94 BOYS OF THE BIBLE.

day he died in Egypt, his life was full of care and anxiety
and trouble, much of which he brought upon himself. The
last end of this changeful life was as calm and peaceful as
the early years had been stormy and restless. He lived to
see his son Joseph—the boy of the coat of many colors—
Prime Minister of the greatest kingdom on the earth. He
saw his children and his children’s children, and one of the
most touching scenes of his old age was that which occurred
shortly before his death, when Manasseh and Ephraim, the
sons of Joseph, were brought before Jacob. to receive the
patriarch’s dying benediction. The whole story is beautifully
told in the forty-eighth chapter of the book of Genesis. , It
is evident that Jacob’s eyes were growing dim, and when
the two boys were brought to him the old grandfather said,
‘“Who are these?” And Joseph said, ‘They are my sons,
‘which God hath given me in this place.” And Jacob said,
“Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, that I may bless them.”
Jacob’s sight was so feeble that he could not see the boys,
and so he drew them to his aged breast, and kissed them
very tenderly, and then he blessed them. But, now, mark the
character of the benediction. He did not pray that they might
have wealth and power and dominion so much as that they
might have divine guidance, and so the narrative proceeds.

‘““And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see
thy face, and lo! God hath showed me thy seed.

“And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it
upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left
hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands willingly, for
Manasseh was the first-born.

“And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom
my father Abraham did walk, the God which fed me all my
life !ong unto this day.