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me: I will give thee money for the field; take [it] of me, 14 and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered 15 Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hearken unto me: the

land [is worth] only four hundred shekels of silver;* what [is] that betwixt me and thee? it is a present hardly worth your 16 acceptance; bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and being perfectly satisfied with the terms, Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred 17 shekels of silver, current [money] with the merchant. And the field of Ephron, which [was] in Machpelah, which [was] before Mamre, the field, and the cave which [was] therein, and all the trees that [were] in the field, that [were] in all 18 the borders or fences round about, were made sure Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city; Ephron accepted the money in the sight of these witnesses; and thus the field was made over to Abraham and his posterity.

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And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same [is] 20 Hebron in the land of Canaan.† And the field, and the cave that [is] therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place, by the sons of Heth.

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REFLECTIONS.

OW awful a change does death make in our dearest comforts! Sarah, the mother of the faithful, must die. Though Abraham and she lived happy together for many years, death parts them. Sarah appears to have been beautiful, and it is very uncommon for beauty to last to so great an age; but she at last dies, and so must all her daughters. Let them be solicitous then, to secure those inward beauties of the mind, which shall live, not only when age withers their countenances, but when death shall destroy their bodies. Abraham is obliged to say, Bury my dead out of my sight. When those, who once delighted our eyes, become ghastly and loathsome, we shall be glad to remove them to the land of darkness. We may lawfully mourn over them, and indeed ought to do so; and be humbled for sin, that brought death into the world, which changes the loveliest pieces of human nature into loathsomeness and corruption. Let us rejoice in the prospect of life and immortality by Christ Jesus; when these vile bodies shall be changed, this corruptible shall put on incorruption, this mortal, immortality, and death shall be swallowed up of life.

About forty five pounds of our money; but some say only twenty five pounds.

+ Several of Abraham's descendants desired afterward to be buried there, to intimate their faith in the future possession of the land of Canaan,

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2. Observe how amiable civility and generosity appear. To refuse the common forms of civility, is no part of religion, but shows a great deal of pride; if they have no great meaning, there is no harm in them. Abraham was a man of distinguished grav ity and piety, a friend of God, and the father of the faithful, yet he used the greatest respect to others. A rude, clownish behaviour, is as inconsistent with the gospel as with common decency. Abraham's behaviour might shame many christians; yea, the children of Heth teach the sons of God good manners. The generosity of Abraham is remarkable, who would not take the advantage of a sudden generous offer, but was willing to pay a full equivalent. Let us be ready to serve and oblige, but never impose upon those who are friendly and generous, nor show a niggardly, selfish disposition, which is a dishonour to religion, and detrimental to our comforts and interests. May we practise these amiable virtues, as we desire to partake of Abraham's blessing.

3. How different was the manner in which Abraham took possession of the earthly and the heavenly Canaan! God had given him the whole land; but the time to take possession was not yet come; therefore, without any distrust of the divine promise, or renunciation of his right, he bought a parcel for his present necessity. In the earthly Canaan, his first possession was a burying place, in which his beloved wife was deposited; and it was the only spot of it that ever was in his own actual possession. Into the heavenly Canaan he entered as a triumphant spirit, and partook of the entertainment which God had there provided for those that love him. There is a grave at the end of every earthly possession; and we must soon follow our friends whom we have laid in the dust. Let us then be looking to, and preparing for, that better country, that is, the heavenly one; whence, not only sorrow and sighing, but even death itself, shall be for ever banished. There all good men shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of their heavenly Father, and go out no more.

CHAP. XXIV. 1-28.

In this chapter are some further particulars about Abraham's fam ily, and the settlement of Isaac ; which teach us, that if we ac knowledge God in all our ways, he will direct our paths."

ND Abraham was old, [and] well stricken in age, an hundred and forty years old: and the LORD had blessed 2 Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, Eliezer of Damascus, (ch. xv. 2.) that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, in token of subjection, and as a promise of faithful ser3 vice: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of

heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son, not persuade him to take a wife, of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, because they are a cursed race, (ch. ix. 25.) and devoted to destruction: 4 But thou shalt go unto my country, Mesopotamia, and to my kindred, to my brother Nahor, who has many children, and, though among idolaters, they worship the true God; (ch, xxxi. 5 53.) and take a wife unto my son Isaac from thence. And the servant, who was a pious, prudent man, and desirous to know the obligation of his oath, said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I therefore needs bring thy son again unto the land from 6 whence thou camest? must Isaac go and dwell there ? And Abraham, warmly protesting against that, said unto him, Be ware thou that thou bring not my son thither again; he must by no means settle there. However, I have authority to say, 7 The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence; thy journey shall 8 be prosperous, and thou shalt succeed in the business. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from the obligation of this my oath only bring not 9 my son thither again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

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And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master [were] in his hand and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor, that is, Haran, where Nahor lived, (ch. xxviii. 11 10. xxix. 4.) And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, [even] the time that women go out to draw [water.]

