make him the lyke against his comming home who being such a minister as was content to serue the Kinges turne made it with all spéede on the which Aultar the King at his comming home offered to those Idolles abolishing all the holye lawes and ordinaunces of God to stablyshe his owne wicked and vngodlye procéedings which turned to hys vtter confusion He reygned sixtene yeares and was buryed in the Citie of Dauid but not among the sepulchres of Kings leauing Hezekia his godly sonne to enioy his place Ahazia the sonne of Achab began his reigne ouer Israel in the xvlj yeare of Iosaphat king of Iuda and followed the steppes of that wicked Idolatour Achab his father in all thinges for the which the Lorde punished him two maner of wayes First the Moabites rebelled agaynst him refusing to pay any tribute Seconde as he walked vpon his house for his recreation he fell downe at a grate of the same which was made to gyue light beneath And being sore brused with the fall and in perill of death he sent to Belzebub the God of Ekrom to enquire of him whether he shoulde recouer or no. And as the Messengers were going Elia the Prophete by the prouidence of God met them and sayde is there no God in Israel to aske counsell at but your Maister must send to Belzebub returne and tell him he shall not liue The Messengers returned and tolde the king Who perceyuing by all the markes and tokens of the man that it was the Prophete Elia sent forth a Captaine with fiftie Souldiers to bring him with violence if otherwise he woulde not come And when the Captaine came to the Prophet he sayde Thou man of God come away the King hath sent for thée If I be the man of God quoth the Prophet fyre come downe from heauen and consume thée and all thy men which wordes were no sooner gone out of his mouth but fire fell downe from heauen and destroyed them all The King sent againe and they were likewyse destroyed Then went the thirde who fell downe before the Prophete and sayde O thou man of God let my life I pray thée and the life of these thy fistie seruants be precious in thy sight With this man the Prophet went boldly to the King and tolde him plainly be shoulde not recouer and so he died in the seconde yeare of his reygne and for lacke of issue his brother Iehoram succéeded Ahasuerus otherwise called Artaxarzes King of Persia reigned ouer an hundreth and twentie seauen Prouinces This King in the thirde yeare of hys reigne made a feast royall in the Citie of Susan to all his Princes and Nobles which continued an hundreth and foure score daies And these days expired he made another feast to all the people great and small for the space of seauen dayes and in the seauenth and last daye of the feast the King being mery and pleasantly disposed sent diuers of his Chamberlaines to fetch the Quéene named Vasthy and to bring hir to him with the Crowne Imperiall vpon hir heade that the people might sée hir bewtie But for so much as she woulde not come at the Kinges commaundement it was decréed that the King shoulde put hir awaye and take another at his pleasure And according to the same decrée the King was diuorsed from Vasthy and tooke Ester in hir place for whose sake he shewed great pleasure to hir nation the Iewes promoting Mardocheus which had preserued him from the danger of Treason and put downe Aman whome he had aboue all exalted Ahimaaz the sonne of Sadoch with Ionathas the sonne of Abiathar stoode wayting without the Citie of Ierusalem at the Well called Rogell to beare such newes to Dauid as they shoulde heare from their fathers being within with Absalom And when they were instructed of all thinges by a certaine Mayde sent from their fathers what they shoulde doe and saye vnto Dauid they departed with spéede But being espyed by a certaine yong man who went and tolde it to Absalom Messengers were sent forth in post haste which followed them so sore that they were constrayned to slip into a certaine mans house in Bahurim which had a Well in his yarde into the which they were conueyghed and being hid in the Well the wife of the house spred a Couerlet ouer the Welles mouth and strawed corne thereon whereby the Well was not séene Then Absaloms men comming into the house demaunded of the wyfe where the two men were which came in before them They be gone sayde she ouer the brooke of water The men beleuing the woman went after and sought and when they coulde not finde them returned home againe Then Ahimaaz and Ionathas were let out of the Well who went to Dauid and did their message as they were commaunded After this when Absalom was slaine Ahimaaz desired of Ioab the Captaine that he might beare newes to the King of Absaloms death Nay sayde Ioab thou shalt be no messenger this daye bicause the Kings sonne is deade but Chusy shall go Then I pray thée quoth Ahimaaz let me go with Chusy And wherfore quoth Ioab art thou so desirous to go séeing for thy tydings thou shalt haue no rewarde whatsoeuer I haue quoth he I pray thée let me go Then go sayd Ioab And so Ahimaaz ran a nearer way than Chusy and was euer before him And as they were comming the watch man spied them and sayde to the King I sée two men running hytherwarde and me thinke the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the sonne of Sadoch Oh sayd the King he is a good man and bringeth good tydings And so Ahimaaz came to the King before Chusy and fell downe before him and sayd Blessed be the Lorde thy God which hath shut vp the men that lift vp their handes against my Lorde the King is the yong man Absalom safe sayde the King Ahimaaz aunswered When Ioab sent Chusy and me thy seruaunt I sawe much a doe but I wote not what it was Well sayde the King stande still Then Chusy came and sayd Good tidings my Lorde the King for the Lorde hath deliuered thée this day out of the handes of all that roâ—e against thée Is the yong man Absalom safe quoth the King The enimies of my Lorde the King sayde he and all that rise against thée to doe thée hurt be as that yong man is And so the King departed and mourned for his sonne Ahimelech the sonne of Ahitob the sonne of Phiâ—ehes the sonne of Eli was Priest of the Citie of Nob in whose tyme it chaunced Dauid being persecuted of king Saule to flye vnto him for succour at whose comming with so fewe wayting on him Ahimelech was sore astonied and asked him wherefore he came so alone Then Dauid bearing him in hande that the King had sent him of a secrete businesse which might not be knowne desired Ahimelech to giue him of such thinges
in hys booke of the Reuelation .ij. Chapter reprooueth Nymrod was the sonne of Chus sonne of Cham the seconde sonne of Noe. He was the first that tooke on him to reigne ouer men and became a cruell oppressor and tyrant He was called a mightie hunter for that he was a deceyuer of soules and oppressor of men He attempted to builde the great towre of Babel intending to haue raysed it aboue the Clowdes thinking thereby to haue escaped if any floude shoulde eftsoones haue happened Noe was the sonne of Lamech and fiue hundreth yeares of age before he begat Sem Cham and Iaphet And being a iust and perfite man he founde such fauour in the eyes of God that when all fleshe had so corrupt his way vpon earth that God threatened the destruction of the worlde yet to saue Noe and to declare it vnto him 120. before it came he bade him prepare an Arke of Pine trées which shoulde conteyne in length thrée hundreth cubites in bredth fiftie cubites and in déepenesse thirtie Nowe when Noe had made the Arke and was sixe hundreth yeares of age the Lorde tolde him that after seauen dayes the deluge shoulde fall wherefore Noe at the Lordes commaundement got him into the Arke with his wyfe and thrée sonnes with their wyues prouiding in the meane space all things necessary for them And when Noe was in the Arke sodeynly by the power of God and not of mans bringing there came into the shippe two and two togither of euery kinde of beast and soule the male and the female And when they were all in the Lorde shut the doore of the Art◠and opened the windowes of heauen so that the raine fell continuallye fortie dayes and fortie nightes wherevpon the waters preuayled and rose aboue all Mountaines .xv. cubites So that all liuing creatures dyed except fishe and such as might endure in the bowels of the earth And after the waters had preuayled a hundred and fiftie dayes They decreased againe and in the seauenth day of the seauenth month which was October the Arke stacke vpon the Mountaines of Armeny Then Noe opened a windowe and sent forth a Crowe which returned agayne After seauen dayes he put forth a Doue which came againe at night bringing a braunch of Oliue with gréene leaues in hir mouth Neuerthelesse he remayned seauen other dayes and put forth the Doue againe which neuer returned Then Noe after he had continued one yeare in the Arke and sawe the earth drie he at the commaundement of God issued out of the Arke and incontinent builded an Aultar wherevpon he offered a sacrifice vnto the Lorde of euerye cleane beast and of euerye cleane foule which sacrifice was a swéete smell vnto the Lorde and pleased him so well that he made a promise to Noe that he would neuer more destroy the world with water for the confirmation thereof gaue the Rainebowe for a sure token betwéene him and man Noe was the first inuenter of Wine and therewithall was made drunke He liued after the fludde 350. yeares O. OBed the sonne of Boos and Ruth begat Isai the father of King Dauid Obed Edom the sonne of Ieduthun had the Arke of God remayning in his house thrée monthes for the which the Lorde blessed him and all his house And when it was tolde to Dauid that the house of Obed Edom was blessed bicause of the Arke of God he remooued it thence and brought it into the city of Dauid with great triumph and ordeyned Obed Edom and his brethren which were Leuites to kéepe the doore of the Arke Obedia notwithstanding hée was chiefe gouernour of all King Achabs house yet he was a man that feared God greatly Insomuch that when Iezabel destroyed the Prophetes of the Lorde he tooke an hundred Prophets and hidde them fiftie in one Caue and fiftie in another prouiding all things necessary for them On a time as Obedia was going about the lande at Achabs commaundement to searche for water and grasse for their cattell which were almost ouercome with drouth he chaunced to méete Elia the Prophete And when he saw him he fell downe and sayde Art not thou my Lord Elia yea quoth he go tell thy Lorde that I am here O quoth Obedia what haue I sinned that thou wouldest deliuer thy seruant into the handes of Achab to be slaine As truly as the Lord thy God liueth there is no nation or kingdome whither my Lorde hath not sent to séeke thée And when they sayd he is not here he tooke an othe of the kingdome and nation if they had not founde thée And now thou sayest go tell thy Lord that Elia is here And when I am gone from thée the spirite of the Lorde shall cary thée into some place that I doe not knowe and so when I come and tell Achab and he cannot finde thée then will he kill me But I thy seruaunt feare the Lord from my youth was it not tolde my Lorde what I dyd when Iezabel slue the Prophets of the Lorde howe I hid an hundred men of the Lordes Prophets by fifties in a Caue and fed them with breade and water And nowe thou sayest go and tell thy Lorde beholde Elia is here that he maye sley mée Well sayde Elia as truely as the Lorde of hostes lyueth before whom I stande I will shewe my selfe vnto him this daye Then Obedia hearing him saye so went to Achab and tolde him Oded when Pekah King of Israel had taken so manye Captyues of the Children of Iuda and caryed them to Samaria the Lord sent this Prophet vnto him saying Beholde bycause the Lorde God of your fathers is wrath with Iuda hée hath deliuered them into your handes and yée haue slayne them in your cruelnesse that reacheth vnto heauen and now yée purpose to kéepe vnder the children of Iuda and Ierusalem as bonde men and bonde women And doe yée not lade your selues with sinne in the sight of the Lorde your God Now therefore heare mée and deliuer the Captyues agayne which yée haue taken of your brethren or else shall the wrath of God be vpon you Then certayne which were the heades of the children of Ephraim being sorye for the great offence they had committed tooke the prisoners and with the spoyle clothed all that lacked shodde them and fed them with meate and drinck annoynted the woundes of such as were hurt and the féeble they caryed vpon asses and brought them to Iericho the citie of Palme trées to their brethren And leauing them there returned to Samaria agayne Og the King of Basan was a mightie great Giaunt whose bedde was made of Iron and in length nyne Cubites that is thirtéene foote an halfe And foure cubites brode that is sixe foote This Og was next neighbour to Seon King of the Amorites And hauing knowledge of all that Moses had done to Seon his neighbour made out a great Armye
THE lyues of holy Sainctes Prophetes Patriarches and others contayned in holye Scripture so farre forth as expresse mention of them is delyuered vnto vs in Gods worde with the interpretacion of their names Collected and gathered into an Alphabeticall order to the great commoditie of the Chrystian Reader By Iohn Marbecke Psalme 97. vers 10. O ye that loue the Lorde see that ye hate the thing which is euill the Lord preserueth the soules of his Saintes hee shall deliuer them from the hande of the vngodly COR VNVM VIA VNA Seene and allowed according to the Queenes Maiesties Iniunctions Anno. 1574. ¶ To the Right Honorable and my verye good Lorde the Lorde Burleigh Lorde high Treasurer of Englande one of the Knightes of the most Honorable order of the Carter and one of the Lordes of the Queenes Maiesties priuie Counsell Iohn Marbecke wisheth long lyfe with increase of all Honour and perpetuall felicitie ALbeit right Honourable it were good Reason and moste conuenient that nothing shoulde come before your Honourable presence but that which were moste perfect and excellent yet bearing my selfe bolde vppon that incomparable goodnesse which all men knowe to reast within your Noble nature I haue here presumed to offer a taste vnto your good Lordship of such simple fruite as my poore Orcharde coulde yeelde Moste humbly beseeching your Honour as well to pardon my rude boldenesse herein as also to accept my simple Present My meaning hereby is not my good Lorde to seeme to craue anye thankes or prayse where none is deserued but onely to seeke some such meanes as my poore abilitie will serue to leaue a Testimoniall of the dutifull good will and single heart which I beare vnto your Honour for whose good and prosperous estate as all men who are any thing touched eyther with zeale of godlynesse or loue of their Countrie haue good occasion earnestlye to pray so I especially for the fauourable inclination I haue alwayes perceyued in your good Lordship to remaine towards so simple a worme as I am haue most iust cause continually to craue the same at gods hand during my life which vnfainedlye I will. And being not able otherwise to make declaration of my dutie herein in most humble maner I besech your Honor in fauourable wyse to accept this my good meaning who being desirous to labour in the Lordes haruest and yet not able to holde tacke with strong and lustie labourers therein neyther worthie to bee accounted in the number of good workemen am contented to come after as it were a gleaning and as mine olde age and other mine imperfections will giue me leaue fayre and softly to creepe after the Carte picking vp such scattered corne as is fallen out by the waye in the Lordes fielde and yet to good to bee lost or troden vnder foote but rather now being gathered togither worthy in my simple iudgement to bee sorted into sheaues humbly desiring your good Lordshippe to suffer them to be placed in your Barne if your Honor shall thinke them woorth the threshing Or if otherwise yet that then by your Lordshippes licence and fauourable protection they may be permitted to be bestowed amongest the mainye and simple sorte of the reast of the Christian flocke The Lorde of all Lordes preserue your good Lordshippe in most prosperous and blessed estate Your Lordshippes most humble and daylie Orator I. M. ¶ To the Christian Reader THE best learned and wysest Phylosophers hauing receyued no taste or light of the Gospell of Christ but only being led and directed by Nature and Reason helde this for a Principle among themselues that MAN was not borne to himselfe onely but was framed of Nature such an excellent Creature as he is to that ende that he myght employ those singular gifts wherewith he is beautifyed as Wisedome Reason Memorie Discretion and Iudgement not onely to his owne priuate commoditie but also to the profite of his Countrie and others This good opinion ingraffed in their myndes by Nature deliuered from one to another by Instruction and so from time to time continued among themselues by consent caused the best able men among them such as God and Nature had plentifully endued with knowledge and vnderstanding to leaue such worthy Monuments as they did to