4076. 'And you yourselves know that with all my strength I have served your father' means that He acted by His own power. This is clear from the meaning of 'serving' as diligent effort, dealt with in 3824, 3846, but in reference to the Lord, as His own power, dealt with in 3975, 3977, the more so when the phrase 'with all my strength' is added.

3846. 'And we will give you this one also for the service which you render with me for another seven years' means that in that case it would be a complete state of diligent effort. This is clear from the meaning of 'service' and of 'serving' as diligent effort, dealt with in 3824, and from the meaning of 'seven years', which has the same meaning as 'a week', namely a state and a whole period - as immediately above in 3845 - and so a complete state which is also holy, as in 3824. 'We will give you this one also' means that in that case there would be a joining to the affection for internal truth. The reason why 'serving' in the internal sense means diligent effort is that the exertions of the external man exist as diligent effort in the internal man, which is why a diligent effort is called mental toil.