ACHAN'S SIN. AND Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. : In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man. And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. : And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.-JOSHUA vii. 6—26, I. THE GOLDEN TEXT. “One sinner destroyeth much good."-Eccles. ix. 18. HELPS FOR ITS STUDY. Subject." Achan's Sin." What was Achan's sin? Covetousness? Yes. Disobedience? II. See the steps in Achan's sin. Ver. 21-"saw"-"coveted”— "took”—“hid." Temptation came in at "Eye-gate." What is the remedy? See Matt. v. 29-" If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out"--which means, Be as if you were blind. Pray Ps. cxix. 37-Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." III. The consequences of Achan's sin. To himself. Misery, see Is. lvii. 20, 21. To his family. They suffered with him. Disgrace, see Prov. Rom. vi. 23. An Does this seem un THERE was once a little boy named Duncan. The boys used to call him "True Duncan," because he would never tell a lie. One day, during dinner-hour, he was playing with an axe in the school-yard, and while he was chopping a stick, the master's cat, old Tabby, came along. Duncan let the axe fall right on poor Tabby, and instantly killed the pretty creature. What to do he knew not. She was the master's pet, and used to sit on a cushion at his side, while he was hearing the lessons. Duncan stood and looked at the poor dead animal. His face grew red, and the tears stood in his eyes. All the boys came running up, and every one had something to say. One of them was heard whispering to the others thus "Now, boys, we shall see whether Duncan can't make up a fib as well as the rest of us." "Not he," said Tom Pooley, who was Duncan's friend. "Not he; I'll warrant you, Duncan will be as true as gold." John Jones stepped up and said: "Here, boys, I'll just fling her into the alley, and we can tell Mr. Cole that the butcher's dog killed her; you know he nearly worried her to death last week." Some of the boys thought that this would do very well. But Duncan looked angry. His cheeks swelled, and his face grew redder than before. "No!" said he; "no! Do you think I would tell a lie? It would be a lie-a LIE!" Each time he used the word his voice grew louder. Then he gently took up the poor thing in his arms, and carried her into the schoolroom. The boys followed to see what would happen. The master looked up, and said—"What is this? my poor Tabby killed? Who could have done me such an injury?” All were silent for a little while. As soon as Duncan could get his voice he said : "Mr. Cole, I am very sorry, but this is the truth-I killed poor Tabby. Indeed, sir, I am very sorry. I ought to have been more careful, for I saw her rubbing her side against the log. I am more sorry than I can tell you, sir." Every one expected to see Mr. Cole get very angry, take down his rattan, and give Duncan a sound thrashing. But instead of this, he put on a pleasant smile and said— "Duncan, you are a brave lad. I saw and heard all that passed in the yard from my window above. I had rather lose a hundred treasures than miss such an example of truth and honour in my school. Your best reward is what you now feel in your own conscience; but I beg you to accept this handsome penknife as a token of my approbation." Duncan took out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. The boys could not restrain themselves any longer, and when Tom Pooley cried, "Three cheers for True Duncan!" they all joined, and made the school-house ring with a hearty hurrah. The master then said-" My boys, I am glad you know what is right, and that you approve of it; though I am afraid some of you could not have done it. Learn from this time that nothing can make a lie necessary. Suppose Duncan had taken your evil advice, and come to me with a lie; it would have been instantly detected, and instead of the honour of truth, he would have only the shame of falsehood.-REV. R. NEWTON, D.D. A COURAGEOUS MISSIONARY. SEVERAL Indian chiefs having become open enemies of the Gospel, Mr. Elliot, sometimes called the Apostle of the American Indians, when in the wilderness, without the company of any other Englishman, was at various times treated in a threatening and barbarous manner by some of those men. Yet his Almighty Protector inspired him with such resolution, that he said-" I am about the work of the Great God, and my God is with me: so that I fear neither you, nor all the Sachims (or chiefs) in the country. I will go on, and do you touch me if you dare." They heard him, and shrank away. The Juvenile Library. Packets A, B, C, and D, of this attractive series may now be had. Well illustrated, with glazed paper covers. Twelve assorted books in each packet. Price sixpence per packet. Sunday-school teachers will find these little books of special service to them as gifts to their scholars. EBAL AND GERIZIM. AND Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister : And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee. Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God: And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly. * * * * * Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in mount Ebal, As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.-DEUT. Two Two great mountains-Ebal on north, Gerizim on south-Israel crowding the valley between, and the slopes on each side. things to be done :— 1. All God's commandments read out. Then blessings and curses-blessings if Law kept-curses if Law broken. See them in Deut. xxvii. 14-26, xxviii. 1-20. 2. An altar built. What for? (a) God's law written on it, “very plainly" (Deut. xxvii. 8). (b) Sacrifices offered on it. Now, on which mountain was the altar built? On Ebal. Why? Because on Ebal were the curses. (a) It is they who break the law who are under the curse (Gal. iii. 10). (¿) The sacrifices pointed to Christ, who redeems us from the curse (Gal. iii. 13). And when He has put the curse away, then comes the blessing. Look at Golden Text. (1) Who is it that "feareth the Lord"? He who fears the curse, and therefore trusts in Christ's 'sacrifice. (2) Who is it that "delighteth greatly in His commandments"? He who is saved from the curse-therefore loves Christ-therefore loves all He commands. "All shall be blessed in Him." "Free from the law-oh! happy condition,Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; Cursed by the law, and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us-once for all!" KIND words are among the brightest flowers of earth. They help to convert the humblest home into a paradise; therefore use them, especially around the fireside circle. Children! try the power of kind and loving words, not only when visiting amongst your friends, but when at |