great and the terrible day of the Lord come 32 And it shall come to passe that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered for in mount Zion and in Ierusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call CHAP. II. 1. NOw me thinks I see Ierusalem in danger of a siege Nabuchodonosars souldiers are on their march It is high time to leave your wonted mirth and musick Let the loud sounding of your trumpets in Sion which is a kind of summons and alarum to the Kings own house there and the beating of your drums in the holy Mountain which is a watchword to those about the Temple give notice of your necessary preparation for war And a terrible war it may prove to all the inhabitants of these parts They have had their day a long time of sin and liberty and now God will have his day a severe time of punishment which comes on faster then we think for 2. That destruction of Ierusalem by Nabuchodonosor shall be but the forerunner of a greater day and a heavier destruction by the Romans And that will be a terrible day indeed A sad and gloomy day a dismal and cloudy day which shall come with as much speed and as sodain danger upon Ierusalem in all their security as the clear light of the morning that in an instant spreds and diffuseth it self over the mountains and imparts his lustre to all the world And answerable to this will be the agilitiy and quick dispatch that shall be used by those Locusts with Lions teeth their numerous and potent enemies This will make it such a fearful day such á terrible army with such slaughter of men as was never yet seen nor ever shall be to the years of many generations 3. The fearful and utter davastation then made by the enemies will be like that of fire both before and behind that sodainly and totally consumes all about it so that this pleasant countrie of Judea that before the entrance of the enemie was as well stored and delight sâ—me to look upon as the garden of Eden shall before their vast army of locusts be removed be rather like a bare and desolate wildernesse In which if any shall be so fortunate as not to perish by the sword yet there would be no way to escape from hence nor any hope of continuance here without perishing by famine or submission to the pleasure of the enemy Who will no way be hindred from having what he comes for in the compassng of our ruine 4. Such will be the event of this coming of these locusts who by their courage and agility and specially by their cruel visage wherein they will rather be like fierce horses then locusts might fright us into death And yet like stout Horsemen they will fall upon us with that force and violence that the valiantest amongst us will never be able to resist 5. In which violence skipping with hast over our mountainous country they will make as great a noise as chariots would do if they were furiously driven over such high places Or which is yet more horrid to the ear like the noise of a slanting fire that devours the stubble In these or what else may be worse then these they will show themselves like an armie of lustie men sufficiently instructed ordered and prepared for war 6. This quick and rough way of onset will be terrible to our people and make all their sad faces contract a palenesse or rather blackness as visible as if they had lain among pots that have changed their natural colour over the fire 7. While this fear makes us at a stand they will on forward like strong men in their full speed readie to mount our walls with a valour befitting stout and true military persons Every man knowing his own way and his own task No man appearing so slow or carelesse as if he were ingaged either to stay there or to give way to any that would turn him out of his place 8. So will every one of them make sure to be no hinderance to his fellow in the execution of their charge either in their way or in their work For both which they shall be so well appointed and so strongly armed that if they chance to light unawares upon their enemies weapon whatsoever it is therewill be no such hazard unto them as to expose them to any dangerous wound So happy and successeful shall they be in their bold attempts 9. Their ventrous army being so well ordered they will resolve to make a fierce irruption into the city like skipping locusts running about the walls and by sodain invasion taking possession of them shaking their heels there and dancing as men secure of the victory and then entring into the houses if not at the doors yet at least climbing in at the windows like bold and desperate theeves that will neither be hindred from coming in nor driven out again till they have ransacked and plundered the secretest corners where there is any thing to be found worth the carrying away 10. After this rude and insulting demeanour of the souldiers it will the be easier to conjecture what misery must needs fall upon the poor people if we expresse it by an Earthquake and the shaking of the Heavens and the obscuring of the celestial lights The terrour of the lower and meaner sort of the people may be conceived by the fearful effects of an Earthquake So may the sad ruine of the Nobles by the shaking of the heavenly or higher powers And the woful confusion of all Order and Command that followed upon that by the darkning of the Sun and Moon and the Stars withdrawing their wonted lustre to the astonishment of all the Spectators as well as of those eminent persons that will be most concerned in that calamity 11. And that you may know the just and powerful author of all this miserie As God himself will have us know that he sends these signs before him so God himself in a signal victory will seem to own our enemies as his souldiers as plainly as if we had it from his own voice and declare openly that those mighty and numerous armies are his and come thither by his own command and irreversible decree and cannot be hindred from doing his pleasure in taking vengeance upon a sinful people that would take their liberty in their day and now must therefore be made sensible of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And who will be able to abide that time wherein he pleaseth to break the hearts of them that are assaulted and adde courage to their enemies 12. All this is threatned by him By him that would not be unwilling to have his hands stayed from such a severe execution of his justice It is therefore foretold that it may be timely prevented And O that even
himself encourageth those that he makes the executioners of his Justice Come put in your sithes for there is a great harvest before you the wickednesse of mine enemies is now ripe Come down into this vally For the wine-presse is full it runs over for the exceeding abundance of their great and bloudy offences for that may be intimated in the overflowing of the blood of the grape 14. O the multitudes of hereticks schismaticks irreligious and profane livers O the vast companies of Atheists Idolaters Tyrants and other malicious enemies of the true Profession and Service of God that methinks I see now making their appearance in the vally of Jehoshaphat or devine judgement that may now be called the valley of decision where they shall receive their doom or the vally of threshing after the harvest where their punishment shall begin For now after they have enjoyed their time the day of the Lord the time of divine vengeance is ready to come upon them in the valley of decision and of threshing 15. At the approach of this terrible day the world will seem to be all in confusion They that were the light and glory of their times and as eminent and conspicuous in the sphaere of their government as the Sun and Moon and Stars are in the firmament of heaven shall be suddenly obscured and loose their light 16. The Lion of the tribe of Iudah shall roar out of Sion to the terrour of all his enemies When he first utters his voice as the defender of Ierusalem i. of his holy Church whereof Jerusalem was a figure though the powers of heaven and earth may shake yet they that trust in him will stand as firm as mount Sion that cannot be moved The Lord will shew himself our refuge and the strength of the Israel of God 17. After the roaring of the Lion will you hear the comfortable voice of the Lamb of God Thus shall ye know saith he to his Servants thus shall you see that I am the Lord your God that dwell in my Church as in my Sion my holy mountain Thus shall you be assured that my Ierusalem my Church is holy and therefore shall be secured from the unhallowed hands of those strange children that shall not be suffered so insolently and triumphantly as they have done to go thorough her any more 18. After this treading the wine-presse of the wicked and threshing of their harvest we are onely to hear of the happinesse of the Church For then shall the mountains drop new wine to her for her stronger Saints and the hils shall flow with milk fit nourishment for her yet tender babes And all the rivers of this mysticall Iudah shall with waters of life to refresh all And to this end a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord to supply the sacred Font which is placed in the lower part of the Church like a little valley of Shittim which