a treaty with them to
Let them live, and the princes of
The congregation swore to love.
16 And it came to pass at the end
Of three days set in dividend,
After they’d made a pact with them,
They heard that they were at the hem
Their neighbours who lived near to them.

When men come to my door and bring the promise
Let me be always in place doubting Thomas.
When they show me their wares and bring contract
Before my eyes in buying or the act
Of sacrifice and prayer, let me doubt all
The things they brag about from Rome to Gaul.
Let me, Beloved, evaluate all things
By Your ten words, both merchants and all kings
As well as beggars and the taxman’s coat.
Let me use Your commandments to make note
That all are deficient, despite the fact
That ten words only form the sacred pact.
Beloved, let me stand firm on these ten laws
Though all the world should hide their bloody claws.

17 Then the children of Israel went
Travelling and came as they were sent
To their cities on the third day.
Now their cities were Gibeon’s way,
Chephirah, Beeroth, Kirjath Jearim.
18 But Israel’s folk had not to hear them
In an attack, because the rulers
Of the assembly had been foolers
And sworn to them by YHWH the God
Of Israel upon the sod.
And all the congregation mad
Complained against the rulers’ pad.
19 Then all the rulers said to all
The congregation by the wall,
“We’ve sworn to them by YHWH the God
Of Israel not to lift rod,
Now therefore, we may not touch them.
20 “But this is what we’ll do to them:
We’ll let them live, lest wrath be on
Us because of the oath we’ve drawn.”
21 And the rulers said to them, “Let
Them live, but let them be as set
Cutters of wood and drawers of
Water for all the folk above,
As the rulers had promised them
Who came out in such stratagem.”

The Lutheran and Baptist come to me
And claim to serve You and they claim to be
The guardians of the right way. I see
They are imposters, none of them retain
Even two of the commandments writ plain,
To wit, that You are One God and not three,
And You do not permit shedding of blood.
Their lies roll round the world and like a flood
Deceive all men and if the truth be told
As many women are bought in their fold.
Let them, Beloved, be cutters of the wood
And drawers of water, until they should
Meet Saul’s sword or if not until the day
You judge them and throw them into hell’s way.

22 Then Joshua called for them all,
He spoke to them and to recall,
Saying “Why have you deceived us,
Saying ‘We’re very far from you,’
When in fact you live near to us?
23 “Now therefore, you are cursed, and none
Of you shall be freed once we’ve done
From being slaves, cutters of wood
And drawers of water for good
For the house of my God begun.”
24 So they answered Joshua and
Said “Because your servants at hand
Were surely told that YHWH your God
Commanded His servant with rod,
Moses to give you all the land,
And to destroy all in the land,
Inhabitants before your hand,
That’s why we were afraid indeed
For our lives because of your creed,
And have done this thing in our need.
25 “And now, here we are, in your hands,
Do with us as seems by commands
Good and right to do to our bands.”
26 So did he to them, and he saved
Them from Israel’s folk’s hand that raved,
So they did not kill them at all.
27 And that day Joshua did install
Them as cutters of wood and all
To carry water for the folk
Of the congregation and stoke
The altar of YHWH, in the place
Which He’d choose, even to this pace.

The world is full of things that do not seem
To be the things they are. The milk and cream
Are often made of artificial gas,
And covered with a sugar taste, alas!
My own self comes to me with well-worn shoe
And dried and mouldy bread instead of new,
So shall I blame the neighbour for his guile
In cheating me of silver in a pile?
Beloved, I flee to You in refuge from
The enemy within and wranglesome
Without. Replace suspicion in my heart
With clear eye-sight for those who play a part.
I need no slave to carry water, cut
My wood, Beloved. Let me keep guard-doors shut.

JOSHUA 10

1 Now it came to pass when the king
Adoni-Zedek of the spring
Of Jerusalem heard the facts
How Joshua performed his acts
In taking Ai to destroy,
As he’d done to Jericho’s joy
And its king, so he had done to
Ai and its king and his crew,
And how dwellers of Gibeon
Had made peace with Israel and won
And were among them, 2 that they feared
Greatly, because Gibeon appeared
A great city, a royal one,
Greater than Ai said and done,
And all men mighty in its run.
3 Therefore Adoni-Zedek king
Of Jerusalem sent a thing
To Hoham king of Hebron, and
Piram king of Jarmuth by hand,
And Japhia king of Lachish, and
Debir king of Eglon, saying
4 “Come up to me and help me, that
We may attack Gibeon, who sat
For peace with Joshua and with
The folk of Israel not for myth.”

Who make a contract of peace with the crew
Of Joshua will face the tune and hue
Of Rome and Mecca united in view
To turn their gates to pigsties and their fields
To dust and hornets for their faithful yields.
Who may contract Islam with Joshua
Will live to see the battlements in awe
Raised up against cabin and fence and well.
He’ll hear the half articulated spell
To sun god, earth goddess and elf and sprite
To further his undignifying plight.
Beloved, I walk along the razor brink
And sit down on a granite seat to think
What slight angels here rise up and what sink.

