Zachary the son of Barachias the son of Iddo and thus said unto him Thus shalt thou say unto the Jewes The Lord was very much though very justly displeased with your Fathers whom he therefore delivered up as captives into the hands of the King of Babylon 3. And thou shalt further say unto them Thus saith the Lord of Hostes whom all things serve and obey Return unto me by a true repentance and amendment of life saith the Lord of Hostes and I will return unto you in that favour and mercy and tender care of your welfare which the great sins of your Fathers made me for a time withdraw from your nation saith the Lord of Hostes. 4. Be not you disobedient as your Fathers were whom the former Prophets have earnestly and zealously called upon saying Thus saith the Lord of hostes Repent ye now forsake all your evill waies and your wicked actions wherein you go on to get unto your selves a dangerous habit of sin Yet they would not diligently attend and accordingly obey me saith the great Iehovah 5. But where be your Fathers now that were so refractory and disobedient unto me and what is bâ—come of their false Prophets that soothed them up in their sins Did they live for ever Did I not send one calamity after another to hunt after them and bring them to their graves 6. Notwithstanding all their security and vain hopes of peace and an imaginary protection from me for my Temples sake have not my words and decrees which my Servantt the good Prophets delivered to them by my command proved now to be true Have not those judgements which I so decreed and foretold at the last justly overtaken them so that many of them in a true sense and apprehension of the greatnesse of their sins and the truth of those predictions returned in the end to a sober mind and ingâ—niously acknowledging their errour could not but say Just as the Lord of hostes resolved to do unto us by inflicting a heavie punishment answerable to our grievous sins in all the severall waies and wicked actions wherein we had offended even so hath he made it good upon us This confession my punishments extorted from your Fathers let it be one Motive of your true repentance that so you may escape those miseries which they pulled upon their own heads by not applying themselves unto me by a timely repentance 7. Now within two or three moneths after Zachary had preached this Sermon namely upon the twenty fourth day of the eleventh moneth which is the moneth Shebat and containes part of our January and part of February in the second year of Darius the son of Hystaspes the word of the Lord was revealed unto Zachary the Prophet the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo in this manner as I shall tell it 8. In the quiet silence of the night I saw a vision that promised though in a dark and mysticall way a quiet and peaceable time for the advancement of the work about the Temple and partly discovered how many Angels were ready with the Messias to assist and defend the Church in that time and much more under that figure how many helps would be afforded from heaven for that more spirituall Church whose foundation should be laid in that Citie by the preaching of the Messias and of his Apostles and Disciples In this vision to show the speed and forwardnesse of them that were sent I observed a man riding upon a red horse the very colour of the horse speaking the revenge that he meant to take of the enemies of the Church And he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in a bottom by a river side wherein again as the bottom and the shadow of the trees bid us take notice how obscurely these things are revealed and how little hope appeared from men for the delivery and tranquillity of the Church so the trees being the sweet and humble myrtle were a figure of meek and humble men that were for their holy life accounted as a sweet odour unto God But after the view of this Horse-man came more holy Emblems of our help For behind him as the Captain there appeared other as attendants on red horses and speckled and white as if the red were to signifie those that should attend their great Captain in prosecution of the revenge of the bloody enemies of the Church whereof we spake before and the other two those that came for the punishment of such as were other waies spotted with sin and for the protection of the pure and innocent 9. Then said I to the Captain of this troop of Horse the great Commander of this various armie under the Lord of Hostes Who are these my Lord And that great Angel or Messenger sent from God himself vouchsafeing to answer and discourse with me said I will let thee know what these be 10. Then presenting himself in the form of a man and staying still under the shade of the myrtle-trees he said These are the Armie and Messengers that the great Iehovah sends abroad to compasse the Earth to punish the worser and defend the better sort of men 11. Whereupon the rest in reference to what that great Messenger of the great Iehovah had said while he stood under the myrtle-trees gave this further answer to what I had presumed to ask of Him We have passed thorough the whole circuit of this land and we have taken such order that this all the Countries hereabouts are in peace and quiet and therefore they may safely and securely proceed in the fabrick of the Temple without any fear of disturbance at home or abroad 12. Vpon this occasion that great Messenger from the Lord was pleased to say as the great Mediator for his despised Church O Lord of Hostes how long was it ere thou wouldst have this pitie upon Ierusalem and other the Cities of Iudah which still appear but in their ruines and rubbish and which in thine anger thou didst keep under the Babylonian captivity no lesse than threescore and ten years the very age of a man 13. And the Lord Iehovah himself gave answer to that great Angel that had spoke so to me in most loving and comfortable words 14. Hereupon that great Angel and Embassador that had vouchsafed so far to commmune with me added this further and said Go and preach again unto thy people the Jewes and say Thus saith the Lord of Hostes I have indeed been jealous over Ierusalem and Sion and very jealous over them because of their spiritual adulteries which they have committed against me and I have punished them in some proportion to that jealousie 16. But now my anger shall fall in as great a measure upon those nations that have enjoyed their ease and plenty while you have been under the rod. And I will punish them the rather because whereas I used them like Schoolmasters for your correction onely they added more to your punishment than
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
were p. 298. v. 9. r. the wives p. 346. v. 14. r. of any longer p. 361. v 15. before encrease dele l. p 400 v. 6. r. sore troubled p. 413. l. 2. r. may be p. 463. v. 1. 466 v. 7. r. Darius Notbus as it is truly printed r. 439. where the note in calâ—e paginae gives a reason of it and 442. l. 1. p. 490. v. 9. r. if by his care p. 531. v. 8. r. Angels p. 546. l 2 r. So these Errata in the Notes in calce paginae Pag. 18. l. totum pop Isr. 45. l. in Hâ—ph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incipe incipere 79 for subest l. subesse 345. l. attondebantur 490 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 588 l. omni cibo 598. l. futurum pro Imperativo A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF HOSEA CHAP. I. 1 THe word of the Lord that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri in the daies of Uzzia Jotham Ahas and Hezekiah Kings of Judah and â—n the daies of Jeroboam the son of Joash King of Israel 2. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea and the Lord said to Hosea Go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms for the land hath committed great whordom departing from the Lord. 3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim which conceived and bare him a son 4. And the Lord said unto him Call his name Jezreel for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause to cease the Kingdom of the house of Israel 5. And it shall come to passe at that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel 6. And she conceived again and bare a daughter and God said unto him Call her name Lo-ruhamah for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel but I will utterly take them away 7. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah and will save them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow nor by sword nor by battel by horses nor by horsemen 8. Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah she conceived and bare a son 9. Then said God Call his name Lo-ammi for ye are not my people and I will not be your God 10. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured nor numbred and it shall come to passe that in the place where it was said unto them Ye are not my people there it shall be said unto them Ye are the sons of the living God 11. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head and they shall come up out of the land for great shall be the day of Jezreel CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord which was made known to Hosea the son of Beeri in the daies of Uzziah Jotham Ahaz and Hezekiah Kings of Judah and in the daies of Jeroboam the son of Joash King of Israel 2. When first it pleased God to deliver his word by Hosea this it was which he said to that Prophet Go and take to thy self a woman that hath lived long in whoredom and take her children too that have been born to her in that time The fittest type of the children of Israel that have lived long in spiritual whoredoms against their Lord Iehovah 3. And accordingly the Prophet went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim which in the very names signifies the deficiencie of that people and that the two Houses of Iudah and Israel were like two baskets of dry figs in which there were but very few worth the keeping This Gomer conceived and bare a son to the Prophet 4. The Prophet also had a command from the Lord to call the name of his son Jezreel which name referred both to Iezreel the prime City in Israel and to their glorious title of the children of God which title God would shake by disseminating and scattering them in forreign Nations where those undeserved titles should serve them in little stead And this intimated in that name was to begin with a fore-running punshiment which the Prophet had command to expresse in these or the like terms That as a revenge of the innocent blood shed by Iehu in Iezreel God would shortlie send his visitations upon the house of Jehu by such a way as should not be much unlike that bloody slaughter that Jehu had made in Jezreel upon the house of Ahab And that one effect of these heavy visitations should be this That the kingdom of the house of Israel should cease to be any longer in the house of Iehu that Kingdom being thence translated to Sallum of another stock from Zacharias whom he succeeded 5. And this was further added concerning that time That God would then break the strength of Israel by those civil wars that should most appear in the valley of Jezreel 6. After this Gomer conceaved again and bare a daughter which by the like divine command had the name of Lo-ruchamah A name that carried in it the sad doom concerning the house of Israel which God would be so far from sheltring any longer under his merciful protection that he would utterly remove them out of that good land 7. While in the mean time he would gratiously defend the house of Judah in such a way as should visibly appear to be the miraculous work of the Lord their God no strength in the arm of man nor any Art or Instruments of war being ever able to atchieve so great and sodain a deliverie as they should have from the mighty Host of Senacherib the King of Assyria 8. Now after Gomer had weaned Lo-ruchamah she conceived a third time and bare a son 9. And God commanded the Prophet to give that son the name of Lo-ammi Which name implied that they should be no longer his people to enjoy any further happinesse under his service they should rather be the unhappy people and slaves of the Assyrian And God would no longer make his provident protection to speak him their God as he had done 10. Yet should it come to passe that when the children of Israel had increased into multitudes like the sand of the sea which is capable of no number then instead of their name Lo-ammi wherein God disclaimed many of them from being so much as his people they should have the high title of the sons of the living God 11. And then should the children of Judah and the children of Israel so much divided before make one Congregation under one head and Governour which was to be accomplished by Zerobabel in the letter and by Christ in the mystery For then should begin the great day of Jezreel that is of the seed of God or the sons of the living God as they were stiled before
CHAP. III. AFter this it pleased God to injoyn me once again to love a woman that had been dearly affected by her dearest friend her husband and yet had been false to him in no lesse a fault than whoredom And this was another typicall expression how great love God had shewed to the children of Israel who most ungratefully neglecting him cast their affection upon strange gods for love of those stagons of wine which being offered to such false Gods were then tasted with pleasure by their Idolaters 2. Conformable to this divine command the custome of the Jewes being to purchase their wives with mony or money-worth I procured such a wife at the set price of fifteen pieces of silver and a Homer and a half of barley 3. And I agreed with her that she should live a good while as a widow forsaking the love of all others reserving her self all that while for me as I would reserve my self for her 4. For this was also a type of the children of Israel that should expect my wonted favourable protection for many dayes abiding in the mean while without a King of their own nation and a peculiar Prince of their own Nay it was a figure of more than so that they should not onely want their former way of Polity and Government of the common-wealth but the wonted liberty also of those Ecclesiasticall rites and customes which they had used before in their sacrifices and pillars and Ephod and Teraphim in all which they took themselves to make sufficient expression of their love and service unto me 5. After which time expired the children of Israel should return by repentance and seek for a reconciliation with their God whom they had so much offended and apply themselves to Zorobabel of the line of David whom they should account as their King and then should they live in the fear of the Lord and acknowledge his great goodnesse and mercy toward them in the latter dayes CHAP. IIII. 1. Hear the word of the Lord ye children of Israel for the Lord hath a controversie with the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land 2. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery they break out and blood toucheth bloud 3. Therefore shall the land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven yea the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away 4. Yet let no man strive nor reprove another for this people are as they that strive with the Priest 5. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day and the Prophet shall also fall with thee in the night and I will destroy thy mother 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because thou hast rejected knowledge I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no Priest to me seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God I will also forget thy children 7. As they were increased so they sinned against me therefore will I change their glory into shame 8. They eat up the sinne of my people and they set their heart on their iniquity 9. And there shall be like people like Priest and I will punish them for their waies and reward them their doings 10. For they shall eat and not have enough they shall commit whoredom and shall not increase because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. 11. Whoredome and wine and new wine take away the heart 12. My people ask counsell at their stocks and their staffe declareth unto them for the spirit of whoredomes hath caused them to erre and they have gone a whoring from under their God 13. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountaines and burn incense upon the hils under oakes and poplars and elmes because the shadow thereof is good therefore your daughters shall commit whoredome and your Spouses shall commit adultery 14. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom nor your Spouses when they commit adultery for themselves are separated with whâ—res and they sacrifice with harlots therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall 15. Though thou Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah offend and come not ye unto Gilgal neither go ye up to Beth-aven nor swear The Lord liveth 16. For Israel slideth back as a back-sliding heifer now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place 17. Ephraim is joyned to idols let him alone 18. Their drink is sowre they have committed whoredom continually her rulers with shame do love Give ye 19. The wind hath bound her up in her wings and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices CHAP. IIII. 1. IN the latter dayes it will be so But will you hear what is to be said for the present Hear the word of the Lord ye Children of Israel for the Lord hath a controversie with the inhabitants of the land because there is none of that truth and mercy and knowledge of God in the land which they pretend to and so no true Acts of Piety 2. But rather by swearing falsly and as falsly denying that which is committed to their trust by murder and theft and adultery they have violently and impudently broke thorow all good lawes And therefore by way of punishment they shall be suffered so long to goe on in the current of those disorders till among the greatest of them that should have kept the people within their bounds one murder shall break out after another and other sinnes of a high nature that deserve death and effusion of blood come on so thick and frequent that you may say they are one contiguous to another 3. Whereupon though they would not mourn for this increase of sinne yet the earth it self seeming to put on her mourning-weeds for the destruction of her fruit shall be as an introduction to their own sorrow for the just increase of their calamities which shall come so hot and thick upon them those especially by Tiglath-peleser and Salmenasser that the inbabitants of the land shall faint under that grief and perplexity which must then be suffered For amongst other miseries such an universall want shall there be of food and nourishment and by the effusion of much blood such a corruption of the air and waters that together with those distressed inhabitants the very beasts of the field and the fowles of the aire and the fishes of their ponds near the sea shall many of them be taken away in that common calamity 4. In all this certainly it will be to little purpose for any man to admonish another whose sinnes have contributed much to this publick misery Therefore he were as good let it alone For this thy people are most of them past cure like those spoken of in the Law that will neither hearken to Prince nor Priest unlesse
hearken ye house of Israel and give ye ear O house of the King for judgement is towards you because ye have been a snare on Mâ—zpah and a net spred upon Tabor 2. And the revolters are profound to make slaughter though I have been a rebuker of them all 3. I know Ephraim and Israel is not hid from me for now O Ephraim thou committest whoredom and Israel is defiled 4. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them and they have not known the Lord. 5 And the pride of Israel doth testifie to his face therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity Iudah also shall fall with them 6. They shall go with their flocks and with their berds to seek the Lord but they shall not find him he hath withdrawn himself from them 7. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord for they have begotten strange children now shall a moneth devour them with their portions 8. Blow ye the cornet in Gibea the trumpet in Ramah cry aloud at Bethaven after thee O Benjamin 9. Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke among the tribes of Israell have I made known that which shall surely be 10. The Princes of Iudah were like them that remove the bound therefore I will poure out my wrath upon them like water 11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgement because he willingly walked after the commandment 12. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth and to the house of Iudah as rottennesse 13. When Ephraim saw his sicknesse and Iudah saw his wound then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to king Iareb yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your wound 14. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion and as a young lion to the house of Iudah I even I will tear and go away I will take away and none shall rescue him 15. I will goe and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face in their affliction they will seek me early CHAP. V. 1. YOu that call your selves Priests in Israel and passe under that name among your Countriemen I have somewhat more for you to hear And it will concern all you of the house of Israel to listen to it and you specially of King Menahem's Court. For there is a just punishment readie to fall upon you because you have been a snare to the house of Iudah who by your example have been as easilie seduced as birds are taken in nets and gins about the woody Mountains of Mizpah and Tabor which are famous for that art of fowling and ensnaring of those creatures 2. And no wonder if others were misled by their example for these Apostates declining from the true wayes of my service went profoundlie to work in their butchering for no better term deserve their so much sacrificing to idols But I will find a way of correction that shall meet with them all in a slaughter of men not of beasts 3. I know these and other faults in those of the ten tribes nor can any of their offences be concealed from me I observe how Ephraim goes still forward in his spiritual fornication and all Israel is defiled after their example 4. They will not frame their actions towards a way of conversion unto their God For the spirit of that kind of whordom is in the middest of them and they have no mind to know the Lord. 5. Which proud and obstinate demeanour of Israel doth testifie to their faces what they are Therefore their own iniquitie shall ruine those ten tribes under the Assyrian And Judah shall not long after fall into the like miserie under the Egyptians and Caldaeans 6. Then shall they think to make their atonement by bringing their stocks and their herds to be offered in sacrifice unto the Lord. But that way of seeking their peace with God will not then prove the way to find it They will rather find that he hath withdrawn himself from them and will by no means admit of those former waies of accesse 7. And so he might well do because of their unlawful accesse to women of other Nations whom they were commanded not to marry which was a great offence against God and a means to furnish them with strange children that he will not own Now therefore will he suffer souldiers of a strange nation in a short time by their monethlie payments and exactions to devour them and that substance which he had allotted and laid out as a peculiar portion to themselves 8. Nor will I longer defer the calling of that armie saith the Lord. Come on and let your trumpets and cornets give notice of your near approach Let the sound of them be heard in Gibeah and Ramah within the portion of Benjamin and not many miles from the Citie of Ierusalem Let them shout aloud at Bethaven and that pincheth close upon thy back O Benjamin So near is that place unto thee 9. And if this fall upon Judah How will Ephraim be laid desolate in the day of his correction under the army of Salmanasser when I shall show my constant resolution of accomplishing all that which I had foretold to be coming upon Israel 10. Nor while they are so punished in Israel may the Princes of Iudah think to escape For many of them have often passed those bounds that I set them Therefore I will poure my anger upon them like water that will be kept in no bounds and ever breaks out violentlie and in great abundance 11. And while I resolve of Iudah's punishment I forget not the faults of Ephraim and Israel speciallie how the people there have been crushed and oppressed by the power of their great ones and the iniquitie of their Courts of Iustice. My justice suffering that punishment to fall upon them because they had a readier inclination to walk after the edicts and dictates of men then after that which I justlie commanded 12. Therefore as the moth eats and consumes the garment and rottenness the flesh so will I for these offences cause both Ephraim and Iudah to be consumed and eaten out of their own homes And neither their own nor other Princes shall be able to relieve them 13. They may remember the time when Ephraim perceiving his sicknesse and Judah feeling his wound that troubled him Ephraim applied himself to the Assyrian sending presents to Pul and Judah made his addresses to Tiglathpelezer that he would be his good King Jareb i. his Protector and avenger of his cause But all this while he that was so wooed and humbly sent to could not heal the disease that they were sick of nor cure those wounds that put them to their pain and trouble 14. For to what end is it to seek favour and succour of men saith the Lord when I resolve in my
mere wind and vanity and will deceive him at the last Nay which is far worse he runs gaping after the East-wind That is the wind which he followes a wind in these parts of the world of most malignity i.e. he takes a quite contrary course to appease the wrath of God For the increase of dissembling and hypocrisie is alwaies Ephraims fault in the fairest pretenses He were as good resolve to increase the meanes of his own ruine and desolaiton That will be the end of the Ephramites ingaging themselves by a league with the Assyrian and at the same time sending precious oil and other rich presents into Egypt to beg aid from thence against their own confederates 2. And as Israel is guilty of this subtle Art of dissembling and false dealing so Iudah in that point though not so much in the matter of Idolatry hath his faults too for which God hath a quarrell to him but He will not spare to punish Israel according to their wicked waies and according to their evill doings will he return a just recompense unto them who were distinguished from the Tribe of Judah by the name from Israel or Jacob and were the greater offenders though those names should have put them more in mind of their duty 3. The subtilty of the people of Israel is not like that of Israel their honoured Patriarch that had it in matter of praise and admiration For he was called Jacob because while he was yet unborn he did miraculously supplant his brother and so give a presage of that felicity which should be taken off from his Brother and laid upon him to be injoyed by his posterity rather than by himself In which miraculous supplantation which was a kind of wrastling with his brother for the blessing we must not forget how afterwards he wrastled and prevailed with God himself by the strength of his hearty prayers 4. For when he had such power to prevaile over the Angell that represented the person of God and to get the victory you must needs conceive that he was strengthned by God the Lord of all the Angels His prayers and his teares procured him that blessing in Bethel where he found that Angel and discoursed with him and herein he did as good as speak to us as plainly as if we had been with him and show us how we may prevaile with the Lord of Hostes. 5. You little thought of this when you set up your calves in this Bethel where he worshipped and made supplication to the true God that delivered him in his greatest danger The same piety to God might procure you the same assistance in all your extremities For Iehovah the Lord of Hosts is the name by which he is remembred And out of that name you may gather the extent of his power and goodnesse 6. Therefore do thou O Israel as Jacob did Return unto thy God by an unfeigned conversion from all sinne and keep close to Mercy and Iustice so mayst thou alwayes expect the like help from thy God and put thy trust in Him 7. But to what purpose is all this good advice For Israel will continue still to be such a crafty merchant as he shewed himself in his former subtilty When he gets deceitfull weights into his hand any opportunity of deceiving others he longs to be practising his Art of deceit to the dammage and oppression of them that suspect him not 8. In all which Ephraim or Israel i.e. the ten tribes that will now be called Ephraim hath the face to say I am indeed become rich I have found wayes to purchase me good store of wealth and have I not done well in all this In all the paines that I have taken for it cavill they that will they will find no fault wherein I have offended 9. But is it no fault O Ephraim that I should be so served I that am the Lord tby God that delivered thee out of the Egyptian bondage and would have made thee still to dwell as securely and chearfully in all thy habitaitons as ever thou wert in the dayes of the solemn feast of Tabernacles 10. To which purpose have not I spoken to thee by my Prophets Have I not sent to thee by vision after vision and used Parables and Similitudes by the ministry of my Prophets But I have lost my labour and so have the Israelites too 11. For though they have set up an idoll in Gilead yet they did it to no purpose they missed of their aime when they looked for help and deliverance from such poor Deities And they that offered bullocks or to bullocks in Gilgal took a wrong course in their worship and therefore had as ill successe For even their Altars are come to ruine and confusion and lie but as heaps of stones that the husbandman hath cast up and down at a venture in the furrowes of his field 12. The time was when Jacob your Father fled out of Syria into that Region of Gilead In those dayes he could find in his heart to do service for the purchase of a wife and for a wife to be a keeper of sheep This did he for his two wives but what have you done in the service of God to win his favour 13. The time was too when God sent Moses as a great Prophet to bring Israel out of Egypt and by the care and direction of that Prophet they were kept from all danger and safely conducted in the wildernesse till Joshuah had a command to lead them into the promised land which is your inheritance 14. But what requitall have they or you given to me Nay Ephraim hath instead of that provoked me bitterly to anger by his wicked deeds Therefore his bloud shall be upon him for his cruelty to many good persons and the reproaches against me and my Prophets shall his God return upon him in due time CHAP. XIII 1. WHen Ephraim spake trembling he exalted himself in Israel but when he offended in Baal he died 2 And now they sinne more and more and have made them molten images of their silver and idols according to their own understanding all of it the work of the crafts-man they say of them Let the men that sacrifice kisse the calves 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew it passeth away as the chaffe that is driven with a whirlwind out of the floor and as the smoak out of the chimney 4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt and thou shalt know no God but me for there is no Saviour beside me 5 I did know thee in the wildernesse in the land of great drought 6 According to their pasture so were they filled they were filled and their heart was exalted therefore have they forgotten me 7 Therefore I will be unto them as a Lion as a Leopard by the way will I observe them 8 I will meet them as
ride upon horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands Ye are our gods for in thee the fatherlesse findeth mercy 4 I will heal their backsliding I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him 5 I will be as the dew unto Israel he shall grow as the lillie and cast forth his roots as Lebanon 6 His branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the Olive tree and his smell as Lebanon 7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return they shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine the sent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon 8 Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with idols I have heard him and observed him I am like a green firre tree from me is thy fruit found 9 Who so is wise and he shall understand these things prudent and he shall know them for the waies of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in them but the transgressour shall fall therein CHAP. XIV THere is yet one way the way of serious and timely repentance to prevent or qualifie all this Come then O Israel Return again unto the Lord thy God by true repentance as thou hast taken from him by thy great offences 2. Take this form of confession into your mouths and say to him with a true penitent heart Take away the punishment of all our iniquities O Lord and pardon our offences And gratiously accept of that good service which we deserve to offer unto thee in all submission And though we have hitherto beenâ— fruitlesse in our actions yet now let the fruit of our lips our thankful acknowledgements be rendred as a pledge of our future obedience 3. We will make no more addresses to Assyria when we would be saved from our enemies We will seek no more succour from the Egyptian Horse wherein that nation excels We will never hereafter give that honour to idols the work of our own hands which belongs onely to God For thou art the true and sure refuge of all that are afflicted The very Orphans and they that are most destitute of help are wont to find pitie in thee when all other hopes forsake them and a pitie accompanied with such a loving affection as a dear mother bears to the fruit in her womb 4. Upon this humble submission of theirs I would give them this merciful answer saith God himself that I will upon their amendment of life cure them of all their strange aversions from me I will embrace them most lovingly with a free and hearty affection So easily would I be content that mine anger should be wholly turned from them 5. I will be to Israel like the hopeful dew the pledge of a plentiful encrease s He shall slourish like the fair lilly and take as deep root as the trees of Lebanon 6. His children like t olive-branches shall spread and dilate themselves all abroad For his excellencie shall be every way like that of the olive not in the green and long-flourishing boughs onely but in the goodnesse and fatnesse of the fruit that pleaseth God and men And his name and good report among other nations shall be as sweet as the smel of frankincense 7. So that many that upon their fame will come to live under the shadow and protection of Israel shall be converted to the worship of the true God And their newness of life shall be with as much fruit as the corn that dies in the ground and is again quickened with the advantage of much increase It shall be compared to the growth of the fruitful vine and the memorial of them shall be like the fragrant and pleasant wine of Lebanon that is never remembred but with high commendation 8. But for all these good promises of theirs and presages of mine how comes it to passe that Ephraim doth still continue his worship of idols I am readie to hear and help him in the time of need which they cannot and so carefully to look to him that he shall not cease to flourish like a green sirre tree For thou hast never done any thing O Ephraim but it hath been found that I have answered it to thee with the fruit of a high reward 9. Will any of you now be so wise as to consider these things Will any be so prudent in their actions as if they took full notice of the passages of the mercy and justice of God Though you will not do so yet are all the counsels and actions of God full of equity And as all his waies are just so all that are just will walk in his waies But the wicked and unjust are so far from walking in them as they should do that they cannot hold out long without discoverie of their great faults and relapses wherein they fall foule from him and his waies though they may pretend to walk in them A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF IOEL CHAP. I. 1 THe word of the Lord that came to Ioel the son of Pethuel 2 Hear this ye old men and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land Hath this been in your daies or even in the daies of your fathers 3 Tell ye your children of it and let your children tell their children and their children another generation 4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten 5 Awake ye drunkards and weep and howl all ye drinkers of wine because of the new wine for it is cut off from your mouth 6 For a nation is come up upon my land strong and without number whose teeth are the teeth of a Lion and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great Lion 7 He hath laid my vine wast and barked my fig-tree he hath made it clean bare and cast it away the branches thereof are made white 8 Lament like a virgin garded with sack-cloth for the husband of her youth 9 The meat-offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord the Priests the Lords ministers mourn 10 The field is wasted the land mourneth for the corn is wasted the new wine is dried up the oyl languisheth 11 Be ye ashamed O ye husbandmen howl O ye vine-dressers for the wheat and for the barley because the harvest of the field is perished 12 The vine is dried up and the fig-tree languisheth the pomegranate-tree the palm-tree also and the apple-tree even all the trees of the field are withered because joy is withered away from the sons of men 13 Gird your selves and lament ye Priests howl ye ministers of the Altar come lie all night in sack-cloath ye ministers of my God for the meat-offering and the drink-offering is withholden from the house of your God 14 Sanctifie ye a fast call a solemne assembly