is the embleme of a vessel that will not putrifie 19. And then while Egypt and Edom i. e. great enemies of the Church shall lie ruinous and desolate because of the innocent blood which they have shed in the true Iudah the Church of God 20. Iudah in the mean while the holy Church shall dwell safe aud the true Jerusalem shall be comforted with a true and lasting felicity 21. And the blood of the Saints which I did not before manifest to be pure and innocent and therefore most unjustly spilt that shall I even by that meanes declare to be pure and innocent namely by the exemplary punishment of their executioners And thus will God ever abide with his Church and preserve his Servants in their greatest dangers or reward them with that which shall exceed a present delivery and be a sufficient vindication of their vertue and innocence A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF AMOS CHAP. I. 1. THe word of Amos who was among the herdmen of Tekoa which he saw concerning Israel in the dayes of Vzziah King of Iudah and in the daies of Ieroboam the son of Ioash King of Israel two years before the earthquake 2 And he said the Lord will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Ierusalem and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn and the top of Carmel shall wither 3 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus aud cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven and him that holdeth the scepter from the house of Eden and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir saith the Lord. 6 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they carried away captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. 7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza which shall devour the palaces thereof 8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod and him that holdeth the scepter from Ashkelon and I will turn mine hand against Ekron and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish saith the Lord God 9 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Tyrus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom and remembred not the brotherly covenant 10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus which shall devour the palaces thereof 11 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because he did pursue his brother with the sword and did cast off all pitty and his anger did tear perpetually and kept his wrath for ever 12 But I will send a fire upon Teman which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah 13 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have ript up the women with child of Gilead that they might inlarge their border 14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah and it shall devour the palaces thereof with shouting in the day of battel with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind 15 And their King shall go into captivity he and his Princes together saith the Lord. CHAP. I. 1. THe words or things Prophetically imparted to the knowledge of Amos who was among the Shepherds or keepers of cattle in Tekoah six miles from Bethlehem which were famous for that employment Thence was he called to be a Prophet as David before that from following of sheep was chosen to be a Royal Prophet by that wise and merciful God that chuseth the base things of the world to confound the
preach what will please them and to sooth them up in expectation of better times then they are worthy to enjoy or have any reason to hope for 9. And now to put my office accordingly in execution Give ear to me once again you Princes of Iacob and other Governors in the house of Israel that sit in the place of Justice and yet abhor doing of judgement and should be the onely examples of dealing rightly and exactly according to the rule and yet are commonly seen to pervert the rule of equity and make the law serve your own turns 10. That makes them build such houses in Sion and other parts of Jerusalem with what they gain by shedding of the blood of the innocent and by deciding causes that come before them with much injustice and iniquity 11. For the Princes of this City judge for the bribe and the Priests teach for the hire and the Prophets divine for the reward in ready cash And yet they can talk devoutly and confidently of Gods protection for Sion and Jerusalems sake and seem to rely upon the Lord and say Doth not God dwell in the midst of us How then can evil betide us that are lodged so near to his own holy Temple 12. But talk what you will For you and your sins Sion shall be plowed like a field Jerusalem shall become like heaps of rubbish and Mount Moriah the top of your glory as the place where the House of God stands shall be like those Mountains in the forrest that are fitter for the entertainment of beasts then men CHAP. IV. 1 BVt in the last daies it shall come to passe that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow unto it 2 And many nations shall come and say Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach us of his waies and we will walk in his pathes for the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem 3 And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into prunning hooks nation shall not lift up a sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it 5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever 6 In that day saith the Lord will I assemble her that halteth and I will gather her that is driven out and her that I have afflicted 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth even for ever 8 And thou O tower of the flock the strong hold of the daughter of Zion unto thee shall it come even the first dominion the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Ierusalem 9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud is there no king in thee is thy councellour perished for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail 10 Be in pain and labour to bring forth O daughter of Zion like a woman in travail for now shalt thou go forth out of the city and thou shalt dwell in the field and thou shalt go even to Babylon there shalt thou be delivered there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies 11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say Let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Zion 12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord neither understand they his counsel for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor 13 Arise and thresh O daughter of Zion for I will make thine horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brasse and thou shalt beat in pieces many people and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth CHAP. IV. 1. YEt for your comfort after all this desolation there will a time come at their return from the captivity of Babylon when that mountain where the house of the Lord is seated shall overtop all other mountains and no hills or high places which the Pagans have made choice of for the worship of their idol-gods shall any way be compared to the high glory of Mount Moriah or so frequented with multitudes of men as this shall be 2. Hither shall flock the true worshipers from several parts of the World and say Come and let us go up to the holy Mountain the Mountain of the Lord Iehovah and to the house of the God of Iacob and by his holy Priests and Prophets he will teach us what is fittest for us to be instructed in out of his waies that we may walk in them For thence onely must we look for the knowledge of the true God whose divine laws specially in the daies of the Messias shall go forth of Sion and his holy word out of Ierusalem and thence be divulged and imparted unto other nations 3. This great God of Israel that so instructs and directs them that make their humble addresses unto him will for their sakes show his judgements among many people that seek him not and correct many remote nations that are too strong and puissant for us to deal with for no strength no distance can secure them from his power and good pleasure upon them And while we serve him he will make them to be so willingly and so absolutely resolved of peace that they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning hooks And rather then their own quarrels shall be any disturbance to us one nation shall not lift up a weapon against another nor shall they learn how to practise themselves in the feats of war any more 4. And so shall it be after our return from Babylon we shall then enjoy many daies of great peace and tranquillity Every man shall sit quietly under his own vine and under his own fig-tree without any to molest him or make him afraid And to make us secure of all this it is decreed by God himself and the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it who hath all hosts and armies and alterations of peace and war at his disposal 5. And our serving of him will be one motive of this mercy and favour for while other people addict themselves to the worship of their false gods and in their name tender all their respects we shall go on to present our humble service and devotions in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever 6.