Posteritie as Plato and Tullie good Rules of lyfe and gouernement Aristotle the hidden secretes of Philosophye Ptolomie the hie my steries of Astronomie Euclyde the infallible Principles of Geometrie Varro the necessarie obseruations of Husbandrye c. Out of the whiche so great commodities in all ages haue bene reaped and as occasion and good wittes haue serued haue also from time to time bene encreased If this Principle of theirs be sounde and true as in deede I take it to be then of consequence one other depending vpon the same must needes bee as true and that is this That those men doe nearest approch to the Rule of vncorrupt Nature and do best deserue of a common welth whose labours and traueyles are bestowed on those thinges which tende to the best ende For by the consideration of the ende wherevnto eche thing leadeth the goodnesse and excellencye of the thing it selfe is to be knowne and esteemed As for example If helth eyther maintayned or recouered bee good then Phisicke whose chiefe ende is to maintayne and recouer health must needes be good also If good gouernement publikelye and peaceable enioying of our owne priuately be a good thing and to be commended then the Law for that it respecteth Iustice in all actions and quietnesse as his chiefe ende must needes likewyse be good and deserue the like commendation And as be many things which for this selfe same Reason that I haue nowe alleaged are to bee accounted good and prayse worthy in their kynde So I thinke there is no man so farre from Reason but that hee seeth by the selfe same Argument it must needes bee inforced that though many Artes and sciences be good for that their endes be good yet some one there is that is to be accounted as best for that his ende is best The chiefe ende of Man in this worlde what it is I thynke no Christian man so slenderlye instructed that hee maketh anye doubt therof For the very Philosophers themselues of whome I spake before were fully resolued that it was to liue well and vertuously and affirmed that wheras other Creatures are made grooueling and still beholding the grounde as they go Man was therfore framed streyght and vpright that hee might alwayes beholde Heauen and heauenly things and so by the very shape of his bodye and countenance be put in mynde continually that albeit hee were here for a season as a wandring Pylgrime vpon earth yet his end was to be a free Citizen and an inheritor of heauen aboue And as they by Reason and Coniecture were ledde so to thinke so we by fayth and expresse commaundement are mooued so stedfastly to beleeue If then the knowledge of God and heauenly things
ground before him and so began hir peticion which was so pithilye framed and done that in the ende she pacifyed hys wrath and stayed his handes from shedding of bloud that daye for the which she was highly commended and praysed of Dauid who gently receyuing hir present did cléerely remyt the churlishe behauiour of Naball hir husbande for hir sake Which being graunted she tooke hir leaue and returned againe But when shée came home and founde Naball hir husbande so farre ouer charged with wyne that his wittes were gone she thought it conuenient to folowe the wyse mans counsell not to rebuke him in his wyne but to let the matter rest tyll the drinke were all out of his brayne and his memorie freshe And so on the next morowe shée declared to Naball the great and perilous daunger he was in for hys vnkindenesse shewed to Dauid which when he hearde did smyte him so sore to the heart that he neuer enioyed but dyed wythin tenne dayes after And then in processe thys woman Abigail became Dauids wyfe and bare hym a sonne called Chileab which in the first booke of Chronicles chapter iij is called Daniel There was another woman called Abigail which was Sister to Dauid and wyfe to Iether an Ismaelite vnto whome shée bare a sonne called Amasa Abimelech King of the Philistines was a manne which had the feare of God before his eyes as it may appeare in the storie of Abraham by his godly entertaynement of his wyfe whome he tooke to be his very sister and not hys wyfe as they had both confessed vnto hym And hauyng a mynde to the woman he tooke hir from Abraham intending to haue coupled wyth hir in mariage and not for no sinfull desire But when by the voyce of God he knewe she was Abrahams wyfe in déede and he a Prophet and his house sore plagued for hir sake he was right sorye for that he had done and also displeased with Abraham for so dissemblyng wyth hym in so weyghtie a cause considering the dishonestie that myght haue happened vnto his wyfe by some of hys men and the perill of Gods indignation on hym and on hys kingdome for the same yet notwithstanding when he knewe the cause of Abrahams dissembling he possest hym wyth cattell seruants and money and deliuered Sara his wyfe vnto hym agayne gyuing him also frée libertie to dwell and inhabite where he woulde wythin the precinct of hys dominion Then Abraham prayed vnto God for Abimelech at whose peticion the Lorde remooued his plague from the house of Abimelech so that the women conceyued and brought forth children as before they had done The lyke story is of Isaac Chapter xxvj Abimelech the sonne of Ierobaal otherwyse Gedeon was a wicked Tyrant and a prowde ambicious couetous man For when hys father was deade hée to be king of Israel consulted with all his mothers kyndred to perswade the people that it was better to haue one man to reigne ouer them than all y sonnes of Ierobaal which were lxx.persons in number And also to consider that he was of their fleshe and bloude as well as the other were which matter beyng mooued to the people they all consented to cleaue to Abimelech and to make hym their kyng and gouernour And that he shoulde be the better assured of their good wylles and obedient hearts they gaue vnto him a great summe of money wyth the whych he hyred a sort of light brayned felowes And first of all went to his fathers house and slewe all his brethren saue Iothan the yongest who escaped his bloudie handes and fled But or he had reigned a two or thrée yeares the fire of hatred began so to kindle betwéene him the Sichemites with the house of Mello who had preferde him before to the kingdome that at length it burst out into so great a flame that it coulde not be quenched till chaunce of warre made an ende of the Tyrant for in the ende after diuers victories he forced the Sichemites to take the strong tower of Thebes for their refuge and coueting nye to the same to haue set it on fire a certayne woman threwe downe a péece of a Mylstone vppon his heade and brake his Skull to the brayne Who then féeling himselfe sore wounded called his seruant and bade him drawe out hys sworde and ryd him out of his lyfe that it shoulde not hereafter be reported that a woman had killed him and so his seruant slew him Abinadab was a man of Gibea out of whose house Dauid tooke the Arke of God and had it from thence to the house of Obed. Isai the Father of Dauid had also a sonne called Abinadab and King Saul another of the same name which was slayne wyth him in battell Abisag was a goodly fayre yonge Damosell brought vp in the Citie of Sunem And for hir beautie and maners chosen to kéepe norishe King Dauid in his extreme age After whose death being still a pure Mayde She might not be suffered to marry with Adomah the Kynges brother Abisai was Dauids sisters sonne and Brother to Ioab His mothers name was Zarniah He consented not with Absalon but stacke to Dauid hys Unkle in all hys troubles He was so grieued with the spytefull rebukes and raylings of Semei which he made against his Unkle Dauid in his aduersitie that if Dauid had not stayed him he woulde haue made Semei shorter by the heade than he was By his great strength and hardinesse he rescued Dauid out of the handes of a monstrous Gyant the yron of whose speare weyed thrée hundred Sicles and slewe the Giant with thrée hundred Philistines mo for the which he is counted as chiefe among the thrée Worthyes belonging to Dauid CREDIDIT ABRAHAM DEO ET REPVTA TVM EST ILLI AD IVSTITIAM ROM IIII. Non extendas manum tuam super puerum neque facias illi quicquam nune cognovi quod timeas Dominum non pepercisti vnigenito filio tuo propter me Geneâ—â—â—â— Joan. Strada inuen Phls Gall. excud him about the secrete affayres of the king and sodeinlyâ— smote him with his dagger and slewe him Abraham was the sonne of Terah borne in Vr a Towne in Chaldey A man so endued with fayth vertue that when he saw the true religion and honouring of God to cease in the lande of Chalda he departed from thence with Terah his father Sara his wife and Lâ—t his brothers sonne to go into the lande of Canaan And being come to Haran which is a towne in Mesopotamia he remained there vntill the death of his father Terah Then God commaunded Abraham saying Get thée out of thy countrey and from thy kindred and from thy fathers house vnto the lande which I will shewe thée and I wyll make of thée a great nation and will blesse thée and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing and I
as he had in store that he and his men might be refreshed and go about the Kinges affaires Then Ahimelech beléeuing that all had bene well betwene the King and Dauid tooke him of the halowed breade bicause he saw his necessitie great and had no common breade vnder his hande Then Dauid desired Ahimelech to lende him eyther speare or sworde for I brought quoth he neyther weapon nor harnesse the Kinges businesse required such haste and by and by he fet out the sworde of Goliah and gaue it to him Nowe for this great kindenesse which Ahimelech had shewed to Dauid Doeg a seruant of King Saules accused him to his Lorde of Treason And being brought before the King with all the Priestes of the Lorde it was obiected agaynst him howe he had conspired with Dauid the Kinges enimie and asked counsell of God for him and ayded him both with vittayle and weapon To the which Ahimelech aunswered and sayde Oh King who is so faythfull among all thy seruantes as Dauid is or had in more honor in all thy house is he not the Kings sonne in lawe and doth whatsoeuer thou commaundest him haue I not at other tymes as well as nowe asked counsell of God for him Let not my Lorde the King impute anye such wickednesse in me or in my fathers house for truely thy seruaunt knewe nothing of all this that thou layest to my charge eyther lesse or more Well quoth the King thou shalt surely die And so was this innocent man put to death with lxxxiiij Priestes mo and the Citie of Nob destroyed Ahijah was a Prophete borne in Silo and chauncing to méete with Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat without the Citie of Ierusalem in the playne fieldes hauing a new cloake vpon his backe he caught the cloake from him and rent it in twelue péeces deliuering ten péeces thereof to Ieroboam saying Thus will the Lorde rent the kingdome out of the handes of Salomon bicause he hath forsaken the Lorde and serued straunge Gods and gyue ten Tribes vnto thée Therefore take héede when thou arte King that thou walke in the wayes of the Lorde thy God for so long as thou kéepest his statutes and holy commaundements so long will the Lorde prosper thée in the kingdome Reade more of this Prophete in the storie of Abia the sonne of Ieroboam The father of king Baasa was called Ahijah of the house of Isachar Aholah and Aholibah were twoo Sisters vnder whose names is set forth the fornication that is to saye the Idolatrye of Samaria and Ierusalem Aholibama was the daughter of Ana and wife to Esau who brought him forth children which became great men in the worlde Aioth the sonne of Gera was the seconde Iudge of the Hebrues a man of great strength and valiant of courage and had equall strength and aptnesse in both hys handes He slewe Eglon king of the Moabites on thys wise when Eglon had long warred on the Iewes and taken from them diuers Cities and kept them in much miserie this Aioth came to him to Iericho bringyng vnto him certaine presentes which lyked him well and desired to speake wyth him priuily which was graunted and all other being commaunded to auoyde Aioth stroke Eglom to the heart twise The last tyme with such puissaunce that the knyfe with the hyltes remayned in the wounde and so leauing him deade departed without suspicion and came vnto his people declaring what he had done who being glad armed them and fell vppon the Moabites and slewe of them ten thousande and braue all the residue out of their countrie And so the Iewes being deliuered by the wisedome and vertue of Aioth after made hym their Iudge and Prince Who gouerned them .lxxx. yeares in peace and died a very olde man in much honor Alexander the sonne of Philip King of Macedonia slewe Darius king of the Persians and Medes and conquered the moste part of all the worlde in lesse than twelue yeares space whereof he became so prowde that God was displeased with him And being visited with sickenesse so sore that he must néedes die he called all his Lordes and Princes before him and departed his kingdome among them So that they after his death were crowned and reygned as Kings euery one seuerally in his owne dominion as was to them appointed He reigned .xij. yeares Alexander the sonne of Noble Antiochus tooke the Citie of Ptolomais and after that mooued warre against Demetrius who to preuent Alexander sent Ambassadours to Ionathas gouernour of the Iewes to haue his friendshippe promising him as many fayre and large offers as he coulde deuise But forasmuch as Ionathas had experience of his deceytfull dealings and howe cruell an enimie he had alwayes bene vnto the Iewes nation he refused the offer of Demetrius and ioyned in league with Alexander knowing him to be a faythfull Prince and euer his friende And so Alexander hauing the Iewes ayde stroke battayle with Demetrius in the which conflict Alexander slewe Demetrius and ouercame all his hoste Nowe when Alexander had conquered the lande and was set in the Trone of his progenitours a mariage was concluded betwéene him and Cleopatra the daughter of Ptolomie King of Egypt which was finished at the Citie of Ptolomias at the which triumph Alexander made Ionathas a Duke and partener of his dominion and after that for his worthinesse gaue him the Citie of Accaron Alexander nowe lying at Antioch and hearing howe the Cilicians had rebelled against him marched towarde them with a great power to suppresse the rebellion And being there occupied with his enimies Ptolomie in the meane season defeated him of his kingdome and toke his daughter Cleopatra gaue hir to Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius in mariage Alexander hearing of this returned home with all his host but Ptolomy being to strōg for him chased Alexander out of his Realme who for succor fled into Araby where the king of that land against al law of arms smote of his heade and sent it to Ptolomie for a present Alexander a Iewe borne and a ruler at Ephesus what time as Demetrius the Siluersmith mooued sedition in the Citie against Paul for the goddesse Diana was in the rage drawne out of the Common Hall and going forwarde beckonned with his hande to haue spoken but till the Towne Clarke had ceased the noyse which lasted two houres he coulde not be hearde And then to pacifie the people more by worldly wisedome than for any respect he had to Religion he sayde Ye men of Ephesus what man is he that knoweth not howe that the Citie of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddesse Diana and of the Image which came from Iupiter Seing then that no man sayeth hére against ye ought to be content and to doe nothing rashely For yée haue brought hyther these men which are neyther robbers of Churches neyther yet despysers of your goddesse Wherefore if Demetrius
