plain had the same benefit of a quiet and secure repose and a rich habitation 8. And the word of the Lord came again unto me saying 9. Thus spake the Lord of Hostes by former Prophets saying In your publick places of Judgement proceed according to the rules of true Iustice and Equity without any regard to silthy lucre or to the prejudice of Affection And in your private actions and commerce with one another show that kindnesse and compassion that should be expected among Brethren of the same stock and alliance and of the same Religion and Profession 10. Let there be no injuring or oppressing of the widow the orphan the stranger or any that are poor and afflicted amongst you And do not so much as in your hearts devise or conceive any mischeivous intention against one another All this I commanded your Fathers by the former Prophets 11. But they would not hear of that ear they shrunk up the shoulder and in plain rebellion turned their backs upon their good guides and followed those courses that would make their cares duller for any holy counsaile that called for this obedience 12. And thus by degrees they made their hearts as it were in a set opposition to all exhortations of obedience as hard as flint or any the hardest and most durable stone that there might be no admittance for the voice of the law and the precepts which the Lord of Hostes sent them by those that were to that purpose raised up and enlightened by his holy Spirit for such were all your former Prophets And this wilfull and obstinate rebellion of theirs could not but draw down the heavie and just indignation of the Lord of Hostes. 13. And accordingly you see it came to passe that as they suffered God to call upon them and would return him no answer of obedience so when their own miseries forced them to call for divine assistanee then did I refuse to answer their desires saith the Lord of Hostes. 14. And I dispersed them in mine anger as if it had been with a mighty whirl-wind into severall nations which they never knew before and their own land after their deportation into other parts was left waste and desolate like a wildernesse behind them There was not so much as a passenger to be seen either going thither or returning from that place that had been so much frequented Such and so heavie was the solitude and barrennesse of that land that had been accounted the delight and Paradise of the whole earth CHAP. VIII 1. AGain the word of the Lord of hostes came to me saying 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts I was jealous for Zion with great jealousie and I was jealous for her with great fury 3 Thus saith the Lord I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and Ierusalem shall be called a Citie of truth and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Ierusalem and every man with his staffe in his hand for very age 5 And the streets of the citie shall be full of boyes and girls playing in the streets thereof 6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these dayes should it also be marvellous in mine eyes saith the Lord of hosts 7 Thus saith the Lord of hostes Behold I will save my people from the east-countrey and from the west-countrey 8 And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and in righteousnesse 9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Let your hands be strong ye that hear in these dayes these words by the mouth of the prophets which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid that the temple might be built 10 For before these daies there was no hire for man nor any hire for beast neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction for I set all men every one against his neighbour 11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former daies saith the Lord of hosts 12 For the seed shall be prosperous the vine shall give her fruit and the ground shall give her encrease and the heavens shall give their dew and I will curse the remnant of this people to possess all these things 13 And it shall come to passe that aâ—â— ye were a curse among the heathen O house of Iudah and house of Israel so will I save you and ye shall be a blessing fear not but let your hands be strong 14 For thus saith the Lord of hosts As I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked me to wrath saith the Lord of hostes and I repented not 15 So again have I thought in these dayes to do well unto Ierusalem and to the house of Iudah fear ye not 16 These are the things that ye shall do Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates 17 And let none of you imagine evill in your hearts against his neighbour and love no false oath for all these are things that I hate saith the Lord. 18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me saying 19 Thus saith the Lord of hosts The fast of the fourth moneth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Iudah joy and gladness and chearfull feasts therefore love the truth and peace 20 Thus saith the Lord of hosts it shall yet come to passe that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many cities 21 And the inhabitants of one city shbll go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts I will go also 22 Yea many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hostes in Ierusalem and to pray before the Lord. 23 Thus saith the Lord of hostes In those daies it shall come to passe that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Iew saying We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you CHAP. VIII 1. ANd the commands of the Lord of Hostes were thus expressed further upon the same occasion and to make way for a satisfactory answer to their question 2. Thus saith the Lord of Hostes. As my great wrath and justice upon my own people followed upon the greatnesse of those sins which were mentioned before so now the greatnesse of my jealousie for Sion the seat on my Jewish Church and my great anger no now against her but for her shall be
