revenge to be as a Panther sodainly to rush upon Ephraim and as a Lion violentlie to fall upon the house of Judah When I my felf prove like these fierce creatures that first come abroad to tear in pieces and then return again into their dens to dispose of their prey who shall then be able to rescue that which I have so taken away 15. But I will retire my self from these sons of men into heaven my proper place till by repentance they acknowledge their guilt and seek after my love and favour which I know they will do with all speed and diligence when the smart of their affliction hath wrought the right cure upon them CHAP. VI. 1. COme and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heael us he hath smitten and he will bind us up 2. After two daies will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight 3. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord his going forth is prepared as the morning and he shall come unto us as the rain as the latter and former rain unto the earth 4. O Ephraim what shall I do unto thee O Iudah what shall I do unto thee for your goodnesse is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away 5. Therefore have I hewed them by the Prophets I have slain them by the words of my mouth and thy judgements are as the light that goeth forth 6. For I desired mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more theâ— burnt offerings 7. But they like men have transgressed the Covenant there they have dealt treacherously against me 8. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood 9. And as troups of robbers wait for a man so the company of Priests murder in the way by consent for they commit lewdnesse 10. I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel there is the whoredom of Ephraim Israel is defiled 11. Also O Iudah he hath set an harvest for thee when I returned the captivity of my people CHAP. VI. 1. ANd when they so resolve to seek me by repentance as I said they would do in that affliction they may do it in these words which I shall now set down to their hands Come let us seek a remedie of all our troubles by returning unto the Lord. For no raging Lions could have thus torn and distressed us but by his permission and nothing but his mercie can find a way to relieve us It is he that gave strength to the hand which hath smitten and wounded us and none but his hand can bind up our wounds and apply that unto them which is their certain cure 2. Indeed our case is rather like theirs that are killed outright then onely wounded and the day of our Countries calamities may be counted the day of her death and a ceasing quite to be what she was before Yet such is the power of our God that if he suffer us to lie two daies in the grave of this miserie he can make the third day the joyful day of our resurrection to our former state and livelyhood and so the figure of a greater day that he shall comfort us and all his servants withal in his due time so this quickning and reviving us out of our miserie here shall be as a pledge and assurance that one day we shall come to live for ever in his sight and hear no more of his diversions and retirements from his chosen people 3. And if we will use our best endeavours and presse on more and more toward the knowledge and service of God we shall soon know that the morning of that happy day begins to dawn For his ready help shall appear like the joyful morning that speaks the approach of a clear day Or like the welcom rain the latter and the former rain that prophesie a merrie day unto the Earth When the Montains shall skip like Rams and the little hills like young sheep And the vallies shall stand so thick with corn that they shall laugh and sing 4. Now when they have used this form of accesse to me then will I answer them in this manner Alas what good can I do to you of Ephraim or to you of Judah while you continue in that wicked state wherein you are and frame not your selves to live well but onely by fits and starts For there is no more assurance of your goodnesse then there is of the morning-cloud or the earlie dew that vanish away as soon as the Sun begins to look upon them Thus you make not up your day and how can you hope for mine 5. That is the reason of the sad daies wherein I wounded you with those judgements that I sent my Prophets to foretel and as good as killed you with threats out of my holy word and the mouth of my messengers that I sent unto you In which sad time as I called them my Iustice in those heavy judgements that I brought upon you is as clear as the light of the day fully deserved by you and yet clearlie foretold by me that you might seek to avoid them by a better course of life 6. For goodnesse and holinesse of life is the sacrifice with which I am best appeased and it is not the number of your burnt-offerings that I look after but the zealous ardour of a good heart that desires nothing more then to know me as I have revealed my self in my holie word 7. But what care have they taken for this goodnesse and this knowledge that have violated my Covenant as their old Father Adam did in Paradise who was therefore turned out of that pleasant place as their punishment is to be turned out of their pleasant and fruitful land And good reason for It was not enough for them to sin there against me to sin in Adam but I shall instance in their own actual sins and begin first with them of Gilead 8. Gilead is a City wholy fraught with makers of idols And their bloody hands are as deep in crueltie too If you will follow their footsteps to find them out in that sin you may trace them all the way by that blood which they shed in such abundance that I was content to appoint more Cities of Refuge beyond Iordan considering the space of ground then there was on this side 9. And this will hold true not onely of the common people which usually add murder to their theft and robberie but of their Priests too that should be their guides to better courses and yet do as much harm to the souls of men as others do to their bodies or estates For there shall you have combinations of idolatrous priests of Ieroboams new religion that have their set meetings to little better purpose then those famous companies of troopers and theeves that
now while his arme is stretched out to give the blow or his hand to sign the decree even now that you would return from your dumb idols and other vanities unto me saith the Lord by a sad and serious and hearty repentance outwardly also and publickly expressed by fasting that afflicts the body and by weeping and mourning that speaks the inward relenting of the heart These would leave behind them a hatred of those sins that call for so sad a farewel 13. But this last call of mercy will admit of no hypocrisie The rending of your clothes and other outward signs of repentance will not serve the turn The heart is open to me saith the Lord and you must begin with rending and breaking of the heart if you think of preparing a sacrifice fit to appease me And I the sad Prophet of your otherwise-imminent destruction advise you to make such a conversion to the Lord your God a total alteration and conversion of the heart And then be sure when you have so wounded your hearts to rend all sin from them he can heal them again For He is so gratious a Father that he can receive a prodigal when he returns home to God and himself He is so merciful that he is ready to make his mercy triumph over all his and our works He is so slow to anger that when he hath expected till justice can no longer defer the blow yet he can then be entreated and reconciled when he is ready to strike He is of so great kindnesse that he is willinger to repent of the evil of punishment then we are to forsake the evil of sin 14. His threats and his punishments aim not at our destruction but onely at our amendment Our utter ruine must be drawn upon us by our selves but if our hearty return will prevent it we may yet hope to find him all-merciful and mercie it self Therefore though the sentence seem to be irreversibly passed against us yet who knows not there is no doubt but that upon our returning to Him by repentance he may return to us and repent of the punishment And leave behind him with our deliverance from the enemy a blessing not upon our sad souls onely but also upon our afflicted and macerated bodies and upon our estates too that are even ready to be taken all away by an army of locusts a populous and cruel nation Thus may our fasting and mourning be turned into feasting and joy thankful expressions of our selves in a meat-offering and drink-offering to the Lord our God 15. Therefore do you that are Priests show your selves forwardest in this work you that are to take care for others as well as your selves Call the people together as you use to do by the sound of a trumpet in Sion put them in mind by a holy Fast to castigate the body and spend a day in holy exercises Call for such an Assembly 16. Thus gather the people to joyn together in prayer and other holy exercises wherein the elder men should lead the way to others by their good example and compel them by their authority And as children and sucking infants are concerned in the common danger so let them bear a part in the publick humiliation And while all are so taken up with fasting mourning and praying let the Bridegoom also and the Bride leave their Bride-chamber and their mirth for that time turning their ornaments into sack-cloth and their joy into weeping 17. Above all other let the Priests whose work it is mainly to intend the service of God and who are many wayes concerned both in the conversion and wellfare of the people and as many wayes obliged to be earnest suiters unto God in their behalf Let them offer up their prayers and tears for the people committed to their charge and offer them up between the Porch and the Altar as interposing their intreaties between a sinful people and their angry God Wherein as wholly taken up with the necessities of the people Let them say Spare thy people O Lord which thou hast purchased to thy self with thy mighty hand Let not thine own inheritance hear that reproach of the heathen for being in a manner forsaken by God whom they pretend to serve which must needs tend to the dishonour of God and the disparagement of his power and love to his own servants as our enemies will apprehend it while they do thus insult and domineer over us in our great misery And of his honour we are to be more tender then of our own deliverance 18. These are the likeliest means to move the Lord not onely to be merciful to his people and willing to spare them but zealous also in their behalf even to the turning of his anger upon their cruel enemies with the same affection wherewith a husband would revenge the injuries of his beloved spouse 19. In which affection what answer can the Lord make to the true repentance of his afflicted servants and the humble supplication of their Priests but that which shall carrie with it a supply of their present wants and necessities by plenty of corn and wine and oil and whatsoever else may serve to the taking away of their reproach among the heathens as well as the confirming of his reconciliation with them by such a new and ample encrease of their store 20. These blessings should have been seconded by others upon their true repentance for Gods favours use not to go alone Therefore hear the words of that gratious conditional promise to them After you are so well provided for I will remove far from you the Northern army saith the Lord. Those hungry locusts of Assyria and Chaldaea your first and worst enemies shall be sent far enough from Iudaea the garden of the world to a barren and dry land his army by the way scattered and divided the foreparts from the extreamest as much as the East of the Mediterranean Sea is divided from the Western parts And in the end the corrupt smell of the poor reliques of all their great forces shall be as unsavory in the nostrils of such as shall be witnesses of their ruine and after that in the memorie of those that shall make mention of their power as all their attempts were proud and insolent and intollerable against the land of Israel 21. The whole land may turn their fear into joy and gladnesse as soon as God begins to show what great things he can do for them when they are rid of such devouring locusts and so secured of the quiet enjoying of that plenty which I said their repentance and amendment of life may procure for them from a merciful and gratious God that plainly appears great in whotsoever he doth 22. This may be the effect of our repentance But such temporal promises of plenty and safety here are shadows of greater happinesse and security from our ghostly enemies by the coming of the Messias And therefore somewhat shall now be
thy Horses that shrunk up the rivers with this terrour and drave them out of their wonted Station For in such triumph indeed didst thou seem to draw near the waters of Jordan when the Ark was thy Chariot the Chariot of our Salvation and thy glory seemed to be carried upon the holy Cherubims 9. After that glorius and miraculous passage over Jordan an Angel showed himself for a Captain of the Host of the Lord. And thy self O Lord as the great Lord of Hostes preparedst for the battle Thine arrowes were apparently drawn out of their quiver and thy Bow out of the Case to be in readinesse against thine Enemies The severall Tribes of Israel as thy Souldiers were mustered up to their military Sacramentall oath And the very Earth and the Waters and all the Elements divided themselves into their severall ranks at thy command and for thy service 10. And when thou beganst to set forward the Mountains O Lord as if standing higher they had made the first discovery of thy coming afar off were sore troubled at it like a woman that is in labour and longs to be delivered Presently whole Rivers of waters gushed out as the issue of that birth The noise and murmur which they made at their breaking forth of the hollow Earth was like the cry of this new-born Creature And the diffusion of those waters into severall courses and rivulets was like the stretching out of his armes which thou canst bind and lap up in his swadling clouts as it pleaseth thee 11. And if the Hills can thus discover and expresse thy powerfull approach how can the two fair eyes of the Firmament the Sun and the Moon but see it and give some acknowledgement of it As they did to all the world when the Sun stood still over Gibeon and the Moon over the valley of Ajalon as if then indeed they had come to their Houses wherein they should rest While by that so miraculously continued Light thy Hailestones like glittering speares and â—wift arrowes did sâ—y about to execute vengeance upon thine Enemies 12. This was the obedience every where tendred to our Lord when he brought us and our Armies to take possesion of the Land of Promise Into which we must ever thankfully acknowledge O blessed God as thou didst enter with wrath and terrour against all the Inhabitants of the Land so in the end in the like displeasure thou didst cause the Heads and Commanders of those Heathen people to be trampled on by the feet of the Conquerours 13 This was thy doing O Lord and thus hast thou often gone out with our Armies to save and defend thy People and thine Annointed whom thou hast set over them Thou hast often wounded the heads of those wicked Families that oppose them and discovered their Foundations so that from the highest to the lowest part of their best hold and confidence they were laid open to ruine 14. Thou hast pierced the Heads of those Peasants that sought our destruction with the same weapons that they used against us might Israel then say and taken them in their own Inventions when they had thought suddenly and violently like a whirl-wind to have set upon us scattered us and blown us away When their Triumph before victorie was like the exultation of those that have in their hopes already devoured the poor and innocent that hides himself from their fury and persecution 15. So did our enemies perish in that passage where they purchased their own death in the pursuit of ours While the Triumph which they hoped for was thine own and not their Horses or Chariots but Thy Chariots and Armes prevailed in the Red-Sea and went safe thorough the unusuall paths and heaps of many waters 16. Such hath been thy Providence over us in our former calamitie so far did thy Power then show it self in our delivery And shall it not be such in thy good time from the Babylonian slavery as it was from the Egyptian But alas what do I venture to entreat I have heard and seen so much in my former vision of the long sad time of our Captivitie as makes me startle and interrupt my prayer But my bowels do earne with compassion of my poor Country-men as well as quake for fear My inward parts are so wholly possessed and troubled with sorrow for them that my fearfull quavering lips will not suffer me to expresse it And though I live yet me thinks my bones are almost consumed with rottennesse while I labour to conceale my selfe-devouring feares and perplexities that I have within me And so much the rather because I must be still and silent for the day of their affliction For it seems the doom is now past no prayer can avert it when he shall rise up against thy poor People that shall bring his troupes of cruell Souldiers to prey upon them 17. To this most heavie but most just Sentence I humbly submit with this Prayer that they may endeavour as I shall to make sure for some inward solace when all outward helps and comforts shall be taken away For though the Figge-tree shall not flourish and give her wonted sweets nor the Vine-tree prosper and yeeld her comfortable wine though the Olive shall deceive our expectation of her fatnesse and the Corn-fields shall not continue the provision of their food to strengthen us though the Sheep shall be plundered out of their folds and the Oxen out of their stalls 18. Yet will I resolve to place my heart in the Lord and to rejoyce in the God of my Salvation 19. And it shall be my Prayer and my Hope that the Lord my God will be my strength and my safeguard supply me with Patience and Obedience and courage make my feet as nimble as Harts-feet and so conduct me chearfully in the way to those high places and Sanctuaries above were I shall be set out of the fear of all danger in everlasting blisse And as a testimony of my Joy and Solace in that I will take order with the chief Master of the Musick to have this Prayer set to my Instruments which may help to rouse up my spirits and my repose in God my Saviour A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF ZEPHANIAH CHAP. I. THe word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi the son of Gedaliah the son of Antariah the son of Hizkiah in the daies of Iosiah the son of Amon king of Iudah 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land saith the Lord. 3 I will consume man and beast I will consume the fowles of the heaven and the fishes of the sea and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked and I will cut off man from off the land saith the Lord. 3 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Iudah and upon all the inhabitants of Ierusalem and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the
were p. 298. v. 9. r. the wives p. 346. v. 14. r. of any longer p. 361. v 15. before encrease dele l. p 400 v. 6. r. sore troubled p. 413. l. 2. r. may be p. 463. v. 1. 466 v. 7. r. Darius Notbus as it is truly printed r. 439. where the note in calâ—e paginae gives a reason of it and 442. l. 1. p. 490. v. 9. r. if by his care p. 531. v. 8. r. Angels p. 546. l 2 r. So these Errata in the Notes in calce paginae Pag. 18. l. totum pop Isr. 45. l. in Hâ—ph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incipe incipere 79 for subest l. subesse 345. l. attondebantur 490 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 588 l. omni cibo 598. l. futurum pro Imperativo A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF HOSEA CHAP. I. 1 THe word of the Lord that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri in the daies of Uzzia Jotham Ahas and Hezekiah Kings of Judah and â—n the daies of Jeroboam the son of Joash King of Israel 2. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea and the Lord said to Hosea Go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms for the land hath committed great whordom departing from the Lord. 3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim which conceived and bare him a son 4. And the Lord said unto him Call his name Jezreel for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause to cease the Kingdom of the house of Israel 5. And it shall come to passe at that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel 6. And she conceived again and bare a daughter and God said unto him Call her name Lo-ruhamah for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel but I will utterly take them away 7. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah and will save them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow nor by sword nor by battel by horses nor by horsemen 8. Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah she conceived and bare a son 9. Then said God Call his name Lo-ammi for ye are not my people and I will not be your God 10. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured nor numbred and it shall come to passe that in the place where it was said unto them Ye are not my people there it shall be said unto them Ye are the sons of the living God 11. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head and they shall come up out of the land for great shall be the day of Jezreel CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord which was made known to Hosea the son of Beeri in the daies of Uzziah Jotham Ahaz and Hezekiah Kings of Judah and in the daies of Jeroboam the son of Joash King of Israel 2. When first it pleased God to deliver his word by Hosea this it was which he said to that Prophet Go and take to thy self a woman that hath lived long in whoredom and take her children too that have been born to her in that time The fittest type of the children of Israel that have lived long in spiritual whoredoms against their Lord Iehovah 3. And accordingly the Prophet went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim which in the very names signifies the deficiencie of that people and that the two Houses of Iudah and Israel were like two baskets of dry figs in which there were but very few worth the keeping This Gomer conceived and bare a son to the Prophet 4. The Prophet also had a command from the Lord to call the name of his son Jezreel which name referred both to Iezreel the prime City in Israel and to their glorious title of the children of God which title God would shake by disseminating and scattering them in forreign Nations where those undeserved titles should serve them in little stead And this intimated in that name was to begin with a fore-running punshiment which the Prophet had command to expresse in these or the like terms That as a revenge of the innocent blood shed by Iehu in Iezreel God would shortlie send his visitations upon the house of Jehu by such a way as should not be much unlike that bloody slaughter that Jehu had made in Jezreel upon the house of Ahab And that one effect of these heavy visitations should be this That the kingdom of the house of Israel should cease to be any longer in the house of Iehu that Kingdom being thence translated to Sallum of another stock from Zacharias whom he succeeded 5. And this was further added concerning that time That God would then break the strength of Israel by those civil wars that should most appear in the valley of Jezreel 6. After this Gomer conceaved again and bare a daughter which by the like divine command had the name of Lo-ruchamah A name that carried in it the sad doom concerning the house of Israel which God would be so far from sheltring any longer under his merciful protection that he would utterly remove them out of that good land 7. While in the mean time he would gratiously defend the house of Judah in such a way as should visibly appear to be the miraculous work of the Lord their God no strength in the arm of man nor any Art or Instruments of war being ever able to atchieve so great and sodain a deliverie as they should have from the mighty Host of Senacherib the King of Assyria 8. Now after Gomer had weaned Lo-ruchamah she conceived a third time and bare a son 9. And God commanded the Prophet to give that son the name of Lo-ammi Which name implied that they should be no longer his people to enjoy any further happinesse under his service they should rather be the unhappy people and slaves of the Assyrian And God would no longer make his provident protection to speak him their God as he had done 10. Yet should it come to passe that when the children of Israel had increased into multitudes like the sand of the sea which is capable of no number then instead of their name Lo-ammi wherein God disclaimed many of them from being so much as his people they should have the high title of the sons of the living God 11. And then should the children of Judah and the children of Israel so much divided before make one Congregation under one head and Governour which was to be accomplished by Zerobabel in the letter and by Christ in the mystery For then should begin the great day of Jezreel that is of the seed of God or the sons of the living God as they were stiled before