and the craftes men which are wyth him haue any matter against any man the lawe is open and there are rulers let them accuse one an other But if ye go about any other thing it may be determined in a lawfull assemble For wée are in ieoperdye to be accused of this dayes vprore forasmuch as there is no cause whereby we may giue a reckoning of thys concourse of people And when he had thus spoken eche man departed Alexander the Coppersmyth forsooke the fayth and became such an enimy vnto the Gospell that he withstoode Paules preaching and did him much displeasure for the which Paul deliuered him vnto Satan that is excommunicated him out of the Church desiring the Lorde to rewarde him as he had deserued Alcimus was a Iewe borne and come of the séede of Aaron who notwithstanding became so wicked a man that he forsooke the lawes of his owne Nation to maintayne the abhominations of the heathen And for the hatred he bare to Machabeus and the Iewes he tooke vnto him a sorte of vnthriftes and vngodly persons and went to Demetrius vnto whome he made agricuous complaint vpon Iudas Machabeus feygning that he had slaine all the Kings friends and driuen him and his companie out of their owne lande wherfore he willed Demetrius to choose out some Noble Captayne to go and auenge the Kings quarrell on Iudas Vppon the which complaint of Alcimus the King sent Bachides against Iudas and made Alcimus the hye Priest who was such an enimie vnto the Iewes as the lyke was not among the Heathen for all his studie was how he might eyther by worde or déede worke their vtter confusion And finally to manifest his great malice towardes his owne Countrey men ▪ and the lawes of God he commanded the walles of the inmost Sanctuary with the Monuments of the Prophetes to be cast downe and destroyed But as this wicked Apostata went about his deuilish purpose the hand of God fell vpon him and smote him with such an incurable Palsie that his mouth was shut vp and so like a miserable wretch he dyed Amalech was the sonne of Eliphas the sonne of Esan borne vnto him of Thymna his Concubine of whom came the kinred of the Amalekites This King when Moses had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and were come into the wildernesse of Raphidim where they both lacked water and were wearyed with their long iourney woulde not suffer them to passe quietly thorowe his lande but came forth with weapon and waged battell against them In the which battell Iosua guided the hoste of Israel while Moses went to praye And so long as Moses helde vp his handes and prayed so long had Israel the better but when he let them fall Amalech had the better Then Aaron and Hur perceyuing Moses handes to be weary gat them vp to Moses and staide his handes the one on the one side and the other on the other side so long tyll Iosua had discomfited Amalech with all his hoste And for thys crueltie of Amalech God sware vnto Moses that he woulde vtterly put out the remembraunce of Amalech from vnder heauen Which promise he perfourmed in the dayes of King Saule Aman looke Haman Amasa was the sonne of Iether and Abigail Dauids sister was his mother This Amasa what time as Absalom rose against his father Dauid was made Captaine ouer Absaloms hoste and after the death of Absalom Dauid receyued him to fauour swearing he shoulde be Captaine ouer his hoste in the rowme of Ioab which office he did not long enioy for when Seba the sonne of Bichri had begun a new commotion and that Dauid had sent Amasa to gather the men of Iuda togithers and to bring them to him by the thirde day it chaunced Ioab to méete Amasa by the way which was somewhat after the time the King had appointed and saluting him with all gentlenesse he tooke him by the Chinne with one hande to kisse him and with the other hand he smote him vnder the short ribbes wyth his dagger and killed him Amasiah the sonne of Ioas king of Iuda began his reigne at the age of .xxv. yeares in whose beginning he did indifferently well obserue the lawes of God but in the ende he became an Idolater He prepared an hoste of thirtie thousande men to goe against the Edomites and yet to make himselfe the stronger he hyred an hundreth thousande mo out of the ten Tribes of Israel for an hundred Talentes of Siluer But as hée was goyng wyth both the hostes of Iuda and Israel hée was commaunded by the Lordes Prophet to sende the hoste of Israel home againe forasmuch as the Lorde was not with them or else he shoulde not stand before his enimies how then sayd the King shall I doe for the hundred Talents which I haue giuen for them Take no thought for that quoth the Prophet for the Lorde is able to giue thée as much more And so he sent the hoste of Israell home againe who for anger they were dimised fell vpon the Cities of Iuda as they went and did much harme Then Amasias with his owne men set vppon his enimies and slewe ten thousand and discomfited the rest After which victorie whereas he ought to haue giuen all prayse vnto God for the same he fel from God and most vilely dishonored him in worshipping the Idols of the Edomites despising the Prophets admonition sent vnto him frō the Lorde And so persisting in his obstinate minde prowde heart he wrote to Ioas King of Israel commaunding him and his people by a Parable of the Cedar trée and Thystle to be vnder his subiection But Ioas after defiaunce gathered an armie and went against Amasias whose hoste being discomfited Amasiah was taken and brought to Ioas who caryed him to Ierusalem where notwithstanding the gates being opened against him he caused foure hundreth cubites of the walle to be beaten downe and entred into the Citie that way leading Amasiah with him as a prisōner tooke all the treasure of the Temple and of the Kings house caused it to be brought into Samaria Afterwarde being deliuered his owne people slewe him He reigned .xxix. yeares and Azaria his sonne succéeded Ammon the eldest sonne of Dauid had a fayre sister called Thamar with whome he was so farre in loue that he coulde eate no meate that did him good but pyned himselfe away marueylously for hir sake Then Ionadab his fathers brothers sonne a friende and familiar of his and a worldly wise man perceyuing Ammon to be sore chaunged and euery day more and more went to him and sayde Howe happeneth this Ammon that thou being the Kings sonne consumest thy selfe so away and doest not tell me Oh sayde Ammon I am in loue with Thamar my brother Absaloms sister and except I may haue hir companie I shall surely die Now to further this wicked purpose of Ammon
reasoning the matter Iesus ioyned himselfe personally with them as a wayfayring man desirous to knowe whereof they talked so sadly To whome Cleophas made aunswere and sayde art thou only a straunger in Ierusalem and hast not knowne the thinges which haue chaunced there of late ▪ of what things sayde Iesus ▪ Of one Iesus of Nazareth which was a Prophet mightie in déede and word before ▪ God and all the people and howe the hye Priest and our Rulers deliuered him to be condemned to death and haue crucified him but we trusted that it had bene he that shoulde haue deliuered Israel and as touching all these things to day is euen the thirde day that they were done Then Iesus opened the Scriptures to Cleophas and the other and being knowne of them at the last by breaking of breade they returned to the Apostles at Ierusalem and tolde them all what they had hearde and séene of Iesus by the way to Emaus Clement was one of Paules labour fellowes in the Gospell among the Philippians as Paule himselfe reporteth saying And I beséech the faythfull yokefellow helpe the women which laboured with mée in the Gospell with Clement also and with other my labour fellowes whose names are in the booke of life Crescens what tyme as Paule sent for Timothy was departed from Rome into Galatia for businesse he had there whereof he certifieth Timothy saying Crescens is gone to Galatia and Titus vnto Dalmatia Crispus the chiefe ruler of the Synagoge at Corinth after he had heard Paules preaching beléeued in the Lord he and all his householde and were Christened in the name of Christ Iesu Cornelius was an heathen man dwelling in Cesarea and a Captaine ouer a bande of men which were in Italy This man notwithstanding he was a Gentile borne and in office a man of Armes yet he was a good lyuer and feared God as it well appeared chiefely in two pointes which was in liberally refreshing the poore and néedy and his continuall praying vnto the lord In the which prayer as he was on a time occupyed aboute the ninth houre of the day which was a little before Supper tyme he saw in a vision an Angell of God comming to him and calling him by his name saying Cornelius thy prayers and thine Almes déedes are come vp into remembraunce before God wherefore sende to Ioppa for one Symon whose Sirname is Peter he lodgeth with one Simon a Tanner whose house ioyneth vpon the Sea side and he shall tell thée what thou oughtest to doe Then Cornelius sent for Peter against whose comming he had called togithers all his kinsmen and speciall friends And when Peter was come Cornelius mette him and fell downe at his féete to worship hym which thing Peter would not suffer forasmuch as he was but a man as Cornelius was And so going in with hym he founde a great companie gathered togithers vnto whom he sayde Yée know how that it is an vnlawfull thing for a man that is a Iewe borne to company or come to one that is of an other nacion But God hath shewed me that I shoulde not make any man common or vncleane Therfore came I vnto you without saying nay assoone as I was sent for I aske therefore for what intent haue yée sent for me Then Cornelius sayd Foure dayes ago and euen about this same houre I fasted and at the ninth houre I prayed in my house and behold a man stoode before me in bright clothing and sayde Cornelius thy prayer is heard and thine Almes déeds are had in remembraunce in the sight of God sende therefore to Ioppa and call for Symon whose Sirname is Peter he is lodged in the house of one Symon a Tanner by the Sea side the which assoone as he is come shall speake vnto thée Then sent I for thée immediately and thou hast well done for to come Now therefore are we all here present before God to heare all thinges that are commaunded vnto thée Then Peter preached the worde of God vnto them and whyle he was yet preaching the holy Ghost fell vpon them all so that in the ende Cornelius with all his Company there present were Baptized in the name of Christ Iesu Chore was the sonne of Iezchar the sonne of Caath the sonne of Lénie This Chore of a stoute and prowde heart enuied and detested Moses the true seruant of God and raysed vp a sedicion agaynst him and Aaron hauing with hym Dathan Abiran and On Thrée great Captaynes beside 250. other noble men that tooke his parte which insurrection by the power of man was vnsuppressable But almighty God caused the earth to open and swallow them vp with theyr Wyues Children and all their substaunce ¶ Here is a question to be mooued If all the substaunce of Chore with his wife and children were swallowed vp of the earth with them How can that be true which is written in the tytle of the. 41. Psalme that the children of Chore were eyther the makers or the singers or the setters forth of that godly Psalme Aunswere is made Numeri 26. where it is written that when Chore was swallowed vp of the earth God miraculously preserued certayne of his children of whose ofspring there came very excellent learned and notable wyse men and speciallye these foure Ethan the Ezrachite to wéete that was borne in the town called Ezrachi Heman Calcal Darda which foure so farre excelled all other in wisedome and learning that the wisedome of Salomon was compared to be as great as theirs These foure are called the children of Chore not that they were the naturall children of Chore but that they came of the ofspring of the children of Chore which God had miraculously preserued from the great gulph and gaping of the earth For it is well knowne that Chore liued in Moses time agaynst whome he was the chiefe in stirring vp of rebellion against him Agayne Ethan Heman Calcal and Darda liued and florished in Salomons tyme which was 480. yeres or therabout after that Chore was killed So that these men could not be the naturall children of Chore but are called his children and his sonnes bicause they came of his progenic and ofspring Cirus King of Persia in the first yere of his reigne deliuered the people of Israell out of captiuitie and gaue them libertie to go and builde the Citie of Ierusalem and the Temple of God againe which Nabuchodonosor had destroyed and sent with them all the vessels of golde and siluer pertayning to the house of the Lorde which were in number 5400. And the number of the whole congregation that returned from the captiuitie of Babilon were .xlij. thousande thrée hundreth and thrée score beside their seruantes and Maydens which were 6337. and among them also were 200. singing men and women And of this Cyrus it was prophecied by the Prophet Esaye long before Cyrus was borne that he shoulde deliuer
the children of Israel out of captiuitie Chusan Risathaim was king of Mesopotamia into whose hande God deliuered the Children of Israel bicause they turned from him to serue straunge Gods which King kept them in bondage eyght yeares till at last they crying to the Lorde for helpe God raysed vp Othoniel which deliuered them out of his hands Dalila was the wyfe of Samson who thorowe the perswasions of the Philistines flattered him so long vntill she had got knowledge where all his strength laye that knowne she so dallyed with him that he laying down his heade vpon hir lappe and there falling a sléepe she caused the heare of hys heade to be shauen off and so betrayed him to the Philistines Damaris was a certayne godly woman dwelling at the Citie of Athens who among other Paule conuerted Dan was the sonne of Iacob borne him of Bilha Rachels mayde His brothers name of father and mother was Nephtaly Iacob before his death prophecied of him saying Dan shall iudge his people as one of the Tribes of Israel Dan shall be a serpent by the way and an Adder by the path byting the horse héeles so that his Rider shall fall backewarde O Lorde I haue wayted for thy saluation The generation of the Danites grewe to such a number that the portion which Iosua gaue them was not sufficient for all their Tribe wherefore they went out to séeke them an inheritaunce to dwell in And comming to the quiet Citie of Lais which mystrusted nothing they fell vpon it killed the people and brent the City And in the place therof they builded themselues another Citie and called it Dan. And set vp the Idols therein which they had taken from Micah and worshipped them and so continued in their ydolatrie till the Arke of God was taken 1. Reg. 4. Daniel was an holy Prophet of the Tribe of Iuda who beyng a welfauoured yonge springalde and of good erudition was among other of the children of Israel brought to Babilon and there founde at the Kings charges to learning to profite in the Chaldeys tongue and for the better nourishing and bringing vp of these yong striplings hée appoynted to them for thrée yeares space a portion of his owne meate euery day and of hys owne Wyne which he dranke to thintent that by their good intreatie and learning of his religion they might rather fauor him than the Iewes and to be able to serue him as gouernours in their lande But Daniel being determined in his heart that he woulde not defile himselfe with the Kinges meate and drinke desired his kéeper that he and his thrée companions to wit Ananias Misael and Azarias might not defyle themselues but that he woulde gyue them nothing else but Pulse to eate and water to drinke which thing he was afrayde to doe least when the King shoulde call them before him they might séeme in woorser lyking than the rest of their fellowes and so he to be in daunger of his lyfe Well sayde Daniel prooue thy seruaunts for ten dayes Then the Kéeper whose heart God had mooued to fauour Daniel prooued them ten dayes and when he saw them fatter in fleshe and in better lyking than the other he tooke away their portion of meate and serued them daily with Pulse and water And to these God gaue great knowledge and vnderstanding in all learning and wysedome But to Daniel onely he gaue the gyft of Prophecying and opening of visions and dreames Now when the time was expired that all the children whome the King had so long nourished shoulde be brought before him he founde Daniel and his thrée associates in matters of wisedome and vnderstanding that he requyred of them ten tymes better than all the learned men of his Realme so that the King had Danyel in great estimacion After this Daniel expounded the Kinges dreames and shewed him the true interpretacion and meaning thereof which none of the Chaldeans coulde doe for the which the King rewarded him wyth great gyftes and made him gouernour ouer the whole Prouince of Babilon wherewyth the other Princes and Rulers were sore offended and sought occasion against him concerning the kingdome but Daniel was so faythfull and vpright in all the Kings matters that they confessed and sayde We shall fynde no occasion against this Daniel except it be concerning the lawe of his God Therefore let vs perswade the king to make a decrée that whosoeuer shall aske a peticion of any god or man for thirtie dayes saue only of the King the same to be cast into the denne of Lyons And when the King had consented to this wicked decrée and sealed the wryting Daniel that all men might sée that he woulde neyther consent in heart nor déede for these fewe dayes to anye thing that was contrarye to Gods glorye went home to his house and set open the wyndowe of his Chamber towarde Ierusalem and fell downe vppon hys knées to gyue thanckes and prayse vnto God as hys custome was thrée tymes a daye to doe And thus making his prayers and supplication to his God his aduersaries came vpon him and founde hym a worke wherevpon they went to the king and sayde hast thou not sealed the decrée that whosoeuer shall make request to any God or man within thirtie daies saue to thée O King shal be cast into the denne of Lions True it is quoth the king and it cannot be broken Then sayd they This Daniel one of thy prisoners of Iuda regardeth neyther thée nor yet thy statute but maketh his peticion thrise a day vnto his god When the King heard this he was sore displeased in himselfe and sought by all meanes to haue excused Daniel and when he sawe no intreatie woulde serue nor no way be founde to alter the lawe he suffred Daniel to be cast down to the Lions which were seuen in numbre and were kept fasting that daye from their ordinarie dyet to the intent they shoulde haue deuoured Daniel But God had so stopped the mouthes and furie of the Lyons that they dyd him no harme and least he should perish there for hunger God sent his Prophete Abacucke with meate and drinke to féede hym and also mooued the kings heart to take such care for Daniel that the seuenth day after he went to the denne to sée if he were a lyue or dead and finding hym not perished but whole and sounde he reioyced greatly and caused Daniel to be taken out his accusers with their wyues and children cast downe among the fierce gréedy Lions ▪ who tore them all in péeces before they came at the grounde Thus being deliuered hée afterwarde prophecied of the comming of Christ and of the Empire of Babilon Medea Persia Grecia and the Romaines Reade more of him in the story of Bell and Susanna Darda the sonne of Mahol was one of the foure which came of the ofspring of the children of Chore and so
