opprobrious Language tamely bear When thus provok'd would they the Offender spare How impious then is that envenom'd Tongue That dares th' Almighty charge with doing wrong By him great Conqu'rors are esteem'd no more Than Captives nor the Wealthy than the Poor All Men before him stand on equal ground There Kings and Slaves are undistinguish'd found On all alike he executes his Laws And Judges not the Person but the Cause The High and Low the Rich and Needy are Alike his Creatures and alike his Care Can he be overâ—aw'd will he to make Unjust Decrees a Bribe in secret take Will he the Power of mighty Monarchs dread His Arm can in a moment strike 'em dead He can affright whole Nations and destroy Great Empires when they setled Peace enjoy When a proud Prince is ripe for Vengeance grown Tho' God by humane means oft pulls him down Yet he without them can his Foe dethrone For Powers unseen descending thro' the Air Shall far away the trembling Tyrant bear His vast and wide Creation God surveys Views all his Subjects and remarks their ways He sees our Thoughts first rising in the Mind Knows what we do and how we are inclin'd Therefore th' Almighty cannot thro' mistake Or ignorance a wrong Decision make A Judge that cannot err unbiass'd free From Hopes and Fears can't make an ill Decree Evasive Arts in vain the Wicked use Their Crimes in vain they labour to excuse No Mist before th' Almighty's Eye can dwell Whose piercing Beams will blackest Shades dispel Shades from the dark and deepest Caves of Hell Therefore as God will ne'er our Guilt enlarge Nor on us Crimes we ne'er committed charge So when for Judgment he appoints a day He 'll the Judicial Sentence not delay To hear what Man for his excuse can say He calls no Witness no Enquiry needs But strait to Condemnation he proceeds He breaks the Mighty pulls the Tyrant down And raises others to the vacant Throne These wrathful Strokes inflicted justly show He does th' Offences and th' Offender know On these he doubles his avenging blows And marks them out as Heav'n's notorious Foes The Wretches are expos'd to publick sight Objects of Vengeance others to affright Because they hated Virtue 's Heav'nly way And would not God's most equal Laws obey But crush'd the Needy with Tyrannic Pride Whilst humbly they to Heav'n for Justice cry'd And when such poor afflicted Creatures cry The God of Mercy will not help deny At last th' Almighty will proud Kings dethrone Beneath whose Yoke the ruin'd People groan Tho' they would Pious seem and Zeal pretend For Publick Good Destruction is their end Lest their Examples which Contagious are Should by degrees the Peoples Minds ensnare Therefore let all in Misery and Pain Suspect themselves and not of God complain Let them to God such words as these address Just are my Suff'rings freely I confess Nor will I now commit a fresh Offence By pleading at thy Bar my Innocence Teach me thy Will my Ignorance instruct And thro' the Paths of Life my Feet conduct Before my Eyes thy Heav'nly Light display Which may both cheer and guide me in my way Forgive my Sin my inward Peace restore Have I offended I 'll offend no more Say Iob didst thou in such an humble way E'er due Submission to th' Almighty pay If thou this wholesome Counsel dost despise Be sure thy stubborn Folly he 'll chastise Iob may the method I propose refuse Which I were I in his Distress would chuse Tell therefore Iob what thy Opinions are Or let Judicious Men their Sense declare For I such Judges ask in this Affair To me as impious Iob's Discourses sound And with egregious Errors they abound He argues on a Capital mistake That does the Pillars of Religion shake Therefore that he may yet be farther try'd I wish his sharp Affliction may abide Till he retract his Words which God arraign Till he no more of Providence complain Else to the past he 'll fresh Rebellion add And justify what he has rashly said He will applaud his Wisdom and relate That he the Conquest won in this Debate Harden'd in Folly he 'll his Crimes repeat And Heav'n with more indecent Language treat CH. XXXV He paus'd and Iob not answering Elihu Did thus th' important Argument pursue To th' uncorrupted Judge within thy Breast Thy Conscience I appeal will that attest That thou believ'st what thou hast boldly said That Iob does God in Righteousness exceed To any other meaning who can wrest These Irreligious Words by thee exprest Does ever God the least concernment show Whether I 'm Just and Innocent or no What Profit shall I reap by being so I will a short but a full answer give To thee and those that thus of God believe Then up to Heav'n cast thy admiring Eyes View the bright Orbs and Clouds and distant Skies High as they are they 're by th' Almighty's Throne In height as much as thou by them outdone Therefore O Iob the most atrocious Crime Thou dar'st commit can never injure him Nor can his perfect Happiness be less Should thou grown bold and hard in Wickedness By multiply'd Affronts thy Hate of God express Nor can he e'er the least advantage reap Shouldst thou revere him and his Precepts keep But do not thence this false Conclusion draw 'T is therfore fruitless to obey his Law Thee and thy Sons thy Goodness will avail And Heav'nly Blessings on thy House entail And thy Injustice and Impiety Tho' not to God will hurtful be to thee Nor does the Mischief thee alone respect The Crimes of mighty Men Mankind affect When Men of Wealth and Power Oppressors turn They always make their Suff'ring Neighbours mourn The lamentable Crys of Realms opprest What Evils wild Injustice brings attest Crush'd and insulted by Tyrannic Might To the Just God they cry aloud for Right Who tho' unhurt himself touch'd with the sense Of their sharp Suff'rings will be their Defence Tho' 't is a true but sad Remark that none Of these poor Wretches who their Fate bemoan Do ever with a serious Mind enquire After the God who did their Breath inspire Who cannot therefore only Ease bestow And Comforts give to moderate their Woe But midst their greatest Sorrows can employ Their Mouths in Songs and fill their Breasts with joy 'T is strange that Man has so far lost his Sight Has not th' Almighty giv'n to guide him right Reason a Portion of Etherial Light By which he is enabled to collect That he who does with tender care protect Brute Beasts and Birds will never Man neglect If we not only by complaining shew Our Wants as those unreasoning Creatures do But of our past Offences do repent And of his Goodness humbly confident Our Supplications to our God present He 'll not 't is true extend his Arm to save All that Compassion and Protection crave For many to their God in Trouble cry From sense of Suff'ring not of Piety To
our Liberty And keep our Kingdoms from Oppression free We 'll ne'er agree to vindicate the Cause Of this new King nor e'er obey his Laws Th' Almighty sets his Fav'rite up in vain We 'll ne'er consent to this Usurper's Reign We his proud Yoke will never tamely bear But will his servile Chains asunder tear But the great God who sits enthron'd on high Above the Starry Convex of the Sky Insultingly will mock their foolish Pride Laugh at their Threats and their vain Plots deride In fiery Indignation he shall pass A dreadful Sentence on this impious Race The marks of high Displeasure he shall show And pour Destruction on th' audacious Foe Thus from his Throne sublime th' Eternal spoke And with his awful Voice the Frame of Nature shook In spite of all the Princes that combine Or to retard or frustrate my design On Sion's Hill my Fav'rite I 'll enthrone And fix upon his Head th' Imperial Crown Submissive States his Empire shall obey And at his Footstool Kings their Scepters lay He shall Tyrannic Cruelty correct And tenderly his Subject's Rights protect He shall assert Divine Religion's Cause Heav'n's sacred Int'rests manage with Applause And rule the World with just and equal Laws To execute his high important Charge My Viceroy I invest with Pow'r at large Vast Pow'r I give him but I give him none But what is mixt with Mercy like my own No other Pow'r but what is understood To be intended for his Subjects good His just and gentle Conduct shall confess He seeks his Glory in their Happiness I to the World will publish thy Decree That raises me to Regal Dignity Thus said the Lord let it this Day be known That thou art my begotten only Son Thy high Descent let all the Nations own Thou art intitul'd by thy Royal Birth To all the Realms and Nations of the Earth Make thy demand and by my Grant divine The Pagan States and Kingdoms shall be thine I 'll subject all the spacious tracks of Land From Pole to Pole to thy supream command Thou shalt of all the Regions be possest From the Sun's rising to the adverse West Only the limits which the World surround Thy Universal Monarchy shall bound Arm'd with a Rod of Iron thou shalt reign O'er proud Oppressors and their Rage restrain Thou shalt in pieces dash like Potters Clay Thy stubborn Foes who insolently say We 'll ne'er his Title own nor his Commands obey Ye foolish Kings and Potentates be wise And be instructed where your Safety lies The Son of God with Acclamations meet And prostrate lye adoring at his feet Bow down your Necks to take his gentle Yoke Lest your neglect his Fury should provoke If you refuse this Monarch to obey Be sure you 'll perish in your wicked way For if his Wrath so dreadful does appear When scarcely kindled what have you to fear Who by your desp'rate Provocations raise The Spark to Flames and make his Fury blaze No longer your Subjection then delay The safe and happy Men are only they Who as their Refuge and secure Defence Repose in him their Trust and Confidence THE CIVth PSALM PARAPHRAS'D MY grateful Soul th' Almighty's Name adore Great is his Being great his Works of Pow'r Immortal Honours Majesty Renown And Dignity Divine his Temples crown His Robe of State is wrought with Light reâ—in'd An endless Train of Lustre flows behind His Throne 's of massy burnish'd Glory made With Heav'nly Pearl and Gems Divine inlaid Whence Floods of Joy and Seas of Splendour flow On all th' Angelic gazing Throng below Who drink in Pleasures by their ravish'd Sight Delug'd in vast ineffable Delight He as a Tent the Heav'n's expansion reers And as a Curtain stretches out the Sphears He makes the Mists his Pillars to sustain His airy Rooms and lays their Beams in Rain The Clouds th' Almighty's rolling Chariots bear Their Lord thro' all the spacious Fields of Air. He harnasses the manag ' Winds and flys On their swift Wings to visit all the Skys The various Meteors of the Air above Wait his Commands and by his Order move Tempests and Windy Vapours rais'd on high To do his Will like Menial Servants fly Lightnings and all his wildest Works of Fire His Ministers to serve their Lord conspire These sensless Creatures such Obedience shew To their great Master as his Angels do To him her Father Nature owes her Birth He laid the deep Foundations of the Earth He hung the pondrous heap in fluid Air And made its weight it s own Supporter there Then he the Waters o'er its Bosom roll'd And liquid Garments did the Earth enfold The Rocks and Hills conceal'd in Billows stood And o'er the Mountains tops the Deluge rais'd its Flood God's great Command chastis'd the Water's Pride He bad the Flood call down its tow'ring Tide And strait the ebbing Deluge did subside Th' Almighty form'd a vast capacious Deep Where he his Watry Regiments might keep The waves file off and thither make their way To form the mighty Body of the Sea Where they encamp and in their Stations stand Entrench'd in Works of Rock and Lines of Sand. Yet some Deserters still the Sea forsake And from their Posts by stealth Excursions make The Sun to some lets down his helping Ray They climb the golden Line and thus convey Themselves in Vapours high amidst the Air And to the Hills aspiring heads repair Others by secret Channels from the Deep Pass undiscern'd and up the Mountains creep Whence gushing out in Springs they downward flow And thro' the flowry Vales back to the Ocean go While God in Prison holds the mighty Deep And does in rocky Chains the raging Monster keep That it may ne'er surmount the ambient Shore And with its Flood may drown the Earth no more He to refresh and cloath the Meads with Grass Bids all his Rivers thro' the Vallys pass Kindly their course th' indented Banks restrain Kindly the Hills retard their gliding train For thus the ling'ring Streams at leisure flow And greater Riches on the Fields bestow Beasts tame and salvage to the River's brink Come from the Fields and Wilderness to drink Thither the feather'd Singers of the Air To quench their thirst and prune their Wings repair Then midst the Willows that adorn the Flood Or on the Branches in some neighb'ring Wood The painted Heralds in melodious Lays Proclaim their gracious Benefactor 's Praise He from his high Aerial Chambers where Th' Almighty Chymist does his Works prepare Digests his Lightnings and distills his Rain Pours down his Waters on the thirsty Plain He sends refreshing Showers to cheer the Hills And with his Bounty all the Vally fills The Earth made fruitful with his Heav'nly drops With a rich Harvest crowns the Farmer 's Hopes He does the Fields his open Table spred Where all the Beasts with grassy Meat are fed He Plants for Food and Physic does produce Thro' all the Earth for Man his Viceroys use He pours from
