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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Ada. ¶ Eliphas the Sight of God or his intent or endeuour Iob. 2. d. Eliphas the Themanite was one of those that came to Iob in his extréeme afflictions to comforte him And 4. yet notwithstanding he blamed Iob for impaciencie 15. vniustice and for the presumption of his owne righteousnesse 12. Also he reprooued hym bycause he chalenged wisedome and purenesse to himselfe Affirming also that he was punished for his sumes and accused hym of vnmercyfulnesse and that he denyed Gods prâ—â—â—dence and therefore exhorteth hym to repentaunce But the Lorde was angrie with Eliphas and with his other Companions 42. b. bicause they had condemned Iob by the outwarde afflictions and not comforted him with his mercy and therefore commaunded them to take sâ—auen â–ª Oxen and seauen Rammes â–ª and to go and offer a burnt offering for their offence and his seruaunt Iob shoulde praye for them And they dyd as the Lord had commaunded them 1. Par. 1. 2. Elisa was the sonne of Iauan his brethren were Tharsis Citim and Dâ—â—â—â—int ¶ Elisa it is God or the â—ambe of Gâ—d or God that doth good â— Reg. 19. d. Eliseus was the sonne of Saphan And being at the plough with twelue yoake of Oxen before hym Eliah comming by him cast hys mantell ouer hym and went his wayes Then 〈◊〉 being instinct with the holye Ghost left his plough and ranne after Eliah desiring hym that he might first go home and take his leaue of his friendes then he woulde come and followe him which thing being done he returned and ministred to Eliah and went with him to Bethel from thence to Iericho 4. Reg. 2. ca. where the children of the Prophetes came to Eliseus and sayde Knowest thou not that the Lorde will take thy maister from thine heade this daye Yes quoth he I knowe it well holde yée your peace and be still And so foorth from Iericho they went to Iordan where Eliah â—he waters deuided smote the waters with his mantell which deuided themselues so that they two went ouer on dry land And when they were on the other side of Iordan Eliah sayde to Eliseus Aske what I shall doe for thée or I be taken away from thée I pray thée quoth Eliseus let thy spirite be double vpon mée Thou hast asked quoth he an harde thing Yet if thou sée mee when I am taken from thée thou shalt haue it so if not it shall not be And as Eliah is taken vp in the firie Charet they were walking and talking togithers Eliah was taken vp in a whirlewinde of fire and in a Charret of fyrie horses which sight Eliseus sawe and cryed My father my father the Charret of Israel and the horsemen thereof and sawe hym no more â–ª Then Eliseus rent his owne Cloake in twoo peeces and tooke vp Elias mantell which he had let fall from him and returned to the banke of Iordan and smote the waters saying Where is the Lorde God of Eliah and he himselfe and at the seconde smiting the waters deuided so that he went ouer on drye lande to the other â—yde agayne Then the Children of the Prophets perceyuing the spirite of Eliah to be vpon Eliseus came and fell down before him saying We doubt lest the spirit of the Lord hath taken thy maister and cast him vpon some mountayne therefore let vs â–ª sende foorth our men to go and séeke hym But Eliseus knowing assuredly that he was taken vnto God willed them not to doe so yet they â–ª not there withall satisfied intreated hym so much tyll he was ashamed and so let them go And when they had sought thrée dayes and thrée nightes and coulde not finde hym they returned to Eliseus who sayde vnto them Dyd not I saye yée should not finde hym The waterâ— are healed ¶ Nowe as the Prophete laye at Iericho the men of the Citie came vnto him saying Sir the scituacion of this Citie as thou séest is pleasaunt but the water is so euill and the grounde so barrayne that it killeth the inhabitaunts thereof Then sayde Eliseus bring me a Cruse and put Salt therein And when they had brought him the Cruse he tooke it and went vnto the spring of the waters and cast the Salt therein saying Thus saâ—th the Lorde I haue healed this water death shall no more come thereof neyther barrennesse to the grounde 4. Reg. 3. cap. ¶ After he had thus healed the water at Iericho and was departed thence to go to Bethel there came little chyldren out of the Citie who in mockery sayde vnto hym Come vp thou balde head come vp thou balde heade The The children for mocking the Prophet are deuoured with beares Prophet then turned backe and behelde the children and perceyuing their malicious hearts he cursed them in the name of the Lord which Curse was no sooner pronounced out of the Prophets mouth but twoo Beares came out of the forrest and ran vpon the Children and tore in péeces 42. of them And so went he foorth to mount Carmel and from thence to the Citie of Samaria ¶ It came to passe that when Iehoram y King of Israel and Iehosaphat King of Iuda with the King of Edom in their progresse towarde the King of Moab lacked water for them and their people â–ª they went by the counsell of Iehosaphat King of Iuda to Eliseus the Prophete beséeching hym to make intercession for them that they might haue water to sustayne their hoste which else were in ieoperdie of perishing And when the Prophete sawe the Kings he sayde to the King of Israel What haue I to do with thée Get thée to the prophets of Achab thy father and to the Prophets of Iezabel thy mother as truely as the Lorde of hostes lyueth in whose sight I stande if it were not that I regarde the presence of Iehosaphat King of Iuda I woulde not haue looked towarde thée nor séene thée But now bring mée a * This was no such Minstrell as vse to fil the peoples cares with songes of ribaudry but one that sang songs to Gods glory and so stirred vp the Prophetes heart to prophecie minstrell and when the mynstrell playde the hande of the Lorde came vpon Eliseus that he began to prophecie of water and of the ouerthrow of the Moabites which came to passe on the next morrowe as the Prophete had sayde for the Moabites being deceyued by the Sunnes shining vpon the water that fell which made it séeme as redde as bloude thinking it had béene the bloude of the Kinges hoste that had slayne one another but when they came they founde the hoste of Israel ready who fell vpon the Moabites and destroyed put them to flight euery one ¶ Eliseus Gods saluation or a God which saueth 4. Reg. 4. a. b ¶ There was a certaine woman late wife to one of the Prophetes which came and complained to Eliseus that hir husbande had left hir so farre
there be iudged of these thinges before me Then sayde Paule I sée no cause wherefore I shoulde go thither but may be iudged as well here as there But forasmuch as the Iewes séeketh my condemnation against all right and Iustice I appeale to the Emperour Well sayde Festus thou hast appealed to the Emperour and to him shalt thou go Within a fewe dayes after this it chaunced King Agrippa with Bernice his wyfe to come vnto Cesarea to salute and welcome Festus the newe President And during the Kings aboade there Festus by occasion rehearsed Paules matter vnto him saying Felix my predecessor left here a certaine man in holde whome the hye Priests and Elders of the Iewes at Ierusalem complained on desiring mée for their sakes to giue sentence agaynst him To whom I answered that it was not the custome of the Romaines to giue sentence against any man before his accusers were brought before him that he might make answere for himselfe And so when his accusers were come hither I on the next day sate in iudgement commaunded the prisoner to be brought forth before me against whom his accusers brought no accusation of such things as I supposed they would haue done but demaunded certayne questions of him concerning their owne superstition and laying to his charge one Iesus which was deade whome he affirmed to be risen from death to lyfe againe And forasmuch as I wilt not wel what to say in this matter I asked him whether he would go to Ierusalem and there to be iudged And when he had refused that and appealed to Cesar I commaunded him to be kept in prison vntill I might haue occasion to sende him to Cesar Then sayde the King to Festus I haue hearde much of that same Iesus and his Disciples and therefore am much desirous to heare the fellow speake my selfe before he go to Cesar Whervpon Festus on the next morow brought forth Paule into the Common hall before Agrippa the King saying on this wyse King Agrippa and you all that be here present ye sée this man whom all the Iewes haue complayned on to me both at Ierusalem and here crying that he ought not to liue any longer and yet haue I made inquirie and can finde nothing worthy of death that he hath committed neuerthelesse for as much as he hath appealed to the Emperour I am determined to sende him thither and yet bicause I haue no certayne thing to wryte vnto his Maiestie I haue brought hym forth before you and specially to the King Agrippa that after examination had I might haue somewhat to write for me thinke it standeth with no reason to sende a prisoner and not to shew withall what is layde to his charge And when Agrippa sawe Paule stande before him hée sayde fellow thou hast pardon to speake for thy selfe if thou hast any thing to say in thy defence saye on Then began Paule to speake and made such a pithy declaration of his former lyfe and of hys calling to Christ that Festus which was not skilfull in the Iewes religion thought all his sayings to be but madnesse and cryed out with a lowde voyce saying that he was beside himselfe and that much learning had made him madde Then after sentence giuen by King Agrippa that Paule shoulde be sent to the Emperour Festus deliuered him and certayne other prisoners in bandes to the Emperours vnder Captaine named