rebell agaynst the Lorde or to swarue from his lawes and ordinaunces in any poynt but rather for this consideration to be a witnesse betwéene vs and you and our generations after vs least it shoulde chaunce another daye your children to say vnto ours what haue ye to doe with the Lorde God of Israel yée children of Ruben and of Gad the Lorde ye sée hath made Iordan a border betwéene vs and you and therefore ye can haue no part in the Lorde with vs and so shoulde your children make our chyldren cease from fearing the Lorde And therefore to preuent such an inconuenience we tooke aduisement and made this Aultar that if any such kynde of talke shoulde be ministred of your children to ours in time to come that then our children might aunswere and say agayne Beholde the facion of the Aultar of the Lorde which our fathers made neyther for burnt offerings nor sacrifices but for a witnesse betweene vs and you that our part is in the Lorde as well as yours And when Phinehes and the other Lordes had hearde their aunswere they were well content and returned and so the matter ended They called the Aultar our witnesse that the Lorde is God. Gad the Prophet came to Dauid lying in the lande of Moab saying abyde not in holde but depart and go into the lande of Iuda At another tyme when Dauid had offended the Lord in numbring his people Gad was sent vnto him to giue him choyse of thrée thinges whether he woulde haue seauen yeares hunger or thrée monthes to flie before his enimies or but thrée dayes pestilence in the lande Gaius a certaine faythfull brother dwelling in Derba was one of Paules companions and in great ieoperdie of his lyfe at Ephesus thorowe the sedition of Demetrius the Siluersmith but after the businesse was ended he accompanied Paule into Asia To this man S. Iohn wrote his thirde Epistle Gallio was Proconsull of Achaia to wyt the Lord Deputie vnder Cesar the Emperour in the countrey of Achaia In this tyme it happened the Iewes which had made a conspiracie agaynst Paule to bring him before the place of iudgement where Gallio sate as Iudge accusing Paule vnto him of newe learning But when Gallio perceyued the controucrsie betwéene the Iewes and Paule was concerning Iewishe religion he sought to ridde his handes of them and preuenting Paule which was ready to speake in his owne defence sayde Dye Iewes if it were a matter of wrong or an euill déede reason woulde that I shoulde heare you but if it be a question of wordes of names or of your lawe looke vnto it your selfe for I will be no Iudge in such matters And so caused them to auoyde the place Gamaliel one of the auncient Pharisies was Paules Schoolemaister and in high estimation among the people both for his excellent knowledge in the lawe and for his singuler wisedome When the Apostles were brought and other of the Counsell for preaching in the name of Christ whose lyues he perceyued the Counsell sought he desired that for a whyle the Apostles might depart out of the Counsell house And when they were gone he sayde ye men of Israel take héede to your selues what ye intende to doe as touching these men for before these dayes rose vp one Theudas boasting himselfe to whome resorted a number of men about 400. who was slaine and they all which beléeued him were scattered abroade and brought to naught After this man rose vp one Iudas of Galile in the time when Tribute began who drewe away much people after him he also perished and all that obeyed him were scattered abroade And nowe I say vnto you refrayne your selues from these men and let them alone For if this Counsell or this worke be of men it will come to naught but if it be of God ye cannot destroye it least ye be founde to stryue against God. Gedalia the sonne of Ahicam was a great Captaine vnder Nabuchodonosor whome he made gouerneur of the lande of Iuda to rule the rascall people which he had left behinde him at the destruction of Ierusalem who intreated the people so gently and so friendly that all the Iewes which were scattered about in the lande hearing of his gentlenesse resorted vnto Gedaliah and founde great fauour at his hande for the which they bare vnto him their heartie good willes Insomuch that when Baal King of the Ammonites had sent one Ismael vnder pretence of friendship to slea him The Captaynes of the Iewes hauing knowledge thereof were so sore afrayde of Gedaliah least any misfortune shoulde chaunce him that they tolde him of Ismaels conspiracie And one among the reast named Iohanan offred himselfe to dispach Ismael out of the way so secretly that the déede shoulde neuer be knowne But Gedaliah not crediting their wordes neyther yet mistrusting Ismael woulde suffer nothing to be done vnto him And so forsaking the counsell and admonition of his friendes and trusting to much to Ismael he was of him in fine most guylefully slaine within his owne house Gedeon the sonne of Ioas was of the Tribe of Manasses To whome the Aungell of the Lorde appeared as he was threshing of Wheate saying The Lorde is with thée thou valiant man Then sayde Gedeon if the Lord be with vs why is all this cuill come vpon vs we haue heard by our fathers of all the miracles which the Lorde did for his people in Egypt and nowe hath he forsaken vs and giuen vs ouer into the handes of the Madianites Well sayde the Aungell go thy waye in this thy might and strength which I haue giuen thée for thou shalt deliuer Israell out of the hande of their enimies Oh Lorde quoth Gedeon wherewith shall I saue Israel séeing my kinred is but poore and I the least of all my fathers house With my helpe sayth the Lorde shalt thou saue Israel for I will be with thée and thou shalt smyte the Madianites as if they were but one man Then I beséech thée O Lord quoth Gedeon shewe me a signe that thou talkest with me depart not hence tyll I come agayne with myne offering which offering being brought and dressed accordingly the Angell had no sooner touched it with the ende of his rodde but fire came out of the stone whereon the sacrifice lay and consumed it altogither and so the Aungell vanished out of sight The same night following at the Lordes commaundement Gedeon went and destroyed the Altar of Baal which his father had made and cut downe all the Groue about it for the which déede the people hauing knowledge thereof woulde haue stoned him to death Then Ioas to saue Gedeon his sonne sayde vnto them what will ye doe will ye pleade Baals cause or will ye be his defenders If Baal be a god let him reuenge his owne cause vpon him that hath done the déede And from that day forth Gedeon was called
and hored And put their wyne into olde bottels all to rent and torne and shodde themselues with olde clouted shooen and put on their backes olde garments and so sent them forth to Iosua to obtayne peace And when Iosua looked vppon them and behelde their simple state he asked what they were and from whence they came They aunswered from a farre countrey are thy seruauntes come for the name of the Lorde thy God for we haue hearde of hys fame and power and what he did in the lande of Egypt and in all other places till nowe And long haue we trauailed to come hither as ye may sée for this our foode the day we came forth was hote our bottels shooes and garments all newe and nowe are they olde and torne and our breade hored and mouled wherefore we shall desire your fauour and peace Then Iosua beléeuing it had bene so swore vnto the Gibeonites and made a couenaunt of peace with them and let them go Within thrée dayes after it fortuned the Israelites to come to the Citie of Gibeon thinking to haue destroyed it But when they sawe that they were the people which a little before had obtayned peace at their handes woulde not slea them bicause of their othe but went to Iosua and tolde him Then Iosua sent for them and demaunded wherefore they had so deceyued him They aunswered it was tolde vs that God commaunded Moses to giue you this lande and to slea all the inhabitants therof and therfore were we forced to make this prouision for our liues And nowe we be in your hands to dâ—e with vs as shall please you Wâ—ll sayde Iosua for our othe sake ye shall haue your liues But for as much as ye haue so craftilye deceyued vs the Lorde hath determined that ye shall be in bondage vnder Israel all the dayes of your liues and be hewers of woode and water drawers for the congregation and house of God continually And so the Israelites tooke their Cities but saued their lyues After this the Kings of the Amorites hearing how the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel came vpon them and besieged Gibeon which was the greatest Citie in all the kingdome of the Amorites wherevpon the Gibeonites were constrayned to sende to Iosua for his ayde who came from Gilgal with a great power rescued them and tooke the Kings of the Amorites which were fiue in number and hanged them on fiue seuerall trées and destroyed all their people and countries Thus the Gibeonites continued in bondage vnder the Israelites with their liues vntill the time of King Saule who then for a zeale he had to the children of Israel and Iuda slue a great number of them which déede God punished in the dayes of King Dauid at what time he sent an hunger vpon the lande which continued by the space of thrée yeares for when Dauid enquired at the Lorde the cause of that plague aunswere was made him of God that it was for Saule and the house of bloud who had killed the Gibeonites which Gibeonites were none of the séede of Israel but a remnant of the Amorites with whome the children of Israel had made a bonde of peace Then Dauid asking the Gibeonites what he shoulde doe for them and wherewith he shoulde recompence them they sayde we will neyther haue siluer nor golde of Saule nor of his house nor that any man of Israel be killed for our sakes but the man that hath consumed vs and imagined to bring vs to naught him will we destroy Therefore let his seauen sonnes be deliuered vnto vs that we maye hang them vp before the Lorde Then Dauid caused the two sonnes of Rizpa Saules Concubine and the fiue sonnes of Michol whome she bare to Adriel to be deliuered vnto the Gibeonites who tooke and hanged them vp on an hill before the Lorde And thus were the Gibeonites reuenged on Saule Giliad was the sonne of Machir and his chyldren were these Hiezer Helech Asriel Sechem Semida and Hepher Godolia looke Gedalia Golias was a mightie strong Gyant whome the Philistines had brought with them to battell agaynst the hoste of Israel His stature was sixe cubites and a span His helmet vpon his heade was of brasse and the Bootes on his legges of the same His coate of Fence weyed 5000. sicles The shaft of his Speare which he bare in his hande was lyke a Weauers beame And the heade vpon the same weighed 600. sicles of yron This man beyng thus armed came out from the Philistines one bearing his shielde before him and standing betwéene the twoo hostes in a valley he cryed to the hoste of Israel saying Why are ye come to set your battell in aray am not I a Philistine and you the seruauntes of Saule choose you out a man and let him come downe to me And if he be able to fight with me and to kill me then will we be your seruants and if I can ouercome him and kill him then shall ye be our seruants and serue vs Thus came he day by day defying the whole hoste of Israel the space of fortie dayes long wherewith the Israelites were sore afrayde and discomsited and durst not abyde his sight But God who by his secret prouidence had appoynted out a man to match him caused Isai to send his yong son Dauid to the hoste of Israel to sée his brethren howe they did And as he stoode with them and hearde the despytefull wordes of Golias which he spake against the holye hoste of Israel The spirit of God euen at that instant smote such a courage into the hart of Dauid that he slipt away from his brethren vnto the people whome he sawe in great feare and sayde What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the shame from Israel and what is this vncircumcised heathen that he shoulde thus reuyle the hoste of the lyuing god Dauid vttering this bolde maner of speach once or twyse he was at the last brought before King Saule to whome he sayde on this wyse Oh King let no mans heart fayle him or be afrayde this daye for I thy seruaunt will go and fight with yonder Philistine Thou art not able to stande in his handes quoth the King for he is a man brought vp all the dayes of his lyfe in feates of warre and thou art yet but a chylde without experience or knowledge thereof Then Dauid to strengthen the weake fayth of the King sayde thus vnto him As thy seruaunt was kéeping his fathers shéepe there came a Lion and a Beare likewyse and tooke a shéepe out of the flocke Then I not fearing the force of these twoo cruell beastes ranne out first after the Lion and tooke the pray out of his mouth and in spite of his bearde I slue him Likewyse I serued the Beare Wherefore I haue no doubt but as the Lorde did ayde me then so wyll he nowe against this bragging Philistine that hath so rayled
that had sent Dauid so wyse a sonne to sit in his seate and graunted hym Timber of Cedar Fyrre and other precious woodde so much as he woulde desire Wherefore Salomon to gratifie Hyram agayne sent hym twentye thousande quarters of wheate and twentye Butts of Oyle and gaue him also twentye goodly Cities which Cities Hyram called the lande of Cabul forasmuch as when he sawe them they pleased hym not After this Hyram gaue to Salomon sixe score Talents of Golde and sent him Ships and men which had knowledge of the Sea to go with his Nauye into the countrey of Ophir which Shippes brought vnto Salomon * In the. 2. Par. 8. d. is menciō made of 30. talents mo whiche seeme to haue ben employed for their charges foure hundred and twentye Talents of golde ¶ Hyram The hight of Lyfe 3. Reg. 7. b. Hyram This man was a certayne wydowes sonne dwelling in the Countrie of Tyre and of the Tribe of Nepthaly and dyd so excell in all maner of workemanship that Hyram King of Tyre sent him to Salomon to worke and finishe all things that pertayned to the Temple of the Lorde which Salomon went about to edifie Hobab was the sonne of Raguel whose * Some think that Raguel Iethro Hobab and Keni were all one Kymhi sayeth that Raguel was Iethros father So Hobab was Moses father in lawe companye Num. 10. d. Moses his Father in lawe woulde so fayne haue had into the lande of Canaan that he intreated him on this wise saying We are nowe going to the place which the Lord sayde that he woulde giue vs therefore I pray thée go with vs and we will doe thée good for the Lorde hath promised good vnto Israel Then Hobab made aunswere saying I will not go but I will departe to mine owne Countrey and kindred Nay quoth Moses I pray thée forsake vs not but go with vs and be our guide for thou knowest our comping places in the wildernesse and whatsoeuer goodnesse the Lorde shall shewe vnto vs the same will we she we vnto thée But all this coulde not mooue Hobab but that he woulde depart And so returned home into his owne countrey agayne ¶ Hobab Beloued Iudith 2. cap. Holofernes was the chiefe and most terrible Captaine of all Nabuchodonosors hoste sent of him to subdue all the worlde And comming to the Citie of Bethulia 14. b. where all the Iewes lay in great feare of him and his power he was there by Gods prouision slayne by the handes of an holy woman called Iudith Read hir storie ¶ Holofernes A stoute and valiant Captaine 1. Reg. 1. a. Hophni and Phinehes the twoo sonnes of Ely were the Lordes Priestes and became so wicked that they abused the women that wayted at the doore of the Tabernacle of wytnesse And whereas the law was that 2. c. d e. whenseeuer any man did make any offering the Priests boye should come whyle the fleshe was a séething and not before with a fleshe hooke in his hande hauing thrée téeth which he shoulde thrust into the Panne Kettle or whatsoeuer vessell it were and so much as the flesh hooke brought vp was the Priestes part and no more yet notwithstanding this lawe the Priestes