5 Therefore the five Amorite kings,
The king of Jerusalem’s springs,
The king of Hebron, and the king
Of Jarmuth, and also the king
Of Lachish, the king of Eglon,
Gathered together and were drawn
Up, they and all their armies, and
Encamped before Gibeon in band
And made war against it at hand.
6 And the men of Gibeon sent
To Joshua and to prevent
Him at the camp at Gilgal, saying
“Let not your hand bide servants’ slaying,
Come quickly to us, save us and
Help us, for all the kings at hand
Of Amorites who in the hills
Live have gathered against our kills.”

You turn to what seems good betrayal by
The Gibeonites when they came on the sly.
Now since they are allies the gross attack
On them gives You the promised, hoped for slack
To justify extermination of
The Amorites whose kings come hand in glove
To destroy Gibeon. Beloved, I know
That behind all the glitter and the show
Of politics and slim oppressions glow
Your power and plan hide to appear at last
When the stone can be best and furthest cast.
I watch the changing rumours and the states
That wax and wane about my china plates
And wonder at the smallness of the rates.

7 So Joshua ascended from
Gilgal, he and all the folk come
For war with him, and all the great
Men of valour. 8 YHWH came to state
To Joshua, “Do not fear them,
For I’ve set them beneath your hem,
Not one of them shall remain here
To stand before you without fear.”
9 Joshua therefore by surprise
Came on them, having made the rise
To march all night from Gilgal’s skies.
10 So YHWH routed them there before
Israel, killed them with a great score
Of slaughter at Gibeon, chased
Them all along the way that traced
To Beth Horon, and struck them down
As far as Azekah and town
Of Makkedah. 11 It came to pass,
As they fled before Israel’s mass
And were on the descent of Beth
Horon, that YHWH cast down for death
Large hailstones from the sky on them
As far as Azekah, and then
They died. And so there were more who
Died from the hailstones than the crew
Of Israel killed with the sword.
12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD
YHWH in the day when YHWH delivered
The Amorites shivered and slivered
Before the folk of Israel, and
He said in sight of Israel’s band,
“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
And Moon in Vale of Aijalon.”

O my Beloved, though I see hail and storm
Flood out upon the earth, the cold and warm
Hit not the guilty, but innocent poor
While wicked rich sit high and dry and sure.
The tidal waves, the breaking of the dyke,
Tornadoes coming on the way to strike
The woman and her children in the light
Aluminum home on wheels for a fright
Are not from Your hand, that I see because
They always leave the wicked with sharp claws.
Return once more, Beloved, with stones of hail
To trample down the killers, break their mail
And cleanse the land of those whose hand is set
Against the poor and struggling in the net.

13 So the sun stood still, and the moon
Stopped, till the people made the doom
Upon their enemies. Is not
This written in Jasher’s book’s plot?
So the sun stood still in the sky,
And did not hasten to comply
With going down for near a day.
14 And like that there has been no day
Before or after it, that YHWH
Heeded the voice of man, for YHWH
Fought for Israel under sky-blue.

The story is a good one, or it was,
Before our science came and lost the cause.
The story of the sun that did not set
Because You held its course with bayonet
Was well designed to show the sun was not
A god at all, or if a god, one taught
By You to travel in its single way
And not depart from it from day to day
Unless You came to intervene and stop
It from its goings till You let it drop.
I do not need the sun to testify
To me, Beloved, that You control the sky.
Instead I pray Your power upon the earth
That Your will rule both poor and men of worth.

15 Then Joshua returned, and all the folk
Of Israel with him, to the stoke
Camp at Gilgal. 16 But these five kings
Had fled and hidden in the wings
Of a cave at Makkedah’s springs.
17 And it was told Joshua, saying
“The five kings have been found there staying
Hidden in cave at Makkedah.”
18 So Joshua said “Roll large stones
Against the mouth of the cave’s tones,
And set men by it there on guard.
19 “And do not stay there in retard,
But pursue your enemies, and
Attack their rear by the command.
Don’t let them go into their cities,
For YHWH your God, and without pities,
Has delivered them in your hand.”

They say the kings went in the cave to hide,
Or rather not to hide but to abide
Till coming of the Sabbath since the sun
Did no longer indicate when the run
Was ready. Therefore it makes little bun
If we observe the day on one day or
The next. The fallacy of that in spore
Is simply that Israel was never stowed,
But well knew after when the Sabbath showed
Through times of all the prophets after Moses
And well along when You, my Beloved, chose us.
The fallacy speaks for itself when they
Use hiding as excuse to keep Sunday.
Mithra and Tammuz rejoice with ambrosis.

20 It happened when Joshua and
The folk of Israel joined in band
Finished the slaying with a great
Slaughter until it came to sate,
That those escaping fled into
Their well-fenced cities from the view.