his secrets and for the daughter to rise up as a witnesse against her mother and the daughter in law against the mother in law And a mans enemies are they of his own house as usually as any other 7. But be the world never so bad I that speak all this against these wretched times will still look up unto God in my hearty prayers for patience and perseverance in doing good and a happy deliverance in due time from the perils of a disordered state I will constantly wait for the God of my salvation And I doubt not but my God will hear me 8. After this Prophetical discourse of my own in the foresight and contemplation of the miseries and disorders that shall happen in the reign of Manasses you shall now hear my own Country the Iewish nation her self bemoaning of her great affliction under Zedekiah and the Babylonish Captivity and somewhat too of their return out of captivity under Nehemiah and Ezra For thus she bespeaks the Country of the Chaldeans first Do not triumph over me O thou mine enemie When I am fallen into a low estate I shall rise again and when I sit in the darknesse of a sad affliction there shall the Lord be as a light and comfort unto me 9. I will patiently bear the heavy punishment laid upon me in the fierce indignation of the Lord because I drew it upon my self by those sins which I committed against him This will I do till he please to take notice of my cause to plead for me and to revenge the injuries which I have received from the Babylonians As in his justice I know he will do in his good time And he will bring me out of this sad and gloomy time of affliction into the chearful lustre and glorie of my former prosperity And in that light I shall once again be able to see the goodnesse of the Lord. 10. And my enemie the whole nation of the Chaldeans shall see it as well as I when she shall be ready to hide her self for shame as impudent as she was in the time of my captivity to say unto me Where is now the Lord thy God what is now become of that help which you expected from him Mine eies shall see her then with comfort when she will be ashamed to look upon me And when I am raised out of my low estate then shall she be cast down and trampled under feet by the victorious Persians and made no more account of then the mire in the streets 11. The time will then come for repairing of thy breaches and rebuilding of thy walls O Jerusalem And at that time the proud commands of the Babylonian shall be out of date instead of sending abroad his high edicts to other nations he shall have one above him the conquering Persians that shall over-master and command him 12. About those daies men shall begin to stock again unto thee O Jerusalem Some from Assyria and the strongest Cities there Shortly after thou maiest discover them from all parts coming towards thee Some from the strongest forts beyond Euphrates towards that river and so towards thee And in like manner from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain shall they come to thee 17. For the countries from whence they shall thus come to thee shall fall to ruine and desolation for the sinful inhabitants thereof which shall have that fruit of their wicked works and so many of them for very need be forced to repair unto thee 14. So be it O Lord for their chastisement and for our return and recovery of our former estate Feed thine own people again as their careful Shepherd go before them with thy Shepherds hook as the peculiar flock of thine heritage They that have lodged long like as in a barren and solitary place in a wood let them now come to feed again in as pleasant places as those of Mount Carmel and in as rich pastures as those of Basan and Gilead as in the daies of old 14. And say to thy people O Lord I will show thee again as wonderful things in mercy as I did heretofore when I brought thee out of the land of Egypt And I will show as great a punishment upon thine enemies as I then did upon the Egyptians 16. So let the nations all about be confounded at all the might and power of the Jews Let them lay their hands on their mouths in silent admiration and their ears be made deaf with the noise and fame of thy wondrous acts 17. Like men amazed at them so let them fall down with fear and astonishment and lick the dust like a serpent Let them be forced to creep out of their secret holes and refuges where they had hid themselves like wormes out of the earth And in the complishment of these things which our prophesies have foretold let them learn to fear the Lord our God and stand in awe of thee O Lord. 18. Who among the gods is like unto thee that pardonest iniquity and removest the punishment thereof upon our repentance and passest by many of the transgressions of the poor remnant of thy people as one that is unwilling to take notice of them if they may be amended For He is not so implacable as to continue in his anger for ever though our sins extort a punishment His delight is rather in mercy and loving kindnesse 19. Therefore will he have mercy upon us again He will trample all our offences under his feet as things he would see no more and cast them into the bottom of the sea as things that he will not care for hereafter nor make any more account of 20 So Lord wilt thou perform the truth of thy promises to Iacob and thy tender mercies to Abraham and what thou hast confirmed by oath to our forefathers from the daies of old A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF NAHUM CHAP. I. 1 THe burden of Nineveh The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite 2 God is jealous and the Lord revengeth the Lord revengeth and is furious the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked the Lord hath his way in the whirl-wind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his feet 4 He rebuketh the sea and maketh it drie and drieth up all the rivers Bashan languisheth and Carmel and the flower of Lebanon languisheth 5 The mountains quake at him and the hills melt and the earth is burnt at his presence yea the world and all that dwell therein 6 Who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fiercenesse of his anger his furie is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by him 7 The Lord is good a strong bold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in
desolate I made their streets wast that none passeth by their cities are destroyed so that there is no man that there is none inhabitant 7 I said Surely thou wilt fear me thou wilt receive instruction so their dwelling should not be cut off howsoever I punished them but they rose early and corrupted all their doings 8 Therefore wait ye upon me saith the Lord until the day that I rise up to the prey for my determination is to gather the nations that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation even all my fierce anger for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousie 9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent 10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants even the daughter of my dispersed shall bring mine offering 11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings wherein thou hast transgressed against me for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoyce in thy pride and thou shalt no more be haughty because of mine holy mountain 12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. 13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speaks lies neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth for they shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid 14 Sing O daughter of Zion shout O Israel be glad and rejoyce with all the heart O daughter of Ierusalem 15 The Lord hath taken away thy judgements he hath cast out thine enemy the king of Israel even the Lord is in the midst of thee thou shalt not see evil any more 16 In that day it shall be said to Ierusalem Fear thou not and to Zion Let not thineâ— hands be sâ—ack 17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoyce over thee with joy he will rest in his love he will joy over thee with singing 18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly who are of thee to whom the reproach of it was a burden 19 Behold at that time I will undo all that afflict thee and I will save her that halteth and gather her that was driven out and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame 20 At that time will I bring you again even in the time that I gather youâ— for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth when I turn back your captivity before your eyes saith the Lord. CHAP. III. 1. BUt that Israel applaud not themselves too much in the ruine of their enemies royal City let them now hear the woes pronounced against their own Jerusalem Wo to the City that grew fat with her gluttony and polluted with all those sins that accompanie a full table and with all kind of rapine and oppression that were made the means to maintain it 2. She would not hear the voice of those that foretold her ruine if she did not amend She would not entertain any such good instruction before the blow came Nor would she trust in the Lord Iehovah and make her devout approaches and addresses unto her God in the time of her extremities but to the Egyptians and Assyrians and who not rather then to him that was ever her surest friend in the time of trouble 3. And to say somewhat again of that oppression that we named before The threats and menaces of her Princes and Governors within the City were grown to be as high and terrible as the