Engines did all Nature scare Spouting their ruddy Vomit thro' the Air. Tempests of Fire like that which burns in Hell And blew Cascades of flaming Sulphur fell Dreadful to Sight and deadly to the Smell The rav'ning Flames were on the Mountains pour'd And all thy Shepherds with their Flocks devour'd I only am escap'd to let thee know Thy heavy Loss and this sad Scene of Woe Scarce had he ended when another came His Horror was alike his haste the same And thus he said The fierce Chaldeans made Three chosen Bands thy Camels to invade Thy Servants by surprize they 've overcome And with their Spoil they march'd in Triumph home Mean time another enter'd who in Speed And Consternation did the rest exceed And thus he spake Iob At a splendid Treat Thy Sons and Daughters were together met Within their Eldest Brother's pleasant Seat When rising from the Salvage Wilderness A howling hollow Wind with such a Stress Bore on the House that the high Roof and Wall Disjoynted crack'd and fell and with the Fall Crush'd and interr'd at once th' assembled Youth I only scap'd to tell so sad a Truth Then Iob his Garment rent and shav'd his Head And on the Ground adoring fell and said Naked at first I left my Mother's Womb And shall return as Naked to my Tomb. The Lord has giv'n and taken back again Because he takes his Own shall I complain Tho' now he Frowns I 'll praise th' Allmighty's Name And bless the Spring whence past Enjoyments came CHAP. II. The glorious Sons of God a second time Adoring stood around his Throne sublime A second time ambitious Lucifer Amidst the happy Seraphs did appear To whom th' Eternal thus Apostate whence Com'st thou to these blest Seats of Innocence Th' Apostate said I Lands and Seas have crost And past from Clime to Clime from Coast to Coast Till the Tour of yon low World had made And all its Empires and its States survey'd And now am hither come In all thy way Th' Allmighty said Ambitious Spirit say Hast thou observ'd good Iob my Servant one In Righteousness and Piety by none Thro' all the wide Terrestrial World out-done How ' midst his Suff'rings he asserts my Cause Defends my Justice and Obeys my Laws He perseveres unchang'd and still holds fast Th' Integrity which he has long embrac't Thou mov'st me to afflict his Soul in vain He still his generous Virtue does retain Shock'd with this Storm he still takes deeper root Nor is he less adorn'd with Noble Fruit. The Constancy th' unshaken Man has shew'd Does thy malicious Policy Elude Still against Sin he makes a brave defence Despoil'd of all things but his Innocence Th' Apostate then reply'd Mankind 't is known Will give their Childrens Skins to save their own To save their Lives their Treasures they produce Rather than Death a naked Being chuse But now extend thy Hand and let the smart Of some Disease afflict him to the Heart And thou wilt find my Accusation true That he with Curses will his God pursue Then said th' Allmighty Iob is in thy power Afflict his Flesh but be his Life secure In haste th' Apostate on this Errand went Pleas'd with a Power to vex the Innocent He soon collected thro' the Atmosphere Crude Exhalations and corrupted Air. He fetch'd raw Vapours and unwholsom Damps From standing Lakes low Caves and marshy Swamps Then finding Iob he secretly convey'd Thro' all his winding Veins th' infectious Seed The poyson'd Blood with Pestilential Boyls From Head to Foot the guiltless Man defiles In Ashes humbly silent down he sate With Groans bewailing his unhappy Fate To clean his Skin he with a Potsherd took The Filth away that from his Ulcers broke Then thus his Wife the Constant Man addrest How much thy pious dullness I detest Dost thou not see that thy Devotion 's vain What have thy Pray'rs procur'd but Woe and Pain To suff'ring Virtue wilt thou still adhere And harden'd in Religion persevere Wilt thou retain thy Praying Whining Cant And bless thy God for what for Plagues and Want Hast thou not yet thy Int'rest understood Perversly Righteous and absurdly Good These painful Sores and all thy Losses show How Heav'n regards the foolish Saint below Incorrigibly Pious can't thy God Reform thy stupid Virtue with his Rod Since only Woe attends thy Piety Be Wise and Brave for once Curse God and Dye Provoke th' Allmighty thus to be thy Friend To take thy Life and so thy Suff'rings end Then Iob reply'd Thou speakest as the Weak As the Prophane Flagitious Women speak What! shall a Man a Worm with God contend Dispute his Will his Rule of Justice mend He once enrich'd and made us to abound Fill'd us with Goodness and our Wishes crown'd Shall we receive his Blessings but complain When his afflicting Hand Creates our Pain We should our Patience in our Suff'rings shew Blessings are not but Suff'rings are our Due When Bildad Zophar and Wise Eliphaz Rever'd for Knowledge and their Noble Race All three to Iob by Friendship long endear'd The News of his Calamitys had heard They left their Seats and meeting on the Day And Place of Rendezvous they took their way To Mourn with Iob to share his mighty Grief And by their Councels to afford Relief His Pain in part by Kindness to remove And sooth his Anguish by condoling Love Then from afar they lifted up their Eyes Directed by his Moans and wofull Crys And spy'd th' afflicted Iob upon the Sand In Ashes laid his Potsherd in his Hand Consummate Sorrow in his Eyes appear'd And Tears and Dust his meagre Cheeks besmear'd Deform'd he lay Disfigur'd Cover'd o'er With running Boyls and undigested Gore They sought him in himself and scarce did know Their ancient Friend disguis'd with so much Woe At last convinc'd they whisper'd sure 't is he But O how chang'd with Pain and Poverty What wondrous Turn of Providence is this And how precarious is Terrestrial Bliss Amazing Change how soon O Righteous God Man's Glory sades beneath thy blasting Rod To see a Righteous Friend so much distrest Awaken'd various Passions in their Breast Grief Pity Wonder in their Bosoms pent Prest with like force and strove at once for Vent They tore their Vests like Men in deep Despair And scatter'd Clouds of Ashes thro' the Air Which thence descending on their Heads did rest Their inward Grief and Trouble to attest Not to molest a Sorrow so profound Sev'n Nights and Days they Silent sate around So long a Time they held their Peace to show A Rev'rence due to such prodigious Woe CHAP. III. And then afflicted Iob first Silence broke His Friends attentive sate while thus he spoke Curst be the fatal Day that cheer'd my Sight With the first Beam of Inauspicious Light Curst be the luckless Night be Curst the Morn When first they said an Infant Man was born Perish that Day let it no more appear Cut off from all Connexion with the Year
gaping Chasms amazing to the Sight Mingle the Day with Subterranean Night Th' inclining Poles as wrench'd aside appear And diving Isles conceal themselves for fear At his Command the rising Sun will stay And from the World keep back the ling'ring Day His marshal'd Clouds to intercept the Light Seal up the Stars the twinkling Eyes of Night The spreading Heav'n's he as a Curtain draws Treads down aspiring Waves and gives the Ocean Laws With Orbs of Light he inlays all the Sphears And studs the Sable Night with Silver Stars He all the Constellations hangs on high And bids the Planets wander thro' the Sky Stormy Areturus round the Northern Pole By his direction does unweary'd roll Orion and the Pleiades dispence At his Command their Rays and Influence His skillful hand on Airy Pillars reers The Vaulted Chambers of the Southern Spheres The long Succession of his Mighty Deeds Our everlasting Admiration feeds Behind a black impenetrable Screen Of Pitchy Clouds th' Allmighty walks unseen He that to follow in his Steps essays Thro' all his craggy dark perplexing Ways Scar'd by the sacred Horrors of the Place Will own the Maze Divine he cannot trace Nor the black Gulph and trackless Mountains pass He 'll stand astonish'd and bereft of Sense Lost in the awful Wilds of Providence If he his settled Purpose has exprest A Man of Wealth and Honour to divest What hardy Mortal will his Power withstand Or dares a reason why 't is done demand Till God withdraws the heavy galling Yoke And reconcil'd forbears th' afflicting Stroke Those who would rescue may their Pride express But by their fall their weakness shall confess Since none a Match in Power with God contends And none his Ways and Counsels comprehends Can I pretend to speak my Case to state And grapple with th' Allmighty in debate Can I his Ear with chosen Language charm And God of all his Arguments disarm Tho' I believ'd my Cause most Right and Just I would my doubtful Innocence distrust I would not plead with God but only pray That Justice he with Mercy would allay Tho' he should kindly grant me my Request Yet I so much despond am so Distrest That I th' amazing Truth should ne'er believe But as a gawdy Dream the joyful News receive Both sharp and lasting Suff'rings I have born With Wrath Divine as with a Tempest torn He perseveres and multiplies his Strokes Tho' no uncommon Guilt his Wrath provokes So fast his fierce redoubled Blows descend That I can scarce to all my Wounds attend No breathing Time is giv'n no short Relief From exquisite and never-ceasing Grief Should I his Throne with all my force Assail Against Allmighty Strength can I prevail If I Appeal to Judges and to Laws What higher Court can Sit to hear my Cause If I my Righteousness before him plead Will not my Words to my Conviction lead Will he not thence my Condemnation draw And in my purest Virtue find a flaw Should God pronounce me just yet I 'd refuse Uneasy Life and Death's Embraces chuse To all things you advance to represent God's Power and Justice fully I assent But then you err when you assert that God Exempts the Righteous from his scourging Rod. No Fav'rite Son is from his Frown secure But in his Turn does his sharp Stripes endure The Foolish from the Wise you cannot know By the false marks of Happiness or Woe 'Twixt Good and Bad there 's no distinction made Unless more frequent Darts the Good invade Against the Just th' Allmighty's Arrows fly For he delights the Innocent to try To show their Constant and their God-like Mind Not by Afflictions broken but refin'd He to the Wicked gives the Earth away And raises Monsters to Imperial Sway. He makes them Peace and Plenty to possess And crowns their Undertakings with Success While Men for Empire fit and Publique Trust Quick in discerning in deciding Just Worthy of Thrones Men of unblemish'd Fame Are oft expos'd to Misery and Shame This is th' Allmighty's Deed if not declare Its genuine Authors who and where they are My Life consumes in never-ceasing Woe My rolling Days uninterrupted flow To disembogue their Flood within the Deep Where all the Streams of Time collected Sleep No eager Couriers in their greatest haste Nor Ship before the Wind advance so fast The Eagle from the Mountains Airy top To strike his Prey does ne'er so swiftly stoop If I resolve my Sorrow to forget That I 'll no more my rash Complaints repeat That my unbridled Passion I 'll restrain This humble Resignation is in vain For God will never my Distress relieve He 'll punish on and tempt Men to believe That Iob by some unusual black Offence Has Heav'n provok'd such Judgments to dispence In vain I strive my Innocence to clear Since I must still these grievous Suff'rings bear Still the sad marks of Heav'n's displeasure wear If by my Vindication I should grow As clean and spotless as the Fleecy Snow When God replies my Stains before conceal'd To my Confusion would be all reveal'd My Foulness he 'll detect that I no more Should boast my Cleanness but my self abhor He 's not a Man my equal in dispute That I should hope his Reasons to refute Can I in Courts of Judgment take my place And plead against th' Allmighty Face to Face In this Debate what Umpire shall preside Hear all our Arguings and the Cause decide Let him his Terrors and his Rod withdraw And let his Mercy mitigate his Law For humane Frailty due Allowance make And I with Courage will my Tryal take I then will boldly speak and free from fear I 'll quickly make my Innocence appear But this request th' Allmighty does refuse He does the Rigour of his Justice use His awful Terrors which my Soul surround Drink up my Spirits and my Hope confound As I have done I therefore will complain This only way is left to sooth my Pain CHAP. X. My constant Woes such constant Groans create That Life 's a black uncomfortable State My Soul abhors this loathsom Lump of Clay Longs to be free to wing to Heav'n its way I 'll make my moan to give its Sorrow vent Else will my Breast be with its Tempest rent I cannot smother such Gigantick Woe Nor on my raging Grief a Muzzle throw I can't forbear to God I 'll thus complain As one that 's Wicked do not me Arraign Why dost thou let me thus in torment lye And thus in vain for Heav'n's Compassion Cry Do not thy Servant by uncommon Woes To Publique Censure and Reproach expose Mankind will Me Condemn and cry we know His Crime 's enormous since his Pain is so Can God Complacence in Oppression take And vex his Creatures for the Pleasure's sake O can a God of Mercy cruel grow No Pity feel no tender Passion show Can God my Father e'er Unnatural prove Shut up his Bowels and forget to love Will he with hostile Force his Sons invade Pleas'd
