his brethren I am Ioseph doth my father yet lyue With that they were so astonyed with his presence that they coulde not aunswere hym one woorde I am Ioseph your brother quoth he whome yée solde into Egipt nowe therefore be not grieued with your selues that yée solde mée hither for God dyd sende mée before you for your preseruation for this is the seconde yeare of dearth and fiue more are behinde wherefore God sent me before you to make prouision for you in this lande and to saue your lyues by a great deliueraunce So nowe it was not you that sent me hither but God who hath made mée a Father vnto Pharao and Lorde of all his house and ruler thorowout all the land of Egipt Therefore now go and tell my father and bid him come with all his houshold to mée and I will make prouision for him Thus when Ioseph had receyued 46. his Father into Egipt and gouerned the lande foure 50. d. score yeares hée dyed at the age of an hundred and ten yeares and was buried in Epigt whose bones were afterwarde translated into the lande of promission as Ioseph had bounde them to doe in his death bed ¶ Ioseph Increasing Math. 1. ◠Ioseph the sonne of Iacob the sonne of Matthan a poore honest man and a Carpenter by his occupasion was spoused to the Virgin Mary the Mother of Christ and dwelled in Nazareth a little Citie in Galile came of the same Tribe and kinred that Mary came of that is to say of the Tribe of Iuda and of the progenie stocke of Dauid of whose séede it was promised that Christe shoulde be borne He had foure sonnes Iames Ioses Symon 13. g. and Iudas which the Iewes of ignoraunce called the brethren of Christ Math. 27. g. Ioseph a man of honour and of great power and substaunce borne in the Citie of Aramathia which was a Disciple of Iesus but not openly knowne bicause of the Iewes which had made a lawe that whosoeuer dyd openly confesse him to be Iesus Disciple the same person shoulde be cast out of the Synagoge This Ioseph came to Pylate and desired licence of him to take downe the body of Iesus from the Crosse and to burie it and hauing obtayned his peticion he bought a fine péece of linnen cloth and therin wrapped the body and layed it in a new Sepulchre hewed out of the rocke and rolled a great stone before the dore of the Sepulchre so went his way 1. Mac. ◠b. f. g Iosephus the sonne of Zachary and one Asarias were twoo Captaynes vnder Iudas Machabeus which twoo Iudas left in Iewry to kéepe and gouerne the remnant of the hoste left there whyle he and Ionathas with Symon their brother went into the parties of Galile and Galaad to deliuer their brethren which were then besieged of their enimies giuing them a great charge not to warre with the heathen but to lye still till he and his brethren were returned home againe But neuerthelesse when Iosephus and Asarias had hearde of all the great actes done by Iudas and his brethren they sayde one to an other Let vs go out and fight agaynst the heathen that lye rounde about vs that we may get vs a name also And being agréede they went out and pitched theyr hoste before the Citie of Iamnya who had not lyen there long or that Gorgias issued out of the citie with his men and stroke battell with Iosephus and slue of the Iewes two thousand and chased Iosephus and all the rest of his companie to the borders of Iewrie And thus Iosephus and Asarias neglecting the commaundement of Iudas their Lorde and gouernour purchased in the steade of honour and fame great dishonour and shame Act. 4. g. Ioses a certayne Leuyte borne in the Countrey of Cypres solde his lande there and brought the whole price therof and layed it downe at the Apostles féete of whome he was surnamed Barnabas ¶ Ioses going out or thrust out 4. Reg. 22. ca Iosias the sonne of Amon being at the age of eyght yeares when he began his raygne ouer Iuda was a vertuous 2. Par. 34. ca. and iust Prince for he sought the Lord God of his father Dauid euen from his Childehoode to the ende of his lyfe He caused the booke of the lawe of Moses which had béene long lost founde againe by Helkia the Priest to be had in great reuerence and diligently read vnto the people He clensed his land from all witchcrafts and sorcerie and from Idols Images and Groues He brake downe the hill altars and brent the bones of the Priests of Baal and left no wicked thing vndestroyed nor monument standing in the Cities of Manasses Ephraim or other places of his Realme where any abhominacion had béene committed He kept a passeouer in the eyghtene yeare of his raigne the like neuer séene and repayred the Temple Finally he made warre vpon the King of Egipt in the which he was wounded with a Darte at a place called Magiddo whereof he dyed Whose death was much lamented for like vnto hym was neuer none before nor after Iehoahas his sonne succéeded him ¶ Iosias the Lordes Fire or the Lorde burning 4. Reg. 15. g. Iotham the sonne of Azaria or Vzia at the age of xxv yeares began his reigne ouer Iuda in the seconde 2. Par. 27. ca. yeare of Pekah King of Israel and did that which was right in the sight of the Lorde in all pointes as did hys father Azaria saue that * Hee went not into the Temple of the Lorde to burne incense as his father did contrary to the worde of god which is spoken to the commendation of Iotham he came not into the temple of the Lorde neyther caused the hyll aultars to be taken away by which occasion the people ceased not to doe wickedly He builded the sumpteous gate of the Temple and many Cities Castles and Towers in the Mountaynes of Iuda and other places He subdued the Ammonites who payed him thrée yeares togither an hundred talents of siluer ten thousand quarters of Wheate and so much of Barley He reigned .xvj. yeares and was buried in the Citie of Dauid leauing Ahas his son to enioy his place ¶ Iotham Persite Num. 27. c. d. Iosua the sonne of Nun was first called Osea which name Moses chaunged and called him Iosua who was Moses minister and ordeyned of God to rule and Exod. 17. c. d. gouerne the people after him He discomfited King Amalech while Moses helde vp his handes and prayed He was one of those Explorators which were sent by Moses Num. 13 cap. 14. a. b. to searche the lande of Canaan and to bring the people worde againe what maner of countrey it was at whose returne the people were ready to stone both him and Caleb for well reporting of that lande wherefore the Lord being angrye with the people sware that none of
them all shoulde sée that good lande but Iosua and Caleb After Iosua 1. cap. the death of Moses the Lorde encouraged Iosua to inuade the lande of promise and gaue him commaundement to exercise himselfe continually in reading the booke of the Lawe called Deuteronomie Which he dulye obserued and read it to the people that they thereby might the better learne to looue and feare God and to obey him the Lordes minister â–ª He destroyed the Citie of Iericho onely reseruing Raab and hir housholde He brent the Citie of Hai and hanged the fiue Kings of the Amorites on fiue trées at whose discomfiting it rayned stones from heauen by the which mo were slayne than with the sworde and the Sunne also stoode still in his place and prolonged the day till Iosua had vtterly discomfited his enimies He slue in all first and last .xxxj. Kings and brought the children of Israel into the lande of promission and deuided the lande to the Tribes of Israel He dyed at the age of an hundred and ten yeres in whose steade Iuda was made gouernour of the Lordes armie ¶ Iosua the Lorde Sauiour Gen. 21. a. Isaac was the sonne of Abraham by his wyfe Sara and a figure of Christ for when his father went to 22. cap. * Some say that Isaac was sacrificed of his father in the xiii yeare of his age but Iosephus affirmeth it to be done in the xxv yeare offer him vp in sacrifice and comming to the Aultar and place where he shoulde dye he willingly offered himselfe to death that his father might in him fulfill the Lordes will. But being preserued of God till he came to the age of fortie yeares he then tooke to wyfe Rebecca 25. c. the daughter of Bathuel his fathers brother who being long barren at the last by the pleasure of God brought forth Esau and Iacob at one birth After this there fell 26. cap. such a dearth and famine in his countrie that he departed into the lande of the Philistines where Abimelech was king And as he remayned in Gerar the Lorde appeared to Isaac bidding him to remayne still in that place and not to remooue into Egypt and he would multiply his sede as the Starres of heauen and bring it so to passe that all Nations of the earth shoulde be blessed therein And so Isaac remooued not But for so much as he doubted of the feare of God to be in that place he durst not auouche Rebecca to be his wyfe but sayde she was his sister Reade the storie of Abimelech King of the Philistines for the playner declaration of this matter And now whyle Isaac remayned in the Countrie of Gerar God so encreased him with abundance of cattell and ryches that the Philistynes began to enuie and hate hym and stopped all the Welles which his father Abraham had made that he shoulde haue no commoditie thereby But notwithstanding he digged vp the Welles againe and called them by the same names that his father had giuen them before and became so mightie that Abimelech made a bonde with Isaac who feasted the King and departed friendes Finally with age he became blinde 27. a. and so was deceyued in giuing his blessing to Iacob which he thought to haue first bestowed on Esau but both by the will of God â—eing blessed of their father Isaac he fell sicke and dyed at the age of an hundred and lxxx yeres and was buried in Hebron ¶ Isaac Laughter 2. Reg. 2. c. Isboseth the sonne of King Saul at the age of fortie yeares began his reygne ouer Israel Whose onely 4. cap. staye and vpholder of his Kingdome was Abner after whose death two of his owne Captaynes slue Isboseth by treason in his owne house after he had reygned twoo yeares Reade the storie of Baanah ¶ Isboseth a man of sbame .4 Felix ante alios fratres ego dicor Iuda Non mihi uerba pater inuidiosa dedit Sed me uictorem dixit forteque Leonem Hostes qui superet viribus ecce suos ¶ Of Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah which slue Gedaliah reade the storie of Iohanan and Gedaliah both 2. Reg. 15. d. Ithai was a Gethite borne and bare such loue to Dauid that he left his owne Countrey to come and sée Lyra sayeth that Ithai was the son of Achis king of Geth him and the fashion of his Court and as he continued there and sawe into what daunger Absalom had brought his father Dauid eyther to flie his Realme or to haue lost all he woulde take no part with Absalom but followed Dauid and left him not in this extremitie And when Dauid sawe him he sayd vnto him why commest thou with me Ithai returne I pray thée and bide with the King for thou art a straunger and come but yesterdaye and therefore I woulde be loth to disquiete thée Therefore returne and cary againe thy brethren and the Lorde shall she we thée mercie and truth Nay sayde Ithai as truly as God liueth and my Lorde the King lyueth in what place my Lorde the King shall be whether in lyfe or death euen there also will thy seruant be And so he went forwarde with Dauid and had rule ouer the thirde part of Dauids hoste in the suppression of Absalom ¶ Ithai Strong Gen. 29. d. 37. f. Iuda was the fourth sonne of Iacob Lea who would not consent to the death of Ioseph his brother but gaue counsell to sell him saying What shall it auayle vs my brethren to sley our brother and to kéepe hys bloude secrete let vs sell him to the Ismaâ—lites and not lay our handes vpon him for he is our fleshe and bloude â–ª After this he departed from his brethren to a place called 38. cap. Odollam where he remayned with a friende of hys called Hyra and in processe fell in loue with a mannes daughter called Sua a Canaanite borne and marryed hir who in time brought him forth thrée Sonnes The first Er The seconde Onan and the thirde Sela. The two first one after another he married to a certaine woman called Thamar but for their horrible sinne and wickednesse the Lorde slue them both Then Iuda fearing to marrye the thirde sonne vnto hir least he shoulde dye also sayde to his daughter in lawe remayne a Wydow at thy fathers house till Sela my sonne be growen she did so during which time the daughter of Sua dyed and Iuda became a wydower Nowe when the dayes of mourning were ended he went to a place called Thymnah taking his friende Hyra with him to sée his shéepe shearers Then Thamar hearing thereof and séeing Sela not giuen hir in marriage layde awaye hir Wydowes garment and disguising hir selfe lyke a common harlot went and sate hir downe in an open place by the hye wayes side going to Thymnah And as Iuda passed that way and sawe one sit muffled like an whore went vnto hir and sayde Come I pray thée let
to vse a little Wine Act. 19. b. Tyrannus was a certayne schoolemayster in Asia in whose schoole Paule disputed dayly by the space of two yeares ¶ Tyrannus Commaunding or a Prince a Tyrant 2. Cor. 2. c. Titus was S. Paules disciple whome for the excellent giftes that were in him Paule looued as if he had 7. a. 8. b. d. bene his owne naturall sonne And made him the chiefe ouerséer or as ye woulde say Archbishop of the Christian Tit. 1. a. b. congregation in the noble I le of Crete And in euery Citie within the I le Titus ordeyned an ouerséer which we call a Bishop for the which cause Paule prescribed vnto him the true forme of a Bishop or shepehearde of Christes flocke ¶ Titus Honorable Tob. 1. Toby was a godlye man of the Tribe and Citie of Nephtaly And being brought into great captiuitie in the dayes of Salmanasar king of Assiria yet woulde he not forsake the way of truth nor worship the golden Calues as other did neyther yet defyle himselfe with the Heathens meate but alwayes kept his heart pure vnto god For the which the Lorde gaue him such fauour in the sight of Salmanasar the King that Toby had power to go where he woulde and to doe whatsoeuer him lyst Then Toby hauing this libertie went about comforting all those that were in prison both with his goodes and godly exhortacions Such was his dayly exercise to feede the hungrye to cloth the naked and to burie the deade with such like déedes of Charitie And when the time came that Sennacherib which hated the children of Israel reygned in his fathers steade and in his wrath slue many of them Toby buried their bodies for the which the King commaunded to sley him and to take away his goodes who neuerthelesse thorowe friendshippe escaped and fled And after the Kings death being slayne of hys owne sonnes within .xlv. dayes after Toby returned and was restored to his goodes agayne and called his kinred and friendes togither and made a great feast And sitting at the Table with his guestes one tolde him there lay an Israelite slayne in the stréete who then immediatly lept from the boorde and went fasting to the deade corse and brought him home to his house where he hidde him priuily vntill the Sunne was downe and then buryed hym For the which déede his friendes reprooued him bicause he had bene in daunger but a little before euen for the lyke matter But neuerthelesse Tobias fearing God more than the King woulde take the slayne and hyde them in his house and bnrie them at midnight Insomuch that one tyme he was so weary with burying the deade that he got him home and layde him downe beside a wall for wearynesse where he fell on sléepe And so lying there fell downe vpon his eyes warme dung out of a swalowes nest which tooke awaye his sight that he coulde not sée agaynst the which plague of blindnesse he neuer grudged but remayned steadfast in the feare of God giuing him thankes as well for that as other gifts of health And this temptacion God suffered to fall on Toby for an example of pacience to all that should come after Finally of his great pacience déede of charitie and other godlye exhortacions his booke is full He lost his Tob. 14. a. sight at the age of sixe and fiftie yeares And was restored at thrée score so that he remayned blind about a foure yeare And lyued after he had receyued his sight twoo and fourtie yeares and so he dyed at the age of an hundred and twoo yeares and was honourably buryed