Ah, my Beloved, Your word presumes the right
With Joshua, and Your command’s to fight.
Lead me, Beloved, along a peaceful road
And do not command me to lift the load
And burden of the sword, bullet and plan
To exterminate any to a man.
Unless Your appointed leader is near
To tell the soldier when to shoot and cheer,
I must fall back on Decalogue with tear
And refrain from the violent-like gear.
I see Your face peer out from glistening eye
Of friend and enemy, and so know why
The blind wrath overcomes the right reply.
The ways of god-men are abundant queer.

21 The people all returned to camp,
To Joshua and to revamp
Makkedah, in peace from the stew.
No one moved his tongue anywise
Against any of Israel’s guys.
22 Then Joshua said “Open door
Of the cave, and bring out of store
Those five kings to me from the cave.”
23 And they did so, and brought those grave
Five kings to him out of the cave,
Jerusalem’s king, and the king
Of Hebron, and of Jarmuth king,
The king of Lachish, and the king
Of Eglon. 24 So when they brought out
Those kings to Joshua in rout,
That Joshua called all the men
Of Israel, and said again
To captains of the men of war
Who went with him to settle score,
“Come near, put your feet on the necks
Of these kings as they shall be wrecks.”
And they drew near and put their feet
On their necks. 25 Then Joshua’s bleat
To them was, “Do not be afraid,
Nor be dismayed, be strong, be made
Of good courage, for thus shall YHWH
Do to all your enemies’ crew
Against whom you shall fight in due.”
26 And afterward Joshua struck
Them and killed them, and hanged their truck
On five trees, and they hung there still
On the trees until evening’s fill.
27 So it was at the time the sun
Was going down Joshua’d done
Commanding them to take them down
From the trees, cast them from the town
Into the cave where they had been
Hiding, and laid large stones to screen
The cave’s mouth to this very day,
And you can see it on the way.

The great sin of these kings was to go out
And fight pre-emptive battle without doubt
Thinking they were defending old and young
Women and children from certain death’s tongue.
That excuse to do battle still rings true
To those today who say they follow You
And crucify men in the Middle East
Certain that will take vengeance at the least.
Beloved, Your light alone that every man
Contains the I-presence of divine span
Can break the cycle of evil in clan.
I pray You light upon the multitude
And on my own revenge plans few and crude
And lay my head upon Your solitude.

28 On that day Joshua took that
City of Makkedah with bat
And struck it and also its king
With the mouth of the sword and sling.
He utterly destroyed them, all
The people who were in its stall.
He left no one to stay at all.
He also made Makkedah’s king
Like the king of Jericho’s sting.

I wonder that the suckling child must feel
The crushing weight of Joshua’s stone heel,
And that the servant girl and pregnant dam
Must make fodder for fields of corn and yam.
Could not one boy be left, a child of eight
To remember father and mother’s fate?
The sting of death is something all men hate,
At least when turned upon their own brown pate.
Beloved, I open up my city cave
Of inner chamber, hand You sword and glaive,
And wait the flash and blast my servants crave.
Slay every evil thought within my breast,
The youngest, most childish along with best,
And bring me clean and faithful to Your nest.

29 Then Joshua passed from that place
Makkedah, and all Israel’s race
With him, to Libnah, and they fought
Against Libnah. 30 And YHWH was brought
Also to give it and its king
Into the hand of Israel’s wing,
He smote it and all the folk there
With the mouth of the sword and bare.
He let none remain, but he did
To the king of that city hid
As he did to Jericho’s king.
31 And Joshua went from Libnah’s claim,
And all Israel with him for fame,
To Lachish, and encamped before
It and fought against it’s closed door.

Poor Libnah was stricken by Your own hand
Working through Joshua and by command,
And yet I doubt and wonder, were there there
Any innocent at all who took share
In the destruction? What about the small
Children who were destroyed in the town’s fall?
Do You know, my Beloved, such stories make
The sweet Christian today decide to take
The holy war to home of innocent
Children, do You know that the Muslim vent
Of terror falls also upon the ones
Who are innocent of all wicked tonnes
Of oppression and consumption? I find
All about me such violence in kind.

32 And YHWH delivered Lachish too
Into the hand of Israel’s crew,
Who took it on the second day,
And smote it and all the folk’s way
Who were in it with the mouth of
The sword, according as above
To all that he did to Libnah.
33 Then Horam king of Gezer’s straw
Came trundling up to help Lachish,
And Joshua struck him and his fish,
Until he left him none remaining.
34 From Lachish Joshua uncomplaining
Passed on to Eglon, all the folk
Of Israel with him, and in stroke
Encamped against it and fought there.
35 They took it on that day to bear
And struck it with the mouth of sword,
All the folk who were in its horde
He utterly destroyed that day,
According to all in his sway
He did to Lachish on the way.
36 And Joshua went from Eglon,
All Israel with him, to Hebron,
And they fought against it. 37 And they
Took it and struck it to the clay
With the mouth of the sword, its king,
All its cities, and all that sing
Who were in it, he left remaining
None, according to all sustaining
That he had done to Eglon too,
But utterly destroyed its crew.
38 Then Joshua returned, and all
Israel with him, to Debir’s stall,
And fought against it. 39 And he took
It and its king and every nook,
All its cities, they struck them down
With the mouth of the sword in town
And utterly destroyed the folk
All who were in it to a bloke.
He left remaining none, as he
Had done to Hebron, so did he
To Debir and its king, as he
Had done also to Libnah and
Its king and all of the king’s band.

