Abraham and his seed to give the land of Canaan and of the bondage of Israel in Egypt and his Covenant and sent him againe to Pharaoh to let the children of Israel goe out of his land but all this while the children of Israel did mightily murmur against Moses and Aaron Moses was then fourescore yeares old and Aaron fourescore and three And they went both unto Pharaoh againe and Aaron cast down his Rod before Pharaoh and it became a serpent and the sorcerers of Pharaoh did the like with their inchantments But Aarons Rod swallowed up all theirs And as God commanded Moses and Aaron in the morning they met Pharaoh at the water and at the Rivers side and desired that the people of Israel might goe and worship God in the wildernesse But he refused then he smote the waters in the sight of Pharaoh and they were turned into blood and the fish died and the river stanke yet Pharaohs heart was hardened this continued for seven dayes in which time they digged for water to drinke And the Lord commanded Moses to goe againe unto Pharaoh to let the people of Israel goe and still his heart was hardened and Aaron stretched forth his hand with the Rod over the ponds and caused frogs to come over the land of Egypt and the Magicians did thâ— like then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said Intreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me and my people and I will let the people goe that they may doe service unto the Lord. And Moses said That thou mayst know that there is none like the Lord our God the frogs shall depart but onely they shall remaine in the rivers and the Lord did according to the word of Moses And the Lord commanded to say unto Aaron to stretch out his Rod and smite the dust of the land that it may be lice thorowout all Egypt and it was so and the Magicians attempted to doe the like but could not And they told the King it was the finger of God yet he hearkened not unto them Then the Lord commanded Moses to goe early in the morning unto Pharaoh as he came forth and speak to him that the people of Israel might goe to serve him and to tell him what plagues otherwise would follow but still his heart was hardened then there came a grievous swarme of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into all the land of Egypt and the land was corrupted by reason of the flies Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said Goe ye sacrifice to your God in the land But Moses said they desired to go three dayes journey for it was an abomination to the Egyptians to sacrifice in their land and Pharaoh let them goe desiring Moses to intreat the Lord for him the which he did and the flies departed out of the land of Egypt Yet againe Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let them goe then all the cattell of the land of Egypt died but of the cattell of the children of Israel died not one yet was Pharaohs heart hardened and would not let them goe Then as the Lord commanded Moses took ashes of the furnace and stood before Pharaoh and sprinkled it up towards heaven and there became boiles and blames upon man and beast and upon the Magicians And stil was the heart of Pharaoh hardened and would not let the children of Israel goe and Moses stretched forth his Rod and the Lord sent thunder and haile and the fire ran along upon the ground so there was fire and haile mingled together such as was not since the land of Egypt became a nation and it smote both man and beast and every herbe and brake downe the trees onely in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel were was none Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said unto them I have sinned the Lord is righteous I and my people are wicked Intreat the Lord for me and I will let ye goe And Moses went out of the city and spread his hands unto the Lord and the thunder and haile ceased yet neverthelesse Pharaohs heart was again hardened neither would he let the children of Israel goe And Moses and Aaron came againe unto Pharaoh and said thus unto him Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews How long wilt thou refuse to humble thy selfe before me let my people goe that they may serve me and his servants perswaded him to let them goe but he refused to heare them Then Moses stretcht forth his Rod over the land of Egypt and there came an East winde which brought in Locusts which went over the land of Egypt and the land was darkened and they left no greene thing upon the land Then Pharaoh called againe for Moses and Aaron in haste and said I have sinned against the Lord your God and you forgive my sinne and entreat the Lord for me The which Moses did and the Lord sent a mighty West winde which did drive the locusts into the Red Sea but yet would not Pharaoh let the children of Israel goe Then the Lord commanded Moses to stretch forth his hand towards heaven and there was a thick darknesse throughout the land of Egypt three dayes but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings Then Pharaoh called unto Moses and said to him Goe ye and serve the Lord onely let your flocks and herds stay here but Moses refused that and said they must have sacrifices for the Lord and all their cattell then Pharaoh would not let them goe but bid Moses to see his face no more And the Lord commanded Moses to speake to all the children of Israel upon the tenth day of the moneth to take every house a lambe a male lambe without blemish and to keep it untill the fourteenth day and then kill it in the evening and to take the blood with a bunch of hyssop and strike it on the two side posts and upon the upper post of the doore and that they shall eat the flesh that night rosted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs That they shall eat it with their loins girded shooes on their feet and staves in their hands and in haste for it is the Lords Passeover For the blood upon the posts shall be a token that the Lord would passe in mercy by them when the Egyptians should be destroyed And after the performance of many other ceremonies before the eating of the Passeover it came to passe that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-borne of Egypt and Pharaoh rose up in the night and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry then the children of Israel according as they were commanded departed taking their dough before it was levened and the kneading troughes upon their shoulders with great store of Jewels they had from the Egyptians And they journied towards Succoth being in number about six hundred thousand on foot besides children after they had beene