in the Citie of Niniue ¶ Tobiah the Lorde is good Tob. 5. cap. Toby the sonne of Toby being brought vp in the feare of God followed the vert uous steppes of his father in all thinges He was sent to the Citie of Rages to one Gabelus for certayne money which his father had lent him And after many daungers by the waye was by 6. a. Goddes prouision whose Aungell was his guide maryed 7. a. there to the daughter of Raguel whose name was Sara And when he had taryed with his father and mother in lawe about a twoo wéekes he returned home with much 8. d. substaunce to the great consolation and comfort of olde Toby his Father and Anna his Mother After whose 11. cap. death when he had remayned at Niniue the space of two 14. d. and fourtie yeares he departed with his wyfe and seuen sonnes to the Citie of Rages where he founde his Fatheir and mother in lawe both lyuing in great age on whom he tooke the care vntill they died and was heyre to all there goodes And when this Toby had lyued .xcix. yeares he dyed and was buryed After whose death his posteritie continued in such an holye conuersacion of life that they were belooued and accepted both of God and man. 2. Esd 2. a. Toby the Ammonite and sonne in lawe to Sechania was one that conspired with Sanabalat to hinder the buylding of Ierusalem For when Sanabalat sayde in derision of the Iewes What doe these weake Iewes will they fortifie themselues Will they sacrifice Will they finish it in a day Will they make the stones whole agayne out of the heapes of dust séeing they are burnt Then Toby which stoode besyde hym sayde Although 6. d. they buylde yet if a Fore go vp hée shall euen breake downe their stonye Wall. This Toby wrought all the wayes he could both by letters and false Prophets hyred for money to feare Esoras from the worke but coulde not preuayle Rom. 16. b. Triphena and Triphosa were certayne godly women to whom Saint Paule for their deligent labour in the Gospell sendeth gréetinges saying Salute Triphena and Triphosa which women laboured in the Lord. ¶ Triphena a fyne nice or delicate woman 1. Mac. 11. e. cap. Triphon was a certayne great man which tooke part with King Alexander agaynst King Ptolomy And when Alexander was dead Triphon founde the meanes to get his yong sonne Antiochus out of the handes of Emascuel the Arabian who had brought him vp to reigne in his Fathers streade And when he had got the gouernaunce of the yoong King he conceyued treason agaynst hym which he thought coulde neuer be well brought to passe so long as Ionathas whome the King had made hygh Priest was his friende wherefore he sought to kill Ionathas that he might come the easyer by his wicked purpose So Triphon went to a place called Bethsan 12. c. cap. at the which place Ionathas met hym with fourtie thousande men Then Triphon perceyuing the great hoste that Ionathas brought was afrayde and thought it not best to meddle with him at that time but to vse some policie howe to betraye hym And so commaunding all his souldieurs to be as obedient to Ionathas in all thinges euen as they woulde be vnto himselfe he receyued hym honorablye
wyll blesse them that blesse thée and curse them that curse thée and in thâ—â— shall all the families of the earth be blessed 〈◊〉 nowe hauing this promise made him of God departed out of Haran he and Sara his wife with Lâ—t his â—ephewe and with all their substance that they had to go to soiourne in the lande of Canaan And being there the Lorde made a promise to Abraham that hys seede shoulde possesse that lande Wherevpon soone after in the same place where God spake thus vnto him he made an aultar and offered sacrifices therâ—â— to the Lorde And so remayning in the lande there fell at the last so great a famine that he was constrained to â—â—â—â— into Egypt where he fearing the Egyptians to be vngodly and vicious men â—â—igned Sara to be his sister thinking and if â—â—â— were knowne to be his wife they woulde for hir bâ—wtâ—â— take hir from him and put him in hazarde of his lyfe Then was it â—old to king Pharao what a bewtifull woman Abraham had brought with him into Egypt The king nowâ— knowing therof commaunded the woman to be brought vnto him and with all gentle entertainement receyued hir into his house and intreated Abraham well for hir sake But when he sawe so many plagues fall on him and on all his householde vnderstandyng that it was for withholding another mans wyfe from him he restored the woman without dishonestie to Abraham hir husbande againe Giuing also his men a great charge concerning the man and hys wife Then soone after Abraham returned from Egypt into the countrey of Canaan where he had bene afore And when he had lyen some space in the lande there fell such a stryfe betwéene the herdemen of Abrahams cattell and the herdemen of Lottes cattell that Abraham was fayne to deuyde the lande betwéene his Nephewe Lot and him and so they remooued the one from the other Abraham had nowe bene so long without issue that he tooke by consent an aduise of Sara one of his Maydes named Agar to wyfe who conceyued and brought him forth a sonne which was called Ismael Abraham then being at the age of fourescore yeares and sixe And when he was come to the number of ninetie and nine God gaue vnto him the couenant of Circumcision which he receyued first in himselfe and then made Ismael and all the reast of hys householde to receyue the same The next yeare after when Abraham was iust an hundred yeare olde Sara conceiued brought him forth his long promised sonne named Isaac whome he circumcised the eight day folowing and would after that haue offered him vp in sacrifice but that God séeing his prompt obedience stayed his hande Finally after the death of Sara Abraham tooke him another wife called Ketura who bare vnto him six sonnes Which children hée woulde not suffer to remayne and companye with his sonne Isaac but before he died sent them away with great rewardes and giftes and made Isaac heyre of all his goodes He dyed at the age of an hundred seauentie and fiue and was buried beside Sara his wyfe in the double Caue which he bought of Ephron the Hethite ¶ Looke more in the histories of Lot Sara and Melchisedech Absalom the sonne of Dauid whom he begat on his wyfe Maacha the daughter of Thalmai King of Gessur was y goodlyest personage in all Israel for as Scripture witnesseth God had so framed the forme and ornaments of his bodie that from the sole of the foote to the crowne of the head was no member amisse And yet among all the heare of his head excelled which so increased daylye that the weyght therof compelled him at euery yeares ende to â—haue it off This Absalom had a brother named Ammon to whoÌ„ he bare a priuie grudge for defiling his sister Thamar And to be reuenged on him for the same he invited al his brethren vnto a banket made in y time of his shéepe shearing to the which banket Ammon came with the rest of his brethren in the middest of their chéere Absalom killed Ammon and fled to the king of Gessur his Grandfather With whome he abode thrée yeares In the which space by mediation of friendes he was at the last fette home againe and brought by Ioab his Auntes sonne to Ierusalem where he remayned two yeares after Then Absolom marueyling why Ioab had not brought him to the king his father in all that space sent once or twyse for him to come and speake with him And when he saw that he came not he commaunded his men to go and burne vp the fielde of Barley which parteyned to Ioab and laye ioyning to his grounde Then Ioab hearing therof went to Absalom demaunding wherfore his men had destroyed his Corne Marrie quoth Absalom I sent for thée twyse and thou wouldest not come wherefore diddest thou bring me from Gessur had it not bene as good for mée and better to haue continued there still than here to lye so nye the King my father and cannot be suffered to sée him Then Ioab considering the matter had him to the king where he was ioyfully receyued After all this Absalom began certaine practises to aspire to the kingdome wherein he prospered so farre that at length hée proclaymed himselfe king in Hebron Causing his father for feare to flie out of hys Realme against whome he called his counsell to deuise what waye he might best ouercome his Father But God by whose prouidence all things are stayde so wrought with his Counsaylers that the successe of his enterprisâ— turned to his owne destruction For when it came so to passe that both the armies were ioyned in battell togithers Absaloms men had the woorsse and he himselfe a sodâ—ine mischaunce for as he rode on his Mule thorow the woode to haue escaped a twyste of an Oke caught hym so fast in the heire of his head that it tooke him quite out of hys Saddle And so he hanged on the trée till Ioab came with his speare and slue him whose Carkeys after was taken downe and cast into a pitte and couered wyth an heape of Stones Acan was the sonne of Charmy and of the Trybe of Iuda who beyng at the wynning of the City of Iericho hearing Iosua pronounce the Citie and al things therin to be excommunicate accursed of the Lorde tooke notwithstanding certaine iewels of the same hidde them priuily vnder the grounde in his tent Then after when Iosua went about the taking of Hai and had sent thrée thousand souldiers to wynne it the men of Hai issued out of the citie and slewe thirtie and sixe of the Israelites and chased the rest backe agayne whereat Iosua was so discomfited that he rent his clothes and called on God to knowe the cause of their ouerthrowing who made him answere that Israel coulde not stande before the men of Hai forasmuch as some of them had
Ierobaal that is let Baal pleade for himselfe bicause he hath broken downe his Aultar At this time the Madianites and the Amalakites had pitched themselues in the valley of Iezrael and the spirite of the Lorde came vpon Gedeon so that he called his people togithers to go agaynst them And for to be the better confirmed in his vocation hée tooke a fléece of wooll and layde it in the threshing place and made his request vnto God saying Oh Lorde if thou wilt let the dewe this night fall vpon the fléece only and be drie on all the grounde beside then shall I be sure that thou wilt saue Israel by my handes as thou hast sayde And on the morrowe when Gedeon came to take vp the fléece it was full of dewe and the grounde drie all about Then sayde Gedeon O Lorde be not angry that I prooue thée once more let nowe the fléece be drie only and dewe vpon all the earth and so in the morning the fléece was drye and the grounde all dewy Gedeon nowe being thus confirmed pitched his hoste to fight with his enimies But when the Lorde sawe the number of his armie he sayd to Gedeon the people that thou hast with thée are to manye therefore make a proclamation thorowout all thine hoste that whosoeuer is timerous or fearefull let him depart home agayne and there returned .xxij. thousande and ten thousande remayned Then sayde the Lorde to Gedeon the people are yet to many Bring them downe to the water side and I will appoynt them that shall go with thée So many as doe lappe the water with their tongues as Dogges doth shalt thou take with thée the reast that knéeleth downe vpon their knées to drinke shalt thou resuse as men vnméete for this purpose And when it came to tryall all knéeled downe to drinke sauing 300. which lapped water with their hands those Gedeon tooke with him and sent the rest away Then the Lord to strengthen Gedeon least he shoulde faynt in so great an enterprise bade him take Phara his seruaunt with him and go downe that night to the hoste of the Madianites and harcken what they did say And when they came neare to the hoste they hearde one man saye to another I haue dreamed a dreame and me thought a lofe of Barley bread tumbled into the hoste of Madian and came vnto a Tent and smote it that it fell and lay along on the grounde This is nothing else quoth his felowe saue the sworde of Gedeon the sonne of Ioas a man of Israel for into his handes hath God deliuered Madian and all the hoste Then Gedeon hearing this praysed God and returned to his men who were so animated with his ioyfull tydings that most couragiously they fell vpon the infinite number of the Madianites and ouerthrew them and put them to flight euery one in the which flight y Ephraims on the other side of Iordan toke Oreb Zeb two mightie Captains of the Madianites sent their heads to Gedeon who was following the chase after Zebah Zalmana Kings of Madian which two at the last he tooke and led them back to the men of Socoth Phanuel who had denyed him sustenance before and sayde vnto them Behold here be the men by whom ye vpbrayded me saying are the hands of Zeba Zalmana already in thine hands that we should giue bread vnto thy weary people I tolde you then that when the Lord had deliuered them into my handes I woulde reiurne and teare your fleshe with Thornes and Briers of the wildernesse and breake downe the tower of Phanuel And so to performe hys promise he fell vpon the men of Socoth and Phanuel and put them to most paynefull torments and death and slue Zebah and Zalmana with his owne handes Thus he deliuered Israel out of the handes of the Madianites which had kept them seauen yeares in subiection And when he had iudged them fortie yeares he dyed leauing behinde him 70. sonnes for he had many Wyues beside Abimelech which his Concubine bare vnto him in the Citie of Sichem But when Gedeon was deade the Israelites turned from God againe and went a whoring after Baalim and made Baal-bereth their God forgetting the Lorde their God which had deliuered them out of the hands of their enimies neither shewed they mercy on the house of Ierobaal according to all the goodnesse which he had shewed vnto them But contrarywife like men vnthankfull and voyde of all faithfulnesse consented to the vtter destruction of all his posteritie Gehezi wayted vpon Eliseus the Prophet and was his seruant On a time there came to his Maister out of the lande of Siria a certayne Prince named Naaman to be holpen of his leprosie The which Prince being restored to health offered to Eliseus a great reward which he refused And when Gehezi sawe the great man gone and that his Maister had receyued nothing he then being stricken with couetousnesse folowed after Naaman And when the Prince sawe the Prophetes seruant come running so fast after him he for the reuerence he bare to his Maister descended from his Charret to méete him and asked of him if all were well with his Maister or no. Yea sayde Gehezi all is well But euen nowe there is come to my Maister from Mount Ephraim twoo yoong men of the sonnes of the Prophets wherefore he hath sent me to desire thée to let him haue one Talent of Siluer and twoo chaunge of garments Then the Prince of his liberalitie gaue him twoo Talents and made his men to carie the money and stuffe after Gehezi And when the men had brought it nie vnto the place where as he would haue it he tooke if of their handes and let them depart and conueyghed it priuily into his owne chamber And as soone as Gehezi came in the presence of his Maister he demaunded where he had bene No where quoth he No said Eliseus went not my hart with thée when the man turned againe from his Charret to méete thée Is it now a time to receiue money or garments Well forasmuch as thou hast offended in this the leprosie of Naaman shal eleaue vnto thée and to thy séede for euer And so he went out from his Maister a Leper as whyte as snowe Reade more of Gehezi in the Stories of Eliseus his Mayster Gerson the sonne of Moses had a brother called Eliezer Their mothers name was called Zephora y daughter of Raguel But of Gerson the son of Leuy came the Gersonites who had the gouernance of the habitacion within the tabernacle Gibeonites The Gibeonites hearing of the great destruction that Iosua had made at Iericho and Hai were in such feare that they wyst not howe to saue their liues but by this policie When they perceyued Iosua to drawe nye vnto Gibeon They chose out certaine men among them to sende as ambassadours to Iosua and made their prouision of breade dryed vp