CHAP. III. AFter this it pleased God to injoyn me once again to love a woman that had been dearly affected by her dearest friend her husband and yet had been false to him in no lesse a fault than whoredom And this was another typicall expression how great love God had shewed to the children of Israel who most ungratefully neglecting him cast their affection upon strange gods for love of those stagons of wine which being offered to such false Gods were then tasted with pleasure by their Idolaters 2. Conformable to this divine command the custome of the Jewes being to purchase their wives with mony or money-worth I procured such a wife at the set price of fifteen pieces of silver and a Homer and a half of barley 3. And I agreed with her that she should live a good while as a widow forsaking the love of all others reserving her self all that while for me as I would reserve my self for her 4. For this was also a type of the children of Israel that should expect my wonted favourable protection for many dayes abiding in the mean while without a King of their own nation and a peculiar Prince of their own Nay it was a figure of more than so that they should not onely want their former way of Polity and Government of the common-wealth but the wonted liberty also of those Ecclesiasticall rites and customes which they had used before in their sacrifices and pillars and Ephod and Teraphim in all which they took themselves to make sufficient expression of their love and service unto me 5. After which time expired the children of Israel should return by repentance and seek for a reconciliation with their God whom they had so much offended and apply themselves to Zorobabel of the line of David whom they should account as their King and then should they live in the fear of the Lord and acknowledge his great goodnesse and mercy toward them in the latter dayes CHAP. IIII. 1. Hear the word of the Lord ye children of Israel for the Lord hath a controversie with the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land 2. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery they break out and blood toucheth bloud 3. Therefore shall the land mourn and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven yea the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away 4. Yet let no man strive nor reprove another for this people are as they that strive with the Priest 5. Therefore shalt thou fall in the day and the Prophet shall also fall with thee in the night and I will destroy thy mother 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because thou hast rejected knowledge I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no Priest to me seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God I will also forget thy children 7. As they were increased so they sinned against me therefore will I change their glory into shame 8. They eat up the sinne of my people and they set their heart on their iniquity 9. And there shall be like people like Priest and I will punish them for their waies and reward them their doings 10. For they shall eat and not have enough they shall commit whoredom and shall not increase because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. 11. Whoredome and wine and new wine take away the heart 12. My people ask counsell at their stocks and their staffe declareth unto them for the spirit of whoredomes hath caused them to erre and they have gone a whoring from under their God 13. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountaines and burn incense upon the hils under oakes and poplars and elmes because the shadow thereof is good therefore your daughters shall commit whoredome and your Spouses shall commit adultery 14. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom nor your Spouses when they commit adultery for themselves are separated with whâ—res and they sacrifice with harlots therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall 15. Though thou Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah offend and come not ye unto Gilgal neither go ye up to Beth-aven nor swear The Lord liveth 16. For Israel slideth back as a back-sliding heifer now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place 17. Ephraim is joyned to idols let him alone 18. Their drink is sowre they have committed whoredom continually her rulers with shame do love Give ye 19. The wind hath bound her up in her wings and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices CHAP. IIII. 1. IN the latter dayes it will be so But will you hear what is to be said for the present Hear the word of the Lord ye Children of Israel for the Lord hath a controversie with the inhabitants of the land because there is none of that truth and mercy and knowledge of God in the land which they pretend to and so no true Acts of Piety 2. But rather by swearing falsly and as falsly denying that which is committed to their trust by murder and theft and adultery they have violently and impudently broke thorow all good lawes And therefore by way of punishment they shall be suffered so long to goe on in the current of those disorders till among the greatest of them that should have kept the people within their bounds one murder shall break out after another and other sinnes of a high nature that deserve death and effusion of blood come on so thick and frequent that you may say they are one contiguous to another 3. Whereupon though they would not mourn for this increase of sinne yet the earth it self seeming to put on her mourning-weeds for the destruction of her fruit shall be as an introduction to their own sorrow for the just increase of their calamities which shall come so hot and thick upon them those especially by Tiglath-peleser and Salmenasser that the inbabitants of the land shall faint under that grief and perplexity which must then be suffered For amongst other miseries such an universall want shall there be of food and nourishment and by the effusion of much blood such a corruption of the air and waters that together with those distressed inhabitants the very beasts of the field and the fowles of the aire and the fishes of their ponds near the sea shall many of them be taken away in that common calamity 4. In all this certainly it will be to little purpose for any man to admonish another whose sinnes have contributed much to this publick misery Therefore he were as good let it alone For this thy people are most of them past cure like those spoken of in the Law that will neither hearken to Prince nor Priest unlesse
a Bear that is bereaved of her whelps and will rent the caul of their heart and there will I devour them like a Lion the wild beast shall tear them 9 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me it thine help 10 I will be thy King where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities and thy Iudges of whom thou saidst Give me a King and Princes 11 I gave thee a King in mine anger and took him away in my wrath 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up his sin is hid 13 The sorrowes of a travelling woman shall come upon him he is an unwise son for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children 14 I will ransome them from the power of the grave I will redeem them from death O death I will be thy plagues O grave I will be thy destruction repentance shall be hid from mine eies 15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren an East-wind shall come the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wildernesse and his spring shall become dry and his fountain shall be dried up he shall spoile the treasures of all pleasant vessels 16 Samaria shal become desolate for she hath rebelled against her God they shall fall by the sword their infants shall be dashed in pieces and their women with child shall be ript up CHAP. XIII 1. THe time was also when if Ephraim stood up to speak a kind of fear and reverence seazed upon all those of the ten Tribes This height of Honour was he come to in Israel But the times of that respect are past and for the sinne which he hath committed in his calves and Baals he must look for nothing but death and destruction 2. For now this sinne hath more and more increased amongst them and not content with their calves in Dan and Bethel they have made themselves other molten images of their silver after their own phansie all of those idols the work of craftsmen And they spare not to say to them They among us that offer men too in sacrifice shall also perform their homage to the calves 3. Therefore they shall not hold out long in this wickednesse For I will make them leave the place which they have so abused and suddenly vanish like the morning-cloudes and the early dew that is soon gone and the chaffe that is hurried away with the whirlwind out of the floor and the smoak out of the chimney that quickly leaves that place and knows it no more 4. And justly will this fall upon thee ô Israel For I am thy God that brought thee out of the land of Egypt Therefore thou shouldst have acknowledged no other God besides me who only can save and deliver thee out of all thy troubles and am the onely Preserver of mankind 5. I vouchsafed to take notice and care of thee in the vast wildernesse a dry and barren place where thou couldst otherwise have been supplied with no provisions 6. I fed them there like sheep in variety of severall pastures and when they were fully satisfied and fatted with good fare their hearts were puffed up with pride that is it that made them so soon forget me that fed them 7. Therefore I will be no longer as a Shepherd to feed them so fat but rather as a Lion and a Leopard to watch and walk about and observe how I may destroy them in the way which they are to passe 8. I will meet them in that rage which you see in a bear when she is robbed of her whelps and tear in pieces their very heart-strings I will set the Assyrian like a Lion or some such wild beast to devour some and distract others into so many divisions that they shall not be able in one body again to make any resistance 9. And for this thy low and miserable estate thou mayst thank thy self O Israel that wouldst not thank me for thy succour in all thy necessities it depending wholly upon mee 10. For what is become of thy King that should all this while provide for thy safety in all thy Cities where is he And what is become of thy Iudges and Rulers that should defend thee Of whom thou saidst once Give us a King to rule over us and Princes to judge us and go before us and fight our battles Didst thou not long for them a little too soon 11. Wherfore there was a time and may be again when I give thee a King in mine anger as in Saul and Jeroboam and I take thy King away in my wrath as in the good Josiah ann in Hosheah of whom there was some good hope 12. This misery will fall especially upon the ten tribes For I will not forget the sins of Ephraim I bound them up together in a bundle and laid them up in a safe corner to be again brought out and revenged as I see cause 13. When the sad time of revenge drawes near and the pangs come suddenly upon him as upon a woman in travaile it will appear that he is like a silly babe that knowes not how to make way for his Mother's and his own delivery Else would he seek to me and not stay so long for succour when he is as near the being rescued as one that is come to the time of birth 14. For I can set them at liberty in the greatest distresse from the very power of death and the grave And so I will do when I see my time and for all those that I will deliver Where will then be thy sting O Death O Grave where will then be thy victory But now since they will not seek me I will look upon no wayes how to comfort me and appease my wrath but in their destruction 15. And when Ephraim is become like his name fruitfull and populous among his brethren then a strong and terrible East-wind the swift and pernicious army of the Assyrian shall come upon him from the deserts of Syria whence the most boisterous winds arise and dry up the springs and fountains that have hitherto refreshed him And that wind or fierce army shall blow away or make spoile of all the rich treasures and severall kind of things which he hath heaped up in storè and wherein he hath placed his delight 16. Samaria their Metropolis must needs be guilty of some great offence that hath thus bitterly provoked her God to anger Therefore shall many of them fall by the sword Their Infants shall be dashed in pieces and their women with child shall be ripped up CHAP. XIV 1 O Isral return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity 2 Take with you words and turn to the Lord say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips 3 Ashur shall not save us we will not
ride upon horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands Ye are our gods for in thee the fatherlesse findeth mercy 4 I will heal their backsliding I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him 5 I will be as the dew unto Israel he shall grow as the lillie and cast forth his roots as Lebanon 6 His branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the Olive tree and his smell as Lebanon 7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return they shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine the sent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon 8 Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with idols I have heard him and observed him I am like a green firre tree from me is thy fruit found 9 Who so is wise and he shall understand these things prudent and he shall know them for the waies of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in them but the transgressour shall fall therein CHAP. XIV THere is yet one way the way of serious and timely repentance to prevent or qualifie all this Come then O Israel Return again unto the Lord thy God by true repentance as thou hast taken from him by thy great offences 2. Take this form of confession into your mouths and say to him with a true penitent heart Take away the punishment of all our iniquities O Lord and pardon our offences And gratiously accept of that good service which we deserve to offer unto thee in all submission And though we have hitherto beenâ— fruitlesse in our actions yet now let the fruit of our lips our thankful acknowledgements be rendred as a pledge of our future obedience 3. We will make no more addresses to Assyria when we would be saved from our enemies We will seek no more succour from the Egyptian Horse wherein that nation excels We will never hereafter give that honour to idols the work of our own hands which belongs onely to God For thou art the true and sure refuge of all that are afflicted The very Orphans and they that are most destitute of help are wont to find pitie in thee when all other hopes forsake them and a pitie accompanied with such a loving affection as a dear mother bears to the fruit in her womb 4. Upon this humble submission of theirs I would give them this merciful answer saith God himself that I will upon their amendment of life cure them of all their strange aversions from me I will embrace them most lovingly with a free and hearty affection So easily would I be content that mine anger should be wholly turned from them 5. I will be to Israel like the hopeful dew the pledge of a plentiful encrease s He shall slourish like the fair lilly and take as deep root as the trees of Lebanon 6. His children like t olive-branches shall spread and dilate themselves all abroad For his excellencie shall be every way like that of the olive not in the green and long-flourishing boughs onely but in the goodnesse and fatnesse of the fruit that pleaseth God and men And his name and good report among other nations shall be as sweet as the smel of frankincense 7. So that many that upon their fame will come to live under the shadow and protection of Israel shall be converted to the worship of the true God And their newness of life shall be with as much fruit as the corn that dies in the ground and is again quickened with the advantage of much increase It shall be compared to the growth of the fruitful vine and the memorial of them shall be like the fragrant and pleasant wine of Lebanon that is never remembred but with high commendation 8. But for all these good promises of theirs and presages of mine how comes it to passe that Ephraim doth still continue his worship of idols I am readie to hear and help him in the time of need which they cannot and so carefully to look to him that he shall not cease to flourish like a green sirre tree For thou hast never done any thing O Ephraim but it hath been found that I have answered it to thee with the fruit of a high reward 9. Will any of you now be so wise as to consider these things Will any be so prudent in their actions as if they took full notice of the passages of the mercy and justice of God Though you will not do so yet are all the counsels and actions of God full of equity And as all his waies are just so all that are just will walk in his waies But the wicked and unjust are so far from walking in them as they should do that they cannot hold out long without discoverie of their great faults and relapses wherein they fall foule from him and his waies though they may pretend to walk in them A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF IOEL CHAP. I. 1 THe word of the Lord that came to Ioel the son of Pethuel 2 Hear this ye old men and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land Hath this been in your daies or even in the daies of your fathers 3 Tell ye your children of it and let your children tell their children and their children another generation 4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten 5 Awake ye drunkards and weep and howl all ye drinkers of wine because of the new wine for it is cut off from your mouth 6 For a nation is come up upon my land strong and without number whose teeth are the teeth of a Lion and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great Lion 7 He hath laid my vine wast and barked my fig-tree he hath made it clean bare and cast it away the branches thereof are made white 8 Lament like a virgin garded with sack-cloth for the husband of her youth 9 The meat-offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord the Priests the Lords ministers mourn 10 The field is wasted the land mourneth for the corn is wasted the new wine is dried up the oyl languisheth 11 Be ye ashamed O ye husbandmen howl O ye vine-dressers for the wheat and for the barley because the harvest of the field is perished 12 The vine is dried up and the fig-tree languisheth the pomegranate-tree the palm-tree also and the apple-tree even all the trees of the field are withered because joy is withered away from the sons of men 13 Gird your selves and lament ye Priests howl ye ministers of the Altar come lie all night in sack-cloath ye ministers of my God for the meat-offering and the drink-offering is withholden from the house of your God 14 Sanctifie ye a fast call a solemne assembly
