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come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

And he lodged there that same night, and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother: two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, thirty milch camels. with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.

And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau; and, behold, also he is behind us.

And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

So went the present over before him and himself lodged that night in the company. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him,

he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.

And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed

themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.

And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.

And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.

So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram ; and pitched his tent before the city. And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's

father, for a hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.

[Facob's daughter, Dinah, having been ill-treated by Shechem, her brothers, Simeon and Levi, killed him, and took away the wealth of the city and made many captives.]

And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth-el, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Beth-el under an oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth.

And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, 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 he called his name Israel.

And God said unto him, I am God Almighty be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el. [Rachel had another son, and died immediately after his birth.]

And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.

And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Questions and Explanations.

Question. It is said that, when Jacob was left alone, a man wrestled with him, and afterwards Jacob said he had seen God face to face. What did he mean by this?

Answer.-As in the case of the visitor to Abraham, the Lord took human form, and at first, perhaps, Jacob thought it was only a man with whom he wrestled, but afterwards knew that it was the Lord. It will be seen that the Lord frequently appeared to Jacob and directed him what to do in times of difficulty. He does not appear visibly to us, but He watches over us, and hears our prayers.

Q. Why was the name of Jacob changed to Israel? 4.-The latter name means, "a prince who prevails with

God;" a prince, as the ancestor of the royal race. The memory of this event is preserved by the Jews now, who, like their forefathers, will not eat a particular sinew in the leg of any animal.

Q-Is any lesson especially taught by the story of Jacob and Esau?

4.-Yes. The forgiveness of injuries, the duty of returning good for evil, and the beauty of brotherly love. Esau had much reason to complain of Jacob, who had done him a great wrong; but he hastened to meet him, and fell on his neck and kissed him. They both wept : Jacob because he repented of the deceit and unkindness he had been guilty of; Esau because he loved his brother, and his tears showed the real tenderness and goodness of his heart. It must have been a great comfort to old Isaac to know that his sons were again

friends, and most likely they were both with him when he died, for it is said that "his sons Esau and Jacob buried him."

Q. How was it that the household, that is, the family and servants of Jacob, had strange gods? A. The images taken from Laban by Rachel are perhaps referred to; and, as Simeon and Levi had been engaged in a quarrel with the Shechemites, an idolatrous people, and had spoiled the city, and taken away their cattle and goods, it is probable that more images had been brought into the house of Jacob.

Q. What are the meanings of the names given to places mentioned in the narrative ? A.-El-elohe-Israel means, God, the God of Israel; Mahanaim, two hosts, or camps; Peniel, the face of God; Beth-el, the house of God; El-beth-el, the God of Beth-el; Allon-bachuth (the name given to the oak under which Deborah was buried), the oak of weeping. Q.-Why did Rachel and Jacob give different names to their youngest son?

A.—Rachel, dying at his birth, spoke of him as the son of her sorrow, the meaning of Ben-oni; Jacob looked forward hopefully, and named him Benjamin, the son of the right hand, the right hand being the symbol of prosperity.

Q. Are we to understand that the pillar over the grave of Rachel is to be seen now?

A.-No. "Unto this day" means the time when Moses wrote the book of Genesis, about three hundred years after the death of Rachel.

JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS.

O happy child, who early makes
The path of duty his delight,

The way of wickedness forsakes,

And walks as in his Maker's sight!

O happy youth, whose soul hath found
Pardon and favour with the Lord!

True riches shall to him abound,

True pleasure spring from God's pure Word.

JOSEPH'S DREAM.-HE IS SOLD INTO SLAVERY BY HIS BROTHERS.

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.

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: For, 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 indeed 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 the saying.

And his brethren went to feed their 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 unto him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well 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.

And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let

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