Neighbours he of Sense bereaves Whom he a Prey to the Deceiver leaves He puzzles famous Sages in Debate And leads in Triumph Councellors of State From learned Judges Wisdom he withdraws And they are left as Fools without Applause He haughty Monarchs Bonds and tort'ring Racks And all their Engines of Destruction breaks He Rifles all their Stores of Death and Pain And binds the Tyrant with the Captive's Chain He over-turns the Mighty in their Pride And makes Men those they dreaded once deride Warriours with spreading Laurels often crown'd Part of th' Almighty's Triumph shall be found Drag'd at his Chariot Wheels a Captive Throng Of Monarch's choak'd with Dust shall pant along Tyrants despoil'd shall rave at their defeat And mixt with vulgar Slaves shall Curse and Sweat Princes in Chains shall in his Train appear And weary Kings come lagging in the Rear He takes their Understanding from the Wise And makes their Friends their Oracles despise He pours Contempt on Princes of the Land And wrests their awful Scepter from their Hand He sinks the mighty Warriour's Martial Fame And covers his once glorious Head with Shame Th' Almighty's bright all-penetrating Eye Does Councels deep and dark as Hell descry He sees their secret Works and Countermines Mysterious Statesmen's most profound Designs Plots wrap'd in Clouds and Death like Shades of Night To him lye all expos'd as Noon-day Light He gives a City wide Imperial Sway And does her Yoke on vanquish'd Nations lay She on the Necks of Captive Princes treads When he her Armys forth to Conquest leads She does with unexhausted Wealth abound And as a Mistress awes the World around Then on a suddain he corrects her Pride And to her Banks drives back her ebbing Tyde He breaks her Yoke and rescues from her hand The Realms he subject made to her Command He thro' her Streets does Desolation spread And casts down from the Clouds her tow'ring Head Great Chiefs when he rebukes them Cowards grow And all the marks of Consternation show His Terrors pierce their Breasts like poison'd Darts Enfeeble and dismay the proudest Hearts For Hills and Mountains they 'll forsake their Home And thro' the trackless Woods despairing Roam They 'll seek the lonesom salvage Wilderness There to conceal their vagabond Distress They and the Beasts each other shall affright At distance gaze then fly each other's sight They ne'er shall see a Beam of dawning Hope But for their way involv'd in Darkness grope With Wrath Divine intoxicated they Like Drunken Men shall Reel and lose their way CHAP. XIII Since you are pleas'd oft to enumerate God's Wise and mighty Works in this debate I the same Method have observ'd to shew That I his Wonders know no less than you I do not then your long Discourses want To prove those Truths Divine I freely grant I to th' Almighty my Defence would make And not to you who still my Case mistake He does my Heart and pure Intention know And would some Mercy some Compassion show Which my relentless Friends will never do Perversly in the Wrong you persevere And to erroneous Doctrines still adhere You still your Thoughts with Confidence express That mighty Suff'rings mighty Guilt confess That great Afflictions and uncommon Woe Are marks the Wicked from the Just to know But you unskilful vain Physitians are Who know not how your Med'cine to prepare If the Disease by Chance be understood Ill Drugs you give or misapply the Good Your Silence would your Wisdom best have shown That still had kept your Ignorance unknown Will you for God sophistically plead Does he deceitful ways of arguing need Will you pretend to manage his Defence By false Constructions of his Providence Will he in this your forward Zeal applaud And with Rewards approve your pious Fraud Will you the Person Try and not the Cause And like corrupted Judges wrest the Laws Will you believe your Arguments are strong Because you hang upon a Cause so long Will your contentious Wrangling never end Will peevish Cavils at your injur'd Friend You to th' Almighty's Favour recommend Would it your Honour or your Peace promote If God your Speeches try'd who knows your Thought Why will you Mock your Maker can't his Eye Your Pride and want of Charity descry Tho' cover'd with affected Piety If you will Right pervert and Judgment wrest Tho' this your Guilt lies hid within your Breast God will expose your Crime and in the end His vengeful Blow shall on your Heads descend His high Perfections should in you have bred A sacred Awe and Reverential Dread Should not his Power and Truth that cannot err From rash Determinations you deter I all your Councels vain and fruitless find Like Dust that flies before the driving Wind. Your high Discourses weak and tott'ring stand Like heaps of Clay or uncemented Sand. Hold then your Peace and let your Friend alone To ease his Grief and freely make his moan I will my Bosom of its Burden free By sad Complaints whate'er the Issue be Will God pronounce my Failing mortal Sin When he discerns an upright Heart within For Liberty of Speech so much I long To vent my Woe my Passion is so strong That if deny'd I must in deep Despair Despise my Life my Flesh in pieces tear Tho' God yet hotter Anger should express And with redoubled strokes my Pains increase Tho' he advances with his glitt'ring Dart And o'er me stands to strike me to the Heart I on his Truth and Justice would rely And with strong Faith would to his Mercy fly Th' Almighty knows my Virtue is sincere I 'm not flagitious tho' I often err The Faithful God the Faithful will protect Scourge them he may but can't the Just reject I 'll undertake with humble Confidence Before his Bar to manage my Defence Whatever Blots my Conversation stain I still can my Integrity maintain I 'm sure the God whose Mercy I implore My Peace and Comforts will at last restore By Methods and by Ways which please him best My Burden he 'll remove and give me rest My Declaration with Attention hear My Words shall make my Righteousness appear The Method I have fix'd for my Defence I do not doubt will clear my Innocence who 'll with me plead Oh! that it was my Fate That God would please to manage this debate For if in such a strait I should not speak My Heart distended with my Grief would break My Friends Reproaches and th' Almighty's Hand Which lies so heavy my Complaints demand Let but th' Almighty grant my double Pray'r And I 'll with Courage stand before his Bar Let him withdraw his Hand my Pains suspend And give me ease my Tryal to attend In Power and Glory let him not appear But my Defence with gracious Meekness hear Then let th' Almighty me arraign at large And I 'll defend my self against the Charge Or I will argue and let him declare The reason why his Hand is thus severe I 'm not so vain and
wicked to pretend That I th' Almighty's Laws did ne'er offend But that my Crimes are of so deep a dy As you my Friends suggest I must deny Detect these Crimes that are to me unknown And I 'll the Guilt with Shame and Sorrow own Why in Displeasure dost thou shun my Sight And of thy gracious Eyes withdraw the Light Why hangs this Cloud upon thy frowning Brow Why treatest thou thy Servant as thy Foe Wilt thou to crush me needless Power engage Lavish of Vengeance and profuse of Rage Wilt thou thy keen Immortal Arms employ A poor and helpless Mortal to destroy Wilt thou involv'd in rolling Clouds descend And arm'd with Thunder with a Worm contend Should Storms arise a sapless Leaf to tear The sport of every Wind and blast of Air Must Tempests rage and pointed Light'ning fly And dreadful War infest the troubled Sky Only to chase the empty Straw away To every Spark of Fire an easie Prey Me as a Malefactor God indicts And terrible Decrees against me writes Stern Justice gripes me in her rigid Arms And youthful Guilt afresh my Soul alarms Thou dost my fetter'd Limbs in Prison lay And then with Care dost all my Paths survey Dost closely at my very Heels pursue And with a searching Eye my Footsteps view To mark some great Transgression of thy Laws And for my Condemnation find a Cause Then Putrefaction executes the Doom And does my Flesh as Moths a Vest consume CHAP. XIV Unhappy Man as soon as Born decays He numbers few and those uneasy Days As in a verdant Mead a blowing Flower The suddain Offspring of a Summer Shower Unfolds its Beauty to the Morning Ray But is e'er Evening Cut or fades away So Man a while displays his gawdy Bloom But Death her crooked Scyth does soon assume Mows down and bears her Harvest to the Tomb. He as a Shadow or a Shape of Air Does suddainly dissolve and disappear The Flame of Life does as a Lambent â—ire Or Evening Meteor Shine and strait expire And wilt thou Man regard and condescend With such a Wretch in Judgment to contend I am deriv'd from Man's infected Race A piece extracted from the tainted Mass. Man propagates th' Hereditary Crime Nor does the Stain wear out by length of time From a base Stock can Noble Branches grow Or Crystal Streams from muddy Fountains flow I therefore can't a faultless Life protest I own Offences common to the best Unclean I am but not above the Rest. This is the thing I humbly would demand Why I am singled out and made to stand The chiefest Mark of God's avenging hand Since thou dost know Man's Days and canst relate Their number written in the Rolls of Fate And hast determin'd Lifes laborious Race And set the Bounds o'er which it cannot pass Since his few fleeting Hours are quickly spent And painful Life is its own Punishment Let this suâ—â—ice and do not on him throw A crushing weight of superadded Woe Grant him the Rest his Torments make him ask And let him finish Life's appointed Task For if a Swain with mercenary toil Cuts down a Tree and draws away the Spoil Still there is hope that Tree again may sprout And from its Stock thrust tender-Branches out For tho' the Root defrauded of Supply Appears to Wither in the Ground and Dy Yet when it feels the fresh prolific Flood It will again with youthful Vigour bud But when a dying Man resigns his Breath He ne'er returns from the dark Shades of Death The Sea may suffer by deserting Waves That steal thro' secret subterranean Caves Or by the lighter Steams which fly away Drawn by the Sun's attenuating Ray But Heav'n and Earth in Rivers and in Rain Restore their Spoils and reimburse the Main A flowing River or a standing Lake May their dry Banks and naked Shores forsake Their Waters may exhale and upwards move Their Channel leave to roll in Clouds above But the returning Winter will restore What in the Summer they had lost before The Snow and Rain and Torrents will repay What the warm Sun stole with his plund'ring Ray And by his Summer Inroads bore away But if O Man thy vital Streams desert Their Purple Channels and defraud the Heart With fresh Recruits they ne'er will be supply'd Nor feel their leaping Life's returning Tyde When once the breathless Man has clos'd his Eyes And in the silent Grave extended lies In Death's close Prison he shall still remain He nâ—'er shall break from the rough Tyrant's Chain When the last stroke of Fate is once receiv'd This mortal Life can never be retriev'd Would God would hide me in some hollow Cave Some place as safe and silent as the Grave Till these black Storms of Wrath which overcast The low'ring Heav'n's around my Head are past As he has done to Life so let him set Bounds to my Grief and not those Bounds forget Since none who enter once the darksome Tomb This mortal Life can afterwards resume 'T is best for me with patient Hope to wait Till God is pleas'd to change this mournful State Till he is pleas'd his Blessings to restore Those sweet Enjoyments I possess'd before Then shall he call and with a gracious Ear He 'll my Defence and Supplications hear Then to his Creature he will Kindness show Revive my Comforts and remove my Woe But oh how different is my present Fate For now th' Allmighty loves to lye in wait To take me halting what a watchful Eye Does he employ my Errors to descry This search he makes as if he Pleasure took To find fresh Reasons to repeat his Stroke He in a strong and secret place has stor'd My Sins as wealthy Men their Treasures hoard He Seals up my Transgressions not a fault Is e'er left out not an ill Word or Thought Nor is th' impending Punishment forgot As a high Hill with stormy Weather worn With inbred Tempests or with Thunder torn Does with its Ruins all the Vally spread But can no more erect his lofty Head Moulder'd to Dust it hopes no more to break The Clouds long Order with its snowy Peak As a vast Rock by Earthquakes once remov'd And from its Base amidst the Ocean shov'd It 's shatter'd Pillars never after reers Nor thrusts his tow'ring Top amidst the Stars As Stones which ever-flowing Waters wear When once dissolv'd their Ruins ne'er repair As sweeping Inundations oft convey Towns Herds and Forrests floating to the Sea Whence to return they never find a way So when thy fatal Darts a Man destroy The World's Delights he shall no more enjoy He never from the Sepulcher shall rise No more revive to see the lightsome Skies He leaves his Honour and his Wealth behind And quite another Face of things will find He 's unconcern'd at what 's transacted here For if his Sons shine in a noble Sphere He 'll not rejoyce nor will he e'er complain If they are crush'd and drag the Pris'ners Chain Hard Fate of Man who either if he