Iulius who conueyghed them into Italie .8 Gad animo magnus belli uirtute probatus Victoris laudes abstulit ense suo Ex me prognatus uates proeclarus Elias Quem currus uiuum igneus eripu Fortunatus was a faythfull Souldiour of Christ whome Paule sent in the companie of Stephana and Achaicus with his letters from Philippos to the Corinthians G. GAbelus was a certayne man of the kinrede and Tribe of Tobias dwelling in the countrye of Medes in a Citie called Rages And being fallen into pouertie Tobias lent him ten Talents of siluer vpon a byll of his hande whereby Gabelus was greatly holpen and in processe payde the same agayne to Tobie when he had néede with great thankes Reade Tobie the yonger Gad the sonne of Iacob and Silpha When the Tribe of Gad had long iourneied with the reast of the Israelites their brethren towarde the lande of Canaan Gad and Ruben with the halfe Tribe of Manasses desired of Moses to haue their possession on this side of Iordan Eastwarde and not on the other side bicause it was a lande méete for Cattell whereof they had great store To whome Moses aunswered saying Shall your brethren go harnessed before the Lorde and ye sit styll and doe nothing wherefore will ye discourage the hearts of the people so did your fathers when I sent them from Cades Barne to search and sée the lande discouraging the heartes of the people reporting so much euill of the lande that they were ready to turne into Egypt againe whose doings did so prouoke the Lorde to anger that he sware that none of them all shoulde sée that good lande saue Caleb and Iosua Therefore sayde he if ye do now leaue your brethren will not go harnessed before them vntill the Lorde haue cast out their enimies ye doe so much sinne agaynst the Lorde that he will surely finde it out And when they hearde Moses say so they answered saying We doe not intende to leaue our brethren our meaning is nothing lesse than so to doe but rather that we might be suffered to make in this place shéepefoldes for our cattell and houses for our wyues and children to leaue them therein which being done we our selues will go forth before our brethren harnessed and will not returne home to our houses vntill we haue brought them to their places and that euery one of them be possessed in his enheritance Then Moses contented with this answere graunted their request And so they builded shéepecotes for their Cattell and houses for their families wherein they left them and went forth with their brethren vntill they had performed their promise and then returned home agayne And when they had rested a whyle at home they went and buylded an Aultar fast by Iordan and that a very great one And when the reast of the children of Israel hearde that the children of Ruben Gad and Manasses had buylt them an Aultar in Geliloth beside Iordan euen on the same side that they were of in the lande of Canaan they were sore offended and so angry that they gathered themselues togither to battell against them And being redy prepared they sent Phinehes the son of Eleazar the Priest with him ten Lordes of euery chiefe house one to knowe for what purpose they had made them an Aultar and whether it were to rebell agaynst the Lorde or no. And when they had done their Commission the other aunswered and sayde that God was their witnesse that they had done it for no euill purpose eyther to
on the hoste of the liuing god Then Saule perceyuing the power of God to be wyth Dauid put his armour vpon him But Dauid not being woont to such put it of agayne and tooke him to his olde accustomed weapon which was his slyng And so hauing that in his hande and his shepeherdes bagge about his necke with a fewe little stones prouided therin he gat him downe to the place where the Philistine stoode wayting for a man to encounter with him And as he saw Dauid drawe neare and beholding the maner of hys weapon that he bare in his hand he disdained him greatly And cursing Dauid by all his gods he sayd in a great furie Am I a Dogge that thou commest to me wyth staues come hyther my chylde and I will giue thy flesh to the foules of the ayre and beastes of the fielde Nay quoth Dauid thou commest to me with sworde speare and shielde but I am come vnto thée in the name of the Lorde of hostes the God of the hoste of Israel whome thou doest despyse and blaspheme He shall this daye deliuer thée into my handes and I shall smyte thée and take thy heade from thée and giue the carkasses of all your hoste to the foules of the ayre and beasts of the field to deuour and eate that thou and all the worlde maye knowe that there is a God in Israel The Philistyne nowe was in such a chafe that he began to buskell hym to his weapon thinking to haue dispatched Dauid wyth no great adoe But Dauid hauing his slyng prepared redy in his hande slang out the stone at his face the Lord directing the same and smote the Philistine so euen and déepe in his foreheade that he fell downe groueling vnto the earth and then ranne Dauid and smote of hys heade Thus was this monstrous Gyaunt confounded and all the hoste of the Philistines put to flight and slaine Gomer The Lorde appearing to Ose the Prophet sayde Go thy way and take an harlot to thy wyfe and get children by hir for the lande hath commâ—tted great whooredome agaynst the Lorde So he went and tooke Gomor the daughter of Deblaim who bare vnto hym two sonnes and one daughter The first sonne was called Iesrael the daughter Lornhamah and the second sonne Laâ—my Gorgias a man of great experience in warre was Gouernour of Idumea and one among other noble captaynes whome Lysias the ouerséer of all the Kings businesse sent against the Iewes to destroy them And thinking by his policie to haue stollen vpon Iudas Machabeus by night and so to haue ouercome him he was preuented so that he durst not meete Iudas in the fielde but fledde into the lande of the heathen And when Iosephus and Azarias tooke vppon them in the absence of Iudas contrary to his commaundement to go out agaynst the heathen to get them a name Gorgias issued out of the Citie of Iamnia and slue two thousande of their men and chased Iosephus and Azarias to the borders of Iewrie Finally after manye conflictes with the Iewes a certaine Captayne named Dositheus had almost taken him if rescue had not bene thorow the which he escaped and fled into Moresa and was neuer séene more Reade the Storie of Dositheus H. HAdad being but a little boye borne in the lande of Edom and sprong of the King of Edoms séede what time as Dauid went about to destroye all the men children in Edom fled wyth certayne Edomites of his fathers seruants into the lande of Egypt Where in processe he gate such fauour with Pharao King of the lande that he gaue him great possessions and maried him to the Quéenes sister who bare vnto hym a sonne called Genubath which chylde was brought vp in King Pharaos hâ—use among his children But when tidings was brought to Hadad of the death of Dauid and Ioab he went to the King and besought him to let hym depart into his owne Countrie agayne why sayde the King what hast thou lacked here with mée that thou wouldest now so fayne returne home agayne Nothing sayd Hadad but that I haue a mynde to sée my countrey and therefore I pray thée let me go And so he departed out of Egypt from Pharao for the Lorde had stirred him vp to be an aduersarie to Salomon who had turned his heart from the Lord his God serued straunge gods And so Hadad reigned ouer Siria and abhorred Israel sore and vexed them so long as Salomon reygned Hadarezer the sonne of Reob King of Zoba had long warre with Thoi King of Hamoth And at the last as he went to recouer the borders by the ryuer Pherar Dauid met with him tooke 1700. horsemen of his host and. 20. thousande footemen and cut of the hoofes of all his Charet horses sauing an 100 â–ª which he reserued to himselfe And tooke away his shyldes of Golde brought them to Ierusalem And tooke out of his Cities excéeding much Brasse whereof Salomon afterwarde made all the Brasen vessels in the Temple of the Lorde Againe when this Hadarezer withall the Kings that serued him went to rescue Hanon King of the Ammonites agaynst Dauid he lost 700. Charettes and. 4000. footemen and his Captayne generall slayne Then the Kinges which serued Hadarezer being so discomfited made peace with Dauid and serued hym and neuer woulde helpe the Ammonites more Ham was the seconde sonne of Noe. Who on a tyme séeing his Father lye vnséemely discouered in his Tent laughed hym to scorne And in derision and contempt of his father brought Sem and Iapheth his two brethren to sée the vncomely sight But they mooued with shamefastnesse and honesty couered theyr fathers secrets and woulde not looke vpon them And when Noe was awaked out of sléepe and perceyued what Ham had done He woulde not curse hym whome the Lorde had blest but sayde to Canaan his sonne which had also as some suppose deryded his Graundfather Noe Cursed be Canaan a seruaunt of seruaunts shall he be vnto his brethren Haman was the sonne of Amada and serued Ahasuerus King of Persia who so highlye promoted hym that euery man bowed the knée to Haman dyd asmuch honour vnto him in a maner as they dyd to the King himselfe And being thus exalted aboue all other Princes about the King and honoured of all men there was notwithstanding a certayne Iewe borne named Mardocheus which would neyther bowe nor bende vnto hym as other dyd which being marked of Haman he tooke so great indignacion agaynst Mardocheus that he sought his vtter destruction and purchased a licence of the King for ten thousande talents of Siluer to haue him and all the Iewes destroyed in one day But whyle the writings were a making and postes sent into all quarters for the Iewes dispatch Mardocheus gat knowledge of all Hamans wicked intents and purposes and founde the meanes to haue the same vttered vnto Quéene Hester Who then
