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Canaan, where Jacob lived and kept his flocks, was the part of Palestine between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Jacob had twelve sons, of whom Reuben was the oldest and Benjamin the youngest. Joseph and Benjamin were the sons of Jacob's second wife and so they were half-brothers to the older children.

This selection tells how it happened that the Hebrews emigrated to Egypt, where they became acquainted with a civilization far older than that of Greece.

I. 1. Where is Canaan? 2. How does Jacob make a living? 3. How does he show that he loves Joseph best? 4. Tell the story of Joseph's dreams. 5. How does the first one make his brothers feel? How does the second make his father feel? 6. Tell the story of the first plot against Joseph; of the second plot. 7. Who are the Ishmaelites? 8. What is your opinion of Reuben? of Judah? 9. What lie is told to Jacob?

10. Where is Egypt, and what do you know about it? What great Egyptian monuments do travelers still visit? 11. Is Joseph treated like a slave? 12. How do you know that he deserves a high position? 13. Tell the story of Pharaoh's dream and of Joseph's explanation. 14. What good advice does Joseph offer?

II. 1. How does Pharaoh follow Joseph's advice? 2. How do Pharaoh's dreams come true? 3. How do Joseph's dreams come true? 4. Who speaks for the brothers? 5. How do they show their repentance for their jealousy? 6. How does Jacob feel when his sons deliver Joseph's message? 7. When the corn is gone, how does he hope to please the ruler of Egypt?

III. 1. Tell the story in your own words. 2. Why does Joseph love Benjamin most? 3. Who speaks for the brothers this time? 4. Tell what Judah says, using his words as far as you can. 5. How does he show his sincerity? 6. How does Joseph show that he has truly forgiven his brothers' ill-treatment of him? 7. What is the end of the story?

For Study with the Glossary. Proper Names: Canaan, Shechem, Dothan, Ishmaelites, Gilead, Potiphar, Pharaoh.

I. sheaf, obeisance, spicery, balm, myrrh, pieces of silver, kine, well-favored, ill-favored, magicians.

II. chariot, corn, dearth, peradventure, ward, verified, interpreter, provender, bereaved, protest.

III. yearn, refrained, birthright, messes, bondmen, iniquity, surety, tarry.

After many years the descendants of Jacob and his sons were so badly treated by the rulers of Egypt that they wished to flee to another land. Moses was the great leader who guided them to the border of the Promised Land, as the Hebrews called their new home beyond the Red Sea. Moses was also a writer, a lawgiver, and a prophet. The Ten Commandments are the most famous of his laws. His life was full of extraordinary happenings, beginning when, as a baby, he was found and adopted by Pharoah's daughter. He was educated at the court and became, like Joseph, a ruler in Egypt. Moses did not himself enter the Promised Land; he died “this side Jordan's wave," as the poem says.

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THE BURIAL OF MOSES

"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. . . So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." Deuteronomy xxxiv. 1-6.

By Nebo's lonely mountain,
On this side Jordan's wave,
In a vale in the land of Moab,

There lies a lonely grave;

And no man knows that sepulcher,
And no man saw it e'er,

For the angels of God upturned the sod,
And laid the dead man there.

That was the grandest funeral
That ever passed on earth;
But no man heard the trampling,
Or saw the train go forth,

Noiselessly as the daylight

Comes back when night is done,

And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek
Grows into the great sun,—

Noiselessly as the springtime

Her crown of verdure weaves, And all the trees on all the hills

Open their thousand leaves;

So without sound of music,

Or voice of them that wept,

Silently down from the mountain's crown
The great procession swept.

Perchance the bald old eagle,
On gray Beth-peor's height,
Out of his lonely eyrie,

Looked on the wondrous sight:
Perchance the lion stalking

Still shuns that hallowed spot,

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For beast and bird have seen and heard
That which man knoweth not.

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But when the warrior dieth,

His comrades in the war,

With arms reversed and muffled drum,

Follow his funeral car:

They show the banners taken,

They tell his battles won,

And after him lead his masterless steed,

While peals the minute gun.

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Amid the noblest of the land

We lay the sage to rest,

And give the bard an honored place,

With costly marble drest,

In the great minster transept

Where lights like glories fall,

And the organ rings, and the sweet choir sings,
Along the emblazoned wall.

This was the truest warrior
That ever buckled sword, -
This the most gifted poet

That ever breathed a word;
And never earth's philosopher
Traced with his golden pen,

On the deathless page, truths half so sage
As he wrote down for men.

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And had he not high honor
The hillside for a pall,-

To lie in state while angels wait,

With stars for tapers tall,

And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes,

Over his bier to wave,

And God's own hand in that lonely land,

To lay him in the grave?

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