him and all File off in turn He is not more unhappy than the rest His Fate is common to the worst and best Why then do you pretend that prosp'rous days I yet might see would I amend my ways Experience your Assertion contradicts And shows that Heav'n the Righteous oft afflicts That the best Men prodigious Suff'rings bear While God is pleas'd great Wickedness to spare CH XXII Then Eliphaz If undefil'd thou dost thy Virtue keep Is God oblig'd does he the Profit reap Were all thy Days in pure Religion spent Would that th' Almighty's Happiness augment When he does strictly Righteousness enjoyn Does he his own Advancement seek or Thine If thou art Good the Profit is thy own God needs thee not he on his Heav'nly Throne Crown'd with Essential Bliss in Triumph â—its Unmeasur'd Bliss which no increase admits Does he in Wrath attempt thy overthrow Fearing in time thou shouldst too Potent grow I grant thy Suff'rings great and numerous are But with thy Guilt they just Proportion bear Justice Divine its Banks ne'er overflows All monstrous Suff'rings monstrous Crimes suppose Either thy Neighbour's Pledge thou hast detain'd And by Extortion hast his Substance drain'd Or of his Garment thou hast stript the Poor And sent him Naked from thy cruel Door Or to the Man with burning Sunbeams fry'd At his last Gasp thou hast thy Spring deny'd Or thou hast seen thy hungry Neighbour dye For want of Bread which thou wouldst not supply Or else unjustly to the Rich and Great Thou hast decreed another's Land and Seat While thou the mournful Widow didst oppress And crush without Remorse the needy Fatherless For some such Crime tho' secret and unknown Thou dost beneath this heavy Vengeance groan For this with Snares thou art encompass'd round And suddain Fears thy trembling Soul confound Thick Shades and Darkness o'er thy Dwelling spread And dismal Floods of Grief whelm o'er thy Head Does not th' Almighty sit enthron'd on high On the steep Convex of th' Empyreal Sky Whence with a quick and easy Prospect he Can all his Works and Worlds around him see Yet thou dost act as if thou didst believe Thou couldst th' Almighty's searching Eye deceive As if thou saidst how can th' Almighty know How can he mind and judge of things below Vast is the Gulph of Air that lies between And from his sight thick Clouds the Sinner skreen He walks the happy Circuit of the Sky Nor casts on this low dirty Ball an Eye Uninterrupted Pleasure him employs While he alone his Blissful Self enjoys Our Good or Evil Deeds our Joys or Pains Unworthy of his Notice he disdains Lo from thy Lips whate'er expressions break This is the Language which thy Actions speak Didst thou with due Attention ne'er behold The Paths in which the Wicked trod of Old Who from the Earth for their enormous Crime Were hurried off by Death before their time Who to th' gen'ral Flood became a Prey And with their Sons and Wealth were swept away These did th' Almighty's sacred Laws deride Contemn'd his Favour and his Threats defy'd They cry'd if we Religion's Rule regard Who will our Pains and pious Zeal reward Yet God their Houses with Abundance blest Enlarg'd their Empire and their Stores increast But who was by their Wealth to Envy mov'd Or who their impious Words or Ways approv'd For tho' like thee they Peace a while enjoy'd Yet they at last were from the Earth destroy'd But Righteous Men have still the Joy to see Justice Divine rebuke Impiety Th' Almighty they 'll exalt in Songs of Praise Who does his Glory by such Judgments raise They shall th' Oppressor's Pomp and Power deride When Heav'n's just Vengeance thus corrects their Pride The wicked perish while the pious Race Of Patriarchs whence our Descent we trace Favour'd by Heav'n possest their ancient place They never were to Desolation doom'd Never by such prodigious Fire consum'd As raining down from Heav'n in flaming Showers Destroy'd proud Sodom's and Gomorrah's Towers Wherefore O Iob to God with speed return With deep Contrition thy Offences mourn O'erwhelm'd with Shame and Sorrow prostrate lye Before his Feet and for Compassion cry Let humble Prayer and penitential Tears Appease Heav'n's Wrath and thus remove thy Fears When God is pleas'd all Nature will express A forward Zeal t' advance thy Happiness God's gracious Aspect with its Heav'nly Light Will dissipate this dark tempestuous Night Joy will arise and with its cheerful Ray Chase all these sullen Clouds of Grief away Will Iob prophane and impious Maxims learn From stupid Heathens who from all concern From Things below th' Almighty's Care exempt And thus expose Religion to Contempt No let the Law which God of old reveal'd To humane Kind which yet is unrepeal'd Or which should written in thy Heart abide Be made thy Rule of Life and sacred Guide Within thy Breast with pious Care record His blest Instructions and his Heav'nly Word If thou sincerely wilt thy Life devote To virtuous Deeds and wilt with Zeal promote Th' Almighty's Honour and Religions Cause By strict observance of his Righteous Laws He all thy dismal Ruins will repair And all thy reunited Fragments rear He 'll raise thy Head now buried in the Dust And make thee midst the Clouds thy glitt'ring Turrets thrust He 'll fix thy Pillars deeper in the ground And stronger Bulwarks shall thy House surround He shall thy Plenty and thy Peace restore And give thee Empire wider than before Thou shalt no more of Vengeance be afraid No Terrors more shall thy safe Tents invade Thy Neighbours shall with Wonder thee behold With Cedar blest adorn'd with Gems and Gold Thou such prodigious Treasures shalt command Thou shalt like Dust collect thy Golden Sand. Thy rich but disregarded Ophir Oar Shall lye like Stones on every River's Shore Wedges of Silver from the purest Mine Pil'd high in Heaps shall round thy Dwelling shine Against thy Foes th' Almighty will contend Protect thy Plenty and thy Life defend Thou with his Favour shalt be ever blest A vast Reward exceeding all the rest Thou shalt derive from him thy chief Delight The Thoughts of whom does now thy Soul affright Up thou shalt look with Courage and employ Thy Thoughts on Heav'n with Confidence and Joy Thou to th' Almighty shalt have free Access And to his Throne prevailing Prayers address When thou art heard thy Vows in Trouble made Shall with a glad and thankful Heart be paid All thy designs th' Almighty shall approve And thy decrees will ratify above Before thee he shall Heav'nly Light display To solace and to guide thee in thy way He shall protect thy Paths thy Counsels bless And crown thy Undertakings with Success When wicked Men shall be around destroy'd Stript of the Power and Wealth they once enjoy'd Thou shalt not feel th' Almighty's wrathful hand But undisturb'd enjoy thy fruitful Land For God the humble Person will regard And with his Blessing will his Love reward Nor
shall thy Prayer sent to th' Almighty's Throne Obtain his Favours for thy self alone If thou shalt Supplication for them make Thy Neighbours round shall prosper for thy sake CH. XXIII But Iob reply'd From you I find my hopes of Ease are vain Your Consolations aggravate my Pain I after all your Applications find The bitter Anguish raging in my Mind The sharp redoubled Strokes by which I bleed Do all my Cries and loudest Groans exceed You give me prudent Counsel to acquaint My self with God but this is my Complaint That from my Sight he does with Care retreat O that I knew where I might find his Seat I would before him justify my Cause And shew I 'm no Contemner of his Laws I would convincing Arguments prepare And all my Reasons orderly declare To prove my angry Judge is over-strict And does too rig'rous Punishments inflict I long to know what Charge he would produce Of what black Crimes he would my ways accuse Let him detect those Crimes to me unknown And I 'll the Guilt with Shame and Sorrow own I will with Patience my Affliction bear And ne'er complain his Strokes are too severe If I an equal Hearing could procure Would he controul me with his Soveraign Power And not a calm and fair Debate endure No he would give me Strength and Confidence And favourably hear my just Defence Then I might state my righteous Case at large And God would clear me from your groundless Charge I fain would know where I my God might find For still he 's just and long I found him kind Tho' grown of late estrang'd he has my search declin'd If I go forward to the Eastern Coast To seek him out I mourn my labour lost If I turn backward to the Western Seats To find him there he still my Hope defeats I roam thro' populous Northern Kingdoms where His mighty Works and Wonders most appear Yet is my strict Enquiry fruitless there I try if Southern Climates will reveal His Seat but still he does himself conceal But tho' the Righteous God will not appear In Judgment now my Innocence to clear This is my Comfort that his searching Eye Does all my Thoughts my Heart and Ways descry When he my Virtue tries which I desire I shall like Gold come purer from the Fire I with unerring Feet have always trod In Virtue 's Paths and kept the Heav'nly Road. I ne'er the rough and steepy Way declin'd But to th' Almighty's Will my own resign'd Thro' threat'ning Dangers I my passage made Of no low Gulph or sharp Ascent afraid Heav'n's sacred Precepts still I did obey And always shunn'd the smooth but crooked Way In which lost Sinners from their Maker stray I have preserv'd th' Almighty's sacred Word As wealthy Men their choicest Treasures Hoard To save the precious Store I ever shew'd As much Concern as for my daily Food But tho' th' Eternal Mind did always see These pregnant Proofs of my Integrity Inflexibly resolv'd he 'll ne'er relent Nor of his harsh proceeding e'er repent Confirm'd in Wrath he will not change his Mind Never for me a tender Passion find My Suff'rings to accomplish he 'll proceed And execute the Wrath he has decreed The Righteous by him often are opprest For secret Reasons lodg'd within his Breast This is his Pleasure who shall dare dispute His Soveraign Will and Empire Absolute Me to his Throne of Grace would he admit His Clemency my Virtue would acquit But on he comes his Creature to devour Arm'd with resistless Arbitrary Power Therefore when I my great Creator see Cloath'd with August Imperial Majesty I at his awful Presence shake with fear Nor can the Sight of Soveraign Glory bear When on his Terrors I reflect I feel An inward Dread and struck with Horror reel My sinking Heart dissolves within my Breast And bitter Sorrows interrupt my rest Because he did not cut me off before These dismal Shades and Troubles whelm'd me o'er Because he ne're would let the friendly Grave From so much Woe his wretched Creature save CH. XXIV Why do my Friends Erroneous Doctrines teach That certain Sufferings here the Wicked reach God does conceal the Times and Seasons when His Vengeance shall destroy flagitious Men. Ev'n those who most his righteous Laws obey And mark with care his Providential way Are unacquainted with his Judgment Day They know of no determin'd certain Times When he will visit Mens provoking Crimes Some Men remove with their perfidious Hands The Marks that bound appropriated Lands They take their Neighbours Goats from off the Rocks And from the Airy Downs their Woolly Flocks With wicked Spoils they feast their Luxury And gorg'd with Rapine on their Couches lye They the poor Widow of her Ox defraud They rob the Orphan and the Deed applaud These Robbers scare the Helpless from their way Who leave the Road and o'er the Forrest stray Th' affrighted Trav'llers to the Mountains fly And to escape their Rage in Caverâ—s lye Other vile Men frequented Towns forsake And their Abode in desart Places make Where Wild and Salvage grown at Dawn of Day They leave their secret Dens to hunt their Prey These Men by Plunder and by Rapine thrive And in a Wilderness in Plenty live They suddain Inroads on their Neighbours make And from their Fields by Force their Harvest take They from another's Vine the Clusters tear And the rich Spoil to their own Presses bear To their Strong-Holds their Booty they convey They strip the Lab'rers make them naked stray Expos'd to Cold by Night to Heat by Day The Wretches when they hear a Tempest rise And see the gath'ring Clouds o'erspred the Skies To neighb'ring Rocks their Flight for Refuge bend Their craggy Arms the friendly Rocks extend Embrace and hide them in their Clefts and show Less hardness than the cruel Robbers do Besides their Substance which they make their Prey By Force they take the Owners too away For from their Coverts they Incursions make Into the Country round and Captives take Poor Herdsmen Trav'llers lab'ring Swains and wrest The struggling Infant from the Nurse's Breast They lead them stript and starving to their Caves And treat the helpless Creatures as their Slaves Tho' their ill-gotten Substance be immense Yet they despoil with salvage Violence Their hungry Captives of that little Fruit Which they had glean'd their Vigour to recruit They make them labour in their Olive-yard But with redoubled Stripes their toil reward They ne'er permit them who their Vineyards dress And tread the swelling Clusters in the Press To take tho' faint a Grape from off the Vine Or tast tho' fry'd with Heat one drop of Wine These desp'rate Outlaws distant Towns invade Their cruel Yoke is on whole Cities laid In whose sad Streets the suff'ring People groan And make like wounded Men a dismal Moan There is besides this more audacious Race Whose open Crimes the Noon-day Sun out-face A sort of secret Sinners who require Darkness to hide them and