f. Ierobaal is a name which was giuen to Gedeon the sonne of Ioas after he had broken downe the aultar of Baal and cut downe all the Groue about it ¶ Ierobaal That which resisteth anydoll a destroyer of ydols Reade Gedeon Ieroboam was the sonne of * Some saye that Nebat and Semei whome Salomon put to death were one person of whose death Zarnah the mother of Ieroboam put him oft in remembrance Nebat and of the 3. Reg. 11. cap e. f. g. Tribe of Ephraim who being nourished and brought vp of Zarnah his mother in hir wyddowhed after the death of his father became King Salomons seruant and was made ouerséer of Salomons workes for the Tribe of Ephraim and Manasses And on a time as he walked abroade in the fielde alone the Prophet Ahia came to him and sayde that after the death of Salomon he shoulde reygne and be King ouer ten Tribes of Israel which wordes of the Prophet did so animate Ieroboam that he began to murmour against King Salomon his Mayster who therefore sought to kill him but Ieroboam fled into Egypt where he remayned with Sisah King of that Countrie vntill the death of Salomon Then being sent for he returned home againe and had so much fanour of the people that they all forsooke Roboam saue the Tribe of Iuda and Beniamin and made Ieroboam their king Who being surelye stablished in his kingdome began to thinke thus in his heart If this people go vp â–ª and doe sacrifice in the house of the Lorde at Ierusalem as they were woont to doe then shall their harts turne to Roboam and séeke to kill me Wherefore he by the aduise of his Counsell made two goldâ—n Calues and set the one vp at Dan and the other at Bethel perswading the people that they were the Goddes which brought them out of Egipt and therefore it shoulde not néede any more for them to go vp to Ierusalem and worship so farre of but shoulde doe it nearer hande and with lesse traueyle and paine And when he perceyued the people to incline to his purpose he made a Temple to builde hyll Aultars therein for ydolatrie and placed a sorte of ignorant ministers which were not of the sonnes of Leuye in Dan and Bethell to trayne vp the people in worshipping of these Calues And the more to stirre vp the peoples deuotion he commaunded a solemne offering to be made in the honor of these Calues the .xv. day of the eyght Moneth and the same yearely to be obserued in remembrance of this newe kynde of ydolatrie whych in continuaunce was so rooted in Israel that it coulde neuer be cleane extinguished till it had brought al Israel to vtter destruction Nowe as the King was standing beside 13. cap. the Aultar at Bethell doing of sacrifice there came a man of God which cryed out against the Aultar saying O Aultar Aultar Thus sayth the Lorde beholde a chylde shall be borne vnto the house of Dauid Iosia by name and vpon thée shall he offer the Priestes of the hyll Aultars that burne incense vpon thée and they shall burne mens bones vpon thée And this is the token that the Lorde hath spoken it Beholde the Aultar shall rent and the ashes that are vpon it shall fall out The King was so angry with this that he stretched out hys hande agaynst the Prophet commaunding to lay hands on him and by by the Kings hand was dried vp so that he could not pull it to him agayne the Aultar claue a sunder and the ashes fell out as the man of God had spoken The King séeing now Gods iudgement fallen vpon him humbled himselfe to the Prophet by whose intercession to God his hande was restored agayne Great and continuall 2. Par. 13. cap. warre was betwéene this King Roboam King of Iuda but this euer preuayled till Abia the sonne of Roboam reygned and then he lost as much honour and more than he wanne before He reygned twoo and twenty yeares and dyed leauing Nadab his sonne to succéede him Reade more of this King in the storie of Abia King of Iuda and in the storye of Ahiah the Prophet and of Baasa King of Israel 4. Reg. 14. f. g Ieroboam the sonne of Ioas King of Israel began his raygne in the .xv. yeare of Amaziahu King of Iuda and woorshipped the golden Calues which Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat had set vp as other dyd before him He was a great warryour and victorious He restored the coastes of Israel from the entring of Hemath vnto the Sea of the wildernesse according to Ionas Prophecie And was styrred vp of the Lorde to helpe Israel being excéedingly afflicted out of all their trouble He reygned xlj yeares and dyed leauing Zacharias his sonne to succéede him ¶ Ieroboam Increasing the people 3. Reg. 16. g. 19. a. Iesabel the daughter of Ethbaal King of the Sydonites was a wicked woman Shée entised and pricked forwarde Achab hir husbande to all kinde of Idolatry she slue the Prophets of the Lorde and persecuted Elia. She 21. cap. caused Naboth to be stoned to death that hir husbande might inioye his vyneyarde Finally as she laye at Iesrael and hearing of Iehu his comming she trimmed hir 4. Reg. 9. g. selfe in gorgious attire and lay looking out at a window and as he came in at the gate she sayde vnto him Had Zimri peace which slue his maister As who should say Can a Traytour or any that riseth agaynst his superiour haue good successe But for asmuch as this was euen Gods â–ª determinacion that she shoulde be destroyed shée was cast out at the windowe with such violence that she was dashed all to péeces and so betramped and trodden with the féete of horses that when they came to take hir vp to be buried they founde no more of hir saue the scull the féete and the palmes of hir handes And then was the Prophecie of Elia fulfilled which sayde In the fielde of Iesrael shall dogges eate the flesh of Iezabel and the carcasse of Iezabel shall lye as dung vpon the earth so that none shall saye this is Iezabel ¶ Iezabel an Ylande or an babitacion Luk. 2. cap. Iesus the sonne of God was borne of the Virgin Mary in Bethleem a citie of Iuda in the yeare after the Creacion of the worlde 3962. Lanquet whose byrth immediatly was honoured by the glorification of Angels the Agnition of Shepheards the veneracion of the wisemen and the Prophecies of holy Symeon and Anna. And at the age of .xij. yeares was had in admiracion among the Doctours in the Temple at Ierusalem where their parents founde hym and brought him to Narareth but what he dyd from that time foorth tyll he came to the age of thirtie yeares the Euaungelistes make no mention Hée was then Baptised of Iohn in Iordane And to witnesse â— cap. that he was the very Messias sent of God the holy Ghost descended downe from
of his finger in water to coole my tongue for I am sore tormeÌ„ted in this flame Naye sayde Abraham forasmuch as in thy life time thou receiuedst thy pleasure and had no pitie on the poore now art thou punished And contrarywise Lazarus which receyued paine and tooke it paciently is nowe comforted Lea was the eldest daughter of Laban the sonne of Nahor Abrahams brother somewhat squint eyed She preuented hir sister Rachel in marriage being brought to Iacobs bedde in hir sisters steade and so became Iacobs first wyfe bare vnto him one after an other these foure sonnes Ruben Simeon Leuie Iuda and so ceased till it chaunced Ruben hir eldest sonne in the tyme of wheate haruest to go out into the fields finde Mandrakes and brought them home to his mother Then Rachel hearing thereof went to Lea hir sister desiring to haue hir sonnes Mandrakes who sayde to Rachel is it not ynough that thou hast taken awaye my husbande but wouldest take away my sonnes Mandrakes also Well quoth Rachel let hym sléepe with thée this night for thy sonnes Mandrakes And so Iacob comming out of the fielde at euen Lea met him and sayde Come in vnto me for I haue bought thée with my sonnes Mandrakes and that nyght she conceyued with Iacob and brought him forth the fift sonne and called his name Isachar After that she conceyued againe and brought him forth the sixt sonne and called his name Zabulon Last of all shée conceiued and brought hym foorth a daughter and called hyr name Dyna Leuy the thirde sonne of Iacob and Lea with his brother Simeon slue Hemor and Sichem his sonne for rauishing of their sister Dyna And therefore were they called of Iacob their father Cruell Instruments Leuy had thrée sonnes Gerson Caath and Merari The tribe of Leuy the Lorde chose vnto hymselfe and appoynted them to serue in the Tabernacle of witnesse with Aaron to beare the Arke of the appoyntment of the Lord to minister and blesse in his name and had no inheritance among their brethren but the Lorde who was their inheritance He lyued 137. yeres Luke 5. f. Leuy otherwise called Mathewe the sonne of Alpheus was a Toll gatherer or a receyuer of Custome who at the voyce of Iesus when he sayde folow me left Mar. 2. c. his office and all thinges behinde him and followed the Math. 9. 2. Lorde And became of a sinfull Publican a true Disciple of Christ He inuited Iesus to his house and made him a great Feast at the which were many Publicanes beside other of his acquaintaunce which sate at meate with Christ and his Disciples wherewith the Phariseys were much offended .3 Sichemitarum regem cum freÌ„ necaui Disiecique urbis moenia celsa ferox Propterea Leui poenas fert nil propriuÌ„que Possidet in certo nec manet ipse loco Hac f. Act. 16. 