border the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee there is none understanding in him 8 Shall I not in that day saith the Lord even destroy the wise men out of Edom and understanding out of the mount of Esau 9 And thy mighty men O Teman shall be dismayed to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter 10 For thy violence against thy brother Iacob shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off forever 11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces and forreiners entered into his gates and cast lots upon Ierusalem even thou wast as one of them 12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger neither shouldest thou have rejoyced over the children of Iudah in the day of their destruction neither shouldst thou have spoken proudly in the day of distresse 13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity yea thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity 14 Neither shouldst thou have stood in the crosse way to cut off those of his that did escape neither shouldst thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distresse 15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen as thou hast done it shall be done unto thee thy reward shall return upon thine own head 16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain so shall all the heathen drink continually yea they shall drink and they shall swallow down and they shall be as though they had not been 17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance and there shall be holinesse and the house of Iacob shall possesse their possessions 18 And the house of Iacob shall be a fire and the house of Ioseph a flame and the house of Esau for stubble and they shall kindle in them and devour them and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it 19 And they of the south shall possesse the mount of Esau and they of the plain the Philistines and they shall possesse the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria and Benjamin shall possesse Gilead 20 And the captivity of this hoste of the children of Israel shall possesse that of the Canaanites even unto Zarephath and the captivity of Ierusalem which is in Sepharad shall possesse the cities of the South 21 And Saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau and the kingdom shall be the Lords 1. THe vision or Prophesie of Obadiah Thus saith the Lord Iehovah and we his Prophets from him concerning Edom. 2. We have heard that which you may take for a sentence as absolutely determined and pronounced by God himself against the Countrey of Edom as if you had seen an earthly King confirm the like by his Embassadours sent to the severall nations of the Assyrians and Chaldaeans with commission to raise up an army and come in battle against her 3. And this I have to say in his name to Edom. See and wonder at thy self what a weak and silly thing I will make thee appear to be in the account of these nations and how miserably despicable in their eies 4. For though I know thee in thy high thoughts to be otherwise perswaded yet that pride of thy heart shall at last deceive thee which promises to thy self great matters but ever falls short in the performance or rather thy idoll whereof thou art so proud and confident shall faile thee in the event I speak it to thee that art roosted in the clefts of those high rockes of Arabia Petraea and thinkest in thy heart that no power on earth can pull thee out of thy strong inaccessible places in mount Sâ—ir 4. Thou that mountest up thy self like an Eagle as if thou wouldst set thy nest among the stars I have many waies among which that of famine alone were sufficient to bring thee down from thence and lay thee low enough saith the Lord. 5. If theives and robbers had come upon thee by night and how do I see thee more than miserably undone by the sudden surpriz all of such notable shavers and cutters But had they so stolne upon thee they would have been content with the filching of so much as would have served their turn And if the grape-gatherers had come upon thee they would have left thee some gleanings But thou shalt have to do with them that will cut and sweep all away root and branch 6. Nay and thy close hoording up will be to no purpose for How narrowly will those riches that belong to Esau be searched after and what hath he so carefully hidden in the closest corners which shall not be sought out and discovered 7. When all is gone and thy self art ready to be packing into a strange land At the borders of thy countrey will thy own Confederates fairly take their leaves of thee they that be in league with thee will cheat and deceive thee they that come to thee with pretenses of peace and concord will be as ready as any other to prevaile against thee and thy entirest acquaintance that have been often entertained as friends as thy table will lay a stumbling-block in thy way to hinder all the good proceedings and proposals that may tend to thy advantage So that all that judge by the event must needs say there is no foresight or understanding in this people of Edom. 8. And shall I not then make it good by destroying those of Edom that have been so famous for wisedome And those especially of mount Seir of the posterity of Esau that have been thought to exceed all the rest in matter of deep policie and understanding shall not I turn their wisdom into foolishness and catch the wiliest of them in their own craft 9. Yes and amongst them thine O Teman the stoutest of all that use to build most upon the strength and reach of their own knowledge they shall be strangely brought under to their own amazement so that not a man of any account but shall be more then brought under they shall be utterly ruined and destroyed from their high mountains of Esau Because of that slaughter O Edom. 10. And because of that apparent injury which thou wast not ashamed to offer unto thy Brethren the Sons of Iacob when you said of Jerusalem Down with it even to the ground therefore shalt thou be covered with shame and cut off for ever from being a nation as they shall be 11. I speak of the time
when thou stoodest like one of another side while strangers carryed away all thy Brother Iacob's forces into captivity and forreigners entred the gates of most of his Cities and cast lots upon Ierusalem which of them should make the first assault against that their mother-City when all this was done thou that shouldst have been one of her best friends didst openly show thy self to be one of her greatest enemies i. one of them that had a hand in all those severall passages of cruelty 12. But thou of all other shouldst not have endured so much as to look upon the strange usage of thy brother in that heavy time much more shouldst thou have absteined from triumphing over the children of Iudah in the day of their destruction and most of all shouldst thou have feared to make thy own mouth a witnesse of thy proud and insolent insulting over their affliction in the very day when it fell upon them 13. Thou shouldst not have been so forward as others to rush into the gates of my Peoples forts and cities in that time of their calamity and then specially have made thy self a spectator of those evils that came so thick upon him like a fearfull storm in a sad and gloomy day and which is yet worse to have appeared as a party which those that laid violent hands upon his substance in that day 14. Nor shouldst thou have stood in the crosse wayes where many paths meet upon that advantage to cut off such of thy Brethren as had escaped the enemy nor shut up such as otherwise had remained free and at liberty in those distressed times 15. For after all these daies of yours the Lord will have his day too a day of vengeance And it is not long before that day will come upon all those nations about Judaea that have been so cruell to them