Sorrow can resist its force Thy blest Instructions and thy grave Advice Can teach the Blind and make the stupid Wise. Display'd by thy Divine Discourse I find A Heav'nly Day irradiates my Mind Thou hast thy point by solid Reason prov'd And like an Oracle all doubts remov'd What knowing Spirit has thy Bosom fir'd For thou hast argu'd as a Man inspir'd But say to whom dost thou address thy Speech Am I so weak and of so short a reach That I must still be taught the Common Theme Of God's Imperial Sway and Power supreme I could th' Almighty's wondrous Works with ease Like you recite as for example these He all the wanton Monsters form'd that play And bound above the Bosom of the Sea Wild Water-Gyants hideous Forms that reign Lords of the vast inhospitable Main A salvage Race that range the liquid Fields And fill with Rapine all the wavy Wilds All the mute Nations of the deep Abyss And Finny People of the Floods are his To hide from God its sad Inhabitants And dusky Realms Hell thicker Darkness wants Compacted Shadows and substantial Night Elude the Sun 's but not th' Almighty's Sight Death does in vain her sable Covering spread And in her secret Vaults loâ—k up the Dead Th' Almighty's Eye does all her Spoils survey And no distinction knows of Night or Day He o'er the empty Space displays on high The blue Expansion of the Northern Sky He hangs the pond'rous Earth in liquid Air And his Command and Providential Care Are the sole Pillars that support it there He bids the loose and fluid Clouds sustain Imprison'd Tempests and suspend the Rain Distended with the Waters in 'em pent Their Wombs hang low in Air but are not rent But then at his Command successive Drops Distill from Heav'n and crown the Farmer 's Hopes Lest his high Throne above expression bright With deadly Glory should oppress our sight To break the dazling Force he draws a Skreen Of sable Shades and spreads his Clouds between He raises rocky Bounds around the Deep And does the raging Waves in Prison keep That whilst as order'd by Alternate sway The Sun and Moon shall rule the Night and Day The Foaming Surges rolling o'er the Strand Might not a Deluge spread and drown the Land The Hills and Mountains whose aspiring tops Appear the Pillars and unshaken props Reer'd to sustain the Heav'n's expanded Roof Tremble with Fear and shake at his Reproof He with his mighty Power the Sea divides And ploughs deep Furrows in its wounded Sides At his Command the threatning Billows rise Mix Waters with the Clouds and lave with foam the Skies But in a moment he corrects their Pride And bids the Sea repel her swelling Tide Uproar is husht the Ocean at his Frown Shrinks in and calls it's tow'ring Surges down The trembling Waves creep softly to the Shore And Tempests over-aw'd no longer roar The Heav'nly Spheres around in Order turn'd With clust'ring Constellations he adorn'd He the great Serpent form'd and bid him rowl His Starry Volumes round the Northern Pole These of his Works are part but still I own To us his Wonders are but little known To such extent who can his Reason stretch As his vast Power and Providence can reach His boundless Wisdom who can comprehend Who will to search the dark Abyss descend Who can his Wonders number who declare Of Energy divine the utmost Sphere CH. XXVII The Pious Iob here paus'd a while and stay'd For their reply but no reply was made Then he his grave and wise Discourse revives And said as God my great Creator lives Who has to hear and judge my Cause deny'd And my vext Soul with sharp Affliction try'd While the warm blood dilates my winding Veins And in my Nostrils while my Breath remains That Breath th' Almighty did himself inspire Gently to fan and feed the vital Fire No Falshood will I mix in this debate Nor with perfidious Lips express Deceit Under the Censure of my Friends I lye Charg'd with Offences of the deepest Dye Oppression Fraud and deep Hypocrisy Shall I acquit their rash Censorious Tongue Confess th' Indictment and my Virtue wrong Forbid O Heav'n that I should ever own So black a Charge of Crimes to me unknown I till I Dye will stedfastly assert The pure Intention of my upright Heart From this Profession will I ne'er depart Conscience whose Court of Justice is within Can ne'er accuse me of delib'rate Sin The wicked and their ways I so detest That might I feed Revenge within my Breast And might I have permission to bestow The greatest Curse upon my greatest Foe I would desire that Foe might all his days Delight in vicious Men and vicious Ways What if the Sinner's Magazines are stor'd With the rich Spoils that Ophir's Mines afford What if he spends his happy Days and Nights In softest Joys and undisturb'd Delights Where is his Hope at last when God shall wrest His trembling Soul from his reluctant Breast Must he not then Heav'n's Vengeance undergo Condemn'd to Chains and Everlasting Woe This is his Fate but often here below Justice o'ertakes him tho' it marches slow And when the Day of Vengeance does appear The Wretch will cry but will th' Almighty hear If bath'd in Tears Compassion he invokes The unrelenting Judge will multiply his Strokes His vain Complaints and unregarded Prayer Will drive the raving Rebel to despair Or will he e'er with Confidence apply Himself to God and on his Aid rely Will he not rather cease in his distress His Prayers to Heav'n hereafter to address Do not disdain to learn and I 'll reveal How the just God does with the Wicked deal To you some secret Methods I 'll detect By which he 's pleas'd his Conduct to direct All you your selves have by Experience found For my Assertions there 's abundant ground I grant that some not all the wicked Band As you assert feel God's vindictive Hand And this should make the proud Oppressor dread Lest Vengeance should assail his guilty Head Children he multiplies to be devour'd By ling'ring Famine or the raging Sword Untimely Death his Offspring shall consume And sink them deep in black Oblivion's Womb. His Wives well pleas'd to see the Tyrant's Fate Shall joyful Mourners on his Funeral wait Tho' he does Gold in lofty Mountains heap And as the dust has Silver Treasure cheap Tho' Robes of State wrought with Sidonian Skill And rich embroider'd Vests his Wardrobe fill Yet shall the Just and Upright Man divide His precious Treasures and his Purple Pride The Judge's righteous Sentence shall restore The Wealth he wrested from the injur'd Poor His Dwelling like the Moths shall soon decay Which settles in a Garment for a Day But suddainly is crush'd and swept away Or like the Lodge a Keeper does erect His Garden Fruit or Vintage to protect Which when the Swain has gather'd in his Store Is pull'd as quickly down as reer'd before When Heav'n th' Oppressor shall of
's known Well pleas'd with Owls and Ravens I converse And the sad Series of my Woes rehearse They Scriech and Croak and from ill-boding Throats To my sad Grief return becoming Notes By Night midst Wolves I well acquainted sit Howling Companions for my Sorrow fit Serpents my hissing Friends with me abide And with my Brother Dragons I reside I am with Horror now familiar grown To all the Terrors of the Desart known And friendly Satyrs take me for their own My Bones quite dry'd by scorching Heat within Start out and break my black and wither'd Skin I now no more my tuneful Harp employ Sad Tears and Crys succeed my banish'd Joy No longer to the Organ I rejoyce I 've for the Mourner's chang'd the Singer's Voice CH. XXXI Yet tho' my Wants and Pains are so extream None can my Life of heinous Sin condemn So far from that I have with care supprest Sin 's first Conception strugling in my Breast I did the Spark as soon as kindled tame Before it blaz'd and spread resistless Flame I with my Eyes whose Objects oft inspire The Heart with wild unquenchable Desire A sacred League did make that they should ne'er Look on forbidden Fruit tho' wondrous fair That they on Beauty should not gazing stay Nor on th' enchanting Brink of Ruin play Besides my inward Thoughts I did restrain They ne'er did wanton Objects entertain My modest Fancy ne'er had leave to rove To fetch in Fuel for unlawful Love I knew what Portion did th' Unclean attend What Vengeance on them would from Heav'n descend And of their sweet Delights I saw the bitter End Distress and Ruin on the Wicked wait This is their sad inevitable Fate Does not th' Almighty with his watchful Eye Mark all my Steps and all my Paths descry If I unrighteous ways did e'er applaud If I grew rich by Violence or Fraud Let Heav'n my Head with heavy Vengeance load Me in a Ballance weight that God may see Convincing Proof of my Integrity If my unrighteous Feet did from the way Of sacred Truth and Justice ever stray If ever tempted by a greedy Eye In all the Walks of Life I trod awry Or if Clandestine Bribes or sordid gain My avaricious Hand did ever stain Then let Invaders o'er my Fences leap And when I sow let them the Harvest reap Let the rich Offspring which my Fields produce By Force be taken for another's use If any Woman's Charms did ever move My Heart to entertain Adulterous Love If e'er I skulk'd before my Neighbour's Gate Or for unchast Embraces lay in wait Then make my Wife a Captive or by Night Let a proud Stranger rob me of my Right For of Adult'ry I will e'er assert Death is the due Commensurate desert It is a secret and consuming Fire That would devour the Substance I acquire Of all my numerous Servants none complain'd That I opprest them or their Right detain'd I ever gave them when I heard their Cause Against my self th' advantage of the Laws Else if I stood before the Throne on high Of God my Heav'nly Master what reply To justify my Conduct could I make To scape his Wrath what method could I take Did not his Hand me and my Servant Frame Is not the Clay alike the Work the same We both alike Divine Impressions bear And both alike our Maker's Image wear If then not for his own yet I should take Compassion on him for his Maker's sake If Poor Mens Crys did not with me prevail If e'er I caus'd the Widows Hopes to fail If I alone devour'd Luxurious Meat And did not make the hungry Orphans eat Poor Orphans who ev'n as my Children were Up from my Infancy my tender care If e'er I saw poor Wretches naked lye And did for want of Cloathing let them dye If their lean Loyns warm'd with my woolly Fleece Did not my Bounty and Compassion bless If I against an Orphan rais'd my hand When I had power the Judges to command Then let my Arm for Punishment I call Rot from the Joynt and from my Shoulder fall For I the sure and swift Destruction fear'd Which the great Judge for Rebels has prepar'd His awful Power and Glory me deter'd I never plac'd the Strength of my Abode In high-rais'd Works or made my Gold my God Ne'er my increasing Wealth and prosp'rous Fate Did Pride or unbecoming Joy create When I beheld the glorious Sun arise And saw the Moon 's full Face adorn the Skies My yielding Heart was ne'er entic'd away Nor did I kiss my hand and sacred Worship pay If I had once the Creature thus ador'd Abjur'd my Faith renounc'd my Soveraign Lord I should have justly felt the Judge's Sword I was so little to Revenge inclin'd I wish'd my Foe no mischief in my Mind No secret Pleasure felt or inward Joy When God was pleas'd the Rebel to destroy I ne'er design'd him Harm ne'er curst his Name Nor e'er insulted when his Ruin came Tho' he express'd such Cruelty and Spite And so provok'd me in my Servants sight That they enrag'd did all demand his Blood And would have Eat his very Flesh for Food I to my House the Stranger did invite Who in the Streets must else have past the Night The weary Trav'ller was my welcom Guest I cheer'd his Heart with Wine his Limbs with Oyl and Rest I ne'er with anxious care supprest my Sin Nor as the Hypocrite conceal'd my fault within I small concern for Man's Displeasure shew'd Nor swerv'd from Truth to court the Multitude In a just Cause I boldly did appear My Silence ne'er betray'd my secret Fear O that the strictest Scrutiny were made That all my Scenes of Life were open laid Let my Accusers my Indictment draw And prosecute their Charge by course of Law Then by th' Almighty let my Cause be heard And let me be condemn'd if I have err'd My written Process would my Pride create As much as Royal Crowns or Robes of State I would as boldly to my Tryal go As Valiant Gen'rals march to meet the Foe If ever my unpurchas'd Lands complain'd That I by Force or Fraud Possession gain'd If ever I another's Acres till'd Ever my House with his Harvest fill'd Or to possess his Goods my Neighbour kill'd Let Thistles fill my Fields instead of Wheat And all my Labour and my Hopes defeat Instead of Barley let my Land produce Cockle of none or Weeds of noxious use CH. XXXII When the three Men who pious Iob arraign'd And their high Charge in long replys maintain'd Perceiv'd him firmly fixt in his Defence And resolute to clear his Innocence They hopeless of Success from this debate Let fall the Argument and silent sate Then a young Man who as a faithful Friend When the three Sages came did Iob attend And who attention gave and duly weigh'd What for their Cause on either side was said Only in years inferiour to the rest Felt a just Anger kindled in his Breast His Name was Elibu in Blood