gather the Elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto the Lord 15 Alas for the day for the day of the Lord is at hand and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come 16 Is not the meat cut off before your eyes yea joy and gladnesse from the house of our God 17 The feed iâ—â—rotten under their clods the garners are laid desolate the barns are broken down for the corn is withered 18 How do the beasts grone the herds of cattel are perplexed because they have no pasture yea the flocks of sheep are made desolate 19 O Lord to thee will I cry for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wildernesse and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the field 20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee for the rivers of waters are dried up and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wildernesse THe Prophecie of Ioel was directed chiesly against Iudah as Hosheahs against Israel For though he name Israel twice yet he understands not there the ten Tribes distinct from the Kingdom of Iudah but takes it as a general name to all the Jews He begins with threats and motives to repentance and so makes way for unspeakable comfort in the coming of the Messias and the necessitie of yeelding obedience unto him CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord which was made known to Ioel the son of Pethuel 2. Hear ye this you aged men that are supposed to have encreased your knowledge with your years And give special ear to it all you that are inhabitants of the land of Judea And tell me if you have heard the like of what I shall now deliver either in your daies or in the daies of your forefathers 3. I shall speak that which you may well transmit to your children and they to theirs and so one age to another generation succeeding them 4. And I shall begin with four several sorts of terrible locusts You read but of one sort of them in Egypt here are more to be wondred at and all of them greedy destroyers not of our enemies land but of our own nor of the land onely but of the people In such manner shall these come That what the Caterpiller leaves the Grashopper shall devour And what the Grashoper leaves the Canker-worm shall eat up And what the Canker-worm leaves the Locust shall devour 5. Here is sad news to wake up the drunkards you that are in that number this will make you all turn your mad mirth into weeping and howling You that were of all others most soundly lulled asleep for in the destruction of the vineyards the sweet wine will be taken away from the mouths of such lustie bibbers 6. And that you may know what kind of creatures these locusts may be whether worms or men I will now use a plainer language to ler you understand what God himself saith of his people And this it is A nation shall certainly come upon my land or rather a mixture of several destructive nations as greedie and mischievous as any locusts a people excelling in strength and number A generation of locusts that will bite to the purpose For their teeth will be like Lions teeth and their grinders will have the strength of the strongest Lions in that part 7. This kind of monstrous creature will fearfully destroy Judea which I account as my own vineyard that my right hand hath planted And with that all my best fruit will be used at the pleasure of the destroyer among them my fig-trees will be barked and pilled and carelessely thrown about not a bough retaining so much as his own colour 8. For this well maiest thou O Judea take up as heavie a mourning and lamentation as a young woman would do that girds her self with sackcloth and sadly composeth her self to bewail the losse of her dearest consort the husband of her youth 9. No other way canst thou lament for thy Priests or they for themselves They that continually wait at the altar of the Lord to intercede for thy welfare and present thy thankful acknowledgements cannot otherwise expresse the absolute losse of that corn and wine that should daily supply the meat-offering and drink-offering for the house of the Lord and so the better inable them for the continuance of divine service in that place 10. The Priests mourn not alone The grounds are so wasted and lie so rude and untilled that they also seem to have put on their mourning apparrel And there is too much cause they should do so for the devastation of the fair corn-fields and withering of the vines and total losse of the oyl 11. At this sight how can the Husbadmen but hang down their heads for shame and the vine-dressers cry out for sorrow It must trouble them all to see the fruit of the earth so destroyed the wheat and the barly and the whole harvest of the field 12. The vines specially they have been so abused that they seem to blush at it as if they were ashamed to be seen in such a case The figs are no lesse spoiled and corrupted And with them the pomegranate the palmtree and the apple tree and all other trees of the field are withered and decayed And in them the joy and delight of the Sons of men is taken away and vanished out of our sight 13. Now therefore O ye Priests that have nothing else to offer come offer and present your sad souls before the Altar And gird your bodies with sackcloth or other mournful attire and let your howling be heard you that attend upon an empty Altar and are tain to lay aside your solemn Musick Lie all night in sackcloth you Ministers of my God For meat and drink offerings and outward sacrifices you must look for none You have onely your patient and obedient hearts to be made a fit sacrifice for the Lord of Heaven and earth that gives and takes away and restores again at his pleasure 14. Nor will this sacrificing of your selves be enough You must think what is fit to be done by the people too To appease the wrath of God Proclaim a publick and solemn Fast Let a full assembly be called Gather your Senators together to advise and enact what is to be done And all the Inhabitants of the land to obey their commands Gather them to the house of the Lord your God the house of prayer and there with penitent and unanimous hearts cry earnestly unto him and say 15. Alas for the day the great day of the Lord that comes on apace the day of vengeance and the destruction of Ierusalem the day of destruction that is appointed by God himself who is all-sufficient and will not be wanting to execute his own just decrees 16. Do we not see a type of it already set before our eyes Do we not read some lines of it in our present miserie and scarcitie that
debars us of the joy and pleasure that we were wont to take in our rich supply of sacrifices and offerings for the house of the Lord our God 17. For now not onely the corn above ground is destroyed but the very seed cast into the earth is putrisied under the clods so that our hope of a good harvest is buried with it and our garners are destroyed our barns emptied and ruined and our corn withered 18. O how the very cattel sensible of their wants in their loud bellowing seem to grone and cry unto God as elsewhere the hungry ravens are said to call upon Him who hath an ear for them and would much more be favourable to our prayers who are not so forward to bemoan our selves as the herds of bruit beasts are in their woful condition and perplexitie for lack of pasture And the flocks of sheep that as heavily though more remisly and silently expresse their sad and desolate case 19. I can not but crie unto thee O Lord the roaring of the poor beasts might put me upon it for that cruelty of our enemies that carrie all before them like a consuming fire destroying the fruitful places of the once-plentiful but now a most desert land and like a continued flame fearfully burning up all the trees of the field 20. And if I should leave crying and calling upon thee the beasts of the field every one of them as confuting the dulnesse and coldness of my affections and the too little pitty of my self and them would continue their louder and heavier cry unto thee because the great rivers of waters are dried up and the fruitful earth parched with heat is become like a drie and desolate wildernesse the pastures now deserve no other name among us CHAP. II. 1. BLow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord cometh for it is high at hand 2 A day of darknesse and of gloominesse a day of clouds of thick darkness as the morning spread upon the mountains a great people and a strong there hath not been ever the like neither shall be any more after it even to the years of many generations 3 A fire devoureth before them and behind them a flame burneth the land is as the garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness yea and nothing shall escape them 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses and as horsemen so shall they run 5 Like the noise of charets on the tops of mountains shall they leap like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble as a strong people set in battle array 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained all faces shal gather blacknesse 7 They shall run like mighty men they shall climb the wall like men of war and they shall march every one on his wayes and they shall not break their ranks 8 Neither shall one thrust another they shall walk every one in his path and when they fall upon the sword they shall not be wounded 9 They shall run to and fro in the city they shall run upon the wall they shall climb up upon the houses they shall enter in at the windowes like a thief 10 The earth shall quake before them the heavens shall tremble the Sun and the Moon shall be dark and the Stars shall withdraw their shining 11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army for his camp is very great for he is strong that executeth his word for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible and who can abide it 12 Therefore also now saith the Lord Turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning 13 And rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse and repenteth him of the evill 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion sanctifie a fast call a solemn assembly 16 Gather the people sanctifie the congregation assemble the Elders gather the children and those that suck the breasts let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet 17 Let the Priests the ministers of the Lord weep between the porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thing heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say among the people where is their God 18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people 19 Yea the Lord will answer and say unto his people Behold I will send you corn and wine and oil ye shall be satisfied therewith and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen 20 But I will remove far off from you the Northern army will drive him into a land barren and desolate with his face toward the east Sea his hinder part towards the utmost sea his stink shall come up his ill savour shall come up because he hath done great things 21 Fear not O land be glad and rejoyce for the Lord will do great things 22 Be not afraid ye beasts of the field for the pastures of the wildernesse do spring for the tree beareth her fruit the fig-tree and the vine do yeild their strength 23 Be glad then ye children of Zion and rejoyce in the Lord your God for he hath given you the former rain moderately and he will cause to come down for you the rain the former rain and the latter rain in the first moneth 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten the canker-worm and the caterpillar and the palmer-worm my great army which I sent among you 26 And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wonderously with you and my people shall never be ashamed 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your God and none else and my people shall never be ashamed 28 And it shall come to passe afterward that I will powre out my Spirit upon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids maids in those dayes will I powre out my Spirit 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth bloud and fire and pillars of smoak 31 The Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood before the
himself encourageth those that he makes the executioners of his Justice Come put in your sithes for there is a great harvest before you the wickednesse of mine enemies is now ripe Come down into this vally For the wine-presse is full it runs over for the exceeding abundance of their great and bloudy offences for that may be intimated in the overflowing of the blood of the grape 14. O the multitudes of hereticks schismaticks irreligious and profane livers O the vast companies of Atheists Idolaters Tyrants and other malicious enemies of the true Profession and Service of God that methinks I see now making their appearance in the vally of Jehoshaphat or devine judgement that may now be called the valley of decision where they shall receive their doom or the vally of threshing after the harvest where their punishment shall begin For now after they have enjoyed their time the day of the Lord the time of divine vengeance is ready to come upon them in the valley of decision and of threshing 15. At the approach of this terrible day the world will seem to be all in confusion They that were the light and glory of their times and as eminent and conspicuous in the sphaere of their government as the Sun and Moon and Stars are in the firmament of heaven shall be suddenly obscured and loose their light 16. The Lion of the tribe of Iudah shall roar out of Sion to the terrour of all his enemies When he first utters his voice as the defender of Ierusalem i. of his holy Church whereof Jerusalem was a figure though the powers of heaven and earth may shake yet they that trust in him will stand as firm as mount Sion that cannot be moved The Lord will shew himself our refuge and the strength of the Israel of God 17. After the roaring of the Lion will you hear the comfortable voice of the Lamb of God Thus shall ye know saith he to his Servants thus shall you see that I am the Lord your God that dwell in my Church as in my Sion my holy mountain Thus shall you be assured that my Ierusalem my Church is holy and therefore shall be secured from the unhallowed hands of those strange children that shall not be suffered so insolently and triumphantly as they have done to go thorough her any more 18. After this treading the wine-presse of the wicked and threshing of their harvest we are onely to hear of the happinesse of the Church For then shall the mountains drop new wine to her for her stronger Saints and the hils shall flow with milk fit nourishment for her yet tender babes And all the rivers of this mysticall Iudah shall with waters of life to refresh all And to this end a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord to supply the sacred Font which is placed in the lower part of the Church like a little valley of Shittim which is the embleme of a vessel that will not putrifie 19. And then while Egypt and Edom i. e. great enemies of the Church shall lie ruinous and desolate because of the innocent blood which they have shed in the true Iudah the Church of God 20. Iudah in the mean while the holy Church shall dwell safe aud the true Jerusalem shall be comforted with a true and lasting felicity 21. And the blood of the Saints which I did not before manifest to be pure and innocent and therefore most unjustly spilt that shall I even by that meanes declare to be pure and innocent namely by the exemplary punishment of their executioners And thus will God ever abide with his Church and preserve his Servants in their greatest dangers or reward them with that which shall exceed a present delivery and be a sufficient vindication of their vertue and innocence A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF AMOS CHAP. I. 1. THe word of Amos who was among the herdmen of Tekoa which he saw concerning Israel in the dayes of Vzziah King of Iudah and in the daies of Ieroboam the son of Ioash King of Israel two years before the earthquake 2 And he said the Lord will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Ierusalem and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn and the top of Carmel shall wither 3 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus aud cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven and him that holdeth the scepter from the house of Eden and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir saith the Lord. 6 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they carried away captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. 7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza which shall devour the palaces thereof 8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod and him that holdeth the scepter from Ashkelon and I will turn mine hand against Ekron and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish saith the Lord God 9 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Tyrus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom and remembred not the brotherly covenant 10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus which shall devour the palaces thereof 11 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because he did pursue his brother with the sword and did cast off all pitty and his anger did tear perpetually and kept his wrath for ever 12 But I will send a fire upon Teman which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah 13 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have ript up the women with child of Gilead that they might inlarge their border 14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah and it shall devour the palaces thereof with shouting in the day of battel with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind 15 And their King shall go into captivity he and his Princes together saith the Lord. CHAP. I. 1. THe words or things Prophetically imparted to the knowledge of Amos who was among the Shepherds or keepers of cattle in Tekoah six miles from Bethlehem which were famous for that employment Thence was he called to be a Prophet as David before that from following of sheep was chosen to be a Royal Prophet by that wise and merciful God that chuseth the base things of the world to confound the
employments From hence laying the raines loose to all liberty they take the impudence to proceed further to sins of another nature to a degree of incestuous pollution hardly named among the Gentiles that the Father and the Sonne should wickedly abuse the same woman By which horrid crimes they do what they can to pollute my holy name and provoke the Gentiles to the blaspheming of me as well as speaking the truth of them that thus dishonour their God whose honour and glory should be the main end and aim of all their endeavours 8. Beside all this having taken some pledges of those that run not after the same madness of Idolatry with them they made use of them for sacred vestures or carpets in or upon them to prostrate themselves before their Idol-altars whereas to make any use of pledges is against their law And still adding sinne unto sinne they delighted their palates with that wine which they bought with what was gained by the sale of their goods whom themselves had unjustly condemned Thus were they not ashamed to chear up themselves in the house of their false Gods and in their service as it were to drink up the blood of innocent men that would not be drawn to the like excesse of Idolatry with them 9. In this excesse and overslowing of sinne how much have these men forgot themselves and the favours and mercies that I heaped upon them How in the way to a land of rest and plenty out of my love and care of them I drove away the Amorite before them a stout and strong people giants of so vast a bignesse and stature that whosoever was to fight against them would think that his sword was to hack at Cedars and Oakes rather than to cut down men Yet these Cedars and Oakes did I pluck up by the roots and cut off in the branches and laid them prostrate before the children of Israel as low as the ground they trod upon i.e. I utterly ruined and destroyed the Amorite so that he was no longer a People as I did many other nations that were vanquished and expelled out of their antient seates to make room for them root and branch Fathers and children Princes and subiects all were driven out to give them way 10. This I did for them whom I had first obliged by a miraculous delivery from their Egyptian bondage and a safe conduct thorough the red Sea and a vast and barren wildernesse where they were fourty yeares together plentifully supplied with all things necessary till they came to possesse those fat and fertile grounds of all the seven nations of the Amorites 11. And that I might crown these temporall benefits with spirituall gifts and graces I raised up some of your children to be Prophets that they might instruct you and be your guides into a place of everlasting rest in the heavenly Canaan And as another meanes to that I made others of the Nazarites that they might be as living patterns and examples of a temperate and holy life Tell me if any of these things can be denied or if all these favours were not freely thus disposed of for your good saith the Lord 12. And yet as it were to crosse my ordinances which tended so much to your own advantage you would often interrupt the strict order of the Nazarites by perswading them to drink wine though it were flatly interdicted And you longed so much to hear your Prophets tell you rather of that which was pleasing than of that which was true that you spared not to lay it as an Injunction upon them 13. But for this liberty of sinne that you have taken to your selves I will bring you into great streights and pressures of misery and calamity so that as a cart streitned in it self and as it were oppressed with too great a burden doth seem to groane and make a noise of complaint under the weight of many sheaves so the enemies that set upon you and the afflictions that distresse and humble your soules shall force out of you many groanes and lamentations heavy and loud expressions of your sorrow 14. In this pressure and streightnesse It will be to little purpose to think of saving your selves from your enemies by flight or of finding wayes of evasion from your other miseries It will be as vain to think of resisting and overcoming them by strength of body or stoutnesse of heart For the means of flight shall be taken from them and the stoutest shall feel his stout heart to faint and sink within him And the strongest of your champions shall be so far from rescuing others that he shall not be able to preserve his own life 15. Nor shall the most cunning Archers be able to stand to it so long as to make sufficient use of his bow Or the swiftest of foot to runne so fast as to carry himself farre enough out of danger Or the most confident Horse-man to ride so fast but that a speedy and deadly blow shall overtake him and make an end of his life 16. And if any be accounted of so Heroicall a spirit that he may presume of better fortune than other mighty men even he shall be forced to yeild at last or if he can make an escape to betake himself to his heeles like a naked Souldier stripped of all his harness and leaving all his weapons behind him For the Lord hath spoken it CHAP. III. HEear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you O children of Israel against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt saying 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities 3 Can two walk together except they be agreed 4 Will a Lion roar in the forrest when he hath no prey will a young Lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the Prophets 8 The Lion hath roared who will not fear the Lord God hath spoken who can but prophesie 9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt and say Assemble your selves upon the mountains of Samaria and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof and the oppressed in the midst thereof 10 For they know not to do right saith the Lordâ— who store up violence and robbery in their palaces 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God An adversary there shall be even round about the land and he shal bring down thy strength from thee and thy palaces shall be spoiled 12 Thus saith the Lord