gather the Elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto the Lord 15 Alas for the day for the day of the Lord is at hand and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come 16 Is not the meat cut off before your eyes yea joy and gladnesse from the house of our God 17 The feed iâ—â—rotten under their clods the garners are laid desolate the barns are broken down for the corn is withered 18 How do the beasts grone the herds of cattel are perplexed because they have no pasture yea the flocks of sheep are made desolate 19 O Lord to thee will I cry for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wildernesse and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field 20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee for the rivers of waters are dried up and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wildernesse THe Prophecie of Ioel was directed chiesly against Iudah as Hosheahs against Israel For though he name Israel twice yet he understands not there the ten Tribes distinct from the Kingdom of Iudah but takes it as a general name to all the Jews He begins with threats and motives to repentance and so makes way for unspeakable comfort in the coming of the Messias and the necessitie of yeelding obedience unto him CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord which was made known to Ioel the son of Pethuel 2. Hear ye this you aged men that are supposed to have encreased your knowledge with your years And give special ear to it all you that are inhabitants of the land of Judea And tell me if you have heard the like of what I shall now deliver either in your daies or in the daies of your forefathers 3. I shall speak that which you may well transmit to your children and they to theirs and so one age to another generation succeeding them 4. And I shall begin with four several sorts of terrible locusts You read but of one sort of them in Egypt here are more to be wondred at and all of them greedy destroyers not of our enemies land but of our own nor of the land onely but of the people In such manner shall these come That what the Caterpiller leaves the Grashopper shall devour And what the Grashoper leaves the Canker-worm shall eat up And what the Canker-worm leaves the Locust shall devour 5. Here is sad news to wake up the drunkards you that are in that number this will make you all turn your mad mirth into weeping and howling You that were of all others most soundly lulled asleep for in the destruction of the vineyards the sweet wine will be taken away from the mouths of such lustie bibbers 6. And that you may know what kind of creatures these locusts may be whether worms or men I will now use a plainer language to ler you understand what God himself saith of his people And this it is A nation shall certainly come upon my land or rather a mixture of several destructive nations as greedie and mischievous as any locusts a people excelling in strength and number A generation of locusts that will bite to the purpose For their teeth will be like Lions teeth and their grinders will have the strength of the strongest Lions in that part 7. This kind of monstrous creature will fearfully destroy Judea which I account as my own vineyard that my right hand hath planted And with that all my best fruit will be used at the pleasure of the destroyer among them my fig-trees will be barked and pilled and carelessely thrown about not a bough retaining so much as his own colour 8. For this well maiest thou O Judea take up as heavie a mourning and lamentation as a young woman would do that girds her self with sackcloth and sadly composeth her self to bewail the losse of her dearest consort the husband of her youth 9. No other way canst thou lament for thy Priests or they for themselves They that continually wait at the altar of the Lord to intercede for thy welfare and present thy thankful acknowledgements cannot otherwise expresse the absolute losse of that corn and wine that should daily supply the meat-offering and drink-offering for the house of the Lord and so the better inable them for the continuance of divine service in that place 10. The Priests mourn not alone The grounds are so wasted and lie so rude and untilled that they also seem to have put on their mourning apparrel And there is too much cause they should do so for the devastation of the fair corn-fields and withering of the vines and total losse of the oyl 11. At this sight how can the Husbadmen but hang down their heads for shame and the vine-dressers cry out for sorrow It must trouble them all to see the fruit of the earth so destroyed the wheat and the barly and the whole harvest of the field 12. The vines specially they have been so abused that they seem to blush at it as if they were ashamed to be seen in such a case The figs are no lesse spoiled and corrupted And with them the pomegranate the palmtree and the apple tree and all other trees of the field are withered and decayed And in them the joy and delight of the Sons of men is taken away and vanished out of our sight 13. Now therefore O ye Priests that have nothing else to offer come offer and present your sad souls before the Altar And gird your bodies with sackcloth or other mournful attire and let your howling be heard you that attend upon an empty Altar and are tain to lay aside your solemn Musick Lie all night in sackcloth you Ministers of my God For meat and drink offerings and outward sacrifices you must look for none You have onely your patient and obedient hearts to be made a fit sacrifice for the Lord of Heaven and earth that gives and takes away and restores again at his pleasure 14. Nor will this sacrificing of your selves be enough You must think what is fit to be done by the people too To appease the wrath of God Proclaim a publick and solemn Fast Let a full assembly be called Gather your Senators together to advise and enact what is to be done And all the Inhabitants of the land to obey their commands Gather them to the house of the Lord your God the house of prayer and there with penitent and unanimous hearts cry earnestly unto him and say 15. Alas for the day the great day of the Lord that comes on apace the day of vengeance and the destruction of Ierusalem the day of destruction that is appointed by God himself who is all-sufficient and will not be wanting to execute his own just decrees 16. Do we not see a type of it already set before our eyes Do we not read some lines of it in our present miserie and scarcitie that
debars us of the joy and pleasure that we were wont to take in our rich supply of sacrifices and offerings for the house of the Lord our God 17. For now not onely the corn above ground is destroyed but the very seed cast into the earth is putrisied under the clods so that our hope of a good harvest is buried with it and our garners are destroyed our barns emptied and ruined and our corn withered 18. O how the very cattel sensible of their wants in their loud bellowing seem to grone and cry unto God as elsewhere the hungry ravens are said to call upon Him who hath an ear for them and would much more be favourable to our prayers who are not so forward to bemoan our selves as the herds of bruit beasts are in their woful condition and perplexitie for lack of pasture And the flocks of sheep that as heavily though more remisly and silently expresse their sad and desolate case 19. I can not but crie unto thee O Lord the roaring of the poor beasts might put me upon it for that cruelty of our enemies that carrie all before them like a consuming fire destroying the fruitful places of the once-plentiful but now a most desert land and like a continued flame fearfully burning up all the trees of the field 20. And if I should leave crying and calling upon thee the beasts of the field every one of them as confuting the dulnesse and coldness of my affections and the too little pitty of my self and them would continue their louder and heavier cry unto thee because the great rivers of waters are dried up and the fruitful earth parched with heat is become like a drie and desolate wildernesse the pastures now deserve no other name among us CHAP. II. 1. BLow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord cometh for it is high at hand 2 A day of darknesse and of gloominesse a day of clouds of thick darkness as the morning spread upon the mountains a great people and a strong there hath not been ever the like neither shall be any more after it even to the years of many generations 3 A fire devoureth before them and behind them a flame burneth the land is as the garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness yea and nothing shall escape them 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses and as horsemen so shall they run 5 Like the noise of charets on the tops of mountains shall they leap like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble as a strong people set in battle array 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained all faces shal gather blacknesse 7 They shall run like mighty men they shall climb the wall like men of war and they shall march every one on his wayes and they shall not break their ranks 8 Neither shall one thrust another they shall walk every one in his path and when they fall upon the sword they shall not be wounded 9 They shall run to and fro in the city they shall run upon the wall they shall climb up upon the houses they shall enter in at the windowes like a thief 10 The earth shall quake before them the heavens shall tremble the Sun and the Moon shall be dark and the Stars shall withdraw their shining 11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army for his camp is very great for he is strong that executeth his word for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible and who can abide it 12 Therefore also now saith the Lord Turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning 13 And rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse and repenteth him of the evill 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion sanctifie a fast call a solemn assembly 16 Gather the people sanctifie the congregation assemble the Elders gather the children and those that suck the breasts let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet 17 Let the Priests the ministers of the Lord weep between the porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thing heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say among the people where is their God 18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people 19 Yea the Lord will answer and say unto his people Behold I will send you corn and wine and oil ye shall be satisfied therewith and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen 20 But I will remove far off from you the Northern army will drive him into a land barren and desolate with his face toward the east Sea his hinder part towards the utmost sea his stink shall come up his ill savour shall come up because he hath done great things 21 Fear not O land be glad and rejoyce for the Lord will do great things 22 Be not afraid ye beasts of the field for the pastures of the wildernesse do spring for the tree beareth her fruit the fig-tree and the vine do yeild their strength 23 Be glad then ye children of Zion and rejoyce in the Lord your God for he hath given you the former rain moderately and he will cause to come down for you the rain the former rain and the latter rain in the first moneth 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten the canker-worm and the caterpillar and the palmer-worm my great army which I sent among you 26 And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wonderously with you and my people shall never be ashamed 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your God and none else and my people shall never be ashamed 28 And it shall come to passe afterward that I will powre out my Spirit upon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids maids in those dayes will I powre out my Spirit 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth bloud and fire and pillars of smoak 31 The Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood before the
men let all the men of war draw near let them come up 10 Beat your plow shares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears let the weak say I am strong 11 Assemble your selves and come all ye heathen and gather your selves together round about thither cause thy mighty ones to come down O Lord. 12 Let the heathen be wakened come up to the valley of Iehoshaphat for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about 13 Put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe come get you down for the press is full the fats overflow for the wickedness is great 14 Multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision 15 The sun and the moon shall be darkned and the Stars shall withdraw their shining 16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Ierusalem and the heavens and the earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the Children of Israel 17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain then shall Ierusalem be holy and there shall no strangers passe thorow her any more 18 And it shall come to passe in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine and the bills shall flow with milk and all the rivers of Iudah shall flow with waters and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord shall water the valley of Shittim 19 Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Iudah because they have shed innocent bloud in their land 20 But Iudah shall dwel for ever Ierusalem from generation to generation 21 For I wil cleanse their bloud that I have not cleansed for the Lord dwels in Zion CHAP. III. A Prophesie of what shall happen after a longer and more uncertain time in the vally of Iehoshaphat which what particular place soever is chiefly intended signifies a place or several places wherein God will please to exercise his judgement upon his and the Churches enemies at several times and upon several occasions before the last Day of Iudgement but compleatly then 1. FOr Behold it shall come to passe saith the Lord in those dayes of the Messias the times of the gospel when I shall bring again the captivity of Iudah and Ierusalem â— reduce all the true Israelites Jewes and Gentiles into one fold to be all under one Shepherd 2. Then will I as occasion serves summon the enemies of the Church in all nations and I will make them appear before me in the vally of Iehosphaphat or in the place wherein I will execute my judgement and there will I avenge the injuries done to my own People the true Israel of God mine inheritance whose cruell enemies dispersed them through all the world as if they would have taken possession of my own peculiar portion and divided it as their own haereditary possession 3. In those particular dayes of Judgement which will be as types and forerunners of the Generall Iudgement that will at last overtake all the enemies of the Church it will appear what scornes and injuries have been put upon all the Saints of God Particularly it will be made evident that upon some of my People they have cast lots they have sold the children of Christians an ingenuous young man have they made away for the price of an harlot and a modest Virgin for a sum of money that might furnish them with wine to drink and be merry 4. And what have you to do with me and my Church saith the Lord. You that are as great and close adversaries to the Christians as ever the Tyrians and Sidonians and all the Tract of Palestine were to the Jewes Doth your ill usage come in as a return of some injury that I and my People seem to have offered unto you If you do either provoke me with your ventrous and first attempts or pretend any such requital upon me or mine I shall very speedily take order to return a just recompense upon your own heads 5. And I may then truely say that you have deserved it otherwise For both silver and gold and other precious things which I bestowed upon my People those it will appear that you took away thereby the better to furnish and adorn your own Temples and Palaces 6. Likewise the true Sons of mystical Iudah and Ierusalem the good and constant Professors of my gospel you sold to the Grecians and other Merchants with whom you had the like commerce and so dispersed them thorough severall remote countries that they might be far enough from returning to their own home 7. But I shall as surely recall them and reduce them safe out of those parts to which you thought they had been confined by your selling of them thither And then I will requite you in a like return of your deserts upon your own pates 8. For I will leave your Sons and Daughters upon the same termes in the hands of those good Professours whereof Iudah is the type And they shall have power to dispose of them into far remoter parts even as far off as the Sabeans Because I have so determined to do and have justly passed such a decree upon them 9. Against which decree if you can have any hope to prevaile Bestir your selves to the purpose and use all the meanes you can Publish or proclaim your war among what nations you think fit Provide your self of the ablest auxiliaries Put all your strength upon it And leave not out a man that can assist you in this enterprise When you have done all you can all will be but lost labour against those my Servants that I have resolved to defend 10. Sell your plow-shares and sythes and other necessary instruments and implements of your country-labour to supply your selves the better with weapons and engines of war And let the weakest of all be encouraged to do some proper service to the cause 11. Let your troopes and Regiments out of severall nations multiply into a mighty army and muster up all your forces together There and then the Lord of Hostes hath his greater forces of men and angels and the meanest creatures that will quickly and utterly rout the very flower and strength of your most daring Souldiers at the hearing of this short prayer out of the mouth of his afflicted Servants There let thy mighty ones descend O Lord to the releif of thy people 12. That Prayer will procure a Command that shall rouse all the nations that oppose the Church and summon them personally to appear in the vally of Iehoshaphat in the place which I shall appoint there to sit in judgement against all nations on every side that have been enemies to Me and my Church 13. Upon this summons Hear how God
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
wise Now these things were revealed to Amos concerning Israel in the time of Uzziah King of Judah and Jeroboam son of Joash King of Israel two years before the Earthquake that happened in the reign of Vzziah that was smitten with leprosie for attempting upon the Priests office 2. Amos being thus made a Prophet his name agreed with the sum of his Prophesie For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amost signifies a burden And that is an ordinarie term in the holy Scripture for the Prophesie of a heavy punishment denounced against a Nation as this of Amos was against many specially against the ten Tribes Against whom what he had prophesied was fulfilled by Salmaneser that led them away captive into Assyria 4 Reg. 17. 6. But let us hear the Prophet himself speak Thus said Amos. The Lord that delighted so much in Sion and pleased to dwell between the Cherubims in his Temple at Ierusalem is now so offended with the sins of Iudah and Israel that he sends an angry threatning voice from Sion and Ierusalem that may terrifie them both specially those of Israel the greater offenders This terrible voice will have a doleful effect in the pleasant pastures of all those Shepherds that have neglected their flock and upon the Sheep that have turned Wolves against their Shepherds and raised up Shepherds of their own choice uncapable of the place Carmel among others even Carmel it self which had the fattest pasture and the most numerous sheep shall in the height and glory of it be withered and made no such place for their feeding 3 What shall we think will become of the Gentiles when Gods own people hear such sad tidings from the place of their joy and comfort Let us now hear that For Syria Damascena first Thus saith the Lord. For so many foul sins of Damascus as have filled up the full measure of their iniquity and may be brought against them in the perfect number of seven by the addition of four more to their first three that were bad enough For these I will not restore Damascus to my wonted favour or I will not recal that which I have decreed against that place Specially in that they heavily afflicted my people of Gilead Reuben Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh barbarously insulting over them and trampling upon them or rather laying on them like thrashers and abusing all alike As it was foretold by Elisaeus in his words to Hazael 4 Reg. 8 15. 4. Therefore in mine anger I will send a furious enemie against them which like a fire shall sodainly deface and ruine the royal structures erected by Hazael when they shall be the Palaces of his son Benhadad 5. And I will break the very strength of Damascus their gates fortresses and whatsoever else it is wherein they most confide And I will pack away the inhabitants of the Plain of Aven and with them the idolatrous Princes that rule over Beth-eden and the neighbour-cities devoted to riot and luxury For the Syrians shall be led captives into Kir saith the Lord by the hand of Tiglathpileser King of Assyria 6. When they of Gaza in Palestine have made up the like measure of their sins the like punishment shall be as peremptorily decreed against them specially because of their cruelty to those of Israel that fled into their parts for refuge upon the invasion of Sennacherib whom though they came peaceably and friendly to them onely for relief and no way to offer them any injury yet they most injuriously sold them into Edom as if they had been their own captives and by right of war taken by themselves Whereby they did as good as imprison them among their capital enemies and obstruct the means of their return unto their own home 7. Therefore I will cause such warlike forces to come from Hezekiah to the wall of Gaza as shall consume and burn that City and all the fair buildings within it 8. And the inhabitants of Azotus shall be turned out of doors and the Rulers of Ascalon shall partake of the same justice with their Country-men Then after that blow given to Gaza Azotus and Ascalon I will turn my striking hand against Ekron also and there the rest of the Philistims shall be destroyed by the Assyrians to the utter ruine of that people 9. Thus saith the Lord For the like overflowing of the transgressions of Tyrus in so full a measure I will not be reconciled unto them nor reverse the decree already passed against them Because they used the like cruelty that the Philistims did against the poor Israelites which came peaceably to them but were sold away to the Edomites as captives taken in war And the Tyrians shall fare the worse because they so easily forgot the league and friendship that was between their King Hiram and King David and Solomon and so between the succeeding Kings that used the stile and love of Brethren which no doubt was cause of much familiarity and many kind offices among the subjects of either Nation and was ill broken off for a matter of filthy lucre in the sale of their confederates 10. Therefore will I send an enemie from Chaldaea to the walls of Tyrus that shall set most of the stately buildings of Tyrus on such a fire as all the water above her shall not be able to quench 11. The like measure of sin will draw the like punishment upon Edom because he was so unnaturally cruel to his Brethren the posterity of Iacob shewing no bowels of compassion to these Brethren of the same belly but resting upon a violent obstinate implacable way of furious anger transmitted as an hereditary vice to Posterity for ever So did Edom strive to keep it ever alive to his immortal shame for such impiety and inhumanity against so near Allies 12. Therefore by Sennacherib and his Souldiers such flames of War shall be kindled in Teman and Bozra the two Cities of note in the Countrey of Edom as shall consume the fair Pallaces thereof 13. And of another Nation affianced to the people of God thus saith the Lord. For the full measure of the transgressions of the Ammonites the Children of Lot they shall receive the same Dâ—om with the Edomites the rather for their barbaroâ—s inhumanity which sharpned their weapons against the weaker Sex to the ripping up of the matrones of Gilead even when they were great with child Not out of any provocation in war but out of a mere covetous and ambitions desire to enlarge their territories 14. Therefore a fearful fire shall be kindled by the walls of Rabbah the gloriousest City of Animon that without difference of Sex or Age shall devour such as are found in the choicest Pallaces and Mansions of the Ammonites It shall come in a violent and fearful way with military clamours and shouting of some and skreeching of others It shall come of a sodain like a
employments From hence laying the raines loose to all liberty they take the impudence to proceed further to sins of another nature to a degree of incestuous pollution hardly named among the Gentiles that the Father and the Sonne should wickedly abuse the same woman By which horrid crimes they do what they can to pollute my holy name and provoke the Gentiles to the blaspheming of me as well as speaking the truth of them that thus dishonour their God whose honour and glory should be the main end and aim of all their endeavours 8. Beside all this having taken some pledges of those that run not after the same madness of Idolatry with them they made use of them for sacred vestures or carpets in or upon them to prostrate themselves before their Idol-altars whereas to make any use of pledges is against their law And still adding sinne unto sinne they delighted their palates with that wine which they bought with what was gained by the sale of their goods whom themselves had unjustly condemned Thus were they not ashamed to chear up themselves in the house of their false Gods and in their service as it were to drink up the blood of innocent men that would not be drawn to the like excesse of Idolatry with them 9. In this excesse and overslowing of sinne how much have these men forgot themselves and the favours and mercies that I heaped upon them How in the way to a land of rest and plenty out of my love and care of them I drove away the Amorite before them a stout and strong people giants of so vast a bignesse and stature that whosoever was to fight against them would think that his sword was to hack at Cedars and Oakes rather than to cut down men Yet these Cedars and Oakes did I pluck up by the roots and cut off in the branches and laid them prostrate before the children of Israel as low as the ground they trod upon i.e. I utterly ruined and destroyed the Amorite so that he was no longer a People as I did many other nations that were vanquished and expelled out of their antient seates to make room for them root and branch Fathers and children Princes and subiects all were driven out to give them way 10. This I did for them whom I had first obliged by a miraculous delivery from their Egyptian bondage and a safe conduct thorough the red Sea and a vast and barren wildernesse where they were fourty yeares together plentifully supplied with all things necessary till they came to possesse those fat and fertile grounds of all the seven nations of the Amorites 11. And that I might crown these temporall benefits with spirituall gifts and graces I raised up some of your children to be Prophets that they might instruct you and be your guides into a place of everlasting rest in the heavenly Canaan And as another meanes to that I made others of the Nazarites that they might be as living patterns and examples of a temperate and holy life Tell me if any of these things can be denied or if all these favours were not freely thus disposed of for your good saith the Lord 12. And yet as it were to crosse my ordinances which tended so much to your own advantage you would often interrupt the strict order of the Nazarites by perswading them to drink wine though it were flatly interdicted And you longed so much to hear your Prophets tell you rather of that which was pleasing than of that which was true that you spared not to lay it as an Injunction upon them 13. But for this liberty of sinne that you have taken to your selves I will bring you into great streights and pressures of misery and calamity so that as a cart streitned in it self and as it were oppressed with too great a burden doth seem to groane and make a noise of complaint under the weight of many sheaves so the enemies that set upon you and the afflictions that distresse and humble your soules shall force out of you many groanes and lamentations heavy and loud expressions of your sorrow 14. In this pressure and streightnesse It will be to little purpose to think of saving your selves from your enemies by flight or of finding wayes of evasion from your other miseries It will be as vain to think of resisting and overcoming them by strength of body or stoutnesse of heart For the means of flight shall be taken from them and the stoutest shall feel his stout heart to faint and sink within him And the strongest of your champions shall be so far from rescuing others that he shall not be able to preserve his own life 15. Nor shall the most cunning Archers be able to stand to it so long as to make sufficient use of his bow Or the swiftest of foot to runne so fast as to carry himself farre enough out of danger Or the most confident Horse-man to ride so fast but that a speedy and deadly blow shall overtake him and make an end of his life 16. And if any be accounted of so Heroicall a spirit that he may presume of better fortune than other mighty men even he shall be forced to yeild at last or if he can make an escape to betake himself to his heeles like a naked Souldier stripped of all his harness and leaving all his weapons behind him For the Lord hath spoken it CHAP. III. HEear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you O children of Israel against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt saying 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities 3 Can two walk together except they be agreed 4 Will a Lion roar in the forrest when he hath no prey will a young Lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the Prophets 8 The Lion hath roared who will not fear the Lord God hath spoken who can but prophesie 9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt and say Assemble your selves upon the mountains of Samaria and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof and the oppressed in the midst thereof 10 For they know not to do right saith the Lordâ— who store up violence and robbery in their palaces 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God An adversary there shall be even round about the land and he shal bring down thy strength from thee and thy palaces shall be spoiled 12 Thus saith the Lord
As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwel in Samaria in the corner of a bed and in Damascus in a couch 13 Hear ye and testifie in the house of Iacob saith the Lord God the God of hosts 14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel and the horns of the Altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground 15. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house and the houses of Ivory shall perish and the great houses shall have an end saith the Lord. CHAP. III. 1. HEar now O ye children of Israel what the Lord saith against you against all the twelve tribes the whole nation of the Iews that went as one family into Egypt but were increased into a mighty people when he delivered them out of Egypt To this purpose doth the Lord speak unto you 2. You onely I made choice of and selected above all other nations for a peculiar people to whom I would commit my sacred Oracles and upon whom I would freely confer my greatest favours No nation under heaven had ever such laws and so conveyed unto them by my self or by the Ministery of my Angels or Prophets or such ample promises such miracles and deliveries and such other motives to good life Therefore all your unthankfulnesse and disobedience and wickednesse will call for a visitation in a heavier way of punishment Both because you knew my Will better and had more means and obligations for the performance of it and because you were under a more peculiar way of care and cognisance and government under my self 3. The Prophets by whom I instructed you and forewarned you of the plagues that would follow your rebellions and of the mercies and favours that would crown all your good actions never said any thing to you but what they received from me They all agreed in expressing of the same message as men that walk together in the same way are agreed together Your walking with me and conversing in my waies should have appeared in the like agreement of yours with me and them And if your actions had been so consonant to my will and their admonitions you had now been in as fair a way to the increase of your happinesse as your dissent from me and them hath brought you into the high way of ruine and confusion 4. When my Prophets came to you with threats in their mouths it was no more then I put into them If you will call it the roaring of a Lion it was my voice And will the Lion roar either in the forrest or in his den but when the prey is in his view so near that he may take it when he will Even so make you no other account but that my Justice will follow as sure those Prophetical threats as the prey follows upon the roaring of the Lion Therefore make your peace sodainly unlesse you will expose your selves to a sodain destruction 5. Do birds use to fall into a net spred upon the ground and be taken in it unlesse it be purposely so laid by the Fowler that it may apprehend them So are your punishments prophetically foretold like snares that are laid for you in my Justice and by my direction When the Prophets have forewarned you if you will not take heed but by your own supine carelessenesse fall into the net you may thank your selves praemoniti praemuniti if it be as it should be And your timely repentance and amendment of life would be a likely means for the removal of the snare in which the Assyrians and Chaldaeans are thinking to catch you and hold you fast But if they once come near as the Fowler will not remove the snare till the birds be caught so neither will God recal his sentence against you nor they remove their armies till it be too late for you to escape 6. When by the sound of a trumpet in time of war there is notice given to a City of the forces of the enemie approaching toward them shall not that City be afraid and prepare for the best way of prevention or resistance Why then do not your fears produce the like care when your Prophets that are your Watchmen make their voices like a trumpet to rouse you up and acquaint you with the danger at hand For is there any such evil of punishment denounced or brought upon a City of which God himself is not the Authour Who therefore doth it that you may either timely repent or justly suffer 7. And he keeping it not so secret but that by his Prophets you are made privie to his full intention and they unanimously agreeing in the message you cannot but confesse that you are fairly and sufficiently forewarned and consequently if you use not the right means of prevention that the true cause of all your suffering must be indeed from your selves onely and your own impenitence 8. Which of you now will not be afraid at the roaring of this Lion And which of us that are Prophets dare refuse to prophesie and give you notice of that which God himself in such a fearful manner injoynes us to speak and we cannot but at our own peril as well as yours conceal from you 9. And that it may appear how justly that may fall upon Israel which our Prophesies have foretold let the very Heathen be called together and made acquainted with their actions and out of them speak truely what they think of the justice ever used in pronouncing or asflicting their punishment upon them Let it be divulged in the most publick places in the Palaces of Ashdod in Palestine and in all the Palaces of Egypt that they are invited freely to meet together upon the mountains of Samaria and there though being Idolaters themselves they may say little to their idolatrie yet at least let them take notice of the strange cruelty of the Israelite which may be evidenced by the fearful outcries and lamentable noise and exclamations extorted by the many oppressions and injuries of the insolent Governors that ruled or rather domineered within the City Samaria 18. Nay what speak I of the cruelty of their Governors Take them in a more general view and few or none of them did ever regard or think of doing any thing that was right and equal saith the Lord himself of them All their care was by hook or by crook by any false and unjust waies whatsoever to hoord up more and more wealth and furnish their own stately house by cheating and impoverishing of other men 11. Therefore thus saith the Lord God to the children of Israel An enemie the Assyrian in the ten tribes and the Chaldaean in the other two shall besiege and distresse the Land round about He shall tame thee and bring down thy strength