6. Lidia was a certaine woman and a seller of Purple in the Citie of Thiatria and a worshipper of God whose heart the Lorde so opened at the preaching of Paule that she with all hir housholde were conuerted and baptised saying then to Paule and the other Disciples if ye haue iudged me to be faythfull to the Lorde come into my house and abide there and so she constrayned them who founde so much faythfulnesse then in the woman that afterwarde being cast in prison and deliuered againe they returned into hir house to comfort the brethren which resorted thither ¶ Lydia Natiuitie or generation 1. Mac. 3. c. Lysias being a great man with Antiochus and of his bloude was such an enimie vnto the Iewes that the King made him Captayne of his host who with fourtye thousande footemen and seauen thousande horsemen went to fight agaynst Iudas Machabeus But Iudas ouercame hym and slue thrée thousand of his men Then Lysias being sore grieued at Israels prosperitie came 4. c. d. at an other tyme with thréescore thousand footemen and fiue thousand horsemen at which time Iudas ouercame hym agayne and slue fiue thousand of his men Finally as he laye with Antiochus the King at the Citie of Antioche 7. 2. Demetrius came vpon them and slue them both ¶ Lysias Dissoluing Act. 22. d. Lysias was an hye Captayne vnder the Emperour and hauing Paule committed vnto hym as prysoner was afrayde to punishe hym bycause hée was a Romayne And therefore to knowe the certayntie wherefore the Iewes had accused hym he brought hym foorth 23. cap. before the Counsell where in the ende fell such discention and debate among them that Lysias fearing least Paule shoulde haue bene pulde a sunder of the Iewes tooke him and had him into the Castle And hauing knowledge how the Iewes had conspired Pauls death he sent him awaye secretly by night to Felix being at that time the Emperours Lieutenaunt to whome he wrote on this wise Claudius Lysias vnto the most mighty ruler Felix sendeth gréetings As this man was taken of the Iewes and shoulde haue bene killed of them I came vppon them with Souldiours and rescued him perceyuing he was a Romayne And when I woulde haue knowne the cause wherefore they accused him I brought him foorth in their counsell There I perceyued that he was accused of questions of their lawe and had no cryme woorthy of death or of bondes and when it was shewed mée how that the Iewes layed wayte for the man I sent hym straight waye vnto thée commaunded his accusers if they had ought against him to tell it vnto thée Farewell Maâ—c 4. c. 2 f. g. Lysimachus was made the hye Priest of the Iews in the rowme of Menelaus his brother by whose Counsell he robbed the Temple did much mischiefe whose wickednesse was so manifest vnto the people that they rose vppe agaynst him and made a great vprore in the Citie Wherevpon Lysimachus perceyuing where about they went got vnto him thrée thousande vnthriftes well armed for his defence Agaynst whome the multitude fought so furiously with clubbe and battes and with hurling of stones and such weapons as they coulde get that they wounded many slue some and chased the reast awaye and at the last kylled the wicked Churche robber himselfe beside the Tresurye ¶ Lysimachus dissoluing Battell Ose 1. d. Loammy was the seconde Sonne of Gomer the daughter of Deblaim And when she brought hym foorth the Lorde sayde Call his name Loammy For why yée are not my people therefore wyll not I be your God. ¶ Loammy not my People 2. Tim. 1. 2. Loys was a faythfull godly woman and Graundmother to Tymothy who alwayes brought vp hir Children and famylie in the feare of God and knowledge of Christes Doctrine ¶ Loys Better Ose 1. â— Lornhama was the daughter of Gomer the daughter of Deblaim And when she brought hym foorth the Lorde sayde Call his name Lornhama for I will haue no pittie vppon the house
But when Menelaus was come to the King he so craftily handled the matter with flatterie and fayre promises that he both defrauded the King of his money and Iason of his office which when he had obtained returned with an hye stomacke more lyke a cruell tyrant and the wrath of a wylde brute beast than any thing that beséemed a Priest But when the King had knowledge of all his deceyte and falshoode he discharged him agayne putting Lysimachus hys brother in hys roume Then Menelaus being thus thrust out of office wayted hys tyme to be reuenged And when he had spyed the King about his weightie affayres as in the suppression of certayne Kebels leauing Andronicus behinde him to be his Lieutenaunt and supposing then to haue a conuenient tyme he went and stole out of the Temple certayne vessels of golde and gaue them to Andronicus And after he had made him his assured friende he ministred such wicked counsell both to Andronicus and Lysimachus his brother that the one murdred Onias and the other spoiled and robbed the â–ª Temple of god Wherfore the King at his returne againe caused Andronicus to be put to death and the other the people furiouslye fell vpon him and killed him And forsomuch as Menelaus â–ª was greatlye suspected to be the chiefe causer of all this murther a Court was called and many sore complaintes layde against him Then Menelaus perceyuing himselfe in the Kings displeasure and daunger of his lawes went to Ptolomie one of the thrée Ambassadours and with money made him his friende who went to the King and so laboured the matter that he brought Menelaus into such fauour with the King againe that he was quite â–ª discharged from all accusations and his accusers condemned to death Thus thorow couetous Magistrates Menelaus remayned still in authoritie Being nowe more malicious vnto the Iewes his owne nation than euer he was As it appeared afterwarde what time as he ayded Antiochus and was his guyde to the spoyling of the Temple But at the last his falshoode came to a foule ende for Lysias which was Lorde Steward to Antiochus and chiefe Ruler of all his matters so enformed the King of his vngraciousnesse that he commaunded â–ª Menelaus who had done so much mischiefe against the Aultar of God whose fire and ashes were holy to be cast into a tower of fiftie cubites hye heaped vp with ashes and so miserably ended his lyfe Merob was the eldest Daughter of King Saule who promised hir in mariage to Dauid But or the time came that Dauid shoulde enioy hir Saule gaue hir to an other man named Adriel by whome she conceyued and bare him fiue sonnes 4. Reg. 3. cap. Mesa the King of Moab was a great Lord of shéepe And where as the Moabites had of long time payed tribute vnto the Kings of Israel euery yeare one hundred thousand Lambes with so many Rammes or Wethers in the Wooll with their fléece vpon their backes Thys King woulde paye none to Ioram the sonne of Achab for the which Ioram made warre agaynst him and ouercame him ¶ Mesa Health or the water of health or looking vpon the water Iudic. 17. cap. Micah was a certaine man dwelling in Mounte Ephraim whose mother made him an Idoll of siluer which he set vp in the house of his goddes and made an Ephod and consecrated one of his owne sonnes to be his Priestes and so continued vntill it chaunced a yong Leuite to come from Bethleem Iuda to séeke seruice Which Leuite Micah hyred for tenne siluerlings by the yeare two garments and meate and drinke And when he had hyred the Leuite he was glad saying Nowe am I sure that God will looue me séeing I haue a Leuite to my Priest At this time the Tribe of Dan forasmuch 18. cap. as the portion which Iosua gaue them was not sufficient for all their Tribe went to seeke them a place to dwell in And as they were going to the Citie of Lays they came by the house of Micah And being enformed by those men whome they had sent before to spye out the lande howe there was in the house of Micah a grauen and a molten Image they turned in thither and saluted him peaceably but at their departing they tooke hys Idols against the Leuites will perswading him that it was not so good to be a Priest vnto the house of one man as it was to be a Priest vnto a whole Tribe or kinred in Israel and so tooke him away with them also And being gone Micah made a great outcrie and followed after the children of Dan with all the power he coulde make to rescue his goddes but being perswaded to be content and to get him home least a woorse thing did happen he then perceyuing he was not able to make his partie good returned backe againe Reade the Storie of Dan. ¶ Micah who lyke our God or pouertie or the lowlynesse of the Lorde or the Lorde striking Michael the sonne of Israhia ¶ Michael who is 1. Par. 7. â— lyke the Lorde Dan. 10. c. Michael one of the chiefe Princes that was sent to comfort Daniel Iude. Michael the Archaungell which stroue agaynst the Deuill and disputed about the body of Moses Apoc. 12. b. Michael and his Aungels that fought agaynst the Dragon 3. Reg. 22. ca. Micheas the sonne of Imla was a Prophete in This was not that prophete that wrote the booke of prophecies but another of that name the dayes of King Achab and â–ª for bicause he woulde not flatter the King as the foure hundred false Prophetes had done but prophecied plainly of the Kings death he was smitten and cast in prison ¶ Micheas Poore or lowe and base 1. Reg. 18. â— f. g. Michol was the seconde daughter of King Saule whome he gaue to Dauid to be his wyfe that she might be a snare to bring him into the hands of the â–ª Philistines But Michol loued Dauid so well â–ª that he coulde not haue 19. c. his purpose that waye For when he sent men to watche his house and to sley him Michol tolde â–ª Dauid â–ª saying Except thou saue thy selfe this night to morrowe thou wilt be slayne wherefore to saue the lyfe of Dauid she let him downe at a backewindowe and layed an Image in his bedde â–ª with a pillow vnder his heade stuffed with Goates heaire and couered it with a cloth And when the men came into the house in the morning and asked for Dauid Michol sayde he was sicke â–ª The Messengers then thinking to haue caryed hym bedde and all to the King as he had commaunded went into Dauids chamber and when they came there and founde nothing else in the bedde but a blocke they were ashamed and so returned to Saule and tolde hym Thon Michâ—â— being demaunded wherefore she had so derided hym and sent his enimie awaye made hir excuse that if she had not let hym go he woulde haue