grounde Which done she went and stoode in hir Tent dore and séeing Baruck pursuing Sisera she went mette hym saying Come and go with mée and I will shewe thée the man whome thou séekest and so he followed Iael who brought him into hir tent where Sisera laye dead Iair was a Gileadite borne He had .xxx. sonnes which were men of authoritie for they rode vppon .xxx. Asses colts And they had xxx Cities lying in the lande of Gilead which Cities were called the townes of Iair He reigned .xxij. yeares After whose death the Children of Israel fell to wickednesse agayne and serued Baalim and Astharoth the gods of Siria other straunge gods for the which the Lord was wroth with Israel and solde them into the hands of the Philistynes and Ammonites which oppressed them so sore by the space of .xviij. yeares That thâ—y were fayne to cry for helpe of the lord Who then sayde vnto them Dyd not I when yée cryed vnto mée deliuer you from the Egiptians the Amorites the Ammonites the Philistines the Sidonites the Amalakites and the Moabites which nacions had oppressed you And yet haue ye now forsaken me and serue theyr gods Therfore crie vnto these gods whom yée haue chosen and let them helpe you in your tribulacion for I will deliuer you no more Oh Lord said they we haue sinned doe vnto vs whatsoeuer pleaseth thée Then had the Lord so great compassion and pittie on the miserye of Israel that he styrred vp a man one Iephtah who by the power of God saued them Iames the sonne of Zebede and brother to Iohn was a poore fisherman and being in the ship with his father mending of his net Iesus came by and called him who immediately left his shippe his father and all and went after Iesus and was one of his Apostles and receyued with his brother the name of Bonarges which is to saye The sonnes of thunder Math. 10. a. Iames the lesse was the sonne of Alphâ—us and Marie sister to Marie the Lords mother And being bishop He suffered martyrdome in the. vi yere of Nero. of Ierusalem he wrote to the Iewes that were scattered abroade after the persecution and death of Steuen Instructing them with sundry precepts howe to order their lyues 2 Tim. 3. b. Iannes and Iambres were twoo false Sorcerers of Egypt who in the time of Moses with their enchantments Exo. 7. b. went about to put those miraculous woonders out of credence that Moses by the power of God did And euen as they withstoode Moses so do the aduersaries of the Gospell at this day and euer will resist the truth vnder a certaine false pretence of godlynesse Gen. 9. d. Iapheth was the youngest of Noes thrée sonnes who being enformed of his fathers vnséemely lying a The nations that came of his children Of Gomer came the Italians Of Magog the Scitians of them the Turkes Of Madai the Medes Of Iauan the Greekes Of Tubal the Spanyards Of Mosoch the Moscouites and of Tiras the Thracians Lanquet sléepe in his Tent tooke a garment and bare it betwene him and Sem on their shoulders and comming toward their father ashamed to looke on his nakednesse tourned their faces backwarde and so couered their fathers priuiâ—ies For the which déede Noe hauing knowledge thereof blessed them saying to Iapheth on this wise God shall enlarge Iapheth and he shall dwell in the Tentes of Sem and Canaan shall be their seruant ¶ Iapheth perswading or entycing Iairus was * Mark. 5. c. d one of the Rulers of the Synagoge among the Iewes whose daughter of the age of twelue yeares lay sicke and at the poynt of death And hearing of the fame of Iesus went and fell downe at his féete beséeching him that he would come home to his house lay his hande vpon his daughter that by the touching therof she might be safe and lyue And while there was an occasion giuen whereby to reforme the vnperfect fayth of the Ruler and that by the ensample of a woman diseased with an issue of bloude .xij. yeares there came certaine * Luk. 8. f. g. messengers from the Rulers house which sayde vnto him that his daughter was deade wherefore it shoulde not néede to trouble the Maister anye further Then Iesus perceyuing the Ruler to be as a man in dispayre sayde vnto him Be not afrayde for although thy daughter be deade in déede onely beléeue and thy daughter shall liue And so Iesus went home to the Rulers house and raised vp his daughter from death to life ¶ Iairus Lightning or being lightned Gen. 5. d. Iared was the sonne of Mahalaleel who liued an hundred sixtie and two yeares and then begat Henoch and liued after that eyght hundred yeares and begat sonnes and daughters And when he had liued in all nine hundred sixtie and two yeares he dyed ¶ Iared Commaunding or descending 2. Mac. b. 4. cap. Iason was a wicked man and so desirous of honor that he laboured his owne brother Onias out of the hye Priestes office promising Antiochus the King to gyue him for the same thrée hundred and thrée score talentes of siluer and of another rent foure score And also if the King woulde licence him to set vp a place for exercise a place for the youth and to name them of Ierusalem Antiochians he promised an hundred and fiftie Talents And when these things was graunted to Iason and that he had got the superioritie he beganne immediately to drawe his kinsmen to the customes of the heathen abolishing the lawes and priuiledges of the Iewes he brought in newe statutes contrary to the lawe of god So that thorowe the exceeding wickednesse of this vngodly man Iason the people had a great desire to follow the maner of the Gentyles The Priestes also had no lust in seruing the Lorde but in casting the stone and such wanton sportes Nowe after thrée yeres when Iason shoulde paye the King his money which he had promised for his brothers office he sent it by one whome he most trusted called Menclaus who gate the office from Iason as appeareth more plainly in his storie Then Iason being thus deceyued by Menelaus was fayne to flye into the lande of the Ammonites remayning there till he might spye a time to be reuenged And when hée hearde the rumor that went abrode of Antiochus death he gat him a bonde of men to the number of a thousande or mo and came sodenlye vppon the Citie killing and slaying his owne Citizens without mercie regarding neyther kinne nor friende But neuerthelesse when he coulde not spéede of his purpose he fledde into the lande of the Ammonites againe Where in the ende it came to this poynt that he was accused to Areta King of the Arabians and so abhorred of all men and he was pursued from Citie to Citie and driuen into Egypt And going from thence to the Lacedemonians thinking by
Christ or no. And being asked the question denied playnly that he was not Christ nor Helias neyther that Prophet whome they dreamed so much vppon but onely the voyce of a cryer in the wildernesse to make streight the waye of the Lorde For I doe Baptise sayth Iohn in water onely but there is one nowe come among you who although he came after mée was before mée whose shooe latchet I am not woorthye to vnbuckle and he it is that shall Baptise you with the holye Ghost Iohn was a constant man and liued aunsterely His garment was course cloth made of Camels hair His meate was locustes and wilde hony He was a Prophet and as Christ reporteth more than a Prophet For Iohn prophecied 7. d. c. Christ to be come pointing him with his finger vnto the people saying Beholde the Lambe of God which taketh awaye the sinnes of the worlde where as all the other Prophets dyd but prophecie of his comming long before he came Finally Iohn vsing his libertie in Math. 14. a. rebuking vice without any acception of persons reprooued King Herode for kéeping his brother Philips wyfe for the which he was cast into prison and soone after lost his heade Reade the story of Herode the Tetrarch and of Herodias Math. 4. d. Iohn the Euangelist was the sonne of Zebede and brother to Iames and called from his fisher boate to be an Apostle of Christ and was of all other most entierly Iohn 13. c. beloued of Iesus who commended his mother vnto 19. c. 21. f. him at the houre of his death ¶ He wrote his Gospel agaynst Cerinthus and other Heretikes and chieflye agaynst the Ebionites which dyd affirme that Christe was not before Mary whereby he was constrayned to set foorth the diuine birth of Christ In the tyme of the Emperor Domitian he was exiled into an Isle called Pathmos where he wrote the Reuelation and after the death of Domitian in the time of Pertinax he returned to Ephesus remayning there till the time of Traianus and dyd rayse vp set in order many Churches in Asia and died thrée score yeares after the death of Christ and was buried at Ephesus S IOANNIS EVANGELISTA IN PATMOS APOCALYPSIS cap. 18. 14. ET VIDI ET ECCE AGNVS STABAT SVPRA MONTEM SION Act. 12. d. Iohn Marke When Paule and Barnabas had béene at Ierusalem to destribute the Almes sent by the Antiochians in their retourne they brought this man Iohn surnamed Marke with them to Antioche And when the holy Ghost had seperated Paule Barnabas from the other Disciples to the intent that they shoulde go and spreade abroade the Gospel among the Gentiles and those that were farre of they tooke this Iohn Marke with them to be their Minister companion who bare them company from Antioche vntill they came to Pamphilia Act. 13. b. c. and farther woulde he not go but left them there and returned to Ierusalem agayne notwithstanding the Apostles went foorth and fulfilled their office And when it came in their minds to go visite these places agayne wherein they had sowed the worde of God Barnabas gaue counsell to take Iohn with them which had béene their minister before to whose minde Paule woulde not consent forasmuch as Iohn of his owne accorde had forsaken them at Pamphilia before they had finished theyr worke And so reasoning and disputing about this matter the contencion was so sharpe betwéene these two holy men that the one forsooke the others companie And so Barnabas taking Iohn Marke with him sayled into Cypres 2. Reg. 13. a. Ionadab was the sonne of Simeah Dauids brother and a worldly wise man He loued Ammon his vnkle Dauids sonne aboue the reast of all his brethren Of the counsell he gaue to Ammon concerning his Sister Thamar Reade the story of Ammon ¶ Ionadab Voluntarie or Willing Ionas 1. cap. Ionas the sonne of Amithay was an holy Prophet commaunded of God to go to Niniue that great Citie 4. Reg. 14. d. to tel the people of their wickednesse who * The mother of this prophet was the poore wydowe of Sarepta whose Meale and Oyle Elias encreased restored hir sonne from death to life agayue notwithstanding perswaded himselfe by his owne reason that he shoulde nothing profite there séeing he had so long Prophecied among his owne Countrie men the Iewes and done no good at all Wherefore he minding to flye to Tharsus got him to Ioppa where he found a ship ready payed his fare and went with them And being on the sea a tempest rose so vehemently that the Mariners were sore afrayde crying euery man vnto his God and to lighten the shippe they cast all the wares into the Sea which nothing auayled Then went the maister of the ship downe vnder the hatches and finding Ionas fast a sléepe awoke him saying O thou sléeper what meanest thou arise and call vpon thy God that we perishe not And when no remedy coulde be had they agréed to cast lottes that thereby they might knowe for whose cause they were troubled and so dooing the lot fell on Ionas They séeing that sayde Tell vs for whose cause we are thus troubled And what thine occupasion is And what thou art And whence thou commest whither thou goest And what Country man thou art of what nation I am sayde Ionas an Hebrue borne and feare the Lord God of Heauen which made both the Sea and drye land and am fled from his presence And when they heard that they were more afrayde than before sayde what shall we doe vnto thée that the Sea may cease from troubling of vs Take me quoth Ionas and cast me into the Sea and ye shall haue rest for I wote it is for my sake that this euill is come vpon you Neuerthelesse the men being loth to committe such a déede assayed with rowyng to bring the ship to lande And when they sawe the Sea so troublous against them that it woulde not be they cryed vnto the Lorde and sayde O Lord let vs not perishe for this mans death neyther lay thou innocent bloude vnto our charge For thou O Lorde hast done euen as thy pleasure was And so they tooke Ionas and cast him into the Sea which incontinent was calme and still And a certayne great fishe prepared of the Lord receyued Ionas and swallowed him vp into his body where he laye in prayer thrée dayes and thrée nights And being then cast out agayne on drye lande The Lorde commaunded him eftsoones to go to Niniue and doe as he had charged him And when he came to the citie was entered a dayes iourney in the same he cryed out saying There are yet fourtie daies and then shall Niniue be ouerthrowne But when his Prophecie came to none effect by reason of the peoples great repentaunce he was sore displeased and in his prayer sayde O Lorde was not this my saying I praye thée when I was yet in my
to Daniel which is in the Lyons denne O Lorde quoth he I neuer saw Babilon and as for the denne I knowe it not With that the Angel caught vp the Prophet by the toppe of hys head and bare him to Babilon and set him vpon the denne Then Abacuck cryed to Daniel and sayde O Daniel thou seruant of the Lord take here the breakefast that God hath sent thée Daniel hearing the voyce of Abacuck reioyced greatly and sayde O Lorde hast thou thought vpon mée Well thou neuer faylest them that loue thée And so he rose vp and did eate of such things as the Prophet had brought hym And immediatelye after that Daniel had eaten the Angell set Abacuck in his place againe Abdy the Prophet prophecyed destruction to the Idumeans which came of Esau and were vtter enimies to the Israelites which came of Iacob as at the siege of Ierusalem it did most plainely appeare where as they ioyned wyth Nabuchodonosor against their brethren whom they ought rather to haue holpen and defended against the heathen Abedmelech was a Morian borne and Chamberlane wyth Zedekia King of Iuda This man had so great a confidence in God and loue to his Prophets that when he saw Ieremie so euill intreated he went to the king and besought his grace that Ieremie the Prophet might be taken out of the filthy dungeon wherinto he was cast least he there should perishe and dye for hunger And so obtayning the Kinges good will he tooke his men and went to the prison where Ieremie lay threwe downe vnto him olde ragges clowtes which he had prouided bidding him to put them vnder his arme holes to kéepe the cordes from hurting and fretting his armes in pulling vp Nowe for this his kindenesse shewed on Ieremie and trust that he had in the Lorde he was deliuered from captiuitie and saued from the handes of Nabuchodonosor at the destruction of Ierusalem when other perished Abel was the sonne of Adam borne of hys Mother Eue next after Cain Hée was a kéeper of Shéepe and wholy dedicated to vertue and godlynesse In all hys oblations he euer gaue of the best things he had Which of the Lorde was greatly accepted And therfore Cain perceyuing his brothers offerings to be regarded and hys reiected eâ—â—yed him to death And at the last by a subtyle trayne slue hym Abia the sonne of Roboam began his reigne ouer Iuda in the xviij yeare of Ieroboam King of Israel Hys mothers name was Maacha the daughter of Abisalom He walked not in the steppes of Dauid but followed the wayes of hys father before him Yet notwythstanding for Dauids sake God gaue him a light that is to saye a sonne to reigne ouer Iuda Hée ouercame Ieroboam in battell wyth an Armie of fower hundred thousande notwithstanding the other had twise so many chosen and picked men Of the which Abia fiue fiue hundred thousande and weakened the power of Ieroboam so sore that he was neuer able to recouer hys strength againe so long as Abia reigned This King had .xiiij. Wyues by whome he had xxij Sonnes and xvj Daughters Hée reigned but thrée yeares and was buryed in the Citie of Dauid Abia the sonne of Ieroboam being sick on a time hys father called the Quéene his wyfe vnto him and bade hyr disguise hir selfe the in no wyse she might be knowne what woman shée was And so go thy way quoth hée to Sylo and there shalt thou finde the Prophet of God called Ahia which tolde me long before Salomon dyed that I should be