of a false sentence or the not executing of a just law when it is in their power to do it 8. It were well if they would amend this fault and resolve to do Justice in awe and reverence of that all-seeing eye and powerfull Majesty that created all the glorious lamps of Heaven Among them He made the Pleiades or Vergiliae a constellation of seven stars that ushers in the delights of the spring and the fittest time for navigation and Orion that appears about November and threatens tempestuous or at least inconstant weather as the name it self imports It is He that can turn the shadow of death the most dismall and palpable darknesse into the clearest morning and on the contrary the brightest day into the blackest night which allegorically expresseth another power of his to turn the saddest calamity into the truest felicity and again the fairest prosperity into the greatest misery It is He that can call the waters out of the Sea drawing them in vapours into the clouds by the heat of the Sun and poure them down again upon the earth in pleasant and comfortable showres where and whensoever he pleaseth It is He whose name is Iehovah which name showes the independance of his own essence that gives being to all other and the constancy of his performance of whatsoever he hath promised 9. It is he that doth often in such measure refresh and inable a weak man which hath been laid wast and desolate that he overcomes the strong It is he that brings it so about that a feeble man laid desolate shall invade and take a strong place of defense All these Instances of his power might well perswade the Israelites that He is able to releive those that are oppressed and wronged in their courts of Justice 10. Yet have not they been well advised of this For they have showed their malice against him that for their injustice hath reproved them openly in the very gates of their Cities that are their usuall places of Judicature There have they made it known how they use to abominate him that speaks sincerely ex animo and to the purpose as if he understood the case in hand 11. Now because you of Israel have thus unjustly oppressed and trampled upon the poor not onely in your Courts of Justice as you call them but in other places at your own price taking from them burdens of wheat which they got as a reward of their day-labour and for the releif of your family Therefore you that by such unjust meanes have built you sumptuous houses of hewen stone shall not come to possesse and enjoy them nor shall ye stay so long in the land as to taste the wine of those fair and lovely vineyards which you have planted upon the like purchase 12. For I observe your manifold transgressions those specially wherein you afflict the just defenders of the poor and by your bribery and other waies keep the needy from their right in that very place wherein they have most reason to expect it 13. Therefore in such evill and corrupt times he that is wise will spare his giving you any more good admonitions at his own perill which he sees will do no good upon men wholly wedded and devoted to their own waies of unlawfull gain and injurious to them that rebuke them for it 14. The thought of this may perswade you while the punishment is yet deferred to bethink your selves of doing that which becomes the people of God and by all meanes avoiding such foule faults that you may live and escape the dangers that hang over your heads Do this in time and the Lord God of Hostes will be with you as you use to boast that he is in the midst of you and will preserve you from any great danger 15. Avoid sinne with a perfect hatred of it and do that which is good in pure love of vertue and goodnesse Above all take care for the free course of Iustice in the publick places of judgement Then happily the Lord of Hostes will be mercifull to the poor remnant of the children of Israel now under the power of the tribe of Ephraim the son of Ioseph 16. For to no other end doth the Lord God of Hostes threaten so much but that your Repentance might timely prevent his judgements and lay hold of his mercy This is the intent of that which the Lord hath said that there shall be mourning not in your houses onely but in all your streets and lamentation in all your high-waies and publick places Where the generall calamity shall joyn whole troupes of them together in the sad tone of Alas Alas what will become of us Then shall they that dwell in Cities invite the Husbandmen to bear a part in their Lamentation and they that for their skill in those sad waies of Mourning were wont to be hired to do it in the Funerals of the richer sort of men shall be called in not to personate a mourner or act a part for money but more really and seriously to expresse that sorrow which equally concerned them all 17. And in all the Vineyards where you were wont to have such merry shoutes and chearfull acclamations at the close of a happy Vintage there also shall you eccho your dolefull sighes and outcries to one another While I passe thorough thy land to take vengeance of all thy wickednesse saith the Lord. That they who would not honour me for my favours and blessings may acknowledge me at least in my righteous Judgements 18. Then woe to them they will be of all other the most unhappy and miserable that to their Idolatry Injustice and other clamorous sins venture also to adde the sinnes of Unbeleif Impatience and open contempt of those many Prophetical admonitions that have been used to reclaim them and in that wicked disposition are not ashamed to say Oh when will the day of the Lord come which the Prophets have so often sounded in our eares Is it the day of our death or of the doom that the whole nation must expect to be executed upon them And will it be so terrible as they seem to conceive We would fain see in earnest what that day will prove and whether the Prophets were not much mistaken in their Predictions For will God ever in such manner forsake his holy land and the children of Abraham Isaac and Iacob his dearest Saints Oh that the time were come when we might try the love of God and see the day of the Lord which is so talked of Alas poor soules why are you so willing to see it If you knew what it will be to you you would not be so earnest to hasten it forward For it will be a black and dismall day a time of extream misery and calamity without the mixture of any light somnesse and comfort And do you long for such a sad cloudy stormy day 19. In that day terrours and troubles will come so thick upon
you that while you think to escape from one you shall be overtaken by another As if a man should run from a roaring Lion that hath him in pursuit and in the way meet with an angry Bear with open mouth ready to devour him and tear him in pieces or if he should make shift to fly from the Bear too and get safely to his own house as his Castle of defense against all such wild beasts and there resting his weary body or leaning his hand on the wall instantly a serpent should come out thence and bite him and take him quite away by a present death 20. Will not that be a fearfull horrid dismall day and without any hope of light and solace for that time which will have such varieties of danger that can be no way prevented and must end at the last in the ruine of a flourishing kingdom and the slaughter or captivity of many thousands of men women and children 21. To prevent this sad day of the Lord the time of his vengeance upon impenitent and obstinate sinners make your peace with him In your own day while you may call it your day by amending your lives and ordering your conversation aright And do not think without that to please Him with your Sacrifices or Ceremonies or any outward Act of seeming Obedience that proceeds not from a faithfull and pure Heart For will you hear what the Lord himself saith of them I was so far from taking pleasure in them that I ever hated and abhorred your Festivall Dayes And your sweet incense or what else you offered in my house at the time of your solemn assemblies was not accepted by me as any sweet savour unlesse with all Piety and sincerity and integrity of life did commend you unto me 22 You thought that you did me great service in your Holocausts and other oblations but they never moved me so much as to look favourably upon them because you did not with them offer your selves your soules and bodies as a reasonable and lively sacrifice unto me That 's the oblation and holocaust which the other were but to figure and put you in mind of And for your fat peace-offerings which should have been the Interpreters of your thankfull hearts they never gained any good liking from me because the heart and life of them was wholy wanting 23. Away with the bawling noise and tedious iteration of your Songs and Hymnes that you do not sing with the spirit and with understanding as if you were truely affected with what you sing And such have yours commonly been The like I may say of your Psalteries and Harps and other Instruments which being accompanied with sweet voices you presented before me as rare melodious Musick But it was contradicted with such a discord in your lives and actions that it came into my eares like a harsh sound not to be indured For it is the harmony of good hearts and the constant exercise of holy Vertues that I account the sweetest Musick 24. Especially the constant execution of Iustice and Iudgement To see them passe smoothly and faeirly on in your publick Courts not like water onely but like a mighty torrent with such plenty and facility that every cause might have a just sentence freely and heartily delivered without bribes without delaies and unnecessary demurrs This would please me above all Musick above all Sacrifice 25. But how often did you offer me any such sacrifice and oblation in the time of your fourty yeares safe conduct about the wildernesse O house of Israel when I fed you and protected you from all evill though you many a time rebelled against me The wildernesse indeed could not often supply you with outward and legal sacrifices but who hindered you from offering the inward and spirituall sacrifice of Piety Obedience and Thankfulness which is the service that I chiefly desired For the main intention of your other sacrifices was onely to keep you from Idolatry and to exercise your obedience and thankful acknowledgements unto me 26. Though on the contrary many of your nation at that time in the wildernesse were exercised in flat disobedience and Idolatrie For you carried about with you the shrine of Moloch a King and Idol of the Moabites and Chiun or Remphan one of those Images which you represented in a star peculiar to them These were the types these the Deities which you made to your selves after your own idle fancies forgetting the true God that made you and those Creatures to which you exhibited divine honour 27. For those impieties I will cause you to be carried away captive not to Damascus or any place so near your own Countrey whence you have the more hope to return but far beyond Damascus saith the Lord whose name is the God of Hostes whose will and pleasure cannot be resisted CHAP. VI. 1. WOe to them that are at ease in Zion and trust in the mountain of Samaria which are named chiefe of the nations to whom the house of Israel came 2 Passe ye unto Calneh and see and from thence goe ye to Hemath the great then go down to Gath of the Philistins be they better then these kingdomes or their border greater then your border 3 Ye that put farre away the evill day and cause the seat of violence to come neer 4 That lie upon beds of Ivorie and stretch themselves upon their couches and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall 5 That chaunt to the sound of the violl and invent to themselves instrument of musick like David 6 That drinke wine in bowles and anoint themselves with the chief ointments but they are not grieved for the affliction of Ioseph 7 Therefore now shall they goe captive with the first that goe captive and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed 8 The LORD GOD hath sworne by himselfe saith the LORD the GOD of hosts I abhorre the excellencie of Iacob and hate his palaces therefore will I deliver up the citie with all that is therein 9 And it shall come to passe if there remain ten men in one house that they shall die 10 And a mans Vncle shall take him up and he that burneth him to bring out the bones out of the house and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house Is there yet any with thee and he shall say No. Then shall he say Hold thy tongue for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. 11 For behold the Lord commandeth and he will smite the great house with breaches and the little house with clefts 12 Shall horses run upon the rock will one plow there with oxen for ye have turned judgement into gall and the fruit of righteousnesse into hemlock 13 Ye which rejoyce in a thing of nought which say Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength 14 But behold I will raise up against you
a nation O house of Israel saith the Lord the God of Hosts and they shall afflict you from the entring in of Hemath unto the river of the wildernesse CHAP. VI. 1. WOe be to you both of Iudah and Israel that taking no pitie upon others in great want and distresse nor abating any thing of your jollitie and luxurie to relieve them nor so much as being thankful to God for what you enjoy do live in ease and security in Sion and Samaria never troubled with any remorse for your sins or any fear of the punishment that hangs over your heads You that trust not in God but in the strength of Mount Sion and the mountain of Samaria securing your selves in that you have found out a shelter in Syria Egypt and other conntries and are called by the names of the chief of those great men in other nations to whom the house of Israel use to apply themselves as to their noble Patrons and Protectors in time of danger 2. That you may know how you do but flatter your selves in relying upon such forein hopes go to Chalne a famous Citie in Assyria and Hamath the great once the glorie of Syria Thence come nearer unto Gath the chief strength of the Philistims Inquire first what happened to them then let this question be asked of your selves Are you in a better estate then these eminent places in those Kingdoms or do you extend your borders wider then they did have you larger possessions then they had Why then do not you admonish your selves by their example that your glorie may be laid in the dust as theirs was 3. Wo be to you that perswade your selves the time of affliction is far enough from you and therefore you may be the bolder with your too-much authority over others and domineer as in a throne of ease and liberty and oppression 4. Wo be to them that lie upon sumptuous and large Ivorie beds where they have room enough to stretch themselvss in wantonnesse and lazinesse And after that ease are wont to pamper themselves at a full and costlie table feeding upon the tenderest choicest lambs that can be found in all the flock and calves purposely fatted for them in the stall 5. Wo be to them that spend too much of their time in mirth and jollitie singing division to the sound of the Psalterie and other rare instruments of Musick which they have made special choice of for themselves And to which they think they have as fair a pretense in the abuse of Musick as King David had to delight himself in his Heavenlie Hymns or otherwise to recreate and refresh himself with it when he was tired with his more serious employments 6. Wo be to them that make too much of themselves and show no pitie of others drinking their wine not in little cups as others do but in great bowls to drown the memorie of all sorrow and annointing themselves with costly ointments not moderatelie for health and neatnesse as is the custom in the Eastern parts but wantonlie in excesse As not ashamed to show their vanitie and profusenesse in expenses upon themselves while they spare litle or nothing for the relief of their own countrymen that are in need and miserie 7. Therefore after a little while they shall go in the head of the captives among them that are first carried into captivitie because they were ever ready to be the first ringleaders to all sin And there will be a speedy end of all the banquets even the funeral banquets of those luxurious feasters that stretched themselves as they pleased upon their beds 8. For the Lord God hath sworn by Himself saith the Lord God of Hosts i. He himself hath assured us that He hath passed this as an unchangeable decree saying I abhor the pride of all the children of Israel and whatsoever they use to boast of though it be the Temple it self Therefore not that onelie but their Palaces and greatest buildings raised out of briberie and extortion and for that cause hated by me Their Cities also and People or whatsoever it is wherewith they are now plentyfully stored will I when I see my time give up into the power of a cruel enemie 9. And if it chance that some few escaping the furie of war be left in one house they also shall perish by famine or pestilence or some other untimelie death 10. Then if the Vncle or any near kinsman to one that dies in the house shall come thither to order that the dead corps may be thence removed and burned to prevent the infection of others If he shall say to any one that is within the house Be there any more left alive with thee One of the house shall answer None are left they are all dead or unlikelie to live Then he shall reply Say no more if that be the case of them Leave thy tears and complaints and be quiet and patient It is too late for us now to betake our selves by praiers to the name of Almighty God This is the time of his just vengeance for our mentioning him so little before and having our idols so often in our mouths 11 Now we must all look for a heavy blow For God will command our enemies the executioners of his wrath to smite all houses Palaces and Cotages alike with such breaches and ruines as shall not easily be repaired utter ruines will be seen in Israel and great breaches in Judah 12. But I prophesie to them that have no ears to hear nor hearts that can be mollified It is as hard and unlikely a thing to move them to repentance as to make horses run upon slipperie rocks or oxen plow there with good successe He must change the course of nature that can do so And he must work as great a miracle that will prevail with them for repentance and satisfaction that have turned Iustice and Righteousnesse the sweetest of all vertues into tyrannie and oppression which are as bitter and unwelcome to the honest afflicted heart as gall and wormwood to the taste 13. Wo be to you that from the root of pride have brought forth such cruelty and injustice and yet are not humbled at the reproof it You triumph in your own wealth and puissance and command which are as a matter of nothing For you say Have not we by our own strength and power pushed down the strong forts of our enemies as it were with horns which they were not able to resist and so made our selves glorious conquerours But this arrogance will not arme and defend you against such adversaries as I shall send 14 For behold I will raise up against you the Assyrians a fierce and potent nation O house of Israel saith the Lord God of Hosts And as you have persecuted and oppressed the poor righteous man so they shall oppresse and hunt after you and drive you before them from one
corner of the Countrie to another from the entring in of Hamath near Epiphania to that which is called the river of the plain or of the wildernesse because of the barren and desert places through which it runs that you may be pursued in the very place which you boast that you have added to the Kingdom of Israel CHAP. VII 1 THus hath the Lord God shewed unto me and behold he formed grashoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth and lo it was the latter growth after the Kings mowings 2 And it came to passe that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land then I said O Lord God forgive I beseech thee by whom shall Iacob arise for he is small 3 The Lord repented for this It shall not be saith the Lord. 4 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me and behold the Lord God called to contend by fire and it devoured the great deep and did eat up a part 5 Then said I O Lord cease I bseeech thee by whom shall Iacob arise for he is small 6 The Lord repented for this This also shall not be saith the Lord God 7 Thus he shewed me and behold The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line with a plumb-line in his hand 8 And the Lord said unto me Amos what seest thou And I said A plumb-line Then said the Lord Behold I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel I will not again passe by them any more 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate and the Sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid wast and I will rise against the house of Ieroboum with the sword 10 Then Amaziah the Priest of Beth-el sent to Ieroboam King of Israel saying Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel the land is not able to bear all his word 11 For thus Amos saith Ieroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land 12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos O thou Seer go flee thee away into the land of Iudah and there eat bread and prophesie there 13 But prophesie not again any more at Bethel for it is the Kings chappel and it is the kings court 14 Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah I was no Prophet neither was I a prophets son but I was an herdsman and a gatherer of Sycomore fruit 15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said unto me Go prophesie unto my people Israel 16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord Thou sayest Prophesie not against Israel and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword and thy land shall be divided by line and thou shalt die in a polluted land and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land CHAP. VII 1. NOw I shall acquaint you with some afflictions which by way of punishment had fallen heavily upon the people if I had not interposed my earnest praiers as I was their Prophet For The Lord God was pleased to show me a vision It was in the Spring time when the earth was yet in her prime and glorie in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth of the fruit of the earth after the mowing of the hay or cutting down of the corn that belonged to the King Jeroboam the son of Joas Then appeared to me God himself forming of locusts that could never come at a worse time to do mischief to the fruit of the ground and were as an Embleme of his gathering a vast and pernicious armie that would quickly over-run and destroy a fruitful and pleasant land 2. And it came to passe When the locusts seemed very busie in cosuming the grasse and other fruit of the land and had done much harm already to it I said Lord God be favourable and gratious to thy people Let not these locusts that use to make the way to a terrible famine prove a Prophetical prediction of a numerous and destructive Hoste that shall for our sins invade and lay waste so rich and flourishing a Country For who shall then raise up again the Posteritie of Iacob which are already much exhausted and brought low by former calamities 3. Upon my humble petition the Lord repented of this great judgement saying it should not proceed He would alter or mitigate the intended burden of the vision by making Pul and his Souldiers be content to be appeased with money and voide the Kingdom 4. 5. I must not conceal another vision at which I was more amazed a vision and prediction of a more furious enemie that consumed all before him like a flaming fire an element that hath no mercie And in this manner it was revealed unto me by the Lord God himself Behold he called to his Angels and other Ministers for a judgement by fire to be brought upon his people This fire was so violent that it seemed to be devouring the great deep i. readie to lick up and consume manie of the people that are often compared to the manie boisterous and raging waters of the great deep and it had already devoured part of them or of the Countrie Then said I O Lord God stay thine anger For how shall the children of Iacob subsist after this Such a heavie judgement will so exhaust them that they will hardlie ever be able to recover their strength again 6. So the Lord repented of this also I will not now go on with this way of revenge saith the Lord God 7. Another time the Lord showed me a third Vision in this manner Behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by line and there was a line in his hand 8. And that I might give the more heed to it the Lord God said unto me Amos what seest thou And I said I see a line Then saith the Lord Behold I will now make use of the strict line of Iustice in examining the faults of my people Israel I will not so easily passe them by with such connivence as I did before taking little notice of many offences 9. Upon my strickt marking of what is done amisse it will soon follow that the high places of Israel erected to the honour of their false gods will be made desolate and the titular Sanctuaries consecrated to the calves in Dan and Bethel will be laid waste And before that I will rise against the house af Ieroboam the son of Joas with the sword And Zacharie his son shall perish by the sword of Shallum and in him shall that familie be extinct and the Kings of Israel decay more and more till they are quite ruined by the Assyrian 10. When Amaziah the chief idolatrous Priest of Bethel understood of
Israel are not you in that point the same to me saith the Lord as any other as they for instance that came from the Cushites a base and servile nation in your account To me your Creator and Lord you are the same though you may be more excellent in respect of some other people that have not receaved so much from me as you have There is nothing in your selves but in my favour onely that distinguisheth you from all others Nor have my favours been wanting to others though they have exceeded towards you For as I brought you out of Egypt where your servitude though you have almost forgot it was greater then that of the Cushites so I brought the Philistims also from Caphtor or Cappadocia and the Syrians from Kir or that part of Media that lies by the river Cyrrus 8. My care and providence hath extended to others but much more to you that have been most ingratefull and disobedient Yet have you larger promises of mercie then any other For Behold and you have great reason to take notice of it The eies of the Lord God that created and governs all and sets up or puls down kingdoms at his pleasure are intent upon every sinful kingdom to destroy it from the face of the earth unlesse they repent Yet for my promise sake to your Forefathers I will not utterly destroy the whole nation and people of Israel saith the Lord. 9. I will indeed by my own command so order it that the Israelites for their sins shall be dispersed and tossed about among the nations as corn is shaked and moved about when it is sifted in a sieve or winnowed with the fan but the chaff onely shall flie away the least grane or scruple shall not fall to the earth Afflictions may purge or trie the best amongst them but they shall not consume them 10. The worst and most obstinate of my people I shall cut off by the sword that amend not their lives upon fair admonition and yet presume that God will not let the evil day so hastily overtake and prevent them but that God will deliver them at last as he hath done their forefathers in many feares and dangers which they have fallen into 11. Their securitie may undo them But there is a day coming wherein I will By Zorobabel restore the state of the Church and kingdom of David and whatsoever under his Successors was gone much to decay Which you may look upon as a type of the kingdom of the Messiah and setling of religion by him Which will be the true repairing of all breaches and raising up the ruines made by Scribes and Pharises and other enemies of the Church and building up the Kingdom of the true Israel of God in greater perfection then ever it saw before 12. That my people or they that are called mine i. my Apostles and Servants and their Successors whom I shall use in the restauration of the Church may take a kind of spiritual possession of the Gentiles in my name bringing them within the pale of the Church and fould of the great Shepherd of our souls Even of the greatest enemies of the Church as the Edomites were to the Iews At least of a remnant of them i. so many of them as shall return by true repentance and obedience from their opposing of the truth So saith the Lord Himself that will be the main Agent in this great work and make use of his Messengers as instruments for that purpose to effect what he hath often and most gratiously promised for the restoring and enlarging of his Church by the conversion and accesse not of Gentiles onely but of enemies too to be incorporated into one mystical body whereof the Messias shall be the head 13. Behold that joyful time is at hand wherein the abundance of Gods spirituall graces shall be prefigured in the plenty of all outward blessings The harvest shall be so long that it shall extend till the time of plowing the earth again And from the beginning of vintage to the sowing of new seed there will be employment enough in gathering of grapes and treading the Winepresse and furnishing all the Cellars with wine Of which there shall be such store as if the mountains dropped and distilled sweet wine and the hills that use to be drie and barren were resolved and moistened with the overflowings of milk Which may figure the plenty of spiritual food and heavenly comforts that shall attend the coming of the Messias 14. And I will bring the captives home again i. such as have been detained under the power of sin and Satan and they shall rebuild the waste Cities and re-inhabit them i. restore and settle the true worship of God where it was neglected And they shall plant Vineyards and drink the wine thereof i. found Churches and tast the fruit of their labours bestowed upon the Church and they shall make gardens and eat the fruit of them i. the maledictions of the Law being taken away they shall be blessed in propagating the Gospel and the true service of God for the increase of those spiritual graces that are like fragrant flowers in the garden of the Church 15. And I will plant them upon their land which I will give them out of which they shall be no more plucked up again i. In the Paradise of the Church they shall be like Trees of Righteousnesse so planted that they shall take deep and firm root Nothing shall separate them from the love and service of God Neither shall the gates of hell the extreamest dangers or terrors be able to prevail against them Thus saith the Lord thy God to thee O Amos or to thee whosoever that art in the number of the true Israel of God Thou maist safely believe it and undertake that all these things shall certainly come to passe A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF OBADIAH 1. THe vision of Obadiah Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom We have heard a rumour from the Lord and an Ambassadour is sent among the heathen Arise ye and let us rise up against her in battell 2 Behold I have made thee small among the heathen thou art greatly despised 3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock whose habitation is high that saith in his heart Who shall bring me down to the ground 4 Though thou exalt thy self as the Eagle and though thou set thy nest among the stars thence will I bring thee down saith the Lord. 5 If theives came to thee if robbers by night how art thou cut off would they not have stolne till they had enough If the grape gatherers came to thee would they not leave some grapes 6 How are the things of Esau searched out how are his hid things sought up 7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the
when thou stoodest like one of another side while strangers carryed away all thy Brother Iacob's forces into captivity and forreigners entred the gates of most of his Cities and cast lots upon Ierusalem which of them should make the first assault against that their mother-City when all this was done thou that shouldst have been one of her best friends didst openly show thy self to be one of her greatest enemies i. one of them that had a hand in all those severall passages of cruelty 12. But thou of all other shouldst not have endured so much as to look upon the strange usage of thy brother in that heavy time much more shouldst thou have absteined from triumphing over the children of Iudah in the day of their destruction and most of all shouldst thou have feared to make thy own mouth a witnesse of thy proud and insolent insulting over their affliction in the very day when it fell upon them 13. Thou shouldst not have been so forward as others to rush into the gates of my Peoples forts and cities in that time of their calamity and then specially have made thy self a spectator of those evils that came so thick upon him like a fearfull storm in a sad and gloomy day and which is yet worse to have appeared as a party which those that laid violent hands upon his substance in that day 14. Nor shouldst thou have stood in the crosse wayes where many paths meet upon that advantage to cut off such of thy Brethren as had escaped the enemy nor shut up such as otherwise had remained free and at liberty in those distressed times 15. For after all these daies of yours the Lord will have his day too a day of vengeance And it is not long before that day will come upon all those nations about Judaea that have been so cruell to them And then as thou hast alone to others it shall be done to thee thy reward shall return upon thy own pate 16. And as you of Edom shall drink of the cup of my anger because of my holy mountain and the holy land of Judaea which you have persecuted So shall all those nations that joyned with you ever taste of the same cup till they have drunk it up and be as if they had never been 17. But in mount Sion there shall be a great deliverance from the scourge that shall then be brought upon others by Sennacherib and it shall continue a place sanctified and set apart for divine service and then shall they of the house of Iacob that secured themselves for that time in Jerusalem return to a quiet possession of their severall tenures in the land of their inheritance 18. Then you that helped to encrease the flames of those wars that set Judaea into a combustion shall find that the house of Iacob will prove a fire and the house of Ioseph a flame and the house of Esau like stubble before them And they shall kindle them and devour them till there be none remaining of the house of Esau that shall be able to do any great harm to the house of Israel For the Lord hath spoken it 19. And they of Israel shall possesse the South of Edom with mount Seir and the plain with the land of the Philistims And with them shall they possess the Countrey of Ephraim and of Samaria and Benjamin shall have Gilead for his possession 20. And those few forces of the children of Israel that return after their captivity shall possesse whatsoever belonged to the Cananites as far as Sareptah of the Sidonians And they of Ierusalem which shall return from their captivity shall possesse the parts about Sepharad or the furthest bounds with the Cities of the South 21. And they that have delivered themselves out of the captivity shall not onely come again to their antient right in mount Sion but in their posterity they shall go as Iudges and Governours into the mountaines of Esau. And then the kingdom of Israel shall be under God alone and under the power of no forreign Kings A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF IONAH CHAP. I. 1. NOw the word of the Lord came unto Ionah the son of Amittai saying 2 Arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickednesse is come up before me 3 But Ionah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Ioppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to goe with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the Sea so that the ship was like to be broken 5 Then the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them but Ionah was gone down into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep 6 So the Ship-master came to him and said unto him What meanest thou O sleeper arise call upon thy God if so be that God will think upon us that we perish not 7 And they said every one to his fellow Come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this â—evill is upon us So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Ionah 8 Then said they unto him Tell us we pray thee for whose cause this evill is upon us what is thine occupation and whence comest thou what is thy countrey and of what people art thou 9 And he said unto them I am an Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him Why hast thou done this for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them 11 Then said they unto him What shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us for the sea wrought and was tempestuous 12 And he said unto them Take me up and cast me forth into the sea so shall the sea be calm unto you for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land but they could not for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them 14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said We beseech thee O Lord we beseech thee let us not perish for this mans life and lay not upon us innocent blood for thou O Lord hast done as it pleased thee 15 So they took up Ionah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea ceased from her raging 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vowes 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Ionah and Ionah was in