roaring of a lion and her Iudges that instead of doing justice put these unjust threats in execution became like those ravenous wolves that seek out for their prey in the evening when their hunger makes them to be more greedily and fiercely set upon it so that what they lay hold on is presently devoured they leave not so much as a bone to be gnawed and examined again in the morning 4. Their pretended Prophets for their lives and for their opinions too are as various and inconsistent as water that will not stay long in his own bounds but must be kept in by some other bodie that is not so fluid as that And which is yet more they are persidiously wicked persons in betraying that trust which is reposed in them that should be the patternâ— and maintainers of true religion and not the bare outward professors of it for their own private interests And the Priests come not much short of the Prophets for instead of hallowing they pollute the Sanctuary and all holy things and instead of keeping and expounding they do most violently both in their actions and expositions wrest and abuse the sense of the law to what it was never intended by the Law-maker 5. But the righteous Lord whose Laws and Sanctuaries are thus abused observes all that is done in this wicked City and He will not deflect from doing right as they do that should be the Patrons of right and justice in his stead Every morning will he show some examples of his justice upon them that should every day be the executioners of it upon others Thus will God never fail to show his justice And yet the unjust and wicked men that know this are so past shame and fear that they will not repent when they see my judgements upon their own and their neighbour Countries saith the Lord. 6. But when I destroyed those Gentiles for so I may call your ten tribes that had nothing in them of Israel I made their strong towers desolate and their populous streets I laid wast and left none to walk about them Even upon their greatest Cities did I bring that solitude and desolation so that there was not left a man nor any of mankind to dwell within them 7. You should have learned to take heed by their punishment And so I said within my self Surely thou my land of Iudah wilt thence at least learn to fear me by what thou seest inflicted upon Israel Their correction will be thy instruction that the Cities of Judah and other places of her habitation may not be cut off in the same manner but that all the good that in my best and kind visitations I have made profer of may come upon her But they deceived my expectation and instead of rising early to seek me they rose early to currupt their own waies more and more as if they were so eagerly set upon mischief that they would break their sleep to be at it 8. Therefore after my expectation deceived I will give you an item before hand to expect that which you shall not be deceived of i. my rising to answer yours and my rising out of the place
it be to give them as good as they bring when they are reproved or corrected for their faults Therefore it shall not be long before I lay thee low enough for this height of stubborness and rebellion And the false Prophet that hath deceived thee shall bear thee company in that punishment which shall suddenly come upon you like a misfortune that comes in the night when men neither look for it nor know how to prevent it And thy Mother thy whole nation will I then out off from this place by the hand of the Assyrian 6. And yet indeed it is not I that so cut them off but their own folly and impiety For I must tell thee plainly oh Israel and thou especially whosoever thou art that art a Priest in Israel thou hast made no regard of the knowledge of me and my lawes therefore will I have as little regard of thee or thy service or those Priests of thine whose lips should have preserved that knowledge Thou hast forgotten the custody of the law of thy God which should have been most dear unto thee Therefore will I in the very successions of the Priesthood forget the care of thy children which are dearer in thine eye than any thing else 7. They have given me cause enough to say so For as they increased in number and dignity so did they increase in sinne which was no better than turning their glory into shame Therefore I will requite them in the same way and make that now to be their shame which they value as the greatest glory that can happen to them So that they shall be ashamed to think of that honour of the Priesthood that once they had Miserum est fuisse 8. For they that were in that honour forgat themselves and instead of reproving the sins of the people they rather fed themselves upon the increase of those sins having thence such plenty of their sinne-offerings and oblations that helped to furnish out their table as they heartily wished to have it by what meanes soever 9. Therefore as they were alike guilty of sin the Priest and the people so shall a punishment answerable to their sin fall upon them both alike when in my just visitation of their wicked waies I shall return them the fruit of their own works 10. Then they that fed so lustily and highly before at their full tables shall find so little to feed on that they will not be able to fill themselves with the coursest fare And when their enemies in the siege of Samaria have brought such a famine upon this adulterous generation their adulterous seed shall not be so strong and numerous as to beat them away And all this will come upon them because they forlook that which might have kept them close unto the Lord. 11. But how could they keep close to him or to his precepts when they suâ—â—ered their dear whoredom and their sweet wine to steale away their hearts 12. It is not for nothing that I made speciall mention of their whoredoms and spirituall fornications For my people unworthy of that name proceeded so far in them as to fetch their intelligence from their poor wooden Oracles and out of little sticks after the Chaldie device of making lots they took their new way of information Thus the spirit of whoredoms or rather their spirituall whoredoms and the example of those Idolaters that they conversed withall led them into grosse errours while they wandred from their own God to goe a wâ—oring after other gods 13. When directly against their own law they made choice of the tops of mountaines wherein to sacrifice and offer incense or else they did it under oakes and poplars and elmes for the welcome benefit of the shade Therefore will I punish one kind of whoredom with another the spirituall with the carnall and suffer your wives and daughters to be guilty of whoredom against your selves as you have been against me oh Israel 14. Nor will I take present punishment upon your wives and daughters for such offences but wink at them as if I saw not how they goe on in the practise of those sins Because you that are Fathers and Husbands showed them the way by your own example in your many diversions and private walks into shady groves with no better company than harlots to partake of your idolatrous sacrifice And into these sins and these punishments may that people easily fall that will not hold to the knowledge of the true God 15. But though you of the ten tribes will run far into the guilt of spiritual and carnall whoredom yet let the house of Judah and Benjamin take heed of following so bad an example Do not you of those two tribes undertake any walks or pilgrimages to Galgala or Bethel That of Bethel indeed hath a specious name as if it were the house of God but whatsoever it hath been it is now rather a Beth-aven i.e. a house of Vanity or of an Idoll which is no better than Vanity Learn not you to goe thither nor as they do there to swear by their calves under the name of Jehovah whom they think they may worship in such images and representations In that sense to swear as the Lord liveth will be such an oath as he will not like 16. As for thee oh Israel that wouldst be dealing with such cattle with calves instead of a Dietie the time is coming on when to requite thy many walks to them thy self shall wander about like a silly calf And thou shalt be fed where thou mayest have room enough indeed as much as sheep delight to have that would ever be feeding in large meadowes though to the hazard of loosing themselves So shall your lot fall into spacious places But it shall be in the Assyrians grounds and there will be little comfort of your feeding at large in that place 17. This is the punishment of Ephraim that beares the name of the ten tribes and is so violently addicted to Idols and so incurably sick of that maladie that it is in vain to perswade him any more against it Therefore let him alone oh Iudah leave him to his own wayes 18 Such a drink offering as they pour out to their Gods hath lost his best savour and is not worth the drinking because it tastes strong of idolatry the worst kind of whoredoms Though their great ones come merrily to it and they that should be like bucklers to keep the people off do rather love to say Bring hither our Idols They were as good have said Bring hither our shame 19. Therefore shall Ephraim be as swiftly carried away into a remote nation of the Assyrian as if he had been taken up upon the wings of the wind And then with shame shall they think of those sacrifices that have purchased so sad a reward for them in that dismall place CHAP. V. 1. Hear ye this O Priests and