ally'd To faithful Abram by the Brother's side Against good Iob did his Displeasure rise Because in all his long and sharp replies He had less warmth and less Concernment shown For his great Maker's Honour than his own Nor did the wise young Man less Passion feel Against the rash uncharitable Zeal Of Iob's Accusers who could not defend Their groundless Charge against their suff'ring Friend Yet did he long discreetly moderate His struggling Passion and attentive wait Till the grave Men had finish'd their Debate But when he saw they had their Treasures spent And none resum'd their baffl'd Argument Unable to forbear he Silence broke And Iob's severe Accusers thus bespoke Your Wisdom which profoundly I rever'd From giving my Opinion me deterr'd Aw'd by your Fame and Age and Eloquence I never yet have interpos'd my Sence For one so young I judg'd it rather meet To sit a modest Learner at the Feet Of Men of such Experience than to rise To dictate to the Grave and teach the Wise. But now convinc'd of my Mistake I find That Man tho' grey with years continues blind Unless Celestial Light irradiates his Mind Wisdom Divine is ne'er to be acquir'd Unless the Man be from above inspir'd 'T is not the sure possession of the Great Nor does it still adorn the Teacher's Seat Many are in acquiring Knowledge slow Nor by experience will they Wiser grow Therefore Attention give and I 'll declare What in this great Affair my Notions are Let none condemn me that I speak at last I 've interrupted no Discourses past Your Arguments I 've weigh'd which you pretend Prove your Indictment brought against your Friend But after all if I may freely speak To gain your Cause your Reasons are too weak You never could in this prolix Dispute Make good your Charge or Iob's Defence confute In vain you say that you will silent stand And leave him wholly to th' Allmighty's Hand Hoping his Terrors will your Friend subdue Which your weak Arguments can never do Weapons so feeble I disdain to weild When to dispute with Iob I take the Field To me he ne'er did his Discourse direct Nor will I use your Words his Error to correct To all around I justly may complain That for Instruction I have staid in vain You are exhausted and confounded left Silent you stand as if of Speech bereft Therefore as I have told you I will give My Judgment and this great Debate revive While I my Lips by Violence restrain My fullness gives unsufferable Pain My struggling Thoughts which in my Bosom pent Like new press'd Wines within the Vate ferment Will make me burst unless they find a Vent To ease my self I am compell'd to speak Full working Vessels if not open'd break While I attempt your Errors to correct I will not Persons but the Cause respect Quite uninstructed in the Fâ—atterer's ways I cannot sooth you with excessive Praise I cannot â—awn and your Admirer seem To gain your Approbation and Esteem Should I such vile unworthy Arts employ Me my Creator would in Wrath destroy CH. XXXIII And sure O Iob this Preface I have made Suffices thy Attention to perswade To my discourse afford a patient Ear I am prepar'd to speak if thou art so to hear And be assur'd whatever I impart Shall be the inward Language of my Heart Such plain and clear Instruction I will give That thou with Ease my meaning shalt receive And first consider well our Structure came From the same Model and our Clay 's the same With Breath th' Almighty did my Breast inspire And kindled in my Veins the Vital Fire Therefore if thou thy Cause wilt now defend Thou only with thy Equal shalt contend To plead with God thou rashly didst demand First answer me I in his Place will stand Thou needest not thy Brother-Creature fear I can't in dreadful Majesty appear I bring no Terrors with me to affright No Force but Reason's clear convincing Light I 'll not accuse thee as thy Friends have done Of secret Errors and of Crimes unknown None but th' Almighty's all-observing Eye The Heart his proper Empire can descry I shall assault thee with no other Force Then what I borrow from thy own Discourse Have I not heard thee oft in thy Defence Boldly assert thy spotless Innocence Hast thou not said thy Justice to maintain My Heart is pure my Hands are free from stain He who I hop'd would mitigate my Woe On slight pretences is become my Foe He seeks occasions to repeat his Strokes And every slight Offence his Wrath provokes In Prison me his Captive he detains And loads my fetter'd Feet with pond'rous Chains And yet his watchful Guards around me stay Lest I should loose my Bonds and break away By such absurd and wild Complaints as these Impatient of thy Grief thou seekest Ease Now tho' thy inward Faults I can't detect Nor like thy Friends uncertain Crimes object Yet here O Iob thy rashness does appear Here thy presumptuous Arrogance is clear For can a Man a Worm a silly Wight Remov'd from God at distance infinite Can such a worthless wretched Creature dare Himself with him that gave him Breath compare Why dost thou then engage in this dispute Audacious Man wouldst thou thy God confute Will he his secret Counsels open lay And his mysterious Providence display Will he be summon'd to his Creature 's Bar The grounds of his Transactions to declare Will e'er th' Almighty Soveraign condescend The Conduct of his Empire to defend A peevish Creature 's Error to amend Will he because he does our Censure fear Set forth his Justice and his Prudence clear And let the hidden Springs of Government appear Th' Almighty's Works thou shouldst have understood Because they 're his are therefore Just and Good Where shallow Reason can't the grounds discern Of Providence it should submission learn Not that our Knowledge of his Works and Ways Does e'er our kind Creator's Envy raise For he by various ways does Knowledge give And more than Man is willing to receive Sometimes in Dreams and Visions of the Night He to our Minds conveys instructive Light When a deep Sleep does from our Breasts exclude The Cares and Business which by Day intrude Or when a short Repose we seek to take And slumbring lye half sleeping half awake With a still Voice he whispers to the Ear Or to the Eye in Scenes distinct and clear He makes an Airy Imagery appear Thus he reveals his Will and leaves behind Divine Instructions printed on the Mind But the Celestial Teacher does not show The Reasons of his Conduct here below This Heav'nly Converse is not with intent T' expose the Secrets of his Government God by his gracious Revelations tries Rather to make his Creature Good than Wise From evil Paths to turn his erring Feet And make him humbly to his God submit Who thus preserves the Man if he obeys God's Admonitions from pernicious Ways And from those Judgments does his
Serpent's Teeth are stor'd But tho' I suffer long they grosly err That thence shall their Impunity infer Their Wickedness exactly I record Their Crimes are safely with my Treasure stor'd Next to the Caves where I my Vengeance hoard To me belongs to punish and reward The Debt is ne'er forgotten tho' deferr'd Vengeance digests and strengthens as it lies And will at last to full Perfection rise Sin and Destruction still together go Vengeance is ripe whenever Sin is so The black and dismal Day approaches near When Justice in its Terrors will appear A Day of greater Sorrow and Distress Than Fear can apprehend or Words express Then suff'ring Israel will in Anguish say I did not pardon tho' I did delay Yet God at last will from his Wrath depart Plead for his People and their Cause assert His tender Nature will at last relent And if his People do he 'll soon repent Commiseration will possess his Breast When he shall see his Israel sore opprest When he shall find the Plagues that he employ'd Has almost Iacob's guilty Race destroy'd He 'll thus the stupid Criminals upbraid Where are the Gods to whom you bow'd and pray'd Now for Protection to your Idols flee The Gods you chose when you rejected me You did your Adoration to them pay Your Sacrifices at their Altars slay And rich Oblations there profusely lay To these Abominations Israel cry In thy distress their Power and Goodness try With loud repeated Pray'rs thy Gods invoke To bring thee Aid and break thy heavy Yoke Now by your sad experience learn and see That I the Lord ev'n I alone am he That can subdue your Foes and set your Captives free I at my Pleasure Kill and make alive I wound and heal I health and sickness give Where is the Arm that can my Pow'r withstand And tear a Pris'ner from my griping Hand I lift my hand most solemnly I swear And as I live for ever I declare That when I once begin to take the Field To whet my glitt'ring Sword and raise my Shield When I my deadly Instruments prepare And arm my self to undertake the War My Fury shall my Enemys devour And on their Land I 'll Storms of Vengeance pour I 'll give my hungry Sword their Flesh for Food And make my thirsty Arrows drunk with Blood Their Voices let the Gentile World employ And joyn with Iacob's Sons in Songs of Joy For on their Foes God will avenge the blood Of those who stedfast in his Service stood To Israel he his Mercy will extend And Heav'nly Light and Truth amidst their Dwellings send A PARAPHRASE On part of the xivth Cha. of Isaiah Beginning at the 4th and ending at the 24th Verse THE Nations round amaz'd and overjoy'd Shall crowd to see proud Babylon destroy'd They 'll spred their Hands to Heav'n and say O blest O long expected Day How from his Throne is the great Tyrant cast The Ravager that all our Towns defac't Ruin'd Mankind and laid all Nature wast How is th' Imperial Purple Plague that reign'd And rag'd so long at last restrain'd Where are the Guards who us'd to wait Before th' Oppressor's Palace Gate Where are the awful Ensigns of his State Where is the fawning flatt'ring Throng That to his Court did once belong Who did the Monster as a God adore And bless the rav'ning Jaws that did Mankind devour The haughty City which the World controul'd Magnificent with Cedar and with Gold Which tow'ring stood amidst the Skys See where her Head in heaps of Rubbish lys Is this the City will Spectators say That all the World her Empire did survey That made the Nations tremble with her Frowns And gave to Kings their Tributary Crowns How great a Change good Heav'ns how soon Is all her Pride and Glory gone God by a great illustrious Stroke Of Justice has her Monarch's Scepter broke And freed the groaning Nations from his Yoke He has destroy'd the Tow'rs of Babylon And rent the Pillars that upheld her Throne He has her cruel Pow'r withstood And on her Head aveng'd the Nation 's Blood She that the Faces of the Poor did grind That ne'er to Mercy was inclin'd Shall no Compassion from the Conq'rour find The People by her Yoke opprest By Heav'n deliver'd from their Bondage rest Kingdoms enslav'd their Liberty regain And Captives from their Feet shake off the servile Chain Loud Triumphs universal Joy And Songs of Praise shall all the Earth employ The Pines and Fir-trees on the Hills rejoyce And with a grateful Voice The Cedars that in stately Order grow On Lebanon's high Airy Brow Cry we of this Deliv'rance too partake Let us as well as Men our thankful Off'ring make We Liberty as well as they enjoy No more shall Babylon employ Her Ravagers our quiet to annoy Our Spoils shall yield no more supply To the proud City's Luxury No more the Feller shall our Forest wound No more the Axe shall thro' the Hills resound Nor shall our mangl'd Limbs o'erspred th' encumber'd ground The Grave shall for th' Assyrian Monarch's sake Disturb the Peaceful Dead and make Her drousy Lodgers rise Shake from their Feet their Chains and Slumber from their Eyes Princes and Kings who underground Only with Worms and Dust are crown'd She from their Beds of Darkness shall release The only Thrones they now possess To meet Assyria's Tyrant on his way The Grave this Royal Embassy shall send And as instructed they shall say O King does thus thy Pomp and Empire end Feeble as we art thou become Must we conduct thee to a narrow Tomb For whom the World before had scarce sufficient room Art thou whose Scepter had so vast a sway Whose Will ev'n Kings themselves did once obey Stript of thy Pow'r and Majesty Art thou as Naked Poor and Weak as we Could not thy Conq'ring Armys save Their mighty Monarch from the Grave Must thou too in a dark and dusty Bed Lay thy Imperial awful Head And be with Worms instead of Scarlet spread And must the Ear That us'd to hear The Viol 's or the Harp's melodious Noise Or the Flatterer's softer Voice Be now with us the Dead entomb'd To everlasting Silence doom'd How art thou fal'n from Heav'n O Lucifer Son of the Morn How does thy Glory disappear Which once thy Temples did adorn Grown mad with Pride by Flatt'ry fed Thou in thy Heart has oft blaspheming said I into Heav'n will as a God arise And shine above the Stars amidst the Skys Worship Divine will me befit I base Mortality disown And therefore will on Zion fix my Throne And there to be ador'd in Majesty will sit Above the Clouds of Heav'n will I ascend And my Dominion o'er the World extend My Greatness Men shall like to God's adore And uncontroul'd like his shall be my Sov'raign Pow'r Yet Tyrant thou shalt sink as low as Hell And of thy State divested dwell In the gloomy Shades beneath In the dusty Courts of Death Where thy Arrival will the
