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cup from her hand and drained the remaining contents in one gulp. “The Hebrew god, it seems, is as tenderhearted as a woman. In the temple that day the priests were sacrificing a number of children. Would you believe the spy wept when he saw it? I will never forget his tears. He was a large man, well built and heavily muscled—not effete in any sense, except for these tears running the length of his face. As a young man I thoughthim weak, crying like an untried boy at a sacrifice.
    “He asked me if I felt no revulsion. ‘Of course not,’ I said. He told me his god would never bear such a thing. Then he said, ‘Your hearts are too hardened, Debir. Your people have grown hard beyond redemption. Even the Lord cannot reach you. And He is God in all heaven and all earth.’”
    Rahab turned toward Debir, holding her breath. A god who cherished life? A god who cared for unnamed babies? A god who could see Canaan’s iniquity and declare them
beyond redemption?
Again she felt that longing, stronger than before. The irony of it didn’t escape her, the pitiful irony of a prostitute from Jericho longing for the god of the Hebrews.
    “So you think their god is systematically wiping us out as judgment?” she asked.
    Debir shrugged. “I’m not a priest. As a soldier, I can tell you they are winning victories they shouldn’t be winning. Their god baffles me. He appears to have more power than any of our gods. Power
and
compassion. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I don’t care to face it now, if you want to know the truth. I hope the Hebrew god is satisfied with the land on that side of the Jordan. Let them settle in over there, then maybe we can do business with them.”
    “But you don’t think that’s what will happen.”
    He leaned over and refilled the silver cup. “If I were their general, that’s not what I’d do. Trapped between Midianites and Edomites and Amorites and Egypt, how would they ever be safe? They would have to sleep with one eye open their entire lives for generations to come. If this god desires to give his people rest, leaving us untouched would not make a good plan.”
    “Are you afraid of him—of this god?” she blurted out.
    The fact that she had asked him this question would have been an insult to any other man. But Debir took no notice of the impropriety of her words. He stood suddenly and began to pace in the narrow room. “The
Lord
. That’s what they call him,” he said, dropping to one knee very close to Rahab. She could feel the warmth ofhis wine-soaked breath as he spoke. “Everyone’s afraid. Even the barracks are filled with dread. If Og and Sihon couldn’t withstand the
Lord
, how can we? He isn’t interested in terms. He isn’t interested in compromise. He is like a consuming fire. You ask me if I’m afraid. Rahab, I have never known fear … until now.”
    “You think we’re going to die.” It wasn’t a question. She could see the conviction stamped on every line of his face. The Lord. Finally, she had encountered a god of power
and
compassion. And he was her enemy.
    “Yes. I do. I imagine it’s not going to happen for many weeks yet. The river is on our side because it’s at flood stage. You can’t cross an army through at this time, but as the waters dry up, they will come.”
    “How will they get through our walls? No one has been able to do that, not for centuries, not since it’s been built up to this height and width.”
    “You’re right. No
army
can get through these walls. But we’re not talking about an army; we’re talking about a god. No wall can withstand his will.” Debir bowed his head as he said this, and she caught a glimpse of something she never thought to see on his face. Despair. He had no hope. In that moment she became convinced of Jericho’s doom.
    When Debir left, Rahab was filled with a sudden desire to be outside, away from the constraint of her home. Her sandals clattered down the stairs inside the dark bowels of the wall