Lord, I find the genealogy of my
Savior strangely checkered with
four remarkable changes in four
generations.
Rehoboam begat Abia:
a bad father begat a bad son.
Abia begat Asa:
a bad father and a good son.
Asa begat Jehoshaphat:
a good father and a good son.
Jehoshaphat begat Joram:
a good father and a bad son.
I see, Lord, from hence,
that my father's piety cannot be
entailed;
that is bad news for me.
But I see also
that actual impiety is not
hereditary;
that is good news for my son.
-- Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)