boye woulde come before the fleshe was sodde and require flesh to rost for the Priest and say vnto him that made the offering that his Maister woulde haue no sod fleshe but rawe And if he woulde not giue it him then woulde the boye take it by violence By the which abusing of the Lawe the Lordes offering was had in such contempt among the people that they began to abhorre it Wherefore the Lorde plagued the sonnes of Eli permitting the Philistines 4. c. to slea them both in one day ¶ Hophni a Fyst or as much as one may comprehende betweene his thumbe and two fingers or couering 4. Reg. 15. g. 17. cap. Hosea the sonne of Ela by treason slue Pekah the sonne of Remaliahu King of Israel and possessed hys place and began his reigne in the .xij. yere of Ahas king This was the last King that reigned ouer Israel of Iuda and did euill in the sight of the Lorde but not so euill as other Kings before him He denyed to pay Tribute to the Assirians and sent to the King of Egypt to haue his ayde agaynst them wherefore Salmanasar King of Assiria came against Hosea and besieged him in Samaria thrée yeares and in the ende wanne the Citie destroyed his kingdome and ledde Hosea and all his people captine into Assiria Thus was Israel nowe deliuered into the handes of spoylers for their wickednesse which the Lorde had long suffred ¶ Hosea a Sauiour or health 4. Reg. 22. d. Hulda the wyfe of Sallum was a Prophetesse dwelling in Ierusalem in a place called the house of doctrine To whome Iosia King of Iuda sent certayne messengers to inquire of the Lorde for him and hys people concerning the booke of the Lawe which was founde in the Temple and red before him and when they had done their message the Prophetesse made aunswere saying Go and tell the man that sent you to me Thus sayth the Lorde beholde I will bring euill vpon this place and vpon the inhabiters thereof euen all the wordes of the booke which the King of Iuda hath readde bicause they haue forsaken me and haue burnt incense to other gods to anger me with all the works of their hands My wrath also shall be kindled agaynst this place and shall not be quenched But to the King of Iuda who sent you to inquire of the Lorde so shall ye say vnto him Thus sayth the Lorde God of Israel the wordes that thou hast heard shall come to passe But bicause that thine hart did melt and thou hast humbled thy selfe before the Lorde when thou heardest what I spake agaynst this place and against the inhabiters of the same howe they shoulde be destroyed and accursed and hast rent thy clothes and wept before mée I haue also hearde it sayth the Lorde Beholde therefore I will gather thée vnto thy fathers and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace and thine eyes shall not sée all the euill that I will bring vpon this place And so the Messengers departed and tolde the King. ¶ Hulda the worlde ▪ or a Weesell Hur came of the Tribe of Iuda and * This is not that Hur which came of the kinrede of Caleb although they came both of the Tribe of Iuda but an other of the same name Lyra vppon 1. Par. 2. c. This Hur was husband to miriam sister to Moses was one of the Exod. 17. d. principall fathers and Rulers vnder Moses He and Aaron 24. d. 31. a. stayed vp the handes of Moses whyle the Chyldren of Israel fought with King Amalech And was also appointed with Aaron afterwarde to heare and determine all matters of controuersie among the people till Moses
grounde Which done she went and stoode in hir Tent dore and séeing Baruck pursuing Sisera she went mette hym saying Come and go with mée and I will shewe thée the man whome thou séekest and so he followed Iael who brought him into hir tent where Sisera laye dead Iair was a Gileadite borne He had .xxx. sonnes which were men of authoritie for they rode vppon .xxx. Asses colts And they had xxx Cities lying in the lande of Gilead which Cities were called the townes of Iair He reigned .xxij. yeares After whose death the Children of Israel fell to wickednesse agayne and serued Baalim and Astharoth the gods of Siria other straunge gods for the which the Lord was wroth with Israel and solde them into the hands of the Philistynes and Ammonites which oppressed them so sore by the space of .xviij. yeares That thâ—y were fayne to cry for helpe of the lord Who then sayde vnto them Dyd not I when yée cryed vnto mée deliuer you from the Egiptians the Amorites the Ammonites the Philistines the Sidonites the Amalakites and the Moabites which nacions had oppressed you And yet haue ye now forsaken me and serue theyr gods Therfore crie vnto these gods whom yée haue chosen and let them helpe you in your tribulacion for I will deliuer you no more Oh Lord said they we haue sinned doe vnto vs whatsoeuer pleaseth thée Then had the Lord so great compassion and pittie on the miserye of Israel that he styrred vp a man one Iephtah who by the power of God saued them Iames the sonne of Zebede and brother to Iohn was a poore fisherman and being in the ship with his father mending of his net Iesus came by and called him who immediately left his shippe his father and all and went after Iesus and was one of his Apostles and receyued with his brother the name of Bonarges which is to saye The sonnes of thunder Math. 10. a. Iames the lesse was the sonne of Alphâ—us and Marie sister to Marie the Lords mother And being bishop He suffered martyrdome in the. vi yere of Nero. of Ierusalem he wrote to the Iewes that were scattered abroade after the persecution and death of Steuen Instructing them with sundry precepts howe to order their lyues 2 Tim. 3. b. Iannes and Iambres were twoo false Sorcerers of Egypt who in the time of Moses with their enchantments Exo. 7. b. went about to put those miraculous woonders out of credence that Moses by the power of God did And euen as they withstoode Moses so do the aduersaries of the Gospell at this day and euer will resist the truth vnder a certaine false pretence of godlynesse Gen. 9. d. Iapheth was the youngest of Noes thrée sonnes who being enformed of his fathers vnséemely lying a The nations that came of his children Of Gomer came the Italians Of Magog the Scitians of them the Turkes Of Madai the Medes Of Iauan the Greekes Of Tubal the Spanyards Of Mosoch the Moscouites and of Tiras the Thracians Lanquet sléepe in his Tent tooke a garment and bare it betwene him and Sem on their shoulders and comming toward their father ashamed to looke on his nakednesse tourned their faces backwarde and so couered their fathers priuiâ—ies For the which déede Noe hauing knowledge thereof blessed them saying to Iapheth on this wise God shall enlarge Iapheth and he shall dwell in the Tentes of Sem and Canaan shall be their seruant ¶ Iapheth perswading or entycing Iairus was * Mark. 5. c. d one of the Rulers of the Synagoge among the Iewes whose daughter of the age of twelue yeares lay sicke and at the poynt of death And hearing of the fame of Iesus went and fell downe at his féete beséeching him that he would come home to his house lay his hande vpon his daughter that by the touching therof she might be safe and lyue And while there was an occasion giuen whereby to reforme the vnperfect fayth of the Ruler and that by the ensample of a woman diseased with an issue of bloude .xij. yeares there came certaine * Luk. 8. f. g. messengers from the Rulers house which sayde vnto him that his daughter was deade wherefore it shoulde not néede to trouble the Maister anye further Then Iesus perceyuing the Ruler to be as a man in dispayre sayde vnto him Be not afrayde for although thy daughter be deade in déede onely beléeue and thy daughter shall liue And so Iesus went home to the Rulers house and raised vp his daughter from death to life ¶ Iairus Lightning or being lightned Gen. 5. d. Iared was the sonne of Mahalaleel who liued an hundred sixtie and two yeares and then begat Henoch and liued after that eyght hundred yeares and begat sonnes and daughters And when he had liued in all nine hundred sixtie and two yeares he dyed ¶ Iared Commaunding or descending 2. Mac. b. 4. cap. Iason was a wicked man and so desirous of honor that he laboured his owne brother Onias out of the hye Priestes office promising Antiochus the King to gyue him for the same thrée hundred and thrée score talentes of siluer and of another rent foure score And also if the King woulde licence him to set vp a place for exercise a place for the youth and to name them of Ierusalem Antiochians he promised an hundred and fiftie Talents And when these things was graunted to Iason and that he had got the superioritie he beganne immediately to drawe his kinsmen to the customes of the heathen abolishing the lawes and priuiledges of the Iewes he brought in newe statutes contrary to the lawe of god So that thorowe the exceeding wickednesse of this vngodly man Iason the people had a great desire to follow the maner of the Gentyles The Priestes also had no lust in seruing the Lorde but in casting the stone and such wanton sportes Nowe after thrée yeres when Iason shoulde paye the King his money which he had promised for his brothers office he sent it by one whome he most trusted called Menclaus who gate the office from Iason as appeareth more plainly in his storie Then Iason being thus deceyued by Menelaus was fayne to flye into the lande of the Ammonites remayning there till he might spye a time to be reuenged And when hée hearde the rumor that went abrode of Antiochus death he gat him a bonde of men to the number of a thousande or mo and came sodenlye vppon the Citie killing and slaying his owne Citizens without mercie regarding neyther kinne nor friende But neuerthelesse when he coulde not spéede of his purpose he fledde into the lande of the Ammonites againe Where in the ende it came to this poynt that he was accused to Areta King of the Arabians and so abhorred of all men and he was pursued from Citie to Citie and driuen into Egypt And going from thence to the Lacedemonians thinking by
reason of kinred to haue had some succour of them he was not regarded but suffered to perishe in a straunge land no man mourning for him nor putting him into hys graue ¶ Iason He that maketh whole a Phisition Iecksan looke Iocsan 4. Reg. 23. f. Iehoahas the sonne of Iosias was .xxiij. yeare olde when he began to reygne ouer Iuda and had not reygned thrée moneths or that Pharao Necho King of Egipt came and put him downe and set vp his brother in hys steade And put the lande to a tribute of an hundred Talents of Siluer and one of Golde and caryed Iehoahas away into Egypt where he dyed ¶ Iehoahas The possession of the Lorde 4. Reg. 23. g. 24. a. Iehoakym the sonne of Iosias was .xxv. yeares of age when he began to reygne ouer Iuda and dyd that which was euill in the sight of the Lorde His name was chaunged from Eliakim to Iehoakym by Pharao Necho King of Egypt which came and deposed his brother This Kyng dyed in the way as they led him prisoner into Babilon Reade Ieremie 22. e. Iehoahas and made him King in his steade and mersced the lande as before is sayde in Iehoahas For the payment of which money Iehoakym taxed the land and leuyed of euery man according to his habilitie and payde the money to Pharao After this came Nabuchodonosor King of Babilon and besieged Ierusalem to whome Iehoakym yéelded and serued Nabuchodonosor thrée yeares and then rebelled agaynst him into whose hande the Lorde deliuered him so that the King of Babilon tooke him and bounde him in twoo chaynes and caried him and all the vessels of the Lordes house into Babilon This King reigned a .xj. yeares ¶ Iehoakym the Rysing or aduenging of the Lorde * He is called also Iechonias Math. 1. b Iehoachin 4. Reg. 24. b. c. d. was the sonne yof Iehoakm who at the age of xviij yeares began to reigne ouer Iuda and did euill in the sight of the Lorde as his fathers before him He had not reygned thrée moneths or that the King of Babilon came and deposed him making Mathania his fathers brother King in his steade chaunging his name from Mathania to Zedekia and caryed Iehoachym away into Babilon where he remayned in pryson xxxviij yeares after euen vntill the comming of Euilmerodach King of Babilon after Nabuchodonosor hys father who had such a mynde to Iehoachym that he deliuered him out of prison and exalted him aboue all the Princes in Babilon and fedde him at his owne table all the dayes of his lyfe ¶ Iehoachin the Resurrection of the Lorde 4. Reg. 13. a. b. c. Iehoahas the sonne of Iehu began his reygne ouer Israel in the .xxiij. yeare of the reygne of Ioas the sonne of Ahaziahu King of Iuda and walked so wickedly in the sinnes of Ieroboam by worshipping the Calues which he had erected that God deliuered him into the handes of Hazael and his sonne Benhadad Kinges of Siria which destroyed the people of Israel and vexed them so sore that they made the Israelites like threshed dust yet neuerthelesse when Iehoahas humbled himselfe and besought the Lord he hearde him and had such pitie compassion on the misery of Israel that he deliuered him out of the Sirians subiection which had brought him so lowe that they had left him but fiftie horsemen ten Charets and ten thousande footemen He reygned xvij yeares and then dyed and was buryed in Samaria leauing behinde him his sonne Ioas to reigne in his steade ¶ Iehoahas Apprehending possesing or seeyng 4. Reg. 11. ca. Iehoiada was the hye Byshop and Priest in the dayes of Ahaziahu King of Iuda whose daughter he maryed named Iehosabeth He preserued Ioas the yongest sonne of Ahaziahu his father in lawe sixe yeares in the Lordes house and in the seauenth yeare he brought him forth and proclaimed him king And being his gouernour and protectour trayned him vp in all godlynesse and vertue So that so long as Iehoiada liued the King 2. Par. 24. d. walked in all the wayes of the Lorde from the which he swarued after the death of this good Bishop Iehoiada Who liued 130. yeares and for his faythfulnesse towardes God and his people was most honorablye buried in the Citie of Dauid among the Kings ¶ Iehoiada the Knowledge of the Lorde 4. Reg. 11. a. Iehosabeth was the daughter of Ahaziahu King of Iuda and wyfe to Iehoiada the hie Bishop of the Iewes 2. Par. 22. d. And when Atthalia hir Graundmother went about to destroy the Kings séede shée stole awaye Ioas hir yoongest brother from among the Kings sonnes and hid both him and his Nurse in hir owne Chamber with hir husbands consent the space of .vj. yeares and so preserued him that he perished not with the reast of hir brethren ¶ Iehosabeth the fulnesse of the Lorde 4. Reg. 9 ca. Iehu the sonne of Nimsi was annoynted King ouer Israel by Eliseus the Prophet for to destroye the house of Achab his mayster And being commaunded to go about it with spéede he began first with Ioram which lay at Iezrael to be healed of his wounds which the Sirians had giuen him And as Iehu was comming thitherward the watchman espying a company comming toward the Citie tolde the King who then sent out an horseman to méete them and to knowe whether they came peaceably or no. And when the Messenger came to Iehu he sayde The King woulde knowe whether it be peace or no What hast thou to doe with peace quoth Iehu turne thée behinde me and so the messenger turned behynde Iehu and went backe no more and likewyse the second Then the watchman tolde the King that he thought by the dryuing of the Charret it shoulde be Iehu that was comming for he driueth quoth he as he were mad The King hearing that he made him readye to warre and tooke Ahaziahu King of Iuda with him and went toward Iehu and met him in the furlong of Naboth saying is There was a Prophete also called Iehu the sonne of Hanani which prophecied of the destruction of Baasa King of Israel and his posterity Read. 3. Reg. 16. a. b. it peace Iehu or no What peace should it be quoth he so long as the whooredomes of thy mother Iezabel hir witchcrafts are so great and so in the Battell Iehu shot Ioram to the heart with an arrow killed him And fell vpon Ahaziahu and slue him also And so procéeding forth to Iezrael he came thither and found Iezabel looking out at a windowe And as he demaunded of the companye about hir who was on his side and woulde for his sake cast hir downe two or thrée of hir Chamberlaines threw hir out at the windowe and brake hir necke notwithstanding bicause she was a Kings daughter he caused hir to be buryed Then he sent his letters to Samaria 10. cap. commaūding those which had the gouernance of Achabs seauentie sonnes