King of Israel Make spéede and take a present wyth thée and learne of him what shall become of the Childe The Quéene did then as shée was commaunded but all was in vaine For God had reuealed the matter vnto the Prophet before the woman came In so much that as soone as the blinde olde man hearde the noyse of hir comming and entring in at the dore he sayde Come in thou wife of Ieroboam why hast thou disguised and fayned thy selfe to be another woman Thou art come to receyue some comfort for thy sonne which lyeth sicke but I am commaunded to tell thée heauye and sorowfull things It repenteth the Lorde that he hath exalted Ieroboam and rented the kingdome from the house of Dauid and giuen it to him forsomuch as he hath forsaken the Lorde and not folowed him in hys heart as Dauid did but hath made him goddes of hys owne therefore the Lorde hath determined to bring such a plague vpon the house and posterity of Ieroboam that hée wyll not leaue one alyue to make water against the walle Wherefore now get thée home and as soone as thy foote shall enter into the Citie the child shall dye and all Israel shall lament him and bring him to hys Sepulchre And so shall none of the house of Ieroboam thy husbande enioy the honour of his buryall but only thys childe bicause the Lorde sawe in him some goodnesse towarde And so when the Prophet had all sayde the wyfe of Ieroboam rose vp returned home to hir house and founde hir sonne deade as the Prophet had foretolde Abia the Daughter of Zacharia was wyfe to Ahaz King of Iuda and Mother to Hezekia Which name signifieth thus Abiathar the sonne of Achimelech priest of Nob seyng the great crueltie of Saul in putting hys Father to death for refreshing of Dauid escaped hys handes and fledde to the forest of Hareth where Dauid at that tyme laye declaring to him the great murder that Saul had done to Achimelech hys father and to all the Priestes of the Lorde for his sake Then being comforted of Dauid he abode wyth him and was his Priest and Counsayler so long as he reigned But in the ende of Dauids reigne he consented wyth Adoniah who had exalted himselfe to stablishe him in the kingdome after the death of Dauid But Salomon beyng proclaymed and the other deposed as soone as he was possessed depryued Abiathar and placed Sadock in hys rowme And so was the worde of the Lorde fulfilled which he had spoken before concerning the house of Eli for Abiathar was the last of that lyne Abigail the wyfe of Naball y Carmelite was a woman not onely bewtifull but of a singular wysedome with all For when hir husbandes denyall to Dauids men for sustenaunce in their maisters necessitie was tolde hir she then considering the great displeasure that might arise of the occasion offered hasted to lode hir Asses wyth sundrye kinde of victuals sending them forth before hir and folowing after wyth spéede And as shée was goyng the prouidence of God was so that she mette Dauid by the way vpon the side of an hyll comming to Carmell determined vtterly to haue destroyed hir husbande and all that he had by the dawning of the daye folowyng Then she perceyuing the furie of Dauid lighted downe of hir Asse falling flatte on the
ground before him and so began hir peticion which was so pithilye framed and done that in the ende she pacifyed hys wrath and stayed his handes from shedding of bloud that daye for the which she was highly commended and praysed of Dauid who gently receyuing hir present did cléerely remyt the churlishe behauiour of Naball hir husbande for hir sake Which being graunted she tooke hir leaue and returned againe But when shée came home and founde Naball hir husbande so farre ouer charged with wyne that his wittes were gone she thought it conuenient to folowe the wyse mans counsell not to rebuke him in his wyne but to let the matter rest tyll the drinke were all out of his brayne and his memorie freshe And so on the next morowe shée declared to Naball the great and perilous daunger he was in for hys vnkindenesse shewed to Dauid which when he hearde did smyte him so sore to the heart that he neuer enioyed but dyed wythin tenne dayes after And then in processe thys woman Abigail became Dauids wyfe and bare hym a sonne called Chileab which in the first booke of Chronicles chapter iij is called Daniel There was another woman called Abigail which was Sister to Dauid and wyfe to Iether an Ismaelite vnto whome shée bare a sonne called Amasa Abimelech King of the Philistines was a manne which had the feare of God before his eyes as it may appeare in the storie of Abraham by his godly entertaynement of his wyfe whome he tooke to be his very sister and not hys wyfe as they had both confessed vnto hym And hauyng a mynde to the woman he tooke hir from Abraham intending to haue coupled wyth hir in mariage and not for no sinfull desire But when by the voyce of God he knewe she was Abrahams wyfe in déede and he a Prophet and his house sore plagued for hir sake he was right sorye for that he had done and also displeased with Abraham for so dissemblyng wyth hym in so weyghtie a cause considering the dishonestie that myght haue happened vnto his wyfe by some of hys men and the perill of Gods indignation on hym and on hys kingdome for the same yet notwithstanding when he knewe the cause of Abrahams dissembling he possest hym wyth cattell seruants and money and deliuered Sara his wyfe vnto hym agayne gyuing him also frée libertie to dwell and inhabite where he woulde wythin the precinct of hys dominion Then Abraham prayed vnto God for Abimelech at whose peticion the Lorde remooued his plague from the house of Abimelech so that the women conceyued and brought forth children as before they had done The lyke story is of Isaac Chapter xxvj Abimelech the sonne of Ierobaal otherwyse Gedeon was a wicked Tyrant and a prowde ambicious couetous man For when hys father was deade hée to be king of Israel consulted with all his mothers kyndred to perswade the people that it was better to haue one man to reigne ouer them than all y sonnes of Ierobaal which were lxx.persons in number And also to consider that he was of their fleshe and bloude as well as the other were which matter beyng mooued to the people they all consented to cleaue to Abimelech and to make hym their kyng and gouernour And that he shoulde be the better assured of their good wylles and obedient hearts they gaue vnto him a great summe of money wyth the whych he hyred a sort of light brayned felowes And first of all went to his fathers house and slewe all his brethren saue Iothan the yongest who escaped his bloudie handes and fled But or he had reigned a two or thrée yeares the fire of hatred began so to kindle betwéene him the Sichemites with the house of Mello who had preferde him before to the kingdome that at length it burst out into so great a flame that it coulde not be quenched till chaunce of warre made an ende of the Tyrant for in the ende after diuers victories he forced the Sichemites to take the strong tower of Thebes for their refuge and coueting nye to the same to haue set it on fire a certayne woman threwe downe a péece of a Mylstone vppon his heade and brake his Skull to the brayne Who then féeling himselfe sore wounded called his seruant and bade him drawe out hys sworde and ryd him out of his lyfe that it shoulde not hereafter be reported that a woman had killed him and so his seruant slew him Abinadab was a man of Gibea out of whose house Dauid tooke the Arke of God and had it from thence to the house of Obed. Isai the Father of Dauid had also a sonne called Abinadab and King Saul another of the same name which was slayne wyth him in battell Abisag was a goodly fayre yonge Damosell brought vp in the Citie of Sunem And for hir beautie and maners chosen to kéepe norishe King Dauid in his extreme age After whose death being still a pure Mayde She might not be suffered to marry with Adomah the Kynges brother Abisai was Dauids sisters sonne and Brother to Ioab His mothers name was Zarniah He consented not with Absalon but stacke to Dauid hys Unkle in all hys troubles He was so grieued with the spytefull rebukes and raylings of Semei which he made against his Unkle Dauid in his aduersitie that if Dauid had not stayed him he woulde haue made Semei shorter by the heade than he was By his great strength and hardinesse he rescued Dauid out of the handes of a monstrous Gyant the yron of whose speare weyed thrée hundred Sicles and slewe the Giant with thrée hundred Philistines mo for the which he is counted as chiefe among the thrée Worthyes belonging to Dauid CREDIDIT ABRAHAM DEO ET REPVTA TVM EST ILLI AD IVSTITIAM ROM IIII. Non extendas manum tuam super puerum neque facias illi quicquam nune cognovi quod timeas Dominum non pepercisti vnigenito filio tuo propter me Geneâ—â—â—â— Joan. Strada inuen Phls Gall. excud him about the secrete affayres of the king and sodeinlyâ— smote him with his dagger and slewe him Abraham was the sonne of Terah borne in Vr a Towne in Chaldey A man so endued with fayth vertue that when he saw the true religion and honouring of God to cease in the lande of Chalda he departed from thence with Terah his father Sara his wife and Lâ—t his brothers sonne to go into the lande of Canaan And being come to Haran which is a towne in Mesopotamia he remained there vntill the death of his father Terah Then God commaunded Abraham saying Get thée out of thy countrey and from thy kindred and from thy fathers house vnto the lande which I will shewe thée and I wyll make of thée a great nation and will blesse thée and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing and I
transgressed his commaundement and tolde him the waye and meanes how he should search it out which thing being done he founde that Acan had taken of the spoyle at Iericho a Babilonish garment two hundred sicles of siluer and a wedge of golde which being tried and brought forth before the whole congregation Iosua tooke Acan his sonnes and daughters cattell goodes and all that he had and caryed them out to the valley of Acor where they were stoned to death and consumed with fire Achab the sonne of Amrie began his reigne ouer Israel in the xxxviij yeare of the reygne of Asa king of Iuda He tooke Iezabel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sydonites to wyfe by whose meanes he fell into all wicked and straunge Idolatrie and cruell persecution for the which God plagued him so that in thrée yeares space neither dewe nor rayne fell downe from aboue to moysture the earth whereof ensued so great a Murrayne of men and beastes that innumerable dyed thereof and all the fault and cause of this plague he layde on Elia the Prophete and sought by all meanes howe to destroye him This king was so wicked that Scripture sayeth he had euen solde himselfe to worke wickednesse and yet notwithstanding God gaue him a marueylous victorie of Benhadad king of Siria who had in his companie .xxxij. kings with whome he fought twyse and bette him and at the thirde time brought him into so miserable a case that he was fayne to humble himself to Achab with a rope about his necke who neuerthelesse had pitie on that wicked King and made a bonde with him and let him go Nowe for this mercie which Achab had shewed to Benhadad whome the Lorde had cursed and put into Achabs handes to be slayne God was angry with Achab and promised his vtter destruction for the same This gréedy Cormorant was not content with his kingdome and spoyle of his victories which God had giuen him but caused Naboth that innocent man to be murdered onely to haue his vineyarde which laye so nye his nose whose bloud did craue such vengeance of God that worde was brought him by the Prophet Elia that in the same place where dogges had licked the bloude of Naboth shoulde dogges lycke his also and that he woulde doe vnto Achab and his posteritie euen as he had done to the house of Ieroboam and Baasa which terrible threatnings of God so feared Achab that he repented and humbled himselfe in sackecloth for the which the Lorde deferred hys plague and woulde not performe it in Achabs dayes but in the tyme of his sonnes reygne Finallye it came in the mynde of Achab to go into Siria to recouer the Citie of Ramoth which he claymed by inheritance And trusting more to the counsell of foure hundred false Prophetes than he did to Micheas the true Prophet of God he tooke his iourney towardes Ramoth and being in battell agaynst his enimies the Sirians he was shot in wyth an arrowe standing in his Charet of the which stroke he dyed And then when his Charet was had to the poole of Samaria to be washed the dogges lycked vp the bloude that ran thorow the Charet and so was the worde of the Lorde fulfilled which he had spoken before concerning the same He reigned .xxij. yeares Achaicus was a faythfull Christian brother whome Saint Paule sent wyth Stephana and Fortunatus from Philippos to the Corinthians with his Epistle Achior was Captaine gouernour of all the Ammonites vnder Holofernes and had the spirite of Prophecie so plentifull in him that when Holofernes demaunded what maner of people the Iewes were hée stepped forth before him and sayde If it please thée O Prince I will tell thée of a truth what they be They are a people which came of the generation of the Chaldeys and bicause they woulde not serue their goddes nor yet followe their customes they went and dwelt first in Mesopotamia worshipping one God that made heauen and earth at whose commaūdement they went from thence and dwelt in the land of Chanaan where in processe fell so great a dearth that then from Chanaan they went downe to Egypt and dwelt among the Egiptians foure hundreth yeares In the which space they grewe to a mightie number and were sore oppressed of the king of that lande but assoone as they cryed to their God for helpe he sent downe such plagues vpon the king and all his lande that he was fayne to suffer them to departe yet when they were gone and the plague ceased he then pursued to haue brought them backe agayne into bondage But God perceyuing his people to be in a strayte opened the Sea before them and brought them thorowe on drye ground and closed the sea vpon their enimies and so drowned Pharao with all his hoste And nowe being passed the redde Sea they came to the wildernesse of Mount Sinay where the waters being bitter he made them swéete and fedde them forty yeares with meate from heauen They had such power of their God that they cast out before them the Chananites the Pherisites the Iebusites and the Hethites with many great Nations mo For so long as they stoode in awe of their God and did not offende him so long was no Nation yet euer able to molest or hurt them But if anye time they declyned from his wyll and ordinance then were they quickly destroyed in battell and brought to captiuitie and bondage Wherefore O Prince let inquisition now be made whether they haue offended their God or no and if they haue then let vs goe agaynst them for God shall deliuer them into thy hande But if they haue not displeased their God he will so defende them that we shall not surely be able to stande before them but become a reproche vnto all the worlde Now was Holofernes so madde with Achior that he commanded his men to carie him to the Iewes that he myght perishe with them in their destruction And as they went towarde Bethulia with Achior and saw they might not come nye the Citie without great perill of their lyues They went to a trée and bound him fast to the same and so leauing him went their wayes Then came the Iewes to Achior and loosed his bandes had him into the Citie and set hym before the Senators who demaunded the cause wherefore the Assirians had so cruelly vsed him to whome he declared the matter in order as he had spoke it before to the prince Holofernes which being done the whole assemble gaue prayses and thankes to God which had giuen to Achior being an heathen man such boldnesse of spirite to sette forth his power and glory And from that time forth they comforted Achior and had hym in great estimation who fell from his heathenishe beliefe and put all his trust in the liuing God and became a Iewe and was circumcised and numbred among the people of Israel he and