Let me leave none remaining of the band
Of wicked devices that come to hand
Each morning in this world of illusion.
I leave the troubled bow, arrows, and gun.
Let me slay every plot that comes to mind
To get back for my own from thrashing blind
Men who in their despair fail to seek out
The light of Your revealing from their doubt.
Let me return to dust also the ploy
That my heart would take up and wield with joy
Against those who doubt not, but seek my falling.
I miss their trap abruptly at You calling
To turn back suddenly and find the gate
Of Truth massive and still where angels wait.

40 So Joshua conquered the land,
All the mountain country at hand
And the south and the lowland and
The wilderness slopes, every king,
He left none of them remaining,
But utterly destroyed what breathed,
As YHWH God of Israel bequeathed.
41 And Joshua conquered them from
Kadesh Barnea as you come
To Gaza, and all the country
Of Goshen, as far as the lea
Of Gibeon. 42 All these kings and
Their land Joshua took in hand,
Because YHWH God of Israel fought
For Israel. 43 Then Joshua thought
To return, and all Israel too,
To the camp at Gilgal in view.

I foray out upon the bleeding sod
Day by day where I work with holy rod
To make and destroy what I need in pod.
Like Joshua and his when evening’s come,
I return to my own gate and the sum
Of my repentance, praise and petition,
And make my plaint for one more day that’s done.
A battle and a larch is my reward
Upon a hillside, by a lake, no sword
Upon my belt nor in my hand to wield
On Canaan divine justice to a field.
After my quiet victories I yield
To the retreat and find my hearth and gate
And lean upon Your heart not to be late.

WEEK 39 JOSHUA 11

1 It came to pass, when Jabin king
Of Hazor had heard of this thing,
That he sent to Jobab the king
Of Madon, and to Shimron’s king,
To the king of Achshaph, 2 and to
The kings who were from the north too,
In the mountains, in the plain south
Of Chinneroth, in lowland’s mouth,
And in the westward heights of Dor,
3 To the Canaanites from before
The east and also in the west,
The Amorite, the Hittite’s best,
The Perizzite, the Jebusite
In the mountains, and the Hivite
Below Hermon and in the land
Of Mizpah. 4 They went out in band,
They and all their armies with them,
As many people as the hem
Of the seashore for multitude
Has sand, with an enormous brood
Of horses and with chariots.
5 And when all these kings in their ruts
Had met together, they came camped
Together at the waters stamped
Of Merom to do battle there
Against Israel, the good and fair.

Nato was formed to concede to the need
Of opposing invasion of the creed
That pretended at least justice for those
Who were poor and in need of food and clothes.
The difference perhaps between then and now
Is today all are heathen bull and cow
To worship at the altar of the state.
With Joshua there was a side as great
As recognizing You and sovereignty
Of Your power to command our liberty.
Beloved, I wait You at the door and see
The state torture the lovely and with hate
Grind down the helpless while the ruthless go
On into hiding to escape the show.

6 But YHWH said to Joshua, “Do
Not be afraid of all their crew,
For tomorrow about this time
I’ll deliver all in their prime
Slaughtered before Israel for crime.
You shall hamstring their horses and
Burn chariots with a fiery brand.”
7 So Joshua and all the folk
Of war with him came at a stroke
Against them suddenly beside
Where the waters of Merom bide,
And they attacked them. 8 And YHWH gave
Them in the hand of Israel’s wave,
Who defeated them and chased them
To greater Sidon, to the stem
Of the brook Misrephoth, and to
The valley of Mizpah as due
Eastward, and they attacked them till
They left not one remaining still.
9 So Joshua did them as YHWH
The blessèd Lord had told him to.
He hamstrung their horses and burned
Their chariots with fire and spurned.

I do not care a whit for what he did
When Joshua burned chariots amid
The din of battle, though I still deplore
The violence that went along before.
I make appeal to Your words that are law
That none may kill his brother for a flaw.
I understand that horse means power to kill,
But I protest the thing he thought Your will,
To hamstring beasts whose hearts were never meant
To sin against another where they went.
Who has not tongue to tell his pain and loss,
If he be stallion or rhinoceros,
Still hurts. Beloved, in future mind the weak
Who have no prayer but that of maw and beak.