In those daies saith the Lord I will recollect into their own Country and restore to their former happinesse that poor weak and afflicted nation of the Jews that hath been driven out of her own towns and cities into other remote parts and there been ill intreated by my own permission 7. And I will make that weak afflicted nation leave a fair remnant behind her a numerous progenie to succeed her And over that posteritie of hers will I my self raign for ever in Mount Sion and no earthly Prince shall hinder them from living after my laws till themselves forsake me of their own accord 8. And thou Tower of Ader by Bethlehem that standest in such an obscure and neglected place The daughter of Sion the fair City of Jerusalem shall make her accesse unto thee And out of thee shall come the chiefest fountain of dominion and royalty the Messias to be born in Bethlehem To the daughter of Jerusalem shall he come I say not how strangely entertained by her 9. But now why dost thou cry out so pitifully and make such heavy lamentation at the sound of royalty Dost thou find no King over thee while upon these sad Prophesies thou supposest thy self as in thy captivity Are thy Sanhedrin thy great Counsellors perished Is this the cause why thou art so often surprised with as extream pain and anguish as a woman in travel 10. I cannot blame thee thou maist well be in pain and labour to bring forth and to be delivered of that thy trouble And be so For thou shalt very shortly be fain to depart out of thy Cities and be content with what lodging thou canst get abroad in the open fields and so walk on to Babylon But there will I find out a way of deliverance for thee and even there shal the great Jehovah rescue thee from the hands of thine enemies 11 And as shortly after many men of several nations shall uuite their strength and malice against thee which shal not spare to say Let Sion be still represented to the world as one lying in her own pollution and exposed to the contempt of all us that look upon her 12. But they that so talk at random and out of malice little know or consider what God in his secret counsel and providence and mercy doth intend to do with us But how little soever they consider our end they are lesse advised of their own For He shall gather them as sheaves into the floor there to be so thrashed and bangd as they do not dream of 13. For then will I say to Sion Rouse up thy self and lay about thee like a thrasher O daughter Sion Tread and trample them under which is your way of thrashing with oxen that tread out the corn and to help on the businesse I will make thy horns like iron and thy hoofs like brasse that thou maist trample them and beat them all to pieces be they never so many And what they have covetously hoorded I will take to my self saith the Lord. They have but laid it up as a thing anathematized and set apart for my peculiar service as a deodate out of their substance which I will chalenge as I am Lord paramont over all the earth CHAP. V. NOw gather thy self in troups O daughter of troups he hath laid siege against us they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek 2 But thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Iudah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting 3 Therefore will he give them up untill the time that she which travelleth hath brought forth then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they shall abide for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth 5 And this man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land and when he shall tread in our palaces then shall we raise against him seven shepherds and eight principall men 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod in the enterances thereof thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh into our land and when he treadeth within our borders 7 And the remnant of Iacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord as the showres upon the grasse that tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the sonnes of men 8 And the remnant of Iacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forrest as a young lion among the flocks of sheep who if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces and none can deliver 9 Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine adversaries and all thine enemies shall be cut off 10 And it shall come to passe in that day saith the Lord that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee and I will destroy thy chariots 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land and throw down all thy strong holds 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand and thou shalt have no more sooth-sayers 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off and thy standing images out of the midst of thee and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands 14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee so will I destroy thy Cities 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen such as they have not heard CHAP. V. 1. WHat hath hitherto been said to thee O Babylon comes to this upon the matter that thou shalt very shortly be exposed as a prey to thine enemy O thou daughter of an arrand spoiler of Nimrod that first began that sport over men as well as beasts And hear the rest from my people Israel Therefore is the Babylonian spoyled because he was the man that laid siege against us and that succeeding they were all so injurious and insulting over the very Iudges of Israel that they presumed to strike them upon the check which is a blow of the greatest disgrace that can be 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephratha lay none of these scornes and abuses to thy heart for great matters are intended unto thee It is but a little honour that thou shouldest be reckoned among the Governours of the thousands of Iudah For out of thee a speciall Prince shall be raised up for my own designes the Messias that shall be King and Ruler over the true Israel of God whole originall may be deduced from the top of royall antiquity from the first Kings of Judah and more than that
from the dayes of eternity for who can declare his generation 3. Therefore will he give to them of Judah what he hath promised i. a safe return out of their captivity and a place of abode again in their own Countrey till the time wherein she that is to bring forth the Messias shall bring forth that happinesse to the world and till the residue of his brethren for with that title shall he honour the lost sheep which he shall come to seek and reduce to his fold till they shall be converted and united to the rest of the children of Israel and so begin all to make one flock under one Shepherd 4. And he shall never cease to feed and govern that flock by no lesse than a divine power being advanced thereunto in no other name and authority then that of the great Iehovah his God as he shall then stile him when he hath humbled himself to that brother-hood which we named before under that care and government shall that flock of his dwell in joy and safety And good reason because from henceforth this our Prince and Messias shall be magnified and renowned not in Jurie onely but to all the ends of the earth 5. And this peace and prosperity of our nation shalt thou begin and not till then when the Assyrian shall have often entred into our land sometime of himself sometime as an auxiliarie of the Chaldaeans For he shall enter in a proud and hostile manner trampling down our fairest Palaces But this pride and malice shall be the occasion of his utter ruine and so of our more setled peace For we shall at last so far prevaile over the Assyrian by the assistance of Almighty God and his blessing upon our prayers and patience that we shall be the meanes of as great a tyranny over him to be exercised by many severall Governours great Princes and Commanders over men that shall lead them and rule them as easily as Sheep are by their Shepherds 6. And if these may be called Shepherds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as other Kings and Rulers are they shall be such as shall subdue and govern their stocks of Assyrians by the sword and the successors of Nimrod in Babylon with her own naked and terrible weapons Thus shall God punish them and give us a sure peace by delivering us from further fear of the Assyrian and letting us be revenged of him because he would needs enter so cruelly upon our land and so proudly trample us under him in our own borders 7. After this the remnant of Iacob being freed from all such tyranny shall be accounted by many other nations among whom they are seated as the dew which falls from heaven and as the drops of rain upon the grasse which expect not the power or pleasure of man or any son of man for their accesse or recesse from this or that place but are sent thither and blessed there by the sole power and favour of Almighty God 8. And in processe of time the posterity of this remnant of Iacob specially in the time of the Maccabies shall be in respect of their power and authoritie and command among the Gentiles and in the midst of many people as the Lion is among the beasts of the forrest and the young Lion among the flocks of the sheep who when he is pleased to passe thorough them doth tread them down and tear them in pieces without controule of any other that is able to rescue and deliver them in that distresse 9. Thus prosperously shall it fare with thy children and with thee O Israel when thy hand shall no sooner be lift up against thy enemies but they shall be cut off and fall