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dreadful is the idea of "bringing down the gray hairs of a parent with sorrow to the grave !"

Fraternal affection is also strongly enforced by the examples of Judah and Joseph. In the first, we behold an elder brother acting as the guardian and protector of a younger one. In the other, a forgiveness of injuries, and a participation of benefits, with a fervent desire to increase the happiness of an honoured parent, and promote the general prosperity of the family.

A useful lesson of worldly prudence is likewise conveyed in this portion of Scripture; namely, that it is the interest of brethren to live in friendship and harmony, as the success of the one may lead to the advantage of all. Happy would it be, if these considerations were allowed their due weight with all christians!

3.

SECTION LI.

DEPARTURE OF JOSEPH'S BRETHREN.

JACOB AND HIS FAMILY SETTLE IN EGYPT.

From Genesis, Chap. xlv. xlvi. and xlvii.

AND it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his

servants.

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye lade your beasts, and go get ye into the land of Canaan;

And take your father, and your households, and come unto me and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land.

Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you waggons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

Also regard not your stuff, for the good of all the

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land

land of Egypt is yours. And the children of Israel drá so and Joseph gave them waggons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment : but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt; and ten she-asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, unto Jacob their father,

And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not.

And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

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And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die.

And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the Goo of his father Isaac.

And GoD spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob; and he said, Here am I. And he said, I am GoD, the GoD of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation.

I will go down with thee into Egypt: and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand

upon

thine

eyes.

And

And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharaoh

had sent to carry

him.

And they took their cattle, and their goods which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him.

His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed, brought he with him into Egypt.

All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, besides Jacob's sons wives, were threescore and six: And the sons of Joseph which were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. In all threescore and ten*.

And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen: and they came into the land of Goshen.

And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him: and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

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And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethen and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me:

And the men are shepherds; for their trade hath been to feed cattle and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.

And it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation! That ye shall say, Thy servants trade hath been about

*Reckoning Jacob himself, and Joseph.
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cattle,

cattle, from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen: for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father, and my brethen, and their flocks, and their herds and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan: and behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation and they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.

They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan : now therefore we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father, and thy brethren, are come unto thee:

:

The land of Egypt is before thee in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of activity amongst them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

years

And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and I have not attained unto the days of the years of the lives of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

And

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And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren, and all his father's houshold, with bread, according to their families.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

The immediate attention which Pharaoh, king of Egypt, paid to Joseph's brethren, shows the high esteem he had for him; and the ready concurrence of his officers proves, that Joseph had executed the trust reposed in him, so as to gain their good opinion.

Pharaoh, on this occasion, displayed a truly royal munificence, and an earnest desire to do honour to a man, who deserved so well of his king and country.

Not content with dispensing the gifts of Pharaoh, Joseph added others of his own, as testimonies of dutiful respect to his father, and of affection to all his bre-/ thren. There was a very good reason for, his distinguishing Benjamin above the rest, as has been already observed.

The admonition which Joseph gave to his brethren, not to fall out by the way, was spoken, as it seems, in kindness, not by way of reproach. A quarrel would most likely have occasioned their separation, in which case, his benevolent designs, which included all, would have been frustrated.

.

How affecting it is to read the account which is here given of the return of Jacob's sons!

It is likely that the good old patriarch had promised himself the comfort of ending his days in the Land of Canaan; and at his time of life, a change of situation must have been very disagreeable to him; however, parental

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