not killed hym with the rest the Lorde was grieuously displeased with Saul and woulde not suffer Agag so to escape but sent Samuel to execute his iudgement vpon him who calling for Agag he came out vnto him very pleasantly fearing nothing lesse but that all bitternesse of death had bene past but contrary to his expectation Samuel sayde vnto hym as thy sworde hath made women chyldelesse so shall thy mother be chyldelesse among other women and with that he fell vpon Agag and hewed hym in péeces before the Lorde in Gilgal Agabus was a certaine Prophete which came from Ierusalem to Antioch where he prophecyed of a great dearth that shoulde be thoroweout all the worlde which came to passe as thys Prophete had sayde in the Emperour Claudius dayes Also whyle Paule laye at Cesarea in the house of Philip the Euaungelist purposing to kéepe his iourney to Ierusalem this Prophete chauncing to come thither tooke Paules girdle and therwithall bounde his owne hande and féete saying Thus sayeth the holy ghost so shall the Iewes at Ierusalem bynde the man that oweth this gyrdle and shall deliuer hym into the handes of the Gentyles Agar was handemayde to Sara Abrahams wyfe which Sara being long barren and chyldelesse gaue Agar hir Mayde vnto Abraham to be his wyfe who being conceyued and féeling hir selfe with chylde began to despise and set lyght by Sara hir Mistres for the which Sara complayned to Abraham hir husbande who giuing hir power to correct the Mayde at hir pleasure she began to deale so roughlye with Agar that in no wyse she woulde abyde it but ranne away into the wildernesse and sitting there besyde a fountayne of water not knowing whither to go an Angell appeared vnto hir and sayd Agar from whence commest thou and whither intendest thou to go I flie sayde Agar from Sara my mystresse which fareth so fowle wyth me that I am euen weary of my life Well sayde the Aungell returne to thy dame againe and submit thy selfe vnder hir handes for the Lorde will so encrease thy séede that it shall not be numbred for multitude Thou art with child and shalt beare a sonne whose name shall be Ismael Then Agar giuing God thankes for his consolation in trouble returned home againe to Sara hir mystres submitting hir selfe vnto hir and in processe of time brought forth hir sonne Ismael as the Aungell had sayde ▪ But when it pleased God to visit Sara that she conceyued and brought forth Isaac a new contention arose betwéene Sara and Agar for their children for Sara perceyuing Ismael to be a mocker and a despiser of Isaac woulde not suffer Ismael to companie with hir sonne Isaac but made hir complaynt to Abraham causing him to put both Agar and hir sonne away which thing although it grieued Abraham so to doe yet being comforted of God that he woulde multiplie Ismael bicause he was of his séede he obeyed the voyce of Sara his wife and with prouision of victuals sent Agar awaye with hir sonne to shifte for hir selfe Then Agar being departed from Abraham gat hir into the forrest of Béerseba where she wandred so long vppe and downe till all hir prouision of meate was spent and gone And when she sawe no remedie but that both she and hir childe must néedes perish for lacke of sustenance she layde downe the childe behinde a bushe and went hir selfe away bicause she woulde not sée it dye and as she sate a farre off mourning and wéeping for hir sonne she was comforted againe by the Angell of God who had so prouided for hir and hir sonne that they were both relieued and liued togithers a long time after to hir great ioy and comfort Aggeus was one of the twelue Prophetes which prophecied in the time of Zorobabel Kinge of the Iewes and rebuked them for that they were slacke in the worke of the Lorde Agrippa was a certayne king who as Paule reporteth had good knowledge in the Lawe and Prophets but vnderstoode not the true applying of the same Which King on a tyme came to Cesarea to sée Festus and to welcome hym into the Countrie who was then but newly entred into his office And being there a good whyle with Festus and hearing of him what a doe there was about Paule whome the Iewes had accused vnto him was much desirous to sée the man and to heare him speake Where vpon the next day following Paule was brought into the common Hall before Agrippa and other Magistrates of the Citie there assembled to heare his cause And when Festus had declared for what purpose he had brought forth Paule that after examination had he might haue somewhat of certaintie to write to Cesar to whome Paule had appealed Agrippa permitted the prisoner to speake and to say what he coulde for himselfe Who then so approoued his innocencie by rehearsing his conuersation before the audience that Agrippa interrupting his tale confessed and sayde vnto Paule Thou hast almost perswaded me to become a Christian And when the prisoner had ended his matter the king arose and all the Courte among whome was much secrete talke of Paule and for a finall sentence Agrippa sayde vnto Festus I sée no worthye cause of death or of bandes in this man but that he might haue bene loosed if he had not appealed to Cesar Ahaz the sonne of Iotham King of Iuda at the age of twentie yeares began his reygne in the xvj yeare of Pekah King of Israel and did not walke in the wayes of his godly Father but gaue himselfe to all kynde of ydolatrie and abhominations of the heathen consecrating his chyldren in fier and offering incense on euerye hill and Mountaine For the which his wickednesse the Lorde forsooke him and deliuered him into the handes and power of Razin king of Siria and Pekah king of Israel which two Kings on the one side with the Edomites and Philistines inuading his lande and spoyling his Cities and townes on the other side brought him very lowe And yet in all his aduersitie would he not once lyft vp his heart to call vpon God for his ayde and helpe but contrarye to the Prophetes admonition sought for the succour of man spoyling the Temple of God and sending the treasure thereof to Thiglath Pileser king of Assiria to come and deliuer him out of trouble by whose comming Ahaz was nothing the more strengthned but rather troubled and hindered Then Ahas measuring Gods fauour by the prosperitie of hys enimies not considering howe God oftentymes doth punishe those whom be loueth and giueth to his enimies good successe for a tyme turned his heart full and whole to the Sirians Gods who as he thought had plagued hym And to thintent he might serue them and worship them in al things according as the Heathen did to haue their helpe also he tooke the patterne of an aultar at Damascus the which he sent to Vria his Priest to
as he had in store that he and his men might be refreshed and go about the Kinges affaires Then Ahimelech beléeuing that all had bene well betwene the King and Dauid tooke him of the halowed breade bicause he saw his necessitie great and had no common breade vnder his hande Then Dauid desired Ahimelech to lende him eyther speare or sworde for I brought quoth he neyther weapon nor harnesse the Kinges businesse required such haste and by and by he fet out the sworde of Goliah and gaue it to him Nowe for this great kindenesse which Ahimelech had shewed to Dauid Doeg a seruant of King Saules accused him to his Lorde of Treason And being brought before the King with all the Priestes of the Lorde it was obiected agaynst him howe he had conspired with Dauid the Kinges enimie and asked counsell of God for him and ayded him both with vittayle and weapon To the which Ahimelech aunswered and sayde Oh King who is so faythfull among all thy seruantes as Dauid is or had in more honor in all thy house is he not the Kings sonne in lawe and doth whatsoeuer thou commaundest him haue I not at other tymes as well as nowe asked counsell of God for him Let not my Lorde the King impute anye such wickednesse in me or in my fathers house for truely thy seruaunt knewe nothing of all this that thou layest to my charge eyther lesse or more Well quoth the King thou shalt surely die And so was this innocent man put to death with lxxxiiij Priestes mo and the Citie of Nob destroyed Ahijah was a Prophete borne in Silo and chauncing to méete with Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat without the Citie of Ierusalem in the playne fieldes hauing a new cloake vpon his backe he caught the cloake from him and rent it in twelue péeces deliuering ten péeces thereof to Ieroboam saying Thus will the Lorde rent the kingdome out of the handes of Salomon bicause he hath forsaken the Lorde and serued straunge Gods and gyue ten Tribes vnto thée Therefore take héede when thou arte King that thou walke in the wayes of the Lorde thy God for so long as thou kéepest his statutes and holy commaundements so long will the Lorde prosper thée in the kingdome Reade more of this Prophete in the storie of Abia the sonne of Ieroboam The father of king Baasa was called Ahijah of the house of Isachar Aholah and Aholibah were twoo Sisters vnder whose names is set forth the fornication that is to saye the Idolatrye of Samaria and Ierusalem Aholibama was the daughter of Ana and wife to Esau who brought him forth children which became great men in the worlde Aioth the sonne of Gera was the seconde Iudge of the Hebrues a man of great strength and valiant of courage and had equall strength and aptnesse in both hys handes He slewe Eglon king of the Moabites on thys wise when Eglon had long warred on the Iewes and taken from them diuers Cities and kept them in much miserie this Aioth came to him to Iericho bringyng vnto him certaine presentes which lyked him well and desired to speake wyth him priuily which was graunted and all other being commaunded to auoyde Aioth stroke Eglom to the heart twise The last tyme with such puissaunce that the knyfe with the hyltes remayned in the wounde and so leauing him deade departed without suspicion and came vnto his people declaring what he had done who being glad armed them and fell vppon the Moabites and slewe of them ten thousande and braue all the residue out of their countrie And so the Iewes being deliuered by the wisedome and vertue of Aioth after made hym their Iudge and Prince Who gouerned them .lxxx. yeares in peace and died a very olde man in much honor Alexander the sonne of Philip King of Macedonia slewe Darius king of the Persians and Medes and conquered the moste part of all the worlde in lesse than twelue yeares space whereof he became so prowde that God was displeased with him And being visited with sickenesse so sore that he must néedes die he called all his Lordes and Princes before him and departed his kingdome among them So that they after his death were crowned and reygned as Kings euery one seuerally in his owne dominion as was to them appointed He reigned .xij. yeares Alexander the sonne of Noble Antiochus tooke the Citie of Ptolomais and after that mooued warre against Demetrius who to preuent Alexander sent Ambassadours to Ionathas gouernour of the Iewes to haue his friendshippe promising him as many fayre and large offers as he coulde deuise But forasmuch as Ionathas had experience of his deceytfull dealings and howe cruell an enimie he had alwayes bene vnto the Iewes nation he refused the offer of Demetrius and ioyned in league with Alexander knowing him to be a faythfull Prince and euer his friende And so Alexander hauing the Iewes ayde stroke battayle with Demetrius in the which conflict Alexander slewe Demetrius and ouercame all his hoste Nowe when Alexander had conquered the lande and was set in the Trone of his progenitours a mariage was concluded betwéene him and Cleopatra the daughter of Ptolomie King of Egypt which was finished at the Citie of Ptolomias at the which triumph Alexander made Ionathas a Duke and partener of his dominion and after that for his worthinesse gaue him the Citie of Accaron Alexander nowe lying at Antioch and hearing howe the Cilicians had rebelled against him marched towarde them with a great power to suppresse the rebellion And being there occupied with his enimies Ptolomie in the meane season defeated him of his kingdome and toke his daughter Cleopatra gaue hir to Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius in mariage Alexander hearing of this returned home with all his host but Ptolomy being to strōg for him chased Alexander out of his Realme who for succor fled into Araby where the king of that land against al law of arms smote of his heade and sent it to Ptolomie for a present Alexander a Iewe borne and a ruler at Ephesus what time as Demetrius the Siluersmith mooued sedition in the Citie against Paul for the goddesse Diana was in the rage drawne out of the Common Hall and going forwarde beckonned with his hande to haue spoken but till the Towne Clarke had ceased the noyse which lasted two houres he coulde not be hearde And then to pacifie the people more by worldly wisedome than for any respect he had to Religion he sayde Ye men of Ephesus what man is he that knoweth not howe that the Citie of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddesse Diana and of the Image which came from Iupiter Seing then that no man sayeth hére against ye ought to be content and to doe nothing rashely For yée haue brought hyther these men which are neyther robbers of Churches neyther yet despysers of your goddesse Wherefore if Demetrius
Hesron bare vnto him thrée sonnes Ieser Sobab and Ardon 4. Reg. 11. ca. 2. Par. 22. ca. Athalia was the daughter of Amry and wife to Ioram King of Iuda When Ioram dyed hir sonne Ahaziahu Athalia in the 4. Reg. ca. 8. is called both the daughter of Achab and the daughter of Amrye which sayth Lyra is meÌ„t thus After the death of Amry hir naturall father shee was brought vp with Achab hir brother and so in processe called his daughter or else by immitating hys maners in all kind of Idolatrie succéeded whome she entysed to all wickednesse and after his death she ruled and killed all the reast of the séede of Ioram onely Ioas excepted which was stolne awaye and hyd from hir And when she had ruled the lande most cruelly vj. yeare In the vij yeare Ioas was brought forth by Iehoiada the Priest and proclaymed King She hearing that ranne into the Temple of the Lorde with hir clothes rent crying out treason treason But at the commaundement of Iehoiada the Captaynes and souldiers tooke hir out of the Temple and slue hir ¶ Athalia Time for the Lorde Azaria the sonne * 4 Re. 15. a. b of Amaziahu King of Iuda began his reigne in the xxvij yere of Ieroboam King of Israel was xvj yere old when he was made king And so long as he gaue eare to Zacharias the Prophete and walked vprightly so long did the Lorde prosper him with great victories both of the Philistines and Arabians and made the Ammonites also tributories vnto him He ‡ Azaria is in the same chapter called also Vziah repaired Ierusalem He loued well husbandrye and had great plenty of Cattell At length he became so mightie that in his strength his heart arose to his destruction For in his pryde he went into the Temple of the Lord to burne incense which although he séemed to doe it of a zeale and good intent yet forasmuch as he vsurped the Priests office he was iustlye resisted of Azariahu the Priest and plagued of God who smote him with such a Leprosie that he went out of the Temple a Leper and so remayned all the dayes of his lyfe He reygned .lij. yeares and was buried in a part of the same fielde where his Predecessors lay but not in the same Sepulchres bicause he was a Leper ¶ Azaria Helpe of the Lorde B. BAal the sonne of Reaia was a Prince of the Rubenites and caried away with other his kinred into the lande of Assiria by Thiglath Pilneser King of the Assirians Baanah with his brother Rechab the sonnes of Rimmon were two Captaynes in the hoste of Isboseth King of Israel who when Abner their chiefe Captayne was dead went into the house of Isboseth séeming saith Lyra they had gone to fetch wheate for the King sayth he had great store of wheate which he solde to Merchants a farre of wherefore these two disguysed themselues lyke Merchants that came to buye and so entring into the house they founde where their Lorde and maister lay vpon his bed in the heate of the day fast a sleepe and slue him and tooke his heade and caryed iâ— to Dauid thinking for the same