kylled hir After this hir father tooke hir from Dauid and gaue hir to * Loke in the hystorie of Psaltei howe he vsed Michol Dauids wyfe Psaltei the sonne of Lays to wyfe with whome she remayned tyll the death of Saule and then was restored agayne to Dauid by Abners meanes Finally when Dauid came dauncing before the Arke of God in his shyrte â–ª to the Citie of Dauid it chauncâ—d Michol to looke out at a window and beholding the King how he leaped and daunced before the Arke she began to despise hym in hir heart â–ª and méeting him after all thinges were done she sayde O how glorious was the King of Israel this daye which was vncouered to day in the eyes of the Maydens of his seruaunts as a foole vncouereth himselfe And for thus despising of Dauid the seruaunt of God the Lorde plagued hir with Baraynesse that she neuer â–ª had Childe ¶ Michol who is perfect 2. Reg. 4. b. Miphiboseth the sonne of Ionathas was lame in his féete by reason his nurse by misfortune in his infancie let him fall to the grounde out of hir armes and was brought vp and nourished after the death of his father 9. cap. in the hâ—uie of Machir tyll Dauid comming to his Kingdome tooke him from thence and restored him to all the lande of King Saule making Ziba his seruaunt chiefe ouerséer and nâ—câ—yuâ—r of the landes and to sée Micah his maysters sonne well brought vp and cherished for so much as Miphiboseth shoulde remayne with hym and eatâ— and drincke at his owne boorde â–ª Now after this when Dauid was brought into so great affliction trouble by reason of Absalom his sonnâ— Miphiboseth remayned still at Ierusalem and neuer â–ª remooued But Ziba 2. Reg. 16. â— his seruaunt went after Dauid with a present and by false report of Miphiboseth his mayster got hys lande from hym â–ª And when the King was returned and come to Ierusalem â–ª agayne then Miphiboseth who had neyther 19. â— washed his féete nor dressed his bearde nor washed his clothes from the tyme the King departed vntill he returned in peace went out to méete him and when the King sawe him he sayde Wherefore wentest thou not with mée Miphiboseth He aunswered My Lorde O King my seruaunt deceyued mée for thy seruaunt sayde I woulde haue myne Asse sadled to ryde thereon for to go with the King bycause thy seruaunt is lame Therefore Ziba hath falsely accused thy seruaunt to my Lorde the King but my Lord the King is as an Angell of God Doe therefore what it pleaseth thée for all my Fathers house were but deade mâ—n before my Lord the King and yet dydst thou set thy seruaunt amonge them that dyd eate at thine owne table What right haue I to cry any more vnto the King Then sayde Dauid â–ª why speakest thou yet in thine owne cause I haue sayde Thou and Ziba deuide the lande betwéene you Yea sayde Miphiboseth let him take all séeing my Lord the King is come home in peace ¶ Miphiboseth shame or confusion from the mouth â— Reg. 21. b. Miphiboseth the sonne of Rizpa King Sauls Concubine was of the Gibeonits with his brother Armony hanged for their fathers offence Exo. 6. c. Miriam was the daughter of Amram Iochebed and sister to Aaron and Moses When hir brother Moses 15. c. had brought the children of Israel thorow the redde Sea Miriam the Prophetesse tooke a Tymbrell in hir hande with other women following in like sorte and began ioyfully to sing and daunce their song was this Sing yée vnto the Lorde for he hath triumphed gloriously The horse and ryder hath he ouerthrowen in the Sea. After this she grudged agaynst Moses because he had taken a Num. 12. cap. woman of Inde to his wyfe wherefore the Lorde smote hir with Leprosie Then Moses partly for pittie and partly at the intercession of Aaron his brother besought the Lorde to heale hir who made hym aunswere saying If hir father in anger had spitte in hir face shoulde she not haue béene ashamed seauen dayes Let hir be shut out of the hoste seauen dayes which being doone she was restored and receyued in agayne Finallye when 20. 2. Moses and the children of Israel were come to Cades there she dyed and was buryed ¶ Miriam exalted or reaching Dan. â— b. 3. ca. Misach first called Misael was one of Daniels companions and one of the thrée which was cast into the whote burning Ouen and myraculously preserued ¶ Misach prolonging or drawing to him or compassing the waters or hedging 3. Esd 2. b. Mithridatus was King Cyrus treasurer at whose commaundement he deliuered all the holye vessels of golde and siluer pertayning to the house of the Lorde to Salmanasar the Deputie in Iewrie The number of which vessels was fiue thousand eyght hundred and thrée score ¶ Mithridatus dissoluing the lawe Act. 21. d Mnason was a certayne godlye man and a Cyprian borne who had of long tyme beléeued the Gospell in whose house Paul was hosted at Ierusalem ¶ Mnason a searcher out or promising or remembring Exod. 2. cap. Moyses the sonne of Amram and Iochebed was myraculously preserued at his byrth For where as Pharao the King of Egipt had straightly commaunded the Moses signifieth preserued from the water Mydwyues that whensoeuer they saw an Hebrue bring soorth a man chylde they shoulde cast it into the ryuer yet Moses being borne a proper childe was notwithstanding the Kinges commaundement kept secretlye thrée monthes And when his parents coulde hide him no longer they closed him in a basket made of réede or Bulrushes dawbed with slyme and pitch and layd him in the ryuer And as the childs sister stoode looking what should become of him it came to passe that King Pharaos * Hir name was Termuth daughter came awalking by the ryuer syde who séeing the basket â—leting vppon the ryuer caused one of hir folkes to take it vp â–ª And when she had opened the basket and sawe the Childe she had pittie vpon it and caused the Mayde his sister to fet hir a Nurse who went and brought his owne mother And so the childe being nursed brought vp in Pharaos house was instructed from his Childehoode in all maner cunning and wisedome of the Egiptians and became mightie in wordes and déedes Howe that Moyses impediment of speach came The king on a time for his daughters sake tooke the childe in hys armes and set the crown vppon hys heade which Moses as it were chyldishly playing hurled to the grounde and with hys foote spurned it At the whiche the Priest cryed out saying that this was he of whome it was prophecied that he should destroy Egipt Then Termuth excused the chylde alleaging his infancie and sacke of discretion And for proofe thereof caused burning coales to be put to hys mouth which the child with his tongue licked
wherby he euer after had impediment in his tongue Lanquet sauing in his speache he had an impediment And when he was full fourtie yeare olde it came in his heart to go and visite his brethren the children of Israel whome Pharao vexed without all measure And as he saw an Egiptian smyting an Hebrue he slue the Egiptian and hid him in the sande The next day he went agayne and founde twoo Israelites striuing togithers and demaunded of him that had done the wrong wherefore he smote his fellowe who made thée a Iudge quoth he or a Ruler ouer vs Thinkest thou to kill mée as thou dydst the Egiptian yesterdaye Then Moses perceyuing his fact to be knowne for sooke to be the sonne of the daughter of Pharao and fled into the lande of Madian where he was receyued into the house of Iethro who gaue to him in mariage his daughter Ziphora by whome in processe he had twoo sonnes And when he had continued with Iethro his father in lawe fourtie yeres and kept his shéepe the Lorde appeared to him in the wyldernesse of Synay out of a bushe which séemed to be all on fyre and there gaue hym authoritie to go into Egipt to deliuer his people out of the bondage of Pharao Who at last after dyuers myracles doone by hym in the sight of Pharao for the confirmation of hys Authoritie brought them thorowe the redde Sea and deliuered them quite out of bondage Thus was Moses whome they had before refused both their Deliuerer and Ruler He was a man full of méekenesse he lyued one hundred twentie yeres and was buryed by Angles in the lande of Moab whose Sepulchre was neuer knowne ¶ Moses drawne vp N. NAaman Captayne of the hoste of the King of Siria was a mightie man and honorable in the sight of his Lorde bicause that by him the Lorde had deliuered the Sirians He was also a valiant man and expert in warres but was a Leper Wherefore the King of Siria being enformed that there was a Prophet in Samaria that coulde heale his seruant Naaman of his leprosie sent him to Ioram King of Israel with his letter conteyning this tenor Nowe when this letter is come vnto thée vnderstande that I haue sent thée Naaman my seruaunt that thou mayest heale him of his Leprosie And when the King had redde the letter he rent his clothes saying Am I a God to kill and to giue lyfe that he sendeth to me that I shoulde heale a man of his leprosie Consider I pray you howe he séeketh a quarrell against me The Prophet hearing of this sent to the King to sende Naaman vnto him And when he was come to the house of Elizeus and stoode at the doore the prophet sent him worde and bade him go washe him scauen times in Iordan and he shoulde be whole Then Naaman departed in displesaure saying I thought with my self he will surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lorde his God and put his hande on the place and heale the leprosie Are not Abana and Pharphar riuers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel may I not as well washe me in them and be clensed Then one of his seruantes sayde father if the Prophete had commaunded thée to doe a great thing wouldest thou not haue done it how muche rather then when he sayth to thée washe and be cleane And so at his seruantes perswasion he went to Iordan and washed him