10 Joshua turned back at that time
And took Hazor, and struck its rhyme
Of king with the sword, for Hazor
Was once the chief of all that shore.
11 And they struck all the people who
Were in it with the mouth of sword,
Utterly destroying their crew.
There was none left breathing aboard.
And then he burned Hazor with fire.
12 All the cities of the empire,
And all their kings, Joshua took
And struck with mouth of sword like hook.
He utterly destroyed them, as
Moses the servant of YHWH has
Commanded. 13 But as for the cities
That stood on their mounds like bandittis,
Israel burned none of them, except
Hazor only, which Joshua kept
To be burned. 14 And all of the spoil
Of these cities and livestock’s toil,
The folk of Israel took as booty
For themselves, but they struck with duty
Every man with the mouth of sword
Until they had destroyed the gored,
And they left none breathing unscored.

What can I say, Beloved, I am aghast
At tale of slaughter between each repast.
All’s fair in love and war, and I suggest
That only love and war as a tale’s guest
Will captivate the living crew today,
Just as it caught the ear in roundelay
Three thousand years ago and ever since.
It may be delicacy makes me wince.
If lesson be that You will save the just
Before the armies of immortal dust
And raise Your banner higher for my trust,
Then I set to one side my doubts and fears
And follow wherever Your army steers.
But is there to be no end of the tears?

15 As YHWH’d commanded Moses His
Servant, so Moses in a whiz
Commanded Joshua, and so
Joshua did. He left no show
Undone of all that YHWH’d commanded
Moses. 16 Thus Joshua remanded
Took all this land, the hill country,
All the south, all of Goshen’s fee,
The lowland, and the Jordan plain,
Mountains of Israel and its drain,
17 From Mount Halak and the ascent
To Seir, even to Baal Gad sent
In the valley of Lebanon
Below Mount Hermon under sun.
He captured all their kings, and struck
Them down and killed them to a duck.
18 Joshua made war a long time
With all those kings in all that clime.
19 There was not a city that made
Peace with the folk of Israel stayed,
Except the Hivites, who dwelt in
Gibeon. All those they took in
Battle. 20 For it was of YHWH to
Harden their hearts, that they should do
So to come against Israel in
Battle, that He might fully win,
And that they receive no mercy,
But be destroyed down to a tree,
As YHWH commanded Moses free.

I’m glad You make exception in the slaughter,
Perhaps because of the case of the daughter
Of Jacob, who was defiled when he caught her
By Shechem the Hivite and by deceit
Lost his own life without chance to retreat
As well as all within the city slain.
You may remember that for lucre’s gain
Those men were circumcised to faith in You.
So they did not receive that time their due.
By deceit they were cut off from Your view,
And by deceit their descendants survived
By mouldy bread and broken wineskins jived.
Beloved, I cheat You in my rush to be
One with You, cheat me too of my life free.

21 And at that time Joshua came
And cut off the Anakim’s claim
From the mountains, from Hebron, from
Debir, from Anab, and all from
The mountains of Judah, and from
All the mountains of Israel,
Joshua destroyed them full well
With their cities. 22 None of the same
Were left in the land of the claim
Of Israel’s folk, they remained only
In Gaza, in Gath, and in lonely
Ashdod. 23 So Joshua took all
The land, and according to all
That YHWH had said to Moses, and
Joshua gave it as in the hand
Of Israel according to
Their divisions by their tribes true.
Then the land rested from the war,
Which had been upon the land sore.

Is it true that war could be stopped for good,
Or at least for a while, as such war should,
By equally dividing up the land?
I’d think in forty years such promise grand
Would result in a vengeance from those who
Gave up a share of land to poor in crew.
Divide the land, indeed, and give each soul
Responsibility to dig the coal
Or hoe the row or cut and replant oak
And pine, in sum, create peace at a stroke.
But then remember year of Jubilee,
That great law that destroys land values’ fee,
And makes justice for all society.
Land cannot truly be owned by decree.

JOSHUA 12

1 These are the kings of the land whom
The folk of Israel set to doom,
And whose land they possessed upon
The other side from Jordan’s dawn,
From the river Arnon to Mount
Hermon, and all the eastern fount
Of Jordan’s plain, 2 Sihon the king
Of the Amorites, who kept spring
In Heshbon and ruled half the land
Of Gilead, from Aroer,
Which is on the bank of river
Arnon, from the middle of that
River, even as far as sat
The river Jabbok, at which sites
Is the border of Ammonites,
3 And the eastern Jordan plain from
The Sea of Chinneroth to come
As far as Arabah, Salt Sea,
The road to Beth Jeshimoth’s scree,
And southward below Pisgah’s slopes.
4 Og king of Bashan and his hopes,
Last of the giants, who lived at
Ashtaroth and at Edrei sat,
5 And reigned over Mount Hermon, and
Over Salcah, over the land
Of Bashan, as far as the line
Of the Geshurites and the fine
Maachathites, and over the half
Of Gilead up to the staff
Of Sihon king of Heshbon. 6 These
Moses the servant at YHWH’s ease
And Israel’s folk had overcome,
And Moses servant of YHWH done
Had given it as a possession
To the Reubenites in accession,
The Gadites, and half of the tribe
Of Manasseh and to subscribe.