and empty thy rich and stately houses which thou hadst so filled and stuffed with unlawful gain 12. If any of you escape the fury of that enemy it will prove as hard and as strange a deliverance as if a shepherd should venture to snatch a leg or two or a little piece of the ear of a sheep out of the mouth of a hungry Lion Thus saith the Lord of the difficultie and paucitie of the delivered Such and so rare will be the reliques of those poor Israelites that with much hazard will be rescued out of the verie jaws of the enemie They will be sensible of this danger that will lie in Damascus their confederate Cities as in a bed and in Samaria their own nests as in the corner of a bed thinking to nuzzle themselves there as in a bed of ease and security or a fit place for the exercise of their spiritual whoredom This enemy will rouse them all 13. Hear this you specially that are most concerned in the care and oversight of the Nation and make protestation of it in the house of Iacob that you may move them to repentance saith the Lord God the Lord of Hosts who onely can refrain the violence of the hostile Armies that come against you 14. For unlesse you prevent it by repentance when I begin to punish those of Israel for the foul sins which they have committed I will not then spare the chiefest places Down will go the Altars at Bethel and the Hornes the supposed holier part of the chief Altar will be broken in pieces and the Altar ruined and by that the idolatry of that place utterly abolished 15. And the Court shall not stand firm where the Temple is ruined Their stately Palaces shall all be laid wast The winter-house and the summer-house shall feel the same blow The Kings Ivory-house shall have the same fate with many other houses that shall be levelled with the ground For the Lord of Hostes hath spoken it and his sentence cannot be reversed by any other CHAP. IV. 1 HEar this word ye kine of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria which oppresse the poor which crush the needy which say to their masters Bring and let us drink 2 The Lord God hath sworn by his Holinesse that lo the dayes shall come upon you that he will take you away with hooks and your posterity with fishhooks 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches every cow at that which is before her and ye shall cast them into the palace saith the Lord. 4 Come to Bethel and transgresse at Gilgal multiply transgression and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years 5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven and proclaim and publish the free-offerings for this liketh you O ye children of Israel saith the Lord God 6 And I also have given you cleannesse of teeth in all your cities and want of breadâ—â— in all your places yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. 7 And also I have withholden the rain from you when there were yet three moneths to the harvest and I caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon another city one piece was rained upon and the piece whereupon it rained not withered 8 So two or three cities wandred unto one city to drink water but they were not satisfied yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. 9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees increased the palmer-worm devoured them yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. 10 I have sent among you pestilence after the manner of Egypt your young men have I slain with the sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stink of your camp to come up unto your nostrils yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. 11 I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a firebrand pinckt out of the burning yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord. 12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel 13 For lo he that formeth the mountains and createth the wind and declareth unto man what is his thought that maketh the morning darknesse and treadeth upon the high places of the earth the Lord the God of hosts is his name CHAP. IV. 1. HEar ye this which God hath revealed unto me concerning the punishment of you that dwell in Samaria the Metropolis of Israel pleasantly seated upon a high hill You that in so fair and sweet a place live in ease and plenty and spend all your precious time in pampering of your wanton bodies like Epicures rather then worshipers of the true God nay like bruit beasts rather then women indued with reason like fat kine of Basan rather then modest and temperate wives of such Princes as have eminent place and authority among the people of God You that in your proud and wanton humors scorn and oppresse the poor and needy And that you may do it with more advantage speak to your Husbands and Rulers to bring them some way under your command that you may get as much out of them as will defray the charge of your drinking and feasting among your merry Gossips Hear you this message 2. The Lord hath sworn by his own sacred Majesty i. he hath irreversibly decreed that the time shall come upon you ere long wherein the enemy shall as easily and unexpectedly surprise both your selves and your pampered children as Fishers with their fishhooks and other instruments of their art use to catch the fishes that sport about that which is brought to bereave them of their liberty and their life too 3. And for fear of the enemie you shall be fain to creep out at the breaches that he shall make in the walls of your Citie every one at that breach which she can first light upon After this inevitable flight you shall be taken and at last with shame enough cast out as far as into Armenia that will have no such delights for you as you enjoyed in the rich Palaces of Samaria This is that which God himself hath decreed against you 4. Therefore if you will hear your own foolish fancies and inclinations you had best enjoy your pleasure before you go thither Yes by all means get you to Bethel and take your solemn leave of your beloved calves erected for the worship of that place show some of your impiety there Then take your way toward Gilgal to the idols of that place there make up the full measure of your sins Every morning with great care and diligence bring the sacrifices that should be offered to God and offer them at your pleasure and at your peril to those idols your sacred Dieties of
Gilgal forsooth And for those tithes which should be paid every third year in the right place let your mistaken devotion pay them to your imaginary gods in three daies if you will and where you like best 5. If you would yet be at more cost in your will-worship offer also a sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving to your idols and in an offering by fire make use of leaven which I commanded to be left out in such cases And be sure that notice be taken of your voluntary offerings Blow a trumpet before you when you go to them some way or other proclaim it to the world For this pleaseth you well O ye children of Israel saith the Lord God and you may therefore do it at your peril 6. But remember that for this your forsaking of my altars at your pleasure and showing your selves so free and liberal in your idol-service I also pleased my self in sending such scarcity of meat in all your Cities that there was nothing of it to be seen sticking in your teeth And it was accompanied as great a want of bread in all places Yet did not these punishments produce such a repentance as brought you throughly home to me 7. Nor did I punish you onely with want of food for the present but I threatned a lasting famine and thirst by keeping the rain from you too whereby in your mountainous Countrie your corn-fields were parched with heat and your grasse withered and those places dried up wherein you expected your water which is a great part of your drink This drought you had even in the three moneths before harvest when you had most need of rain And that you might see this was caused immediatelie by my self not by any power in the stars not by anie cause in nature not by anie accident or chance I granted rain to some Cities and Towns when I denied it to other neighbour-cities Nay which was more miraculous one piece of ground was rained upon and another hard by it for want of rain was dried up and became utterlie unfruitful and barren 8. So that in this great defect of water two or three Cities were forced to travail to some other Citie that had the benefit of some few showers there to quench their thirst Yet was not that City so well stored as to let them have water in so large a supply as they desired Neither would this plague work so much upon you as to bring you to a serious repentance and acknowledgement of those sins that drew these miseries upon you saith the Lord. 9. Therefore I proceed against you by another plague of blasting the corn by a drie East-wind and of mildew which is a kind of jaundis in the fruit proceeding from too much moisture What one of these did not consume the other commonlie corrupted of that which came out of the earth with some hope And as you more and more multiplied and bestowed cost upon your gardens and vineyards and your fig-trees and olive-trees so did I more and more increase the number of locusts and canker-worms to spoile and devour them So that all your cost and labour came in the end to little or nothing Yet so foolish and obstinate you were and so hardened in all sin and impiety that still you continued as impenitent as you were before saith the Lord. 10. And when you thought in these streights to help your selves with corn and other supplies out of Egypt whither I had often charged you not to return In your way to Egypt and from thence I took away some of you with the pestilence and some with the sword of the enemy and among them some of the youngest and lustiest men that thought they were able to make the best resistance This misery was increased by the losse of your horses which I had charged you not to multiply to your selves you got them in Egypt and I took them from you in the way from Egypt to you Nor did I cause you to be troubled with the fight onely but with the stinking smell of your troops so many waies disturbed and spent with robberie and mortality Yet were not you so sensible of these judgements as to stop and reâ—al your selves and be converted unto me saith the Lord. 11. Beside all this I brought a desolation upon some others among you somewhat like unto that of Sodom and Gomrrah so that the few that escaped were like firebrands with much ado here and there plucked out of a terrible flaming fire And still you were far enough from making your humble addresses unto me for mercie and forgivenesse 12. Now therefore since none of these sad calamities had the intended effect of your Reformation I have reason to continue my resolution of bringing those and the like plagues upon you of which I have either already forewarned you by the mouth of my Prophets or with which I have even now expressed how I made trial of you heretofore Therefore because you see I am coming against you with such variety of punishments if you will not repent be wise now at last O Israel and carefully fit and prepare your selves to meet me with bended knees and weeping eyes and broken hearts and unfaigned resolutions of amendment of life 13. Consider who it is that so graciously invites thee to meet Him by repentance the onely means which is now left to turn away the execution of his wrath He so invites thee O Israel that hath all things in his power and at his command By vertue whereof He created the mighty mountains and at his pleasure raiseth the violent winds By his infinite knowledge and all-seeing eye He can discover the innermost conceipts meditations and intentions of the heart of man as well as what himself intends to do with him if he do not amend his life and return to him It is he which makes the glorious light of the morning that grows brighter and brighter as he mounts himself and can cloud or eclipse that light with sodain darknesse at his pleasure as the sole Author and Commander both of Light and Darknesse It is he that walks upon those eminent places of the world that are no way pervious or passible to us and so subdues and subjects to himself whatsoever is exalted to the highest pitch to which it can arrive The Lord God of Hosts is his name and all creatures are but as his souldiers and servants where his Mercie or Justice will please to employ them CHAP. V. 1. Hear ye this word which I take up against you even a lamentation O house of Israel 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen she shall no more rise she is forsaken upon her land there is none to raise her up 3 For thus saith the Lord God The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten to the house of Israel 4 For thus saith the lord
corner of the Countrie to another from the entring in of Hamath near Epiphania to that which is called the river of the plain or of the wildernesse because of the barren and desert places through which it runs that you may be pursued in the very place which you boast that you have added to the Kingdom of Israel CHAP. VII 1 THus hath the Lord God shewed unto me and behold he formed grashoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth and lo it was the latter growth after the Kings mowings 2 And it came to passe that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land then I said O Lord God forgive I beseech thee by whom shall Iacob arise for he is small 3 The Lord repented for this It shall not be saith the Lord. 4 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me and behold the Lord God called to contend by fire and it devoured the great deep and did eat up a part 5 Then said I O Lord cease I bseeech thee by whom shall Iacob arise for he is small 6 The Lord repented for this This also shall not be saith the Lord God 7 Thus he shewed me and behold The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line with a plumb-line in his hand 8 And the Lord said unto me Amos what seest thou And I said A plumb-line Then said the Lord Behold I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel I will not again passe by them any more 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate and the Sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid wast and I will rise against the house of Ieroboum with the sword 10 Then Amaziah the Priest of Beth-el sent to Ieroboam King of Israel saying Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel the land is not able to bear all his word 11 For thus Amos saith Ieroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land 12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos O thou Seer go flee thee away into the land of Iudah and there eat bread and prophesie there 13 But prophesie not again any more at Bethel for it is the Kings chappel and it is the kings court 14 Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah I was no Prophet neither was I a prophets son but I was an herdsman and a gatherer of Sycomore fruit 15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said unto me Go prophesie unto my people Israel 16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord Thou sayest Prophesie not against Israel and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword and thy land shall be divided by line and thou shalt die in a polluted land and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land CHAP. VII 1. NOw I shall acquaint you with some afflictions which by way of punishment had fallen heavily upon the people if I had not interposed my earnest praiers as I was their Prophet For The Lord God was pleased to show me a vision It was in the Spring time when the earth was yet in her prime and glorie in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth of the fruit of the earth after the mowing of the hay or cutting down of the corn that belonged to the King Jeroboam the son of Joas Then appeared to me God himself forming of locusts that could never come at a worse time to do mischief to the fruit of the ground and were as an Embleme of his gathering a vast and pernicious armie that would quickly over-run and destroy a fruitful and pleasant land 2. And it came to passe When the locusts seemed very busie in cosuming the grasse and other fruit of the land and had done much harm already to it I said Lord God be favourable and gratious to thy people Let not these locusts that use to make the way to a terrible famine prove a Prophetical prediction of a numerous and destructive Hoste that shall for our sins invade and lay waste so rich and flourishing a Country For who shall then raise up again the Posteritie of Iacob which are already much exhausted and brought low by former calamities 3. Upon my humble petition the Lord repented of this great judgement saying it should not proceed He would alter or mitigate the intended burden of the vision by making Pul and his Souldiers be content to be appeased with money and voide the Kingdom 4. 5. I must not conceal another vision at which I was more amazed a vision and prediction of a more furious enemie that consumed all before him like a flaming fire an element that hath no mercie And in this manner it was revealed unto me by the Lord God himself Behold he called to his Angels and other Ministers for a judgement by fire to be brought upon his people This fire was so violent that it seemed to be devouring the great deep i. readie to lick up and consume manie of the people that are often compared to the manie boisterous and raging waters of the great deep and it had already devoured part of them or of the Countrie Then said I O Lord God stay thine anger For how shall the children of Iacob subsist after this Such a heavie judgement will so exhaust them that they will hardlie ever be able to recover their strength again 6. So the Lord repented of this also I will not now go on with this way of revenge saith the Lord God 7. Another time the Lord showed me a third Vision in this manner Behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by line and there was a line in his hand 8. And that I might give the more heed to it the Lord God said unto me Amos what seest thou And I said I see a line Then saith the Lord Behold I will now make use of the strict line of Iustice in examining the faults of my people Israel I will not so easily passe them by with such connivence as I did before taking little notice of many offences 9. Upon my strickt marking of what is done amisse it will soon follow that the high places of Israel erected to the honour of their false gods will be made desolate and the titular Sanctuaries consecrated to the calves in Dan and Bethel will be laid waste And before that I will rise against the house af Ieroboam the son of Joas with the sword And Zacharie his son shall perish by the sword of Shallum and in him shall that familie be extinct and the Kings of Israel decay more and more till they are quite ruined by the Assyrian 10. When Amaziah the chief idolatrous Priest of Bethel understood of
these three unwelcom prophesies likely to be many waies prejudicial to him his fellow Priests if it should be known and believed by the people He sent to Ieroboam the son of Joas then King of Israel saying Amos hath done that which tends to rebellion and hath ventured to do it within thy own kingdom in the middest of thy leige Subjects the house of Israel divulging such strange prophesies and in such plain terms as the land cannot and should not endure being they do apparantly tend to intestine sedition and are sufficient to provoke the people to usurp that authoritie for the punishment of Amos which properlie belongs to the King or such as he shall please to impower Therefore it were not amisse to advise quicklie what shall be done with such a one 11. For thus saith Amos of the King King Ieroboam shall die by the sword and of the people he saith Israel shall be led away captive into a strange land as if God would cast off your Majestie and his people and forget the great cost and diligence which is bestowed in Bethel upon his publick service 12. Thus Amaziah accused the Prophet Amos with much subtiltie and impudence and verie falslie for he said nothing of the person but of the house of the King Yet least this his malicious accusation of the Prophet should not succeed according to his desire he fell to foul words and menacies and said Heark you you Seer You had best be packing hence into Iudah and there get a poor living as you may by your heretical doctrine and false prophesies For here is no place for such as you are 13. Let us hear no more of you at Bethel For here is the Kings Chappel and the Kings Court Therefore it cannot but be verie dangerous for you to hanker hereabouts but in Iudah I believe your prophesies against us may passe with the good liking and applause of all 14. To this virulent and threatning speech Amos made answer with an humble but an undaunted spirit and said to Amaziah I did neither usurpe nor ambitiously affect the place or title of a Prophet nor had I by birth or succession or education in the Schools of the Prophets any claim or pretense unto it For indeed I was brought up among flocks of sheep and herds of cattel not in the Schools not in the Court but as a gatherer of sycomores for bruit beasts rather then an instructer of men 15. Though it pleased God to take me from following the stock and lay this necessitie upon me of prophesying to his people of Israel Therefore I must obey the divine calling rather then your pleasure and advise or the command of the King if he should so injoine me as you would have him For who shall excuse me when he saith Go prophesie unto this people 16. Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord. Thou that saiest Drop not thy Prophetical words against Israel We desire not that one drop of them should fall upon our nation For we take them to be no drops from heaven but meerlie from your own lips 16. Therefore as imperious and peremptorie as thou art I will prophesie a little plainer of what will nearlie concern thee Thus saith the Lord. Thy wife in this very City shall have her body abused before thy face by the Assyrian souldiers This will rub the memorie of that spiritual whoredom that hath been practised and maintained by thee as chief Priest in this Citie Thy sons also and thy daughters all nuzled in the same idolatrie shall be cut off by the Assyrian swords And thy idolatrous Country shall be divided by line among those strangers which the King of Assyria will send hither And thou shalt die not in this holy Citie as thou accountest it but in a prophane land among the heathen And all Israel as I foretold shall be carried captive from hence into Assyria for contenming the fair predictions and gracious admonitions that were afforded to them CHAP. VIII 1 THus hath the Lord God shewed unto me and behold a basket of summer fruit 2 And he said Amos what seest thou And I said A basket of summer fruit Then said the Lord unto me The end is come upon my people of Israel I will not again passe by them any more 3 And the songs of the Temples shall be howlings in that day saith the Lord God there shall be many dead bodies in every place they shall cast them forth with silence 4 Hear this O ye that swallow up the needy even to make the poor of the land to fail 5 Saying When will the new Moon be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat making the Ephah small and the shekel great and falsifying the balances by deceit 6 That we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shooes yea and sell the refuse of the wheat 7 The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Iacob Surely I will never forget any of their works 8 Shall not the land tremble for this and every one mourn that dwelleth therein and it shall rise up wholly as a flood and it shall be cast out and drowned as by the floud of Egypt 9 And it shall come to passe in that day saith the Lord God that I will cause the Sun to go down at noon and I wil darken the earth in the clear day 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation and I will bring up sackcloath upon all loins and baldnesse upon every head and I will make it as the mourning of an onely son and the end thereof as a bitter day 11 Behold the daies come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread not a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the North even to the East they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it 13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst 14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria and say Thy God O Dan liveth and the manner of Beer-sheba liveth even thy shall fall and never rise up again CHAP. VIII 1. A fourth vision likewise did the Lord God show unto me And behold It was a basket of ripe summer-fruit 2. And that I might the more heedfully observe the meaning of the vision the Lord said What seest thou Amos I answered A basket of ripe summer-fruit Then the Lord said unto me The end is coming upon my people of Israel For as when fruit is fully ripe men use to pluck it from the tree least it should rot and corrupt the sooner so they being ripe for judgement shall be taken from their Countrie I will passe by their sins no more in such patience
