* sent away Jacob.
Whoever observes Jacob's life, after he had surreptitiously
obtained his father's blessing, will perceive that he enjoyed
very little worldly felicity. His brother purposed to murder
him, to avoid which he was forced to flee from his father's
house; his uncle Laban deceived him, as he had deceived his
father, and treated him with great rigour; after a servitude
of 21; years, he was obliged to leave him in a clandestine
manner, not without danger of being brought back, or murdered
by his enraged brother; no sooner were these fears over, than
he experienced the baseness of his son Reuben, in defiling his
bed; he had next to bewail the treachery and cruelty of Simeon
and Levi toward the Shechemites; then he had to feel the loss
of his beloved wife; he was next imposed upon by his own sons,
and had to lament the supposed untimely end of Joseph; and to
complete all, he was forced by famine to go into Egypt, and
there died, in a strange land. So just, wonderful, and
instructive are all the ways of Providence!
* Padan-aram.
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