And then as thou hast alone to others it shall be done to thee thy reward shall return upon thy own pate 16. And as you of Edom shall drink of the cup of my anger because of my holy mountain and the holy land of Judaea which you have persecuted So shall all those nations that joyned with you ever taste of the same cup till they have drunk it up and be as if they had never been 17. But in mount Sion there shall be a great deliverance from the scourge that shall then be brought upon others by Sennacherib and it shall continue a place sanctified and set apart for divine service and then shall they of the house of Iacob that secured themselves for that time in Jerusalem return to a quiet possession of their severall tenures in the land of their inheritance 18. Then you that helped to encrease the flames of those wars that set Judaea into a combustion shall find that the house of Iacob will prove a fire and the house of Ioseph a flame and the house of Esau like stubble before them And they shall kindle them and devour them till there be none remaining of the house of Esau that shall be able to do any great harm to the house of Israel For the Lord hath spoken it 19. And they of Israel shall possesse the South of Edom with mount Seir and the plain with the land of the Philistims And with them shall they possess the Countrey of Ephraim and of Samaria and Benjamin shall have Gilead for his possession 20. And those few forces of the children of Israel that return after their captivity shall possesse whatsoever belonged to the Cananites as far as Sareptah of the Sidonians And they of Ierusalem which shall return from their captivity shall possesse the parts about Sepharad or the furthest bounds with the Cities of the South 21. And they that have delivered themselves out of the captivity shall not onely come again to their antient right in mount Sion but in their posterity they shall go as Iudges and Governours into the mountaines of Esau. And then the kingdom of Israel shall be under God alone and under the power of no forreign Kings A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF IONAH CHAP. I. 1. NOw the word of the Lord came unto Ionah the son of Amittai saying 2 Arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickednesse is come up before me 3 But Ionah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Ioppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to goe with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the Sea so that the ship was like to be broken 5 Then the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them but Ionah was gone down into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep 6 So the Ship-master came to him and said unto him What meanest thou O sleeper arise call upon thy God if so be that God will think upon us that we perish not 7 And they said every one to his fellow Come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this â—evill is upon us So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Ionah 8 Then said they unto him Tell us we pray thee for whose cause this evill is upon us what is thine occupation and whence comest thou what is thy countrey and of what people art thou 9 And he said unto them I am an Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him Why hast thou done this for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them 11 Then said they unto him What shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us for the sea wrought and was tempestuous 12 And he said unto them Take me up and cast me forth into the sea so shall the sea be calm unto you for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land but they could not for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them 14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said We beseech thee O Lord we beseech thee let us not perish for this mans life and lay not upon us innocent blood for thou O Lord hast done as it pleased thee 15 So they took up Ionah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea ceased from her raging 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vowes 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Ionah and Ionah was in
highest and stateliest persons as stout as they are will he trample under his feet and lay even with the lowest earth 4. At his angry voice the mountainous Cities shall melt under him like wax before the fire and the lower villages in the vale shall part asunder and leave their former glory and station with as much speed and violence as waters will run down in the steepest places and leave no markes of any abode in that place from whence they come 5 And all this for the transgressions of Iacob and the sins of the house of Israel Now what caused the transgressions of Iacob but the ill example of Samaria and what occasioned the idolatry of the high places of Iudah but the ill copy that was set them by Ierusalem 6. But Samaria that first began the sin shall feel the first smart of the punishment And I will make Samaria like a heap of rubbish in the field or of withered plants in a vineyard So far shall she be from having the face and show of a Citie when I have caused the stones to be cast down out of her high buildings into the lowest holes and bottomes and discovered the very foundations of that fabrick wherein she gloried so much 7. Then shall all their graven images be beaten to peices and the rich ornaments that were bestowed upon their idoll-temples shall be consumed with fire and the idols themselves will I lay desolate For at the best those fair donaries were but the rewards and bribes of their spirituall adultery with idols and to no other end shall they come then to what such wages of adultery and idolatry do best deserve to be brought 8. Thus said the Lord. But I their sad Prophet cannot but interpret my inward sorrow by my bitter lamentations and divesting my self of my best and upper garments and in that little better than naked posture mourning like the prodigious melancholy beasts in the desert and howling like the young owles that have no other tone and thence have their name as fit to expresse it 9. All which I am brought to because this Land is so desperately wounded that there is no hope of her cure no not in Judah the best part of her For which cause he that hath already given such a blow to Israel is marching toward my selected people even to the very gates of Ierusalem 10. Yet let not these sad things be published in Gath or any other town of the Philistims our enemies Let not our teares be seen of them that will laugh the more at our miseries But thou Ephraim that bearest the name of fruitfulnesse or rather I will call thee Ophrah from dust and ashes that are signes of sorrow and barrennesse spare not thy sorrowes for thy self within thy own houses Wallow thy self in dust and ashes in contemplation of the sad day wherein all thy houses shall be beaten