seauen times as the Prophete had commaunded and being whole he returned to the Prophet and gaue thankes vnto God saying Nowe I knowe that there is no God in all the worlde but in Israel And so making promise he woulde neuer offer sacrifice nor offering to any other God saue vnto the Lorde God of Israel he returned home into his Countrey agayne Nabal was a great riche man but of churlishe nature and frowarde condicion As he lay in Carmel in the time of his shéepe shearing Dauid sent certaine of hys men desiring Nabal to helpe him now in his great necessitie with some of his victuals whatsoeuer he woulde and he woulde requite him at one tyme or other But he not regarding their message made them this churlishe answere againe who is Dauid or who is the sonne of Isai There be many seruants nowe a dayes that breake away from their maisters shall I then take awaye my breade and my water and my fleshe which I haue killed for my shéerers and giue it vnto men whom I know not whence they be And so with this answere the messengers departed Reade the storie of Abigail for the reast of his life Naboth was a certaine rich man and a Iesrahelite borne whose Vineyarde lay ioyning harde by the palace of Achab King of Israel which Vineyarde the King woulde fayne haue bought and giuen him as much for it as the grounde was woorth But Naboth consideryng it was his fathers inheritaunce and that he had no néede to sell it woulde in no wise graunt therevnto Wherefore the King being heauie and sadde went home to hys house and sayde him downe vpon his bed so waywarde that he coulde neyther eate nor drinke Then came Iezabel his wyfe and demaunded why he was so sadde who tolde hir it was for Nabothes Vineyarde which he had denyed him What quoth she doest thou gouerne the kingdome of Israel vp and eate thy meat and set thine heart at rest and I will giue thée the Vineyarde And so she wrote a letter in Achabs name sealed with the kings Signet and sent it to the Elders of the Citie where Naboth dwelt commaunding them to proclayme a fast and ser Naboth among the chiefest of the people and to bring two false witnesses against him which should saye he had blasphéemed God and the King and then to put him to death And so all thinges were done according to the tenor of Iezabels letter and Naboth caryed out of the Citie and stoned Nabuchodonosor was King of Babilon And by the occasion of his great and woonderfull dominion fell into such pryde that he woulde haue hys Image honoured for god But shortlye after he sawe the vision of the falling trée whereby he was warned of hys fall and sodaynly by the power of God transformed and turned into a beastly fury lyuing in the woodes among beastes eating hearbes and grasse for the space of seauen yeares Finally God of his mercy restored hym agayne to his prestyne forme who afterwarde lyued well and commaunded that the very God of heauen shoulde be honoured of all men and whosoeuer refused so to doe shoulde dye Nadab the sonne of Ieroboam began to raygne ouer Israel in the seconde yeare of Asa King of Iuda and walked in all the wicked steppes of his father And in the seconde yeare of his raygne as he was laying siege to a Citie of the Philistins called Gibbethon Eaasa conspired agaynst hym and slue him Taking
agyanst Moses thinking to haue wonne his spurres in reuenging his neighbours quarell But when it came to triall he spedde no better than his neighbour had done before him Onan was the seconde Sonne of Iuda who after the death of Er his eldest brother was maryed to Thamar his brothers wife to styrre vp séede vnto his brother But when he perceyued that the séede shoulde be none of his he practised such wickednesse that the vengeaunce of God fell vpon him and siue hym Onesimus being in seruice with Philemon lyke an vnfaythfull seruaunt robbed his mayster and ranne away from him to Rome Where by hearing of Paule who at that time was in bondes he receyued the Doctrine of the Gospell and serued Paule in Prison and became so faithfull a souldiour of Christ that Paule sent him with Tichicus to the Collossians with his Epistle commending him vnto them on this wise And with Tichicus I haue sent Onesimus a faythfull and beloued brother which is one of you Finallye he sent him home to his mayster agayne beséeching Philemon not to receyue him now as a seruaunt but more than a seruaunt euen as a faythfull brother as his owne sonne whome he had in his bandes begotten to Christ offering himselfe suertye to make good whatsoeuer hurt he had done him in tyme past Onesiphorus was a faythfull godly man a great refresher of suche as were in bondes for the doctrine of Christ as Saint Paule doth testifie of him saying The Lorde giue mercy vnto the householde of Onesiphorus for he oft refreshed mée and was not ashamed of my chayne But when he was at Rome he sought mée out very diligently and founde mée The Lorde graunt vnto him that he may finde mercye with the Lorde at that daye and in howe many thinges he ministered vnto mée at Ephesus thou knowest very well O Tymothy Onias the hye Priest among the Iewes was a man of such godlynesse and holinesse of lyfe that he alwayes sought the honour of the lawes and wealth of the people of god By his prayer that wicked man Heliodorus was restored to his health but notwithstanding all his vertue and goodnesse yet had he enimies For Symon a man voyde of all godlinesse neuer ceased withall slaunderous and euill reportes that he coulde deuise to Seleucus the King to bring him out of fauour which he coulde neuer doe so long as the King lyued But Seleucus being dead Onias was soone put out of office by the false deceyt and meanes of his owne brother Iason and brought in such feare thorow him and Menelaus with other his enimies that he was fayne to take sanctuary Where at the last by the counsell of Menelaus he was without all regarde of righteousnesse most trayterously slayne by the hands of Andronicus whose innocent death was so sore lamented both of the Iewes and also of Antiochus the King himselfe that at his comming home hée rewarded the malefactor according to his dédes Ooliab the sonne of Achisamec of the Tribe of Dan was a Craftes man whome the Lorde had endued with great cunning and appointed him to Moses for one of the chiefe workemen for the finishing of the Temple Oreb and Zeb were two great Captaynes among the Madianites whome the men of Mount Ephraim which had stopped the waters from Bethbarath to Iordane tooke and smote of their heades and sent them to Gedeon on the other side of Iordan Ornan was a certayne Iebusite vnto whome the Lorde commaunded Dauid after he had plagued hym with pestilence to go and reare vp an Aultar in his threshing floure At whose comming Ornan fell downe before hym and sayde Wherefore is my Lorde the King come to his seruaunt I am come quoth he to buye thy threshing floure and to make an Aultar vnto the Lorde that the plague maye cease from the people Ornan Let my Lorde the King take and offer what séemeth him good in his eyes And moreouer here be Oxen for burnt sacrifice and sleades with other instruments for woodde take them all to thée as thine owne Dauid sayde Naye not so but I will buye it for sufficient money for I will not take that which is thine for the Lorde nor offer burnt offerings without cost And so Dauid gaue Ornan for that place Sixe hundred sicles of golde by waight Orpha and Ruth were twoo Damosels of the countrey of Moab which were maryed to the twoo sonnes of Elimelech and Naomy straungers come out of the Lande of Iuda there to dwell Reade the Story of Naomy for the reast Osias the sonne of Micha of the Tribe of Symeon was one of the principall Fathers and Rulers among the Israelites what tyme as Holofernes besieged the Citie of Bethulia This man comforted Achior which had so boldlye magnified praysed the great power and strength of God before Holofernes and tooke him into his house where he made hym a great Supper to the which he called the Elders who altogithers praysed God in him Also when the people came wéeping and crying out ▪ vnto hym to giue ouer the Citie into the handes of the Assirians he sayde vnto them Oh take good hearts vnto you deare brethren and be of good cheare and let vs wayte yet these fiue dayes for mercye of the Lorde peraduenture he shall put away his indignacion and giue glorie vnto his name But if he helpe vs not after these fiue daies be past we shall doe as ye haue sayde which counsell of Osias pleased not Iudith bycause he had set the mercye of God a tyme and appointed hym a daye at his pleasure So that after this Osias remayned in prayer and followed the deuise of Iudith in all things Othoniel was the sonne of Kenes vnto whom Caleb his elder brother gaue Acsah his daughter to wyfe for winning of a certayne Citie called Kariath Sepher This man deliuered the children of Israel from the Captiuitie of Chusan Kisathaim king of Mesopotamia which had oppressed them eyght yeares and Iudged Israel fourtie yeares P. CONVERSIO SAVLI Io. Sadeley sculpt C. M. Cum priuil 1580 F. Pourbus inven Saulus Tharsensis ex itinere diuinitus prostratus Damascum Ananiae in disciplinam tradendus ducitur An. ' ab Ascenss XI II. Illustri ac Generoso D. D. Ottoni Henrico Comiti à Suuartzenberg Et̄ Sa. Cae. M. t is Consiliario supremo ausae Mareschallo Sculptor obser ergó d. d. Pekahia the sonne of Menahen began his reigne ouer Israel in the fiftie yeare of the reigne of Azaria king of Iuda and departed not from the sinnes of Ieroboam but walked therein as his father did before him He had not reygned two yeares or that Pekak his owne Captaine rose against him and slue him in Samaria and reygned in his steade Pekah the sonne of Remaliahin began his reygne ouer Israel in the .lij. yeare of Azaria King of
