as a dwelling place for them. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went to meet his father. And when he saw his father he descended from his chariot, and fell upon his neck, and embraced him, and wept.

And Israel said to Joseph, I am now content to die since I have seen thy face alive. The whole of the persons of the house of Jacob who settled in Egypt, were three score and ten. Now Israel dwelled in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so all his days were one hundred and forty-seven years. And when Israel was drawing near unto death, he called Joseph and his sons, and grandsons, around his bed, and blessed them, predicting the various fates of their several descendants, and their departure out of Egypt, and making them swear to carry his bones with them, and to inter them with those of his fathers in the cave of Machpelah. And when he had ended his charge unto his children, he drew his feet up in the bed and expired; and thus was he united to his ancestors. Then Joseph wept over the face of his father and embraced him, and commanded his body to be embalmed after the manner of the Egyptians. And all the household of Pharaoh, and the elders of the land of Egypt, and all Joseph's family, and his brethren, and their children mourned for Israel seventy days with great mourning. So Joseph resided in Egypt, he and his father's house, and he lived a hundred and ten years, and saw his sons' grand-children.

And Joseph, when dying, said unto his brethren, I am going to my fathers, but God will

certainly visit you, and bring you out of this land into the land which he promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he, as did his father, bound his children, by oath, to convey his bones with them out of Egypt. Thus, Joseph died. And they embalmed him, and put his body in a coffin in Egypt.

QUESTIONS.

What made the brethren of Joseph hate him, and of what cruelty were they guilty towards him, and their father? Into what country did the Ishmaelites carry Joseph, and to whom did they sell him? How came Joseph to be advanced to high honour, and how did he conduct himself? Whom did Joseph marry? With what dignity was he graced? What brought the brethren of Joseph to Egypt? What was the conduct of Joseph towards his brethren and his father? How old was Jacob when he died, and in what manner did he address his children when dying? How long was the life of Joseph? What were his dying prediction and request?

CHAP. VI.

EXODUS.

THE book named Exodus, or the Out-going, relates the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, after giving a description of their previous state of servitude; the appointment of Moses as their leader; and the miraculous means by which their escape was effected. It narrates the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness; the solemn promulgation of the law on

Mount Sinai, and the delivery of the ten commandments. The greater part of it is ascribed to Moses, and the design of the book seems to be to continue the history of the important process by which the eternal had pre-determined to bring mankind gradually to the acknowledgment, and pure worship of the only living and true God. And Joseph, and his brethren, and all the men of that generation died. But the children of Israel were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly, and became powerful in numbers, so that the land was filled with them. In the meantime a new monarch arose in Egypt, who revered not the memory of Joseph; and he was jealous of the children of Israel, lest they should become stronger, and more numerous than the Egyptians, and should join their enemies in war, or by force forsake the land of Egypt. And he set task-masters over them, who sorely oppressed them, and forced them to build, with extreme labour, cities and stupendous works. But the more they laboured and were grieved with work, the more abundantly did they multiply. Moreover, Pharaoh commanded that all the male children of the Israelites should be put to death as soon as born. Now the wife of a man of the tribe of Levi had a son, and seeing that he was a goodly child, she concealed him three months. And when she could no longer conceal him, she made an ark of rushes, or papyrus, and rendered it water proof by bitumen; and, placing the child therein, she laid it in the sedges on the bank of the river Nile, while his sister stood at a distance, to know what might be done unto

him. Now, the daughter of Pharaoh coming to bathe in the river, and beholding the ark among the sedges, sent one of her handmaidens to fetch it. And when the ark was opened she saw an infant therein, and, lo, the babe wept. And she said, this is one of the children of the Hebrews. Then said the sister of the child to the daughter of Pharaoh," Shall I call a Hebrew woman who may nurse the babe for thee?" And the daughter of Pharaoh said unto her, "Go." And she went and called the child's mother, unto whom he was given to nurse. But when the child was grown, he was brought to the daughter of Pharaoh, who adopted him as her son, and called his name Moses, or drawn forth. But in process of time, Moses beholding the oppression of his brethren interposed in their behalf, and was obliged to flee from Egypt. He took refuge in the country of Midian, and married the daughter of Jethro, a priest, or prince of that region; and there he had sons born unto him. After many days, it happened that the king of Egypt died, yet still the children of Israel groaned under the yoke of slavery; and Jehovah heard their cry, and raised up for them a deliverer. For as Moses was keeping the flocks of Jethro in the extremity of the desert, he came unto mount Horeb; and behold a flame of fire waved in the midst of a bush before him, yet the bush was not consumed. And as Moses drew near to see the flame which consumed not the bush, a voice from the midst thereof, proclaimed, " Approach not hither; take off thy sandals from thy feet, for the place where thou

standest is holy ground." And the voice commanded Moses to go into Egypt to the Pharaoh, and in the name of the Lord God to demand permission for the children of Israel to go a journey of three days into the wilderness to sacrifice; and to say unto the elders of Israel, that the God of their forefathers had resolved to bring them up from the oppression of the Egyptians, into the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. And Moses answered, "But lo, if they should not believe me, nor hearken to my voice, what then shall I say unto them? How shall I prove that the Lord is with me?" And God gave Moses power to change his staff into a serpent, and again to restore it to its former state; to cover his own hand with leprosy, and to cleanse it; to give water the appearance of blood. And God appointed the brother of Moses, Aaron, to speak for Moses, who was slow of speech. And Moses did as the Lord had said. And the elders of Israel, when they saw the miracles, believed the word of Moses which he spake unto them, but Pharaoh hardened his heart, and listened not unto the command of Jehovah. And by Moses, his servant, the Lord sent ten dreadful plagues upon the land of Egypt while Pharaoh continued to harden his heart. The waters of the Nile were turned into blood; the face of the land was covered with frogs; swarms of gnats infested the whole country; multitudes of beetles crawled upon the ground, and in the houses; a grievous mortality destroyed the cattle of the Egyptians, while the flocks and herds of the