into dust 11. And you of Samaria so pleasantly seated that the name of Samaria may be turned into Shaphir you shall passe along from thence into a land of desolation and captivity having your fair City laid bare and naked to your utter shame and confusion while thy Sister that dwels in Sion will not stir a foot from her quiet Hill to come towards you and releive you But k keeping her own station and not troubling her self any further she will for fashion sake take the hint of her mourning from thee O Bethel that mayestâ— now rather be called Beth-etsel i. a place of schism and separation 12. But though Jerusalem be yet so senselesse of misery yet she that dwels in Ramoth of Judaea for which you may say by transposition of the letters that dwells in Maroth i. in a place destined to sorrow and bitternesse she shall much bewaile the losse of her good people ere long For mischief and divine vengeance shall come down at last not to them onely of the severall Ramoths and eminent seates in Judaea but to the very gates of Jerusalem too that is pirked up higher than all the rest 13. And thou inhabitant of Lachish shalt bind the chariot to the swift dromedaries that chariot that must convey Sennacheribs servants to Jerusalem to demand no lesse than the rendring up of the Citie into his hands because Lachish gave the first and chief occasion of the sinne of idolatry to the daughter of Sion Such great faults of the ten tribes of Israel being first found in thee 14. Therefore also have I somewhat to say to Moreshah-Gath and Aczib the two neighbour townes of Lachish Thou O Lachish shalt be fain to send presents and bribe the Assyrians well to show favour to Moreshath-Gath And the houshoulders of Achzib shall be put to another shift whereby to help themselves i. by proving themselves false dissemblers and lyars as their name imports and betraying that trust that was reposed in them by the Kings of Israel 15. And now I will say somewhat alluding to the name of Moreshah as I did to that of Achzib Moreshah in the derivation of the word referrs to an heir And I have an heir in store for thee O inhabitant of Moreshah It shall be the Assyrian that shall hereafter possesse what is yet thine I will bring him to thee my self And this Assyrian whom you made so much of once as if he had been the glory of Israel shall quickly enlarge himself and come as farre as Odullam after he hath got the safe possession of Moreshah 16. Therefore O thou poor and miserable Judaea that hearest these sad prophesies against the greatest Townes and Cities fall to those ceremonies now that are the best expressions of their sorrow and heavinesse Take away thy dainty haire and make thy self as good as bald in signe of grief for the slaughter of thy delicate children wherein thou hast placed thy delight And yet enlarge thy baldnesse like that of the Eagle in token of greater sorrow for those thy Children that are led into captivity and so have a heavier sentence passed upon them then there was upon them that were taken away by death from the sense of any further calamitie CHAP. II. 1 WO to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds when the morning is light they practise it because it is in the power of their hand 2 And they covet fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away so they oppresse a man and his house even a man and his heritage 3 Therefore thus saith the Lord Behold against this family do I devise an evil from which ye shall not remove your necks neither shall ye go haughtily for this time is evil 4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you and lament with a doleful lamentation and say We be utterly spoiled he hath changed the portion of my people how hath he removed it from me turning away he hath divided our
preach what will please them and to sooth them up in expectation of better times then they are worthy to enjoy or have any reason to hope for 9. And now to put my office accordingly in execution Give ear to me once again you Princes of Iacob and other Governors in the house of Israel that sit in the place of Justice and yet abhor doing of judgement and should be the onely examples of dealing rightly and exactly according to the rule and yet are commonly seen to pervert the rule of equity and make the law serve your own turns 10. That makes them build such houses in Sion and other parts of Jerusalem with what they gain by shedding of the blood of the innocent and by deciding causes that come before them with much injustice and iniquity 11. For the Princes of this City judge for the bribe and the Priests teach for the hire and the Prophets divine for the reward in ready cash And yet they can talk devoutly and confidently of Gods protection for Sion and Jerusalems sake and seem to rely upon the Lord and say Doth not God dwell in the midst of us How then can evil betide us that are lodged so near to his own holy Temple 12. But talk what you will For you and your sins Sion shall be plowed like a field Jerusalem shall become like heaps of rubbish and Mount Moriah the top of your glory as the place where the House of God stands shall be like those Mountains in the forrest that are fitter for the entertainment of beasts then men CHAP. IV. 1 BVt in the last daies it shall come to passe that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow unto it 2 And many nations shall come and say Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach us of his waies and we will walk in his pathes for the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem 3 And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into prunning hooks nation shall not lift up a sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it 5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever 6 In that day saith the Lord will I assemble her that halteth and I will gather her that is driven out and her that I have afflicted 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth even for ever 8 And thou O tower of the flock the strong hold of the daughter of Zion unto thee shall it come even the first dominion the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Ierusalem 9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud is there no king in thee is thy councellour perished for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail 10 Be in pain and labour to bring forth O daughter of Zion like a woman in travail for now shalt thou go forth out of the city and thou shalt dwell in the field and thou shalt go even to Babylon there shalt thou be delivered there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies 11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say Let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Zion 12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord neither understand they his counsel for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor 13 Arise and thresh