and connivence as I have formerlie used toward them 3. And their merrie songs in their stately Palaces shall be turned into fearful howling in that day saith the Lord God And many bodies of dead men shall want the honour of the wonted funeral rites being privily cast aside by them that will endeavour to conceal their miserie least their own men should be too much disheartned or the enemie encouraged by seeing what a number perish by famine pestilence or discontent before the sword come near them 4. It will highly concern you to take notice of this prophesie and vision that are are come to so high a degree of covetousnesse and oppression that you are ripe enough to be taken off from any further benefit of life You that could find in your hearts to devour the poor and meek and humble men and quite obliterate the name and memory of them from the earth that you alone might injoy the good things of this life 5. You that say When will the New Moon and the Sabbath be gone we like not these Festival daies they are prejudicial to us that might every day make our markets It were not amisse if they were quite put out of the Kalender that we might be wholly employed in selling our corn and opening our granaries of wheat and practising the art we have in making our measures lesse and raising the value of our coin and falsifying our weights by sleight and deceit 6. That when we have by these tricks cheated and beggered the poor we may have an easie purchase of them and their goods and all that they have for a little sum of money or for as poor a thing as the present supply of a pair of shooes when they are cold and needy or by putting off to them at our own price the very refuse of our wheat that we know not otherwise how to dispose of 7. Therefore the Lord in his justice hath fully resolved and sworn by Himself whom all will acknowledge to be the glorie of his people Israel that since they so often forget the interest that they have in this high title or abuse it by making themselves guilty of such wicked deeds I will not forget to punish any of their evill courses I will surelie do it saith the Lord. 8. For Why should I not make the land tremble and all her inhabitants mourn for these things Why shall not this deluge of sin in this nation make her punishment overflow and overwhelm her in every part as the River Nilus in Egypt ascends by degrees and at last ovorflows her banks and covers all the face of Egypt with her inundations 9. When that day of revenge riseth upon them saith the Lord God I will make all their joy and comfort to vanish on a sodain as if the Sun of a clear day should set upon them in a dark and dismal cloud before he had run half his course 10. And I will turn your merry festivals and gaudy daies into daies of mourning and your pleasant songs into doleful lamentations your rich and loose apparel into course sackcloth girded about your loines and your neat heads of hair into bald pates that your outward garb may speak your inward sorrow for your heavy calamitie Nay I will bring the land of Israel to that passe and that high degree of mourning that in all the chiefest places men shall be found in as sad postures and bitter exclamations as a tender Mother useth to expresse in the funerals of her onely son And how jolly and chearful soever they have been they shall close up their last times in great bitternesse of woe and miserie 11. There is yet worse news behind if it were rightly apprehended Behold the time is coming saith the Lord God wherein I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread onely or a thirst of water but a want of spiritual food too and of the water of life a scarcity of the word of God specially of the word of prophesie which you neglect when it is offered and therefore it will not be heard when you long for it 12. For they that are now so coy and dainty that no Prophets can please them shall then compasse about from Sea to Sea They shall run to and fro from one corner of the Country to another to seek the word of the Lord purely and sincerely taught and shall not find it 13. Then shall even the succulent bodies of fair damsels and proper young men in the flower of their age be ready to faint and wither away for thirst 14. This shall happen to them that swear by the idols of Samaria near Bethel as if they had no true Deitie to swear by To them that have this form of oath as thy Diety lives O Dan in imitation of their former oath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they Lord lives To them that swear thus as the living God is rightly worshipped in that kind of service which is used in Beersheba or as I wish that the course and religious way of Beersheba may thrive These men shall fall from their former prosperous estate and shall never be restored to that or so much as to their Country again CHAP. IX 1 I Saw the Lord standing upon the Altar and he said Smite the lintel of the door that the posts may shake and cut them in the head all of them and I will slay the last of them with the sword he that fleeth of them shall not flee away and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered 2 Though they dig into hell thence shall mine hand take them though they climbe up to heaven thence will I bring them down 3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel I will search and take them out thence and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea thence will I command the serpent and he shall bite them 4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies thence will I command the sword and it shall slay them and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil and not for good 5 And the Lord God of Hosts is he that toucheth the land and it shall melt and all that dwell therein shall mourn and it shall rise up wholly like a floud and shall be drowned as by the floud of Egypt 6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven and hath founded his troup in the earth he that calleth for the waters of the sea and powreth them out upon the face of the earth the Lord is his Name 7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me O ye children of Israel saith the Lord have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt and the Philistins from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir 8 Behold the eies of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom and I will destroy it from
when thou stoodest like one of another side while strangers carryed away all thy Brother Iacob's forces into captivity and forreigners entred the gates of most of his Cities and cast lots upon Ierusalem which of them should make the first assault against that their mother-City when all this was done thou that shouldst have been one of her best friends didst openly show thy self to be one of her greatest enemies i. one of them that had a hand in all those severall passages of cruelty 12. But thou of all other shouldst not have endured so much as to look upon the strange usage of thy brother in that heavy time much more shouldst thou have absteined from triumphing over the children of Iudah in the day of their destruction and most of all shouldst thou have feared to make thy own mouth a witnesse of thy proud and insolent insulting over their affliction in the very day when it fell upon them 13. Thou shouldst not have been so forward as others to rush into the gates of my Peoples forts and cities in that time of their calamity and then specially have made thy self a spectator of those evils that came so thick upon him like a fearfull storm in a sad and gloomy day and which is yet worse to have appeared as a party which those that laid violent hands upon his substance in that day 14. Nor shouldst thou have stood in the crosse wayes where many paths meet upon that advantage to cut off such of thy Brethren as had escaped the enemy nor shut up such as otherwise had remained free and at liberty in those distressed times 15. For after all these daies of yours the Lord will have his day too a day of vengeance And it is not long before that day will come upon all those nations about Judaea that have been so cruell to them And then as thou hast alone to others it shall be done to thee thy reward shall return upon thy own pate 16. And as you of Edom shall drink of the cup of my anger because of my holy mountain and the holy land of Judaea which you have persecuted So shall all those nations that joyned with you ever taste of the same cup till they have drunk it up and be as if they had never been 17. But in mount Sion there shall be a great deliverance from the scourge that shall then be brought upon others by Sennacherib and it shall continue a place sanctified and set apart for divine service and then shall they of the house of Iacob that secured themselves for that time in Jerusalem return to a quiet possession of their severall tenures in the land of their inheritance 18. Then you that helped to encrease the flames of those wars that set Judaea into a combustion shall find that the house of Iacob will prove a fire and the house of Ioseph a flame and the house of Esau like stubble before them And they shall kindle them and devour them till there be none remaining of the house of Esau that shall be able to do any great harm to the house of Israel For the Lord hath spoken it 19. And they of Israel shall possesse the South of Edom with mount Seir and the plain with the land of the Philistims And with them shall they possess the Countrey of Ephraim and of Samaria and Benjamin shall have Gilead for his possession 20. And those few forces of the children of Israel that return after their captivity shall possesse whatsoever belonged to the Cananites as far as Sareptah of the Sidonians And they of Ierusalem which shall return from their captivity shall possesse the parts about Sepharad or the furthest bounds with the Cities of the South 21. And they that have delivered themselves out of the captivity shall not onely come again to their antient right in mount Sion but in their posterity they shall go as Iudges and Governours into the mountaines of Esau. And then the kingdom of Israel shall be under God alone and under the power of no forreign Kings A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF IONAH CHAP. I. 1. NOw the word of the Lord came unto Ionah the son of Amittai saying 2 Arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their wickednesse is come up before me 3 But Ionah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Ioppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to goe with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the Sea so that the ship was like to be broken 5 Then the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them but Ionah was gone down into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep 6 So the Ship-master came to him and said unto him What meanest thou O sleeper arise call upon thy God if so be that God will think upon us that we perish not 7 And they said every one to his fellow Come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this â—evill is upon us So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Ionah 8 Then said they unto him Tell us we pray thee for whose cause this evill is upon us what is thine occupation and whence comest thou what is thy countrey and of what people art thou 9 And he said unto them I am an Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him Why hast thou done this for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them 11 Then said they unto him What shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us for the sea wrought and was tempestuous 12 And he said unto them Take me up and cast me forth into the sea so shall the sea be calm unto you for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land but they could not for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them 14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said We beseech thee O Lord we beseech thee let us not perish for this mans life and lay not upon us innocent blood for thou O Lord hast done as it pleased thee 15 So they took up Ionah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea ceased from her raging 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vowes 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Ionah and Ionah was in
the belly of the fish three dayes and three nights The Prophesie of Jonah who was an Hebrew as appears by his words to the Mariners whatsoever made Lyranus think him the Son of the widow of Sarepta that was raised again to life by Eliah He seems to have been of the tribe of Naphthali For he was of Gath-heper which was a City in the tribe of Naphtali And many of the Iewes think it was he that annointed Iohn at the command of Elias He lived in the time of Jeroboam the Son of Ioas and prophesied of the victory which that King of Israel should obtain to the great benefit of that kingdom He was a signe to the Ninevites and the conversion of Nineveh the great City of Assyria by his preaching was a prediction of the vocation of the Gentiles and rejection of the Iewes Lastly He is commended to us by our Saul himself as a type of his Death and Buriall and Resurrection CHAP. I. 1. WHen Ionah the Son of Amittai could no way reclaim the sinfull Israelites neither by good admonitions nor by a clear Prophesie of the victorious atcheivements of their puissant King that should restore all the coast of Israel from the entring of Hamath unto the Sea of the wildernesse or the great Lake near the plaines of Idumaea Then that the Israelites might see the greatnesse of their own obstinacy in the speedy Repentance of the very Gentiles and acknowledge the Justice of that punishment that followed upon that obstinacy of theirs the word or command of the Lord was in this manner made known unto him and to this purpose 2. Arise and fit thy self for a long journey go to that great City Niniveh and with a loud voice boldly preach unto her what I have bid thee For their riot oppression and other wickednesse is grown to that height that it calls to heaven for vengeance and represents it self before me in such manner that it must be no longer suffered to go on 3. Ionah loath to be a Messenger of such ill newes to another Countrey in that which boded no good to his own instead of performing ready obedience to Gods command thought of quitting that place and kingdom as soon as might be where God had so appeared unto him and was more specially present Some reason of this kind of slight from God might be that he conceived this threat might produce mercy in God upon the Repentance of the Ninivites and their repentance might conduce to the greater shame and punishment of his own Country-men that having greater inducements gave lesse signe of remorse and amendment of life then was found among the Heathen This running in his head put him upon a sudden resolution to flee to Tarshish the rather because after he had come as far as the famous port of Ioppe the likeliest to accommodate him for this flight he there accordingly found a ship ready to put saile for that place To break off all further delay he presently paid the fare and took his place in the ship hoping that the further he removed from the place of Gods peculiar presence where he received his command the further he should be from his employment to Niniveh which he desired by all meanes to avoid as Moses once did his journey into Egypt 4. But to show how hard it was to resist the will and pleasure of him that laid the command upon him while Jonah thought himself secure and at liberty the Lord sent a violent wind into the sea which raised such a sudden impetuous tempest in that place that they seemed all in danger of perishing by shipwrack 5. This drave the fearfull Mariners into such a sit of devotion as seldome takes them but in a sad storm First they humbly apply themselves to their severall supposed Deities then they are as busie in using all outward means of safety by casting their wares into the sea or whatsoever might thereby lighten the ship In the mean time Ionah had got down into the lower parts of the ship where he slept as securely as if he had been no way concerned in this troublesome and perilous storm 6. In this posture was he when the Master of the ship lighting upon him ratled him up for sleeping so soundly in a time of common fear and danger and advised him by their example to fall to his prayers and call upon his God for his own and their safety if perhaps God would be entreated to be propitious and gracious unto them and preserve them from perishing in the Sea 7. But the Mariners seeing the violence of the storm no whit abated after their addresse to their Gods seconded with the prayer of Jonah and the ordinary outward meanes of easing the ship of their portage began to suspect that there was some wicked miscreant among them whom divine vengeance would not snffer to live and for whose sake they suffered all this misery Therefore according to their usuall course in such extremities they resolved upon casting of lots and said among themselves Come let us cast lots that thereby we may know the true cause and authour of all this evill And when they had done so after their blunt way without prayer or other enquiry after God the lot by divine Providence fell upon Ionah 8. Upon this they did not presently cast him out whom the lot had as they thought so plainly discovered to be the man that was persecuted with that storm But to inform themselves more particularly they said unto him Tell us we pray thee for whose cause as thou thinkest this evill is brought upon us Art thou guilty of any horrid sinne that might deserve it Examine thy self what hath been thy course of life there may be some fault of thy own in that whence comest thou Of what countrey and of what people art thou thou mayest perhaps come from a wicked and accursed place 9. Ionah answered punctually to that which most reflected upon the case in hand that he was an Ebrew and worshipped the Lord God of Heaven whither they did or should have directed their prayers who made the vast Sea which terrified them now and the dry land where they longed to arrive in safety 10. The Men heard not this without much fear and terrour as not being wholly ignorant of the great wonders which the power and Justice of almighty God had done among the Hebrews to the admiration of all other nations They could hardly come from Joppe and hear none of those things They considered also what he had told them of his strange disobedience and boldnesse in flying from the presence of so great a God to prevent his going unto Niniveh as an unwelcome Messenger of their sudden destruction Therefore they said unto him Why hast thou done this why wouldst thou make thy self guilty of so great a sinne who would think a Prophet should be afraid or loath to