with him by themselves because the Egyptians might not eate bread with the Hebrews and they sate in order according to their age and they sent messes unto them from before Joseph but Benjamins messe was five times as much as any of theirs and they dranke and were merry with him And Joseph commanded his servants to fill their sacks with food and to put in every sack their money and to put a cup of silver in the sack of the youngest with his corne money and betimes in the morning they were sent away they and their Asses And when they were gone a little way Joseph said unto his Steward Follow after the men and when thou dost overtake them say unto them Wherefore have ye rewarded evill for good and he overtooke them and he spake unto them as he was bidden and they said unto him Wherefore saith my Lord these words God forbid that thy servants should doe according to this thing Behold the money which we found in our sacks mouthes we brought againe unto thee out of the land of Canaan how then should we steale out of thy Lords house silver or gold with whomsoever of thy servants it be found both let him dye and we also will be my Lords bondmen Then they speedily tooke downe their sacks and opened every man his sack and he searched beginning at the eldest and left at the youngest and the Cup was found in Benjamins sack then they rent their clothes and laded every man his Asse and returned to the City And Judah and his brethren came to Josephs house and they fell before him to the ground then Joseph said unto them What deed is this that ye have done wot ye not that I can divine and Judah said What shall we say unto my Lord what shall we speake or how shall we cleare our selves God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants Behold we are my Lords servants both we and he also with whom the Cup is found and he said God forbid I should doe so but the man in whose hand the cup is found he shall be my servant and as for you get you up unto your father then Judah came neare unto him and said O my Lord let thy servant I pray thee speake a word in my Lords eares and let not thine anger burn against thy servant for thou art even as Pharaoh and Judah said our father was loath to part with Benjamin saying unto us Ye know that my wife bare me two sonnes the one is dead and surely he is torne in pieces for I saw him not since and if ye take this also from me and mischiefe befall him ye shall bring downe my gray haires with sorrow to my grave Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father and the young man our brother be not with us seeing that his life is bound up in the youths life that he will dye for thy servant became surety for the young man unto my father saying If I bring him not unto thee then I shall beare the blame to my father for ever Now therefore I pray thee let thy servant abide in stead of Benjamin a bondman to my Lord and let the young man goe up with his brethren for how shall I goe up to my father and this Benjamin be not with me lest peradventure I see the evill that shall come to my father Then Joseph could not refraine himselfe before all them that stood by him and he cryed Cause every man to goe out from me and there stood no man with him while he made himselfe knowne to his brethren and he wept aloud and he said unto his brethren I am Joseph doth my father yet live and his brethren could not answer him for they were troubled at his presence and Joseph said unto his brethren Come neare unto me I pray you and he said I am Joseph your Brother whom you sold into Egypt be not angry with your selves that ye sold me hither for God did send me before you to preserve life for there is and shall continue a great famine And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity upon earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance So it was not you that sent me hither but God he hath made me father to King Pharaoh and a Ruler in Egypt Haste you and goe up to my father and say unto him thus saith thy son Joseph Come downe to me and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen thou and thy children and thy childrens children and thy flocks and thy herds and all that thou haste And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of al that you have seene and ye shall haste and bring downe my father hither And he fell upon his brother Benjamins neck and wept and Benjamin wept upon him moreover he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them and after that his brethren talked with him and the fame thereof came to Pharaoh and it pleased him and his servants and Pharaoh said Joseph Bid your brethren load their beasts and goe into Canaan and bring your father and all his families and take wagons to bring them and all they have for they shall have the good of the land of Egypt and eat the fat thereof and Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh and provision for the way with changes of raiments But to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment and to his father he sent twenty Asses laden with good things of Egypt and provision for his journey into Egypt and they went up out of the land of Egypt unto the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father and told him saying Joseph is yet alive and he is Governour over all the land of Egypt and Jacobs heart fainted for he beleeved them not and they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said unto them and when he saw the wagons which Joseph sent to carry him the spirit of Jacob their father revived and Israel said It is enough Joseph my sonne is yet alive I will goe and see him before I die And Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac and God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night and said Jacob Jacob I am God the God of thy father feare not to goe downe into Egypt for I will make thee a great Nation I will goe downe with thee into Egypt and I will also bring thee surely up again and Joseph shall put his hands upon thine eyes And Jacob departed from Beersheba with all his families with all their cattell and goods and came into Egypt Jacob and all his seed with him all the souls of the house of Jacob which came into Egypt were threescore and ten and he sent Judah before him to Joseph to direct his face to Goshen and they