12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham, in providing a wife for Isaac, and mak13 ing thy choice plain to me; and in order to this, Behold, I stand [here] by the well of water; and the daughters of the men 14 of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: [let the same be] she [that] thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac ; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. This he desired, not out of presumption or distrust, but by a secres instinct of God's Spirit; justly concluding, that one who was

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diligent and industrious in drawing rater, and affable and kind to strangers, would make Isaac a good wife.

And God heard his prayer: And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's 16 brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her and she went down to the well, and filled 17 her pitcher, and came up. And the servant Eliezer ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of 18 thy pitcher. And she, seeing by his attendants and camels that he was a person of eminence, addressed him with respect, and said, Drink, my lord and she hasted, and let down her 19 pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, in the most obliging manner, I will draw [water] for thy camels also, until they have done 20 drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the

trough, and ran again unto the well to draw [water,] and drew 21 for all his camels. And the man wondering at her, to see how all things succeeded according to his desire, held his peace, to 1 wit, to mark every circumstance, and consider closely, whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. 22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring, or jewel for the forehead, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten [shekels] weight of gold, in value about eighteen pounds five shil 23 lings of our money; And said, Whose daughter [art] thou?

tell me, I pray thee: is there room [in] thy father's house 24 for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I [am] the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. 25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and prov26 ender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD; seeing that she was all he could wish for, fair and healthy, humble and diligent, courteous and obliging, he concluded that his prayer was heard. 27 And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth I [being] in the way, the LORD led me to the 28 house of my master's brethren. And the damsel ran, and told [them of] her mother's house these things.

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REFLECTIONS.

T is a great part of parental kindness and duty, to settle their children with suitable companions in life. This was a very important affair, and lay much upon Abraham's thoughts. He recommended the care of it to a faithful servant, in a very solemn manner. He chose to match his son in a family which had the fear of God. So great a man as Abraham might, no doubt, have had a rich wife for his son among some noble family of the Canaanites; but he knew that they were sinners before the Lord, and doomed to destruction, and was fearful lest they should be a snare to the soul of his child. Is it not strange that so many parents in these days should make the welfare of the soul the least concern to be regarded, in disposing of their children? that they should mind every thing but the one thing needful? The only inquiry with many, is, whether a man or woman be rich? not whether they fear God and work righteousness; not whether they have the amiable virtues which Rebekah discovered? When we hear persons speaking of the mar riage of their neighbours, the only thing said is, that they have such and such fortunes, and are in such circumstances. Ah! when will parents be wise for the souls of their children, and seek alliances for them with those who will help and forward them in the way to heaven? If parents would lay it down as a maxim, to consent to no proposal for their children, but in behalf of those who, as far as they can judge, are truly serious and holy, the world would soon be mended, and the rising generation, in most families, would be a seed to serve the Lord. An alliance with those of our own sentiments in religious matters, is most likely to be comfortable and agreeable; but I do not see how it is possi ble those alliances should be so, where one party is going to heaven, and the other to hell.

2. Let us learn in all our ways to acknowledge God, and submit to his guidance and direction: so Abraham and his servant did. May we set the Lord always before us, and seek wisdom from him; especially let us do it when entering upon new relations, and the most important concerns of life; then we shall be likely to have God's blessing; and he will send his angel before us, and make our way prosperous. We, like Abraham, should learn from former experience, to trust in him; we should plead his promises as a ground of that trust; and have our eyes ever toward the Lord, who hath the hearts of all men in his hand, and knows who and what is best for us. We learn also that his providence extends to the most minute events, and it will be our wisdom in all our affairs to follow it. So Rebekah did. Her's was far from being a rash and hasty resolution. How long she staid with her parents after she had agreed to the proposal, is uncertain; but Providence so remarkably pointed out her way, that it

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