my son. And Jacob came near, and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothes and blessed him, and said, The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. And he told his son that God would take care of him, and give him great wealth, and make him a ruler over many nations.

Jacob had scarce left the presence of Isaac his father, when Esau his brother came in from the hunt. And he also cooked

some meat and brought it to his father, and said, Rise now, and eat of thy son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

And Isaac said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy first-born, Esau. And Isaac trembled greatly, and said, Who, and where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it and I have eaten before thou camest, and have blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed.

to me,

And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and exceeding bitter cry, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came, and by fraud hath taken away thy blessing.

And he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? for he hath twice supplanted me. He took away my birthright; and now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

Isaac said to Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants, and have made him rich and great ; and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

Esau said, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father! And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

And Isaac, pierced to the heart, said unto him, By thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt rule in the land, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

Esau, more ready to blame others than himself, hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him; and he planned to kill his brother, as soon as his father was laid in the grave. He thought that Isaac's death was near at hand, but the old man lived many years longer; and in the meantime this threat of Esau's came to the ears of Rebekah.

She sent for Jacob, and told him that Esau meant to kill him, and bade him go to Haran, where Laban, her brother, dwelt, and stay with him till Esau's anger was turned away. When he has forgotten what thou hast done to him, she said, I will send and fetch thee from thence. Why should I lose both of you in one day?

And Rebekah made an excuse to Isaac for sending her favorite son away. She was not pleased with Esau's wives, nor did she wish her son Jacob to take a wife from the daughters of Heth. So she told Isaac so, and Isaac sent Jacob to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, his mother's father, and bade him take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, the brother of Rebekah.

And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and took his way toward Haran.

CHAPTER XI.

JACOB'S DREAM-JACOB AND RACHEL..

JACOB set out from Beer-sheba all alone. It was not usual in those days to do this, as there was danger of meeting wild beasts or wicked men. But Jacob stole out in this quiet way

from his home, because he was afraid of his own brother Esau; and he wished to make no show or parade to excite Esau's feelings, and make him more angry and jealous,

And he went on toward Haran; and when he came to a certain place, at sunset, he stayed there all night. He took a stone and placed it so that it would do for pillows, and then laid down to sleep, for he was very tired.

And as he slept he dreamed. And in his dream he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said that he would do great things for him. And He said, Behold, I am with thee, and will bring thee again to this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

And he was afraid, and

And Jacob woke out of his sleep, and said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. said, How dreadful is this place!

This is none other than the

house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up on one end for a pillar, to mark the place, so that he would know it when he came back from his errand. And he poured oil on top of the pillar, as a token of praise to God. And he called the name of that place BETH-EL: that is, The House of God.

And Jacob vowed a vow—or, as we say, he took an oath— and said, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me food and clothes, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that Thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.

Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. And he looked, and saw a well in a field; and lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. And a great stone was on the mouth of the well.

And there were all the flocks gathered. And the shepherds rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep, and then put the stone back in its place again. Jacob drew near and asked them whence they came. from Haran, they said. Do you know Laban, the son of

We are

Nahor? inquired Jacob. And they said, We know him. Jacob
said to them, Is he well? They said, He is well; and behold,
Rachel his daughter cometh this way with her sheep.
And he told the men to make haste and water the sheep,

and then go and feed them. But they said they could not do this; that they must wait until all the flocks were gathered there; then the stone would be rolled from the mouth of the well, and they could water the sheep. This was so there would be no waste of the precious water.