empty Vanity in Arms. If God the Spring of Life and Pow'r By whose supplys his various Worlds endure Held back his Streams Mankind would soon expire Dissolve and into nothing strait retire Since his Perfections so transcendent are What Image can his Being represent What can you with Almighty Strength compare What Figure of Infinity invent The senseless Heathens to the Artist run Who deals in Deities of Wood and Stone The Fools bespeak an Antick lacker'd God To Guard their Persons and Abode The melted Metal in the Furnace flows Then in the Mould the stiff'ning Idol glows And when their God grows Hard and Cold The Workman makes him fine and daubs him o'er with Gold The Crowd their gaudy Deity admire Th' effect of Art the Creature of the Fire Then least their Feeble God should fall With Silver Chains they fix him to the Wall A likely Guardian this to save The Men that his Protection crave The Man that 's grown so Indigent and Poor He can't an Off'ring for his God procure To Idols he 's so much inclind Will ways to get Materials find And to engage the chiefest Artist's Care A Graven Image to prepare Tho' after all his Cost and Pains The worthless Piece fixt in his Place remains It can't advance a Step or move a Hand In his Defence that does his help demand Ye Pagan Realms that cover'd lie With the thick Darkness of Idolatry How can a Truth to all reveal'd As clear as Day be still from you conceal'd That is that God's the only God to whom You should with humble Adoration come The Starry Heav'ns which he has made The Earth whose deep Foundations he has laid His Being and his Majesty declare And shew how boundless his Perfectionâ— are Above the Circle of the Earth on high He sits enthroâ—'d amidst th' Emperial Sky Whence when he casts his Eyes around And views the Earth hung low in Air As little Insects creeping on the Ground Contemptible Mankind appear The Heav'nly Sphears as Curtains he expands With Orbs of Light Magnificent His fine transparent Ether with his Hands He spreads to form his Royal Tent. He at his Pleasure can destroy The Kings that greatest Pow'r and Wealth enjoy He can their royal Heads uncrown And from their Thrones can cast them headlong down Deep Root they shall not take nor spread Amidst the Clouds their shady Head Blasted and with th' Almighty's Breath opprest As with a furious Tempest from the East Their ruin'd Branches shall decay And fade like with'ring Plants away Where then says God can Men my Equal see What Object can resemble me Lift up O Man on high thy wond'ring Eyes Regard the Palace of the Holy One View the bright Constellations of the Skies Where he has â—ixt his Adamantine Throne Did not th' Eternal from th' Abyss of Night Call forth those Heav'ns and all those Orbs of Light Do they not run their Courses and dispence At his Command their Light and Influence He their great Gen'ral Day by Day Draws out his glitt'ring Armys in Array In constant Musters on th' Etherial Plains The Squadrons he reviews and all their Posts ordains As Master of his Starry Family He calls his shining Servants out by Name Gives them their Tasks to which they all agree Whereby his Pow'r and Greatness they proclaim Why dost thou say O Iacob I complain And make to God my moan in Vain He to my Sorrow no Compassion shows Neglects my Tears and disregards my Woes The proud Oppressors cruel Yoke Does not his vengeful Wrath provoke I am no more th' Almighty's Care Else he would hear my mournful Pray'r And not desert me in my deep Despair He 'll be no more my Advocate My Cause to manage in debate He will no more my Injuries redress No more condemn my Foes who me oppress He 's pleas'd so long his People to disown That now our Case is desp'rate grown Now if he would he can't assistance give We 're ruin'd and undone past all retrieve O dost thou not unthoughtful Iacob know Who made the Heav'ns above and Earth below Did not thy God th' Eternal Lord Create them with his great commanding Word He rules the World he made with equal Laws Will such a God desert his Peoples Cause Will he that all things wisely does direct His People's Interests neglect Will he their Suff'rings slight and earnest Pray'rs reject He grows not faint nor does his Vigour wast With Age or with his Labour past His undeclining Strength feels no decay Still can he punish those who disobey He can as strong an arm as e'er extend To crush his Foes his People to defend Nor dos he with a less attentive Ear The Crys of guiltless Suff'rers hear But then the Seasons of Deliv'rance rest As Secrets in th' Almighty's Breast The Depths of Providence are fathomless Nor will its Heights admit access And therefore in his Pleasure Man must Acquiesce He to his People still Deliv'rance sends When it promotes their Good and serves his glorious Ends. His Counsels which so far exceed our reach Sould Patience and Submission teach He gives supplies of Pow'r to those that want Strengthens the Feeble and revives the Faint The Youngest Men in whose distended Veins And brawny Nerves Athletic Vigor reigns If they on God should not rely Would quickly languish sink and die But those who humbly on his Strength depend Their stock of Vigor ne'er shall spend He 'll reinforce them with recruits of Pow'r And their decaying Strength restore They shall on Wings like Eagles mount on high And with like force and swiftness cut the Sky They shall or Walk or Run still forward press And ne'er complain of Weariness God daily shall their Strength encrease That they their Burdens may sustain with Ease Till he shall chuse his time his Captives to release Part of the LII And the whole LIII Chap. of Isaiah PARAPHRAS'D MY Servant shall acquire divine Renown And regal Honours shall his Temples crown Kings at his Feet their Diadems shall lay And all the willing World his Empire shall obey His Godlike Government and righteous Laws From Men and Angels shall receive applause He shall his own and Subjects Rights maintain Protect his Friends Oppressors rage restrain And everlasting Peace shall bless his glorious Reign As Men at his Affliction were amaz'd And on his wondrous Woe with Horror gaz'd Whose Face was so deform'd his Flesh so worn With all the Toyl and Torments he had born No Eye e'er saw no Tongue can e'er express Such perfect Grief such infinite distress So shall he be exalted and his height Shall bear proportion to his humble state His Heav'nly Doctrines on the Nations round Shall fall as dropping Rain upon the Ground Attentive Monarchs with a greedy Ear Shall all his wise Divine Instructions hear They 'll with profound Humility receive The Oracles and Counsels he shall give No more their impious Tongues shall him condemn No more Religion or its God blaspheme His Godlike
is a party-colour'd Vest Which Gems and rich Embroidery adorn Fit by the greatest Princes to be worn These boastful words she spoke while Sisera Dead in the Tent of Iael lay Lord let his Fate attend thine Enemys So let them perish who against thee rise But let the Men who Wickedness abhor Who love thee and thy Name adore Be like the Sun Who when refresh'd does in his Vigour rise Eager to run All the blew Stages of the spacious Skys David's Lamentation Occasion'd by the Death of Saul and Ionathan 1 SAMUEL Chap. I. WHen Ionathan and Saul expiring lay On the curst Hills of Gilbâ—a Ah black inglorious fatal Day 'T was then unhappy Israel Thy Beauty Strength and Glory fell How were thy mighty Warriours slain What a red Deluge bath'd the reeking Plain How were thy Sons to Conquest long inur'd How were thy Valiant Chiefs devour'd By the Philistine's unrelenting Sword How terrible how sudden was their Fate These Pillars fal'n that prop'd thy State Who shall support thy sinking Empire's weight Let Fame be struck with horror dumb That to our Foes the News may never come Let our dishonour be to Gath unknown Proclaim it not in Askelon Lest if their Daughters come to know Our loss and unexampled Woe They in their Feasts and Dances should express Insultingly their Joy at our distress And impiously ' devout should raise Their carv'd and graven Gods in wicked Songs of Pâ— Ye Hills of Gilbâ—a the fatal place O'er which the Foe did Israel chase Ye luckless Hills Spred with your Monarch's Ignominious Spoils May you the marks of Heav'n's displeasure bear Be you no more the Farmer 's care Let no kind Cloud hereafter pour On your parch'd Heads one fruitful Shower May the relentless harden'd Sky No Rain by Day or Dew by Night supply To ease your Thirâ—t and gaping clefts cement With Fire be blasted and with Thunder rent Let not a blade of Grass or Corn Nor one green Tree your Heads adorn By Heav'n accurst to future Ages stand Uncultivated Heaps of barren Sand. For vanquish'd Israel o'er these Mountains fled There with ignoble Rout the Fields were spred There lay our Weapons mingled with our Dead There scatter'd Bucklers lay Which routed Israel cast away There may the Shield of Saul be found Midst common Bucklers on the ground Thy Body too unhappy Monarch there Lys mixt with vulgar Corps expos'd in open Air. O Saul O Ionathan ye mighty Dead You ne'er before in Battel fled The Arrows from the Son's unerring Bow Have pierc'd ten thousand valiant Warriours thro' The Father 's unresisted Sword Like raging Fires around devour'd By no Opposer e'er withstood The crimson Conq'ror reek'd in Hostile Blood Till now you ever us'd to come Laden with Spoils and Trophys home Your Chariots thro' the confluent gazing Throng Us'd in slow State to roll along While crowds of Captive Princes chain'd Wiping their Brows with dust and sweat distain'd Did panting in the Pomp appear Part of the long Procession of the Rear Our Daughters both in Mind and Habit gay With Songs and Dances on the way Met and increast the Triumph of the Day Thus Vict'ry us'd to crown The mighty Father and the valiant Son Now vanquish'd o'er the Hills they fly From the pursuing Enemy Surprising change of Providence Those who resistless were can now make no defence So courteous were the Royal Pair So condescending mild and Debonnair That they became to all the Nation dear No more their kindness fail'd to move The People's universal Love Than their fam'd Courage did their Neighbours fear They liv'd in strongest bonds of Love combin'd And as they liv'd so they together dy'd So close was their Affection joyn'd That Death it self could not the knot divide For tho' they fell opprest with Pagan Power Their Love still triumph'd o'er the Conquerour And yet their Clemency did ne'er abate Their Courage and their Martial heat For they as swift as hungry Eagles flew Or to attack or to pursue And when they were in fight engag'd Like Lyons when provok'd they thro' the Battel rag'd O Daughters of Ierusalem express A Sorrow worthy of our vast distress Unite your Groans and mournful Crys Unite your Tears and Agonys Apply your selves to weeping day and night Raptures of Grief be your Delight Thro' every Street lamenting go Strains of unruly Anguish show And howling Tempâ—sts raise of wild despairing Woe too exquisite Affliction can't be shown Since Saul is fal'n from his Imperial Throne Saul lys upon the Mountains dead Who with abundance Israel fed Who gave you Garments glorious to behold Scarlet adorn'd with Needle-work and Gold Who hung rich Bracelets on your Arms And with bright Gems increas'd your native Charms Whose Arms enrich'd your Towns with precious Spoil And fill'd with Foreign Wealth Iudea's happy Soil How did the mighty Prince and all His valiant Chiefs in Battel fall How are the Hills with Slaughter spred How are our Captive Sons in Triumph led Captives who drag th' inglorious Chain Captives less happy than the Slain Horror and Shame hark how the shouting Foe How proud Philistia mocks our Woe Thro' all their Streets what Acclamations ring Hear how their Daughters sing See how they dance While their victorious Troops with Israel's Spoils advance O Israel where is now thy warlike Fame How will thy once much dreaded Name By Foes so often vanquish'd be despis'd By all the Nations of th' Uncircumcis'd Oh Ionathan how dear wert thou to me How dear must be thy Memory No Time can from my Breast remove Thy Image or thy wondrous love A Love like which we none recorded find A Love surpassing that of Womankind Their Love was ne'er so tender pure and strong And never lasted in excess so long What gen'rous Friendship hast thou shown What dreadful Dangers undergone To raise thy Rival to thy Father's Throne Kindest of Brothers my afflicted Soul Does thy unhappy Fall condole Thy suddain thy disast'rous Fate Does Agonies of Grief create As in a Storm my rolling Bowels move With strong Convulsive Throws of sad distracted Love I would the highest marks express Of uncontroul'd unmerciful distress For if my Grief does not outrageous grow 'T is unbecoming my unmeasur'd Woe Nothing 's enough that 's less than all that Love can show THE Second PSALM PARAPHRAS'D WHat means this mighty Uproar whence arise This great Commotion these tumultuous Crys What has alarm'd the Nations what offence Does all the jealous States around incense What does the Heathen Fire with so much Rage What Iacob's Sons in such Designs engage As they can ne'er effect or if they do They 'll miss the end they furiously pursue Infatuated Men you 'll sure repent Your rash Attempts too late the sad event Will show your Projects vain your Malice impotent Confed'rate Princes wicked Friendship make And in their Anger desp'rate Councels take Against their great Creator and his Son And hope the Lord 's Anointed to dethrone Let us say they assert