speak what God had put into his mouth 11. Yet not venturing rashly to make away an Ebrew and so near a Servant to the great Creator and Governour of all things they advised with himself what was fittest to be done to him that they might appease the wrath of God and so quiet the raging Sea which seemed still more and more to swell and beget more trouble to them 12. Then spake the Prophet as from the oracle of God and told them that their safety could not be otherwise procured than by casting him over board and so committing him to the mercy of God And that this their execution of divine Iustice upon him would calm and still the roaring Sea which called aloud for vengeance against him and would not be silent but upon his patient offering himself to the mercy of Almighty God and so becoming some means of their deliverance from what himself had been a main instrument to bring upon them wherein he was a type of Christ that offered himself to a crueller death for the salvation of the world 13. Neverthelesse Jonas his readinesse to die for them melted the hearts of the rude Mariners I wish our Saviours offering himself for us could work the like effect in us all They resolved now to venture themselves a little further for his sake rather than secure themselves by his death And casting about in their minds all the waies by which they might preserve him they pitched upon this as the likeliest to try whether by rowing the ship to dry land they might not save themselves and him too But after much labour they see that they could not do it For the more they strived to gain the land the more fiercely did the wind and weather beat them into new danger upon the Sea 14. At last though forced unto it yet they would not be executioners of the death of a Prophet till they had prayed to Almighty God whose power the Prophet had made known to them that they might not be called to account for the losse of his life nor his innocent blood any way laid to their charge because all these things the extraordinary tempest the event of the lottery and Jonah's own confession appeared plainly to fall out and be wholly ordered and directed according to his own divine dispensation and holy will and pleasure In all which prayer of the Mariners they were no types of the cruelty of the Jewes to our Saviour when he died for us 15. After this but much against their wills they took up Jonah that willingly yeilded himself and cast him into the Sea which being done there followed a sudden and great calm The boisterous waves and whistling winds were laid As the fury of Death and Sathan was quelled upon our Saviours exposing himself to Death for our Salvation 16. These things wrought in the Seamen a wonderfull Fear and Reverence of the true God the Creator and Lord of all things Of whom they might have heard something in Joppe and other places of the holy land but these passages concerning Jonah and the words that he spake to them wrought so powerfully in their hearts that upon their safe landing again they offered sacrifice to the Lord after the way of Israel according to the vowes which they had made unto him when they were in danger adding other vowes which they intended afterwards to perform at their first opportunity 17. But God that is able to rescue us in all places and useth to be a present help in the greatest times of difficulty by his good providence and mercy had prepared a whale to swallow up Ionah alive and be as his prison or his keeper for a time And Ionah continued in the belly of the Fish three dayes and three nights and so again became a type of our Saviour that was three dayes and three nights in the heart of the earth CHAP. II. 1 THen Ionah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly 2 And said I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardst my voice 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep in the midst of the seas and the flouds compassed me about all thy billows and thy waves passed over me 4 Then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet I will look again toward thy holy temple 5 The waters compassed me about even unto the soul the depth closed me round about the weeds were wrapt about my head 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains the earth with her bars was about me for ever yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption O Lord my God 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord and my prayer came in unto thee into thine holy temple 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanks-giving I will pay that that I have vowed salvation is of the Lord. 10 And the Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited out Ionah upon the dry land CHAP. II. 1. JOnah in the time of his abode within the Whale considering the miraculous securitie that he had being scarce out of the very mouth of one danger of being swallowed up by the sea and yet presently in the middest of another in the bellie of a vast and monstrous Fish did not forget to make his humble and yet confident prayer to the Lord his God a kind of Prophetical assurance of his deliverie from the Fish as well as from the Sea 2. And he framed his prayer to this purpose I cried unto the Lord out of that fearful affliction of mine that streightly compassed me about on every side and by the life yet left in my bodie with some degree of inward repose and quiet in my soul I quickly and easily perceived that he had accepted and answered my prayer Yes O my Gracious and Merciful God Out of the innermost parts of the Whale wherein I lay as in a kind of Grave or a shadow of darknesse like Hell it self for the time Even thence I cried and thou wert pleased to give ear to the voice of my groaning in my importunate prayer 3. Though what relief could I then in any reason have expected when thou hadst cast me into the innermost receptacles and bosome of the vast Seas where the overflowing of the waters circled me about and which was more terrible unto me my accusing thoughts in reflection upon thy heavy displeasure and my rebellious sin were like so many waves and surges that passed over me and afflicted my heavy soul. So that what the Royal Prophet once speak in a figure I find in a more literal and both sensible and spiritual way made good upon me 4. How could I then but take up those other words of the same Prophet wherein betwixt hope and discomfort he complains that he was cast
out of thy sight like one out of thy remembrance and care and providence But in this bitter conflict my faith and repose in the mercy of God at last got the victorie and then I altered my sad tone and with some chearfulnesse delivered the hope that I had to escape this peril and live to present my hearty thanks once again in thy holy Temple of Jerusalem 5. All this while my danger continued and made me recal another passage of the Psalmist where he saith that the waters beset him on every side to the hazard of his life His words might he mine when I was walled about with the great abysse and a multitude of weeds all which strengthened and collected into one bundle which seemed ready to wrap about my head and confine me to my last unquiet bed 6. For me thought that I went down to the lowest parts of those rocks and promontories that peep out like mountains in the sea and that the earth had barred me out and excluded me wholly from ever seeing the firm land again Yet out of the depth of this miserie didst thou preserve me alive O just and powerful Lord and my most merciful God 7. When in the middest of these difficulties I was ready to faint and dispair of recoverie I forgot not to humble my self before God And my prayer found admittance unto thee O Lord and accesse into thy holy Temple 8 They that perverslie wait upon idols for succour which are but meer vanities what do they but in effect wilfully relinquish that mercy and favour that is offered to them from heaven 9. But I will present my self before thee O God with the sacrifice of praise and thansgiving and I will pay my vows unto thee from whom onely we may securely hope for mercy and deliverance 10. According to this prayer from a penitent and faithful heart the Lord upon the third day commanded the Whale to cast up Ionah upon the drie land as the grave delivered up our Saviour upon the third day in the garden of Ioseph of Arimathea and by his power and mercie shall deliver us all at last being able to retain us no longer then the great day of the Resurrection and that general Spring when all the bodies of the Saints shall budd out of the earth incorruptible though they were sown in corruption CHAP. III. 1 ANd the word of the Lord came unto Ionah the second time saying 2 Arise go unto Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee 3 So Ionah arose and went unto Niniveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three daies journey 4 And Ionah began to enter into the city a daies journey and he cryed and said Yet fourty daies and Nineveh shall be overthrown 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sack-cloath from the greatest of them even to the least of them 6 For word came unto the King of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him and covered him with sack-cloath and sat in ashes 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles saying Let neither man nor beast herd nor flock tast any thing let them not feed nor drink water 8 But let man and beast be covered with sack-cloath and cry mightily unto God yea let them turn every one from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not 10 And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not CHAP. III. 1. WHen Ionas like one risen from the dead was returned out of that prison and Grave in the Whales belly and saw himself to be one of this World again he heard no more of his former disobedience he was sufficiently admonished of that by his punishment in the deep But to take away the scruple and perplexity that he might have in his heart whether he should now fit himself for his journey towards Ninive or no for he might remember that the Israelites neglecting Gods first command of entring the land of Canaan were slain for attempting to do it afterward upon their own bare resolution To resolve him in this by a new Commission he was furnished and encouraged again by God himself with a second and fresh command in the same terms wherein he received it before That is 2. Arise and go to that great City Ninive the head City of the Assyrians and preach against them what I first injoyned thee At which if they repent the Israelites may understand by that how much they have offended in not being drawn to repentance by the message of so many Prophets as have been sent to them 3. Then Ionah having learned obedience from his afflictions without any further delay chearfully resolved upon his journey and went to Ninive as God had commanded him Now Ninive was a very great and spatious City of three daies journey in length from the one end to the other 4. Ionah therefore beginning to enter into the City ordered it so that he passed thorough a third part of the City in one daies journey exclaiming against the great sinnes of that place and threatning that unlesse they did prevent it by a serious and speedy repentance within fourty daies Ninive should be overthrown but upon their true conversion they should find that God desired not their death but the reformation of their lives 5. In which the people of Ninive believed God and being well perswaded of his Justice and mercie made known unto them by his Prophet and contented with that first daies journey and admonition caused a solemn Fast to be proclaimed and further to show their inward and universal sorrow and contrition they left off their costly apparel and from the highest to the lowest appeared all in sackcloth as penitent and humble suiters for mercy 6. For the report of this Prophesie was brought to the Kings Court as well as to other places of the City and the King to show good example to his Courtiers and the rest of his subjects arose from his Throne laid aside his Royal ornaments and in sackcloth and ashes made evidence of his great sorrow and remorse wherein he begged mercy for himself and his People 7. Nor did he thus onely countenance but by his Royal Proclamation with the advise and counsel of his Nobles he enjoyned a Fast to be kept through all Ninive in such solemn and strict manner that neither man nor beast greater or lesse should be permitted to tast any food or drink any water 8. And it was further commanded that both men and beasts should be covered with sackcloth
were expired Whether the Citizens would so long persevere in their repentance and if they did not whether Justice would then be showed upon them whom God seemed now willing to spare upon their present conversion and reformation of life 6. Now when the thin slight materials of Jonah his booth began to wither and fade with heat the Lord prepared a gourd or some shrub that used to grow in those parts to come over Ionah like a Canopie to shadow and defend his head from the heat of the Sun which seemed not a little to afflict him And with this refreshment under the gourd Ionah was much delighted 7. But that ease and pleasure was not long to be indulged unto him For the next day betimes in the morning God prepared also a worm which by gnawing at the lower parts of his gourd and so extracting the moisture was the cause that it quickly withered away 8. Moreover at the rising of the Sun God sent a soft and still wind the East that had little or no motion or cooling quality which was the thing that Jonah desired Besides this warm breath the son also with some violence of heat did beat upon the head of Jonah and became so troublesom that it made him ready to faint and show himself wearie of his life plainly professing that it was better for him now to die then to live Which seems to be spoken in a passion as if he thought it an injurie to be deprived of that benefit of the gourd which was gratiously afforded him for a time and considered not that this variety of means might be used to bring him to the acknowledgement of the truth of Gods judgments and the sight of his own offences and demerites 9. Therefore God said unto Jonah Is this well done of thee to discover so much anger and disturbance of thy self for a poor little gourd To which question he gives a rash impatient answer confessing that he was extreamly angry even unto death and did well to be so 10. Whereupon the Lord said again Art thou so affected at the withering of a poor vile gourd of a daies continuance which neither for the coming up nor the growth of it is any way beholden unto thee 11. And shall not I the creator and preserver of all things whose property it is to have mercy upon me above all my creatures shall not I be touched with compassion of so great and populous a City as Ninive wherein beside much cattle there are more then a hundred and twenty thousand innocent children so simple and weak that they cannot distinguish between their right hands and their left and therefore cannot be thought by any fault of theirs to call for this heavy destruction upon them Yet were they all ready to perish in the punishment of their Parents sins had not they timely repented What must you then guesse of the number of men and women of fuller growth that have appeased my wrath by amendment of life Which being done their death and ruine should not be rashly and uncharitably desired to make you seem the truer Prophet who was not to threaten any people but with this implicite condition if they forsook not their sins A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF MICAH CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the dayes of Iotham Abaz and Hezekiah kings of Iudah which he saw concerning Samaria and Ierusalem 2 Hear all ye people hearken O earth and all that therein is and let the Lord God be witnesse against you the Lord from his holy temple 3 For behold the Lord cometh forth out of his place and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth 4 And the mountaines shall be molten under him and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the fire and as the waters that are powred down a steep place 5 For the transgression of Iacob is all this and for the sins of the house of Israel What is the transgression of Iacob is it not Samaria and what are the high places of Iudah are they not Ierusalem 6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field and as plantings of a vineyard and I will poure down the stones thereof into the valley and I will discover the foundations thereof 7 And all the graven Images thereof shall be beaten to pieces and all the hires thereof shall be burnt with the fire and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot and they shall return to the hire of an harlot 8 Therefore I will wail and howl I will go stript and naked I will make a wailing like the dragons and mourning as the owles 9 For her wound is incurable for it is come unto Iudah he is come unto the gate of my people even to Ierusalem 10 Declare ye it not at Gath weep ye not at all in the house of Aphrah roll thy self in the dust 11 Passe ye away thou inhahitant of Saphir having thy shame naked the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel he shall receive of you his standing 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Ierusalem 13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish bind the chariot to the swift beast she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee 14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel 15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee O inhabitant of Mareshah he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel 16 Make thee bald and poll thee for thy delicate children enlarge thy baldnesse as the eagle for they are gone into captivity from thee CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord which was made known to Micah of Moreshah a City in Judaea in the dayes of Iotham Ahaz and Hezekiah Kings of Iudah and which he had revealed to him in a vision concerning Samaria and Ierusalem two eminent Cities by whose example the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel were drawn into many grievous sins and disorders 2. Hear all ye people of Judah and Israel Attend to this Prophesie of mine you that dwell in any part of this land how populous and of how great extent soever it is And for my faithfull delivery of what I am enjoyned to say let God himself that sees and hears all from his holy and glorious habitation in heaven hear witnesse against you if I be at any time accused or mistrusted for concealing any part of his will and pleasure 3. For I wish you all to take notice of this that God is now coming out of those high and holy places of his to show himself in the execution of his judgements upon your nation and the highest and strongest places with the
preach what will please them and to sooth them up in expectation of better times then they are worthy to enjoy or have any reason to hope for 9. And now to put my office accordingly in execution Give ear to me once again you Princes of Iacob and other Governors in the house of Israel that sit in the place of Justice and yet abhor doing of judgement and should be the onely examples of dealing rightly and exactly according to the rule and yet are commonly seen to pervert the rule of equity and make the law serve your own turns 10. That makes them build such houses in Sion and other parts of Jerusalem with what they gain by shedding of the blood of the innocent and by deciding causes that come before them with much injustice and iniquity 11. For the Princes of this City judge for the bribe and the Priests teach for the hire and the Prophets divine for the reward in ready cash And yet they can talk devoutly and confidently of Gods protection for Sion and Jerusalems sake and seem to rely upon the Lord and say Doth not God dwell in the midst of us How then can evil betide us that are lodged so near to his own holy Temple 12. But talk what you will For you and your sins Sion shall be plowed like a field Jerusalem shall become like heaps of rubbish and Mount Moriah the top of your glory as the place where the House of God stands shall be like those Mountains in the forrest that are fitter for the entertainment of beasts then men CHAP. IV. 1 BVt in the last daies it shall come to passe that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow unto it 2 And many nations shall come and say Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach us of his waies and we will walk in his pathes for the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem 3 And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into prunning hooks nation shall not lift up a sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it 5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever 6 In that day saith the Lord will I assemble her that halteth and I will gather her that is driven out and her that I have afflicted 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant and her that was cast far off a strong nation and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth even for ever 8 And thou O tower of the flock the strong hold of the daughter of Zion unto thee shall it come even the first dominion the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Ierusalem 9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud is there no king in thee is thy councellour perished for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail 10 Be in pain and labour to bring forth O daughter of Zion like a woman in travail for now shalt thou go forth out of the city and thou shalt dwell in the field and thou shalt go even to Babylon there shalt thou be delivered there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies 11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say Let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Zion 12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord neither understand they his counsel for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor 13 Arise and thresh O daughter of Zion for I will make thine horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brasse and thou shalt beat in pieces many people and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth CHAP. IV. 1. YEt for your comfort after all this desolation there will a time come at their return from the captivity of Babylon when that mountain where the house of the Lord is seated shall overtop all other mountains and no hills or high places which the Pagans have made choice of for the worship of their idol-gods shall any way be compared to the high glory of Mount Moriah or so frequented with multitudes of men as this shall be 2. Hither shall flock the true worshipers from several parts of the World and say Come and let us go up to the holy Mountain the Mountain of the Lord Iehovah and to the house of the God of Iacob and by his holy Priests and Prophets he will teach us what is fittest for us to be instructed in out of his waies that we may walk in them For thence onely must we look for the knowledge of the true God whose divine laws specially in the daies of the Messias shall go forth of Sion and his holy word out of Ierusalem and thence be divulged and imparted unto other nations 3. This great God of Israel that so instructs and directs them that make their humble addresses unto him will for their sakes show his judgements among many people that seek him not and correct many remote nations that are too strong and puissant for us to deal with for no strength no distance can secure them from his power and good pleasure upon them And while we serve him he will make them to be so willingly and so absolutely resolved of peace that they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into pruning hooks And rather then their own quarrels shall be any disturbance to us one nation shall not lift up a weapon against another nor shall they learn how to practise themselves in the feats of war any more 4. And so shall it be after our return from Babylon we shall then enjoy many daies of great peace and tranquillity Every man shall sit quietly under his own vine and under his own fig-tree without any to molest him or make him afraid And to make us secure of all this it is decreed by God himself and the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it who hath all hosts and armies and alterations of peace and war at his disposal 5. And our serving of him will be one motive of this mercy and favour for while other people addict themselves to the worship of their false gods and in their name tender all their respects we shall go on to present our humble service and devotions in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever 6.