much kindnesse to his Father and to all his kinred After this Pharao rose there vp another which knew not Ioseph And he without all measure vexed the Children of Israel And thinking by his humayne wisedome to haue let their increase he coÌ„maunded the Mydwyues to destroye the men Children of the Hebrues assoone as they were borne Whose policie tooke no effect for Moses notwithstanding was preserued and brought vp euen in his owne house fourtie yeares And after the death of this Pharao there came an other whose heart God did harden and plagued him with tenne marueylous plagues before he woulde let the Israelites depart out of his lande And persisting in his obstinacie and frowarde heart God at the last drowned hym and all his hoste in the redde Sea. There was yet an other mightie Prince of this name whose kingdome ioyned so nyghe to Salomons that Salomon to make himselfe the stronger made affinitie with him and maryed his daughter And this Pharao tooke the Citie of Gaza from the Cananites and gaue it with the Countrey there about to Salomon for his daughters dowrye Finallye Pharao Necho in the dayes of Iehoahas the sonne of Iosia king of Iuda came and deposed hym making Elyakym his brother King in his steade and merced the lande in a hundred Talents of Siluer and one of golde and caryed Iehoahas awaye with hym into Egipt Phebe was a certayne woman which serued in the Congregacion of Cenchrea by whome Paule sent his Epistle to the Romaynes wherein he sayth in hir prayse and commendacion on this wise I commende vnto you Phebe our sister which is a seruaunt of the Congregacion of Cenchrea that yée receyue hir in the Lorde as it becommeth saintes And yée assist hir in whatsoeuer busynesse she néedeth of your ayde for she hath succoured many and mée also Phigelus was one of them in Asia which had cleaued to Pauls doctrine and afterwarde forsooke hym Of whome Paule writeth to Timothy thus This thou knowest howe that all they which are in Asia be turned from me of which sorte are Phigelus and Hermogenes Philemon looke Onisimus Philetus was a certayne man in S. Paules tyme which erred from the truth saying that the resurrection was past already of whose errour Paule warneth Timothy saying on this wyse Study to shew thy selfe laudable vnto God a workeman that néedeth not to be ashamed destributing the worde of trueth iustlye as for vngestlye vanities of voyces passe thou ouer them for they will increase vnto vngodlynesse and their wordes shall frette as doth the disease of a Canker of whose number is Himeneus and Philetus which as concerning the trueth haue erred saying the resurrection is past alreadye and doe destroy the fayth of many Philip. To this man Antiochus the King at the day of his death coÌ„mitted the gouernance of his yong sonne Antiochus with the whole Realme during his nonage Which Philip afterward went into Persia with a great hoste leauing the Kinges sonne vnder the tuition of Lysias who in the absence of Philip made Antiochus King in his fathers steade adding to his name Eupater Then Philip hearing of this whose intent was to be King him selfe returned with the Kings armie out of Persia and came to Antioch where he got the dominion But Lysias hearing thereof made haste to Antioch where he fought with Philip and in â—ine got the Citie from him Philip a man borne in Bethsaida a Citie of Galile was called to be an Apostle After whose calling he went to Nathaniel and sayde we haue founde him of whome Moses in the Lawe and the Prophetes did wryte Iesus the sonne of Ioseph of Nazareth and so brought him to Iesus This is he whome Christ asked to prooue him where he might buye so much breade as woulde serue the company to eate that came vnto him who made aunswere that two hundreth penywoorth woulde not suffyce them to haue but euery man a little Also when there were certaine Gréekes which came to Philip saying they were desirous to sée Iesus Philip went and tolde Andrew And agayne Andrewe and Philip tolde Iesus Furthermore when Iesus reasoned with his Disciples about his father saying that they both knewe him and had séene him Philip sayd Lord shew vs the father and it sufficeth vs Nowe after the death of Christ and persecution that was about Steuen Philip went to the Citie of Samaria where he preached Christ and did not only conuert the whole Citie but also Simon Magus the Sorcerer who had of long time seduced the same Citie with his sorcerie and witchcraft And when he had thus sowen the worde of God among the Samaritanes the Angell of the Lord spake vnto Philip saying Arise and go towarde the South vnto the waye that goeth downe from Ierusalem vnto the Citie of Gaza which is in the desert And as he was going he met in the way by Gods prouidence a certaine man of Ethiopia a Chamberlaine and of great authoritie with Candace Quéene of Ethiope which had bene at Ierusalem to worship And returning homewarde sitting in his Chariot he readde the booke of Esay the Prophete Then Philip being commaunded by the spirite of God to go and ioyne himselfe vnto the Chariote went And when hée came neare and hearde him reading of Esaye the Prophet he sayde vnto the Chamberlayne vnderstandest thou what thou readest Howe can I quoth he except I had a guyde wherefore I pray thée come vppe and sitte with me The tenor of the Scripture which he readde was this He was ledde as a shéepe to be slayne and like a Lambe dumbe before his shearer so opened he not hys mouth Bicause of his humblenesse he was not estéemed But who shall declare his generation and his lyfe is taken from the earth When Philip had repeated thys Text vnto the Chamberlaine he sayde vnto Philip I pray thée of whome speaketh the Prophet this of himselfe or of some other man Then began Philip at the same Scripture and preached vnto him Iesus And as they went on their waye they came by a certayne water And the Chamberlayne sayde to Philip. Sée here is water what doth let me to be baptised Philip sayde if thou beléeue with all thy heart thou mayest And he sayde I beléeue that Iesus Christ is the sonne of god Then was the Chariot stayed till they both went downe into the water where Philip baptised him And assoone as they were both out of the water the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip so that the Chamberlaine saw him no more who went awaye reioyceing But the Aungell sette Philip downe in the next Citie called Azotus who walked thorowout the Countrie preaching in all the Cities till he came to Cesarea Philip the Euangelist was one of the seauen Deacons He dwelt in Cesarea and had foure daughters which did prophecie Phinehes the Sonne of Eleazar was so gelyous ouer the lawes of God
brought his daughter into hir Chamber and sayde Be of good chere my daughter the Lorde of heauen giue thée ioy for the heauinesse that thou hast suffered and so went to rest Then in the morning about the Cocke crowing Raguel supposing all things to haue happened to Toby as it did to the other seauen before called vp his men and went and made ready his graue which being done he bade his wyfe sende one of hir Maydens to looke if Toby were dead that he might burye him before day light And when it was tolde him they were both sounde and fast a sléepe he praysed God and caused his men to fill vp the graue agayne and made a great feast to all his neighbours and friendes And gaue to Toby the halfe of all his goodes and made him a sure writing for the other halfe that remayned to be his also after his death And at the daye of their departure deliuered the goodes taking his leaue sayde The holy Angell of the Lord be with you in your iourney and bring you forth safe and sounde that ye may finde all things in good case with your Elders and that mine eyes my sée your Children before I dye and so kissed them and let them go Rathumus with other Officers vnder Artaxerses King of Persia writeth vnto him agaynst the Iewes on this wyse Sir thy seruaunts Rathumus the story writer Sabellius the Scribe with other Iudges of the Court in Celosiria and Phinehes Be it knowne and manifested to our Lorde the King that the Iewes which are come vp from you to vs into the rebellious and wicked Citie beginne to buylde it agayne and the Walles about it and to set vp the Temple a newe Nowe if this citie and the Walles thereof be set vp agayne they shall not onely refuse to giue Tributs and Taxes but also rebell vtterly agaynst the king And for so much as they take this in hande nowe about the Temple we thought it not méete to passe ouer such a thing but to shew it vnto our Lorde the king And to certifie him thereof To the intent that if it might please the King to cause it to be sought in the bookes of old and thou shalt finde such warning written and shalt vnderstande that this Citie hath alwayes béene rebellious and disobedient that it hath subdued Kinges and Cities and that the Iewes which dwelt therein hath euer béene a rebellious obstinate vnfaythfull and fighting people for the which cause this Citie is wasted Wherefore nowe we certifye our Lorde the King that if this Citie be buylded and occupyed agayne and the Walles thereof set vp a newe thou canst haue no passage into Celosiria and Phenices And when Rathumus and the other had receyued the Kinges aunswere they got them to Ierusalem with an hoste of men and made the Iewes cease from their buylding which was not begun agayne vntill the seconde yeare of King Darius Rebecca was the daughter of Bathuel and sister to Laban As she went on a tyme with a pitcher vpon hir heade to the common Well without the Citie to draw water it chaunced Abrahams seruaunt to stande by the Well with ten Camels lying there about And when the Mayde had filled hir pot and set it vpon hir head readye to go awaye the man desired to drinke a little of hir water who foorthwithall set downe hir pot and gaue him drincke And when he had droncken