the belly of the fish three dayes and three nights The Prophesie of Jonah who was an Hebrew as appears by his words to the Mariners whatsoever made Lyranus think him the Son of the widow of Sarepta that was raised again to life by Eliah He seems to have been of the tribe of Naphthali For he was of Gath-heper which was a City in the tribe of Naphtali And many of the Iewes think it was he that annointed Iohn at the command of Elias He lived in the time of Jeroboam the Son of Ioas and prophesied of the victory which that King of Israel should obtain to the great benefit of that kingdom He was a signe to the Ninevites and the conversion of Nineveh the great City of Assyria by his preaching was a prediction of the vocation of the Gentiles and rejection of the Iewes Lastly He is commended to us by our Saul himself as a type of his Death and Buriall and Resurrection CHAP. I. 1. WHen Ionah the Son of Amittai could no way reclaim the sinfull Israelites neither by good admonitions nor by a clear Prophesie of the victorious atcheivements of their puissant King that should restore all the coast of Israel from the entring of Hamath unto the Sea of the wildernesse or the great Lake near the plaines of Idumaea Then that the Israelites might see the greatnesse of their own obstinacy in the speedy Repentance of the very Gentiles and acknowledge the Justice of that punishment that followed upon that obstinacy of theirs the word or command of the Lord was in this manner made known unto him and to this purpose 2. Arise and fit thy self for a long journey go to that great City Niniveh and with a loud voice boldly preach unto her what I have bid thee For their riot oppression and other wickednesse is grown to that height that it calls to heaven for vengeance and represents it self before me in such manner that it must be no longer suffered to go on 3. Ionah loath to be a Messenger of such ill newes to another Countrey in that which boded no good to his own instead of performing ready obedience to Gods command thought of quitting that place and kingdom as soon as might be where God had so appeared unto him and was more specially present Some reason of this kind of slight from God might be that he conceived this threat might produce mercy in God upon the Repentance of the Ninivites and their repentance might conduce to the greater shame and punishment of his own Country-men that having greater inducements gave lesse signe of remorse and amendment of life then was found among the Heathen This running in his head put him upon a sudden resolution to flee to Tarshish the rather because after he had come as far as the famous port of Ioppe the likeliest to accommodate him for this flight he there accordingly found a ship ready to put saile for that place To break off all further delay he presently paid the fare and took his place in the ship hoping that the further he removed from the place of Gods peculiar presence where he received his command the further he should be from his employment to Niniveh which he desired by all meanes to avoid as Moses once did his journey into Egypt 4. But to show how hard it was to resist the will and pleasure of him that laid the command upon him while Jonah thought himself secure and at liberty the Lord sent a violent wind into the sea which raised such a sudden impetuous tempest in that place that they seemed all in danger of perishing by shipwrack 5. This drave the fearfull Mariners into such a sit of devotion as seldome takes them but in a sad storm First they humbly apply themselves to their severall supposed Deities then they are as busie in using all outward means of safety by casting their wares into the sea or whatsoever might thereby lighten the ship In the mean time Ionah had got down into the lower parts of the ship where he slept as securely as if he had been no way concerned in this troublesome and perilous storm 6. In this posture was he when the Master of the ship lighting upon him ratled him up for sleeping so soundly in a time of common fear and danger and advised him by their example to fall to his prayers and call upon his God for his own and their safety if perhaps God would be entreated to be propitious and gracious unto them and preserve them from perishing in the Sea 7. But the Mariners seeing the violence of the storm no whit abated after their addresse to their Gods seconded with the prayer of Jonah and the ordinary outward meanes of easing the ship of their portage began to suspect that there was some wicked miscreant among them whom divine vengeance would not snffer to live and for whose sake they suffered all this misery Therefore according to their usuall course in such extremities they resolved upon casting of lots and said among themselves Come let us cast lots that thereby we may know the true cause and authour of all this evill And when they had done so after their blunt way without prayer or other enquiry after God the lot by divine Providence fell upon Ionah 8. Upon this they did not presently cast him out whom the lot had as they thought so plainly discovered to be the man that was persecuted with that storm But to inform themselves more particularly they said unto him Tell us we pray thee for whose cause as thou thinkest this evill is brought upon us Art thou guilty of any horrid sinne that might deserve it Examine thy self what hath been thy course of life there may be some fault of thy own in that whence comest thou Of what countrey and of what people art thou thou mayest perhaps come from a wicked and accursed place 9. Ionah answered punctually to that which most reflected upon the case in hand that he was an Ebrew and worshipped the Lord God of Heaven whither they did or should have directed their prayers who made the vast Sea which terrified them now and the dry land where they longed to arrive in safety 10. The Men heard not this without much fear and terrour as not being wholly ignorant of the great wonders which the power and Justice of almighty God had done among the Hebrews to the admiration of all other nations They could hardly come from Joppe and hear none of those things They considered also what he had told them of his strange disobedience and boldnesse in flying from the presence of so great a God to prevent his going unto Niniveh as an unwelcome Messenger of their sudden destruction Therefore they said unto him Why hast thou done this why wouldst thou make thy self guilty of so great a sinne who would think a Prophet should be afraid or loath to
out of thy sight like one out of thy remembrance and care and providence But in this bitter conflict my faith and repose in the mercy of God at last got the victorie and then I altered my sad tone and with some chearfulnesse delivered the hope that I had to escape this peril and live to present my hearty thanks once again in thy holy Temple of Jerusalem 5. All this while my danger continued and made me recal another passage of the Psalmist where he saith that the waters beset him on every side to the hazard of his life His words might he mine when I was walled about with the great abysse and a multitude of weeds all which strengthened and collected into one bundle which seemed ready to wrap about my head and confine me to my last unquiet bed 6. For me thought that I went down to the lowest parts of those rocks and promontories that peep out like mountains in the sea and that the earth had barred me out and excluded me wholly from ever seeing the firm land again Yet out of the depth of this miserie didst thou preserve me alive O just and powerful Lord and my most merciful God 7. When in the middest of these difficulties I was ready to faint and dispair of recoverie I forgot not to humble my self before God And my prayer found admittance unto thee O Lord and accesse into thy holy Temple 8 They that perverslie wait upon idols for succour which are but meer vanities what do they but in effect wilfully relinquish that mercy and favour that is offered to them from heaven 9. But I will present my self before thee O God with the sacrifice of praise and thansgiving and I will pay my vows unto thee from whom onely we may securely hope for mercy and deliverance 10. According to this prayer from a penitent and faithful heart the Lord upon the third day commanded the Whale to cast up Ionah upon the drie land as the grave delivered up our Saviour upon the third day in the garden of Ioseph of Arimathea and by his power and mercie shall deliver us all at last being able to retain us no longer then the great day of the Resurrection and that general Spring when all the bodies of the Saints shall budd out of the earth incorruptible though they were sown in corruption CHAP. III. 1 ANd the word of the Lord came unto Ionah the second time saying 2 Arise go unto Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee 3 So Ionah arose and went unto Niniveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three daies journey 4 And Ionah began to enter into the city a daies journey and he cryed and said Yet fourty daies and Nineveh shall be overthrown 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sack-cloath from the greatest of them even to the least of them 6 For word came unto the King of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him and covered him with sack-cloath and sat in ashes 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles saying Let neither man nor beast herd nor flock tast any thing let them not feed nor drink water 8 But let man and beast be covered with sack-cloath and cry mightily unto God yea let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not 10 And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not CHAP. III. 1. WHen Ionas like one risen from the dead was returned out of that prison and Grave in the Whales belly and saw himself to be one of this World again he heard no more of his former disobedience he was sufficiently admonished of that by his punishment in the deep But to take away the scruple and perplexity that he might have in his heart whether he should now fit himself for his journey towards Ninive or no for he might remember that the Israelites neglecting Gods first command of entring the land of Canaan were slain for attempting to do it afterward upon their own bare resolution To resolve him in this by a new Commission he was furnished and encouraged again by God himself with a second and fresh command in the same terms wherein he received it before That is 2. Arise and go to that great City Ninive the head City of the Assyrians and preach against them what I first injoyned thee At which if they repent the Israelites may understand by that how much they have offended in not being drawn to repentance by the message of so many Prophets as have been sent to them 3. Then Ionah having learned obedience from his afflictions without any further delay chearfully resolved upon his journey and went to Ninive as God had commanded him Now Ninive was a very great and spatious City of three daies journey in length from the one end to the other 4. Ionah therefore beginning to enter into the City ordered it so that he passed thorough a third part of the City in one daies journey exclaiming against the great sinnes of that place and threatning that unlesse they did prevent it by a serious and speedy repentance within fourty daies Ninive should be overthrown but upon their true conversion they should find that God desired not their death but the reformation of their lives 5. In which the people of Ninive believed God and being well perswaded of his Justice and mercie made known unto them by his Prophet and contented with that first daies journey and admonition caused a solemn Fast to be proclaimed and further to show their inward and universal sorrow and contrition they left off their costly apparel and from the highest to the lowest appeared all in sackcloth as penitent and humble suiters for mercy 6. For the report of this Prophesie was brought to the Kings Court as well as to other places of the City and the King to show good example to his Courtiers and the rest of his subjects arose from his Throne laid aside his Royal ornaments and in sackcloth and ashes made evidence of his great sorrow and remorse wherein he begged mercy for himself and his People 7. Nor did he thus onely countenance but by his Royal Proclamation with the advise and counsel of his Nobles he enjoyned a Fast to be kept through all Ninive in such solemn and strict manner that neither man nor beast greater or lesse should be permitted to tast any food or drink any water 8. And it was further commanded that both men and beasts should be covered with sackcloth
and crie mightily unto the Lord the men out of true remorse of conscience and hearty sorrow the beasts as forced to it by hunger upon keeping them from their usual food and that every man should repent renouncing and forsaking all their evil courses and specially the violence injustice and oppression which they had exercised before and which now they should wash off from their hands by Charity and restitution of what was injuriously taken away or detained from any other which is one of the clearest and most evident fruits of repentance 9. To all which they might be the rather induced because they had no reason but to hope that this message of the Prophet proceeded not from any irreversible decree for their utter destruction but rather as an invitation to repentance and amendment of life whereby the merciful God might be moved to reconciliation and reversement of that heavy punishment which they had deserved 10. This command of the King which seconded the preaching of Iudah was so readily obeyed that God to whom all hearts are open seeinng their sorrow and repentance accompanied with a serious and real intention of amendment in forsaking their evil waies and exercising themselves in all good works specially in the virtues opposite to their violence and oppression He also repented of the punishment which he threatned to bring upon them and in his tender pitty and compassion kept off the blow that was ready to fall upon their City CHAP. IV. 1 BVt it displeased Ionah exceedingly and he was very angry 2 And he prayed unto the Lord and said I pray thee O Lord was not this my saying when I was yet in my country Therefore I fled before more Tarshish for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil 3 Therefore now O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to die then to live 4 Then said the Lord Dost thou well to be angryâ— 5 So Ionah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city and there made him a booth and sat under it in the shadow till he might see what would become of the city 6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Ionah that it might be a shadow over his head to deliver him from his grief So Ionah was exceeding glad of the gourd 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day and it smote the gourd that it withered 8 And it came to passe when the sun did arise that God prepared a vehement east-wind and the sun beat upon the head of Ionah that he fainted and wished in himself to die and said it is better for me to die then to live 9 And God said to Ionah Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd and he said I do well to be angry even unto death 10 Then said the Lord Thou hast bad pitie on the gourd for the which thou hast not laboured neither madest it grow which came up in a night and perished in a night 11 And should not I spare Nineveh that great city wherein are more then six scoure thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand and also much cattel CHAP. IV. 1. IN the mean time Ionah instead of rejoycing and blessing God for his mercy toward the sad and penitent Ninivites discovered his great anger and impatience and too much respect and tendernesse of his own honour and credit which he would not have blemished with the wellfare of the Gentiles against whom he had prophesied And a strange thing this must needs seem to be that a Prophet should take it ill that his Prophesie was seconded with their repentance or that their repentance should be crowned with so much mercie and deliverance Specially after himself had suffered so much for his disobedience and backwardnesse to prophesie to them and been delivered out of the verie jaws of death upon his own penitent and humble supplication in his own behalf For this though it may be thought to show his tender love to his own people that by this repentance and successe at Nineve were convinced of what the obstinacie of the Iews deserved at Ierusalem yet is it an evident Argument of great weaknesse in the Prophet and great mercie in God that would pardon such a fault to a weak servant of his who seemed now to envie that favour to the Gentiles which God had long before showed himself willing to bestow though it were to the irritation of the Iews 2. But Ionah would be like his name grieved and murmuring where he should not and displeased with that which pleased God Nor was this enough unlesse he made it appear in his very prayer also where he venters to expostulate with God and to frame his prayer after this manner Why didst thou make me a Preacher or rather a false Prophet to Ninive Is not this the verie thing that made me so loath to undertake that office when I was in Iudaea Is not this the onely reason that moved me to fly from thence to Tharsis that I might be far enough from this unwelcom employment For I said within my self and I knew that I had reason enough to say that thou art a gratious God merciful and slow to anger and of so great kindnesse that thou quickly repentest thee of any evil which thou threatnest to bring upon sinners if they are ready to repent them of their sins 3. Now therefore I pray thee O Lord rid me of my life which is a burden and punishment unto me heavier then death While I foresee the punishment that I may well think will fall upon my own countrie-men for their impenitence which is now made fowler by the repentance and conversation of the Heathen that knew not the goodnesse or pleasure of God so well as they did Therefore I am likely enough for this businesse at Ninive to be hated by the Israelites as well as mocked and derided by the Ninivites that will look upon me as one quite out in his Prophesie 4. Yet the gratious Lord answers not the Prophet according to the heat of his passion or the errour of his judgement but in great mercy and meeknesse proposeth this question Whether he thought that he had just cause to be angry with him for sparing so great a City upon their true repentance Which every good man should rather beg by his prayers then any way be troubled to see it done 5. But Ionah having little to answer in his own defense amd being willing to see what would be the final event of this businesse without any reply left the City and sitting toward the East-side of it made himself a little booth there that he might rest under the shadow of it while he expected what would at last become of Ninive after the 40 daies
fields 5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord. 6 Prophesie ye not say they to them that prophesie they shall not prophesie to them that they shall not take shame 7 O thou that art named the house of Iacob is the spirit of the Lord straitened are these his doings do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly 8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that passe by securely as men averse from war 9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever 10 Arise ye and depart for this is not your rest because it is polluted it shall destroy you even with a fore destruction 11 If a man walking in the spirit and falshood do lie saying I will prophesie unto thee of wine and of strong drink he shall even be the prophet of this people 12 I will surely assemble O Iacob all of thee I will surely gather the remnant of Israel I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah as the flock in the midst of their fold they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men 13 The breaker is come up before them they have broken up and have passed through the gate and are gone out by it and their king shall pâ—sse before them and the Lord on the head of them CHAP. II. 1. THese woes and sorrows that are threatned before are the just rewards of sin And they must look for a great share in that wo that studie to be evil and upon their beds devise iniquity and plot several waies wherein they may bring their wickednesse into act as soon as the opportunity of the morning light and their own power and ability will give them leave 2. This kind of men do no sooner fasten theiâ— covetousnesse upon other mens fields but all the violence that can be must be used for the gaining of them no sooner do they entertain a desire of other mens houses but they think they may take them as their own Such violence and oppression do they use against other men and their houses and whatsoever descends to them by no lesser right then that of inheritance 3. Therefore thus saith the Lord these plots and devices of this family of the house of Iacob shall be answered with somewhat that I will devise against them They contrived the evil of sin and would not be taken off from the execution of it so will I in my thoughts resolve of the evil of punishment from whence none of you shall shrink your necks out of the collar to escape it And I will lay such a yoke upon you that you shall be ready to sink under it and shall not be able to go upright That will be an ill time unto all the time of their going into captivity and bearing the yoke of a forein Prince and Conqueror 4. In that day shall men take up a proverb against you and deliver it in terms of a most bitter lamentation saying We are utterly spoiled and the land that was the lot and portion of my people is changed to other uses And how strangely hath the enemy removed and taken away whatsoever he could carrie with him and now returns again to share our lands and tenements 5. Thus will they abuse us in songs and short parables taken up in scorn and sung as personating of our God and us But now to speak plainly and without parable of our selves there is too much truth in their abusive song For I may say to my dear Country Thou shalt never have any again that shall divide thy several inheritances unto thee as they have done heretofore in the congregations of the Lord. 6. And now since I have told you others mocks against you let me tell you how you were wont to mock us that are your Prophets and say Do not you drop and distil such prophesies into us as other Prophets have used to be free of Well the time will come when such Prophets as you so abused will drop no more of such prophesies upon you like the rain or dew from heaven And when you know what it is to want them you will resolve that no Prophet that comes after shall carry away such reproaches instead of rewards and have his heavenly doctrine answered with such base and ignominious speeches 7. This which I tell you is said to the house of Iacob by commission from God himself And when these and the like threats in our prophesies are declared unto you think ye that the merciful spirit of the Lord is any way shortned and contracted Or doth he these things out of any ill intentions to you Nay are not my words in the mouth of my Prophets intended to the good of every one that walks uprightly for I speak to you now as from God himself and in his person and so I go on to speak to you in the same person 8. They that went awhile ago under the title of my people and called me their God do now as if I were become their enemie rise up in hostile manner against me and they that were indeed my people I speak it to you who have used them so kindly that according to your proverb you have pulled off their robe with their under garments and so left them to the naked world And no otherwise do you take any thing from those that passe on peaceably by you then you do from those that are returned as captives from the battel over whom you have a fairer pretense from the priviledge of war for rifling of them 9. And not the men onely but the weaker sex too do you use after this rude and barbarous manner for you have against all law ejected wives of my people out of their poor houses wherein they took pleasure to be as good women should do without gadding abroad And so do you put them upon the inconveniences which they must suffer that are turned out of doors to shift for themselves and bring up their children as they may and not as they should Wherein you take away for ever that honour and glorie which I should have had from their children if their education had been answerable to the will and means of their godly parents 10. Therefore as you ejected their mothers so will I eject you Come then and prepare your selves to be packing out of this land which your sins have so pulluted It shall be no dwelling place for such as you It shall rather be a means utterly to destroy you and vomit you out as a matter of most filthy corruption that hath been a long time troublesom unto her 12. Is not this a fit people to shake up their best Prophets as they do But I can tell you what Prophets would please
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
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
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
may in the mean while support it self 4. But that heavie faint distrustfull Soule that drawes back with feares and sad apprehensions of danger faster than affiance in divine promises can incite it forward that Soule is not yet in the right posture wherein it should be Nay it wants that which is the very life of a Soul that is in the right indeed For it is by a true constant Faith that the righteous man layes hold upon Life It is Faith and confidence in the truth of Gods word and promise which makes him accepted in the sight of God and is a good meanes both to keep him a constant servant of God in all Piety and Obedience which prepares him the more for the waies of his present delivery and to furnish him with a modest security of Happinesse hereafter For He that is made righteous or justified by Faith shall live for ever 5. Now he that labours for such a Faith is a fit Auditor for such a Prophesie as this which after this Preface I will now proceed to declare that you may with me in this Vision and Divine speculation from my Propheticall Watch-tower plainly foresee what our common Enemy the Chaldaean will prove after all the insolencies and presumptions upon his own fortunate successes our sad afflictions You might see him then drunk with wine drunk with pride and as a drunken man so shall he afterward be tottering in his fortunes various and inconsistent to himself and to what he was every way reeling and wavering and tumbled about from his highest and most prosperous estate to worse and worse It was his own covetons and ambitious desire that set him on work and thrust him forward till he got up at last to that high pitch of honour and abundance of wealth from which he must begin his heavier ruine and downfall For the longing of his greedy Soule in his filthy Avarice was enlarged like Hell as if he would have the Devill and all and in his Malice and cruelty he gaped after our destruction like Death and the Grave that will never be satisfied The Addition of whole nations and severall sorts of People either slain by his sword or subdued and united to his former too vast Empire could not work so much upon him as to make him think that he had enough either of their blood or of their wealth 6. Will you see after all this how he shall be exposed to the scorn and derision of them whom he hath rifled and plundered and abused at his own pleasure The time is coming on apace when they shall take up a gibing taunt and Parable against him and say Woe to him that had too much of his own and yet would never leave scraping and heaping more and more together out of others little store How long will he thus toyle and bustle in the world to take from them And how little a while shall he live to enjoy it His heaps of gold and silver which he studies to multiply without end are but heaps of Earth a little more resined than that thick mire and clay that shall after awhile stop his own greedy mouth 7. For as he lies gaping after us and ours so others shall arise up from a place he little suspects that shall gape after him and his Nay they shall more than gape and threaten and show their teeth It shall not be long before he feels that they can bite too And well might I say that they should arise For though in his supine ease and securitie he may conceive them to lie still and have no such intentions against him unlesse it were in a dream yet shall they suddenly awake rouse up themselves and him too muster up their forces make toward him shake him in pieces and divide him as a rich prey 8. Thus will they do and thus will they speak of thee and thy just doom thou proud Chaldean And as thou hast preyed upon many nations and enriched thy self with their spoiles so shall all they that are left about thee help to expose thee to the like spoil and rapine All which may justly come upon thee for thy bloudy cruelty and other most injurious acts of thine which ever attended thy too furious execution of Gods anger upon ours and other Cities and Countries and them that dwell in them 9. Woe be to his covetous and foolish Ambition that longs for that which cannot but prove the ruine of himself and his own house For while he thinks of building his nest so high as may set it out of the reach of all danger that very rise doth not onely expose it to the greater hazard but make the fall so much the more fearfull when it doth come 10. Whosoever thou art Chaldaean or other that couldst entertain a fancy of such a vast and high building thou wert not well advised to take this for the best course of advancing thy self and thy Posteritie This was not to make way to your honour but to your shame And know this that while thou resolvest to raise thy self and Thine by the utter ruine of many other People thou sinnest against thy own Soule and makest thy self the greatest meanes of thy own down-fall and their rising again 11. For rather than such crying sins shall not be silenced with the execution of Justice the very stones out of the wall will help on the Cry and the beam out of the Timber-work will answer them in as loud and true a testimony against such cruelty and oppression 12. And the joynt cry of all together will be nothing but woe Wo to him that layes the foundation of a Town in blood and most injuriously makes preparation of raising a City to himself out of others ruines 13. Upon this cry of the Wood and Stones that they have heaped together mark if this Sentence proceeds not from the Lord of Hostes that This wicked warlike People have in all their great toyle to get from others but onely laboured to kindle a fire wherein all they have shall be consumed Or at least all that they have so unjustly gotten if it be not justly taken away shall serve them and theirs for some other use which shall show them the vanity of their own dangerous attempts 14. For ere it be long as the immense waters do fill and cover the bottom of the vast Sea so shall their spacious Land be covered and overflowed with that which is more unruly than any waters with innumerous troupes of several Nations and People that shall come against the Chaldeans and let all the world know in the finall recompense and revenge of our enemies what cause they have every where to joyn with us in giving all Praise and Glory unto God 15. And that universal glory to God shall be accompanied with another particular woe to our insulting Enemies Wo be to him that gaines so far upon his Friend and Confederate
thy Horses that shrunk up the rivers with this terrour and drave them out of their wonted Station For in such triumph indeed didst thou seem to draw near the waters of Jordan when the Ark was thy Chariot the Chariot of our Salvation and thy glory seemed to be carried upon the holy Cherubims 9. After that glorius and miraculous passage over Jordan an Angel showed himself for a Captain of the Host of the Lord. And thy self O Lord as the great Lord of Hostes preparedst for the battle Thine arrowes were apparently drawn out of their quiver and thy Bow out of the Case to be in readinesse against thine Enemies The severall Tribes of Israel as thy Souldiers were mustered up to their military Sacramentall oath And the very Earth and the Waters and all the Elements divided themselves into their severall ranks at thy command and for thy service 10. And when thou beganst to set forward the Mountains O Lord as if standing higher they had made the first discovery of thy coming afar off were sore troubled at it like a woman that is in labour and longs to be delivered Presently whole Rivers of waters gushed out as the issue of that birth The noise and murmur which they made at their breaking forth of the hollow Earth was like the cry of this new-born Creature And the diffusion of those waters into severall courses and rivulets was like the stretching out of his armes which thou canst bind and lap up in his swadling clouts as it pleaseth thee 11. And if the Hills can thus discover and expresse thy powerfull approach how can the two fair eyes of the Firmament the Sun and the Moon but see it and give some acknowledgement of it As they did to all the world when the Sun stood still over Gibeon and the Moon over the valley of Ajalon as if then indeed they had come to their Houses wherein they should rest While by that so miraculously continued Light thy Hailestones like glittering speares and â—wift arrowes did sâ—y about to execute vengeance upon thine Enemies 12. This was the obedience every where tendred to our Lord when he brought us and our Armies to take possesion of the Land of Promise Into which we must ever thankfully acknowledge O blessed God as thou didst enter with wrath and terrour against all the Inhabitants of the Land so in the end in the like displeasure thou didst cause the Heads and Commanders of those Heathen people to be trampled on by the feet of the Conquerours 13 This was thy doing O Lord and thus hast thou often gone out with our Armies to save and defend thy People and thine Annointed whom thou hast set over them Thou hast often wounded the heads of those wicked Families that oppose them and discovered their Foundations so that from the highest to the lowest part of their best hold and confidence they were laid open to ruine 14. Thou hast pierced the Heads of those Peasants that sought our destruction with the same weapons that they used against us might Israel then say and taken them in their own Inventions when they had thought suddenly and violently like a whirl-wind to have set upon us scattered us and blown us away When their Triumph before victorie was like the exultation of those that have in their hopes already devoured the poor and innocent that hides himself from their fury and persecution 15. So did our enemies perish in that passage where they purchased their own death in the pursuit of ours While the Triumph which they hoped for was thine own and not their Horses or Chariots but Thy Chariots and Armes prevailed in the Red-Sea and went safe thorough the unusuall paths and heaps of many waters 16. Such hath been thy Providence over us in our former calamitie so far did thy Power then show it self in our delivery And shall it not be such in thy good time from the Babylonian slavery as it was from the Egyptian But alas what do I venture to entreat I have heard and seen so much in my former vision of the long sad time of our Captivitie as makes me startle and interrupt my prayer But my bowels do earne with compassion of my poor Country-men as well as quake for fear My inward parts are so wholly possessed and troubled with sorrow for them that my fearfull quavering lips will not suffer me to expresse it And though I live yet me thinks my bones are almost consumed with rottennesse while I labour to conceale my selfe-devouring feares and perplexities that I have within me And so much the rather because I must be still and silent for the day of their affliction For it seems the doom is now past no prayer can avert it when he shall rise up against thy poor People that shall bring his troupes of cruell Souldiers to prey upon them 17. To this most heavie but most just Sentence I humbly submit with this Prayer that they may endeavour as I shall to make sure for some inward solace when all outward helps and comforts shall be taken away For though the Figge-tree shall not flourish and give her wonted sweets nor the Vine-tree prosper and yeeld her comfortable wine though the Olive shall deceive our expectation of her fatnesse and the Corn-fields shall not continue the provision of their food to strengthen us though the Sheep shall be plundered out of their folds and the Oxen out of their stalls 18. Yet will I resolve to place my heart in the Lord and to rejoyce in the God of my Salvation 19. And it shall be my Prayer and my Hope that the Lord my God will be my strength and my safeguard supply me with Patience and Obedience and courage make my feet as nimble as Harts-feet and so conduct me chearfully in the way to those high places and Sanctuaries above were I shall be set out of the fear of all danger in everlasting blisse And as a testimony of my Joy and Solace in that I will take order with the chief Master of the Musick to have this Prayer set to my Instruments which may help to rouse up my spirits and my repose in God my Saviour A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF ZEPHANIAH CHAP. I. THe word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi the son of Gedaliah the son of Antariah the son of Hizkiah in the daies of Iosiah the son of Amon king of Iudah 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land saith the Lord. 3 I will consume man and beast I will consume the fowles of the heaven and the fishes of the sea and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked and I will cut off man from off the land saith the Lord. 3 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Iudah and upon all the inhabitants of Ierusalem and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the
chemarims with the priests 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the house tops and them that worship and that swear by the Lord and that swear by Malcham 6 And them that are turned back from the Lord and those that have not sought the Lord nor enquired for him 7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God for the day of the Lord is at hand for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice he hath bid his guests 8 And it shall come tò passe in the day of the Lords sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the kings children and all such as are clothed with strange apparel 9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold which â—ill their masters houses with violence and deceit 10 And it shall come to passe in that day saith the Lord that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate and an howling from the second and a great crashing from the hills 11 Howl ye inhabitants of Maktesh for all the merchant-people are cut down all they that bear silver are cut off 12 And it shall come to passe at that time that I will search Ierusalem with candles and punish the men that are setled on their lees that say in their heart The Lord will not do good neither will he do evil 13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty and their houses a disolation they shall also build houses but not inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards but not drink the wine thereof 14 The great day of the Lord is near it is near and hasteth greatly even the voice of the day of the Lord the mighty man shall cry there bitterly 15 That day is a day of wrath a day of trouble and distresse a day of waftnesse and desolation a day of darknesse and gloominesse a day of clouds and thick darknesse 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers 17 And I will bring distresse upon them that they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord and their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as the dung 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lords wrath but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousie for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord which was revealed to Zephaniah whose very name tells us that God would more clearly reveal by him some of his secret counsail concerning those heavy judgements that were now ready to fall upon the Iews and so needed this nearer and clear Interpreter of his will and pleasure as an other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Ioseph was called by Pharaoh This Zephaniah was the son of Cushi the son of Gedaliah the son of Amariah the son of Hizkiah And he prophesied in the daies of Iosiah son of Amon King of Iudah for even in the raign of that good King so pious and so eminent an example produced little amendment in a wicked and perverse generation Therefore 2. I will even sweep away all together out of this land saith the Lord and so make a quick and fair riddance of so rebellious a nation 3. I will make an end of man and beast I will consume the fouls of the air and the fishes of the sea I will quite take away both the wicked offenders and all their scandalous sins and offences And all by one sin or other being gone out of the good way wherein they promised to walk I will also by one means or other root out every man out of that land of promise which I had bestowed upon them saith the Lord. 4. And even against Iudah as I have done against Israel will I stretch out my powerful and revenging hand and therein against the proudest and worst of them the Citizens of Ierusalem And I will do what good Iosiah in all his care and industrie could not do in that stubborn and rebellious City which should have been a pattern and example to all the rest from that place will I cut off by the sword of my Justice all the reliques of Baal and the name of the Chemarims their downright idolatrous priests and their Cohanims too those priests of their own that will now and then be tampering with the accursed mysteries of Baal 5. Such as can find a time to worship the host of heaven upon the tops of their houses which were made flat for prevention of danger from thence and not to introduce so dangerous and flat idolatrie as that those halters between two religions that think they can do their homage to the true God and to the false and swear by Iehovah and by their Moloch the imaginarie Deitie of the Ammonites which they have now made to be theirs 6. And those also that otherwise and by other vanities and diversions fall away from following the Lord Iehovah and from seeking and inquiring after him alone in such holy places and waies of divine worship as himself hath prescribed 7. Wherein as being in the presence of him and before his all-seeing eye use all the reverence and holy fear and devotion that may best whosoever thou art that would live secure and without all fear and danger of a day of justice and vengeance For such 1 day is coming and it is near at hand when they that offer not such pious and chearful sacrifices to him shall find that he will make a merry and festival day of sacrificing them and bidding such guests to be entertained with that sacrifice as they would be loath to be dressed up for and to be devoured by such hungry companions 8. And in that day of the Lords sacrifice and that feast he will spare none that have not spared to serve and sacrifice to others besides him They must all to the pot the highest as well as the lowest the Princes and their royal race and all the gandy gallants that look so strangely upon it in their rich and costly apparel 9. Amongst all this fine irreligious rout I will not forget to punish them that follow the superstition of the Philistims in not presuming to tread upon the threshould for sooth but rather using the nimblenesse of their feet for a speedy conveyance which is no fit way of entring into the house of their God And with these contemners of their Gods house I will visit those that take too much care for the furnishing and enriching of their Masters house by hook or by crook and by all the violent and deceitful courses that they can imagine 10. And I will give you a more particular discoverie and prediction of what shall happen in three of the chiefest parts of the City in that day A great noise and crie shall then be