to kill them all and to bring their heades on the next morrowe to Iezrael And when they for feare had fulfilled his commaundement and brought their heades to him Iehu fell vpon the murtherers and slue them also And in the waye to Samaria he slue the brethren of Ahaziahu euen fortie and two which were going to visite Achabs sonnes Finally he trained all the Priests of Baal into the Temple of Baal and there slue them euery one conuerted the temple to a Iakes house And now when Iehu had left neyther Priest Kinseman nor any that fauoured Achab aliue the Lord for his well dooing made him this promise that his séede shoulde sit on the seate of Israel vntill the fourth generation But notwithstanding that Iehu had thus seuerely punished the vice of Idolatrie in Achabs posteritie yet he himselfe committed the same in worshipping the golden Calues and caused Israel to sinne as other before him had done He reygned .xxviij. yeares ¶ Iehu He himselfe or that which is Iudic. 11. cap. Iephtah was the sonne of Gilead base borne whose brethren which were legittimate thrust him out of their companie and so hated him that they coulde not suffer him to remayne among them wherfore Iephtah departed and fled into the lande of Tob where vnto him resorted all naughtie and light persons Nowe in the meane time that Iephtah was thus a straunger from his brethren the Ammonites made sore warre agaynst the Israelites so that they were in great ieoperdie and feare to be ouercome of them Then the Elders of Gilead considering Iephtah to be a strong and a valiant man went to Tob where he laye to intreate him to be their Captayne against the Ammonites Howe commeth thys quoth Iephtah that ye come to me in the time of your trouble did ye not hate me and * Often tymes those things which men reiect God chooseth to doe greater enterprises by expell me out of my fathers house Therefore sayde they are we turned to thée that thou mayest go with vs and be our heade and ruler But will ye promise nowe quoth Iephtah that when the Lorde shall deliuer the Ammonites into my hande ye will make me then your heade and gouernour They sayde yea And so he went with the Elders who brought him to Mizpa and being there made and confirmed their heade and Ruler he sent his messengers to the King of Ammon demauÌ„ding what cause he had to striue with Israel who answered and sayde Bicause they tooke away my countrie when they came from Egypt which if they will now restore agayne I will cease from warre Then Iephtah sent him worde agayne that Israel tooke not his lande from him but comming from Egypt and passing through the wildernesse euen to the redde Sea they remayned at Cades and sent to Sehon King of the Ammorites to suffer them quietlye to passe thorowe his Countrie And bicause he woulde not shewe them this kyndenesse the Lorde deliuered both him and his land into their hands and shall they dispossesse themselues of that which the Lord hath giuen them Nay not so Looke what people Chamos thy God driueth out that land possesse thou whatsoeuer nation the Lord our God expelleth that will we enioy Art thou better than Balac King of Moab did he not stryue with Israel and fight agaynst them all the whyle they laye in Hesbon and there about 300. yeares and why didst thou not recouer thy lande in all that space Thou doest mée wrong to warre against me for I haue not offended thée and therfore the Lorde be Iudge betwéene thée and me But when Iephtah perceyued the Ammonites not to regarde his words he prepared his armie to set vpon them And before his going made this vowe vnto the Lorde That if he did deliuer the Ammonites into his hande the first thing that met him out of his doores at his returne home againe shoulde be the Lordes and he woulde offer it vp vnto him for a burnt offering And when he had subdued the Ammonites and was comming homewarde to hys house the first thing that met him out at his doores was his owne daughter who for ioye of hir fathers victorie came against him with Timbrels and daunces Then Iephtah séeing his onely chylde come agaynst him with a companie of women after hir he rent his clothes and sayde Alas my daughter thou hast brought me lowe and art one of them that doe trouble mée for I haue opened my mouth vnto the Lorde and cannot go backe To whome she sayde Oh my father if thou hast promysed to the Lorde then forasmuch as the Lord hath auenged thée and giuen thée victorie ouer thine enimies doe with me according to thy promise But yet this one thing I shall desire of thée to spare me for two monthes that I may go downe to the Mountaynes and there with my my fellowes * For it was counted as a shame in Israel to dye without children bewayle my Virginitie Which done she returned to hir father who did with hir according as he had vowed vnto the Lorde After this the Ephraites fell at deâ—iance with Iephtah bicause he had not called them to take his part against the Ammonites and for this matter was a fielde pitched betwéene them and the Gileadites and a great battell foughten in the which the Ephraites were put to flight and séeking to haue escaped ouer Iordan the Gileadites had preuented them and stopped the passage that no Ephraite shoulde escape that way And to knowe who was an Ephraite and who was not the Gileadites vsed this policie if any preased to go euer the water they woulde bidde him say * Schibboleth signifieth the fall of waters or an eare of corne Schybboleth and as many as coulde not say Schibboleth they slue him for by that they knewe he was au Ephraite for the Ephraites coulde not sounde nor say Schibboleth but Sibboleth And so were slaine of the Ephraites that daye two and twentie thousande Iephtah vuled Israel vj. yeares and dyed ¶ Iephtah Opening Iere. 1. 2. Ieremy was the sonne of Helkia whome some thinke to be he that founde out the booke of the lawe and gaue it to Iosia He was borne in a citie called Anathoth Epiphanius wryteth that this Prophet Ieremy was slayne of hys people at a citie in Egipt called â—aphnis in the Countrie of Beniamin and by the commaundement of God began very yong to prophecie that is in the .xiij. yeare of Iosias and continued .xviij. yeares vnder the saide King and thrée monthes vnder Iehoahas and vnder Iehoakym .xi. yeares and thrée monthes vnder Iehoachin and vnder Zedekia .xi. yeares vnto the time they were caried away into Babilon So that the tyme amounteth to aboue fortie yeares beside the time that he prophecied after the captiuitie This storie is drawne out of Geneua in the Argument before the booke of Ieremie the Prophet ¶ Ieremy the Maiestie or highnesse of the Lorde Iudic. 6.
heauen in the likenesse of a Doue and lighted vppon him and also the voyce of the father was heard from heauen saying This is my welbeloued sonne in whome I am well pleased heare him And after he had finished the legacie of his father and opened the Doctrine of eternall life to the people and confirmed the same with myracles he was at the age of .xxxiij. yeares or there about betrayed of his owne disciple Iudas Math. 26. b. and by the Iewes his owne peculiar people most cruellye put to death at what tyme of his passion was a great earthquake and at sixe a clocke of the daye such a terrible Eclipse of the Sunne that for darckenesse it séemed to be very night The thirde day hée arose agayne 28. a. from death to lyfe In token he conquered sinne death and Satan And on the fourtie daye to declare himselfe Act. 1. b. to be a mightie a puissant Conquerour he ascended into heauen where he sitteth at the right hande of the Father And the fiftie day according to his promise he sent downe the true comforter the holy Ghost which shoulde leade the Apostles into all truth At the ende and last day of the world he shall come agayne with glorye to Iudge the quicke and the dead He suffered his passion the yeare after the creation of the Worlde 3994. or there about ¶ Iesus A Sauiour Eccl. 1. cap. Iesus the sonne of Sirach being among the Captiues in Egipt in the tyme of King Ptolomy Energets got libertie to reade and write many good things which Iesus his Graundfather had gathered and left them with Sirach his sonne which thinges this Iesus tooke and put in order in a booke which is called Ecclesiasticus or the wisedome of Iesus the sonne of Sirach Coll. 4. c. Iesus otherwise called Iustus was a Iewe borne and one of Paules workefellowes in preaching and setting foorth the Kingdome of God whome he commended to the Collossians desiring them that if he or anye such dyd come vnto them they shoulde receyue and entreate them with all gentlenesse Exod. 4. c. 18. cap. Iethro the Priest of Madian had seauen daughters of the which one was called Zephora whome he maried to Moses And when that Iethro had hearde of all the mightie déedes which God had done for Moses and howe he had deliuered the children of Israel out of Egipt from the bondage of Pharao and brought them thorow the red Sea he mette Moses in the Wildernesse and brought to him his wife and twoo children which he had sent backe before at whose comming Moses was excéeding glad Then as Iethro abode with Moses and sawe the great paynes he tooke in iudging the people from morning to night he sayde vnto him what is this that thou doest vnto the people Why sittest thou thy selfe alone and all the people stand about thée from morning vnto euen When the people quoth Moses haue any matter they come vnto mée and I iudge betwéene one and an other and declare vnto them the statutes and lawes of god Thou doest not well quoth Iethro for thou both wearyest thy selfe and the people that is with thée The thing is of The counsell of Iethro Moses father in lawe more weyght than thou arte able to performe alone Therefore heare my counsayle God shall prosper thée Be thou for the people to God warde and report the causes to him Admonish them of the ordinances and lawes and shewe them the waye wherein they must walke and the worke that they must doe Moreouer séeke out among the people men of courage and such as feare God true dealing men hating couetousnesse and appoint them to be rulers ouer thousands ouer hundreds ouer fiftie and ouer ten And let them iudge the people at all seasons and euery great matter let them bring it to thée But al small causes let them iudge themselues and so shall it be easier for thée when they shall beare the burthen with thée If thou shalt doe this thing and God so commaund thée thou shalt be able to endure and all the people shall go quietly to their place ¶ Iethro Excellent or remayning or searching foorth or a little corde 2. Reg. 2. cap. Ioab was the sonne of Zerniah Dauids Sister and the chiefe Captayne of all Dauids hoste In the first battell he made against Abner King Saules Captayne he was the victor and put Abner to flight and of malice afterwarde by treason slue him for â—he which déede Dauid 3. d. e. was fore offended that he besought God to auenge it on Ioab and that his house and posteritie might alwaies be plagued with the bloudy flixe leprosie feblenesse of bodie the swoorde or famine for the death of Abner Ioab also was the death of Absalom and slue him as he 18. d. hanged by the haire of his heade vpon the twist of a trée And when it was tolde him of the great lamentacion the King made for Absalom his sonne he went vnto him and saide Thou hast this day shamed the faces of all thy seruaunts 19. a. b. which this day haue saued thy lyfe and the liues of all thy sonnes and daughters the lyues of thy wiues and Concubins in that thou louest thine enimies and hatest thy friendes For thou hast declared this daye that thou regardest neither thy Princes nor seruants Therefore I doe perceyue that if Absalom had lyued and all we had bene slayne this day that then it had pleased thée well Nowe therefore vp and come out and speake comfortably vnto thy seruaunts for I sweare by the Lorde except thou come out there will not tary one man with thée this night and that wil be woorse vnto thée than all 20. cap â–ª the euill that fell on thée from thy youth hitherto Also in persecuting of Seba which had made a new insurrection against Dauid he mette Amasa his Auntes sonne by the way and * Lyra supposeth that Ioab slue Amasa of enuy bicause Dauid had made an othe in the Chapter before that Amasa shuld be his Captaine in Ioabs steade slue him and leauing him dead on the ground he followed Seba and besieged him in a Citie called Abell where the Gouernesse of the Citie being a wise woman cried vnto Ioab demaunding why he went about to destroy that Citie which was a Mother in Israel and to deuour the inheritance of the Lorde before he had offered peace To whome he aunswered saying That he went about no such matter but I come quoth he for Seba the sonne of Bichri deliuer me him and I will be gone and as soone as the heade of Seba was throwen ouer the wall to Ioab he departed Finallye after the death of Dauid who had ordeyned Salomon to reigne in hys steade Ioab tooke part with Adonia Salomons brother which vsurped the kingdome and went about with all his power to stablishe him in Dauids seate But when he hearde Salomon proclaimed
fasting hearing what promise Osias had made to the people sent for him and all the Elders of Bethulia and sayde How happeneth this that yée haue promised to deliuer the Citie to the Assirians vnlesse within these fiue dayes the Lorde turne to helpe you what men are yée that yée tempt the Lorde your deuise obtayneth no mercy of God but rather prouoketh him to wrath and displeasure Will yée set the mercy of the Lorde a time and appoint him a daye at your will exhorte the people to repentaunce prayer and put them in remembraunce of this That with much tribulasion the friendes of God are tryed and that all these things which we now suffer are farre lesse than our sinnes haue deserued And that this correction is come vpon vs as to the seruauntes of God for the amendement of our lyues and not for our destruction Nowe heare my deuise I praye you and beséeche the Lorde to bring it to good ende Yée shall stande this night in the gate of Bethulia I will go foorth with Abra my Mayden Praye yée vnto the Lorde that within the dayes that yée haue promised to deliuer vppe the citie he will visite Israel by my hande But inquyre not of mée the thing I haue taken in hande for I will not declare it tyll God haue finished the acte Then euery man went their wayes and Iudith departed home to hir secret closet where she made hir harty prayers vnto God for the peoples deliueraunce Which being done she cast of hir mourning garments decked hir selfe most brauelye to allure the eyes of all men that shoulde beholde hir which she dyd not for anye voluptuousnesse or pleasure of the fleshe but of a right discrecion and vertue And so going foorth of hir house with Abra hir Mayde she came to the gate of the Citie where the Elders stoode wayting hir comming And as they behelde hir woonderfull bewtie which God at that present had giuen hir they were marueylously astonished She then commaunding the gates to be open tooke hir leaue of the people who most hartily besought the Lorde to be hir defence well to performe the deuise of hir heart that they might safely and ioyfully receyue hir presence agayne And so committing hir to God shut the gates and looked ouer the walles after hir so long as they could sée hir And as she was going downe the mountaynes the first watch of the Assirians tooke hir demaunding what she was and whither she went I am quoth she a daughter of the Hebrues and am fled from them bycause I knowe that they shall be giuen vnto you to be spoyled Wherefore I am going to the Prince Holofernes to tell him all theyr secretes and howe he shall winne the Citie without the losse of one man And when the men had pondered hir wordes and considered well hir bewtie they put hir in good comfort of hir lyfe brought hir to Holofernes whose Maiestie so abashed Iudith that she fell downe as one almost dead for feare But being reuyued agayne Holofernes demaunded the cause of hir comming to whom she made aunswere on this wise saying O my Lord if thou wilt receyue the wordes of thine handmayden and doe thereafter the Lorde shall bring thy matter to a prosperous effect For as thy seruaunt Achior gaue counsell vnto my Lord to make search whither they had sinned agaynst their God or no It is manifest and plaine that their God is so wrath with them for their sinnes that he hath shewed by his Prophetes that he will giue them ouer into the enimies hande Wherefore they are sore afrayde and suffer great hunger and at this present for lacke of water are in a manner as dead menne and in this extremitie brought to kill theyr cattell and drincke the bloude And also purposed to consume all the Wheate Wyne and Oyle which are reserued and sanctified for the Priests and not lawfull for the people to touch Wherefore I thy handmaide knowing all this am fled from their presence for God hath sent mée to woorke a thing wyth thée that all the earth shall woonder for thy seruaunt feareth the Lorde and woorshippeth the God of heauen day and night And nowe let me remayne with thée my Lorde and let thy seruaunt go out in the night to the valley and I will praye vnto God that he may reueale vnto mée when they shall committe their sinnes that I may shewe them vnto thée and than mayest thou surely go foorth with thine armie for no man shall resist thée I will bring thée to Ierusalem in such safetie that there shall not so much as one dogge barcke against thée Nowe was Holofernes so well pleased with the wordes of this woman and so farre in loue with hir bewtie that he commaunded hir lodging to be made in the Tent where his treasure laye and to prepare hir diet of the same that he himselfe dyd eate and drincke of but notwithstanding she tolde the King that she might not eate of his meate least she should offende hir God but I can satisfie my selfe quoth she with such thinges as I haue brought Then how shall we doe quoth Holofernes if these thinges that thou hast brought doe sayle where shall we haue the like to giue thée As truely as the soule of my Lorde liueth quoth she thine handmayde shall not spende all that I haue tyll God haue brought to passe in my hande the thing that I haue determined And so being licensed to go out and in euery night at hir pleasure to praye she went thrée nightes togither into the valley of Bethulia calling vpon God to prosper hir deuise for the deliueraunce of his people and at eche time returned to hir Tent againe And vppon the fourth daye as it happened Holofernes by Gods prouidence to make a great Banket vnto his Lordes he sent Vago his Chamberlayne to Iudith to counsell hir to come and kéepe Companye with hym that night for it were a shame for vs quoth he if we shoulde let such a woman alone and not talke with hir we will allure hir least she doe mocke vs And when the messenger had done his message brought Iudith to Holofernes his spirite by and by was mooued and rauished with hir bewtie Sit downe now quoth he and drincke with vs and be mery I will drincke nowe my Lorde quoth she and reioyce bycause my state is exalted more than euer it was before And so she eate and drancke before him of such things as hir Mayde had prepared then Holofernes reioyced so much in Iudith that he dranke more wyne at that time than euer he had done in one daye before Nowe when the euening was come and euery man departed and gone to their lodging Vago the Kinges Chamberlayne shut the chamber doore and went his waye to bedde leauing none but Iudith in the chamber with Holofernes for hir Mayde was cōmaunded to stande without the Chamber doore to wayte hir Mistresse cōming