she powred out the reast into the water trough and ran againe to the Well drew water for his Camels vntill they had all droncken their fill Then the man in hope the Lorde had made his iourney prosperous tooke out a Golden earing and twoo bracelets of Golde and gaue them to the Mayde demaunding whose daughter she was I am quoth she the daughter of Bathuel the Sonne of Milca which she bare vnto Nahor Then tell mée I praye thée is there rowme in thy fathers house for vs to lodge in Yea quoth she there is both rowme and lodging and also litter and prouander ynough for your beastes Blessed be God quoth he that hath delt so mercyfullye with my Mayster and hath brought me the right way to my maysters brothers house Then Rebecca hearing him speake of hir fathers brother ranne home and tolde all thinges what the man had sayde And as Laban behelde his sister and sawe the earyngs and bracelets vpon hir handes he ranne out to the man with gentle entertaynement brought him into the house and sawe his Camels drest and prouided for also set meate before him to eate But the man woulde not eate before he had declared the cause wherefore hys mayster had sent him which being done and his request graunted he eate made mery and taryed all night And on the morrow as the man made haste to go his way the Damosell was called foorth to know whither she woulde go with the man or no and being content to go with the man he woulde not tarye but tooke the Mayde and had hir to Isaac his maysters sonne whose wyfe she became And being twentie yeares without a Childe at last she conceyued with twoo and when she felt them striue within hir wombe she made hir mone to God saying Séeing it is so why am I thus with childe God made hir answere saying There are twoo maner of people in thy wombe two Nacions shal be deuided out of thy bowels And the one Nacion shal be mightier than the other And the elder shal be seruaunt to the yoonger And so when hir tyme was come to be delyuered she brought foorth twoo twynnes the one named Esau and the other Iacob Which twoo became mightie men but Rebecca looued Iacob better then Esau and to preferre hym before the other she sayde Heare mée my sonne Iacob I haue hearde thy Father saye to thy brother go and kyll some Venison and make mée meate thereof that I may eate and blesse thée before the Lorde afore I dye Now therefore my Sonne heare my voyce in that which I commaunde thée Get thée to the flocke and bring mée thence two good kyddes that I may make meate of them for thy father such as he loueth and thou shalt bring it hym to eate that he may blesse thée before his death Then sayde Iacob My brother Esau is a rough man and if my father shall happen to féele mée I shall séeme vnto him as I went about to deceyue him and so shall I bring a curse vpon mée not a blessing Well sayde Rebecca vpon mée be thy cursse my sonne onely heare my voyce and go and fetche me them And when he had brought the Kyddes and that she had drest the meate and made it readye she fette out certayne rayment of Esaus and put it vpon Iacob and couered his hands and the smoothe of his necke with Goate shinnes and put the meate in his hande to cary to his Father by which policie of Rebecca Iacob had his brothers
the Garpen as hir maner was with twoo of hir Maydens onely to wash hir selfe these twoo hidde themselues in the Garden agaynst hir comming And assoone as the Maydens had shut the Drcharde doores and were gone for Oyle and Sope for their Mystresse the twoo Elders came vppon Susanna and sayde The Garden doores be nowe shut that no man can sée vs and we burne in lust towardes thée therefore consent and lye with vs if thou wilt not we will beare witnesse agaynst thée that a yoong man was in the Drchard with thée and therefore thou senâ—t away thy Maydens Then Susanna sighed and sayde If I doe followe your minds it will be my death and if I consent not vnto you I cannot escape your handes It is better for mée to fall into your handes without the déede dooing than to sinne in the sight of the Lorde and with that cryed out with a lowde voyce and the Elders cryed out agaynst hir which clamour on both parties was so great that it was hearde among the Seruauntes without which ranne to the Orcharde doore and burst it open to sée what the matter was And when the seruaunts had heard the Elders report of Susanna they were greatly ashamed for there was neuer such a reporte made of Susanna before And so on the next morowe the twoo Elders full of mischieuous imaginacions declared the matter to Ioachym hir husband to bring hir to death And when she was come with hir father and mother hir Children and all hir kinne to be iudged according to the law she stoode before the twoo wicked Iudges with hir face couered who commaunded to take the cloth from hir face that at the least they might be satisfied with hir bewtie which thing being done The Iudges stoode vp and layed their handes vpon the heade of Susanna saying As we were walking in the Orcharde alone this woman came in with hir twoo Maydens whom she sent awaye from hir making fast the Orcharde doore after them Then starte their vp a yoong fellowe which laye hidde in the Garden and went vnto hir laye with hir Then we which stoode in a corner séeing this wickednesse â—anne vnto them and saw them as they were togither but we coulde not holde the fellowe for he was stronger than we and got open the doore and leaped out And when we demaunded of hir what fellow it was she woulde not tell vs This is the matter and we be witnesse of the same Then Susanna cryed out and sayde O euerlasting God thou searcher of heartes thou that knowest all things before they come â–ª to passe â–ª thou wotest that they haue borne false witnesse agaynst mée And beholde I muste dye whereas I neuer intended anye such thing as these men haue maliciously ymagined agaynst mée And as she was ledde towarde the place of execution the Lorde of Heauen which hearde hir prayer raysed vp the spirite of a little Childe called Daniel who cryed with a lowde voyce â–ª saying I am cleane from the bloude of this woman And when the people hearde that they stayed to knowe of the Childe what he ment by his woordes O yée Children of Israel sayde he are yée such fooles that without examinacion and knowledge of the truth ye haue condemned a daughter of Israel returne agayne to iudgement for they haue borne false witnesse agaynst hir Then the people went backe agayne and the Elders tooke Daniel and set him among them in iudgement Who when he had commaunded the twoo false witnesses to be seuered that he might examine them he called the one before hym and sayde O thou that arte olde in a wicked lyfe nowe thy sinâ—es which thou hast committed afore tyme are come to light Tell mée vnder what Trée thou sawest this woman and the yoong fellowe togither he sayde vnder a Mulbery Trée Now veryly quoth Daniel thou hast lyed and arte woorthy of death in that thou hast oppressed the innocent and letten the guiltie go frée contrarie to the woordes of the Lorde which sayth The innocent and righteous sée thou slay not Then he called the other and sayde O thou séede of Canaan but not of Iuda Bewtie hath disceyued thée and lust hath subverted thine heart Thus haue ye dealt with the daughters of Israel and they for feare consented vnto you but the daughters of Iuda woulde not abyde your wickednesse Now tell mée vnder what Trée dyddest thou take them companying togither He aunswered vnder a Pyne Trée Nowe verily sayde Daniel thou hast lyed also agaynst thine head The messenger of the Lord standeth wayting with the swoorde to cut thée in twoo and so to destroye you both And with that the whole assembly cryed with a lowde voyce and praysed God which so myraculously had preserued Susanna that daye And so fell vppon the twoo wicked Iudges and according to the law of Moses put them both to death ¶ Susanna one of those godly women which followed Christ and his Apostles relieuing them with hir substaunce as much as laye in hir power T. TAddeus was one of the twelue Apostles Act. 24. a. Tartullus was a certayne Dratour the which Ananias the hye Priest had brought with him to informe Felix the ruler agaynst Paule And when Paule was brought foorth Tartullus began to accuse hym saying Séeing that we lyue in great quietnesse by the meanes of thée and that many good thinges are done vnto this nacion thorowe thy prouidence that we euer alowe and in all places most mightie Felix with all thanks Notwithstanding that I be not tedyous vnto thée I praye thée that thou wouldest heare vs of thy curtesie a few words For we haue founde this man a Pestilent fellowe and a moouer of debate vnto all the Iewes thoroweout the Worlde and a maintayner of the sect of the Nazarites And hath also inforced to pollute the Temple whom we tooke and woulde haue iudged according to our law But the hygh captayne Lysias came vpon vs and with great violence tooke him away out of our handes commaunding his accusers to come vnto thée Of whome thou mayst if thou wilt inquyre knowe the certaynetie of all these thinges whereof we accuse him Tartullus a salsâ—reporter or a teller of tales a lyer Gen. 11. d. Terah was the sonne of Nahor the Sonne of Serug He at the age of seuentie yeres begot Abraham but he had before by an other wife Nahor and Haran All the dayes that Terah lyued were two hundred and fiue yere ¶ Terah Smelling ¶ Looke in the story of Abraham Rom. 16. d. Tercius was the name of him that wrote the Epistle of S. Paule to the Romaynes whyle Paule endited it saying on this wyse I Tercius salute you which wrote this Epistle in the Lord. ¶ Tercius a Latine worde 2. Reg. 13. a. b. c. d. Thamar the daughter of Dauid was so bewtiefull a yoong woman that Ammon hir brother fell sicke for hir loue And when she had visited Ammon at