O daughter of Zion for I will make thine horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brasse and thou shalt beat in pieces many people and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth CHAP. IV. 1. YEt for your comfort after all this desolation there will a time come at their return from the captivity of Babylon when that mountain where the house of the Lord is seated shall overtop all other mountains and no hills or high places which the Pagans have made choice of for the worship of their idol-gods shall any way be compared to the high glory of Mount Moriah or so frequented with multitudes of men as this shall be 2. Hither shall flock the true worshipers from several parts of the World and say Come and let us go up to the holy Mountain the Mountain of the Lord Iehovah and to the house of the God of Iacob and by his holy Priests and Prophets he will teach us what is fittest for us to be instructed in out of his waies that we may walk in them For thence onely must we look for the knowledge of the true God whose divine laws specially in the daies of the Messias shall go forth of Sion and his holy word out of Ierusalem and thence be divulged and imparted unto other nations 3. This great God of Israel that so instructs and directs them that make their humble addresses unto him will for their sakes show his judgements among many people that seek him not and correct many remote nations that are too strong and puissant for us to deal with for no strength no distance can secure them from his power and good pleasure upon them And while we serve him he will make them to be so willingly and so absolutely resolved of peace that they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning hooks And rather then their own quarrels shall be any disturbance to us one nation shall not lift up a weapon against another nor shall they learn how to practise themselves in the feats of war any more 4. And so shall it be after our return from Babylon we shall then enjoy many daies of great peace and tranquillity Every man shall sit quietly under his own vine and under his own fig-tree without any to molest him or make him afraid And to make us secure of all this it is decreed by God himself and the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it who hath all hosts and armies and alterations of peace and war at his disposal 5. And our serving of him will be one motive of this mercy and favour for while other people addict themselves to the worship of their false gods and in their name tender all their respects we shall go on to present our humble service and devotions in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever 6.
In those daies saith the Lord I will recollect into their own Country and restore to their former happinesse that poor weak and afflicted nation of the Jews that hath been driven out of her own towns and cities into other remote parts and there been ill intreated by my own permission 7. And I will make that weak afflicted nation leave a fair remnant behind her a numerous progenie to succeed her And over that posteritie of hers will I my self raign for ever in Mount Sion and no earthly Prince shall hinder them from living after my laws till themselves forsake me of their own accord 8. And thou Tower of Ader by Bethlehem that standest in such an obscure and neglected place The daughter of Sion the fair City of Jerusalem shall make her accesse unto thee And out of thee shall come the chiefest fountain of dominion and royalty the Messias to be born in Bethlehem To the daughter of Jerusalem shall he come I say not how strangely entertained by her 9. But now why dost thou cry out so pitifully and make such heavy lamentation at the sound of royalty Dost thou find no King over thee while upon these sad Prophesies thou supposest thy self as in thy captivity Are thy Sanhedrin thy great Counsellors perished Is this the cause why thou art so often surprised with as extream pain and anguish as a woman in travel 10. I cannot blame thee thou maist well be in pain and labour to bring forth and to be delivered of that thy trouble And be so For thou shalt very shortly be fain to depart out of thy Cities and be content with what lodging thou canst get abroad in the open fields and so walk on to Babylon But there will I find out a way of deliverance for thee and even there shal the great Jehovah rescue thee from the hands of thine enemies 11 And as shortly after many men of several nations shall uuite their strength and malice against thee which shal not spare to say Let Sion be still represented to the world as one lying in her own pollution and exposed to the contempt of all us that look upon her 12. But they that so talk at random and out of malice little know or consider what God in his secret counsel and providence and mercy doth intend to do with us But how little soever they consider our end they are lesse advised of their own For He shall gather them as sheaves into the floor there to be so thrashed and bangd as they do not dream of 13. For then will I say to Sion Rouse up thy self and lay about thee like a thrasher O daughter Sion Tread and trample them under which is your way of thrashing with oxen that tread out the corn and to help on the businesse I will make thy horns like iron and thy hoofs like brasse that thou maist trample them and beat them all to pieces be they never so many And what they have covetously hoorded I will take to my self saith the Lord. They have but laid it up as a thing anathematized and set apart for my peculiar service as a deodate out of their substance which I will chalenge as I am Lord paramont over all the earth CHAP. V. NOw gather thy self in troups O daughter of troups he hath laid siege against us they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek 2 But thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Iudah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting 3 Therefore will he give them up untill the time that she which travelleth hath brought forth then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they shall abide for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth 5 And this man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land and when he shall tread in our palaces then shall we raise against him seven shepherds and eight principall men 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod in the enterances thereof thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh into our land and when he treadeth within our borders 7 And the remnant of Iacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord as the showres upon the grasse that tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the sonnes of men 8 And the remnant of Iacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forrest as a young lion among the flocks of sheep who if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces and none can deliver 9 Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine adversaries and all thine enemies shall be cut off 10 And it shall come to passe in that day saith the Lord that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee and I will destroy thy chariots 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land and throw down all thy strong holds 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand and thou shalt have no more sooth-sayers 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off and thy standing images out of the midst of thee and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands 14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee so will I destroy thy Cities 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen such as they have not heard CHAP. V. 1. WHat hath hitherto been said to thee O Babylon comes to this upon the matter that thou shalt very shortly be exposed as a prey to thine enemy O thou daughter of an arrand spoiler of Nimrod that first began that sport over men as well as beasts And hear the rest from my people Israel Therefore is the Babylonian spoyled because he was the man that laid siege against us and that succeeding they were all so injurious and insulting over the very Iudges of Israel that they presumed to strike them upon the check which is a blow of the greatest disgrace that can be 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephratha lay none of these scornes and abuses to thy heart for great matters are intended unto thee It is but a little honour that thou shouldest be reckoned among the Governours of the thousands of Iudah For out of thee a speciall Prince shall be raised up for my own designes the Messias that shall be King and Ruler over the true Israel of God whole originall may be deduced from the top of royall antiquity from the first Kings of Judah and more than that
of your hands and corrupted the fruit of your grounds with blasting and mildew and haile And therefore I did it because I would have had you to reflect upon your sinfull hearts and be converted unto me but yet this punishment was not followed with your conversion saith the Lord. 18. And now take it also into your serious consideration what better successe you have had from this day and upward from the twenty fourth day of the nineth moneth wherein you began to go on with the Foundation of the Temple of the Lord which had been laid before and too long neglected And again I advise you to take speciall notice of this day 19. We are now in the ninth Moneth And â—s your corn which you lately sowed yet come into your barnes Are you as sure of it as if you had it home into your own possession and at your own disposall No. It is still under the ground you have it but in hope and you stand still in need of my blessing upon it that it may be ripened and sitted for the barn And do you not see that the Vine and the sig-tree and the pomegranate and the Olive-tree are yet far from bringing forth that which gives you some likelihood of a good and plentifull year Yet from this day though these fruites are no forwarder and the seed be yet in the ground from this very day will I poure my blessing upon them and so from this day give you an assurance that all these things shall prosper and increase as you would have them 20. And again the word of the Lord came to the Prophet Haggai in this twenty fourth day of the aforesaid moneth to this effect 21. Speak to Zerubbabel the Governour of Iudah and say It shall not be long before I shake the heavens and the earth those that are placed above others as in a higher Orbe and those that are under them with many great wars and tumults 22. I will bring ruine and destruction upon the rich and large Kingdomes under the command of the Persian Monarch and so overthrow that high throne and state of His and bring down the pride and puissance of that great Empire which so overtops the kingdoms of the Heathen I will overturn their chariots of war with their skilfull Riders And their stately Steeds with those that are so bravely mounted upon them shall have a fall They shall all perish by the sword of those nations that are their brethren in iniquity and idolatry and deserve no better than they do 23. At that time when all these stormes shall fall upon them saith the Lord of Hostes will I take thee into my own protection O Zerubhabel the Son of Shealtiel my Servant and I will preserve thee as warily and as carefully as a man would preserve his own signet Thou and thy people shall be secure in the middest of those stirs that in thy time and long after shall be among the greatest nations And all this will I do because I have set my love and favour upon thee and selected thee and thy nation to be a more peculiar object of my care and mercy saith the Lord of Hostes. A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF ZECHARIAH CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers 3 Therefore say thou unto them Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye unto me saith the Lord of hosts and I will turn unto you saith the Lord of hosts 4 Be not as your fathers unto whom the former Prophets have cried saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye now from your evil waies and from your evill doings but they did not hear nor hearken unto me saith the Lord. 5 Your fathers where are they and the prophets do they live for ever 6 But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets did they not take hold of your fathers and they returned and said Like as the Lord of hostes thought to do unto us according to our waies and according to our doings so hath he dealt with us 7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh moneth which is the moneth Sebat in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 8 I saw by night and behold a man riding upon a red horse and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom and behind him were there red horses speckled and white 9 Then said I O my Lord what are these And the Angel that talked with me said unto me I will shew thee what these be 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle-trees and said We have walked to and fro through the earth and behold all the earth sitteth still and is at rest 12 Then the angel of the Lord answered and said O Lord of hostes how long wilt thou not have mercy on Ierusalem and on the cities of Iudah against which thou hast had indignation these three-score and ten years 13 And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words 14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me Cry thou saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts I am jealous for Ierusalem and for Zion with a great jealousie 15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord I am returned to Ierusalem with mercies my house shall be built in it saith the Lord of hosts and a line shall be stretched forth upon Ierusalem 17 Cry yet saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts My cities through prosperitie shall yet be spread abroad and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall ye choose Ierusalem 18 Then lift I up mine eies and saw and behold four hornes 19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me What be these and he answered me These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah Israel and Ierusalem 20 And the Lord shewed me four carpenters 21 Then said I What come these to do and he spake saying These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah so that no man did lift up his head but these are come to fray them to cast out the horns of the Gentiles which lift up their horne over the land of Iudah to scatter it CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth the moneth Bul which had part of our October and part of November in the second yeà r of Darius the son of Hystaspes God spake unto the Prophet