Sihon king of Amorites on the till,
Sitting in Heshbon, reckoning and bill,
And ruling over every plant and shrub
In half of Gilead, he makes the rub.
The other half of Gilead remains
The seat of Og in ivory tooth for stains
Upon the mount of lechery for gains.
These two kings crumble, fall down and lie still.
Beloved, lust of pleasure and wealth abide
Not only in Bashan at Gilead’s side,
But wherever the Jordan river flows.
I turn to find its petticoat that shows
For shame beneath surplice, mitre and crown.
I flee to You from both the heart and town.

7 And these are the kings of the land
Which Joshua at Israel’s hand
Conquered on this side of Jordan,
On the west, from Baal Gad by plan
In the valley of Lebanon
As far as Mount Halak and won
The ascent to Seir, which he gave,
Did Joshua to the tribes grave
Of Israel and as a possession
According to each one’s concession,
8 In the mountain country, and in
The valleys, in the plains within,
The springs, and in the wilderness,
And in the south, Hittites’ address,
The Amorites, the Canaanites,
Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites,
9 The king of Jericho, for one,
The king of Ai, where you run
Beside Bethel, one, 10 and the king
Of Jerusalem, one to spring,
The king of Hebron, one, 11 the king
Of Jarmuth, one, the king found in
Lachish, one, 12 the king of the sin
Of Eglon, one, king of Gezer,
For one, 13 and the king of Debir,
One, the king of Geder, one, 14 and
The king of all of Hormah’s land,
One, the king of Arad, one, 15 and
The king of Libnah, one, the king
Of Adullam, one, 16 and the king
Of Makkedah, one, the king of
Bethel, one, 17 also the king of
Tappuah, one, the king of Hepher,
One, 18 the king of Aphek not deafer,
One, the king of Lasharon, one,
19 Also the king of Madon, one,
The king of Hazor, one, 20 the king
Of Shimron Meron, one, the king
Of Achshaph, one, 21 the king to reign
In Taanach, one, the king of plain
Of Megiddo, one, 22 the king of
Kedesh, one, also the king of
Jokneam in Carmel, one, 23 and
The king of Dor in heights to stand
In Dor, one, the king of the folk
Of Gilgal, one, 24 the king to stoke
Tirzah, one, so the kings have done
All of the kings, all thirty-one.

So many kings to rule so small a land!
How many soldiers in each small king’s band!
Although it is not posh today to call
Each little tyrant king, my crystal ball
Says will to rule another now as then
Is just as common among modern men.
Let me, Belovèd, not prevail to rule
My neighbour nor his labour nor his mule,
Nor yet myself. I crave instead the hand
That made me for my will and head’s command.
One thing alone is sweeter than to be
The king of all I see, eternally,
And that is freedom that comes by Your yoke.
I tasted liberty, Lord, when You spoke.

JOSHUA 13

1 Now Joshua was old, advanced
In all the many years he danced.
And YHWH said to him, “You are old,
Advanced in years, and there’s unsold
Remaining much land to be got.
2 “This is the land still to be got,
All the land of the Philistines
And all the Geshurites’ combines,
3 “From Sihor, which from Egypt’s east,
As far as the border at least
Of Ekron northward Canaanite,
The five lords of the Philistines,
The Gazite, and the Ashdodite,
The Ashkelonites, the Gittites,
The Ekronites, and the Avites,
4 “From the south, all the Canaanites’
Land, and Mearah that belongs
To the Sidonians for wrongs
As far as Aphek, to the edge
Of the land of the Amorites,
5 “The land of the Gebalites’ hedge,
And all Lebanon, toward sunrise,
From Baal Gad below Hermon’s skies
As far as Hamath’s entrance gates,
6 “All the inhabitants and states
Of the mountains from Lebanon
As far as the Brook Misrephoth,
And all land of Sidonian,
Them I will drive out from their broth
Before the folk of Israel,
Only divide to Israel
By lot as an inheritance,
As I’ve commanded you to dance.
7 “So therefore, divide up this land
As an inheritance as planned
To the nine tribes and half the tribe
Of Manasseh, without a bribe.”

Though Joshua was not like Alexander
Who took the whole world under as commander,
Still there was something after he got through
To divide up among the winning crew.
Division of land is the source of all
Hate and violence under heaven’s hall,
Or almost all, yet You have not yet found
Expedient to ratify the ground
With Your approval except in this case.
The US still is out to lose its face
As a union of foreign workers who
Behave badly in the native folk’s view.
Myself, I know ancestors sat in state
As Picts in Carrick. Now I wander late.