making thee desolate because of thy sins 14 Thou shalt eat but not be satisfied and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee and thou shalt take hold but shalt not deliver and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword 15 Thou shalt sow but thou shalt not reap thou shalt tread the olives but thou shalt not anoint thee with oyl and sweet wine but shalt not drink wine 16 For the statutes of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab and ye walk in their counsels that I should make thee a desolation and thē inhabitants thereof an hissing therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people CHAP. VI. 1. BUt now least the people of God should be puft up and forget themselves in the meditation of the ruine and destruction of their enemies Let tbem hear what the Lord saith to me concerning them Come my Prophet saith he Rouse up thy best courage and faculties and thou shalt plead my cause against those mountains of Iudaea against the highest and proudest of them all that are so highly seated as most of them are in that countrey and to that end command attention from them 2. According to that injunction given to me by God himself I do now in the power of my Propheticall function lay this charge upon all you Hills that you prepare your selves to hear what I have to say all you that are lift up so high and seem to have a stronger foundation than other parts of the earth Though you are so well nested and bear the name of Gods people and therefore should have been more observant of his will yet even with you hath God a controversie and he will notwithstanding his own height above all hnmane reach and capacity vouchsafe to argue and plead with you of the seed of Israel a poor people not considerable among other vast parts of the world 3. This plea and complaint I am to deliver to you in his name and his person and in these termes O my people my peculiar people that I have chosen out of all the world What have I done against thee that should provoke thee to so many sins against me wherein have I disturbed and offended thee or deserved so ill at thy hands Bring in thy answer I pray thee and thy accusation against me if any such can be found 4. Or if I have done well for thee and dealt graciously with thee make a thatkfull acknowledgement of that Confesse how I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and delivered thee from the place of bondage and servitude where you lived no better than slaves And how I sent as three speciall guides before thee Moses to instruct thee in my law and direct thee by his good example Aaron to be thy Priest and offer up sacrifices and pray for thee and Miriam to be a pattern of modesty and pietie and gravitie to the weaker sex 5. Besides all this O my people remember I pray thee what Balak King of Moab contrived against thee and what answer I put into the mouth of Balaam the son of Beor of thy safety and security if thou didst not bring destruction upon thy self by thy own default And forget not what wonderfull things I did for thee in all the way from Shittim unto Gilgal on either side of Jordan Of these things thou shouldst do well to make a loving and gratefull recognition that thou mayst so appear to take notice of the Iustice and Goodnesse of God 6. And that acknowledgement would be made in such words as these Wherewith shall I appear before the Lord and make tendry of my humble duty and observance unto the high God Shall I present my self before him with whole burnt-offerings in testimony of his dominion over all his creatures or shall I come to him with young calves or any other kind of sacrifice prescribed in the law 7. Can it be thought that God will be appeased and pacified with thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oyl Shall a man satisfie himself in giving his first-born for the transgressions or any fruit of his body as a satisfaction for the sins of his soule 8. No if I that am his Prophet may give answer to that question He hath showed thee O man whosoever thou art he hath sufficiently and plainly enough declared by his law and Prophets what he doth chiefly exact of thee as the best sacrifice and ransom that he wil accept And that is no other than to do justice and delight in shewing mercy and kindnesse to men and to demean thy self humbly and reverently in all thy addresses unto thy God 9. And now because the law and Prophets have not been herein observed the terrible voice of the Lord himself calls unto the City of Jerusalem to give her warning of what punishments her own sins have called for And when thou so callest O Lord it is true wisedom in him that will dread thy Majesty and fear thy name Give ear therefore you tribes of Israel and attend to him who hath appointed and decreed that which shall come upon you if you do not repent and bring forth the fruites of repentance 10. And when you examine your repentance let this question be asked Is there yet remaining to any one a house purchased by iniquity Hath any one yet by him treasures of wealth unjustly heaped together and the abominable false weight that wants much of what is justly to be allowed 11. And take another question with you as propounded by God himself who saith Shall I justifie and approve the unjust balances and the bag of deceitfull weights 12. Or shall I justifie that Citie whose wealthy Citizens are full of violence and oppression and her other inhabitants accustome themselves familiarly to speaking of lies and to have deceitfull tongues within their mouthes that deliver little or nothing from the heart 13. Therefore will I chastise thee O thou wicked Citie with such scourges as thou deservest with making thee poor and desolate because of thine offences that hast made others poor by thy violence and rapine 14. Thou shalt eat but thou shalt not be satisfied and thrive with it There shall be a kind of lanknesse and depression within thy belly for very famine For extremity whereof she that conceives shall not be able to bring forth or if she doth what she brings forth will I give up to the sword when that heavie siege comes wherein this scarcity and misery shall fall upon Jerusalem 15. And then what thou hast sowed thou shalt not reap the souldier shall doe it for thee Thou mayest tread the olives but thou shalt not anoint thee with the oyl And as much paines mayest thou take for thy sweet wine but in the end thou shalt have no wine to drink 16 And all this shall happen to thee O Israel because all
chemarims with the priests 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the house tops and them that worship and that swear by the Lord and that swear by Malcham 6 And them that are turned back from the Lord and those that have not sought the Lord nor enquired for him 7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God for the day of the Lord is at hand for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice he hath bid his guests 8 And it shall come tò passe in the day of the Lords sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the kings children and all such as are clothed with strange apparel 9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold which â—ill their masters houses with violence and deceit 10 And it shall come to passe in that day saith the Lord that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate and an howling from the second and a great crashing from the hills 11 Howl ye inhabitants of Maktesh for all the merchant-people are cut down all they that bear silver are cut off 12 And it shall come to passe at that time that I will search Ierusalem with candles and punish the men that are setled on their lees that say in their heart The Lord will not do good neither will he do evil 13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty and their houses a disolation they shall also build houses but not inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards but not drink the wine thereof 14 The great day of the Lord is near it is near and hasteth greatly even the voice of the day of the Lord the mighty man shall cry there bitterly 15 That day is a day of wrath a day of trouble and distresse a day of waftnesse and desolation a day of darknesse and gloominesse a day of clouds and thick darknesse 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers 17 And I will bring distresse upon them that they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord and their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as the dung 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lords wrath but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousie for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord which was revealed to Zephaniah whose very name tells us that God would more clearly reveal by him some of his secret counsail concerning those heavy judgements that were now ready to fall upon the Iews and so needed this nearer and clear Interpreter of his will and pleasure as an other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Ioseph was called by Pharaoh This Zephaniah was the son of Cushi the son of Gedaliah the son of Amariah the son of Hizkiah And he prophesied in the daies of Iosiah son of Amon King of Iudah for even in the raign of that good King so pious and so eminent an example produced little amendment in a wicked and perverse generation Therefore 2. I will even sweep away all together out of this land saith the Lord and so make a quick and fair riddance of so rebellious a nation 3. I will make an end of man and beast I will consume the fouls of the air and the fishes of the sea I will quite take away both the wicked offenders and all their scandalous sins and offences And all by one sin or other being gone out of the good way wherein they promised to walk I will also by one means or other root out every man out of that land of promise which I had bestowed upon them saith the Lord. 4. And even against Iudah as I have done against Israel will I stretch out my powerful and revenging hand and therein against the proudest and worst of them the Citizens of Ierusalem And I will do what good Iosiah in all his care and industrie could not do in that stubborn and rebellious City which should have been a pattern and example to all the rest from that place will I cut off by the sword of my Justice all the reliques of Baal and the name of the Chemarims their downright idolatrous priests and their Cohanims too those priests of their own that will now and then be tampering with the accursed mysteries of Baal 5. Such as can find a time to worship the host of heaven upon the tops of their houses which were made flat for prevention of danger from thence and not to introduce so dangerous and flat idolatrie as that those halters between two religions that think they can do their homage to the true God and to the false and swear by Iehovah and by their Moloch the imaginarie Deitie of the Ammonites which they have now made to be theirs 6. And those also that otherwise and by other vanities and diversions fall away from following the Lord Iehovah and from seeking and inquiring after him alone in such holy places and waies of divine worship as himself hath prescribed 7. Wherein as being in the presence of him and before his all-seeing eye use all the reverence and holy fear and devotion that may best whosoever thou art that would live secure and without all fear and danger of a day of justice and vengeance For such 1 day is coming and it is near at hand when they that offer not such pious and chearful sacrifices to him shall find that he will make a merry and festival day of sacrificing them and bidding such guests to be entertained with that sacrifice as they would be loath to be dressed up for and to be devoured by such hungry companions 8. And in that day of the Lords sacrifice and that feast he will spare none that have not spared to serve and sacrifice to others besides him They must all to the pot the highest as well as the lowest the Princes and their royal race and all the gandy gallants that look so strangely upon it in their rich and costly apparel 9. Amongst all this fine irreligious rout I will not forget to punish them that follow the superstition of the Philistims in not presuming to tread upon the threshould for sooth but rather using the nimblenesse of their feet for a speedy conveyance which is no fit way of entring into the house of their God And with these contemners of their Gods house I will visit those that take too much care for the furnishing and enriching of their Masters house by hook or by crook and by all the violent and deceitful courses that they can imagine 10. And I will give you a more particular discoverie and prediction of what shall happen in three of the chiefest parts of the City in that day A great noise and crie shall then be
heard from the Fish-gate which is in that part which you call the City of David Then a sad and doleful howling from the second part of the City And as woful and crashing a noise from the highest and most eminent part wherein is the Temple and the Palace places that have been often acquainted with sweeter sounds 11. When the three chief places in Ierusalem have thus begun to expresse their sad condition then you that dwell in the hollower part of the City may second them with as doleful an eccho to bewail the ruine of the multitudes of Merchants thereabouts and the many fair heaps of silver that they must leave behind them 12. Then will I suffer every rich corner in Ierusalem to be as narrowly searched and ransacked by the Chaldaean souldiers as a man would peep and prie into the closest places with the help of candles that he might be sure to let nothing escape him that he hath a mind to bear away And so shall my justice meet with those that have lived in ease and plenty and without any disturbance like wine that hath been long setled on the lees without any removal out of one vessel into another These are they that soothed up themselves in their own foolish perswasion that God took no great care of humane affairs either to reward or to punish us here below according to our good or bad life and conversation 13. But this is the day wherein I will confute them by exposing their ill-gotten goods as a prey to the enemie and bringing their houses wherein they nestled themselves so securely to utter ruine and fearful desolation or at least by changing the owners so that other men shall dwell in those goodly buildings which they have erected and drink up the fruit of those costly vineyards which they had planted for themselves 14. This great day of the Lord is near very near and withal it flies swiftly towards us as a time that hath quicker wings then ordinarie to convey it self It will be such a bustling day that you may hear it as well as see it and the stoutest man that hears the approach of that day will not passe it over so quickly but that he will be heard to expresse the bitteruesse of the day in most bitter lamentations 15. This day will be a day of wrath and a day of trouble and yet a day wherein we shall be so streightned and penned in that there will be no way of evasion It will be a day of desolation of utter desolation without hope of recoverie to most of them A dark and gloomy day without the least appearance of comfort and a cloudie and thick-cloudie day wherein the heavens whither we use to cast up our eyes for relief will seem continually to frown upon us 16. A day that will fright us with the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war against the strongest Cities and highest Towers that we have 17. In this day saith the Lord I will cause men to be in such pressure and such streights that they shall see no more then blind men which way to turn themselves or what course to take that may rid them out of this distresse And in the midst of those streights because they have sinned against the Lord their enemies shall make no more scruple of shedding their blood then of treading upon the dust that is under their feet and their bodies shall have no better esteem then the dung of the earth 18. In this day of Gods wrath their silver and gold shall not be able to purchase their ransome but the whole land shall be sodainly consumed by the fierce and jealous wrath of the Lord wherein he will make a full and speedy riddance of all that dwell in the land CHAP. II. 1 GAther your selves together yea gather together O nation not desired 2 Before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaff before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you before the day of the Lords anger come upon you 3 Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth which have wrought his judgement seek righteousnesse seek meeknesse it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger 4 For Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon a desolation they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day and Ekron shall be rooted up 5 Wo unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast the nation of the Cherethites the word of the Lord is against you O Canaan the land of the Philistines I will even destroy thee that there shall be no inhabitant 6 And the sea-coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks 7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Iudah they shall feed thereupon in the houses of Ashkelon shall they ly down in the evening for the Lord their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity 8 I have heard the reproach of Moab and the revilings of the children of Ammon whereby they have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their borders 9 Therefore as I live saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel surely Moab shall he as Sodom and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah even the breeding of nettles and salt-pits and a perpetual desolation the residue of my people shall spoil them and the remnant of my people shall possesse them 10 This shall they have for their pride because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts 11 The Lord will be terrible unto them for he will famish all the gods of the earth and men shall worship him every one from his place even all the isles of the heathen 12 Ye Ethiopians also ye shall be slain by my sword 13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria and will make Nineveh a desolation and dry like a wildernesse 14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her all the beasts of the nations both the cormorant and the Bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it their voice shall sing in the windows desolation shall be in the thresholds for he shall uncover the cedar-works 15. This is the rejoycing city that dwelt carelesly that said in their heart I am and there is none beside me how is she become a desolation a place for beasts to lie down in every one that passeth by her shall hiss and wag his hand CHAP. II. 1. THe day so foretold being so terrible and so near at hand Make an exact scrutinie and examination of your selves first and then of what else may conduce to your safety O nation little worthy the love and good liking of those that know your waies 2. Do this before Gods peremptorie and irrevocable decree produce the certain and final resolution for this day which shall be like one of his fanning and winnoing daies wherein he will separate
the chaff from the good corn Do this before the fierce anger of the Lord and this terrible day of the execution of that fierce anger of the Lord come upon you 3. And for you that are of the good corn and not of the chaff you that are of a meeker and gentler disposition then others of the land are and obey his commands in your best devotions and endeavours seek after God and implore his merciful protection over you And still seek after the exercise of goodnesse and meeknesse if so perhaps you may prevail so far as to be hid under the shadow of his defense in this day wherein the fierce anger of the Lord shall be poured out upon several parts of this wicked nation and few or none shall escape 4. For Gaza shall be forsaken by her fearful inhabitants Ashkelon shall be laid desolate and forced to the like And as for Ashdod the enemie shall be so secure of the conquest of that that in the very noon day they shall attempt to drive them out of their own holds and habitations with happy successe And Ekron according to the bad omen in the name it self shall be rooted out 5. Then wo to you of the nation of the Cherethites that dwel all along upon the sea-coast for I can cite the word of the Lord against you And no lesse against you the Cananites and Philistims that are left in the land The word of the Lord from his own mouth concerning you is no other then this that he will utterly destroy your land and all that dwel within it 6. And the Sea coast that is made choice of as the fittest place of habitation for the richest Merchants shall be taken up with no better then cottages for poor Shepherds and folds for their flocks 7. For I have allotted that coast to those of the house of Iudah that shall be left behind in the land when their brethren are carried into captivity that it may serve for the feeding of their cattle They that constantly attend upon their innocent charge all the day shall there have a place to retire to when they are weary In those mansions that belonged to Ashkelon shall those Shepherds of the house of Iudah repose themselves in the evenings when the Lord their God in that conquest of Iudaea by the King of Babylon shall lay his visitation upon the Ashkalonites and reiterating their captivity cause them to be carried again and again into the land of Chaldaea 8. After I have showed this justice upon the land of Iudaea and the remnant of the Cananites in those parts I will then go on to do the like justice upon the enemies of Iudaea of whose wickednesse I have not been ignorant nor have I forgotten it though hitherto I have deferred the execution of my wrath in expectation of their amendment For I heard â—nd took notice of the proud opprobrious speeches of the Moabites and the reviling and blasphemous taunts of the children of Ammon wherein they have reproached my people and with which foul language they presumed to make a most bold and violent invasion upon those territories of the children of Israel which I my self had measured out for them as the lot of their inheritance 9. Therefore as I live saith the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel I will not fail to make as absolute a ruine of Moab and Ammon as I did of Sodom and Gomorrha Their populous Cities shall lie wast overgrown with netles and over-spread with salt-pits as a place destined to perpetual barrennesse and desolation And the reâ—idue of my people that shall survive and return after their great captivity shall in due time invade and make spoil of the territories of that people and take possession of theirs as they did first so proudly attempt to make themselves Masters of a part of Iudaea 10. This shall be the issue and the reward of their proud reproachful speeches and of their as haughty and insolent attempts against the peculiar people of the Lord of hosts who will therefore show his power and vengeance upon their gods as well as upon them 11. For in so fearful and terrible a manner shall God come in judgement against them that not they onely but their very gods too shall be brought to as poor and miserable condition as men that are ready to be starved for hunger And the like doom shall fall upon many idolaters and their titular gods in other parts of the earth So that multitudes of people shall come out of their Countries to Ierusalem to worship before the true God and such converts and proselytes shall there be from divers places beyond the seas and from the Isles of the heathen 12. You of Cush shall be of this number of which Countrie many shall die by my sword in the hand of Nebuchadnezer 13. And he that I make my Deputy for the execution of my judgement i. the same Nebuchadnezer shall stretch out his hand also as far Northward and make use of my sword in those parts till he hath destroyed the Assyrians and made their royal Ninive a place of utter desolation like a drie and barren wildernesse 14. Flocks of sheep shall have their folds where the Ninivites had their fair houses And all kind of other living creatures too shall find admittance and entertainment about the ruines of that City Both the Pelican and the Owle shall pick oâ—t their nights-lodging about the knops and carved prominent works upon the tops of their houses while other birds securely sing over their several tunes in their windows And yet other signs of desolation shall appear in their doors and thresholds and in their curious seiled rooms where the rich Cedar-work shall be laid open to the injurie of the weather and the use of ravenous fouls of the air 15. This is the end of that jovial citie that dwelt in wealth and confidence of a lasting prosperity and said within her self I am the onely she and none will presume to come in comparison or competition with me How is she now become a verie picture of desolation and a place for beasts to lie down in All that passe by her will hisse and wag their hands at her in wonder and astonishment CHAP. III. 1 WO to her that is filthy and polluted to the oppressing city 2 She obeyed not the voice she received not correction she trusted not in the Lord she drew not near to her God 3 Her princes within her are roaring lions her judges are evening wolves they gnaw not the bones till the morrow 4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons her priests have polluted the sanctuary they have done violence to the law 5 The just Lord is in the midst thereof he will not do iniquity every morning doth he bring his judgement to light he faileth not but the unjust knoweth no shame 6 I have cut off the nations their towers are