of my rest to prey upon you and disturb you of your rest For I am now resolved and have peremptorily decreed to gather some of other nations and kingdoms together specially the Chaldaeans and their auxiliaries and by them to pour out my indignation upon these Iews even all the fiercenesse of my indignation For no otherwise then in a kind of fierce zeal shall all the land of Judaea be destroyed 9. But after that affliction I will convert the people to a more penitent and devout and holy language that they may call upon the name of the Lord with more reverence then now is to be found amongst them and joyntly endevour to serve and obey him as they that willingly joyn their sholders together to bear that yoke that he laies upon them which easie yoke is no other then his service 10. And then from the remotest parts of their captivity from as far as those places about the rivers of Cush shall my suppliant and humble servants the off-spring of my people Israel and Judah far and wide dispersed over several nations from thence shall they bring offerings unto me in testimony of their hearty thanks for their joyful return into their own countrie 11. About that time will I take away the shame and grief which thou hadst conceived for thy former great sins and offences committed against me For then shall I by death and miserie have removed from thee those haughty and insulting Countrymen and Priests of thine And then shalt thou offend no more as thou hast done by pride and contempt of my holy places and my Sanctuarie in Mount Sion when those Masters of misrule and ringleaders to the proudest and most presumptious offences are taken away 12. In stead of them I will furnish thee with a meek and humble generation of men though poor which shall trust in the name of the Lord and not in the proud mistake of their own fortunes and abilities 13. This good remnant of my people that return from their captivity shall not return to their great and grievous sin their idolatry nor shall they so accustom themselves again to the speaking of lies and deceit Therefore in all peace and plenty shall they feed well at last and take their rest securely having none to fright or molest them 14. Rejoyce then O daughter of Sion sing and shout for joy O Israel Be merry and chearfull from the bottom of a thankefull heart O Daughter of Ierusalem 15. For God hath taken off those judgements wherewith thou wert afflicted for thy sins He hath removed thy enemies out of thy sight that they may trouble thee no more And instead of those Tyrants Iehovah the the God and King of Israel is in the midst of thee and thou shalt see no more of those calamities which thou hast seen heretofore 16. In those daies it shall be said to Jerusalem and to Sion Fear not nor be any way discouraged Let not thy bands faint or give over till they have raised an other City and Temple wherein to serve the Lord. 17 Iehovah thy God in the midst of thee is of great might and power and of as ready a mind and will to save and defend thee He will rejoyce over thee exceedingly He will acquiesce and solace himself in his love toward thee They that sing for joy shall not have more content and delight then he will take in thee 18. They that were the cause of removing thy merry Feasts and Solemnities will I remove far from thee For they have been but a burden and a disgrace unto thee 19. And take notice of it at that time will I undoe not them onely but all those that have any way troubled and afflicted thee And I will cure them amongst thee that are any way weakened in their fortunes and gather them dayly to their own homes that have been as good as ejected and banished from thence in the long time of their captivity And I will make them famous and renowned in those very places where they have been put to shame and disgrace 20. Again I say it to you all that shall then survive and serve me At that time will I reduce you to your own homes and gather you together to your own friends and acquaintance and I will make you famous and renowned among all the people of the earth so that your own eyes shall see with what advantage I have brought you back again from your captivity A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF HAGGAI CHAP. I. IN the second year of Darius the king in the sixth moneth in the first day of the moneth came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governour of Iudah and to Ioshuah the son of Iosedech the high priest saying 2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying This people say The time is not come the time that the Lords house should be built 3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying 4 Is it time for you Oye to dwell in your cieled houses and this house lie wast 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts Consider your waies 6 Ye have sown much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye cloth you but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Consider your waies 8 Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified saith the Lord. 9 Ye looked for much and lo it came to little and when ye brought it home I did blow upon it why saith the Lord of hosts because of mine house that is wast and ye run every man unto his own house 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew and the earth is stayed from her fruit 11 And I called for a drought upon the land and upon the mountains and upon the corn and upon the new wine and upon the oyl and upon that which the ground bringeth forth and upon men and upon cattel and upon all the labour of the hands 12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high priest with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him and the people did fear before the Lord. 13. Then spake Haggai the Lords messenger in the Lords message unto the people saying I am with you saith the Lord. 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirt of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governour of Iudah and the spirit of Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high priest and the spirit of all the remnant of the people and they came and did work in
the building and adorning of your own private houses So your neglect of me and my service produced my neglect of you and your profit 10. That is the reason why the Heavens that are above you were prohibited to supply you with that dew which should help on the growth of those things that spring out of the earth And the earth that is under you had the like prohibition from affording her usual increase of fruit 11. And I commanded a drought and barrennesse to come upon all the land specially upon the mountainous and most eminent parts A barrennesse both of the corn and the new wine and the oyl And this barrennesse extended to all that which is brought forth of the ground or of men or of cattel and so to every thing that mny be esteemed as a fruit of the labour of your hands So that nothing that you went about did any way seem to prosper 12. These words of the Prophet wrought so with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Iosuah the son of Iosedech the High-Priest and the remnant of the Iews that returned out of the captivity that they readily obeyed what God had injoyned them to do and to what his Prophet Haggai had delivered to them they gave great attention and respect because the Lord their God had set him upon that message And so the people humbled themselves in the fear of the Lord and submitted to what had been said against them and to what was not required of them 13. Whereupon Haggai that had delivered the former message from the Lord spake again to them by vertue of a further commission and deputation from God himself and said I will be with you saith the Lord not onely to pardon all that is past but to prosper also what you readily undertake for the reedifying of my Temple 13. In prosecution of which promise the Lord stirred up the spirit i. the will and courage of Zorobabel the son of Shealtiel Governour of Iudah and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedec the High-Priest and the spirit of all the Jews that remained after the captivity of Babylon And they began to compose and prepare themselves for that work in the house of the Lord of Hosts their God 15. And what was thus resolved on was accordingly begun upon the 24. day of the sixth moneth which hath part of our August and part of September in the second year of Darius the King CHAP. II. IN the seventh moneth in the one and twentieth day of the moneth came the word of the Lord by the Prophet Haggai saying 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governour of Iudah and to Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high-Priest and to the residue of the people saying 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory and how do ye see it now is it not in your eies in comparison of it as nothing 4 Yet now be strong O Zerubbabel saith the Lord and be strong O Ioshua son of Iosedech the high-Priest and be strong all ye people of the land saith the Lord and work for I am with you saith the Lord of hosts 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt so my spirit remaineth among you fear ye not 6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land 7 And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts 8 The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts 10 In the four and twentieth day of the nineth moneth in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying 11 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Ask now the Priests concerning the law saying 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt do touch bread or pot age or wine or oyl or any meat shal it be holy and the Priests answered said No. 13 Then said Haggai If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these shall it be unclean and the Priests answered and said It shall be unclean 14 Then answered Haggai and said So is this people and so is this nation before me saith the Lord and so is every work of their hands and that which they offer there is unclean 15 And now I pray you consider from this day and upward from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord. 16 Since those daies were when one came to an heap of 20 measures there were but ten when one came to the presse-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press there were but twenty 17 I smote you with blasting with mildew with hail in all the labour of your hands yet ye turned not to me saith the Lord. 18 Consider now from this day and upward from the four and twentieth day of the ninth moneth even from the day that the foundation of the Lords temple was laid consider it 19 Is the seed yet in the barnâ— yea as yet the vine and the fig-tree and the pomegranate and the olive-tree hath not brought forth from this day will I blesse you 20 And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four twentieth day of the moneth saying 21 Speak to Zerubbabel governour of Iudah saying I will shake the heavens and the earth 22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them and the horses and their riders shall come down every one by the sword of his brother 23 In that day saith the Lord of hosts will I take thee O Zerubbabel my servant the son of Shealtiel saith the Lord and will make thee as a signet for I have chosen thee saith the Lord of hosts CHAP. II. 1. IN the seventh moneth which consisted of part of our September and part of October and in the twenty first day of the moneth the Lord spake again to the Prophet Haggai and by him to the people of the Jewes to this effect 2. Speak now to Zerubbabel the Son of Shealtiel Governour of Iudah and to Ioshua the Son of Iosedech the High-Priest and to the People that are returned from the captivity of Babylon and say unto them 3. If there be any of you left of the captivity that hath seen the Temple which was formerly built in this place in the rich and glorious state and beauty which then it had being a work of much time and cost
What do you now see this likely to be which you have begun in haste to raise up and cannot furnish with such wealth and ornaments as the other had by the beneficence of severall Kings of Judah Doth not this fabrick if it be compared with that seem to be of no great hope and expectation for state and glory 4. But yet be of good comfort O Zerubbabel saith the Lord and thou O Ioshua Son of Iosedech the High-Priest chear up thy self And let the rest of the People of the land be no way discouraged But go on chearfully with the work now in hand For I am with you to blesse and prosper you saith the Lord of Hostes whom all things serve and obey 5. Whatsoever I promised and covenanted to do for you when you came out of Egypt that will I make good in my mercifull protection of you and crowning your obedience unto me with all the blessings of that covenant And my Spirit shall be constantly with you by the ministery of my Prophets and other waies to direct you in this work or what else you shall take in hand for the like advancement of my service Therefore be not dismayed or discouraged at these little beginnings 6. For the time is coming on saith the Lord of Hostes and it is but a little while to be expected it shall be while this Temple is standing when I will once again make as great motions and alterations in the world in the Heavens and in the Earth and in the Sea and in the dry land as ever I did since I began to bring you out of Egypt And you shall find a great alteration and difference from my own workes then to be done and those done heretofore since your coming out of Egypt For the thunder and lightning from Heaven in Mount Sinai when I descended to give the law will be nothing to that opening of the Heavens wherein my holy Spirit shall visibly descend upon the Messias in Jordan and his Apostles in Mount Sion And again the bringing water out of the hardest and driest parts of the Earth or dividing the waters of the red Sea will be nothing to the Earth-quakes at the death of the Messias and his coming out of the grave and before that his walking upon the waters 7. And for the motions or commotions that I named before Those commotions and alterations in all nations shall be such by severall wars and tumults that they shall all be ready to shake and tremble at them But after the appeasing of those stirs the Messias himself the longing desire and expectation and the delight and sweet comfort of all people shall come in person And then will be the time when by his coming into my Temple who is the King of Glory I shall fill this house that you are building this second Temple with glory indeed saith the Lord of Hostes. 8. As for the outward splendour and rich offerings in the first Temple I prize them not so highly as you do And when I please to be honoured with them I can make this Temple as richly supplied as ever Solomon's was For all the silver is at my command and the gold is at my disposall saith the Lord of Hostes. 9. But in far higher respects than those of wealth and splendour shall the glory of this latter house exceed that of the former saith the Lord of Hostes. And the time of that glory shall be a time when I will give peace unto this place saith the Lord of Hostes. 10. In this second year of Darius upon the twenty fourth day of the ninth moneth which took up part of our November and December and by which time the materials being prepared the work began to be set forward with much alacrity the Lord spake again by Haggai the Prophet saying 11. Thus saith the Lord of Hostes Ask now the Priests a resolution of a case put in their own law wherein they are or should be able to decide any scruple in that kind proposed unto them and do it in these termes 12. If a man should carry any holy flesh that being offered up to God hath been sanctified by the altar and carrying it in the skirt of his garment should with that skirt touch any ordinary bread or pottage or wine or oyl or any kind of meat should that which is so touched by that wherein the holy flesh is be therefore holy To this quaere the Priests answered and said No. the common meat would not be sanctified by touching that wherein the sanctified meat was carried 13. Then again said the Prophet Haggai But if any one that is legally unclean by touching of a dead body should in that time touch any of these would that which he toucheth be unclean by the law And the Priests answer was that it would be unclean for the legall sanctity is not so easily communicated by one thing to another as the legall impurity is 14. To which the Prophet Haggai replied and said So is it with the impure and disobedient heart of this people that hath polluted whatsoever they offered upon their new altar which they made in Cyrus his time when they began to lay the foundation of the Temple and would not afterward so proceed in it as I gave them direction Therefore I account no otherwise of this disobedient nation than of a nation impure in my â—ight saith the Lord. And this uncleannesse sticks to every work of their hands and to what soever they have offered at that altar being so polluted with the bold sinne of the neglect of that command of mine to raise the Temple For neither can that which is sanctified impart holinesse to that which is profane neither can that which is unclean but derive the like uncleannesse to that which was holy which showes you a little light wherein you may see the power of your sins above your vertues if you had them 15. And now to see the fruit of your unclean hearts and hands consider seriously with your selves what hath happened to you and what punishment I laid upon you before you setled your selves to this work of re-edifying my Temple and the builders went on with the foundation of it for the promoting of my service 16. From those times of your negligence and disobedience till that time wherein the fabrick was chearfully undertaken When a man came to a heap of corn in which he hoped well to be supplied with twenty measures there he received but ten the half of what he expected according to the usuall proportion of the increase of his feed And when a man came to the presse-fat where he had thought to have drawn fifty vessels out of the presse there he drew but twenty he could never see that blessed increase that he was in hope of 17. The reason was because I turned that blessing into a curse I smote the labours
of your hands and corrupted the fruit of your grounds with blasting and mildew and haile And therefore I did it because I would have had you to reflect upon your sinfull hearts and be converted unto me but yet this punishment was not followed with your conversion saith the Lord. 18. And now take it also into your serious consideration what better successe you have had from this day and upward from the twenty fourth day of the nineth moneth wherein you began to go on with the Foundation of the Temple of the Lord which had been laid before and too long neglected And again I advise you to take speciall notice of this day 19. We are now in the ninth Moneth And â—s your corn which you lately sowed yet come into your barnes Are you as sure of it as if you had it home into your own possession and at your own disposall No. It is still under the ground you have it but in hope and you stand still in need of my blessing upon it that it may be ripened and sitted for the barn And do you not see that the Vine and the sig-tree and the pomegranate and the Olive-tree are yet far from bringing forth that which gives you some likelihood of a good and plentifull year Yet from this day though these fruites are no forwarder and the seed be yet in the ground from this very day will I poure my blessing upon them and so from this day give you an assurance that all these things shall prosper and increase as you would have them 20. And again the word of the Lord came to the Prophet Haggai in this twenty fourth day of the aforesaid moneth to this effect 21. Speak to Zerubbabel the Governour of Iudah and say It shall not be long before I shake the heavens and the earth those that are placed above others as in a higher Orbe and those that are under them with many great wars and tumults 22. I will bring ruine and destruction upon the rich and large Kingdomes under the command of the Persian Monarch and so overthrow that high throne and state of His and bring down the pride and puissance of that great Empire which so overtops the kingdoms of the Heathen I will overturn their chariots of war with their skilfull Riders And their stately Steeds with those that are so bravely mounted upon them shall have a fall They shall all perish by the sword of those nations that are their brethren in iniquity and idolatry and deserve no better than they do 23. At that time when all these stormes shall fall upon them saith the Lord of Hostes will I take thee into my own protection O Zerubhabel the Son of Shealtiel my Servant and I will preserve thee as warily and as carefully as a man would preserve his own signet Thou and thy people shall be secure in the middest of those stirs that in thy time and long after shall be among the greatest nations And all this will I do because I have set my love and favour upon thee and selected thee and thy nation to be a more peculiar object of my care and mercy saith the Lord of Hostes. A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF ZECHARIAH CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers 3 Therefore say thou unto them Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye unto me saith the Lord of hosts and I will turn unto you saith the Lord of hosts 4 Be not as your fathers unto whom the former Prophets have cried saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye now from your evil waies and from your evill doings but they did not hear nor hearken unto me saith the Lord. 5 Your fathers where are they and the prophets do they live for ever 6 But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets did they not take hold of your fathers and they returned and said Like as the Lord of hostes thought to do unto us according to our waies and according to our doings so hath he dealt with us 7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh moneth which is the moneth Sebat in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 8 I saw by night and behold a man riding upon a red horse and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom and behind him were there red horses speckled and white 9 Then said I O my Lord what are these And the Angel that talked with me said unto me I will shew thee what these be 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle-trees and said We have walked to and fro through the earth and behold all the earth sitteth still and is at rest 12 Then the angel of the Lord answered and said O Lord of hostes how long wilt thou not have mercy on Ierusalem and on the cities of Iudah against which thou hast had indignation these three-score and ten years 13 And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words 14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me Cry thou saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts I am jealous for Ierusalem and for Zion with a great jealousie 15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord I am returned to Ierusalem with mercies my house shall be built in it saith the Lord of hosts and a line shall be stretched forth upon Ierusalem 17 Cry yet saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts My cities through prosperitie shall yet be spread abroad and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall ye choose Ierusalem 18 Then lift I up mine eies and saw and behold four hornes 19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me What be these and he answered me These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah Israel and Ierusalem 20 And the Lord shewed me four carpenters 21 Then said I What come these to do and he spake saying These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah so that no man did lift up his head but these are come to fray them to cast out the horns of the Gentiles which lift up their horne over the land of Iudah to scatter it CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth the moneth Bul which had part of our October and part of November in the second yeà r of Darius the son of Hystaspes God spake unto the Prophet
they should have done as if they endeavoured your ruine rather than your amendment and so hindered as much as in them lay the good hopes of your recovery and your return to this place and to my service 16. Therefore this now is the mercifull resolution of the lord I will return with a gracious aspect upon Ierusalem and I will prosper the building of my Temple there saith the lord of Hostes. And let them be as sure of it as if they now see their Carpenters drawing out their lines for the whole work that not the Temple onely but the Citie of Jerusalem too shall be re-edified and made like her self again in her walls and gates and other places of ornament and defense that are fit for so great a City 17. And add this moreover when thou preachest to my people and say Thus saith the Lord of Hostes My Cities in Judah shall be so stored and filled once again with all good things as a vessel is that is ready to run over and burst with abundance of liquor And the Lord will again comfort Sion and show his loving kindnesse to Ierusalem as a place that he hath selected and picked out for the object of his love 18. After this lifting up mine eies I presently saw four hornes 19. And I said to the great Angel that discoursed with me what mean those horns that I see And he answered These horns are four severall Nations all enemies to Judaea and ready like wild beasts to tosse and molest her upon every advantage and so to hinder the good work which she intended about the Temple And these were the Cuthaeans the Ammonites the Arabians and the Philistims 20. Then the Lord shewed me four Carpenters well furnished with hatchets and sawes and other instruments of their Art as it were to cut those Hornes shorter that made so great a show or to help forward the building of the Temple 21 Then said I what come these men to do and he answered The hornes that you saw are severall nations that would fain tosse and scatter Iudah from place to place and like horned Beasts have so gored and pushed at that weak people that they dare not turn head against them or make any resistance Now these Carpenters are come as friends that God hath raised up for you to fray away and disperse them and all such like among the Gentiles that shall presume to lift up their hornes against the land of Iudah to make another dispersion of that afflicted people And things being so quieted you may the better attend the work about the house of God CHAP. II. 1 I Lift up mine eyes again and looked and behold a man with a measuring-lâ—ne in his hand 2 Then said I whither goest thou and he said unto me To measure Ierusalem to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof 3 And behold the angel that talked with me went forth and another angel went out to meet him 4 And said unto him Run speak to this young man saying Ierusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattel therein 5 For I saith the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her 6 Ho ho come forth and flee from the land of the north saith the Lord for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven saith the Lord. 7 Deliver thy self O Zion that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon 8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye 9 For behold I will shake mine hand upon them and they shall be a spoil to their servants and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me 10 Sing and rejoyce O daughter of Zion for lo I come I will dwel in the midst of thee saith the Lord. 11 And many nations shall be joyned to the Lord in that day and shall be my people and I will dwell in the midst of thee and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee 12 And the Lord shall inherit Iudah his portion in the holy land and shall choose Ierusalem again 13 Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he ie raised up out of his holy habitation CHAP. II. 1. AFter what was told me of the four Carpenters and as it were in confirmation of that Another vision caused the lifting up of mine eyes where I beheld a man with a measuring line in his hand A resemblance of Nehemiah that was to take care for the employment of the builders of the City 2. To this man I presently applied my self and said unto him whither art thou going And he returned me this answer I am going to measure Ierusalem that I may see what is the breadth and what is the length of it 3. You may take notice that in the mean while the great Angel with whom I had been entertained in discourse before withdrew himself from the place where he then stood and another Angel went out to meet him and receive his commands 4. To whom this was that which the great Angel gave first in charge Make hast saith he and deliver this Prophesie to that young man Zachariah the young Prophet and say Ierusalem shall be once again so populous that many of her Citizens shall be fain to inhabite in the suburbs and in the little villages all about them because neither they nor their cattle and other wealth shall be able to be conteined within the walls In all which Jerusalem shall be but a type of a greater accesse of true converts to the Church of God which is the true Jerusalem the mother of us all 5. And to this Ierusalem and to that which is figured by it will I be like a wall of fire round about her to defend her from all outward assaults And within the Citie I will be a glory to her in the many and miraculous expressions of my power and Majestie 6. You therefore that account your selves in the number of the children of Israel and are yet in the land of your captivity Come O come quickly to us out of those Northern climates saith the Lord. For I will dilate and extend your habitations towards the four winds of Heaven and much inlarge the borders of your possession saith the Lord. 7. Therefore make hast Come away come away you Citizens of Sion Delight not to continue your captivity and prolong the time of your banishment from your Jerusalem but speedily come out of Babylon you that hitherto have continued in that place Come out of your places of idolatrie and seat your selves in the spatious limits of the true Church of God 8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts the great Deliverer and Defender of his Church Come after
that glory wherein I shall go before you as your glorious guide and Champion to conduct you safe to your Jerusalem that here and that above For he that sends me as his great Angel of the covenant and commander of his Hosts hath sent me upon this errand amongst the rest to visit the nations that spoiled you to be avenged and to deliver you out of their Tyrannie Nor could you expect any lesse since he that toucheth you toucheth the very apple of his eye He is as sensible of your injuries and sufferings as if they were his own and offered to him in a part of the tenderest touch 9. Therefore you may observe me already shaking my hand over them by way of menace And accordingly them that have heretofore used you as Servants I shall not fail ere long to make servants unto you and some of them more then so as in the time of the Maccabees to be no better then captives taken in warlike manner which shall serve also as a type and figure of those that shall be taken into my service when I send the rod of my power out of Sion and when my spiritual souldiers shall bring them of all nations into the number of the true Israel of God And when they that I send shall compasse so great atchievements you will know assuredly that it was the Lord of Hosts that sent me the great Commander not of those troops onely that appeared in the first vision but of all things that are in heaven and earth 10. Rejoyce then and be exceeding glad O daughter of Sion for which thou shalt see and wonder at I will not onely vouchsafe to dwell in this Temple that you are building but I will further be pleased to come dwell with you visibly personally conversing among you in the sacred Temple of my flesh saith the Lord Iehovah 11. And many nations shall apply themselves to the Lord in those daies and like true Proselytes and converts indeed be joyned unto Him as souldiers to sight under his banner and no longer as enemies to him and his Church So shall they become my people as you are and true members of the true Jerusalem And I will abide and dwell in the midst of thee and within thee as my holy Temple and my Heaven upon earth And so thou shalt be more and more assured that it was the Lord of Hosts that sent me unto thee O thou daughter of Sion the Church and Congregation of the true servants of God 12. With this happy successe shall the Lord inherit Iudah again as his peculiar possession in the holy land and again make choice of Ierusalem wherein to show his power and glory 13. Therefore let all men be still and show fear and reverence before the Lord. For he will rise up from the throne of his glory and show himself from his holy habitation to subdue his enemies under his feet and be glorified in his servants CHAP. III. 1 ANd he shewed me Ioshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him 2 And the Lord said unto Satan The Lord rebuke thee O Satan even the Lord that hath chosen Ierusalem rebuke thee is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire 3 Now Ioshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel 4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him saying Take away the filthy garments from him And unto him he said Behold I have caused thine iniquity to passe from thee and I will clothe thee with change of raiment 5 And I said Let them set a fair mitre upon his head so they set a fair mitre upon his head and clothed him with garments and the angel of the Lord stood by 6 And the angel of the Lord protested unto Ioshua saying 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts if thou wilt walk in my waies and if thou wilt keep my charge then thou shalt also judge my house and shalt also keep my courts and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by 8 Hear now O Ioshua the high priest thou and thy fellows that sit before thees for they are men wondred at for behold I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH 9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Ioshua upon one stone shall be seven eyes behold I will engrave the graving thereof saith the Lord of hosts and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day 10 In that day saith the Lord of hosts shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig-tree CHAP. III. 1. NOw the Lord in another vision let me see Iosuah the High-Priest standing before that great Angel or Messenger of the Lord and Satan standing at Joshuah his right hand that he might there show himself to be a Satan i. an adversarie and malitious accusar of him and so like his name 2. And the Lord Iehovah or some Archangel representing his person said unto Satan The Lord rebuke or restrain thee O Satan from prevailing in thy malitious accusation to any prejudice of the High-Priest Even that gratious Lord so restrain thee in the behalf of Jerusalems High Priest that hath in so great love made choice of Ierusalem as a place to be made a special object of his favour and mercy For is not this Joshua whom thou opposest one that hath more need of divine compassion and indulgence as being like a brand plucked out of many sad dangers and fierie trials that befel him in the time of his long captivity And by him plucked out and rescued thence that gave that token of his care and protection over him for the time to come 3. Now Joshuah appeared to me in this vision as one clad in filthy apparrel while he thus stood before the great Angel of the Lord which might be an embleme not so much of his poor estate as of some sin that he had contracted in the time of his captivity For sin represents us no otherwise in the sight of Gods pure eyes then as men covered with rags and pollution 4. Then said that great Angel to the other that stood ready to obey his commands Take away Joshuahs filthy garments from him as a sign of the removal of his sins that had made him appear so unpleasing in the sight of God And then turning himself to the High-Priest See saith he and forget not this mercy wherein I have caused the removal of thy sin which might now have been laid to thy charge and I will cause thee to be arrayed in such new and decent garments the robes of righteousnesse as wherein thou shalt be accepted 5. I have also taken order with my attendants said he that they set a fair mytre upon the head of Iosuah as the High-Priest of the Lord. And this they did
