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SCRIPTURE EXTRACT'S.

EXCEPTIONS.

His'-tor-y stran'-ger Ca'-naan youn'-gest re-port' Reu'-ben Ju'-dah cap'-tain Pha'-raoh He'-brews stalk gov'-er-nor an'-guish balm myrrh al'-monds bade treas'-ure dost in-iq'-ui-ty cham/-ber jour'-ney.

HISTORY OF JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.

Ja'-cob, whom God named Is'-ra-el, dwelt in the land where his father was a stran'-ger, in the land of Ca'-naan. And he had twelve sons, of whom Jo'şeph and Ben'-ja-min, the sons of Ra'-chel, were the youn'-gest. And Jo'-seph being seven'-teen years old, was feeding the flock with his breth'-ren, and Joseph brought unto his father their evil re-port'. Now Is'-ra-el 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 Joseph more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peace'-a-bly unto him.

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to 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 o-bei'-sance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou

indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have do

min'-ion 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 to his brethren, and said, Behold I have dreamed a dream more; and behold the sun, and the moon, and the e-leven' stars, made o-bei'-sance to me. And he told it to his father and to his brethren; and his father re-buked' 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 one day when his father sent him into the fields to inquire if it were well with his brethren, and with the flocks, they conspired against him to slay him. And Reu'-ben heard it, and delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him, shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay nó hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat; and they took him and cast him into a pit; and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. At the same time some Ish'-ma-elites, merchants, passed by, going down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

Ι

Come let us sell him to the Ish'-ma-el-ites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, and our flesh. And his brethren were content. And they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

EXERCISES.-What did God name Jacob? Where did Jacob dwell? How many sons had he? Name the two youngest. Which of his children did Israel love most? Why did he love him most? What kind of coat did Joseph's father make him? How did his brethren act when they saw that their father loved Joseph most? Relate Joseph's first dream. What did his brethren say to him when he told them his dream? What was his second dream? To whom did he tell it? What did his father say to him? What did his brethren do when he was sent by his father into the fields? Which of them delivered him out of their hands? What did Reuben say? What did his brethren then do to Joseph? Who passed by at the time? Who proposed to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites? For how much did they sell him?

HISTORY OF JOSEPH Continued.

And Reu'-ben returned unto the pit, and behold Joseph was not in the pit: and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood. And they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him: Joseph is, without doubt, rent in pieces. And Ja/-cob rent his clothes, and put sack'-cloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons, and all his daughters, rose up to comfort him; but he re-fused'

to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Pot'-i-phar, an of'-fi-cer of Pha'-raoh, captain of the guard, an E-gyp'-ti-an, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a pros'-per-ous man; and he was in the house of his master the E-gyp'-ti-an, and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him; and he made him o-ver-se'-er over his house; and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass, from the time that he had made him o-ver-se'-er in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the E-gyp'-ti-an's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in the house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not what he had save the bread which he did eat.

EXERCISES. What did Reuben do? What did Joseph's brethren do with his coat? To whom did they bring it? What did they say to him? What did their father answer? What did he then do? To what country was Joseph taken ? Who bought him there of the Ishmaelites ? Who was with Joseph and made him prosperous? What did Joseph's master make him? What did the Lord do for Joseph's sake?

HISTORY OF JOSEPH continued.

From this happy state, Joseph is again, on ac

count of his vir'-tue and fi-del-i-ty to his master, plunged into distress, and exposed to very great mis-for-tunes and hardships. By a false ac-cu-sa ́tion of his master's wife, he is, by his order, put into prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and what-so-ev'-er they did there, he was the do'-er of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him; and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.

And it came to pass, after these things, that the chief butler of the king of Egypt, and his chief baker, had offended their lord the king of Egypt. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. And they dreamed a dream, both of them in one night, which Joseph in-terpret-ed to them in this manner :—that in three days Pharaoh would restore the butler unto his office, and that he would hang the baker on a tree. And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birth'-day, that he did unto them as Joseph had interpreted. Now Joseph had besought the butler, saying, Think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me;

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