they should have done as if they endeavoured your ruine rather than your amendment and so hindered as much as in them lay the good hopes of your recovery and your return to this place and to my service 16. Therefore this now is the mercifull resolution of the lord I will return with a gracious aspect upon Ierusalem and I will prosper the building of my Temple there saith the lord of Hostes. And let them be as sure of it as if they now see their Carpenters drawing out their lines for the whole work that not the Temple onely but the Citie of Jerusalem too shall be re-edified and made like her self again in her walls and gates and other places of ornament and defense that are fit for so great a City 17. And add this moreover when thou preachest to my people and say Thus saith the Lord of Hostes My Cities in Judah shall be so stored and filled once again with all good things as a vessel is that is ready to run over and burst with abundance of liquor And the Lord will again comfort Sion and show his loving kindnesse to Ierusalem as a place that he hath selected and picked out for the object of his love 18. After this lifting up mine eies I presently saw four hornes 19. And I said to the great Angel that discoursed with me what mean those horns that I see And he answered These horns are four severall Nations all enemies to Judaea and ready like wild beasts to tosse and molest her upon every advantage and so to hinder the good work which she intended about the Temple And these were the Cuthaeans the Ammonites the Arabians and the Philistims 20. Then the Lord shewed me four Carpenters well furnished with hatchets and sawes and other instruments of their Art as it were to cut those Hornes shorter that made so great a show or to help forward the building of the Temple 21 Then said I what come these men to do and he answered The hornes that you saw are severall nations that would fain tosse and scatter Iudah from place to place and like horned Beasts have so gored and pushed at that weak people that they dare not turn head against them or make any resistance Now these Carpenters are come as friends that God hath raised up for you to fray away and disperse them and all such like among the Gentiles that shall presume to lift up their hornes against the land of Iudah to make another dispersion of that afflicted people And things being so quieted you may the better attend the work about the house of God CHAP. II. 1 I Lift up mine eyes again and looked and behold a man with a measuring-lâ—ne in his hand 2 Then said I whither goest thou and he said unto me To measure Ierusalem to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof 3 And behold the angel that talked with me went forth and another angel went out to meet him 4 And said unto him Run speak to this young man saying Ierusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattel therein 5 For I saith the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her 6 Ho ho come forth and flee from the land of the north saith the Lord for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven saith the Lord. 7 Deliver thy self O Zion that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon 8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye 9 For behold I will shake mine hand upon them and they shall be a spoil to their servants and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me 10 Sing and rejoyce O daughter of Zion for lo I come I will dwel in the midst of thee saith the Lord. 11 And many nations shall be joyned to the Lord in that day and shall be my people and I will dwell in the midst of thee and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee 12 And the Lord shall inherit Iudah his portion in the holy land and shall choose Ierusalem again 13 Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he ie raised up out of his holy habitation CHAP. II. 1. AFter what was told me of the four Carpenters and as it were in confirmation of that Another vision caused the lifting up of mine eyes where I beheld a man with a measuring line in his hand A resemblance of Nehemiah that was to take care for the employment of the builders of the City 2. To this man I presently applied my self and said unto him whither art thou going And he returned me this answer I am going to measure Ierusalem that I may see what is the breadth and what is the length of it 3. You may take notice that in the mean while the great Angel with whom I had been entertained in discourse before withdrew himself from the place where he then stood and another Angel went out to meet him and receive his commands 4. To whom this was that which the great Angel gave first in charge Make hast saith he and deliver this Prophesie to that young man Zachariah the young Prophet and say Ierusalem shall be once again so populous that many of her Citizens shall be fain to inhabite in the suburbs and in the little villages all about them because neither they nor their cattle and other wealth shall be able to be conteined within the walls In all which Jerusalem shall be but a type of a greater accesse of true converts to the Church of God which is the true Jerusalem the mother of us all 5. And to this Ierusalem and to that which is figured by it will I be like a wall of fire round about her to defend her from all outward assaults And within the Citie I will be a glory to her in the many and miraculous expressions of my power and Majestie 6. You therefore that account your selves in the number of the children of Israel and are yet in the land of your captivity Come O come quickly to us out of those Northern climates saith the Lord. For I will dilate and extend your habitations towards the four winds of Heaven and much inlarge the borders of your possession saith the Lord. 7. Therefore make hast Come away come away you Citizens of Sion Delight not to continue your captivity and prolong the time of your banishment from your Jerusalem but speedily come out of Babylon you that hitherto have continued in that place Come out of your places of idolatrie and seat your selves in the spatious limits of the true Church of God 8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts the great Deliverer and Defender of his Church Come after
