JORDAN.
Reading edition
And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where.—Genesis, xiii. 10.
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan.—Jeremiah, xii. 5.
Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan.
And were baptized of him in Jordan confessing their sins.—Matthew, iii. 5, 6.
The waters slept. Night’s silvery veil hung low On Jordan’s bosom, and the eddies curled Their glassy rings beneath it, like the still, Unbroken beatings of the sleeper’s pulse. The reeds bent down the stream: the willow leaves, With a soft cheek upon the lulling tide, Forgot the lifting winds; and the long stems, Whose flowers the water, like a gentle nurse, Bears on its bosom, quietly gave way And leaned in graceful attitudes, to rest. How strikingly the course of nature tells By its light heed of human suffering That it was fashioned for a happier world. N. P. Willis.
Christian, behold the typic shade Of that dim path prepared for thee— Behold, in Jordan’s tide displayed, Death’s overflowing sea. But if thou still hast kept the Ark Of God before thee as a mark, Fear not the troubled waters dark, Howe’er they rage, and chafe, and roar; On that mysterious voyage embark, And God will guide thee o’er. J. H. Clinch.
When I tread the banks of Jordan May my soul no tremblings know; Be my Saviour near to guide me, And uphold me as I go Through the waters, Fearing not their overflow. Egone.