Heav'n his Rain upon the Vine And thus converts the Water into Wine Which does revive Man's Heart his Cares relieve And to his Face a better Lustre give Than when with Oyl it does anointed shine With Oyl another noble Gift Divine He fills the teeming Glebe with Crops of Corn Which cloath the Vallys and the Hills adorn The Staff of Humane Life at his Command Springs from the Furrows of the fruitful Land He from the Clouds does the sweet Liquor squeeze Which cheers the Forests and the Garden Trees With the rich Juice he feeds their thirsty root Which fills their Limbs with Sap their Heads with Fruit. To this the Cedars that adorn the Brow Of Lebanon their Height and Beauty owe. The Firs too thrive by drops from Heav'n distill'd In which the Storks their Airy Houses build The Mountains reer'd their Heads at his Command And Pillars to his Praise erected stand In these and in the Rocks the salvage Kind From the pursuer's Arms safe Refuge find He form'd the Moon the Seasons to divide And gave it Empire o'er the Ocean's tide The Sun he burnish'd till its Orb became A Spring of Light and undecaying Flame Which knows the Stages of its heav'nly way And does by turns roll up by turns display The wide and bright expansion of the Day 'T is God who made the Day that makes the Night He in the Air to suffocate the Light Does from his open'd Stores of Darkness let A gloomy Deluge out of liquid Jet He wipes the Colours off from Nature's Face And lays on Night's deep Shadows in their place Now the wild Beasts by Hunger bit awake And from their drowsy Eyes their Slumber shake From out their Dens the Spoilers yawning come The Forests Range and o'er the Mountains roam Young rav'ning Lyons from the Woods retreat Roar out to Heav'n and beg from God their Meat They on his Providential Care rely Who does his Creatures various Wants supply But when with his reviving Morning Ray The rising Sun regenerates the Day They to their Dens retire with Toil opprest Stretch out their weary Limbs and take their rest But Man goes forth to labour in the Morn When the tir'd Lyon does from his return God's Works of Pow'r our Wonder and his Praise Thro' all the World his Works of Goodness raise To form the Sea he drew his Compass round And with the mark it left describ'd the ground Then dug th' unfathom'd Hollow which the Main And all the Floods and Rivers might contain So populous these watry Regions are That Nations numberless inhabit there Mute Nations that are here supply'd with Food Whose Finny Wings divide the crystal Flood Here 't is the Ships along the yielding Tide Before the Wind upon their Bellys glide The Whale the Soveraign that the Sea controlls Here takes his Pleasure and in Pastime rolls He plays and tumbles in his Watry Court And troubles all the Ocean with his Sport He makes his Spouts for his Diversion play And toss against the Clouds th' uplifted Sea Projected Billows from his Nostrils rise And mix the Ocean with th' astonish'd Skys This mighty Monster who does Monarch reign And all the Nations that possess the Main All creeping Creatures Herds and harmless Flocks All Beasts that range the Woods or hide in Rocks All Passengers that beat th' Etherial Road With feather'd Wings wait for their Meat from God At his expence they eat by various ways He for his numerous Family purveys His open'd Hand dispences fresh supplys That more than all his Creatures Wants suffice To substitute Successors in the place Of those that perish and to save the Race And Kind of every living Creature God Does his prolific Spirit send abroad Which thro' the Earth does quick'ning Pow'r diffuse And Heat which fresh Productions there produce Since on the Earth th' Almighty does dispence Th' unnumber'd Blessings of his Providence And with his Favours has all Nature crown'd Let all the World with Songs of Joy resound Let Men for ever bless his glorious Name Recite his Wonders and his Praise proclaim If stupid Man this Tribute should neglect His God th' ungrateful Wretch can soon correct If on the Earth he does in Anger look It trembles at the terrible Rebuke It from its strong Foundations starts for fear And twisting Gripes its working Entrails tear The Mountains shiver and their Heads incline At the reproof of Majesty Divine The Hills forget they 're fixt and in their fright Of all their weight they strip themselves for flight The Rocks from off their Marble Pillars break And which they us'd to give a Refuge seek The Woods with Terror wing'd outstrip the Wind And leave the heavy panting Hills behind All Nature troubled and in deep distress Of God's Displeasure does her Fear express But I whatever others do will sing The due Applauses of th' Eternal King With pleasure I 'll contemplate all my days His wondrous Works and wondrous Goodness praise And let obdâ—â—ate Sinners who refuse To give him Glory and his Gifts abuse Be from the Earth as they deserve destroy'd While thou my Soul art in his Praise employ'd THE CXIVth PSALM PARAPHRAS'D WHen God a thousand Miracles had wrought The fav'rite Tribes Deliv'rance to promote And marching on in Triumph at their head Their Host to promis'd Canaan led Then Iacob was thy rescu'd Race Distinguish'd by peculiar marks of Grace Their Happiness and Honour to advance He chose them for his own Inheritance With whom alone their gracious God Would make his Residence and blest abode They were from Heav'n instructed to adore Their God and with Celestial Light Canaan was blest as Goshen was before While all their Neighbours lay involv'd in Night God the Foundations of their Empire laid The Model of their Constitution made He on their Throne their King in Person sate And rul'd with equal Laws the Sacred State For this blest purpose Iacob's Seed Was from Egyptian Bondage freed When God to do this wondrous work was pleas'd Great Consternation Nature seiz'd The restif Floods refus'd to flow Panting with Fear the Winds could find no Breath to blow Th' astonish'd Sea did motionless become Horror its Waters did benumb The briny Waves that reer'd themselves to see Th' Almighty's Judgments and his Majesty With Terror crystaliz'd began to halt Then Pillars grew and Rocks of Salt Iordan as soon as this great Deed it saw Struck with a reverential Aw Started and with Precipitation fled In hast the thronging Waves ran backward to their Head Vast Hills were mov'd from out their place Terror the Mountains did constrain To lift themselves from off their Base And on their rocky Roots to dance about the Plain The little Hills astonish'd at the Sight Flew to the Mother Mountains in a fright And did about them skip as Lambs Run to and bleat around their trembling Dams What ail'd thee O thou troubled Sea That thou with all thy watry Troops didst flee What ail'd thee Iordan tell the cause
That made thy Flood break Nature's Laws Thy Course thou didst not only stop And roll thy liquid Volumes up But didst ev'n backward flow to hide Within thy Fountain's Head thy refluent Tyde What did the lofty Mountains ail What Pangs of Fear did all the Hills assail That they their Station could not keep But scar'd with danger run like tim'rous scatter'd Sheep But why do I demand a Cause Of your Amazement which deserves Applause Yours was a just becoming Fear For when th' Almighty does appear Not only you but the whole Earth should quake And out of Rev'rence should its place forsake For he is Nature's Sov'raign Lord Who by his great commanding Word Can make the Floods to solid Crystal grow Or melt the Rocks and make their Marble flow THE CXLVIII PSALM PARAPHRAS'D YE bright Immortal Colonys That People all the Regions of the Skys That in your blissful Seats above Inhabit Glory dwell in Light and Love Ye mighty Gen'rals who command Th' Almighty's Host ye Ministers that stand In his blest Presence to receive What Orders he is pleas'd to give Ye Guards and Houshold Servants who resort To pay attendance at his Court Ye Saints and Seraphs who astonish'd see His Greatness and essential Majesty Tune your Celestial Harps and sing The Triumphs of th' Eternal King All ye his Heav'nly Hosts applaud In long continu'd Shouts your wonder-working God Ye Sun and Moon and Stars that grace the Night Praise him the unexhausted Spring of Light Whence your dependent Influence streams Whence you derive your delegated Beams Exalt his Name and spread his Praise As far as you diffuse your Rays Let all the glorious Worlds above agree In this Celestial Harmony And let the dancing ecchoing Sphears around Reverberate the Joy and propagate the sound Ye thin transparent Regions of the Air And all ye flying Nations there With one melodious Voice th' Eternals Praise declare Let Tempests with their stormy Noise And Thunder with its roaring Voice God's own Artillery proclaim Thro' all the list'ning World th' Eternal's Fame From ev'ry Quarter all ye Winds arise On whose swift Wings th' Almighty flys When he his Progress makes into th' inferiour Skys Blow all your Blasts and all your Breath employ In loud Applauses and in Songs of Joy Ye Vapours that by God's Command arise To fill Heav'n's Magazines with fresh Supplys And for the Meteors new Materials bring As you ascend to Heav'n th' Eternal's Praises sing Ye Clouds that by pursuing Winds are driv'n Pour with your Rain your Praises forth Let these ascend as high as Heav'n As that descends to bless the Earth Praise the Divine Artificer Ye Lightnings which his Hands prepare And all ye curious Fireworks of the Air. Praise him ye other Meteors of the Sky Ye Hailstones Mists and Woolly Snow The Manufactures which he works on high For Nature's Service here below Let Nature's mighty Sov'raign Lord Be by the Deep and all the Floods ador'd In Consort let the Billows roar And make his Praise rebound from Shore to Shore Let the scaly People dance Before 'em let their Lords the mighty Whales advance And high amidst the Air on this great Day Let all the Waterworks from their vast Nostrils play And while the Deep the Air and Sky Vocal become th' Almighty's Name to raise Let not the Earth stand silent by But joyn to celebrate his Praise Ye Dragons Wolves and all ye salvage Kind On ecchoing Hills in Consort joyn'd To him your Adoration pay Whose Bounty in the Desart finds you Prey Do you your Gratitude express And make his Praises ring thro' all the Wilderness Ye Pines and Cedars tune your selves to play Th' Almighty's Praises on this solemn Day And sing ye Mountains Hills and Floods To th' Instrumental Music of the Woods Ye Kings the King of Kings adore And at his Feet your borrow'd Scepters lay Applaud the Spring of all Imperial Pow'r You 're here but Subjects and should Homage pay Let Songs of Praise the Gratitude attest Of Aged Men long by his Favours blest Let rapt'rous Zeal Young Men and Maids inflame To celebrate their Maker's Fame Let lisping Infants at his Praises aim Let all th' Eternal's Works conspire To execute this blest design To praise him let them all combine And make the World one Universal Quire THE Song of MOSES PARAPHRAS'D DEUT. Chap. 32. ATtend O Heav'ns and you Empyreal Sphears Did you possess as many list'ning Ears As Starry Eyes all as you roll along Should be employ'd to hear my following Song To my important words a while attend And back my Notes in tuneful Ecchoes send Peace ye tumultuous Waters of the Deep A while ye yelling Monsters silence keep And let the Billows roll and rock themselves asleep Be still ye Earthquakes in the Caves beneath Ye Winds be husht and stop your stormy Breath Thunders your bellowing deaf'ning Noise forbear Tempests be gone and leave in Peace the Air That so the quiet Earth and Air and Sea Without disturbance may attention pay Whilst I th' Almighty's wondrous Deeds display And let not my Divine Discourse be vain Let it distill as Dew and drop as Rain That in their grassy Garments cloaths the Hills And with rich Fruits the smiling Vally fills Whilst I to all the World aloud proclaim His Majesty his great and awful Name Whilst I his Triumphs sing ye Tribes do you To God ascribe the Pow'r and Glory due God is a Rock unchang'd by Ages past And by the future shall unshaken last Perfect are all his Works and all his Ways From Truth 's Eternal Rule he never strays Upright and Equal all his Acts appear He 's just when kind and gracious when severe Therefore ye Sons of Iacob be it known On your own heads you 've pull'd Destruction down Your black Offences have incens'd your God And forc'd his hand to take his vengeful Rod. Say not that yours the Faults of Children are Which a kind Father is induc'd to spare Your Crimson Spots your foul and loathsome stains Tell the rank Poison that infects your Veins Your unexampled Contumacy shows You are not Children but invet'rate Foes Th' Almighty's Goodness do you thus despise Ah foolish Generation and unwise Your Great Deliverer do you thus requite His Pow'r and Mercy thus perversly slight You by a vast expence of Wonders bought He from your Bondage back from Egypt brought He then advanc'd you to Imperial Sway And made the Pagan Kings your Laws obey From all Mankind he chose you for his own And did your Sons with Pow'r and Plenty crown Consult our antient Fathers to the source Of our recorded Story have recourse You 'll find when God did with a lib'ral hand Among the Nations give the parted Land He Canaan's happy Region did divide Where Iacob's Offspring should at last reside He from the Pagan did his People bound And for himself fenc'd this Inclosure round And blest with his Abode the sacred Ground To Wealth and Pow'r he Israel did