kylled hir After this hir father tooke hir from Dauid and gaue hir to * Loke in the hystorie of Psaltei howe he vsed Michol Dauids wyfe Psaltei the sonne of Lays to wyfe with whome she remayned tyll the death of Saule and then was restored agayne to Dauid by Abners meanes Finally when Dauid came dauncing before the Arke of God in his shyrte â–ª to the Citie of Dauid it chauncâ—d Michol to looke out at a window and beholding the King how he leaped and daunced before the Arke she began to despise hym in hir heart â–ª and méeting him after all thinges were done she sayde O how glorious was the King of Israel this daye which was vncouered to day in the eyes of the Maydens of his seruaunts as a foole vncouereth himselfe And for thus despising of Dauid the seruaunt of God the Lorde plagued hir with Baraynesse that she neuer â–ª had Childe ¶ Michol who is perfect 2. Reg. 4. b. Miphiboseth the sonne of Ionathas was lame in his féete by reason his nurse by misfortune in his infancie let him fall to the grounde out of hir armes and was brought vp and nourished after the death of his father 9. cap. in the hâ—uie of Machir tyll Dauid comming to his Kingdome tooke him from thence and restored him to all the lande of King Saule making Ziba his seruaunt chiefe ouerséer and nâ—câ—yuâ—r of the landes and to sée Micah his maysters sonne well brought vp and cherished for so much as Miphiboseth shoulde remayne with hym and eatâ— and drincke at his owne boorde â–ª Now after this when Dauid was brought into so great affliction trouble by reason of Absalom his sonnâ— Miphiboseth remayned still at Ierusalem and neuer â–ª remooued But Ziba 2. Reg. 16. â— his seruaunt went after Dauid with a present and by false report of Miphiboseth his mayster got hys lande from hym â–ª And when the King was returned and come to Ierusalem â–ª agayne then Miphiboseth who had neyther 19. â— washed his féete nor dressed his bearde nor washed his clothes from the tyme the King departed vntill he returned in peace went out to méete him and when the King sawe him he sayde Wherefore wentest thou not with mée Miphiboseth He aunswered My Lorde O King my seruaunt deceyued mée for thy seruaunt sayde I woulde haue myne Asse sadled to ryde thereon for to go with the King bycause thy seruaunt is lame Therefore Ziba hath falsely accused thy seruaunt to my Lorde the King but my Lord the King is as an Angell of God Doe therefore what it pleaseth thée for all my Fathers house were but deade mâ—n before my Lord the King and yet dydst thou set thy seruaunt amonge them that dyd eate at thine owne table What right haue I to cry any more vnto the King Then sayde Dauid â–ª why speakest thou yet in thine owne cause I haue sayde Thou and Ziba deuide the lande betwéene you Yea sayde Miphiboseth let him take all séeing my Lord the King is come home in peace ¶ Miphiboseth shame or confusion from the mouth â— Reg. 21. b. Miphiboseth the sonne of Rizpa King Sauls Concubine was of the Gibeonits with his brother Armony hanged for their fathers offence Exo. 6. c. Miriam was the daughter of Amram Iochebed and sister to Aaron and Moses When hir brother Moses 15. c. had brought the children of Israel thorow the redde Sea Miriam the Prophetesse tooke a Tymbrell in hir hande with other women following in like sorte and began ioyfully to sing and daunce their song was this Sing yée vnto the Lorde for he hath triumphed gloriously The horse and ryder hath he ouerthrowen in the Sea. After this she grudged agaynst Moses because he had taken a Num. 12. cap. woman of Inde to his wyfe wherefore the Lorde smote hir with Leprosie Then Moses partly for pittie and partly at the intercession of Aaron his brother besought the Lorde to heale hir who made hym aunswere saying If hir father in anger had spitte in hir face shoulde she not haue béene ashamed seauen dayes Let hir be shut out of the hoste seauen dayes which being doone she was restored and receyued in agayne Finallye when 20. 2. Moses and the children of Israel were come to Cades there she dyed and was buryed ¶ Miriam exalted or reaching Dan. â— b. 3. ca. Misach first called Misael was one of Daniels companions and one of the thrée which was cast into the whote burning Ouen and myraculously preserued ¶ Misach prolonging or drawing to him or compassing the waters or hedging 3. Esd 2. b. Mithridatus was King Cyrus treasurer at whose commaundement he deliuered all the holye vessels of golde and siluer pertayning to the house of the Lorde to Salmanasar the Deputie in Iewrie The number of which vessels was fiue thousand eyght hundred and thrée score ¶ Mithridatus dissoluing the lawe Act. 21. d Mnason was a certayne godlye man and a Cyprian borne who had of long tyme beléeued the Gospell in whose house Paul was hosted at Ierusalem ¶ Mnason a searcher out or promising or remembring Exod. 2. cap. Moyses the sonne of Amram and Iochebed was myraculously preserued at his byrth For where as Pharao the King of Egipt had straightly commaunded the Moses signifieth preserued from the water Mydwyues that whensoeuer they saw an Hebrue bring soorth a man chylde they shoulde cast it into the ryuer yet Moses being borne a proper childe was notwithstanding the Kinges commaundement kept secretlye thrée monthes And when his parents coulde hide him no longer they closed him in a basket made of réede or Bulrushes dawbed with slyme and pitch and layd him in the ryuer And as the childs sister stoode looking what should become of him it came to passe that King Pharaos * Hir name was Termuth daughter came awalking by the ryuer syde who séeing the basket â—leting vppon the ryuer caused one of hir folkes to take it vp â–ª And when she had opened the basket and sawe the Childe she had pittie vpon it and caused the Mayde his sister to fet hir a Nurse who went and brought his owne mother And so the childe being nursed brought vp in Pharaos house was instructed from his Childehoode in all maner cunning and wisedome of the Egiptians and became mightie in wordes and déedes Howe that Moyses impediment of speach came The king on a time for his daughters sake tooke the childe in hys armes and set the crown vppon hys heade which Moses as it were chyldishly playing hurled to the grounde and with hys foote spurned it At the whiche the Priest cryed out saying that this was he of whome it was prophecied that he should destroy Egipt Then Termuth excused the chylde alleaging his infancie and sacke of discretion And for proofe thereof caused burning coales to be put to hys mouth which the child with his tongue licked
vpon hym to raygne in his steade Nahas was King of the Ammonites And as hys predecessours afore tyme had made a claime to the lande of Israel so he now purposing the same went and besieged the Citie of Iabes in Gilead And when the men of Iabes perceyued themselues in great daunger of theyr lyues they desired the King to make a couenaunt with them and they woulde be his seruaunts Then sayde Nahas If yée will suffer mée to thrust out all your right eyes to bring Israel to shame I shal be content to make peace with you Then sayde they Giue vs respite seuen dayes and if none doe come to helpe vs in that space we will come out vnto thée Then Nahas thinking that none burst come to ayde them agaynst him graunted their request Vpon the which they sent messengers into all the coastes of Israel which newes was so heauy tydinges to them that they fell a wéeping And as they were mourning and lamenting their case it chaunced Saule by the prouidence of God to come out of the fielde following the Cattell And beholding the people what a doe they made he demaunded wherefore they mourned And when they had tolde hym the tydinges of the men of Iabes his heart was so mooued by the spirit of God that he tooke out twoo of his Oxen and hewed them in péeces and sent them thorowe all the coasts of Israel saying whosoeuer commeth not foorth after Saule and Samuel so shall his Oxen be serued And the people were stricken in such a feare that they came out to Saule as they had béene but one man to the number of thrée hundred thousande of Israel beside thirtie thousand of the men of Iuda And then Saule sent woorde by the messengers to the men of Iabes that the next morrowe they shoulde haue helpe They being glad of that sent woorde vnto Nahas saying To morow we will come foorth vnto you and yée shall doe vnto vs whatsoeuer pleaseth you And so on the morow Saule came vpon the Ammonites and slue them Nahor when he was nyne an twentie yeares of age begot Terah And lyued after he had begotten him an hundred and twentie yeares Naomy was the wyfe of a certayne man called Elimelech dwelling in the lande of Iuda in a Citie called Bethleem And for bycause of the present dearth which was ouer all the lande of Iuda She went with hir husbande and hir twoo sonnes into the Countrey of Moab to sogeourne Where in processe hir husbande died And hir twoo sonnes being maryed to twoo of the Moabitishe Damosels dyed there also So that Naomy which had dwelt in the lande of Moab ten yeares was left desolate both of hir husbande of hir sonnes Then Naomy hearing how the Lorde had visited hir countrey agayne with plentie retourned from Moab homewardes agayne hir twoo daughters in lawe bringing hir on the waye And when she saw they had gone a good way with hir coueted not to retourne she sayde vnto them Go nowe my Daughters and returne eche of you vnto your mothers house and the Lorde deale as kindlye with you as yée haue delt with the deadde and with mée And the Lorde giue you that yée maye finde rest eyther of you in the house of hir husbande and so kyssed them to haue bid them farewell But when she sawe that they would not depart from hir she sayde vnto them agayne Returne my Daughters I praye you for what cause will yée go with mée Are there any mo children within my wombe to be your husbands Turne agayne therefore I say for I am to olde to haue an husbande And if I dyd take one this night and had all ready borne children woulde yée tary for them tyll they were growne and refrayne from taking husbandes so long Not so my daughters it grieueth mée much for your sakes that the hande of the Lord is gone out agaynst mée Then they wept all togithers and Orpha kyssed hir mother in lawe and returned into hir owne lande agayne but Ruth abode still And so when they came to Bethleem Iuda which was about the beginning of Barley harnest the women which saw Naomy sayde Is not this Naomy Nay sayde she call me not Naomy which is as much to say as bewtyfull but call me Mara that is to saye bitter for the Almightie God hath made mée verye bitter I went out full and the Lorde hath brought mée agayne emptie why then call yée mée Naomy séeing the Lorde hath humbled mée and the Almightie hath brought mée vnto aduersitie And so Naomy remayned in Bethleem Iuda where or it were long God gaue hir a Sonne by the wombe of Ruth hir daughter in lawa who was maryed to Boos a kinsman of Naomyes which Childe being borne the women sayde vnto Naomy Blessed be the Lorde the which hath not left thée without a kinsman to haue a name in Israel and that shall bring thy lyfe agayne and cherishe thyne olde age for thy daughter in lawe which loueth thée hath borne vnto hym and she is better vnto thée than seuen sonnes And Naomy tooke the Childe and layed it in hir lap and became nurse vnto it being glad that a sonne was borne vnto hir in hir olde dayes Nathan the Prophet what tyme as King Dauid was minded to buylde God an house to dwell in was sent of the Lorde to forbid him not to meddle withall for Salomon his sonne shoulde doe it Agayne what tyme as Dauid had committed adultery with Vrias wife Nathan came to hym and sayde There were twoo men in one Citie the one riche and the other poore The riche man had excéeding many shéepe and Oxen but the poore had none at all saue one little Shéepe which hée had bought and nâ—urished vp And it grew vp with him and with his Children also and did eate of hys owne meate and drancke of his owne Cuppe and slept in his bosome And was vnto him as his daughter Nowe there came a straunger vnto the rich man who refused to take of his owne shéepe and Oxen to dresse for the straunger but tooke the poore mans shéepe dressed it for the man that was come to hym Then Dauid was excéeding wroth with the man and sayde As surely as the Lord lyueth he that hath done this is the Childe of death He shall restore the lambe foure folde bycause he dyd it without pittie Then sayde the Prophet thou art the same man thus sayth the Lord God of Israel I annointed thée king ouer Israel and deliuered thée out of the hands of Saule and gaue thée thy Lordes house and his wyues into thy bosome and gaue thée the house of Israel and Iuda and woulde if that had béene to little haue giuen thée much more Wherefore then hast thou despised the commaundement of the lord to do euil in his sight Thou hast kilde Urias the Hethite with the swoorde hast taken his wife to be thy wyfe and
