"Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation, and I will also surely bring thee up again."

Then Jacob came with his sons, and their families, their cattle, and their goods, to Egypt. Joseph went out in his chariot, and met his father in the land of Goshen; and he fell on his neck, and wept.

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

After this, Joseph presented his father to Pharoah. The king reverently bowed himself before the aged patriarch and received his blessing.

Jacob was one hundred and thirty years of age at this time, and he lived seventeen years in Egypt. The whole number of his descendants that emigrated with him, was sixty-six; and adding to these the patriarch himself, with Joseph and his two sons, already in Egypt, they formed a tribe, or colony, of seventy persons.

Joseph settled them in the land of Goshen, that part of Egypt which lay nearest to Canaan, and which afforded the best pasturage for their flocks; and here they and their posterity dwelt for three hundred and fifteen years.

DEATH OF JACOB.

When the time drew near that Jacob must die, he obtained a solemn promise from Joseph that he would not bury him in Egypt, but would carry his remains to Canaan, and bury him with his fathers.

At another time Joseph visited his infirm father, taking with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim; and the old man, sitting upon his bed, blessed the lads, and adopted them as his own children, making them the heads of tribes like his other sons, and thus giving to Joseph a double

portion of honor

among his brethren. Finally, Israel, before his death, assembled

all his sons to hear his last solemn injunctions, and receive his farewell blessing. Addressing each in turn, he uttered a series of brief, but strikingly descriptive prophecies concerning

the future fortunes of their posterity; and then, composing himself upon the bed, the aged patriarch drew his last breath.

Among these dying prophecies of Jacob, the most remarkable is that which relates to Judal:

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

This prophecy indicates that Judah should maintain a preeminence over the other tribes until the coming of Christ; that from this tribe Shiloh, or the great Messiah, should come, who would finally gather into one fold all that should become his people.

Wonderful prophecy! Wonderful for the greatness of its theme, for its literal fulfilment, and for the vast extent of futurity which it pervades with its clear light!

The body of Jacob being embalmed, Joseph and his brethren, with chariots and horsemen, and a great company of Egyptians, carried him in funeral pomp into the land of Canaan, and laid him in the cave of Machpelah, with his fathers Abraham and Isaac.

DEATH OF JOSEPH.

Joseph lived eighty years after he was taken from prison to be ruler over the land of Egypt. All this time he was surrounded by temptations to idolatry. The various pleasures of life, and all the gratifications which flow from wealth, power, and popularity, were within his grasp, yet he remained uncorrupted. He preserved through life the simplicity and integrity of his character, and the religious faith of his fathers. With his last breath he reminded his brethren of the promises of God, made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would surely visit them, and restore them to the land of Canaan; and he took an oath of them that they should carry his bones with them.

"So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt."

This is the last verse of the book of Genesis.

Bib Prim.

EXODUS.

THE DEPARTURE.

IN Exodus two lofty themes are given:
The great Departure, and the Law from heaven.

What other exode opens scenes so vast,
As Israel's thousands out of Egypt cast?
What contrast more intense can history bring,
Than Israel's chief, and Egypt's cruel king?

What was the condition of the Israelites in Egypt? They became very numerous and powerful. How long did their prosperity last?

About one hundred and thirty years, reckoning from Jacob's emigration to Egypt.

What then commenced?

The days of bondage.

Who was king of Egypt at that time?

He is called Pharaoh, but he was very unlike that Pharaoh who was Joseph's friend.

He was cruel and obstinate; and he was filled with fear lest the Israelites should be.