accordingly in sign of a confirmation of him in his great and sacred office notwithstanding all that his greatest enemy could have objected against him And they clothed him all over with new and comely apparel and set a fair mitre upon his head while that great Angel of the Lord was pleased to stay there and see all this done as he had commanded 6. After which that great Angel of the Lord protested also unto Ioshuah thus consecrated for the High-Priest of the Jews and said 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts unto thee If thou wilt walk in those good waies which I have commanded and diligently observe that charge of divine service that I have entrusted thee withal then thou shalt judge and determine and give commands concerning all that belongs to the sacrifices and ceremonies of my house and to the custodie of the several Courts of my Temple And in due time thou shalt have more honour and liberty then to make use of the walks and galleries about the Temple when for thy walking here in my waies I shall admit thee to those places where thou shalt walk and converse with these Angels that stand all about to attend me this is the reward of them that here walk with God 8. And now give ear O Ioshuah the High-Priest to the ground of that promise Thou maist hear it and so may thy friends the Prophets and other my good servants that use to sit with thee to advise of setting forward that which belongs to my service They are fit Auditors of such mysteries as these because being miracles of piety in respect of other men they may be accounted the more worthy to have miracles and signs of things to come imparted unto them And such are these which I shall now relate For Behold I will at last bring forth my servant the BRANCH I will make the root of Iesse bud out of the earth and appear the Messias of whom Zorobabel is now the type and figure and that comes out of the same stock 9. And there is another mysterie worth an Ecce For you may observe the plummet which Zorobabel made use of when he laid the foundation of the Temple and which I caused to be given him in the presence of thee Ioshuah the High-Priest Vpon this one plummet there appeared the figure and representation of seven eyes to show my watchful providence over this and all other places devoted to my service and withall the wisdom and other graces which should be eminent in the Messias the chief corner stone of all the mystical Churches of God The engraving of those seven eyes in the plummet was not cut out by any Art of man but I my self by my extraordinarie power made the engraving of it appear as there it did saith the Lord of Hosts And for that Messias his sake I will take away the sins of this wicked world in one day by virtue of his death and passion upon that day or at one time in that once offering of himself for sinne 10. In those daies of your deliverie from the bondage of sin there shall be a time of peace and mutual amity when men shall be easily disposed to invite their neighbours to come and sit with them every man under his vine and under his fig-tree saith the Lord of Hosts which is a figure of that inward peace they shall have and that true love they shall bear to others who shall feel the benefit of that daies passion and the love and mercy of Him that died for them CHAP. IV. 1 ANd the angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that is wakened out of his sleep 2 And said unto me What seest thou and I said I have looked and behold a candle-stick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps which were upon the top thereof 3 And two olive-trees by it one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side thereof 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me saying What are these my Lord. 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me Knowest thou not what these be and I said No my Lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me saying This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying Not he mightâ— not by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts 7 Who art thou O great mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain and he shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shourings crying Grace grace unto it 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house his hands shall also finish it and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you 10 For who hath despised the day of small things for they shall rejoyce and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven they are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth 11 Then answered I and said unto him What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof 12 And I answered again and said unto him What be these two olive-branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oyl out of themselves 13 And he answered me and said Knowest thou not what these be And I said No my Lord. 14 Then said he These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth CHAP. IV. 1. NOt long after these Visions I was rapt into another extasie wherein the Angel that had conference with me before seemed to come again and awake and rouse me up as one out of a deep sleep and transe that I might be the more attent and observant of other mysteries that were then to be revealed unto me by way of vision 2. And he said unto me what seest thou Zacharie And I said there is another sight presented to my eyes which takes me up with such admiration that I cannot deliver it without an Ecce Methinks I see a Candlestick all of gold one of the great ornaments of the house of God and the bowl belonging to the top of it whence the oyl was conveyed as out of a fountain and his seven lamps thereon and seven several pipes which emptied the oyl out of the bowl and bestowed it the in match or wick of the seven lamps which pipes were upon the top of the shaft 3. And by this fair Candlestick stood two olive-trees one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left-side thereof which gave a continual supply of oyl to the bowls and might signifie the two sons of oyl as we call them i. the two sacred persons that have holy unction the King
and the Priest and might intimate unto us that a Prince and Priest we should have till the times of the Messias according to the Prophesie of Iacob Though these mysteries both here and in the Temple might have a farther light in this Candlestick to show us the ecclesiastical function in the greater Church of God wherein the several Ministers like several and clear lamps should shine forth in their doctrine and conversation that others by their good light may be brought to glorifie their father which is in heaven 4. But these things at the first representation of the Vision I did not so discover but being wholly taken up with admiration I proceeded and said further to the Angel that discoursed with me what is the meaning of these things my Lord. 5. To which that Angel that had pleased so to talk with me replied and said Dost thou not conceave what is meant by the Candlestick and the Olive-trees and the other parts of the Vision and I said I do not indeed my Lord therefore I desire that you would vouchsafe to explain the mysterie of them 6. Then saith he to me by way of answer Thou maist gather part of the meaning out of those words which thou art commanded to deliver unto Zorobabel that takes so great care and pains about your sacred Fabrick For thus you are commanded by God himself so say unto Zerubbabel This building shalt thou be able to raise and fit for my service not by any wealth or power of your own for who sees not how poor and weak your nation is at this time but by my spirit saith the Lord of Hosts by the vertue and courage that I shall infuse into you all and the means and friends that I shall raise up for you while your own poor abilities contribute as little to the finishing of so great a work as you do to the supply of oyl for those lamps which are fed by olive-trees raised up miraculously by me on purpose for that intent 7. And who can hinder that which the Lord of Hosts will do Canst thou O Babylon Alas what art thou that vaunts thy self and thy Empire to overtop that of Zerubbabel and his little Jury as far as a high Mountain appears above a little mole-hill Did not I lay that high and mighty empire as low as a pore plain in the sight of Zerubbabel who carried in his very name a good omen of the confusion of Babel and the dispersing of her several Provinces Shall I not do the like against any other Potentates that oppose my poor Church in any age Yes and now to begin with Iurie and her Ierusalem and her Temple there maugre all opposition I inabled Zerubbabel to appear strong and powerful iu the work I made him the man that laid the first stone thereof accompanied with the acclamations and good wishes of all the people that cried out Let God ever favour let his mercy ever support it He blesse and succeed and maintain this great work so happily begun 8. Moreover the word of the Lord came to me his Angel saying 9. As the hands of Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this house so when his hands have finished it i. by his care at his command and direction and in his time the whole work be perfected as I foretold then shall you by that accomplishment of my prediction be able to conclude that I came with commission from the Lord of Hosts to encourage you in this businesse 10. But if any man slight and mistrust the time of these little beginnings of the Fabrick and think it promiseth but little for the conclusion If any such there be they will rather have cause to rejoyce and chear up themselves when they consider what was said of the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel and of those seven eyes that were so miraculously engraven in it by the immediate power of Almighty God For that is an embleme of the eyes of God that run thorough the whole world i. of his infinite providence and care that extends it self over all things and specially over his own people 11. Then said I further to him What is mean by those two olive-trees whereof one stands upon the right the other upon the left side of the Candlestick 12. And he deferring his answer I presumed to propose the same question again unto him and said What are those two branches of the olives hanging over the golden pipes thence emptying their pretious oyl as pure and cleare as gold 13. Then he replying said unto me Knowest thou not yet what is meant by them And I said I must confesse to my Lord I do not fullie conceave the meaning of them 14. He answered These are the two Sons of Oyl as you use to speak i. the two sorts of sacred persons annointed with holy oyl the Prince and the High-Priest who attend as two principal servants upon the Lord of the whole earth and whose vigilant care over the Temple and the whole Church of God in their respective places is here figured by those two branches of the olive that impart a continual supply of oyl to all the lamps i. of comfort and assistance to all those that shine as clear lights in the Church of God CHAP. V. 1 THen I turned and lift up mine eyes and looked and behold a flying roll 2 And he said unto me What seest thou and I answered I see a flying roll the length thereof is twenty cubits and the breadth thereof ten cubits 3 Then said he unto me This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it 4 I will bring it forth saith the Lord of hosts and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsly by my name and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof 5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth and said unto me Lift up now thine eyes and see what is this that goeth forth 6 And I said what is it and he said This is an ephah that goeth forth He said moreover This is their resemblance through all the earth 7 And behold there was lift up a talent of lead and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah 8 And he said This is wickednesse and he cast it into the midst of the ephah and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof 9 Then lift I up mine eyes and looked and behold there came out two women and the wind was in their wings for they had wings like the wings of a stork and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heaven 10 Then said I to the
shall sit and rule upon his throne and he shall be a priest upon his throne and the counsel of peace shall be between them both 14 And the crowns shall be to Helem and to Tobijah and to Iedajah and to Hen the son of Zephaniah for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 15 Aud they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you And this shall come to passe if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God CHAP. VI. 1. WHen I lift up mine eyes again to look about me I saw four warlike Chariots passing from between two strong mountains that appeared like mountains of brasse a type of four warlike troops under the conduct of their famous Commanders that made all their passage through the streights of Anti-taurus which are between the fastnesse of the rough and craggy hills in Cilicia and through which the Babylonians and Persians and Alexanders forces and the armies of the Commanders that succeeded him were wont to make their way into Syria and Iudaea and other parts thereabout 2. The first Chariot was drawn by red horses figuring the bloody actions of the Babylonians which we had felt already The second Chariot was furnished with black horses which sad and mournful colour made them apt to represent the frequent famines and other heavy calamities that many were to suffer under the Persian Monarchie 3. In the third Chariot I observed they were white horses which colour in opposition to the former of the Persians sable hue might figure the joyful triumphs and victories that the forces of the great Alexander who commanded that Chariot were to have over the vast armies and countries of the sad and mournful Persian that was at last to tast of that sorrow which himself before had brought upon others The fourth Chariot consisting of divided forces was brought along by Horses of several colours some speckled with round white spots like hail-stones other of a pale colour like ashes the emblem of the Syrian and Egyptian forces which fell so often and sodainly like hail-shot in several places before they were looked for and by policie and subtilty concealed and covered their intentions like fire under the ashes till by the sodain breath of their boisterous commands they would have it to break out And these armies of the Syrian and Egyptian Kings were the rather joyned together in this vision because they came both from Alexander and the sufferings of the Iews under them should be much alike some full of sad storms other of greater miseries that would turn many of them to their last dust and ashes sometime under the one sort of Commanders and sometime under the other 4. Then I applied my self again to the Angel by whose instructions I had been all this while informed and said unto him What are these my Lord 5. And he answered me to this purpose that these were for their busling in the world and the large compasse they take up like the four winds under heaven i. the four Empires under several Commanders dispersed toward the four climates of the known habitable world And though the winds may show their boisterous and uncertain dispositions in themselves considered yet they shall execute nothing but according to the providence and wisdom and pleasure of the Lord of Hosts and therefore it is said that they go not forth till they have presented themselves before the Lord of all the earth to receive his commands 6. That which hath the black horses is the Persian Armie which took their progresse not long since toward the Northern countries And the white those of Alexanders troops shall follow as hard after them of Persia when the time of their Commission for that service is is come But the speckled the various expeditions of Alexanders forces under Ptolomaeus Lagi shall take their way toward the Southern parts and be setled in Egypt 7. And the pale horses i. those troops of Alexanders followers that shall take their name and rise from Seleucus they shall have many several plots and essayes about these parts of the world and in all the countries hereabouts they will make their several attempts And the Commission which they recovered from the Almighty Commander of all runs in these terms Go make your several per ambulations and assayes in several Countries of the earth And so accordingly they wil dispose of themselves here and there in the several progresse of their military forces 8. While I was intent upon the Visions the Angel called me nearer to him as if he had some new observation to impart and this it was Mark these Armies of the Persians saith he that took their journies into the North they have revenged the injuries you received from the Babylonian and so abundantly satisfied the anger which I justly conceaved against those Northern parts 9. Then came a particular commmand to me from the Lord to this effect 10. That I should take to me some of them that were newly returned from the captivity of Babylon which God had so powerfully revenged by the hand of the Persian And amongst those that I was to make choice of Hulday al. Helem was to be called by name From whom and from Tobijah and Iedajah my self making my appearance at the same time in the house of Iosiah the son of Zephaniah 11. From them I was to receave silver and gold which lay in their hands for the ornaments of the Temple and employ it to the making of several crowns whereof one to be set upon the head of Iosuah the Son of Iosedeck the High-Priest that herein he may be like the High-Priests his Predecessors that were wont to be honoured with a crown in times of publick joy and gratulation 12. And then shalt thou say unto him Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH from the root of Iesse Fix your eies upon your Messias your great Deliverer of whom and whose deliverie all other deliverers and deliverances as this of Babylon are but little shadows He shall bud forth and flourish in due time answerable to his name of BRANCH and it shall be out of that place which himself shall make choice of and he shall build the Church of God into a just fabrick your Temple now to be raised and your Builders that are now in hand with the work shall be Types and Figures of it 13. It is he that shall build that spiritual Temple of the Lord. It is he that shall purchase to Himself great Honour and Glory and a name above every name And he shall have not a crown onely like your High-Priest but a throne of Glory upon which he shall sit and rule remaining a Priest for ever and a Kingly Priest a Priest upon his throne And the counsail of Peace shall proceed in virtue of both those Titles and Dignities
that of His Kingdom and that of His Priest-hood 14. There shall be crowns also as for the High-Priest so for the honorable memorie of others that have found favour with God for their good endeavours about the outward Temple now in hand by name for Helem for Tobijah for Iedajah and for Hen the Son of Zephaniah And these crowns shall be hung up in the Temple of the Lord as a memorial of them with their names to that purpose expressed upon the crowns 15. And to help on the work and the ornaments and honour of the Temple many foreiners and people of remote countries shall come and contribute towards this building as the praeludium to the whole crowds of Gentiles that shall help to build up the spiritual Temple And by this you shall know that I Zacharie that relate the prophesie of these things am a true Prophet of the Lord and have my Commission from the Lord of Hosts for what I promise to you judge of me by the event Provided alwaies that you be diligent in obeying the commands of the Lord your God For this promise runs under that condition CHAP. VII ANd it came to passe in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the nineth moneth even in Chisleu 2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech and their men to pray before the Lord. 3 And to speak unto the Priests which were in the house of the Lord of hostes and to the prophets saying Should I weep in the fifth moneth separating my self as I have done these so many years 4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me saying 5 Speak unto all the people of the land and to the priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh moneth even those seventy years did ye at all fast unto me even unto me 6 And when ye did eat and when ye did drink did not ye eat for your selves and drink for your selves 7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets when Ierusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and the cities thereof round about her when men inhabited the South of the plain 8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah saying 9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying Execute true judgement and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother 10 And oppresse not the widow nor the fatherlesse the stranger nor the poor and let none of you imagine evill against his brother in your heart 11 But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear 12 Yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone least they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts 13 Therefore it is come to passe that as he cried and they would not hear so they cried and I would not hear saith the Lord of hosts 14 But I scattered them with a whirl-wind among all the nations whom they knew not thus the land was desolate after them that no man passed through nor returned for they laid the pleasant land desolate CHAP. VII 1. NOw in the fourth year of King Darius the second year after they had begun the structure of the Temple the word of the Lord was again revealed unto Zacharie in the fourth day of the ninth moneth which is called the Moneth Chisleu and containes part of November and of December And it did so upon this occasion 2. There was sent to the Temple and to the Priests there about that time Serezer and Regem-melech and some Attendants upon them to tender their humble devotions before the Lord in the behalf of those that lived out of the City and had sent them thither upon that service 3. And withall a message they had to the Priests that ministred in the Temple of the Lord of Hostes and to the Prophets who were to advise and direct them in matters of scruple or controversie This Message came in the name of the People who being desirous to be satisfied in some doubts about fasting in which it seems all had been well if their care to make it a true and acceptable fast unto God had been as much as their desire and power to enact it and enjoyn it as a holy Fast and being all considered as one body they ordered their message to be delivered in these or the like termes Shall I continue the times of fasting and mourning which I imposed upon my self under the captivity and have since most strictly observed whereof that is one in the fifth Moneth upon the tenth of July in the sad remembrance of the destroying and firing of the Temple by Nebuzaradan Captain of the guard to Nebuchadnezar Shall I still afflict my self and observe my wonted abstinence from pleasant meats and other matters of delight like a Nazarite for that day as I have now kept it upon the return of that day for many yeares 4. Then as I was saying came the word of the Lord of Hostes unto me furnishing me with an answer to that question of the People after some things to be premised upon occasion of their Fast and saying unto me 5. Speak to all the people of the land and among them to the Priests too to those of Jerusalem as well as to those out of the Citie that have sent these men hither and say When you fasted and mourned in the fifth Moneth in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple and in the seventh Moneth in memoriall of the death of Godoliah and so in the other Moneths in like pretended humble service for these seventy years of your captivity Did I require those Fasts or when they were voluntarily undertaken did they tend as they should do to my honour and glory by your true humbling and bettering of your selves upon those dayes For your Fasts without that are in themselves nothing so pleasing and acceptable to me as you may vainly conceive 6. For as at other times when you eat and drink at your liberty no advantage accrews to my honour out of that feasting of yours barely in it self considered without any other consequence of your due returnes of thankfulnesse and obedience for the blessing of that plenty so at these times when you fast that fasting in its self adds nothing to me nor is it any way considerable in my esteem 7. Should you not rather have observed the divine commands so plainly and openly delivered unto you by the Prophets that have gone before us when Ierusalem was at ease and abounded in peace and plenty And when the Cities and Townes all about her when the more mountainous and Southern parts that were then entirely possessed and when with them the lowest and fruitfullest countries in the
plain had the same benefit of a quiet and secure repose and a rich habitation 8. And the word of the Lord came again unto me saying 9. Thus spake the Lord of Hostes by former Prophets saying In your publick places of Judgement proceed according to the rules of true Iustice and Equity without any regard to silthy lucre or to the prejudice of Affection And in your private actions and commerce with one another show that kindnesse and compassion that should be expected among Brethren of the same stock and alliance and of the same Religion and Profession 10. Let there be no injuring or oppressing of the widow the orphan the stranger or any that are poor and afflicted amongst you And do not so much as in your hearts devise or conceive any mischeivous intention against one another All this I commanded your Fathers by the former Prophets 11. But they would not hear of that ear they shrunk up the shoulder and in plain rebellion turned their backs upon their good guides and followed those courses that would make their cares duller for any holy counsaile that called for this obedience 12. And thus by degrees they made their hearts as it were in a set opposition to all exhortations of obedience as hard as flint or any the hardest and most durable stone that there might be no admittance for the voice of the law and the precepts which the Lord of Hostes sent them by those that were to that purpose raised up and enlightened by his holy Spirit for such were all your former Prophets And this wilfull and obstinate rebellion of theirs could not but draw down the heavie and just indignation of the Lord of Hostes. 13. And accordingly you see it came to passe that as they suffered God to call upon them and would return him no answer of obedience so when their own miseries forced them to call for divine assistanee then did I refuse to answer their desires saith the Lord of Hostes. 14. And I dispersed them in mine anger as if it had been with a mighty whirl-wind into severall nations which they never knew before and their own land after their deportation into other parts was left waste and desolate like a wildernesse behind them There was not so much as a passenger to be seen either going thither or returning from that place that had been so much frequented Such and so heavie was the solitude and barrennesse of that land that had been accounted the delight and Paradise of the whole earth CHAP. VIII 1. AGain the word of the Lord of hostes came to me saying 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts I was jealous for Zion with great jealousie and I was jealous for her with great fury 3 Thus saith the Lord I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and Ierusalem shall be called a Citie of truth and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Ierusalem and every man with his staffe in his hand for very age 5 And the streets of the citie shall be full of boyes and girls playing in the streets thereof 6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these dayes should it also be marvellous in mine eyes saith the Lord of hosts 7 Thus saith the Lord of hostes Behold I will save my people from the east-countrey and from the west-countrey 8 And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and in righteousnesse 9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Let your hands be strong ye that hear in these dayes these words by the mouth of the prophets which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid that the temple might be built 10 For before these daies there was no hire for man nor any hire for beast neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction for I set all men every one against his neighbour 11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former daies saith the Lord of hosts 12 For the seed shall be prosperous the vine shall give her fruit and the ground shall give her encrease and the heavens shall give their dew and I will curse the remnant of this people to possess all these things 13 And it shall come to passe that aâ—â— ye were a curse among the heathen O house of Iudah and house of Israel so will I save you and ye shall be a blessing fear not but let your hands be strong 14 For thus saith the Lord of hosts As I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked me to wrath saith the Lord of hostes and I repented not 15 So again have I thought in these dayes to do well unto Ierusalem and to the house of Iudah fear ye not 16 These are the things that ye shall do Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates 17 And let none of you imagine evill in your hearts against his neighbour and love no false oath for all these are things that I hate saith the Lord. 18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me saying 19 Thus saith the Lord of hosts The fast of the fourth moneth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Iudah joy and gladness and chearfull feasts therefore love the truth and peace 20 Thus saith the Lord of hosts it shall yet come to passe that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many cities 21 And the inhabitants of one city shbll go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts I will go also 22 Yea many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hostes in Ierusalem and to pray before the Lord. 23 Thus saith the Lord of hostes In those daies it shall come to passe that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Iew saying We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you CHAP. VIII 1. ANd the commands of the Lord of Hostes were thus expressed further upon the same occasion and to make way for a satisfactory answer to their question 2. Thus saith the Lord of Hostes. As my great wrath and justice upon my own people followed upon the greatnesse of those sins which were mentioned before so now the greatnesse of my jealousie for Sion the seat on my Jewish Church and my great anger no now against her but for her shall be
in this acceptable duty of mutual love thus saith the Lord of Hostes of that love and affection wherein your own people yet abroad and others with them shall be drawn to you and to your Countrey You are yet but a few but the time is coming on when many shall come hither form remoter parts and that are now inhabitants of many feveral Cities 21. For they that dwell in one City shall impart their desires to the inhabitants of another City for a journey towards the holy land and they shall say Come let us go thither to tender our humble supplications before the Lord and seek the Lord of Hosts in his holy worship and service and the precepts of his law Then the several parties thus invited shall say every man undertaking it in his own person I shall willingly make one for so good a voyage 22. Thus shall many and mighty nations come to Ierusalem to seek the Lord of Hosts in this Temple which you are building and to be informed by your Priests and Levites which is the true way of his service according to his divine laws and as a good means to that to offer up their hearty prayers for a blessing from the Almighty 23. For thus again saith the Lord of Hosts Ten men of several languages and nations shall then take hold of the skirts of you that are Iews and in that action deliver their desire to you and your Countrie saying Let us attend you to your happy home in the holy land for we have heard how wonderfully God hath been with you restoring you to your former happinesse in your own possessions repressing your enemies and setling the antient forms of his holy worship as he had foretold by his holy Prophets And He that foretells and fullfills such things shall be the God that we would fain serve and obey as you doe CHAP. II. 1. THe burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and Damascus shall be the rest thereof when the eyes of man as of all the tribes of Israel shall be toward the Lord. 2 And Hamath also shall border thereby Tyrus and Zidon though it be very wise 3 And Tyrus did build hâ—r self a strong hold and heaped up silver as the dust and fine gold as the mire of the streets 4 Behold the Lord will cast her out and he will smite her power in the sea and she shall be devoured with fire 5 Ashkelon shall see it and fear Gaza also shall see it and be very sorrowful and Ekron for her expectation shall be ashamed and the king shall perish from Gaza and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited 6 And a bastard shll dwell in Ashdod and I will cut off the pride of the Philistins 7 And I will take away his bloud out of his mouth and his abominations from between his teeth but he that remaines even he shall be for our God and he shall be as a governour in Iudah and Ekron as a Iebusite 8 And I will enc amp about mine house because of the army because of him that passeth by and because of him that returneth and no oppressour shall passe through them any more for now have I seen with mine eyes 9 Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Ierusalem behold thy king cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an asse and upon a colt the foal of an asse 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse frrm Ierusalem and the battle-bow shall be cut off and he shall speak unto the heathen and his dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river even unto the ends of the earth 11 As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water 12 Turn ye to the strong hold ye prisoners of hope even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee 13 When I have bend Iudah for me filled the bow with Ephraim and raised up thy sons O Zion against thy sons O Greece and made thee as the sword of a mighty man 14 And the Lord shall be seen over them and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet and shall go with whirlwinds of the South 15 The Lord of Hosts shall defend them and they shall devour subdue with sling-stones and they shall drink and make a noise as through wine and they shal be filled like bowls and as the corners of the altar 16 And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people for they shall be as the stone of a crown lifted up as an ensign upon his land 17 For how great is his goodnesse and how great is his beauty corn shall make the young men cheerfull and new wine the maids CHAP. IX 1. A Burdensome Prophesie to the enemies of Israel I shall now acquaint thee O Iudaea with a sad and heavy Prophesie nothing like that prophesie of peace and prosperity which I delivered to thy self And it is the word of the Lord for Hadrach that is it concerns Syria one of thy places of retirement whither thou hast often fled to secure thy self against the assaults of a sodain enemie And it concerns Damascus too the Metropolis of Syria and her best refuge and repose for security whereon she relies when a storm is coming upon her self For The eies of the Lord are upon all men and all should fix their eyes upon him His power and providence and justice watching over others as well as over you the Tribes of Israel that are his peculiar people 2. Hamath also or Antiochia must be brought within the limits and compasse of this prophesie as it borders upon Syria and the maritine parts Tyre and Sidon too though they seem so wondrous wife that they chalenge a greater interest in wisdom then other countries must do 3. Howsoever Tyrus to be like her name hath built her self a strong defence and knowing what are the sinews of war hath heaped up silver like dust and the finest gold in such plenty as if it were with them as ordinary as the mire of the streets like the store that your nation enjoyed in the dayes of Salomon 4. Yet you will wonder in the end how God will bring her to poverty and cast her out of those possessions and give her wooden walls wherein she trusts so much and with them her strong fort another piece of her confidence such a blow as shall cast them altogether into the sea while Tyrus her self with all her rich buildings shall be consumed with fire 5. Ashkelon will trembie to see her neighbours houses thus set on fire and Gaza will be in as much or more perplexity So will Ekron for shame that she hath failed of her expectation presuming
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