8 With the other half tribe received
The Reubenites and Gadites beeved
Inheritance, which Moses gave,
Beyond Jordan eastward a shave,
As Moses servant of YHWH gave.
9 From Aroer upon the bank
Of the brook Arnon, and the dank
Town that’s in midst of the ravine,
And all the plain that lies between
Of Medeba as far as Dibon,
10 And all of the cities of Sihon
The king of the Amorites, who
Reigned in Heshbon, as far as to
The border of Ammon’s folk and
11 Gilead, and the borderland
Of Geshurite and Maachathite,
All Mount Hermon, and all in sight
Of Bashan and up to Salcah,
12 All the kingdom of Og by law
In Bashan, who reigned in the place
Of Ashtoreth and Edrei, who
Remained of the remnant of true
Giants, for Moses had defeated
And cast out these, so they were treated.

Moses may peace be on his noble brow
Got rid of giants and their sons somehow.
The wars of Og and Bashan relied on
Ashtoreth’s shame from every dawn to dawn.
Beloved, I thank Moses in all I do
That he rids me of giants in my view,
And with a favoured word points to the nest
Hidden in tree and hollow where they rest,
So that with flint and bow sharp strung I may
Pierce the heart of the evil in my way.
What wonders in Your law I find his hand
Has written to be sung in every land
Until You alone sit upon the throne
Of sovereignty over both flesh and stone.

13 Nevertheless the children of
Israel did not drive out above,
The Geshurites or Maachathites,
But Geshurites and Maachathites
Live to this day by Israelites.
14 Only to the tribe of Levi
He gave no inheritance by,
The sacrifice of YHWH God of
Israel made by fire and by love
Are their inheritance, as He
Said to them. 15 And Moses gave he
To the tribe of Reuben’s folk an
Inheritance, families by man.

Let me break in, Beloved, before Reuben
Gets his inheritance of den and glen.
Like Levi my inheritance also
Seems but the right to sacrifice my show.
I have not driven out a tribe to set
My flocks and fields upon their maisonette.
The Indian blood that flowed in veins of those
Who ate the acorn and planted the rows
Of maize in West Virginia still flows on
In my veins in the sample that is drawn
By the physician who would change my pace.
I’m not one to drive out any lost race.
Beloved, I trace the plots and wonder where
The Jew and Palestinian find share.

16 Their territory went out from
Aroer, which on the bank come
From the river Arnon lies green,
And the city that’s on the scene
Of the river valley, and all
The plain by Medeba, in stall
Of 17 Heshbon and all its cities
That are in the plain at their ease,
Dibon, and also Bamoth Baal,
Beth Baal Meon in for a sale,
18 Jahaza, Kedemoth, not last
Mephaath, 19 Kirjathaim, at half-mast
Sibmah, Zereth Shahar upon
The mountain of the valley drawn,
20 Beth Peor, and of Pisgah’s slopes,
And Beth Jeshimoth without hopes,
21 All the plain’s cities, kingdom all
Of Sihon Amorite’s king’s stall,
Who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses
Smote with Midianite princess,
Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba,
Princes of Sihon whose zareba
Was in the country. 22 Israel’s folk
Also killed with the sword the bloke
Balaam the son of Beor, who
Was soothsayer, among those who
Were killed by them. 23 The borderline
Of Reuben’s folk was the bank brine
Of the Jordan. This was the lot
Reuben’s folk by their families got,
The cities and their villages.
24 Moses had also given his
Inheritance to tribe of Gad,
And to the children of Gad clad
According to their families.
25 Their territory was at ease
In Jazer, and all the cities
Of Gilead, and half the land
Of the Ammonites far as land
Of Aroer, which is before
Rabbah, 26 and from Heshbon to store
Of Ramath Mizpah and the town
Of Betonim, and from the frown
Of Mahanaim to borderline
Of Debir, 27 and in valley fine
Of Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, and
Succoth, and Zaphon, rest at hand
Of the kingdom of Sihon king
Of Heshbon, with the Jordan spring
As its border, as far as edge
Of Sea of Chinnereth in sedge,
And on the other side to east
Of the Jordan. 28 This is the feast
Of the children of Gad by their
Families, and the cities fair
And their villages. 29 Moses too
Had given a lot to the few,
The half tribe of Manasseh’s crew,
It was for half the tribe of them,
Manasseh’s folk, by family hem,
30 Their territory went out from
Mahanaim, all Bashan, in sum
All the kingdom of Og the king
Of Bashan, and all the towns’ spring
Of Jair which are in Bashan, all
Sixty cities, 31 half of the hall
Of Gilead, and Ashtaroth
And Edrei, cities of the wroth
Kingdom of Og in Bashan, they
Were the people of Machir’s sway,
Who was the son of Manasseh,
For half the children of Machir
According to their families’ peer.