was lest I dye there then the King commanded he should be committed into another prison and that he should have given him daily a piece of bread out of the Bakers street whiles the bread lasted but still the Prophet persisted and told them Thus saith the Lord This city shall surely be given into the hand of the King of Babylons army therefore the Princes were incensed against him and said unto the King We beseech thee let this man be put to death for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of warre and all the people in this city in speaking thus unto them And the King said He is in your hands doe with him what you please and they tooke Jeremiah and cast him in a dungeon and they let him downe by a rope and in the dungeon was no water but myre that he sunke in and some men complained of this cruelty done to Jeremiah unto the King who commanded thirty men to goe and take up Jeremiah out of the dungeon and they tooke old rags and cast them downe into the dungeon the which Jeremiah put under his arme pits and so they drew him up and Zedekiah the King sent for Jeremiah and said unto him I will aske thee a thing hide nothing from me and Jeremiah said unto the King If I declare it unto thee wilt thou not put me to death and if I give thee counsell wilt thou hearken to mee so the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah saying as the Lord liveth that made us this soule I will not put thee to death nor give thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life Then he said unto the king thus saith the Lord God of hosts the God of Israel if thou wilt goe forth to the Princes of the king of Babylon then thy soule shall live and this city shall not be burnt with fire and thou and thy house shall live But if thou wilt not goe forth unto them then shall this city be given to the Chaldeans and they shall burn it and thou shalt not escape out of their hands and the king said unto Jeremiah I am afraid of the Jewes that are fallen to the Chaldeans least they deliver me to their hands and they mock me But the Prophet said they shall not deliver thee obey I beseech thee the voice of the Lord so shall it bee well with thee But if thou refuse to goe forth this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah let no man know of these words and thou shalt not die the which he did so Jeremiah after abode in the Court of the prison untill the day that Ierusalem was taken And it came to passe on the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Iudah Nebuchadnezzer king of Babilon and his army came before Ierusalem and besieged it and in the eleventh yeare of Zedekiah the city was taken and all the Princes of the king of Babilon entered the city at which time Zedekiah and all his men of warre fled out of the city by night by the way of the kings gardens but the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plaines of Iericho and took him brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babilon who gave judgement upon him and caused his sonnes to be slaine before his face and all the Nobles of Judah and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chaines to carry him to Babilon and they burnt Ierusalem and brake down the walls thereof and carried captive to Babilon all the remainder of the people that were within the city but left the poorer sort that had nothing and gave them vineyards and fields and the king of Babilon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to take him and doe him no harm but use him with all kindnesse so they took Jeremiah out of the Court of the prison and sent him home so he dwelt among the people MEDITATIONS upon the History of king Hezekiah EVerlasting God whilst we live here in this earthly Jerusalem nothing is to be expected but continuall conflicts in our spirituall warfare between the world the flesh and the spirit how bitterly O Lord and vehemently doth the enemy of my soule like Rabshekah suggest into me distrusts and feares to make mee doubtfull of thy promises and providence endeavouring to weaken my faith and confidence in thee by putting great feares doubts and troubles to my inward and fraile senses In this affliction and trouble to my soule O Lord I beseech thee from time to time to give me grace with good Hezekiah to come unto thee with my heart rent and continually to implore thy blessed help and assistance and that I may obtain the like mercy that he did receive from thee and let not that hellish blasphemer prevail over me but put thou a hook in his nose a bridle in his lips and send a blast upon him that he may be driven away and have no more power to disturb and oppres my weak feeble soul by his threatnings and suggestions and good Lord in all thy conflicts batteries and oppressions that hereafter I may meet withall by this my spirituall and dangerous enemy to my soule give me grace most humbly to come unto thee my hope and helper and to thy house where thou dwellest between the Cherubins and there as Hezekiah in his trouble and distresse did spread out the letter of Zenacherib before thee and humbled himselfe before thee with much sorrow so good Lord in all my troubles grant that I may spread before thee with true and perfect humility of heart the troubles and afflictions of my soule and then O Lord heare me and in pitty look upon my danger and deliver me from the power of the Zenacherib of this world and his instruments the disturbers of my pilgrimage to my heavenly happinesse and the quiet of a good conscience in this Jerusalem strengthen O Lord my outward walls of flesh and blood enable me with obedience and patience quietly to beare the reproaches and threatnings of this my spirituall enemy which in a kind of proportion the Children of Israel did endure upon the walls of Ierusalem deliver me from the danger of their deadly arrows O Lord and grant they may not entrench about my soule to endanger it And O Lord as for thy servant Davids sake thou diddest look favourably upon Jerusalem so I doe most humbly beseech thee for thy son Jesus Christ his sake to be mercifull unto me to defend and keep me thy servant that putteth his trust in thee from the danger of al my spiritual enemies whensoever it shall please thee to visit me by the bed of sicknesse be thou then mercyfull unto me a sinner O Lord and with Hezekiah let me turn unto thee with true and perfect contrition of heart and grant that then I may receive mercy and comfort from thee thou God of mercy and compassion and as thou sent'st thy Prophet Isaiah