inhabited from Gibeah of Benjamin in the Northern borders even unto Rimmon that lies as far South of Jerusalem And with the addition of her higher Towers and Walls Ierusalem shall seem to lift up her self higher and glory to see her self so fully and richly inhabited in her own place from the gate of Benjamin which leades into the Countrey of Benjamin toward the North and so to the old gate on the West and to the corner-gate that hath so many Towers jetted to the East and thence all along from the Tower of Hananiel which bounds the South of your Citie as far toward Sion as the place where the Kings wine-presses were wont to be And there also shall you have some buildings raised up for your new inhabitants 11. And they which shall then inhabite it in so populous a manner shall find that there will be no more such miserable destructions as have formerly been in that place but Ierusalem shall be inhabited in safety and security for a long time 12. And these shall be the plagues wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have come in hostile manner against Her Such a fearfull famine and sicknesse shall he send amongst them that their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet their eyes shall consume away while they are in those strong holds wherein Nature hath placed them for better use then from thence to watch the mischief of others that were better than themselves and their tongues shall moulder away while they are in their own wicked and blasphemous mouths So that they shall walk about like living carcases and ugly noisome spectacles of misery and memorandums of divine vengeance 13. And somewhat else shall happen in those dayes as an addition to their sorrow For great tumults and combustions will God raise among them in those hurries Every man shall be willing to lay hold of his neighbour and by their joynt-hands engage him to be faithfull and secure unto them but that hand of fidelity as he took it shall deceive his trust and be one of the first hands that shall be lift up against him 14. Anâ— which is the worst of it such deceit and contention shall not be onely amongst them but even Iudah too shall pick quarrels against Ierusalem And a means to tempt them to this will be the wealth of all the Heathen round about them that shall be gathered to this place great abundance of gold and silver and apparel that shall be in the tents of the Enemy 15. While that plague of war and famine that is amongst them will breed as great a mortality among the horses aad mules and asses and all the beasts in their tents which shall be like another plague among them 16. But these afflictions and your miraculous delivery shall prove good instructions to many that shall be left of those Nations that marched against Ierusalem For in acknowledgement of Gods Justice upon themselves and his miraculous protection of that place thither will they resort from year to year being made your Proselytes to tender their worship before the King of Kings and the Lord of hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles at least as you do that falling out in a time more seasonable for the undertaking of long â—urnies to Jerusalem 16. And while they do so much that are but Proselytes they read a Lecture of more readinesse to be required in you Therefore whosoever of the Families of this Land shall not come up to Ierusalem out of those countries into which they are dispersed once a year at least to bear a part in the divine service of the great King of Kings and Lord of Hostes no showre of Divine favour shall be expected to be powred upon them 18. As for instance if those Jewish Families that are in Egypt shall not make that ascent and approach hither neither shall that showre of his favour be upon them but in-instead of that some plague raâ—her with which the Lord will strike all those people that will not come up to keep so much as the Feast of Tabernacles after they have taken upon them the profession of his Name 19. This shall be the punishment of those Professours of the Jewish Religion that live in Egypt or among any other Nations and will not come up to the solemn Feast of Tabernacles and then at least bear a part in the publick service of God in that place which he hath chosen for that purpose 20. In these dayes of the strict observance of the worship of God great additions of prosperity shall be heaped upon this People and specially upon the place of Gods service by rich presents from forrein Nations Then the bridles of the war-horses and the rich ornaments about them shall be offered as a holy thing to the Lord and so come into the Treasurie of the Temple as a Testimonie that they acknowledge the victorie in which those horses were employed is to be ascribed to God onely though they seemed to guide and direct the Horses with the bridle in their own hands And not in this way of acknowledgement onely but many other waies too the offerings shall be so rich and frequent that the pots in the Lords house shall be as numerous as the bowles before the Altar whereof you have greater plenty than of any one vessell about the Temple because of the severall uses to which they are of necessitie required both in the offerings and in receiving the blood of the sacrifices 21. And not those pots onely in the Temple but by reason of the great abundance of sacrifices in those dayes every pot in Ierusalem and in Iudah will commonly be hallowed to that use which those in the Sanctuary are employed in for that service of the Lord of Hostes that all they that bring their Sacrifice may take of them and seeth their meat in them with which after the Sacrifice they use to entertain the Levites and their Friends whom they invite to the Feast And in those dayes as you shall have such store of Proselytes about the house of the Lord of hosts to help and encourage you in the service so you shall have no Cananites there to draw you from the service of the true God So shall you be all holy and clean without mixture of prophane and idolatrous people as was prophesied long before And withall you shall therein give a type of that happinesse which the whole Church shall have in the last day A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF MALACHI CHAP. I. 1 THe burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi 21 I have loved you saith the Lord yet ye say Wherein hast thou loved us was not Esau Iacobs brother saith the Lord yet I loved Iacob 3 And I hated Esau and laid his mountains and his heritage wast for the dragons of the wildernesse 4 Whereas Edom saith We are impoverished