came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob. Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac died, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

It seems strange that Jacob should have been allowed to deceive his old father, who was almost blind. But yet, having bought the birth-right of Esau for a mess of pottage, he had, of course a right to all the privileges that belonged to the elder son. And in those old days, the elder son was thought much more honorable than the younger. If Esau had been good and honest with his father and Jacob, he would have told Isaac what had passed about the birth-right, and then there would have been no deception. But whatever wrong Jacob may have done by his cunning trick, he had to suffer for it in after years, when he himself was cheated by Laban about his wife, and had many other sorrows to go through, at the hands of his own children, as you will soon hear.

How many sons had Isaac and Rebekah, and what were their names?

Which was the eldest son?

Did Esau value his birthright, and what did he do with it? How did Jacob act so as to get his father's blessing? What dream had Jacob on his way to his mother's country? Did Jacob stay long with Laban, and whom did he marry? What did God say to Jacob on his way home again, and to what was his name changed?

Joseph Sold as a Slave.

ITH twelve fair sons was Jacob blest,
The while he dwelt apart;

But dearer far than all the rest

Was Joseph to his heart.

A coat of many colours bright

He made for Joseph's wear,

And Joseph sometimes dreamed by night
Of honours he should bear.

Then envy swell'd his brethren's hearts:

They sold him far away;

And long in Egypt, like a slave,

Joseph in prison lay.

But God was with him all the time,

And gave him grace with men, Knowing him pure, and free from crime, Though classed with prisoners then.

The butler and the baker there

Of Pharaoh's kingly court

As prisoners in the dungeon were
For evil they had wrought.

They dreamed, and Joseph heard their dreams,
And told them all God meant ;

So Pharaoh one from chains redeems,
But one to death is sent.

CHAPTER VI.

Jacob's Sons. Their Envy of Joseph. Joseph is sold into Egypt, and then thrown into Prison.

¡OW the sons of Jacob were twelve.

Reuben,

and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin.

And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren. And Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a coat of many colours.

· And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.

And he said unto them, hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed. Lo, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou have dominion over us?

And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon, and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren. And his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

And his brethren envied him; but his father observed his saying.

And his brethren went to feed his father's flock in Shechem.

And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them.

And he said to him, Here am I.

And he said to him, Go, I pray thee; see whether it be well with thy brethren, and with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and behold he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

And he said, I seek my brethren; tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.