that hard employment as the heart of a strong man newly refreshed with wine Their very children shall take notice of their fathers alacrity and readinesse to the war and expresse it in their own joy and forwardnesse Thus all of them shall heartily rejoyce in the favour and protection of the Lord. 8. I will whistle for them that are not yet returned from Babylon and Egypt as the Shepherd doth for his flock and gather them together into my own fould the place that I haee chosen out for my own worship For I have resolved to redeem and deliver them from their enemies and here they shall be as numerous and as prosperous again as ever they were 9. For I dispersed them obroad into several and remote nations and there they remembred to serve me Therefore now will I remember them and theirs They and their children shall survive and return to their own home and their antient possessions 20. I will bring them back from the land of Egypt and gather them together from the land of Assyria by several waies and instruments of my providence and reduce them to their Gilead that furnished them with rich balms and Lebanon that stored them with strong timber And upon their return they shall swell into such multitudes that upon their own inheritance there will hardly be found room enough wherein to contein them 11. And to accelerate and facilitate their return they shall find passage through the streights of the sea for God shall represse the waves of the sea by his mighty power as if his own stroke made them give way to these passengers And he shall drie up the deeper chanels of the river Euphrtaes i. rather then they shall not have an easie passage the waves shall give back and the deeps shall be dried up to make way for them All which may represent in a figure a more conspicuous conduct over that great river of Assyria in the latter times And as you come forward to your prosperity so the pride of the Assyrian shall go downward and the scepter of Egypt to which you were subject while you were sojurners there shall vanish away the Egyptians shall have no more power and command over you 12. And I will make my people strong and chearful in the Lord their God And all their actions shall they prosperously undertake and finish in that name saith the great Iehovah CHAP. XI 1 OPen thy doors O Lebanon that the fire may devour thy cedars 2 Howl fir-tree for the cedar is fallen because all the mighty are spoiled howl O ye oaks of Bashan for the forrest of the vintage is come down 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds for their glory is spoiled a voice of the roaring of young lions for the pride of Iordan is spoiled 4. Thus saith the Lord my God Feed the flock of the slaughter 5 Whose possessors slay them and hold themselves not guilty and they that sell them say Blessed be the Lord for I am rich and their own shepherds pity them not 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land saith the Lord but lo I will deliver the men every one into his neighbours hand and into the hand of his king and they shall smite the land and out of their hand I will not deliver them 7 And I will feed the flock of the slaughter even you O poor of the flock and I took unto me two staves the one I called Beauty and the other I called Bands and I fed the flock 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one moneth and my soul loathed them and their soul also abhorred me 9 Then said I I will not feed you that that dieth let it die and that that is to be cut off let it be cut off and let the rest eat every one the flesh of anoanother 10 And I took my staff even Beauty and cut it asunder that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people 11 And it was broken in that day and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 And said I unto them If ye think good give me my price and if not forbear so they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver 13 And the Lord said unto me Cast it unto the potter a goodly price that I was prised at of them And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff even Bands that I might break the brotherhood between Iudah and Israel 15 And the Lord said unto me Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd 16 For lo I will raise up a shepherd in the land which shall not visit those that be cut off neither shall seek the young one nor heal that that is broken nor feed that that standeth still but he shall eat the flesh of the fat tear their claws in pieces 17 Wo to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock the sword shall be upon his arm and upon his right eye his arm shall be clean dried up and his right eye shall be utterly darkened CHAP. XI 1. BUt your hearty obedience unto me and to these pleasant daies of victory and prosperity will not last for ever Some daies of heavy suffering there will be and a sad visitation of the Temple and of the City When thou O Ierusalem that hast brought so much of Lebanon within thy gates for the fabrick of thy Temple and other stately buildings that thou maiest borrow the name too of another Lebanon must be forced to open thy gates and with other delights expose all the store which thou broughtest from Lebanon to the pleasure of a cruel enemie that with fire and sword will consume thy Palaces of Cedar and destroy the rich owners of those fair habitations 2. There will be matter of fear and lamentation for you of the poorer sort in the lesser towns and villages that stand so thick about Jerusalem like the firre-trees about the tall Cedars For some of your fairest Cedares in Lebanon the rich and great ones that are nestled so high must fall as how as the ground And the gallant Citizens that looked so big upon it must be humbled and seek abroad for another place of habitation while Jerusalem is laid desolate You were mounted before like the oaks of Basan but you will stoop and howl to see your Lebanon your mighty forrest cut down your populous City where the rich buildings were mounted to the height of the proudest trees in the forrest 3. This lamentation in the forrest will cause the howling of the shepherds l. the ruines about the Temple and City must needs be accompanied with the miserable cry of the Princes and of the Governours both Ecclesiastical and Civil whose glory is quite spoiled
when their glorious City and Temple suffer so much Shepherds did I call them I should rather have called them Lions then Shepherds devourers rather then feeders and governours of the people But now these Lions shall roar and heavily bemoan themselves They that Lion-like did so Lord it and domineer over their own nation shall indure the injuries and abuses of strangers that will domineer over them While the pride of Iudaea that stretcheth her self as far as Iordan is turned to nothing but miserie and desolation 4. The sins and disorders that call for such desolation will make it high time for the Messias to come the true Shepherd of Israel of whose care and government my exercise of my function among you is but a little shadow And to Him thus will my Lord God say when he sends him to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Feed and govern these poor sheep the people of my pasture and the sheep of my hands that by ill guides and pretended Shepherds are so often in danger to become like Sheep ready for the slaughter 5. For their Governors that undertook the care of their wellfare or as they would call themselves the Masters and owners of them are little better then their Butchers that make the best advantage of their sheep though it be by cutting of their throats and selling them to their skin And yet all the while they are never startled at it as at that which makes them guilty of any great offence But when they have so sold them they make a devout face at it and as if they conceived God himself had liberally conferred upon them all that unjust gain and would take no notice of such faults in them they put their applause and hypocrisie into a solemn form of thanksgiving and say Blessed be the Lord that hath given a happy successe to this means by which I am enriched which is no better then to thank God for the successe of their wicked and cruel actions Thus these Rulers and Shepherds in name but Butchers in deed take no pitie and so make no spare of the people when they meet with an occasion that fits their own advantage 6. Neither will I any longer spare them or any in the whole land that countenance or advance their wicked actions saith the Lord But you shall see I will deliver them into one anothers hands to perish by civil dissentions and mutual slaughter And I will give them every man into the hands of a King of his own choice Since they will have no king but Caesar And their ruine shall be such as if they were dashed against the earth and hit that in their fall And I will not deliver them out of the depth of these calamities 7. But now will I instruct this miserablie slaughterd sheep and among them I will speak to you that have the meeknesse and innocence and patience whereof sheep are the best emblemes by representing a visible way of instruction before your eyes For this is that which the Lord saith unto you Long since I took to my self two Shepherds-staves as two waies of happy government of my people the sheep of my fould The one I call Beauty or amiable and pleasant which is the way of protection from all evil and calamities abroad the other I call Bands or Binders which is the way of keeping them at Unity and concord at home Thus I did govern my people at first and it proved happy and successeful to them under their first King of my own choice 8. Then for the ingratitude of the people my simple amd stragling flock within the first moneth of years after that good government of my servant David I began to impair cut off somewhat from the glory of their three chief Shepherds and Governors their Kings their Priests and their Prophets For my love was much taken off from them as theirs was now become somewhat averse and kept not touch with me 9. So that I said within my self I will govern you no more by that gentle way of loving and solicitous care for your wellfare They that are sickly and scabbed sheep let them die of the roâ— and they that are so silly to be snapped up by the wolf let them be snapped up And the rest that neither die of their own inbred maladies nor are cut off by others let them fall into some phrensie and devour one anothers flesh like wolves out of their own sould 10. And accordingly I took my Shepherds staff that I stiled by the name of Beauty or Amiable and cut it in pieces to signifie that since they had broken their obligations of dutie I would also break that part of the Covenant that concerned my self wherein I stood conditionally ingaged to all the flock that should have lived as the people of my pasture and sheep that would follow my voice whithersoever I called them 11. Thus and about that time was the staffe and covenant as good as broken on both sides And in processe of time when the meek and innocent among the sheep observed that it was so such as had observed me too and kept my precepts when they saw that it was my doing and that all these things came to passe by the command of the Lord 12. Then I said unto them as willing to condescend to the giving of a reason of my actions and to make them understand what just cause there was why I should at first begin to do what I did and why I should afterwards more and more go on to desert them If you are indeed well pleased that I should be your Shepherd tell me plainly what wages I shall receive And if you think I deserve nothing cease from that thought trouble your selves no further and say you will give me nothing Now what price do you think they set upon me for so it proved to be rather then a fair sum appointed as a reward of my care and pains That which they weighed out for me was thirty pieces of silver that was the price they set me or rather set upon me This I Zacharie saw in a vision but they will make it good When the Messias is amongst them they will give so much silver to be sure of Him and they will do it really and openly that all the world may know it 13. After this the prophetical vision going on the Lord said unto me Is not this a goodly sum whereat they prise me They might have given it to the potter for one of the worst brickle vessels that you use about the Temple And to the Potter let it go Let it be so cast away as a sum fitter for the reward of some mean employment then as wages for me So I took the thirty pieces of silver as I was commanded in the vision and threw them to the potter that hath his work-house and
which I was wounded in the house of my friends 7. Awake O sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones 8. And it shall come to passe that in all the land saith the Lord two parts therein shall be cut off and die but the third shall be left therein 9. And I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried they shall call on my name and I will hear them I will say It is my people and they shall say The Lord is my God CHAP. XIII 1. ALl this mourning wherein their eyes become like fountains of teares if it be seasonably undertaken may end in a great blessing For even them shall a fountain be opened to the House of David and the Inhabitants of Ierusalem the mourners that were named before as a particular instance for the rest a fountain that shall wash away the guilt of all their sins though they be such as have made them most foule and polluted Soules 2. And then also will the time come saith the Lord of Hostes wherein I will begin to take away the very name of Idolatry from off the Earth by the conversion of the Gentiles so that in many places there shall be no more mention of Idols And with them will I make the false Prophets and the Divinations by help of unclean Spirits to vanish out of the lands that have been polluted with them 3. And such shall be the common zeal against Idolatry and false Prophets that if a man should yet venture upon that way of pretended Prophesie even his own Parents shall be ready to call for Justice against him and tell him that he is not worthy to live because he broacheth false doctrine under the colour of a message in the name of the Lord. Thus shall his own Father and Mother that were the meanes of his life become the meanes of his death too and in a zeal like that of Phineas presently run him through as one not to be suffered any longer to breath after such a fault against the God of the spirits of all flesh 4. And in these dayes you shall see it often come to passe that the divulgers of false and erroneous doctrine under the pretence of a Vision to usher in what they teach or foretell shall soon be confuted and made ashamed of those waies Neither shall they venture any more to take the outward Habit of a Prophet as a sufficient cloak for their deceiving and misguiding of others 5. Nay when any one of them is examined whether he be a Prophet or no he shall not dare to avouch it but he shall rather confesse and say I lay no claim to the spirit of Prophesie I am but a plain Husband-man fitter for plowing than prophesying and one man or other hath still trained me up that way and had me as a servant under him in that kind of drudgerie from my youth upward till now 6. And if any one say but what is the meaning of these markes that have taken such deep impression in thy hands Are they not such marks and figures as the false-Prophets have that acknowledge themselves devoted to some false Gods Or shall we call them blows or wounds that have been otherwise received Then to purge himself from all suspition of Idolatrie he shall say These were blows indeed that have made some impression in me for the better the signes of such correction as I deserved while I was in the house of my Friend Therefore I shall take them for no other than love-tokens 7. But now I will go on with the Prophesie of the death of the Messias to show what more the Lord is pleased to have foretold concerning those passages of his Passion that will be like a sword to pierce him to the heart Arise O sword against the Shepherd of my flock saâ—th the Lord of Hostes and against my dear Companion that is nearest to my love Smite the Shepherd and let the Sheep be scattered Yet for the same hand that dispersed them with that sword will I return my gentle hand to that little innocent stock that forsook their good Shepherd out of mere infirmity while the storm fell about them 8. And for the greater flock through the whole Earth this shall come to passe saith the great Iehovah that of those that shall professe themselves to be of my fold two parts therein will be cut off and perish for want of perseverance but a third part in it shall continue to the end in obedience unto me 9. And that third part will I lead along under a fiery triall for by many temptations I will prove them of what mettall they are as the Goldsmith makes proof of his silver and gold to see what drosse there is in them till they are refined as he would have it And he that under this tryall will call upon my name and so endeavour to improve himself I will acknowledge he is one of my people and he shall persevere to professe me to be his God CHAP. XIV 1 BEhold the day of the Lord cometh thy spoil shall be devided in the midst of thee 2 For I will gather all nations against Ierusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished and half of the city shall go forth into captivity and residue of the people shall not be cut off from the Citie 3 Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives which is before Ierusalem on the east and the mount of Olives shall â—leave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west and there shall be a very great valley and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountaines for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal yea ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the dayes of Vzziah king of Iudah and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee 6 And it shall come to passe in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark 7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to passeâ— that at evening time it shall be light 8 And it shall be in that day that living waters shal go out from Ierusalem half of them toward the former sea and half of them toward the hinder sea in summer and in winter shall it be 9 And the
Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day shall there be one Lord and his name one 10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Ierusalem and it shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place from Benjamins gate unto the place of the first gate unto the corner-gate and from the tower of Hananiel unto the kings wine-presses 11 And men shall dwell in it and there shall be no more utter destruction but Ierusalem shall be safely inhabited 12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Ierusalem their shesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet and their eyes shall consume away in their holes their tongue shall consume away in their mouth 13 And it shall come to passe in that day that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them they shal layhold every oneon the hand of his neighbour his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour 14 And Iudah also shall fight at Ierusalem and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together gold and silver and apparel in great abundance 15 And so shall be the plague of the horse of the mule of the camel and of the asse and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents as this plague 16 And it shall come to passe that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Ierusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King the Lord of hosts and to keep the feast of Tabernacles 17 And it shall be that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Ierusalem to worship the King the Lord of hosts even upon them shall be no rain 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up and come not that have no rain there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles 20. In that day shal there be upon the â—els of the horses HOLINESSE VNTO THE LORD and the pots in the Lords house shall be like the bowls before the altar 21. Yea every pot in Ierusalem and in Iudah shall be Holinesse unto the Lord of hosts and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them feeth therein and in that day there shall be nâ— more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts CHAP. XIV 1. BUt before these things come to passe there is a sad day of the Lords wrath coming on that will more particularly touch thee O Jerusalem For they of the Gentiles shall make havock of all the Countries about thee and make division of those spoiles in the middest of thy land 2. And I will muster up all sorts of people to fight against Ierusalem and by their forces the Citie shall be taken upon which advantage the houses shall be plundered and the women ravished And the one half of the City shall go out and deliver themselves up as Captives for very fear and famine but as for the rest they shall show themselves more valorous and religious in defense of their Temple they shall neither be iusticed nor forced out of the Citie 3. After this the Lord Himself that suffered these Nations for a time to come thither and show their spite and furie against Jerusalem shall appear for his People and fight against those barbarous Nations as he hath often heretofore at the red Sea and elsewhere showed himself the Lord of Hostes and in our defense chose himself a day of Battle and Victory 4. In that day shall the feet of him that shall be leader of those Nations against Jerusalem stand upon Mount Olivet which hath the prospect of the East-part of the Citie that he may thence spy out a fit place wherein to pitch his camp And by his command they shall dig so much toward the East and West of that Mountain that it shall seem to have a great cleft and rupture in the middest Which earth being so digged and removed from thence to be used for severall military designes against the North and South part of the City there shall seem to be a very great Valley made out of that which was before a great part of the Mountain 5. Then shall you flee like men affrighted at the valley made as it were in a mountain For that valley so made out of the mountain shall reach as far as Asel the place that hath the name from the vicinity of that Mount Even so shall you flie from the sight of this vast rupture as you fled from the great Earthquake which made such a rupture in the same mountain in the dayes of Vzziah King of Iudah But then shall the Lord my God the Lord of hosts himself come to your defense and all his heavenly Host of holy Angels with Him 6. But in that day of their trouble and affrightment before the Lord shall thus appear there shall be no light of comfort and refreshment but cold and quaking horrour fear and astonishment 7. But this shall be as one day or a time whereof God hath determined in his foreknowledge and speciall providence and which I cannot well tell whether I should call it a Day or a night For the Day is a time of comfort but this shall have none the night is a time of rest and quiet but this shall have none Yet it shall come to passe toward the Eve and expiration of this sad time that when you would think your Sun is setting and the hope and joy of your life quite vanishing away then shall arise a new glimpse of recovering your former happinesse for you shall espie a light of comfort and joy appearing to you in the approach of those Angels of light that God shall bring for your succour 8. Then shall come a time of Peace and works of Peace You shall then have Aquaeducts and usefull passages for running water made from Ierusalem some of them towards the Eastern Sea the lake of Asphaltites and some of them towards the Western or Syrick Sea And they shall be constant supplies of water for your ordinary occasions as well in Summer as in Winter 9. And then shall of Judaea be free from the imperious commands of forrein Nations as when the Lord vouchsafed to stile Himself your King and you his People So shall you then be in all your land under that one gracious Lord whose name and his onely is honoured in Judaea no Usurper having power over you 10. This time of Peace shall make you populous All the places about Iudaea shall be compassed about with inhabitants even in the plaines and more desert places that have not yet been
inhabited from Gibeah of Benjamin in the Northern borders even unto Rimmon that lies as far South of Jerusalem And with the addition of her higher Towers and Walls Ierusalem shall seem to lift up her self higher and glory to see her self so fully and richly inhabited in her own place from the gate of Benjamin which leades into the Countrey of Benjamin toward the North and so to the old gate on the West and to the corner-gate that hath so many Towers jetted to the East and thence all along from the Tower of Hananiel which bounds the South of your Citie as far toward Sion as the place where the Kings wine-presses were wont to be And there also shall you have some buildings raised up for your new inhabitants 11. And they which shall then inhabite it in so populous a manner shall find that there will be no more such miserable destructions as have formerly been in that place but Ierusalem shall be inhabited in safety and security for a long time 12. And these shall be the plagues wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have come in hostile manner against Her Such a fearfull famine and sicknesse shall he send amongst them that their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet their eyes shall consume away while they are in those strong holds wherein Nature hath placed them for better use then from thence to watch the mischief of others that were better than themselves and their tongues shall moulder away while they are in their own wicked and blasphemous mouths So that they shall walk about like living carcases and ugly noisome spectacles of misery and memorandums of divine vengeance 13. And somewhat else shall happen in those dayes as an addition to their sorrow For great tumults and combustions will God raise among them in those hurries Every man shall be willing to lay hold of his neighbour and by their joynt-hands engage him to be faithfull and secure unto them but that hand of fidelity as he took it shall deceive his trust and be one of the first hands that shall be lift up against him 14. Anâ— which is the worst of it such deceit and contention shall not be onely amongst them but even Iudah too shall pick quarrels against Ierusalem And a means to tempt them to this will be the wealth of all the Heathen round about them that shall be gathered to this place great abundance of gold and silver and apparel that shall be in the tents of the Enemy 15. While that plague of war and famine that is amongst them will breed as great a mortality among the horses aad mules and asses and all the beasts in their tents which shall be like another plague among them 16. But these afflictions and your miraculous delivery shall prove good instructions to many that shall be left of those Nations that marched against Ierusalem For in acknowledgement of Gods Justice upon themselves and his miraculous protection of that place thither will they resort from year to year being made your Proselytes to tender their worship before the King of Kings and the Lord of hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles at least as you do that falling out in a time more seasonable for the undertaking of long â—urnies to Jerusalem 16. And while they do so much that are but Proselytes they read a Lecture of more readinesse to be required in you Therefore whosoever of the Families of this Land shall not come up to Ierusalem out of those countries into which they are dispersed once a year at least to bear a part in the divine service of the great King of Kings and Lord of Hostes no showre of Divine favour shall be expected to be powred upon them 18. As for instance if those Jewish Families that are in Egypt shall not make that ascent and approach hither neither shall that showre of his favour be upon them but in-instead of that some plague raâ—her with which the Lord will strike all those people that will not come up to keep so much as the Feast of Tabernacles after they have taken upon them the profession of his Name 19. This shall be the punishment of those Professours of the Jewish Religion that live in Egypt or among any other Nations and will not come up to the solemn Feast of Tabernacles and then at least bear a part in the publick service of God in that place which he hath chosen for that purpose 20. In these dayes of the strict observance of the worship of God great additions of prosperity shall be heaped upon this People and specially upon the place of Gods service by rich presents from forrein Nations Then the bridles of the war-horses and the rich ornaments about them shall be offered as a holy thing to the Lord and so come into the Treasurie of the Temple as a Testimonie that they acknowledge the victorie in which those horses were employed is to be ascribed to God onely though they seemed to guide and direct the Horses with the bridle in their own hands And not in this way of acknowledgement onely but many other waies too the offerings shall be so rich and frequent that the pots in the Lords house shall be as numerous as the bowles before the Altar whereof you have greater plenty than of any one vessell about the Temple because of the severall uses to which they are of necessitie required both in the offerings and in receiving the blood of the sacrifices 21. And not those pots onely in the Temple but by reason of the great abundance of sacrifices in those dayes every pot in Ierusalem and in Iudah will commonly be hallowed to that use which those in the Sanctuary are employed in for that service of the Lord of Hostes that all they that bring their Sacrifice may take of them and seeth their meat in them with which after the Sacrifice they use to entertain the Levites and their Friends whom they invite to the Feast And in those dayes as you shall have such store of Proselytes about the house of the Lord of hosts to help and encourage you in the service so you shall have no Cananites there to draw you from the service of the true God So shall you be all holy and clean without mixture of prophane and idolatrous people as was prophesied long before And withall you shall therein give a type of that happinesse which the whole Church shall have in the last day A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF MALACHI CHAP. I. 1 THe burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi 21 I have loved you saith the Lord yet ye say Wherein hast thou loved us was not Esau Iacobs brother saith the Lord yet I loved Iacob 3 And I hated Esau and laid his mountains and his heritage wast for the dragons of the wildernesse 4 Whereas Edom saith We are impoverished
but we will return and build the desolate places Thus saith the Lord of hosts They shall build but I will throw down and they shall call them The border of wickednesse and the people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever 5 And your eyes shall see and ye shall say The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel 5 A son honoreth his father and a servant his master if then I be a father where is mine honour and if I be a master where is my fear saith the Lord of hosts unto you O priests that despise my name and ye say Wherein have we despised thy name 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar and ye say Wherein have we polluted thee In that ye say The table of the Lord is contemptible 8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil offer it now unto thy governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of hosts 9 And now I pray you beseech God that he will be gracious unto us this hath been by your means will he regard your person saith the Lord of hosts 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought I have no pleasure in you saith the Lord of hosts neither will I accept an offering at your hand 11 For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in the very place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shal be great among the heathen saith the Lord of hosts 12 But ye have profaned it in that ye say The table of the Lord is polluted and the fruit thereof even his meat is contemptible 13 Ye said also Behold what a wearinesse is it and ye have snuffed at it saith the Lord of hosts and ye brought that which was torn and the lame and the sick thus ye brought an offering should I accept this of your hands saith the Lord. 14 But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my name is dreadfull amonge the heathen CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord by the Prophet Malachi delivered in heavy and threatning words against the Israelites that were returned from the captivity and were guilty of many great sins specially of negligence and misdemeanour in things belonging to the worship of God and of keeping strange wives against those laws and admonitions that should have wrought better upon them 2. I might have expected better fruit from my people of Israel were it but meerly by way of thankfulnesse for my peculiar love and indulgence unto them not above all other nations onely but even above those of the same stock and original with them For I have ever loved you of Israel saith the Lord and you may read it in many arguments of that love But you will say Wherein hast thou showed any particular instances and evidences of that thy special love to us To which I answer that if you look to the root from whence you took your beginning there you may best begin to see the signes of my love For was not Esau brother to Iacob your Patriarch by the same venter Were they not twins and Esau the first-born yet did I show a more tender and fatherly affection to Iacob and his posterity placing you in the land of promise a land flowing with milk and honey and when your sins had cast you out reducing you hither again and shielding you here from all danger by the hand of providence 3. Esau all this while and his posterity the Edomites that came from him may rather see the signs of my hatred and disaffection to them from the very womb For as I foretold that he should be inferior to his younger brother before he was born so afterwards I placed him and his in the barren mountains of Seir no way to be compared with the fruitful land of Canaan And when my Justice had cast him out from thence I did not restore him thither again as I did you into Canaan but I turned those mountains of Seir his antient habitation into a wildernesse and as a testimony of mine anger that which was his peculiar lot and inheritance I gave to the Dragons and other wild beasts of the Desert as a place of habitation for them 4. And I am so far from any intention of restoring them now to those parts that if they of Edom should say We are now in poor condition indeed but we will take courage and return from whence we came and there we will build up again whatsoever the enemie hath laid wast Thus would the Lord of hosts answer to such fool-hardie undertakers If they rebuild them I will find waies to pull them down again and lay them even with the ground And they that see the execution of that justice shall say It was but deservedly done to a Countrie whose bounds and limits were all full of impiety to God and unnatural cruelty to you their brethren and the inhabitants thereof a People whom God had threatned with the effects of his anger and heavy displeasure for evermore 5 Your own eyes shall be the witnesses of the performance of what I thus speak against the Edomites and your own tongues shall makes profession and acknowledgement of this difference that I put between you and them and say Let God ever be magnified and praised for his mercie to the land of Israel which he restored and continues to us with the same bounds and limits that we had before 6. Such hath been my Fatherly affection to you and my anger and severitie upon them Which you should be so sensible of as to expresse it in your thankfulnesse and obedience For Doth not a Son worthily honour his father Is not a servant ready to expresse his bounden duty to his Master If my benefits show my fathèrly love why should not your honour and respect be answerable to them If I defend and maintain you as your Lord and Master where is that fear and reverence of my Name that should be seen in you saith the Lord of Hosts Specially in you my Priests that live upon such things as are devoted to my service and yet are so far from serving me aright that you rather openly contemn and despise my name If you ask wherein you have done any thing in neglect and contempt of me and in derogation to the Honour and Majestie of my name Look into your daily imployments about my Temple and there you will see it 7. For You bring to my Altar such provisions to be there offered up to me as I can no otherwise
account of then as of things polluted rather then sanctified to my service But you will say yet further What is that pollution wherein we are said to offer contempt unto thee And I must tell you it lies in those base words of yours that the Table of the Lord is so despicable a thing that we need not be very scrupulous of sacrificing and offering any thing there though it be not so perfect and without blemish as is required 8. And so when you bring a lamb or any other creature that is blind to be offered up in sacrifice that is no great harm O by no means in your opinion it is not And when your offering is of that which is lame and sickly there is no ill in so doing as you seem to imagine But go and bestow such a blind and lame and sickly present upon your Prince and Governour and see if he will accept kindly of it and be of your opinion that it is a present good enough for him saith the Lord of Hosts Sure he will not What shall then be said of those poor contemptible sacrifices so unfit to be brought in your addresses to me and as types and figures of that immaculate lamb that must take away the sinnes of the world 9. Now therefore it onely remains that in lue of them you present your selves before him in humble prayer that he would please to be merciful to us all who are all of us likely to fare the worse for these great sins For it is plain that this great fault hath been committed by you And therefore while you continue in it do you think that you can be acceptable in his sight at whose altar you serve or that he shall accept of such offerings of yours saith the Lord of Hosts 10. Nay if these be thought fit sacrifices for my Temple which of you will do me that acceptable service to shut up your doors and passages to your Sanctuarie that there may be no more fire in vain kindled upon my altar for all your service is in vain while it is tendered in such negligent and scornful manner I can take no pleasure in you that are such sacrificers saith the Lord of Hosts nor will I accept of any such sacrifices from your hands 11. But I will tell you what sacrifice I shall delight in In the spirituall sacrifice of a good and spiritual heart For ere long from East to West all the world over shall my Name be magnified among the Gentiles and in every place shall the holy incense of prayer and the pure offering of themselves their souls and bodies be presented unto me For once again I tell you great shall my name be among the Gentiles since it is so slighted and undervalued by you saith the Lord of Hosts 12. But you still go on to pollute that sacred name as much as in you lies as when you say within your selves that the Table of the Lord is no such pure thing nor the offering so pure that is laid upon it neither is that fire which consumes the sacrifice so pure that we need be so nice and dainty about the choice of the sacrifice 13. Nor is this contempt among the Priests onely that do attend the sacrifice but it is the fault of you among the people too that bring it to the Priest For you have been heard to say when you have brought the sheep or what else was sent into that Court of the Temple where you were to leave it O what a wearisom businesse is this How am I tired with the weight of this burden And then you have puffed and blown at it as if that you brought had been so fat and plump that the bringing of so heavy a burden had almost taken away your breath This you have said in a jesting and scornfull manner puffing at my sacrifice and indeed slighting of it saith the Lord of Hosts Nay such things have some of you brought to be offered as have been stolne or purchased by rapine and oppression and you have sent into the Courts of my Temple lame and weake sickly creatures to serve for an offering and so for a poor acknowledgement of the many mercies and favours that I have showed to you And do you think I shall ever be pleased with what is offered by you in such contempt saith the Lord of Hosts 14. No cursed be that subtle and deceitful man that makes a mock at these Acts of Religion and being able to send that which is good and having in his flock a male that is sound and in good liking doth yet when he comes to pay his vows render a poor weak and blemished sacrifice unto the Lord. But I am the great King of Heaven and earth and therefore other kind of presents were fitter for me saith the Lord of Hosts and among the very Gentiles more fear and reverence shall be given unto my Name CHAP. II. 1. ANd now O ye priests this commandment is for you 2 If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name saith the Lord of hosts I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings yea I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart 3 Behold I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces even the dung of your solemn feasts and one shall take you away with it 4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you that my covenant might be with Levi saith the Lord of hosts 5 My covenant was with him of life and peace and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me and was afraid before my name 6 The law of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips he walked with me in peace and equity and did turn many away from iniquity 7 For the Priests Lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts 8 But ye are departed out of the way ye have caused many to stumble at the Law ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi saith the Lord of hosts 9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people according as ye have not kept my wayes but have been partiall in the Law 10 Have we not all one Father hath not one God created us Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother by profaning the Covenant of our Fathers 11 Iudah hath dealt treacherously and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Ierusalem for Iudah hath profaned the holinesse of the Lord which he loved and hath married the daughter of a strange god 12 The Lord will cut off the man that doth this the master and the scholar out of the Tabernacles of Iacob and him that offereth an offering unto the