before thee All which about the times of the Maccabies shall be but a figure of greater conquests that they shall have over all nations when after the dayes of the Messias they shall begin to subdue them and reduce them to his spirituall kingdom 10. This mention of Israels prosperity in these times must be accompanied with the Prophesie of thy ruine O Babylon For thus saith the Lord I will cut off the strength wherein thou makest thy boast the multitude of thy horses and chariots Them will I destroy with the riders that were so expert in managing of them both 11. And the best Cities of thy land will I lay waste and throw down all thy strong holds 12. And I will down with thy witch-crafts and thy magicall divinations And thy Soothsayers that were so cunning at them shall have no more to do within thee 13. Thy graven images and thy rich statues will I remove from the midst of thee so that thou shalt give no more worship to those vanities the workmanship of thy own hands 14. Thy superstitious groves and thy wealthy Cities will I utterly destroy 15. And in the fiercenesse of my anger will I revenge my self upon those nations which shall not then hear and obey those Conquerors and Governors which I shall please to set over the kingdom of Babylon CHAP. VI. 1. HEar ye now what the Lord saith Arise contend thou before the mountains and let the hills hear thy voice 2 Hear ye O mountains the Lords controversie and ye strong foundations of the earth for the Lord hath a controversie with his people and he will plead with Israel 3 O my people what have I done unto thee wherein have I wearied thee testifie against me 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and redeemed thee out of the house of servants and I sent before thee Moses Aaron and Miriam 5 O my people remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal that ye may know the righteousnesse of the Lerd 6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God shall I come before him with burnt-offerings with calves of a year old 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl shall I give my first born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul 8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God 9 The Lords voice crieth unto the City and the man of wisdom shal see thy name hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it 10 Are there yet the tresures of wickednesse in the house of the wicked and the scant measure that is abominable 11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances and with the bag of deceitfull weights 12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies and their tongue is deceitfull in their mouth 13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee in
him 8 But with an over-running floud he will make an utter end of the place thereof and darknesse shall pursue his enemies 9 What do ye imagine against the Lord he will make an utter end affliction shall not rise up the second time 10 For while they be folden together as thorns and while they are drunken as drunkards they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry 11 There is one come out of thee that imagineth evil against the Lord a wicked counsellour 12 Thus saith the Lord Though they be quiet and likewise many yet thus shall they be cut down when he shall passe through though I have afflicted thee I will afflict thee no more 13 For now will I break his yoke from off thee and will burst thy bonds in sunder 14 And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee that no more of thy name be sown out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image the molten image I wil make thy grave for thou art vile 15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good things that publisheth peace O Iudah keep thy solemn feasts perform thy vows for the wicked shall no more passe through thee he is utterly cut off CHAP. I. 1. THe heavy doom against Nivive and with her against the whole Assyrian Empire foretold in this book of the Prophesie of Nahum who was of Kessi or Elkesai a little village in Galilie 2. God is a jealous God and so cannot suffer his Servants to be too long and too much oppressed and he is the God to whom vengeance belongeth and so cannot suffer his enemies too long to prosper and triumph in their wicked waies When he comes to take vengeance his heavy anger against sin goes along with it as the executioner of his Justice And when that comes he will not fail to be revenged of his adversaries against whom he laid up his wrath as in a treasure to be drawn out and spent upon them in due time 3. Indeed he comes slowly to those times of the execution of his wrath in great patience and long-suffering expecting their repentance but when he comes he shows himself to be great in power and one that will not acquit the impenitent and suffer them to passe unpunished for what they have done but rather by heavinesse of the punishment make a recompense for the slowness of his anger Which he shows all the way he comes to it making it like a way in a whirlwind and mighty storm and walking upon the clouds as we do upon the dust of the earth which he commands as he doth the boisterous winds and all other creatures to be mustered up against us at his pleasure 4. In these times if he check and rebuke the great Sea that cheek of his dries it up and makes it instantly vanish and fly away for fear as the children of Israel found it in the red sea needs must all the lesser rivers then be dried up with the least angry breath of his as they found it also in the river Iordan And when his just anger will show it self by land as well as by water a little passe granted by that authority will make the rich corn fields of Carmel and the fat meadows of Basan and all the green flaurishing woods in Lebanon sodainly to fade and wither away as once a word of his did it from the mouth of Elijah 5. And to show himself the God of the hills as well as of the valleys he can make the strongest mountains to quake for fear of him and the highest hills to stoop and melt away like the rock that at his striking hand wept it self into rivers And what should I speak of Hills or Vales that yeeld to his anger Any part of the earth for fear of him and at the breath of his nostrils would be soon put into as great a heat and flame as that of Sodom and Gomorrha and the whole world with all that dwel therein may easily be consumed in the fire of his wrath as the greatest part will in the last conflagration before the day of doom 6. For who can stand firm that is shaked by his indignation or if he be once cast down who can raise himself again to oppose the fiercenesse of his anger which when it breaks out like fire is able to rend and cast down the hardest rocks at the fear of him 7. This infinite power may be a terrour to his enemies but as great a comfort and support it is to his servants for the gratious Lord is a sure refuge and fortresse unto all his in the time of trouble and will ever f acknowledge and take notice of those that put their trust in him 8. But like an universal deluge he will sodainly overtake and utterly overwhelm him whosoever he is that rises up against him and all his enemies shall be pursued with the horror and darknesse of affliction 9. Wherwith can you devise to stay this effect of the anger of the Lord while he is working of that which will prove no lesse then an utter destruction to be given at one blow one heavy afflicting blow that shall never need to be repeated in a second affliction to make all sure for a final ruine 10. Which may well be compared to the sodain consuming of thorns that are tied up together before they are cast into the fire or the sodain conquest that drunkards make over their own understanding when they sit tipling over the sweet liquor For so sodainly shall they perish as stubble doth in the flame when it is fully drie before it be cast into it 11. And the lesse should be the wonder at the severity of these judgements because out of thee O Assyria there hath ever come some back-friend or other some most wicked counsellor and plotter against the people of God some Phul or Tiglath-pelezer or Sennacherib or Rabsace that studying to oppose the peculiar people of God proved himself therein no better then a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an opposer and contriver of mischief against God himself 12. But thus saith the Lord against those insulting enemies though they had attained to the perfection of power and policy and so to be a numerous and great people likely enough to execute their malitious designes yet would it be like easie for me when they are ripe for justice to cut them down And this will prove true by the event when one that I shall chuse out i. the Chaldaean as wise and populous a nation as they shall begin to make his way thorough them without any resistance When that day comes it will not be long ere I smite thee O Ninive with a blow that shall come so close and home that it shall not need to be reiterated by any second attempt 13. With that blow shall I break his yoke the troublesom
