Rahab

Deep in the valley far below
A thousand well-worn pathways go
To meet at ancient Jericho;
And high on the city’s mighty wall
There sits a house well-known to all:

It is the home of the harlot;
There, in the tower’s shade,
She sits, all clad in scarlet,
Plying her shameless trade.

Deep in the city two men lie,
And wait in secrecy to spy
The mighty walls, the towers high;
Closely pursued by the guards behind,
They chance a humble house to find:

It is the home of the harlot;
There, in the tower’s shade,
A woman clad in scarlet
Rises to give them aid.

Deep in the house the two men bide;
Far under the flax in which they hide
They pass the evening undescried;
The harlot watching from below
Confounds the men of Jericho,

There in the home of the harlot
Far on the city’s edge;
She lowers a cord of scarlet
Down from the window-ledge.

Deep in the night the two men drop
From the window-ledge in the high rooftop
By the slender cord; they only stop
To tell the woman clad in red
To hang from her ledge a scarlet thread.

It is the home of the harlot
Far on the city’s edge;
A simple thread of scarlet
Hangs from the window-ledge.

Deep in the vale below the wall
A mighty shout, a trumpet call,
Bring down the gates; the towers fall,
The mighty city is undone,
But one small house is saved alone:

It is the home of the harlot
There in the desolate town;
From the window a thread of scarlet
Still can be seen hanging down.

Deep in the valley far below
The violets bloom, the wild vines grow,
On top of mighty Jericho;
There in the barren, rocky ground
An ancient ruin can be found:

The home of the well-beloved harlot!
Its stones have sunk into the earth,
But its humble thread of scarlet
Is traced to Messiah’s birth.

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