to haue had a great rewarde But for their most shamefull and trayterous acte they were both put to death and their quarters hanged ouer the poole in Hebron Baasa the sonne of Ahia conspired against 〈◊〉 King of Israel and reygned in his steade In the thirde yeare of Asa King of Iuda began Baasa to reygne ouer Israel and walked most wickedlye in all the wayes of Ieroboam whose house and posteritie notwithstanding he vtterly destroyed and left not one aliue for so it was propheried that God woulde stirre him vp one which was this Baasa for that purpose And now for as much as Baasa whome God had exalted euen out of the dust woulde styll mayntaine Ieroboams ydolatrie and cause his people to sinne he sent him worde by the Prophete Iehu that as he had rooted out the whole posteritie of Ieroboam so shoulde his be serued likewise Great warre was betwéene â–ª Baasa and Asa King of Iuda And for to stoppe the passage of Iuda that none shoulde passe out nor in safely Baasa went to builde a strong holde called Rama which he was sayne at length to leaue vnfinished and to lâ—â—se all his â—ost and traueyle to go agaynst Benhadid which had broken couenaunt with him He reygned .xxiiij. yeares and was buried in Thirza which was a place where the King remayned leauing Ela his sonne to succéede him in whose dayes the foresayde Prophecye of the rooting out his posteritie tooke place Bachides was a man of great power in the dominion of Demetrius the sonne of Seleucus And beyng the Kings faythfull friende he sent him with a great host agaynst Iudas Machabeus to reuenge him of the iniurie he had done vnto his people and in the ende slue him After whole death â–ª many of the wicked Iewes turned to Bachides whereof he made some Lordes and rulers of the lande which of enuy vttered the friendes of Iudas brought them into great veration and trouble When Bachides had giuen this ouerthrow to Iudas he sought howe he might kill Ionathas also whom the Iewes had 〈◊〉 in his brothers 〈◊〉 And méeting with Ionathas about the border of Iordan there was a great battell stricken betweene them in the which Bachides lost a thousande of his men After which conflict Bachides by occasion of Alcimus the wicked Priests death departed for that tyme so that Ionathas laye at rest two yeares after tyll a sort of vngodly men conspired against him howe they might bring Bachides vppon hym vnwares which matter being betwéene them and him concluded Bachides returned with a great power but or he came Ionathas had gotten knowledge of the Treason and put certayne of the chiefest Conspirators to death Then when Bachides came and had besieged the Citie of Bethbessen long and sawe he was not able to resist the power of Ionathas he was marueylously displeased with those wicked counsaylers which had caused him to traueyle in vaine and made him ready to depart againe whereof Ionathas hauing knowledge he sent Ambassadors to Bachides to make peace with him to the which he gladly consented and restored to Ionathas all his prisoners which he had taken in the land of Iuda and so returned home and neuer vexed Israel more Balaam the sonne of Beor or Bosor as S. Peter sayth was a couetous Prophet and for lucre sake went to the King of Moab to curse the hoste of Israel which thing God woulde not suffer him to doe but turned hys curse into a blessing Yea he was so farre ouercome with couetousnesse sayth S. Peter that he coulde not sée hys iniquitie when the tame beast speaking in mans voyce rebuked him and forbade his madnesse He caused the Israelites thorowe his counsell to commit
Chilion perfect or all like a Doue Chilion and Mahlon of the hand of Naomie and also haue purchased Ruth the Moabite the late wyfe of Mahlon to be my wyfe to stirre vp the name of the deade vpon his inheritance that his name be not put out among his brethren And all the people witnessed the same praying vnto the Lorde for Ruth to make hir as fruitefull as he did both Rachel Lea and Thamar And so Boos maryed Ruth who in processe conceyued and bare him a Sonne called Obed. ¶ Boos in Power or strength C. CAath was the sonne of Leuy had foure sonnes whereof the eldest was Amram the father of Moses and Aaron He liued 133. yeares Cain was the first sonne that Adam and Eue brought forth betwéene them and of an vnhappy disposition giuen to all vngraciousnesse He was the first tyller of the grounde and woulde alwayes offer the woorst and the vilest of the fruites of the earth vnto god Wherefore the Lorde had no respect to his offering And because God preferred his brother Abels offering before his he was so stirred with malice and enuie agaynst him that he fell vpon him in the fieldes and slue him Wherfore the Lord promised to withdrawe the increase of the grounde from Cain and so being in desperation he wandred about like a vagabonde in euery corner with much feare and treambling least any man shoulde kill him and at last Lamech slue him Caiphas was sonne in lawe to Annas and the hye Bishop in the time of Christes apprehension of whome he prophecied that it was expedient for one man to dye rather than all the people shoulde perishe Which thing he spake not of himselfe but God made him at that time euen as he made Balaam to be an instrument of the holye ghost And Christ being sent from Annas to him bounde to be examined was so caried from him to Pilate that he by the Temporall lawes might iudge hym to death Caleb was the sonne of Iephun otherwyse called Kenes of the Tribe of Iuda and one of those whom Moses sent out to search the lande of Canaan what maner of Countrie it was at the which time of going out he was about the age of .xl. yeres And when he and his companie had vewed the lande and were returned home agayne certaine of the explorators made an euill report to their brethren of that good land saying it was a countrey of strong and fierse people and such a lande as did eate vp the inhabiters thereof and with lyke perswasions made them both astonied and afrayde and to murmur grudge agaynst Moses and Aaron saying they woulde make them a Captayne and go into Egypt agayne Then Caleb and Iosua séeing their brethren so discomfited rent their clothes for sorrow and sayde Oh deare brethren be ye not discouraged at these false surmised tales neyther yet rebell agaynst the Lorde for we haue séene the lande as well as they that haue discouraged you and knowe it to be a better lande than they report a lande that floweth with milke and hony And as for the people therein feare them not for they be but breade for vs their shielde is departed from them and God is with vs therefore plucke vp your hearts and feare not With these and the like comfortable sayinges Caleb and Iosua withdrew the furie of the multitude which were ready to destroye them and also ceased their murmuring which murmuration of the people so gricued the Lorde that he swore to Moses that not one of them all shoulde sée that good lande saue Caleb and Iosua although their children shoulde sée it But first sayde God to Moses they shall wander in the wyldernesse fortie yeares and suffer for their fathers whoredome vntill their fathers carkasses be wasted a yeare for a daye according to the number of dayes in searching the lande which was fortie dayes And bicause Caleb followed the Lorde continually God swore to Moses that Caleb and his séede shoulde inherite that lande which came so to passe for after xlv yeares Caleb then being at the age of .lxxxv. yeres and as lusty as he was when Moses sent him first to search the lande required of Iosua his heritage who appoynted out vnto him the Citie of Hebron with the Countries thereabout out of the which Citie he droue out the thrée sonnes of Enach This Caleb had a yonger brother called Othoniel to whome he gaue his daughter Acsah to wyfe for taking of a certayne Citie called Kariasepher Carpus was a certayne godlye man dwelling at Croada with whome Paule left his Cloake with certaine bookes which he desired Timothie to bring with him when he came to him agayne Cendebius was Captayne Generall of Antiochus hoste And when he had done much harme in the lande of Iewrie and builded vppe Cedron and fortified it wyth men of warre he was at the last by the sonnes of Simon discomfited and put to flight Cereas was brother to Timotheus and Captayne of a strong Castle called Gazar into the which Timotheus being ouercome of Iudas Machabeus was fayne to flie for succor Nowe Cereas and they that were wyth him in the Forte trusted so much to the strength of the place that they fell to rayling and cursing of their enimies without who notwithstanding set so manfully vppon the holde that at last they wanne it and tooke the blasphemers and burnt them quicke slue this Cereas and his brother Timotheus with another famous Captaine called Appollophanes Cetura looke Ketura Chodorlaomor looke Kedorlaomor Cis was the sonne of Abiel of the Tribe of Beniamin and father to King Saule â–ª Whose Asses on a time being strayed abroade he sayde vnto Saule his Sonne Take one of the Laddes with thée and go and séeke out mine Asses that are lost This Cis is called also the sonne of Ner. 1. Par. 8. c. Cis the sonne of Abi Gibeon his mother was called Maacah Cis the sonne of Mahly sonne to Merari His brothers name was Eleazar Whose daughters he being deade the sonnes of this Cis tooke to their Wyues Claudia was a certaine godly brother who being with Paule at Rome sent as other mo did gréetings to Timothie in Paules letter Claudius was an Emperour in whose tyme the fourth yeare of his reygne was a great dearth thorâ—â— out all the worlde whereof Agabus the Prophet prophâ—cied aforehande Cleopatra the daughter of King Ptolomie was maried to Alexander the sonne of noble Antiochus And agayne for displeasure taken from Alexander hir lawfull husbande and giuen to Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius Cleophas was the husbande of Mary sister to Mary the mother of Christ and one of the two Disciples which after the death of Christ went to the towne of Emaus talking and reasoning togithers of all things that had happened to Iesus and as they were
farre excéeded all other in wysedome and learning that Salomon was compared vnto them Darius in taking of Babilon slue King Balthasar and possessed his kingdome In the seconde yeare of his raigne he graunted the same licence vnto the Iewes to builde againe the Citie of Ierusalem and the house of God that King Cyrus had graunted to them in the first yeare of his raigne And for so much as the worke had béene much hindered from the first yeare of Cyrus vnto the seconde yeare of this King Darius he gaue a strayte commaundement that whosoeuer dyd from hencefoorth hinder or let that worke a Beame shoulde be taken from that mans house and he hanged thereon and his house made a dunghill And so the buylding went forwarde with spéede and was perfectly finished in the sixte yeare of his raigne Dathan and Abiram were the sonnes of Eliab and two of the chiefe Captaynes with Chore in the insurrection against Moses on whom God tooke such vengeance that he caused the earth to open and swallow them vp quick Reade the story of Chore. Dauid was the yoongest sonne of Isai and by Gods commaundement annoynted King of Israell Saule yet raigning of the Prophet Samuel Wherefore Saule fearing that Dauid would defeate him of his kingdome vexed hym with continuall persecution during the which tyme Dauid shewed notable examples both of pacience and true obedient seruice to Saule his soueraigne Lorde And first to shew his obedient and faithfull heart to his Prince and loue he bare to his countrey he put himselfe in daunger to fight with that great monster Goliah and slue him of whome the king and all the host of Israell stoode in great feare And after this act also when Saule of enuie that the women in their daunce had giuen to Dauid more prayse than to him threwe his Iauelin at Dauid as he stoode and played on his Harpe before him to haue nayled him fast to the wall Dauid auoyded and armed himselfe with pacience and neuer sought other meanes to reuenge In so much that when Saule by the prouidence of God came into the Caue to ease himselfe in the which Caue Dauid lay hid for feare of Saul he woulde not being prouoked put foorth his hande to hurt his mayster But cut of a péece of the hemme of his coate in token that he might haue killed him And yet after that it sore repented him that he had done so much injury vnto his soueraigne Lorde and maister although he was his most gréeuous enimy and euery houre sought his death Also when he came into the host of Saule and founde the King and his men fast a sléepe he woulde not for his owne priuate cause though Iehu slue two Kinges at Gods commaundement lay his hand vpon the Lords annointed but onely that he shoulde know that Dauid was there might haue béene reuenged tooke his speare and pot of water which stoode at his heade and went hys waye Finally when it pleased God to deliuer him of his enimie in battaile against the Philistines one to get thanke of Dauid brought vnto him Saules crowne and the Bracelet that he wore on hys arme certifying him of the Kings death and that he with his owne handes had killed him whose acte dyd so much abhorre Dauid that he thought the man not woorthy to lyue but put him to death by and by Read more of Dauids pacient suffering and obedient seruice in the story of Michol Ionathas Ahimelech Achis and Absalon his sonne Nowe when Saule was dead Dauid was admitted king and reigned ouer Iuda .vij. yeares after which time expired he reigned both ouer Israel and Iuda .xxxiij. yeares And dyd that which was good in the sight of God and put his trust confidence in the Lord God of Israel so that before nor after him was not his like He cleaued so vnto the Lord that God of him bare witnesse that he had founde a man according to his hearts desire To him God made a promise that Christ shoulde come of his séede for the which cause Christ of the Prophets is called the sonne of Dauid To this holy Prophet God gaue many victories and excellent giftes which are touched in other stories and yet among all his vertues he suffred him to fall into the abhominable vice of adulterie and homicide and most gréeuously punished him for the same who notwithstanding after earnest repentaunce was receyued agayne into the fauour of God and neuer after offended in that sinne more Finally after many conflictes with his enimies he died after he had reigned .xl. yeares leauing Salomon his sonne to succéede him Debora the wyfe of one Lapidoth was a Prophetesse and the fourth Iudge and gouernour of the people of Israel who by the power and pleasure of God and helpe of Barack the Captayne of hir armie deliuered them from the Tyrannie of King Iabyn and of Sisera his Captaine generall putting the king to a great foyle in flying of his Captain Sisera Thorow the which victorie the Israelites were restored to libertie and their enimies the Cananites vtterly confounded She iudged Israel .xl. yeares Demas was Christes Disciple a great while and a faythfull minister to Paule and neuer shranke from him nor his doctrine so long as all things prospered well with Paule But when he saw Paule cast in pryson and in daunger of his life for the Gospels sake He forsooke both him and his doctrine and imbraceing the worlde conueighed himselfe to Thessalonica Such there be that so long as pleasure profite fauour honour glory or riches doe followe the worde of God so long will they fauour the same But when affliction persecution losse of goods riches landes possessions or such like aduersities doe come then they doe as Demas dyd forsake the Gospel and followe the worlde Demetrius the sonne of Sceleucus came from Rome with a small company of men to a certaine Citie of his owne lying vpon the Sea coast and prepared an armie to go to Antioche the Citie of his Progenitours where he founde Antiochus and Lisias which both he caused to be slayne and being stablished in his kingdom he began through the wicked counsell of Alcimus whom he had made hye Priest to séeke the destruction of the Iewes sending foorth diuers armies against them in the which he spedde diuersly Finally the sonne of noble Antiochus mooued warre agaynst hym and in battell slue him Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius being in the lande of Creta at his fathers death made haste homewarde to take possession of his Kingdome And being stablished therein he began to waxe mightie â–ª â—y reason that Ptolomy King of Egipt had withdrawne his fauour from Alexander his sonne in law and taken his daughter Cleopatra from him and giuen hir to Demetrius And also for as much as Ptolomy and Alexander lyued not long after the strife