and insolent oppression of that King of Ninive whosoever he be that shall yet dare to rise up against me and my people That yoke shall be no longer put upon thee O Israel And with that all the cords by which those Assyrian Tyrants held thee in subjection will I break in pieces That shall be thy day of ransome and liberty 14. And this shall be thy doom O Tyrant of Ninive which shall come out as an unalterable edict from me None of thy seed or of thy name shall be any longer continuance The world shall hear no more of such a thing as a King of thy family or a King of Nineve And as I will thus cut off thee and thine and remove thy throne So will I also down with thy idol-deities Thy Temple shall be no longer a place for them Thy carved and thy molten images shall be of as little esteem as thy own stinking sepulchre For whatsoever thy proud heart imagines all these things will be most facile and easie for me to do with whom nothing is impossible 15. When thy head shall be laid thus low and thy glorie buried in the dust methinks I that prophesie of thy ruine see the nimble feet of the joyful messengers that shall trip it upon the mountains of Judaea and deliver the good tidings of peace and prosperity unto them Methinks I hear them call to us in a wellcome voice Now Iudaea feast it with mirth and security and forget not to pay thy vows as readily For that wicked and malitious enemie shall come no more to vaunt it against thee and thy God as he did in the daies of King Hezekiah He is now utterly cut off we shall hear no more of his vain pomp and insulting tyrannical behaviour CHAP. II. 1. HE that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face keep the munition watch the way make thy loins strong fortifie thy power mightily 2 For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Iacob as the excellency of Israel for the emptiers have emptied them out and marred their vine branches 3 The shield of his mighty men is made red the valiant men are in scarlet the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation and the fir-trees shall be terribly shaken 4 The chariots shall rage in the streets they shall justle one against another in the broad waies they shall seem like torches they shall run like the lightenings 5 He shall recount his worthies they shall stumble in their walk they shall make bast to the wall thereof and the defence shall be prepared 6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened and the paâ—â—ice shall be dissolved 7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive she shall be brought up and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves tabering upon their breasts 8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water yet they shall flee away Stand stand shall they cry but none shall look back 9 Take ye the spoil of silver take ye the spoil of gold for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture 10 She is empty and void and waste and the heart melteth and the knees smite together and much pain is in all loins and the faces of them all gather blacknesse 11 Where is the dwelling of the lion and the feeding place of the young lions where the lion even the old lion walked and the lions whelp and none made them afraid 12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps and strangled for his lionesses and filled his holes with prey and his dens with ravine 13 Behold I am against thee saith the Lord of hosts and I will burn her chariots in the smoak and the sword shall devour the young lions and I will cut off thy prey from the earth and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard CHAP. II. 1. HE is now vanished away in thy sight that was wont to be ever backing and hewing at thee and ever ready to besiege thy strong forts and place his scouts in thy way that should say to thee Gird up thy loines muster up all the strength thou hast for thy own defense Do thy best and thy worst and all that care will prove but to little purpose 2. But this insolence is now at an end God hath now returned and requited upon this cruell enemy his proud expressions of himself against Iacob at the siege of Jerusalem not much unlike to what he showed elsewhere against Israel the ten tribes that were carried by the Assyrian out of their own countrey And the rather did this vengeance fall upon the Assyrians because their oppression was equall to their pride as it appeared when they emptied and ransacked those of Judah and Israel of all they had exercising this waste and pillage upon the poorest towns as well as the mother-cities upon the children as well as the Parents upon the meanest subjects as well as the Princes and so every way showing themselves to be for root and branch for a finall desolation as far as they could set it forward 3. But I have a fierce nation in my eye the haughty Chaldaean that shall do as much for them of Assyria The bucklers of those my valiant champions shall be dyed in blood which is the colour of most of their men of war that are usually clad in scarlet and the colour that their very chariot-wheeles shall sparkle out in fire at the time of their expeditions And their very arrowes of firre shall be able to show part of the same livery being purposely venomed to suck the deeper of the blood of their enemies 4. In this time of execution their chariots of war shall rattle about and make a clattering and fearfull noise in their open fields and the common Souldiers shall fly about as much in the streets of their Cities Their visage shall be made terrible with their sparkling eyes that shall be like funerall lamps to show the Assyrians the way to their graves or rather like thunder and lightning that shall either break or bear down all afore them 5. He that shall have the command of this army shall bethink himself of his choicest warriours for this employment who shall make their onsets with that fury that they shall croud and trample upon one another for eagernesse and haste In that speed shall they scale their walls and be as ready to sheild and defend themselves against all opposition 6. In this hurrie their flood-gates and other passages and forts about the rivers shall be laid open and uselesse And among them the Temple of their Bel or Jupiter Belus that was not placed far from the river Tigris shall be ruined and dissolved with those water-workes about the river 7. And the City of Niniveh that was appointed as the cheif and
felt by he◠enemies 3. For Thus saith the great Iehovah I return now to Sion and to my former love and compassion that I showed to her of old And I will dwell again in the middest of Ierusalem my gracious presence and daily favours shall make them appear like my own domestick Servants which shull gain Ierusalem the title of the City where the true Religion is professed and the Mount of the lord of Hosts where you build your Temple unto me shall be called by the name of the holy Mountain because of the peculiar presence of my Holinesse and the daily observance of your sacred Duties and Devotions in that place 4. And concerning your temporall blessings thus also saith the Lord of Hostes there shall be seen again in the streets of Ierusalem Men venerable for their age and grave Matrons sitting there to refresh themselves and every one of them with a staffe in their hands to support their feeble bodies because of their extream old age and the extraordinary number of year to which they shall attain 5. And with this grave sight of your Ancients sitting before your doors you shall have another that will please you well great store of young children that shall fill up your spacious streets with severall companies of young boyes and girles here and there recreating themselves with their merry and innocent sports 6. And do not startle at it saith the Lord of Hostes for though this may seem a strange and wonderfull thing in the apprehension of this poor remnant of the People that are now returned out of the land of their captivity yet nothing should seem impossible for me saith the Lord of Hostes. 7. And look not upon your selves alone that are first returned and can yet make up but a little company for thus saith the Lord of Hostes I will wonderfully provide for the welfare of my people in the Eastern and Western parts 8. I 'le conduct them safely hither again from all parts of the world whither they are dispersed and they shall dwell in the middest of my holy City Ierusalem And they shall be my peculiar people and I will be their powerfull God Truely and justly shall I make this good to them by my blessing upon them and they to me by the true worship of my name and their just dealing and conversing with one another 9. And therefore Go on chearfully in the building of my Temple which you have now begun saith the Lord of Hostes you that live to see these daies and hear the comfortable words of these late Prophesies from the mouth of us the Prophets that were in the times that the foundation of the house of the Lord of Hostes was laid and that God hath raised up to incite and encourage you in the building and perfecting of his holy Temple 10. And to adde the more life and speed to your undertakings I am enjoyned to tell you that whereas before you setled your selves in earnest to this good work your men and your cattle at home had little reward of their labour in matter of Husbandry ye toyled and took paines with little or no successe and they that ventured further abroad could find no peace and quiet by reason of some affliction or other that was ready to overtake them beside the many quarrels and distractions which by my permission and connivence rose up amongst you 11. Now since I perceive your readinesse and alacrity to proceed in the building of my House I will not show my self so averse as formerly I have been from this remnant of the captivity saith the Lord of Hostes. 