Lord of hosts 13 And this have ye done again covering the Altar of the Lord with tears weeping with crying out insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more or receiveth it with good will at your hand 14 Yet ye say Wherefore Because the Lord hath been witnesse between thee and the wife of thy youth against whom thou hast dealt treacherously yet is she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant 15 And did not be make one yet had he the residue of the spirit and wherefore one That he might seek a godly seed therefore take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth 16 For the Lord the God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away for one covereth violence with his garment saith the Lord of hosts therefore take heed to your spirit that ye deal not treacherously 17 To have wearied the Lord with your words yet ye say Wherein have we wearied him when ye say Every one that doth evill is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in them or where is the God of judgement CHAP. II. 1. ANd now I come to speak to you again O you Priests For somewhat more I have in charge to acquaint you withall And this it is 2. If you will not hear and obey what is told you by my Prophets against your own profaness and negligence in my service and your connivence at the like fault in the people or rather your drawing of them into it by the scandall of your own ill example If you will not take it seriously to heart and show your repentance by your amendment giving more honour and respect to me in the execution of your severall functions then you have done heretofore saith the Lord of Hosts Then will I instead of a blessing send a curse upon you that sacrifice and you the people that bring such contemptible sacrifices unto me And I will send a curse upon your corn and whatsoever I have bestowed upon you as a blessing upon your former labours I will did I say Nay you may see that this curse of mine hath begun to work upon you already because as you neglected me and my service so you neglected to take that great fault into your serious consideration but made light of it notwithstanding the many admonitions and exhortations that have been made unto you 3. Therefore if you will at least consider the punishment of your sin you shall see and wonder what destruction I will bring upon you and your seed after youâ— And when you come to appease me by sacrifices rather then I will be pleased with such poor service I will throw the dung of them in your faces even the dung of your solemnest sacrifices to show my contempt of you in that sacred place where you have dared to show your contempt of me And out of that place out of the very Temple one that I will appoint shall take you away with him and dispose of you with as much scorn and contempt as you have showed to Me and my holy Altars 4. Thus you will know by your own punishments why I send these first commands and lawes of Reverence to be showed in my House and in my service I did it that my Covenant might be kept which I made with the Tribe of Levi saith the Lord. 5. For my Covenant with the Levitical Priest was a Covenant of Life and Peace i. of long life and felicity or of a long prosperous and happy life upon the carefull discharge of their Priestly office And these favours I bestowed upon him because of his fear and awe of me which made him show so much heed and reverence in my service and make his approaches before me with all religious devotion and humility as one sensible of the service he was to perform to me and in a place of my speciall presence 6. Nothing came out of his mouth but what was agreeable to Law and Truth and Equitie And when he was to expresse his judgement in any case no word was found to proceed from between his lips that had any wicked or by-respect And his good conversation was answerable to his good words He converted many from their sinfull and unrighteous courses 7. And from whom should all this be expected but from the Priest And so ever let the Priest be exemplary in his life and language Let the Priests lips preserve knowledge And let him be such a one that from him men may enquire the true sense and meaning of the Law For He is like an Angel of the Lord not onely to present before God the prayers of the people but acquaint them also with the will and pleasure of Almighty God Which two are the great employments of the blessed Angels 8. But you are Priests of no such Angelical strain for as you have gone out of the right way your selves so you have made others stumble after your scandalous example and mistake the way which is made plain for them in the law and wherein your first and good Levites walked with me according to the Covenant whereas you take a course to frustrate and null the Covenant made with those Leviticall Priests saith the Lord of Hostes. 9. Therefore will I also null my part of the Covenant and bring you to that passe that you shall be scorned and contemned of all the common people because you would not contein your selves within the wayes of my lawes and ordinances but stepped aside for private respects wresting and wracking of the law that it might be brought to what would fit your own turnes for pleasing the persons of men 10. But are we not all Brethren in Nature the Sons of one man of Jacob our Father And are we not Brethren in Religion too Hath not one God by a kind of new creation moulded and formed us into a peculiar people for his service Why then do you injure and oppresse and defraud one another and so make a breach of that Covenant made with your Fathers and of that love which you owe to one another as Brethren 11. They of the Kingdom of Iudah are guilty of this great transgression and so are they of the Kingdom of Israel such of the ten tribes as returned with them into their own Countrey And they of Ierusalem too nearest to my own House where the best livers should have been expected They and these have been abominable in their actions Even Iudah my more peculiar people have prophaned my Sanctuary and the holy City which I honoured with so many testimonies of my love For they have made a mixture of Iewes and Gentiles and married them that are devoted to the service of a strange God 12. God will destroy the man that hath done this vile act whether he be Priest or Laick and send him far enough from the tents of Iacob Yes though he
came to make peace by presents and offerings unto me as to the Lord of Hostes. 13. But there 's another fault too that you have committed upon occasion of this marrying of strange women i. You show so much love to them and so little to your own wives that you make them cover the altar of the Lord with teares and disturb the sacred Temple with bitter lamentations so that I can have no more delight in your offerings nor can I take any thing well from your hands though it be purposely brought thither to appease my wrath and make you acceptable in my sight saith the Lord. 14. And why so will you say Because the Lord Iehovah is a witnesse between thee and the wife of thy youth thy lawfull and first love whom thou abusest after such a harsh and inhumane manner But she should be used as thy Dear Consort and Fellow-servant to the same God and the wife of the same Covenant not onely made thy wife by a solemn Covenant and stipulation mutually tendred before me for the securing of your mutuall love and affection but the wife that is interested in the Covenant made with God himself to serve and obey him Whereas neither of these so strong obligations to ingage thee to those wives that are superinduced and of meer strangers are made the proud Usurpers and Commanders of thy House 15. Now Echad i. Abraham whose example you pretend to follow did not so But he was of a more excellent Spirit And when he took a maid for his Concubine why did Abraham do it He did it not for lust nor with injury to Sarah for it was at her intreaty but onely desirous of a pious seed and a seed promised by God Himself Therefore take heed of being led by that violent and erring spirit of your own Think of Abraham's meek and obedient Spirit and commit not such a cruell fault as to suffer a stranger to domineer over the wife of thy youth 16. For thus saith the great Iehovah the God of Israel He that doth so hates to put her away He cannot do that for shame but he cloakes the injury that he doth to her by keeping her still in his own house saith the Lord of Hostes. But once again I warn you take heed of being led by your own unruly spirits and let me hear no more of this great fault 17. There is yet another thing in your ordinary talk wherein you have offended and wearied out the patience of Almighty God And wherein have we so tired and displeased Him will you say It is in using those wicked Proverbs of yours Every one that is evill is acceptable enough in the sight of the Lord and sure he takes delight in them for so you guesse by the preferment of wicked men And in your other said saw Where is the God of Iudgement that doth not rather presently punish those wicked men if he knew them to be such As if we were to limit and confine him for his times and his waies how and when He shall make proof of his Justice CHAP. III. 1 BEhold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple even the messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in Behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts 2 But who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth for he is like a refiners fire and like fullers sope 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and he shall purifie the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousnesse 4 Then shall the offerings of Iudah and Ierusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the daies of old and as in former years 5 And I will come neer to you to judgement and I will be a swift witnesse against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against those that oppresse the hireling in his wages the widow and the fatherlesse and that turn aside the stranger from his right and fear not me saith the Lord of hosts 6 For I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Iacob are not consumed 7 Even from the daies of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them return unto me and I will return unto you saith the Lord of hosts but ye said wherein shall we return 8 Will a man rob God yet ye have robbed me But ye say Wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings 9 Ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed one even this whole nation 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven and powre you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field saith the Lord of hosts 12 And all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land saith the Lord of hosts 13 Your words have been stout against me saith the Lord yet ye say What have we spoken so much against thee 14 Ye have said It is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts 15 And now we call the proud happy yea they that work wickednesse are set up yea they that tempt God are even delivered 16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name 17 And they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him 18 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not CHAP. III. 1. NOw because you inquire after the Lord of Judgement and after his coming will you hear what himself saith of his first coming Behold I will shortly send my Angel or Embassadour John the Baptist my fore-runner who shall prepare the way before me by his Baptism and Sermons of Repentance and his Testimonie of Me and my coming and then the Lord the Messias that you so earnestly expect and inquire after shall sodainly come into his Temple before he is looked for the time being concealed from men to honour his Temple at Jerusalem with his bodily presence and there to teach and instruct his people of
the house of Israel Even he shall come that is the great Angel of the New Testament whom you long for as your promised Messias Behold He shall surely come saith the Lord of Hosts 2. But who will abide the time of his coming and when he appears in person who shall be able to stand without great fear and terrour before Him to hear the discoverie and reproof of their sinnes and the Prophesie of that heavy punishment that will fall upon you for them and the many afflictions that must be expected and suffered by all those that will follow him For He shall be like a Refiners fire to make trial of us in the fire of affliction as well as like the Fullers purging herbs to cleanse and purge us in the Laver of Regeneration by vertue of his precious bloud 3 And when he settles himself to 〈◊〉 great work of trying and purging as the Refiner doth when he removes the drosse from the pure silver then shall He cleanse and purifie the sonnes of Levi reducing manie of them from the drosse of their false doctrines and traditions and other mistakes to the knowledge and profession of the truth And so being purged from what was amisse in them like silver and gold that comes out of the Refiners furnace they shall offer unto the Lord a righteous and pious sacrifice of humble prayers and divine praises and the constant exercise of all holy virtue 4. All these offerings and sacrifices of Iudah and Ierusalem shall be as acceptable and well pleasing unto God as ever were any of their most costly presents and oblations in former times and in the daies of old the daies of your good Patriarchs and Judges and Prophets 5. But if you will not forsake your drosse As you called for the God of Judgement so I will come near to you in the Acts of Iudgement and Iustice. saith the Lord And I that have been privie to all your secret sinnes which cannot be concealed from my all-seeing eye I will not be wanting to be a readie witnesse my self against such as have been tampering with Magick Arts and against adulterous and perjured persons and against all such as defraud the poor hirelings of their wages and the widows and orphans of that which is their due and against those that oppresse the stranger all which have the least means to relieve themselves and withall my Justice shall be showed upon all those that do any thing against the fear and reverence of my name saith the Lord of Hosts 6. For I am a God immutable in all my waies in my waies of Justice and in my wayes of Mercy the same God in the performance of all threats and promises upon all persons And yet you sonnes of Iacob doe not make an end of your wicked courses and either for fear or love of my immutable waies follow those good steps that your Father Iacob hath traced out before you 7. And so from the daies of all your fore-fathers you have gone astray from the way of my statutes and have not kept them as you should have done And yet return unto me by a true Repentance and I will return unto you in great mercy saith the Lord of Hosts But I know you will be ready to excuse your selves and ask wherein you should return For you would be accounted the onely Observers of my laws and cannot bethink your selves what it should be wherein you have offended 8. Therefore I will tell you wherein Will any man think it fit to rob and defraude God of his due Yet are you that justifie your selves guiltie of that fraude and injurie towards me If you ask wherein thse your fraudulent actions against me may consist I answer In your tithes and offerings which you have paid in a sordid covetous and deceitful way 9. And for that fraudulent detaining of my antient right from me there is a heavy curse hangs over your heads And the whole nation are in danger of it as the reward of a national fault if it be not averted by your speedie repentance 10. But let me see you faithfully and truely bring in all my tithes into my barnes that there may be a plentiful provision for those that attend the dayly service of my house And make triall of me now in this one point of your obedience saith the Lord of Hosts whether I will not open the windows of Heaven for your sakes and powre a blessed increase upon you in such a superabundant way of plenty that your barnes and vessels wherein you intend to lay it up shall not be able to contein it 11. And for your sakes will I hinder the devouring locusts that are destructive to your fruit and they shall not corrupt anie more fruit of your grounds And it shall be my care and providence that your vines in the field the remotest from your eyes may not cast their fruit before their due time to deceive your expectation of a good vintage saith the Lord of Hosts 12. And whereas by my curse upon you and my punishment of your great sinnes you lived a long time poor and despicable among the heathen now all nations shall call you blessed For you shall be a delightsome land worthy the love and admiration of all for your peace and plenty and specially for the exercise of the true Religion amongst you saith the Lord of Hosts 13. Yet are you no way worthy of these loving promises from me or these kind words from other people For you have used very bitter and wicked words against me saith the Lord of Hosts Yet you will be ready to deny it now and to say What is that which we have spoken so often and so ill against thee 14. This it is In saying that it is a vain and unprofitable thing to serve God and in asking what you have gained by observing those things that God would have you to observe and that in times of fasting and humiliation you have walked like pensive and sad mourners before the Lord of Hosts 15. And this also you have said Now when all is done we account them the happiest men not that have so humbled themselves but that have stoutly and proudly without any scruple showed themselves the contemners of all Religion And this too They thrive best in raising of their houses and families that dare do the worst things And yet more You say They that have tempted and provoked God most have been soonest delivered out of affliction or escaped the best 16. Such have been the impious and prophane words of the wicked But then they that fear the Lord have often had better discourses among one another And to their discourse God himself gave serious attention observing well what they said and causing it to be written down in his book of Remembrances for them that fear the Lord and think reverently of his name 17. And he dismissed them with this encomium and gracious
promise These are they saith the Lord of Hosts that shall have my special protection at that time when I shall fully execute what I intend against the wickked I will be as chary of them as one would be of his choicest Iewels And whatsoever I lay upon others I will spare and favour them as one would spare his own most dutifull and obedient Sonne 18. Then you that have spoken so carelesly of my providence will change your opinions when you see what difference I put betwixt a righteous and a wicked man between one that serves God and one that serves Him not And a special time when that difference will appear is the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans That is a day when I shall come in judgement against the nation of the Iews and it shall be an image and resemblance of the last day when I shall come in judgement against all the World And that particular day or time is not far off CHAP. IV. 1 FOr behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousnesse arise with healing in his wings and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this saith the Lord of hosts 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgements 5 Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers least I come and sâ—ite the earth with a curse CHAP. IV. 1. FOr behold that day of the fearful destruction of Ierusalem is coming on that shall be as burning hot as an oven kindled by the wrath of God And then all the proud contemners of my service and blasphemers of my Providence and all others the workers of iniquity shall be like stubble that is easily inflamed And this hot time that comes on so fast shall put them into such an all-devouring heat saith the Lord of Hosts that neither root nor branch shall be left to any of that wicked crew that shall dare to sin against me with such a high hand 2 But the rising Sun shall be the blessing of you that fear my name ever more and more encreasing your joy and comfort The true Son of Righteousnesse shall warm and refresh your hearts while the wicked perish in the fire of my wrathful displeasure And as they like stubble shall quickly be enflamed and consumed so your heat of solace shall be as quick from your Messias For he shall flie to gou with salvation under his wings to heal your broken hearts and set you into a sure way of eternal life He shall do it with such an effectual and apparent recoverie of your spiritual health that you shall show it in the vigour of the body and be of as good liking and in as thriving a way as the fatted calves and oxen that are purposely fed and kept up in their stall to make them plump and tender 3 And you shall have full power over the wicked that now trample and domineer over you and they that shall be left of them like ashes out of the furnace of Gods wrath and the flames of that sad punishment that was named before them shall you tread down like ashes under the soles of your feet This shall ye do in the day wherein I shall put these things in execution saith the Lord of Hosts which are told them before-hand that they may prevent them or be without excuse 4. In the mean time while you are in expectation of this Son of Righteousnesse and so ordering your lives that you may escape the fire of his anger when he comes in judgement against your City and Nation Forget not to observe the law which I delivered in Mount Horeb to my servant Moses as a Rule and Direction for all the children of Israel Square your selves according to those Statues and Iudgements which you had from him 5. And that you may know when the time of your glorious Sun-rising is come upon you ye shall discover it by the morning-star that appears just before Him For observe and you shall see that I will send you his Fore-runner in the power and virtue of Elijah the Prophet that in a zeal and austeritie of life like his shall labour to restore the true worship of God amongst you before that great and terrible day of the Lord come upon your Nation that shall give you the greatest blow that ever yet was given 6. And coming in a time wherein there will be many Sects and much diversitie of Opinions He shall labour to convert and reconcile the hearts of Parents to their children and children to their Parents directing all to their great Master and Teacher their promised Messias and in Him to the Truth it self And therefore will I send him upon this employment that so he may make way to the appeasing of my wrath least I come and utterly destroy the whole land For onely that romnant which shall prevent my judgement by true repentance shall be plucked like Lot out of Sodom and delivered from that common calamity that shall then attend the destruction of Ierusalem A Catalogue of Books printed for and to be sold by Thomas Davies at the Bible over agninst the little North Door of St. Pauls Church THe Historie of this Iron Age wherein is set down the true state of Europe as it was in the year 1500. also the original and causes of all the Wars and Commotions that have happened together with a description of the most memorable Battels Sieges Actions and Transactions both in Court and Camp from that time until this present year 1659. illustrated with the lively Effigies of the most renowned persons of this present time folio Bp. Andrews his Sermons which he preached at St. Giles Cripplegate and elsewhere with a Preface written by Mr. Th. Pierce Minister of Brington in Northamtonshire folio A Commentary upon the whole Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians wherein the Text is learnedly and fruitfully opened with a Logical Analysis Spiritual and Holy Observations Confutation of Arminianism and Popery and sound edification of the diligent Reader by Mr. Paul Bain sometimes preacher of Gods Word at St. Andrews in Cambridge The fifth Edition To which is added the life of the Author and a Table of all the Doctrines folio A Commentary on the most
his field near the Temple of the Lord. 14. Then it pleased God to proceed to the breaking of the second staff and to say I will even break asunder my other Shepherds staff too to which I gave the name of Bands and so dissolve the unity and brotherly concord that formerly had been between Iudah and Israel the two tribes and the ten tribes as the Sons of one father coming all out of the loins of Iacob 15. Then said the Lord unto me yet we will have somewhat more of the Shepherd Go and get thy self the poor habit and furniture of some silly Shepherd such as he useth to carry abroad with him 16. For this is my meaning by that silly Shepherds provision that for the sins of the people I will often send amongst them silly Shepherds and Governors in the land that shal neither have skill nor will to attend any thing but the advancement of their own advantages They shall not do their office to take care for the reducing of that which is lost and stragled from the company nor seek after the weak lamb that is left behind because it cannot hold out the pace of the rest nor heal that which is hurt and wounded by some evil accident nor feed that which continues healthful and free from hurts But providing rather for themselves then their flock they shall feed upon the fattest and so hurry many of their sheep up and down at their pleasure as if they longed to wear out their very clams that they might not be able to stir about for that which their Shepherds will not provide for them 17. Wo to such Shepherds no Shepherds that will have the name and place of Shepherds and Governors but nothing else that is requirable in good Shepherds Such carelesse Shepherds as these leave their flock to look to themselves but my curse shall attend them Such a Shepherd will I strike with a bright and sharp sword that shall break his arm and dazle his right eye so that his arm shall wither and be unfit for action because he would be lazy where he should not and his right eye shall not be able to see any thing that tends to his own good because he he would not look after that which was for the good of his flock CHAP. XII 1 THe burden of the word of the Lord for Israel saith the Lord which stretcheth forth the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within him 2 Behold I will make Ierusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Iudah and against Jerusalem 3 And in that day will I make Ierusalem a burdensome stone for all people all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in piece though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it 4 In that day saith the Lord I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madness and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Iudah and will smite every horse of the people with blindnesse 5 And the governours of Iudah shall say in their heart The inhabitants of Ierusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God 6 In that day will I make the governours of Iudah like an hearth of fire among the wood and like a torch of a fire in a sheaf and they shall devour all the people round about on the right hand and on the left and Ierusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place even in Ierusalem 7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Iudah first that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Ierusalem do not magnifie themselve against Iudah 8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Ierusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God as the angel of the Lord before them 9 And it shall come to passe in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Ierusalem 10 And I will pour upon the house David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his onely son and shall be in bitternesse for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Ierusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon 12 And the land shall mourn every family apart the family of the house of David apart and their wives apart the family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart 13 The family of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart the family of Shimei apart and their wives apart 14 All the families that remain every family apart and their wives apart CHAP. XII 1. ANother Prophesie that carries a burden in it to be laid upon Israel by the command of the great Iehovah Thus saith the great Iehovah that stretched out the heavens like a curtain and fixed the vast globe of the earth upon nothing and created the breath of life which he breathed first into Adam and placed within him i. who made all and therefore governed all from the beginning 2. You will wonder at the time when you see all things so brought about by my providence that Ierusalem shall become like a drunken cup of giddinesse and astonishment to all the nations about her not so much that others which would greedily swallow her up shall tast of that cup which will work their own shame and confusion but in reference to her self that she shall do the actions of a giddie-headed people Therefore upon all Iudah there shall fall great tribulation by occasion of that punishment which shall light first upon Ierusalem 3. But about the close of that time when I have so punished my own people I will make Ierusalem prove like a huge weighty stone to all people that shall go about to disturb her All that lift hard at her shall sooner show their strength in breaking of their own veins in pieces then in removing her from that loyalty towards me and that state of tranquillity wherein I shall place her And this difficulty of so moving Jerusalem shall be thus though all the people of the earth should be mustered up against her And this may be a figure of what shall afterward happen to the fierce and ventrous opposers of the mystical Jerusalem and such as are Jews within They that will be lifting at them and heaving at the true Messias their corner stone will have but ill successe in their vain attempts but on whomâ—soever that stone falls it shall bruise him to powder 4. For at that time saith the Lord if
they come against my people with their great forces of horse wherein they put their confidence I will strike all their horses with astonishment and their riders with furie as Jerusalem was struck before when she had drunk of that cup of giddinesse that exposed her to ruine But toward the house of Iudah at that time will I open my watchful and favourable eye while I smite their enemies horse-forces with blindnesse that they may rather ingage themselves more and more in their own danger then see how to effect what they subtilly plotted and contrived against my people 5. Then shall the Princes and Champions of Iudah say within their hearts that the strength of the inhabitants of Ierusalem must be in me even in the Lord of Hosts their God 6. About that time I will make the Governors of Iudah like a live coal of fire compassed about with drie wood that can quickly set all about it in a flame or like a torch of fire that is compassed about with sheafs of corn that will soon convey the heat and danger to all that is near Like such a fire shall they sodainly and fearfully consume all their enemies that compasse them about on the right hand or on the left And Ierusalem all the while shall remain immoveable like the stone we spake of before in her own place where Jerusalem was ever seated And so shall that larger Church whereof Jerusalem is but a figure It shall not be removed from that rock which gives it such support that the gates of hell shall not be able to prevail against 7. And the Lord will save the inhabitants of his people in Iudaea as he ever did from the beginning i. by himself and his own power and wisdom that the honour may be his own and man may have no part in it and that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the Inhabitants of their great City of Ierusalem do not magnifie it self for the protection of the people of Iudah as if it were to be ascribed unto them 8. Thus in those times shall God defend with his people of Iudaea the inhabitants also of Ierusalem that we may account them not our Guardians but the partakers of the same divine protection with us and the infirm and inferiour sort among them that you think likeliest to fall from their station shall then prove another David for valour to go before them And they of the house of David like men of the House of God which is nearest to his care and defense and like an Angel of God that being in near attendance upon his person and in his holy Temple above cannot but be near to all safety and freedom from danger 9. Then shall any justice find out waies for the destruction of all those nations that have come in hostile manner against Jerusalem 10. But I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Ierusalem the graces of my spirit in such plentiful manner that many of them shall in hearty sorrow and contrition and in humble prayer and supplication beg my gratious pardon for what they have done amisse And in a sad repentance they shall look upon me whom they have pierced not in my hands and feet and head and side onely but in my very heart too with their wicked and blasphemous words more then with their spear And they shall mourn for Him that suffered so much by them before they knew him to be what he wasâ— As bitterly shall they mourn as one would mourn for his first-born son or his onely son that hath the greatest share in his love and affection with such sorrow shall they look upon his Passion that they may learn to look upon it with love and with resolution to forbear the piercing him afresh by continuance in sin Or else there will come a time when they will weep and howl too late at the sight of him when he comes in his glory 11. But in the first and more seasonable time then will there be a great and heavy lamentation in Ierusalem which shall be seconded in the Church that Jerusalem yet resembles It shall be like the great mourning for the death of good Josiah called the mourning of Hadadrimmon a City in the valley of Mageddon 12. And the whole land shall have cause to mourn every family apart The families of the house of David apart and their wives too apart as your custome is in times of great sorrow and repentance The families of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart For what family hath not been guilty of piercing their Messias It is not the issue left of the Royal Family nor the posterity of the Princely Tribe that can plead an exemption from that guilt 13. The Families of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart For even the Priests and Levites had as great a hand in it as any other The Familie of the house Shemei apart and their wives apart 14. And so in summe all the several families that remain un-named every family apart and their wives apart as all some way or other guilty of that great offence against the Messias whom they have pierced by contributing much to his heavy sufferings and therefore should pierce their own hearts with some deep remorse and impression of sorrow With these shall the several Families of all the nations in the world sooner or later bewail their sins the chief murderers of our Messias which make them all accessorie or rather Principals in the Death of Him that is the God of Life And the sooner the better but still as one eye looks upon the grief the other looking upon the love wherewith he was pierced For CHAP. XIII IN that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sin and for uncleannesse 2. And it shall come to passe in that day saith the Lord of hosts that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembred and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to passe out of the land 3. And it shall come to passe that when any shall yet prophesie then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him Thou shalt not live for thou spakest lies in the name of the Lord and his father and â—his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth 4. And it shall come to passe in that day that the Prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision when he hath prophesied neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive 5. But he shall say I am no prophet I am an husband man for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth 6. And one shall say unto him What are these wounds in thine hands then he shall answer These with