They killed the prophet. Balaam was a man
Who saw Your visions and proclaimed the ban
In very words of prophecy, and yet
They killed the prophet who had won the bet
That heathen tunes and dance and well-turned heels
Could seduce Israel from its ark and keels.
They killed the prophet that raised up the din
Of dinner music to commit a sin.
They killed the prophet that in rock and roll
Found relevance and numbers in the toll
And got the people out to church at least
To fornicate after the Eucharist.
Beloved, they killed the prophet and I say
Too bad it was no riddance for today.

32 These are the areas by which
Moses distributed in switch
Their lot upon Moabite plains
Across from where the Jordan drains,
And by Jericho toward the east.
33 But to the tribe of Levi, least,
Moses gave no inheritance,
YHWH God of Israel was their chance,
As He said to them in advance.

The land upon which I live’s not my own,
Like Levite, I am here before Your throne
To get my meal directly from Your hand
Since You have left me without home and land.
I joy in lilacs blooming by the well,
I chew the plantains that I plant by spell
By scattering the weed seed on the soil
Enriched by generations of the toil
That’s not my own or my ancestors’ grace.
Though I am without heritage, my place
Upon the earth is bound in song and dance
Beneath Your hand, protected from the lance
That pierces to the quick so many hearts
That struggle without horses, without carts.

JOSHUA 14

1 These are what came as heritage
To Israel’s folk in pasturage
Of Canaan, which Eleazar priest,
Joshua son of Nun at least,
And the heads of the fathers of
The tribes of Israel’s folk for love
Gave out as an inheritance
To all of them for song and dance.
2 Their inheritance was by lot,
As YHWH commanded by the plot
Of Moses, for the nine tribes and
The half tribe. 3 For Moses in hand
Gave heritage to the two tribes
And the half tribe and without bribes
On the other side of Jordan,
But to the Levites to a man
He gave no plot for their own span.
4 And the children of Joseph were
Two tribes, Manasseh to confer
With Ephraim. And they gave no
Part to the Levites of land’s show,
Except cities where they might live,
With their lands in common to give
Sustenance to their wealth and flocks.
5 As YHWH commanded Moses’ stocks,
So the folk of Israel did, and
They fairly divided the land.

Back to Peleg the first it seems that man
Has been dividing up the land by plan.
Like birds and beasts the families spread out
To claim their territories with a shout.
Each species has its own way on the earth,
But humans are more complex from their birth,
As some do not care for the land at all,
But answer to the eager siren call
Of city and of pleasure banquet-hall.
Beloved, I find Your heart upon the land,
And see Your grace illuminate the band
Of orchard, field and plain, the forest stand.
And yet the glint of mica brought to bear
In market cobblestone shows You are there.

6 And the children of Judah came
To Joshua in Gilgal’s claim.
And Caleb son of Jephunneh
The Kenizzite said to the jay,
“You know the word which YHWH said to
Moses God’s man concerning you
And me in Kadesh Barnea.
7 “I was forty years old in awe
When Moses the servant of YHWH
Sent me from Kadesh Barnea
To spy out all the land with you,
And I brought back word to him what
Was in my heart not to be shut.
8 “But my brothers who went along
With me made the heart of the strong
To melt, but I wholly to plod
Followed YHWH my King and my God.
9 “Moses swore on that day, saying
‘Surely the land where your foot’s swing
Has trodden shall be your own plot
And your children’s forever lot,
Because you have wholly followed
YHWH my Ælohim where He showed.’
10 “And now, indeed, YHWH has kept me
Alive, as He said these in fee
Forty-five years, ever since YHWH
Spoke this word to Moses and crew
While Israel wandered in the wild,
And now, here I am this day’s child,
Eighty-five years old unbeguiled.
11 “As yet I’m as strong on this day
As on the day Moses that way
Sent me, just as my strength was then,
So now’s my strength for war with men,
For going out and in again.
12 “Now therefore, give me this mountain
Of which YHWH spoke in that day then,
For you heard in that day how they
The Anakim were there in sway,
And the cities were great and fenced.
It may be YHWH has recompensed
Me, and I can drive them out now
As YHWH promised me anyhow.”
13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave
Hebron to Caleb the son grave
Of Jephunneh as heritage.
14 Hebron therefore became the page
And lot of Caleb who was son
Of Jephunneh Kenizzite won
To this day, because he wholly
Followed YHWH God of Israel’s tree.
15 And the name of Hebron before
Was Kirjath Arba, in great store
Was Arba among Anakim.
Then the land had rest from war’s scream.

When I am old let me like Caleb come
To choose the greater challenge on the sum,
A land unconquered by the young and brave,
A wilderness of task for free, not slave,
To step out beyond settlement and store
And find in that expanse the gracious door
To Your heart, my Beloved, beneath the sun.
When I’m old let me walk who cannot run
Up mountains filled with dangers and the breeze
Of leagues of empty tundra. Give no ease
To potter with my laurels, read the words
I wrote a decade past, follow the birds
From my couch, only dreaming of the time
When life was battle, march and mountain climb.


AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

To purchase the books, please go to:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html