12. For you shall be a generation that shall live in peace and prosperity Your Vines shall be fruitfull and your land shall bring plenty of corn For the Heavens shall drop that dew which shall make them so And the remnant that return from Babylon will I make to be eye-witnesses and owners of all this felicity 13. So shall it come to passe that as you of the house of Iudah and Israel were held accursed of all nations by reason of the great misery that your great sins had brought upon you so upon this safety and prosperity which I shall give unto you you shall be accounted a Nation that God hath now blessed with extraordinary favours Therefore do not faint and give back from your good intentions but proceed on chearfully and couragiously in the building of the Temple 14. For thus saith the Lord of Hostes As there was a time when my thoughts and intentions were chiefly set upon afflicting of this nation for those sins by which your forefathers provoked me to anger and I had no mind to repent of it I would not 〈◊〉 diverted 15. So now in these times of amendment and of a more readiness to go on in my service I am willing to repent and to put on other resolutions of doing good and bestowing favours upon Iudah and Ierusalem And therefore be not discouraged nor taken off from your good beginnings 16. And let these be the actions wherein you shall practise and entertain your selves Let every man use candour and integritie in those things which refer to others and himself And you that as more publick persons are intrusted in your gates which are your courts of Justice pass your sentences according to that truth and equity which will be the best means to procure and prolong your peace and prosperity 17. And much more must you be careful that there be no studying of mischief against one another or delighting to deceive others or dishonour my name by false oaths For howsoever wicked men may love and take pleasure in such things yet are they all of them the object of my hatred saith the Lord of Hosts 18 After this for a full and clear solution of the queries and demands that were the errand of Sarezer end Regem-melech the word of the Lord was made known unto me to this sense 19. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Your fast of the fourth moneth which you observed in the sad remembrance of Jerusalem at that time taken by the King of Babylon and your fast of the fifth moneth wherein the Temple was consumed by fire and the City laid ruinous and desolate and your fast in the seventh moneth which put you in mind how your noble Patron and Commander Godoliah was treacherously and unhappily brought to an untimely death and your fast of the tenth moneth in which the Babylonians began their siege against Jerusalem All these daies of fasting shall be now to your whole nation upon your return from Babylon festivall dayes set times of merry and joyfull Solemnities In all which let not your joy obliterate the memorie of your dutie forget not to deal candidly and truly with your neighbours and to entertain one another with the mutual offices of true love and courtesie as well as of jollity and feasting 20. And to encourage you yet more
that the enemie should have had such a blow given them by the subtle and potent Tyrians as should have freed them from the fear of all danger Gaza after this shall no longer be ruled by one that shall live in the state of a King rather then the Commander of such a little compasse of ground And Ashkelon shall be laid wast and for a long time after this not be inhabited 6. Then shall Azotus be possessed by a kind of bastard-brood a mixed and mungril people out of the conflux from several Nations And all the neighbour parts of Palestine shall have such a share in this calamity as shall take down their haughty pride and insulting over my people Israel 7. And I will take away the bloody and abominable language out of the mouth of the domineering Philistims who delight as much in horrid and cruel threats as if it did them good to chew upon them and please themselves while they keep it between their teeth as if they would set their teeth on work too with devouring of others that are better then themselves But the remnant of this fierce and boasting Nation shall come at last to be subdued and united with the people of Israel and so brought to the service of the true God And as the Iebusite being first become a Proselyte was thereupon made capable of places of dignity and command amonst the people of God so shall it be with the Philistine and so with the Ekronite that in that captivity shall be in a fair way to become as one of the Princes and Rulers of Iudah 8. And I will make my Angela encamp about my Temple to preserve it from all hostile and violent attempts and sodain incursions of such as may go or return any way near unto it And none shall be suffered to have any passage hereafter toward those parts with power to tyranise and usurp upon them For mine eyes are now and ever open to observe and prevent the dangers which otherwise might fall upon this holy place as I promised that I would be at the consecrating of your first Temple 9. And when I cast my all-seeing eye upon times yet more remote from your daies then I may well say of your deliverance from spiritual and greater enemies Rejoyce exceedingly O Daughter of Sion shout and sing aloud for joy O Daughter of Ierusalem For the Messias thy long-expected King of whom the best of all thy Kings heretofore were but types and figures comes to deliver thee from thy invisible enemies He is just and merciful and in his Justice and Mercy brings salvation to you that shall be justified through him Though he come not in the pomp of regality but poor enough in outward show and not in the flourish and noise of military forces and horses prepared for war but riding upon an asse even upon a colt the foal of an asse which is a beast that you use for more peaceable and quiet journies 10. Then will I take away all the need of chariots and horses and other outward military forces from Ephraim and Judah or her Metropolis of Ierusalem and the bow with other weapons of war will I knap in sunder And this King your Messias shall preach true peace to the nations of the world And his spiritual kingdom shall be inlarged from Sea to Sea and from the Rivers to the ends of the earth 11. And as for thee also O my Church by the blood of the covenant that I have made with thee I will redeem and deliver thy prisoners from the infarnal pit wherein is no water no hope of refreshment 12. Therefore repent and apply your selves unto God your onely help and refuge you that are such prisoners as are not without a good hope and modest assurance of divine succour and relief For I declare to you and assure you this very time wherein I have showed the fruit of your Messias his coming in such humility that I will return what he shall merit in a double testimony of my love to every one of you that shall not onely have deliverance from what ye might fear but the assurance too of eternal felicity 13. To make way to this by the publick preaching of the Gospel for subduing the Nations to my spiritual kingdom I will pick out my first Champions from among you of Iudah so that Iudah shall be like my bow that I bend and make ready against mine enemies and Ephraim like my quiver which I will fill full of arrows to be shot against all opposers And I will raise thy Sons O Sion against thy Sons O Graecia i. the first Preachers that shall be Iews to reduce the Graecians with the first under the easie yoke of the Messias And I will make thee O Sion to be like the sword of a mighty Commander for by my word in thy mouth which is my spiritual sword I will reduce other nations unto my kingdom 14. And the great Iehovah shall easily be seen to be a defence over these Champions of Iudaea and to fight for them as out of a tower and fortresse higher then their enemies His arrows and other instruments of this warfare shall go forth as quick as lightning The Lord himself shall be amongst them and sound the trumpet to give the sign of battel and shall set upon his enemies with storming like the violent Southern tempests that lay all even before them 15. Even the Lord of Hosts himself shall be their shield and buckler to defend them and they shall feed upon the spoiles of their enemies And as David did Goliah with little stones out of his sling so shall they by weak and unliekly means vanquish and subdue the greatest that come against them So that they shall be like those Conquerors that have their revenge satisfied with the blood of their enemies and therefore shout and triumph like those that are filled with storng wine For they shall drink their fill of it till they are as full as your silver bowls in the Sanctuary replenished with the holy offering and the horns of the Altar whereon the blood of the sacrifice is so plentifully poured 16. For in those daies their God the great Iehovah shall save and protect his Souldiers in these spiritual combats as the sheep of his flock and his own people that are the sheep of his pasture And these sheep shall prove Lions and Conquerors for the Lord of Hosts in his land And the Ensignes carried before them shall be with crowns set with pearls an embleme of the last reward of these holy Victories specially to be set upon the head of those that are great Actors and sufferers in so great a work 17. For how great is the goodnesse of Him that is the Lord of these mighty Hosts and how great is the beauty of his glory that will chear them up at last and put such joy into