she had prepared in hir life time for the poore before him Then Peter put them all forth of the Chamber And being alone knéeled downe and prayed and turning him to the bodie sayde Tabitha aâ—â—se at the which worde she arose and looked vpon 〈◊〉 who then gaue hir his hande and lift hir vp and called the Saints and Wydowes and restored Dorcas vnto them aliue Dositheus was a certayne Noble Captayne with Iudas Machabeus who by the helpe of Sosipater another Captayne defended the Iewes manfullye agaynst Timotheus and slue tenne thousande of his men which were left in a strong holde and after that tooke Timothie himselfe in battell and notwithstanding let him go agayne vppon his promise made vnto them that he would restore al the Iewes home againe which he had in prison thinking that the best and most surest way to saue the liues of their captiue brethren After this it chaunced Dositheus a mightie man on horsebacke to encounter with Gorgias another great Captayne and enimie of the Iewes and tooke him entending to haue caryed him away aliue But an horseman of Thracia fell vpon him and smote off his arme and so Gorgias escaped and fled into Moresa Drusilla was a Iew and wyfe to Felix by whose counsell sayth the Note in Geneuaes Bible he called for Paule and heard him of the fayth in Christ E. EBer was the sonne of Selah of the generation of Sem. He had twoo sonnes the one Peleg in whose dayes the earth was diuided and the other Ioktan This Eber liued before and after he begat Peleg 464. yeares Of Eber came the Ebrues which were afterwarde called Israelites of Israel which was Iacob And Iewes of Iuda bicause of the excellencie of that Tribe Ela the sonne of Baasa began his reigne ouer Israel in the .xxvj. yeare of Asa king of Iuda and walked in all the wicked wayes of his father before him In the seconde yeare of his reigne or there about Zimri his seruant and Captaine of his Charets conspired against him and finding him drunken in the house of Arza the Kings Stewarde he fell vpon him and slue him Elam was the sonne of Sem. Exod. 6. d. Eleazar the sonne of Aaron was constituted hye Priest after the decease of his father and so was the seconde Num. 20. d. Bishop ouer the Iewes He tooke to wyfe one of Iosua 24. g. the daughters of Putuel which bare him a sonne called Phinehes Finally he dyed and was buryed in a hyll that pertayned to Phinehes his sonne which hyll was giuen him in Mount Ephraim ¶ Eleazar the helpe of God. 1. Mac. 6. â— Eleazar the sonne of Saura was a woorthy Captayne with Iudas Machabeus what tyme as Antiochus Eupater came into Iewrie with a mightie strong army both of men and Olephants which beastes being .xxxij. in number were strongly fenced and surely harnessed and well exercised to battell And when the hostes were ioyned togither Eleazar beholding one of the Olephants deckt with royall harnesse and farre excelling all the other beastes he supposed the King himselfe had bene vppon him wherefore he ieoperded himselfe to delyuer hys people and with a good courage ranne to the Olephant in the middest of the hoste slaying all about him as he went and at last came vnto the beast and gat himselfe vnder his féete and smote him in the belly and slue the Olephant The weight of whose deade body crushed Eleazar in péeces and so he dyed 2. Mac. 6. c. d. â— Eleazar was one of the principall Scribes among the Iewes and an aged man of a welfauoured countenance who when that cruell King Antiochus had sent his Commissioners to compell the Iewes to transgresse the lawes of their God was constrayned to gape wyth open mouth and to eate Swynes fleshe but he desiring rather to dye grieuously than to liue with hatred offered himselfe willingly to the torment and spit it out Then they that had the charge of the Kings wicked acte for the olde friendship of the man tooke him aside priuilye and prayed him that he woulde take such fleshe as was lawfull to eate and dissemble as though he had eaten euen of the things appointed by the King euen the fleshe of the sacrifice that in so dooing he might be deliuered from death and that for the olde friendship that was among them he woulde receyue this fauour But he began to consider discretely and as became his age and the excellencie of his ancient yeares and the honor of his gray heares wherevnto he was come and his moste honest conuersation from his childehoode but chiefly the holye lawe made and giuen by God therefore he aunswered them consequently and willed them streyght wayes to sende him to the graue for it becommeth not our age sayde he to dissemble whereby manye yong persons might thinke that Eleazar being 90. yeares olde were nowe gone to another maner of lyfe And so thorowe mine hypocrisie for a little time of a transitorie life they might be deceyued by me and I shoulde procure malediction and reproch to mine olde age For though I were nowe deliuered from the torments of men yet coulde I not escape the hande of the Almightie neyther aliue nor dead Wherfore I will now chaunge this lyfe manfully and will shewe my selfe such as mine age requireth And so will leaue a notable example for such as be yong to die willingly couragiously for the honorable holy lawes and when he had sayde these wordes immediately hée went to torment And as he was readye to giue vp the ghost he sighed and sayde The Lorde that hath the holy knowledge knoweth manifestly that whereas I might haue bene deliuered from death I am scourged and suffer these sore paynes of my bodie but in my minde I suffer them gladly for his religion Thus this man ended his lyfe leauing his death for an example of a noble courage and a memoriall of vertue not onely vnto yoong men but vnto all his nation 1. Reg. 1. b. 2. c. â— Eli was the next Iudge after Sampson that iudged Israel and the hye Priest descended from Aaron He had twoo sonnes the one called Hophni the other Phinehes which were so wicked that euerye man complained on them And bicause that Eli did not punishe them according to their desertes God sent him worde by his Prophete that for as much as he had not ministred due correction vnto his sonnes for their great offences he woulde surely remooue the hye Priests office from his house for euer and stirre him vp a * Meaning Sador who succeded â—biathar and was the figure of christ faithfull Priest which shoulde doe according to his hearts desire And this shall be to thée sayd he a signe and token that shall come vpon thy two sonnes euen in one day they shall both die And so it came to passe for when the Philistines went out to battell agaynst Israel the twoo
in debt that hir creditors were come to fet hir twoo sonnes awaye to be their bondemen What hast thou in thy house sayde the Prophet Nothing quoth she but a little Pitcher of oyle The widowe left in debt Well saide he go thy waye home and borowe of thy neyghbours as many emptie vessels as thou canst get and poure out the oyle of the Pitcher into the emptie vessels vntill thou hast filled them all And when the woman had done all as the Prophet had commaunded hir she came backe againe and tolde him howe mightily hir oyle was increased Nowe go sayde the Prophet and sell so much of the oyle as will pay thy Creditours and then liue thou and thy children of the rest 4. Reg. 4. b. c. d. e. ¶ There was a certaine woman of great estimacion in the Citie of Sumen who hearing tell that Eliseus was come to the Citie inuited him home to hir house and made him great cheare And whensoeuer after that he came into that quarters which he haunted much he woulde euer take that Gentlewomans house in his way Then she séeing that sayde vnto hir husband I perceiue that this is an holye man that commeth so ofte by our place let vs make him a little chamber with all things Eliseus obtaineth a son for the Sunamite necessarie for the same that when he commeth this way he may lodge there and be quiet therein And when the new Chamber was made and finished the Prophete at his next comming was brought into the same there to take his rest He then considering the great prouision the woman had made and howe carefull she had bene for him sayde vnto Gehezi his man Go and aske of hir what she will haue mée to doe for hir whether it be to speake vnto the King or to the Captaine of the hoste or any thing else and I will doe it The seruaunt went and The Sunamites sonne restored from death to life brought him worde agayne that she had no chylde and hir husbande was olde Well sayde the Prophete she shall haue a sonne which in processe she had in déede And when the chylde was a fewe yeares growâ—n vp it had a desire to go and sée his Father and the Reapers in the fielde and being there in the heate of the daye it fell sodenly sicke and was caried home to his mother and dyed But for the womans sake the Prophet restored hir sonne to life agayne 4. Reg. 4. g. ¶ On a tyme Eliseus commaunded his Cooke to make a great pot of pottage for the children of the Prophetes which boorded with him and as one went out for herbes he gathered vnwares his lap full of wylde Coloquintidas Hee maketh the pottage sweete and came and shred them into the pot of pottage And when the children of the Prophets had tasted a little of the pottage they fearing least they had bene poysoned cried out saying O thou man of God there is death in the pot Then the Prophet called for Meale and threwe it into the pot and all was well and no more harme in the pot 4. Reg. 4. g. ¶ A certaine man the dearth being great in the lande came from Baal Salisa and brought to Eliseus twenty Barley loaues of the first fruites of his newe Corne the which he commaunded his man to giue to the people to satisfie their hunger How shall I sayd he set this before The loaues are multiplyed so many will it satisfie an hundred persons Well sayd Elizeus set it before them for thus sayth the Lord they shall eate and there shall remayne And so the loaues were set before the people and they did eate and left ouer according to the worde of the Lorde 4. Reg. 6. a. ¶ Eliseus had so many of the Prophetes children wyth him at boorde and downe lying that his house was to little for them all wherefore they sayde to him that they woulde go to Iordan and buylde them a bygger house to dwell in desiring him to go with them And as a certaine man was felling downe a trée to serue for the buylding the Axe heade slipt of the Helue and fell into the water Iron swimmeth Then the man cryed to Eliseus and sayde Alas Mayster helpe me to haue it agayne for it was lent me Where fell it in sayde the Prophet and when the man had tolde him Eliseus cut downe a péece of woode and cast it into the water and immediately the yron did swymme And then the man stretched forth his hande and tooke it vp 4. Reg. 8. a. ¶ He prophecied vnto the Sunamite whose sonne he had raysed from death of a great dearth which shoulde come and continue vpon the land seauen yeares giuing hir counsell therefore to go and soiourne in some other plentifull countrey till these yeares were expired whose counsell she followed and went with all hir housholde into the Philistines lande where she remayned these seauen yeares of dearth which being ended she returned home agayne And when she came to hir house another hauing possession thereof withhelde it from hir wherefore she went to the King to make hir complaynt at which time it happened the King to be talking with Gehezi The Sunamite is restored to hyr house lande agayne the seruant of Eliseus the Prophet who was declaring vnto the King what great and notable déedes hys Maister Eliseus had done and among all declared of a deade bodie which he had raysed vp from death to lyfe and as he was telling of these thinges vnto the King the woman came with hir sonne and required hir house and lande againe And when Gehezi sawe the woman he sayde O my Lorde and King this same is the woman that I tolde your Grace of â—uen nowe and this is hyr sonne that was raysed from death Then the King commaunded hir house and lande to be restored hir againe with all the rent and profites thereof from the first daye she lâ—st it â–ª till that present time 4. Reg. 13. c. d ¶ Finallye when the time drewe me that Eliseus the Prophet shoulde dye Ioas King of Israel came to visite him as he stoode before him and considered what a losse he should haue of that good man which had bene so great a defence vnto his Realme the teares ranne downe hys chéekes and sayde O my father my father the Charet of Israel and the horsemen of the same And when the Prophet sawe the King he bade him take his bowe and arrowes in his hand and make him readie to shoote The Prophet put his hande vpon the Kings hande and caused a windowe to be opened Eastwarde which was toward Siria and bade the King shoote and he shot The arrow of helth of the Lorde sayde Eliseus and the arrowe of health against Siria For thou shalt smyte Siria in Aphek till thou haue made an ende of them Nowe take thine arrowes in thine hande sayde the Prophete and smyte
reason of kinred to haue had some succour of them he was not regarded but suffered to perishe in a straunge land no man mourning for him nor putting him into hys graue ¶ Iason He that maketh whole a Phisition Iecksan looke Iocsan 4. Reg. 23. f. Iehoahas the sonne of Iosias was .xxiij. yeare olde when he began to reygne ouer Iuda and had not reygned thrée moneths or that Pharao Necho King of Egipt came and put him downe and set vp his brother in hys steade And put the lande to a tribute of an hundred Talents of Siluer and one of Golde and caryed Iehoahas away into Egypt where he dyed ¶ Iehoahas The possession of the Lorde 4. Reg. 23. g. 24. a. Iehoakym the sonne of Iosias was .xxv. yeares of age when he began to reygne ouer Iuda and dyd that which was euill in the sight of the Lorde His name was chaunged from Eliakim to Iehoakym by Pharao Necho King of Egypt which came and deposed his brother This Kyng dyed in the way as they led him prisoner into Babilon Reade Ieremie 22. e. Iehoahas and made him King in his steade and mersced the lande as before is sayde in Iehoahas For the payment of which money Iehoakym taxed the land and leuyed of euery man according to his habilitie and payde the money to Pharao After this came Nabuchodonosor King of Babilon and besieged Ierusalem to whome Iehoakym yéelded and serued Nabuchodonosor thrée yeares and then rebelled agaynst him into whose hande the Lorde deliuered him so that the King of Babilon tooke him and bounde him in twoo chaynes and caried him and all the vessels of the Lordes house into Babilon This King reigned a .xj. yeares ¶ Iehoakym the Rysing or aduenging of the Lorde * He is called also Iechonias Math. 1. b Iehoachin 4. Reg. 24. b. c. d. was the sonne yof Iehoakm who at the age of xviij yeares began to reigne ouer Iuda and did euill in the sight of the Lorde as his fathers before him He had not reygned thrée moneths or that the King of Babilon came and deposed him making Mathania his fathers brother King in his steade chaunging his name from Mathania to Zedekia and caryed Iehoachym away into Babilon where he remayned in pryson xxxviij yeares after euen vntill the comming of Euilmerodach King of Babilon after Nabuchodonosor hys father who had such a mynde to Iehoachym that he deliuered him out of prison and exalted him aboue all the Princes in Babilon and fedde him at his owne table all the dayes of his lyfe ¶ Iehoachin the Resurrection of the Lorde 4. Reg. 13. a. b. c. Iehoahas the sonne of Iehu began his reygne ouer Israel in the .xxiij. yeare of the reygne of Ioas the sonne of Ahaziahu King of Iuda and walked so wickedly in the sinnes of Ieroboam by worshipping the Calues which he had erected that God deliuered him into the handes of Hazael and his sonne Benhadad Kinges of Siria which destroyed the people of Israel and vexed them so sore that they