Jacob at last. One evening you might have seen Jacob preparing some food—perhaps, according to the custom of cooking, he had his fire on the ground, and his pot for boiling the food on a three-legged stand placed over the fire. Here he would stir the pot until it boiled. On this evening he was busy in getting ready a new kind of food; he was making some pottage or broth from a plant called the lentil. This lentil pottage had, most likely, been just introduced to Jacob from Egypt, where it was very much eaten-when made, it had a dark red colour.

While engaged in his work, Jacob happened to look up and saw his brother coming towards him, on his way home from hunting. He did not come very quickly, but seemed to limp along as though he were tired. The truth was, that after running severely all day, he was faint and hungry. What should Jacob have done?

Ion. He should have gone to meet his brother, certainly, and have given him some pottage.

P. Yes; if he had been good natured, as all brothers should be. I have read that the hunger of a semi-civilized man like Esau is madness, and Jacob must have known this.

When Esau came up, and with his weary look and feeble voice managed to say, "Feed me, I pray thee"-give me some of that red (for he did not know what to call it), Jacob, instead of caring for him, said that he would only give him the food in exchange for his birthright.

W. Then I do not think that Jacob was a nice man. I think that he was a sneak-he was very cruel.

P. It was worse behaviour than forcing it from him when he was well and strong. Esau could only reply—

"Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles."

W. And was Jacob glad when he thought he had the birthright? P. A little, perhaps. He would have been more glad if he could have had the birthright only, but he had a conscience as well. I wonder how he looked at his brother the next time he saw him!

W. Why, he felt himself to be a sneak.

L. What is "a sneak," Willie?

P. Never mind now. I have been wondering how Jacob would look up to God! The next time that he prayed for God's blessing his conscience would whisper to him, "Do you expect to have it for nothing?"--perhaps it would add, "How much did you charge your brother for that pottage?" He would feel ashamed before God. True, he had gained the birthright, but no earthly birthright, not all that is great and honourable in this world, can make up for the loss of God's love, the "birthright" which may belong to all men.

THE

FAMILY SUNDAY-BOOK;

OR,

PLEASANT PAGES FOR SABBATH HOURS.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "PLEASANT PAGES."

Twenty-fifth Sunday.

son.

JACOB SUPPLANTETH ESAU.

"And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My And he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; and make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck. And she gave savoury meat and bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

"And he came unto his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

"And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and he said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy first-born Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the voice of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father! And he said, thy brother came with subtilty, and bath taken away thy blessing.

the distance, there were camels advancing! He soon saw that they were Eliezer's. In his turn, he was also seen by Rebekah, who said to the servant, "What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?" and the servant said, "It is my master;" and she lighted off her camel, and took a vail and covered herself. When the camels reached home, Eliezer told Isaac all that he had done; then Isaac took her and placed her in the tent of his mother Sarah, for she was to occupy Sarah's place, and to be the chief woman of the tribe. Isaac soon found that he could love her, and she became his wife. Thus was Isaac comforted after his mother's death; he now had some one to love in her stead. L. And where was Abraham all this time, papa? what did he say to Rebekah, I wonder?

Ion. Did he like her?

P. I dare say he did, but the Bible does not tell us. We only hear that, after Sarah's death, Abraham took another wife, named Keturah; and this wife brought him many sons, so that Abraham thus became the father of many nations. He lived on for about thirty years, until it was his turn to leave this world, and go to a better one. When he saw that the time was coming, to prevent disputes after his death, he made arrangements that all his property should belong to Isaac, his heir; and his new sons he sent away to the East country.

And the time at last came when Abraham was "of a good old age, and full of years"-when he had lived one hundred and seventy-five years; then he gave up the ghost, and was gathered to his people. His body was placed beside that of Sarah, in the cave which he had purchased of Ephron.

His burial must have been an interesting one; for his two sonsIsaac the son of Rebekah, and Ishmael the son of Hagar, met over his grave; it was, perhaps, the first time they had seen each other. We do not read more of Ishmael in the Bible, except that he became the father of twelve sons, founders of Arabian tribes. We will now finish our lesson without some thoughts on the two old men-Eliezer, and his master Abraham.

L. I think, papa, that we may learn the same lesson from Eliezer as we learned before from Abraham; we may learn to be faithful and trustworthy.

P. Yes, and I have told you before that such qualities are very valuable. Suppose that you had said to Abraham, "Are you sure that Eliezer will seek for Isaac's wife as well as you would yourself?" If you had said that, he would have smiled at you; and, shaking his head, perhaps he would have answered, "Oh yes, I know him! I know all his qualities, for I have known him a long while. All the time that he is gone, he will be thinking, not 'How shall I please myself?' but, 'How can I best do the duties my master has given me?' Yes, I know his qualities; I am sure that he will try to do right. Yes, I can trust him.”

W. Well-and he did try very much. You see, he couldn't even eat anything in Laban's house, until he had delivered his message. But then, he was an old man,-a steady old man; and that made him more careful.