Isaac and Esau, at once resolved to secure for her favorite son the blessing designed for his brother. She therefore directed Jacob to take advantage of Esau's absence in the fields to obtain the venison, and bring her a kid, which she would prepare in so disguised a manner, that Isaac would not be able to tell the difference between its flavor and that of the venison. She also, in order to render the deception the more complete, imitated Esau's hairiness, by covering Jacob's hands and neck with the skin of the kid, that Isaac, feeling their surface, all doubt might at once. be removed that this was his very son Esau. The deception proved entirely successful; the food was eaten, and the following blessing pronounced:-"God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee; and blessed be he that blesseth thee." This important event occurred 1761

A. C.

Isaac had scarcely finished pronouncing the blessing of the first-born upon Jacob, when Esau presented himself before him with the dish of venison that he had been directed to prepare; and the scene that followed was full of both terror and anguish. The old patriarch perceived at once that Esau, by the art and cunning of Rebekah and Jacob, had been supplanted; and however much the circumstance might grieve him, the prophetic blessing was forever lost to his favorite son, for whom he had now nothing in reserve but a general benediction. To console Esau, therefore, in some degree, for his irreparable loss, he declared to him, "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt

have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck."

The conduct of Rebekah in this transaction can be justified on no other ground than by supposing that she made he purpose of God her guiding principle, instead of his commandment; for it must not be forgotten, that before her children were born it had been revealed to her, that "the elder should serve the younger." Jacob, doubtless, justified his part of the deception by supposing that, as he had purchased the birth-right, he was also entitled to the chief blessing.

Esau was so highly incensed against Jacob for thus supplanting him a second time, that he immediately resolved to take his life; but as his father was now old, blind, and otherwise infirm, and his death soon, therefore, to be expected, he concluded to defer the execution of his design until after his burial. The malice of Esau not being concealed from his mother Rebekah, she determined to send her favorite son Jacob for protection, to her brother Laban, at Padan-aram; and in order to obtain Isaac's consent to this measure, she reminded him of the evil consequences that had already resulted from the marriage of Esau with the daughter of Heth.

Jacob accordset out on his

ingly departed from the paternal roof, and journey to Padan-aram. On the setting of the sun, at the close of the first day's journey, he resolved to pass the night where he then was; and finding no house of entertainment near the place, he took a stone for a pillow, anointed it, and lay down to sleep. In the course of the night he had that remarkable dream, or vision of angelic appearances ascending and descending from earth to heaven, which may, perhaps, be regarded as the first direct indication of a special providence over him.

When Jacob awoke in the morning, he called the place

Bethel, or house of God; and he vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I can come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou shalt give me, I shall surely give the tenth anto thee." This important transaction contains the earliest direct allusion on record, to a religious vow; the ceremony of anointing a pillar of stone with oil; and, with the exception of the incident in the case of Abraham and Melchizedek, to a tithe of the tenth of our property offering to the Lord."

66 as our

Jacob arrived at Padan-aram in the eightieth year of his age, and soon after made a contract with his uncle Laban to serve him fourteen years for his two daughters Rachel and Leah. At the expiration of that time, he expressed a desire to return into the land of Canaan; but, having very advantageous terms proposed to him by his uncle, he concluded to remain with him six years longer. At the end of this second contract with Laban, Jacob's wealth in flocks and herds had so greatly increased, that it exceeded that of his father-in-law; and having received the divine command-"Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee; for I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me; get thee from this land, and return to the land of thy kindred"-he at once made the necessary preparations for his journey.

As Jacob approached the borders of Canaan, his apprehension of evil from the hand of Esau became so alarmingly great, that, after offering a fervent prayer to the Almighty for protection, he endeavored to appease his brother's anger by a magnificent present. God had.

meantime, however, entirely changed the feelings of Esau owards Jacob; and instead, therefore, of meeting him in a hostile manner, he welcomed his return with the most marked kindness. In all this, Jacob saw and acknowledged the hand of his Divine Protector. Just before he entered the land of Canaan, and towards the close of his wearisome journey, Jacob pitched his tent at Succoth; but he soon after removed to Shalem, a city of Shechem, within the borders of the promised land. Designing to take up his permanent abode at this place, he purchased a large tract of land of the children of Hamor, and erected an altar to the "God of Israel." Jacob's family and dependents had now become very numerous and powerful. By his wife Leah he had six sons, viz., Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, and also a daughter named Dinah; and Rachel had brought him his bestbeloved son, Joseph. By Leah's hand-maid, Zilpah, he had two sons, Gad and Asher; and by Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel, he had Dan and Naphtali. The children of these secondary wives were not, however, considered equal to those of Rachel and Leah.

Jacob had resided but a short time at Shalem before the unfortunate seduction of his daughter Dinah by Shechem, the son of Hamor, and the cruel revenge of his sons, Simeon and Levi, upon the Shechemites, compelled him to leave that place and seek a new abode. He therefore determined to remove to Bethel, the place where God first appeared to him, saying to his sons, "Let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the days of my distress, and was with me in the way I went." From Bethel, where removed southward

Jacob's stay was very short, he towards Bethlehem; and in his way thither one of the heaviest afflictions of his life occurred. His beloved wife

Rachel expired at Ephrath, on the way to Bethlehem, soon after she had given birth to her second son, Benjamin; and, to honor her memory, Jacob caused a pillar to be placed over her grave, which was still remaining in the time of Moses.

During the whole of Jacob's wanderings, his father Isaac, it would seem, continued to reside at Mamre; and as the time of the death of the venerable patriarch approached, his two sons repaired to his dwelling-place, in order to be present at his funeral. Isaac died soon after, at the advanced age of one hundred and eighty. "And

he was gathered to his people, being old and full of days and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him "-doubtless in the cave of Machpelah, which had now become the common sepulchre of the family. From this period, the name of Esau ceases to be mentioned.

SECTION III.

JACOB:--Joseph designated as his Successor-Sent in search of his Brethren--Thrown into a Pit-Sold into Egypt-Cast into a PrisonInterprets the Dreams of the Chief Baker, the Chief Butler, and tho King-Made Governor of Egypt-The Famine-Its Extent-Joseph's Brethren sent down to Egypt to buy Corn-Their Reception-Joseph made known to them-The eloquent Address of Judah-Joseph's Reply.

FROM the death of Rachel, 1729 A. C., Jacob seems to have placed his exclusive affections upon her two sons, Joseph and Benjamin; especially upon the former, whom he early designated, by bestowing upon him the princely robe, as his own successor in the princely, the priestly, and the patriarchal office. This mark of distinction so incensed Joseph's brethren, that they determined to remove him out of their way; and they, therefore, diligently watched for an opportunity to carry their design into exe