brought his daughter into hir Chamber and sayde Be of good chere my daughter the Lorde of heauen giue thée ioy for the heauinesse that thou hast suffered and so went to rest Then in the morning about the Cocke crowing Raguel supposing all things to haue happened to Toby as it did to the other seauen before called vp his men and went and made ready his graue which being done he bade his wyfe sende one of hir Maydens to looke if Toby were dead that he might burye him before day light And when it was tolde him they were both sounde and fast a sléepe he praysed God and caused his men to fill vp the graue agayne and made a great feast to all his neighbours and friendes And gaue to Toby the halfe of all his goodes and made him a sure writing for the other halfe that remayned to be his also after his death And at the daye of their departure deliuered the goodes taking his leaue sayde The holy Angell of the Lord be with you in your iourney and bring you forth safe and sounde that ye may finde all things in good case with your Elders and that mine eyes my sée your Children before I dye and so kissed them and let them go Rathumus with other Officers vnder Artaxerses King of Persia writeth vnto him agaynst the Iewes on this wyse Sir thy seruaunts Rathumus the story writer Sabellius the Scribe with other Iudges of the Court in Celosiria and Phinehes Be it knowne and manifested to our Lorde the King that the Iewes which are come vp from you to vs into the rebellious and wicked Citie beginne to buylde it agayne and the Walles about it and to set vp the Temple a newe Nowe if this citie and the Walles thereof be set vp agayne they shall not onely refuse to giue Tributs and Taxes but also rebell vtterly agaynst the king And for so much as they take this in hande nowe about the Temple we thought it not méete to passe ouer such a thing but to shew it vnto our Lorde the king And to certifie him thereof To the intent that if it might please the King to cause it to be sought in the bookes of old and thou shalt finde such warning written and shalt vnderstande that this Citie hath alwayes béene rebellious and disobedient that it hath subdued Kinges and Cities and that the Iewes which dwelt therein hath euer béene a rebellious obstinate vnfaythfull and fighting people for the which cause this Citie is wasted Wherefore nowe we certifye our Lorde the King that if this Citie be buylded and occupyed agayne and the Walles thereof set vp a newe thou canst haue no passage into Celosiria and Phenices And when Rathumus and the other had receyued the Kinges aunswere they got them to Ierusalem with an hoste of men and made the Iewes cease from their buylding which was not begun agayne vntill the seconde yeare of King Darius Rebecca was the daughter of Bathuel and sister to Laban As she went on a tyme with a pitcher vpon hir heade to the common Well without the Citie to draw water it chaunced Abrahams seruaunt to stande by the Well with ten Camels lying there about And when the Mayde had filled hir pot and set it vpon hir head readye to go awaye the man desired to drinke a little of hir water who foorthwithall set downe hir pot and gaue him drincke And when he had droncken she powred out the reast into the water trough and ran againe to the Well drew water for his Camels vntill they had all droncken their fill Then the man in hope the Lorde had made his iourney prosperous tooke out a Golden earing and twoo bracelets of Golde and gaue them to the Mayde demaunding whose daughter she was I am quoth she the daughter of Bathuel the Sonne of Milca which she bare vnto Nahor Then tell mée I praye thée is there rowme in thy fathers house for vs to lodge in Yea quoth she there is both rowme and lodging and also litter and prouander ynough for your beastes Blessed be God quoth he that hath delt so mercyfullye with my Mayster and hath brought me the right way to my maysters brothers house Then Rebecca hearing him speake of hir fathers brother ranne home and tolde all thinges what the man had sayde And as Laban behelde his sister and sawe the earyngs and bracelets vpon hir handes he ranne out to the man with gentle entertaynement brought him into the house and sawe his Camels drest and prouided for also set meate before him to eate But the man woulde not eate before he had declared the cause wherefore hys mayster had sent him which being done and his request graunted he eate made mery and taryed all night And on the morrow as the man made haste to go his way the Damosell was called foorth to know whither she woulde go with the man or no and being content to go with the man he woulde not tarye but tooke the Mayde and had hir to Isaac his maysters sonne whose wyfe she became And being twentie yeares without a Childe at last she conceyued with twoo and when she felt them striue within hir wombe she made hir mone to God saying Séeing it is so why am I thus with childe God made hir answere saying There are twoo maner of people in thy wombe two Nacions shal be deuided out of thy bowels And the one Nacion shal be mightier than the other And the elder shal be seruaunt to the yoonger And so when hir tyme was come to be delyuered she brought foorth twoo twynnes the one named Esau and the other Iacob Which twoo became mightie men but Rebecca looued Iacob better then Esau and to preferre hym before the other she sayde Heare mée my sonne Iacob I haue hearde thy Father saye to thy brother go and kyll some Venison and make mée meate thereof that I may eate and blesse thée before the Lorde afore I dye Now therefore my Sonne heare my voyce in that which I commaunde thée Get thée to the flocke and bring mée thence two good kyddes that I may make meate of them for thy father such as he loueth and thou shalt bring it hym to eate that he may blesse thée before his death Then sayde Iacob My brother Esau is a rough man and if my father shall happen to féele mée I shall séeme vnto him as I went about to deceyue him and so shall I bring a curse vpon mée not a blessing Well sayde Rebecca vpon mée be thy cursse my sonne onely heare my voyce and go and fetche me them And when he had brought the Kyddes and that she had drest the meate and made it readye she fette out certayne rayment of Esaus and put it vpon Iacob and couered his hands and the smoothe of his necke with Goate shinnes and put the meate in his hande to cary to his Father by which policie of Rebecca Iacob had his brothers
blessing And when she heard how his brother threatned to kyll him for stealing awaye his blessing she tolde it Iacob saying Thy brother Esau threatneth to sley thée therefore my some heare my voyce Make thée ready and get thée to Laban my brother at Haran and tary with him a while vntill thy brothers fiercenesse be swaged and that his wrath be turned awaye from thée and he forget the thinges which thou hast done vnto him and then will I sende and fet thée awaye from thence for why shoulde I be depryued of you both in one daye And when she had giuen hir sonne this counsell she went to Isaac hir husbande and sayde I am weary of my lyfe for feare of the daughters of Heth. If Iacob take a wyfe of the daughters of Heth such one as these are or of the Daughters of the lande what good shall my lyfe doe mée And so by the counsell of Rebecca Iacob was sent to Laban his mothers brother where in processe he got him a wyfe and purchased the loue of Esau his brother agayne Rechab was the Father of Ionadab Which Ionadab made a Lawe that the Rechabytes shoulde neuer drincke Wyne their wyues nor their children neyther yet buylde house nor sowe séede nor plant Vyneyardes but shoulde alwayes dwell in Tents Which commaundement they kept and obayed truely And this their obedience Ieremy layeth before the Iewes to their great reproche for that they were not so readye to obeye the will and commaundement of God their heauenlye Father as the Rechabytes were to obeye their Father Ionadab ¶ Of Rechab the sonne of Rymmon Reade the storye of Baanah his brother Rezin King of Siria went with Pekah King of Israel to fight agaynst Ahaz King of Iuda but coulde not ouercome hym At which tyme Rezin tooke the Citie of Elath and droue out the Iewes therein and inhabited the Citie with Sirians But in fine the King of Assiria came agaynst him in the defence of Ahaz King of Iuda and at Damasco siue hym Rezon the sonne of Eliada was a great Captayne vnder Hadadezer king of Zoba which Hadadezer Dauid had ouercome in battell And when Rezon saw his Lord and Maister discomfited he fled from him and gathered a bonde of men and went to Damasco where he reygned as King and became a great aduersarie to Salomon for the which purpose the Lord had stirred him vp Rizpa the daughter of Ahia was Saules Concubine and had by him twoo sonnes the one named Armony and the other Miphiboseth which twoo with the sonnes of Merob Dauid deliuered to the Gibeonites who for the offence of Saule hanged them vp vpon an hyll before the Lorde Then Rizpa perceyuing their carkasses to remayne vpon the Gybbet longer than the law required made prouision to saue their bodies that neyther Birdes shoulde fall vpon them by daye nor beast by night And when it was tolde to Dauid what Rizpa had done he caused their bones with the bones of Saule and Ionathas to be caried into the Countrie of Beniamin and there buried in the Sepulchre of Cis Sauls fathers Roboam the sonne of Salomon was .xlj. yere olde when he began to reigne his mothers name was Naama In this mans time began the Kingdome of Israel to be deuided For when the people came to him and sayd Thy father layde a grieuous yoake vpon vs nowe therfore remit thou somewhat of the grieuous seruice of thy father and of his heauie yoake that he put vpon vs and wée will serue thée He aunswered as his yong Counsailers had counsayled him saying My little finger shall be heauyer than all my fathers loynes And where as my father put an heauy yoke vpon you I will adde more vnto it And where as he chastyned you with whyppes I will chasten you with Scorpions The people hearing this they forsooke him all saue the Tribe of Iuda and Beniamin Then Roboam séeing his kingdome deuided gathered an hoste of men out of the house of Iuda and Beniamin to the number of nyne score thousande to fight with Israel and to bring the Kingdome agayne vnto himselfe But whyle he was thus minded the Prophet Semaia came to him and bade him ceasse from his purpose for the thing that was done was the Lords doing Wherevpon euery man departed according to the wordes of the Lorde which the Prophete had spoken Then Roboam fell to building of Cities and repayring of strong holdes which he furnished both with men and victuals So that his kingdome was mighty and strongby 〈…〉 walked he and 〈…〉 when they had 〈…〉 making Hylaulâ—â—◠〈…〉 â—ome Sodomites 〈…〉 â—â—â—en God forsooke 〈…〉 Sisack King of 〈…〉 raigne came to 〈…〉 of the Lorde and 〈…〉 shields of Golde 〈…〉 â—hereof Roboam 〈…〉 â—â—â—e God made the 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—ts to Sisack alâ—◠〈…〉 the intent they 〈…〉 â—is service and the 〈…〉 This King Roâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 â—core Concubins 〈…〉 â—bsalom best And 〈…〉 â—â—â—r all his brethren 〈…〉 and when by hys 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—â—d his Children aâ—â—â—◠〈…〉 cares he dyed .1 Primus Iacobi natorum nomine Ruben ed quia fae daui stratum genitoris ab illis Doni excellens imperioque prior Exclusus perij seu leuis unda breui Crispin J Ventor G. D. Iode Excudebat Rufus was a vertuous and a Religious man whom Paul remembred in his Epistle saying Salute Rufus chosen in the Lorde and his mother and mine Ruth and Orpha were twoo fayre yoong Damosels borne in the Countrey of Moab where by chaunce they maryed with the sonnes of Elimelech and Naomy who were straungers come out of the lande of Iuda there to inhabite and when both their husbandes were dead and their mother in lawe a wydowe also they forsooke theyr owne Countrey to go home with their mother into the lande of Iuda And when they had gone a good way togithers â–ª Orpha not without great intreatie of hir mother in lawe turned home agayne but Ruth abode still Then sayde â–ª Naomy to Ruth Oh sée my daughter thy sister in lawe is gone backe agayne to hir people and goodes returne and go after hir I praye thée sayde Ruth intreate mee not to leaue thée For whithersoeuer thou goest I will go with thée And where thou dwellest there will I dwell also Thy people shal be my people And thy God my God looke where thou dyest there will I dye also and there will I be buryed The Lorde doe so and so vnto mée if ought but death onely depart thée and mée a sundre And so went they foorth tyll they came to to Bethleem Iuda which was in the beginning of Barley haruest And as Ruth went one daye out a leasing among the haruest folkes she happened by the prouidencâ— of God vppon the fieldes pertayning to Boos who shewed hir such kindnesse that she neyther lacked meate nor drincke neyther yet corne so long as Haruest lasted And when all Haruest was done Naomy sayde vnto Ruth
so much as he would demaunde Vppon which offer Sennacherib promised Ezechias that if he woulde paye him thrée hundreth talents of siluer one of golde his lande should be safe and in quiet which promise he kept truely till the mony were payed But as soone as he had receiued the money he sent backe agayne thrée of the greatest Captaynes he had to make freshe warre against Ezechias And when they had pitched their tentes about Ierusalem they sent for Ezechias to come and speake with them who fearing his owne lyfe sent thrée of his Noble men vnto them to knowe the matter And when they had hearde all the blasphemous wordes of Rabsak they returned and tolde them to Ezechias Who hearing those euill newes rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and fell prostrate vpon his face and prayed vnto the Lorde to helpe him and to haue mercy vpon his people and beside that he sent to Esay the Prophet desiring him to pray vnto the Lord for them whose prayer the Lorde hearde and bade him go tell Ezechias that the blasphemous rayling of Rabsak shoulde turne to his great shame for he should go home againe without victorie and neuer a stroke stricken And so almightie God sent his Aungell which plagued the whole armye of the Assirians with such a pestilence that in one night there dyed 185. thousande At the which sodaine death Rabsak and all his hoste that were left ranne away And then Sennacherib got him to Niniue where at the last being in the Temple worshipping his God Nisroch his owne sonnes siue him Seon was King of the Ammorites whose lande bordered so vpon the lande of Canaan that Moses could not passe from the desert of Cades to Canaan but hée must néedes go thorowe it wherfore Moses sent messengers to King Seon beséeching him of licence to passe thorow his land by the Kings hye way and he would neither hurt his fields nor vineyards neither yet take so much as one drop of water for him and his cattell to drinke but he would pay for it Which resonable request Seon refused And thinking to haue ouercome Moses and all his people bycause they were straungers sore laboured and wearyed and knewe not the coast of his Countrey neyther the shiftes of the Realme he made out two great Armies agaynst Moses Who hearing thereof was so afrayd that he asked counsell of God what he shoulde doe And God bade him not feare but fight manfullye and bodely with them for the victorie shoulde be his And so was Seon with all his power and pollicie ouerthrowen Sephora and Phua were twoo of the Chiefest Mydwyues in all Egipt vnto whom King Pharao gaue a commaundement that when so euer they dyd execute their office among the women of the Hebrues and sawe in the byrth a man Childe to kill it But they fearing God more than man brake his commaundement and saued all the men children laying for their excuse vnto the King that the women of the Hebrues were not as the women of Egipt but so strong and sturdy women that they were delyuered before the Mydwyues came And for this déede God delt mercyfully with the Wydowes bycause they feared him made them to prosper Sergius Paulus the Lieutenaunt or Lorde Deputie of Cypres was a prudent man who neuerthelesse had bene sore seduced by one Beriesu the great sorcerer And now hearing the Gospell to be sowen thoroweout all the Countrey by Paule and Barnabas was desirous to heare it wherevpon he sent for them By whose preaching and great myracles that they dyd before him he was at the last turned to the fayth of Christ Seth was the thirde sonne of Adam and gaue himselfe all to vertue and godlinesse His Father was at the age of an hundred and thirtie yeres before he begot Seth. Seth was an hundred and fiue yeres olde before he begot Enos He liued after the birth of Enos eight hundred and seauen yeares So that all the dayes of Seth were nyne hundred and twelue yeares Sesac looke Sisach Sichem the sonne of Hemor the Heuyte rauished Dina the daughter of Iacob For the which déede Symeon and Leuy the brothers of Dina sigue both Sichem and his father Hemor with many mo Sidrach Misach and Abednago were thrée of Daniels companions and of the Children of Iuda Which thrée yoong men Nebuchodonosor at Daniels intercession made Rulers ouer all the Officers in the lande of Babilon And bycause they woulde not fall downe to the Kinges golden Image which he had made and set vp to be woorshipped they were accused to the King as transgressours of his commaundement And being brought before the King he straighly charged them to be ready the next daye when they hearde the noyse of Trompettes and other Instruments of Musicke to fall downe woorship his Image as other dyd or else they shoulde be cast into the whote burning Ouen and then let sée quoth hée what god is able to deliuer you out of my handes They aunswered and sayde Oh Nabuchodonosor we ought not to consent to thée in this matter For why our God whome we serue is able to kéepe vs from the whote burning Ouen O King and can right well delyuer vs out of thy hands And though he will not yet shalt thou know O King that we will not serue thy goddes nor doe reuerence to that Image which thou hast set vp The King hearing this was so full of indignaciō that he caused the strongest men that were in all his host to bind them hand and foote and cast them into the Ouen which Ouen was made so exceding hote that the flame of the fire destroyed those men that cast them in And as the King looked into the Ouen after the men he sawe fower walking at libertie in the middest of the Ouen and the fourth man was lyke vnto the sonne of God to looke vpon And being sore astonyed thereat he went to the Ouens mouth and saide O yée seruauntes of God come out of the Ouen And when they were come foorth it coulde not be perceyued neyther by the heaire of their heades neyther yet by the smell of their garments that euer any fyre had touched them And so the King praysed the God of Sidrach Misach and Abednago and promoted them to honour Silas was a certayne Disciple sent with Paule and Barnabas and other chosen brethren to Antioche to pacifie the variaunce which was there happened about circumcision And after the falling out of Paule Barnabas about Iohn Marke Silas became Paules companion and labour fellow in the Gospell a great whyle and was in bondes with him at Philippos where they conuerted the Iayler and all the Prisoners and were deliuered as Romaynes From thence they departed to Thessalonica where the Iewes set the Citie in such a rore agaynst them that Paule was fayne to flye to Atthens leauing Silas behind him with a precept to make