made the Israelites like threshed dust yet neuerthelesse when Iehoahas humbled himselfe and besought the Lord he hearde him and had such pitie compassion on the misery of Israel that he deliuered him out of the Sirians subiection which had brought him so lowe that they had left him but fiftie horsemen ten Charets and ten thousande footemen He reygned xvij yeares and then dyed and was buryed in Samaria leauing behinde him his sonne Ioas to reigne in his steade ¶ Iehoahas Apprehending possesing or seeyng 4. Reg. 11. ca. Iehoiada was the hye Byshop and Priest in the dayes of Ahaziahu King of Iuda whose daughter he maryed named Iehosabeth He preserued Ioas the yongest sonne of Ahaziahu his father in lawe sixe yeares in the Lordes house and in the seauenth yeare he brought him forth and proclaimed him king And being his gouernour and protectour trayned him vp in all godlynesse and vertue So that so long as Iehoiada liued the King 2. Par. 24. d. walked in all the wayes of the Lorde from the which he swarued after the death of this good Bishop Iehoiada Who liued 130. yeares and for his faythfulnesse towardes God and his people was most honorablye buried in the Citie of Dauid among the Kings ¶ Iehoiada the Knowledge of the Lorde 4. Reg. 11. a. Iehosabeth was the daughter of Ahaziahu King of Iuda and wyfe to Iehoiada the hie Bishop of the Iewes 2. Par. 22. d. And when Atthalia hir Graundmother went about to destroy the Kings séede shée stole awaye Ioas hir yoongest brother from among the Kings sonnes and hid both him and his Nurse in hir owne Chamber with hir husbands consent the space of .vj. yeares and so preserued him that he perished not with the reast of hir brethren ¶ Iehosabeth the fulnesse of the Lorde 4. Reg. 9 ca. Iehu the sonne of Nimsi was annoynted King ouer Israel by Eliseus the Prophet for to destroye the house of Achab his mayster And being commaunded to go about it with spéede he began first with Ioram which lay at Iezrael to be healed of his wounds which the Sirians had giuen him And as Iehu was comming thitherward the watchman espying a company comming toward the Citie tolde the King who then sent out an horseman to méete them and to knowe whether they came peaceably or no. And when the Messenger came to Iehu he sayde The King woulde knowe whether it be peace or no What hast thou to doe with peace quoth Iehu turne thée behinde me and so the messenger turned behynde Iehu and went backe no more and likewyse the second Then the watchman tolde the King that he thought by the dryuing of the Charret it shoulde be Iehu that was comming for he driueth quoth he as he were mad The King hearing that he made him readye to warre and tooke Ahaziahu King of Iuda with him and went toward Iehu and met him in the furlong of Naboth saying is There was a Prophete also called Iehu the sonne of Hanani which prophecied of the destruction of Baasa King of Israel and his posterity Read. 3. Reg. 16. a. b. it peace Iehu or no What peace should it be quoth he so long as the whooredomes of thy mother Iezabel hir witchcrafts are so great and so in the Battell Iehu shot Ioram to the heart with an arrow killed him And fell vpon Ahaziahu and slue him also And so procéeding forth to Iezrael he came thither and found Iezabel looking out at a windowe And as he demaunded of the companye about hir who was on his side and woulde for his sake cast hir downe two or thrée of hir Chamberlaines threw hir out at the windowe and brake hir necke notwithstanding bicause she was a Kings daughter he caused hir to be buryed Then he sent his letters to Samaria 10. cap. commaūding those which had the gouernance of Achabs seauentie sonnes
heauen in the likenesse of a Doue and lighted vppon him and also the voyce of the father was heard from heauen saying This is my welbeloued sonne in whome I am well pleased heare him And after he had finished the legacie of his father and opened the Doctrine of eternall life to the people and confirmed the same with myracles he was at the age of .xxxiij. yeares or there about betrayed of his owne disciple Iudas Math. 26. b. and by the Iewes his owne peculiar people most cruellye put to death at what tyme of his passion was a great earthquake and at sixe a clocke of the daye such a terrible Eclipse of the Sunne that for darckenesse it séemed to be very night The thirde day hée arose agayne 28. a. from death to lyfe In token he conquered sinne death and Satan And on the fourtie daye to declare himselfe Act. 1. b. to be a mightie a puissant Conquerour he ascended into heauen where he sitteth at the right hande of the Father And the fiftie day according to his promise he sent downe the true comforter the holy Ghost which shoulde leade the Apostles into all truth At the ende and last day of the world he shall come agayne with glorye to Iudge the quicke and the dead He suffered his passion the yeare after the creation of the Worlde 3994. or there about ¶ Iesus A Sauiour Eccl. 1. cap. Iesus the sonne of Sirach being among the Captiues in Egipt in the tyme of King Ptolomy Energets got libertie to reade and write many good things which Iesus his Graundfather had gathered and left them with Sirach his sonne which thinges this Iesus tooke and put in order in a booke which is called Ecclesiasticus or the wisedome of Iesus the sonne of Sirach Coll. 4. c. Iesus otherwise called Iustus was a Iewe borne and one of Paules workefellowes in preaching and setting foorth the Kingdome of God whome he commended to the Collossians desiring them that if he or anye such dyd come vnto them they shoulde receyue and entreate them with all gentlenesse Exod. 4. c. 18. cap. Iethro the Priest of Madian had seauen daughters of the which one was called Zephora whome he maried to Moses And when that Iethro had hearde of all the mightie déedes which God had done for Moses and howe he had deliuered the children of Israel out of Egipt from the bondage of Pharao and brought them thorow the red Sea he mette Moses in the Wildernesse and brought to him his wife and twoo children which he had sent backe before at whose comming Moses was excéeding glad Then as Iethro abode with Moses and sawe the great paynes he tooke in iudging the people from morning to night he sayde vnto him what is this that thou doest vnto the people Why sittest thou thy selfe alone and all the people stand about thée from morning vnto euen When the people quoth Moses haue any matter they come vnto mée and I iudge betwéene one and an other and declare vnto them the statutes and lawes of god Thou doest not well quoth Iethro for thou both wearyest thy selfe and the people that is with thée The thing is of The counsell of Iethro Moses father in lawe more weyght than thou arte able to performe alone Therefore heare my counsayle God shall prosper thée Be thou for the people to God warde and report the causes to him Admonish them of the ordinances and lawes and shewe them the waye wherein they must walke and the worke that they must doe Moreouer séeke out among the people men of courage and such as feare God true dealing men hating couetousnesse and appoint them to be rulers ouer thousands ouer hundreds ouer fiftie and ouer ten And let them iudge the people at all seasons and euery great matter let them bring it to thée But al small causes let them iudge themselues and so shall it be easier for thée when they shall beare the burthen with thée If thou shalt doe this thing and God so commaund thée thou shalt be able to endure and all the people shall go quietly to their place ¶ Iethro Excellent or remayning or searching foorth or a little corde 2. Reg. 2. cap. Ioab was the sonne of Zerniah Dauids Sister and the chiefe Captayne of all Dauids hoste In the first battell he made against Abner King Saules Captayne he was the victor and put Abner to flight and of malice afterwarde by treason slue him for â—he which déede Dauid 3. d. e. was fore offended that he besought God to auenge it on Ioab and that his house and posteritie might alwaies be plagued with the bloudy flixe leprosie feblenesse of bodie the swoorde or famine for the death of Abner Ioab also was the death of Absalom and slue him as he 18. d. hanged by the haire of his heade vpon the twist of a trée And when it was tolde him of the great lamentacion the King made for Absalom his sonne he went vnto him and saide Thou hast this day shamed the faces of all thy seruaunts 19. a. b. which this day haue saued thy lyfe and the liues of all thy sonnes and daughters the lyues of thy wiues and Concubins in that thou louest thine enimies and hatest thy friendes For thou hast declared this daye that thou regardest neither thy Princes nor seruants Therefore I doe perceyue that if Absalom had lyued and all we had bene slayne this day that then it had pleased thée well Nowe therefore vp and come out and speake comfortably vnto thy seruaunts for I sweare by the Lorde except thou come out there will not tary one man with thée this night and that wil be woorse vnto thée than all 20. cap â–ª the euill that fell on thée from thy youth hitherto Also in persecuting of Seba which had made a new insurrection against Dauid he mette Amasa his Auntes sonne by the way and * Lyra supposeth that Ioab slue Amasa of enuy bicause Dauid had made an othe in the Chapter before that Amasa shuld be his Captaine in Ioabs steade slue him and leauing him dead on the ground he followed Seba and besieged him in a Citie called Abell where the Gouernesse of the Citie being a wise woman cried vnto Ioab demaunding why he went about to destroy that Citie which was a Mother in Israel and to deuour the inheritance of the Lorde before he had offered peace To whome he aunswered saying That he went about no such matter but I come quoth he for Seba the sonne of Bichri deliuer me him and I will be gone and as soone as the heade of Seba was throwen ouer the wall to Ioab he departed Finallye after the death of Dauid who had ordeyned Salomon to reigne in hys steade Ioab tooke part with Adonia Salomons brother which vsurped the kingdome and went about with all his power to stablishe him in Dauids seate But when he hearde Salomon proclaimed
reporteth 1. Par. 4. b. ‡ Iacob made the like vowe Reade his storie ¶ Iabes Sorowe Iudic. 4. a. * Which Citie beinge brent of Iosua was afterwarde buylded againe of the Canaanites ¶ Iabyn Vnderstanding Gen. 25. c. d. 27. cap. 28. cap. * Christ is the Ladder whereby God â–ª and man are ioyned togither and by whome the Angels mynister vnto vs all graces by him are giuen vnto vs and we by him ascende into heauen 29. cap. * The cause why Iacob was deceiued was that in olde time the wife was couered with a vayle when shee was brought to hir husbande in signe of chastitie and shamefastnes Gen. 30. e. f. g. * Iacob herin vsed no deceyte for so much as hee did it at gods coÌ„mandement 31. cap. Gen. 32. cap. Gen. 33. cap. 46. cap. 49. d. 50. a. b. c. ¶ Iacob a Supplantur Gen. 10. d. ¶ Iacktan a little one or Lothsomnesse or Contencion Iudic. 4. c. d. * Now was the prophecie of Debora fulfilled whiche shee prophecied to Barak saying this iorney that thou takest vppon thee now shal not bee for thine honor for the Lorde shall sell Sifera into the hand of a woman ¶ Iael a Do or ascending Iudic. 10. cap. ¶ Iair Lightened Math. 4. d. Mar. 3 c. He was put to death by Agrippa who had to name also Herode Act. ¶ Iames a Tripper or 12. a. Cooper Deceyuour An beele the sole of the foote a foote steppe Gen. 14 Four Kinge against fyue Kedorlaomor the generation of seruitude or the house of bondage Gen. 25. ◠¶ Ketura smelling sweete lyke spice or perfuming or bounde Gen. 29. cap. ¶ Laban Whyte Gen. 4. c. d 5. c. d. ¶ Lamech Poore or smitten Iohn 11. cap. Iohn 12. a. ¶ Lazarus the Helpe or succour of God or Gods Court. Luk. 16. e. f. g. * Some doe vnderstande by AbrahaÌ„s bosome the fayth of Abraham And some the place where those do rest which dye in the fayth of Abraham Which place is not expressed in Scripture Gen. 29. c. ca. * The Mandrake is a kind of herbe whose roote hath a certain likenesse of the figure of a man. 30. b. c. ¶ Lea Paynfull or wearyed Gen. 29. g. 34. cap. Num. 18. c. d. Deut. 10. c. Iosua 13. d. ¶ Leuy Ioyned or Coupled Exod. 6. c. 2. Reg. 3. a. 1. Par. 3. a. 3. Reg. 1â— a. c. ¶ Maacha a Woman pressed or bruised 1. Mac. 2. 3. ¶ Machabeus a Strikeâ— a Fighter Reade Iudas Machabeus 2. Reg. 9. 2. Amiel was Father to Bethsabe King Dauids wife ¶ Machir Selling or knowing 4. Reg. 15. c. d ¶ Manahen a Comforter or Leader of them or a preparing of heate Act. 13. â— 4. Reg. 21. ca. 2. Par. 33. ca. Manasses put Esay the prophet who was his father in lawe to death Reade the annotasion in the storie of Esay ¶ Manasses Forgetfull or forgetfulnesse Ester 2. cap. Marbocheus liued 198. yeares as Philo witnesseth ¶ Mardocheus a bitter contricion or repentaunce Math. 1. c. Luke 1. c. d. In the booke called Fasciculus temporum it is sayd that this Virgin was the daughter of Ioachim and Anna and was about the age of .xvi. yeres when shee brought forth Christ Mar. 1â— d. 16. a. Act. 12. c. Iohn 12. â— Luke 7. f. g. * Magdalena signifieth â–ª magnified or exalted Luk. 10. g. Iohn 19. â— 20. 2. b. c. d. ¶ Marke Fyled or rubbed Act. 12. b. 14. d. 15. g. Luke 10. g. Iohn 11. cap. ¶ Martha Bitter or Prouoking 1. Mac. 2. cap. ¶ Mathathias the gift of the Lorde 1. Mac. 16. c. 1. Mac. 11. g. Act. â— d. Lottes ¶ Mathias the Lords Gift Gen. 5. c. ¶ Mathusalah he sent his death or the weapons of his death Gen. 14. d. Heb. 7. 2. ¶ Melchisedech King of Righteousnesse â— Mac. 4. c. ca ¶ Menelaus Strength of the people 1. Reg. 18. d. ¶ Merob Fighting or chyding or 2. Reg. 21. b. multiplying ‡ 4. Reg. 5. ¶ Naaman Fayre or beawtifull 1. Reg. 25. a. b ¶ Nabal a Foole. 3. Reg. 21. ca. ¶ Naboth Speach or prophecying Dan. 1. a. 2. cap. He reygned â— 4. yeares and was called the scurge of God. He was before the incarnation of Christ 633. yeares Cooper ¶ Nabuchodonosor the Mourning of the Generation 3. Reg. 15. ◠¶ Nadab a Prince or liberall 1. Reg. 11. ca. Iudic. 11. cap. ¶ Nahas a Snake or Serpent or gessing or diuining Gen. 11. d. ¶ Nahor Hoarse or Angry Ruth 1. cap. ¶ Naomy Faire or commely or prouoking much â— Reg. 7. 2. 12. cap. Dauid had a sonne called Nathan also 2. Reg. 5. c. ¶ Nathan Giuen or giuing Iohn 1. c. ¶ Nathaniel the gift of God. 2. Esd 1. cap. ¶ Nehema the comfort or rest of the Lorde the Lordes direction 1. Mac. 7. c. d. 2. Mac. 14. d. e. f. 8. cap. 1. Mac. 7. d. e. 2. Mac. â—5 ca. Nicanor which was one of the seuen Dâ—cons Act. 6. a. ¶ Nicauor a Conquerour Valiant Iohn 3. a. b. 7. g. 19. g. ¶ Nichodemus Innocent bloude Act. 6. a. His heresie was this That euery man might iefully vse euery woman that he lusted ¶ Nicholas the victorie of the common people Gen. 10. b. 11. a. ¶ Nymrod Rebellious Gen. 5. d. 6. cap. 7. cap. 8. cap. Gen. 9. b. c. d. ¶ Noe Rest. Ruth 4. d. 1. Par. 16. d. 2 Reg. 6. b. c. ¶ Obed Edom the seruant of Edom or a seruant Edomite 3. Reg. 1â— a. b. c. ¶ Obedia seruaunt of the Lorde 2. Par â–ª 28. b. c ¶ Oded holding vp or erecting Num. 21. g. Deu. 3. a. 29. b ¶ Og a Cake or breade baked vnder the ashes Gen. 38. a. ¶ Onan Sorow or Iniquitie Coll. 4. b. Phile. cap. ¶ Onesimus Apparell or a garment 2. Timo. 1. d. ¶ Onesiphorus bringing profit 2. Mac. 3 cap. 4. cap. ¶ Onias the strength of the Lorde Exod. 35. a. Iudic. 7. g. ¶ Oreb a crowe or sweete or a suretie or euening tyme. 1. Par. 21. c. d. In the seconde booke of Kinges chap. 24. d. He is called Areâ—na ¶ Ornan Reioysing Ruth 1. cap. ¶ Orpha a Necke Iudith 6. c. d. 7. c. ¶ Osias the Lorde Sauiour or the health of the Lorde Iudic. 1. c. 3. b. ¶ Othoniel the tyme or houre of God. 4. Reg. 15. e. ¶ Pekahia the Lordes opening 4. Reg. 15. e. f 2. Par. 28. b. c Ge. 10. d. 11. ◠¶ Peleg a diuision Rom. 16. â— Math. 4. e. Luke 4. f. Math. 14. â— 16. c. 17. a. Math. 26. c. ca Iohn 18. b. 21. cap. Math. 16. c. ¶ Peter a Stone or Rocke 1. Reg. 25. g. Lyra sayeth that Psaltiel was a learned man And knowynge Michol to be Dauids lowfull wyfe he reserued hir as his sister and wept for ioye that shee was without dishonesty restored to Dauid againe * Gen. 12. c. d Pharao was a generall name giuen to the Kings of Egypt 41. cap. 47. cap. Exod. 1. cap. Exod. 5. cap. 7. 8.