of my rest to prey upon you and disturb you of your rest For I am now resolved and have peremptorily decreed to gather some of other nations and kingdoms together specially the Chaldaeans and their auxiliaries and by them to pour out my indignation upon these Iews even all the fiercenesse of my indignation For no otherwise then in a kind of fierce zeal shall all the land of Judaea be destroyed 9. But after that affliction I will convert the people to a more penitent and devout and holy language that they may call upon the name of the Lord with more reverence then now is to be found amongst them and joyntly endevour to serve and obey him as they that willingly joyn their sholders together to bear that yoke that he laies upon them which easie yoke is no other then his service 10. And then from the remotest parts of their captivity from as far as those places about the rivers of Cush shall my suppliant and humble servants the off-spring of my people Israel and Judah far and wide dispersed over several nations from thence shall they bring offerings unto me in testimony of their hearty thanks for their joyful return into their own countrie 11. About that time will I take away the shame and grief which thou hadst conceived for thy former great sins and offences committed against me For then shall I by death and miserie have removed from thee those haughty and insulting Countrymen and Priests of thine And then shalt thou offend no more as thou hast done by pride and contempt of my holy places and my Sanctuarie in Mount Sion when those Masters of misrule and ringleaders to the proudest and most presumptious offences are taken away 12. In stead of them I will furnish thee with a meek and humble generation of men though poor which shall trust in the name of the Lord and not in the proud mistake of their own fortunes and abilities 13. This good remnant of my people that return from their captivity shall not return to their great and grievous sin their idolatry nor shall they so accustom themselves again to the speaking of lies and deceit Therefore in all peace and plenty shall they feed well at last and take their rest securely having none to fright or molest them 14. Rejoyce then O daughter of Sion sing and shout for joy O Israel Be merry and chearfull from the bottom of a thankefull heart O Daughter of Ierusalem 15. For God hath taken off those judgements wherewith thou wert afflicted for thy sins He hath removed thy enemies out of thy sight that they may trouble thee no more And instead of those Tyrants Iehovah the the God and King of Israel is in the midst of thee and thou shalt see no more of those calamities which thou hast seen heretofore 16. In those daies it shall be said to Jerusalem and to Sion Fear not nor be any way discouraged Let not thy bands faint or give over till they have raised an other City and Temple wherein to serve the Lord. 17 Iehovah thy God in the midst of thee is of great might and power and of as ready a mind and will to save and defend thee He will rejoyce over thee exceedingly He will acquiesce and solace himself in his love toward thee They that sing for joy shall not have more content and delight then he will take in thee 18. They that were the cause of removing thy merry Feasts and Solemnities will I remove far from thee For they have been but a burden and a disgrace unto thee 19. And take notice of it at that time will I undoe not them onely but all those that have any way troubled and afflicted thee And I will cure them amongst thee that are any way weakened in their fortunes and gather them dayly to their own homes that have been as good as ejected and banished from thence in the long time of their captivity And I will make them famous and renowned in those very places where they have been put to shame and disgrace 20. Again I say it to you all that shall then survive and serve me At that time will I reduce you to your own homes and gather you together to your own friends and acquaintance and I will make you famous and renowned among all the people of the earth so that your own eyes shall see with what advantage I have brought you back again from your captivity A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF HAGGAI CHAP. I. IN the second year of Darius the king in the sixth moneth in the first day of the moneth came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governour of Iudah and to Ioshuah the son of Iosedech the high priest saying 2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying This people say The time is not come the time that the Lords house should be built 3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying 4 Is it time for you Oye to dwell in your cieled houses and this house lie wast 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts Consider your waies 6 Ye have sown much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye cloth you but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Consider your waies 8 Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified saith the Lord. 9 Ye looked for much and lo it came to little and when ye brought it home I did blow upon it why saith the Lord of hosts because of mine house that is wast and ye run every man unto his own house 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew and the earth is stayed from her fruit 11 And I called for a drought upon the land and upon the mountains and upon the corn and upon the new wine and upon the oyl and upon that which the ground bringeth forth and upon men and upon cattel and upon all the labour of the hands 12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high priest with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him and the people did fear before the Lord. 13. Then spake Haggai the Lords messenger in the Lords message unto the people saying I am with you saith the Lord. 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirt of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governour of Iudah and the spirit of Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high priest and the spirit of all the remnant of the people and they came and did work in
the house of the Lord of hosts their God 15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king Of the PROPHESIES OF HAGGAI and ZACHARIE HAggai was the first of the Prophets that were sent to preach to the Iews after their return from the captivity of Babylon He began to prophesie in the second year of Darius Nothus and within two moneths the Prophet Zacharie was joyned with him and they were both sent upon this occasion Cyrus had very gratiously given leave to the Iews to return into their own Countrie and there to rebuild their City and Temple Which indulgence many of them made use of and laid the foundation of the Temple and raised the Altar of Holocaust but Cyrus being much intangled in â—everal wars and Cambyses after him not a little troubled the Governors of the neighbouring places upon that advantage did much hinder the Jews accusing them in their letters to the Persian Monarchs as men that set upon that work with a purpose of rebellion against them when they had fortified themselves But after Darius was come to the Crown of Persia God was pleased to expresse his pleasure by Haggai and Zacharie for their proceeding in the work of the Temple mercifully intending to move the heart of Darius to favour the design Some there were that gave ear to these two Prophets by the encouragement of Zorobabel their Commander and Iosuah the Son of Iosedec their High-Priest Yet many of the common people partly unwilling to undergo the labour of the work and the danger of the enemie that opposed it and partly desirous to avoid the charge and expense of such a Fabrick had no mind to hear of that ear and thought it far better and safer to live frugallie in those houses which they had built somewhat convenient for themselves and so as they thought to secure themselves of the profits of the Country and save their money in their purses making no further contribution toward those publick structures which did but give offence to their enemies But in processe of time God blessing the endeavours of the two Prophets that preached earnestly against the peoples cowardly fear and sloth and covetousnesse and withal so inclining the heart of Darius that he gave out an edict for the liberty of the Iews to build and their enemies to let them do so the work of building the Temple went on with happy successe And in the Prophesie of Haggai which began the exhortation to that work something is for their incouragement clearly foretold of the near approach of the Messias that was to honour the Temple with his own presence In the other Zacharie doth as plainly set out his coming to Ierusalem upon Palm-Sunday and the price that should be set on him in that place and his passion there CHAP. I. 1. IN the second year of Darius Nothus in the sixth moneth which hath part of August and part of September in the first day of the moneth which the Iews observed in every moneth as a festival day the Lord spake by Haggai the Prophet unto Zerubbabel the Son of Shealtiel or Shalathiel Governor of Iudah and to Iosuah the son of Iosedec the High-Priest who had both become too remisse in urging and promoting forward that good work of reedifying the Temple after they perceived the slowns and backwardness of the people in that task 2. And this was the sum of that which the Lord of Hosts so spake to them two in the audience of many other of the Jews This my people that should be most forward to advance any work about my house yet for their private ease and interests can be content to say The time is not yet come the fit season wherein the Lords house is to be built There is no such hast but that we may stay well enough for a quieter and fitter opportunity wherein to enter upon it without fear of interruption 3. Whereupon the word of the Lord came to them by me his Prophet Haggai saying 4. O you covetous people and flow to all that is good Is it a seasonable time for you to dwell in your fair seiled houses while my sacred House must lie open and wast with nothing but a mere foundation of the structure and an altar for the holocausts Have you leasure and will and money enough for your own houses and nothing for mine 5. Now therefore saith the Lord of Hosts whose command all things obey Consider well the unadvised courses that you have followed hitherto and the successe that hath insued upon them answerable unto your deserts 6. You have sowed much in your fields and brought in little into your barns your harvest hath no way answered the expense of your seed-time God would rather revenge your neglect of him and his house then give a prosperous issue of your labours which were untertaken onely in a greedy desire of your private gain Or if you got enough to feed you yet nature hath not thrived and been satisfied with that food which wanted my blessing upon it And therefore also the good drink that you had could not chear the heart and make you merry nor your wonted apparel keep you so warm as it used to do And your money which you gathered together with much labour and industrie you found to be so sodainly vanished away and exhausted with so many several waies of losse and expense as if it had been put into a bag so full of holes that nothing could be long kept within it 7. Therefore once again doth the Lord of Hosts advise you to take these things to heart and seriously consider this unexpected event of your own waies 8. And when you have done so then by way of amendment go into these mountainous places that are best stored with timber and furnish your selves with so many cedars from thence as will be needful toward the building of my house And then raise up that structure as it should be fit for my publick service and I will geatiously accept of that cost and labour of yours and requite it with many blessings for which you shall have just occasion to glorifie my holy name 13. For hitherto indeed you have looked carefully to the increase of your estate specially for your crop abroad and have taken the best course for it as you thought yet you cannot but see that I brought all that great care and expectation to little or nothing And when you had fetched home your gains and your wealth so carefully purchased I made it to vanish aud flie away with the least blast of mine anger as easily as the dust is blown away before a mighty wind And why did I this saith the Lord of Hosts what is the reason of this curse I will tell you why I did it Because you let my house lie desolate and unbuilt while you were all too hastily and wholly taken up with
the building and adorning of your own private houses So your neglect of me and my service produced my neglect of you and your profit 10. That is the reason why the Heavens that are above you were prohibited to supply you with that dew which should help on the growth of those things that spring out of the earth And the earth that is under you had the like prohibition from affording her usual increase of fruit 11. And I commanded a drought and barrennesse to come upon all the land specially upon the mountainous and most eminent parts A barrennesse both of the corn and the new wine and the oyl And this barrennesse extended to all that which is brought forth of the ground or of men or of cattel and so to every thing that mny be esteemed as a fruit of the labour of your hands So that nothing that you went about did any way seem to prosper 12. These words of the Prophet wrought so with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Iosuah the son of Iosedech the High-Priest and the remnant of the Iews that returned out of the captivity that they readily obeyed what God had injoyned them to do and to what his Prophet Haggai had delivered to them they gave great attention and respect because the Lord their God had set him upon that message And so the people humbled themselves in the fear of the Lord and submitted to what had been said against them and to what was not required of them 13. Whereupon Haggai that had delivered the former message from the Lord spake again to them by vertue of a further commission and deputation from God himself and said I will be with you saith the Lord not onely to pardon all that is past but to prosper also what you readily undertake for the reedifying of my Temple 13. In prosecution of which promise the Lord stirred up the spirit i. the will and courage of Zorobabel the son of Shealtiel Governour of Iudah and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedec the High-Priest and the spirit of all the Jews that remained after the captivity of Babylon And they began to compose and prepare themselves for that work in the house of the Lord of Hosts their God 15. And what was thus resolved on was accordingly begun upon the 24. day of the sixth moneth which hath part of our August and part of September in the second year of Darius the King CHAP. II. IN the seventh moneth in the one and twentieth day of the moneth came the word of the Lord by the Prophet Haggai saying 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governour of Iudah and to Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high-Priest and to the residue of the people saying 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory and how do ye see it now is it not in your eies in comparison of it as nothing 4 Yet now be strong O Zerubbabel saith the Lord and be strong O Ioshua son of Iosedech the high-Priest and be strong all ye people of the land saith the Lord and work for I am with you saith the Lord of hosts 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt so my spirit remaineth among you fear ye not 6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land 7 And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts 8 The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts 10 In the four and twentieth day of the nineth moneth in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying 11 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Ask now the Priests concerning the law saying 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt do touch bread or pot age or wine or oyl or any meat shal it be holy and the Priests answered said No. 13 Then said Haggai If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these shall it be unclean and the Priests answered and said It shall be unclean 14 Then answered Haggai and said So is this people and so is this nation before me saith the Lord and so is every work of their hands and that which they offer there is unclean 15 And now I pray you consider from this day and upward from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord. 16 Since those daies were when one came to an heap of 20 measures there were but ten when one came to the presse-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press there were but twenty 17 I smote you with blasting with mildew with hail in all the labour of your hands yet ye turned not to me saith the Lord. 18 Consider now from this day and upward from the four and twentieth day of the ninth moneth even from the day that the foundation of the Lords temple was laid consider it 19 Is the seed yet in the barnâ— yea as yet the vine and the fig-tree and the pomegranate and the olive-tree hath not brought forth from this day will I blesse you 20 And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four twentieth day of the moneth saying 21 Speak to Zerubbabel governour of Iudah saying I will shake the heavens and the earth 22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them and the horses and their riders shall come down every one by the sword of his brother 23 In that day saith the Lord of hosts will I take thee O Zerubbabel my servant the son of Shealtiel saith the Lord and will make thee as a signet for I have chosen thee saith the Lord of hosts CHAP. II. 1. IN the seventh moneth which consisted of part of our September and part of October and in the twenty first day of the moneth the Lord spake again to the Prophet Haggai and by him to the people of the Jewes to this effect 2. Speak now to Zerubbabel the Son of Shealtiel Governour of Iudah and to Ioshua the Son of Iosedech the High-Priest and to the People that are returned from the captivity of Babylon and say unto them 3. If there be any of you left of the captivity that hath seen the Temple which was formerly built in this place in the rich and glorious state and beauty which then it had being a work of much time and cost
of your hands and corrupted the fruit of your grounds with blasting and mildew and haile And therefore I did it because I would have had you to reflect upon your sinfull hearts and be converted unto me but yet this punishment was not followed with your conversion saith the Lord. 18. And now take it also into your serious consideration what better successe you have had from this day and upward from the twenty fourth day of the nineth moneth wherein you began to go on with the Foundation of the Temple of the Lord which had been laid before and too long neglected And again I advise you to take speciall notice of this day 19. We are now in the ninth Moneth And â—s your corn which you lately sowed yet come into your barnes Are you as sure of it as if you had it home into your own possession and at your own disposall No. It is still under the ground you have it but in hope and you stand still in need of my blessing upon it that it may be ripened and sitted for the barn And do you not see that the Vine and the sig-tree and the pomegranate and the Olive-tree are yet far from bringing forth that which gives you some likelihood of a good and plentifull year Yet from this day though these fruites are no forwarder and the seed be yet in the ground from this very day will I poure my blessing upon them and so from this day give you an assurance that all these things shall prosper and increase as you would have them 20. And again the word of the Lord came to the Prophet Haggai in this twenty fourth day of the aforesaid moneth to this effect 21. Speak to Zerubbabel the Governour of Iudah and say It shall not be long before I shake the heavens and the earth those that are placed above others as in a higher Orbe and those that are under them with many great wars and tumults 22. I will bring ruine and destruction upon the rich and large Kingdomes under the command of the Persian Monarch and so overthrow that high throne and state of His and bring down the pride and puissance of that great Empire which so overtops the kingdoms of the Heathen I will overturn their chariots of war with their skilfull Riders And their stately Steeds with those that are so bravely mounted upon them shall have a fall They shall all perish by the sword of those nations that are their brethren in iniquity and idolatry and deserve no better than they do 23. At that time when all these stormes shall fall upon them saith the Lord of Hostes will I take thee into my own protection O Zerubhabel the Son of Shealtiel my Servant and I will preserve thee as warily and as carefully as a man would preserve his own signet Thou and thy people shall be secure in the middest of those stirs that in thy time and long after shall be among the greatest nations And all this will I do because I have set my love and favour upon thee and selected thee and thy nation to be a more peculiar object of my care and mercy saith the Lord of Hostes. A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF ZECHARIAH CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers 3 Therefore say thou unto them Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye unto me saith the Lord of hosts and I will turn unto you saith the Lord of hosts 4 Be not as your fathers unto whom the former Prophets have cried saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye now from your evil waies and from your evill doings but they did not hear nor hearken unto me saith the Lord. 5 Your fathers where are they and the prophets do they live for ever 6 But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets did they not take hold of your fathers and they returned and said Like as the Lord of hostes thought to do unto us according to our waies and according to our doings so hath he dealt with us 7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh moneth which is the moneth Sebat in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 8 I saw by night and behold a man riding upon a red horse and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom and behind him were there red horses speckled and white 9 Then said I O my Lord what are these And the Angel that talked with me said unto me I will shew thee what these be 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle-trees and said We have walked to and fro through the earth and behold all the earth sitteth still and is at rest 12 Then the angel of the Lord answered and said O Lord of hostes how long wilt thou not have mercy on Ierusalem and on the cities of Iudah against which thou hast had indignation these three-score and ten years 13 And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words 14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me Cry thou saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts I am jealous for Ierusalem and for Zion with a great jealousie 15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord I am returned to Ierusalem with mercies my house shall be built in it saith the Lord of hosts and a line shall be stretched forth upon Ierusalem 17 Cry yet saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts My cities through prosperitie shall yet be spread abroad and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall ye choose Ierusalem 18 Then lift I up mine eies and saw and behold four hornes 19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me What be these and he answered me These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah Israel and Ierusalem 20 And the Lord shewed me four carpenters 21 Then said I What come these to do and he spake saying These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah so that no man did lift up his head but these are come to fray them to cast out the horns of the Gentiles which lift up their horne over the land of Iudah to scatter it CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth the moneth Bul which had part of our October and part of November in the second yeà r of Darius the son of Hystaspes God spake unto the Prophet
Zachary the son of Barachias the son of Iddo and thus said unto him Thus shalt thou say unto the Jewes The Lord was very much though very justly displeased with your Fathers whom he therefore delivered up as captives into the hands of the King of Babylon 3. And thou shalt further say unto them Thus saith the Lord of Hostes whom all things serve and obey Return unto me by a true repentance and amendment of life saith the Lord of Hostes and I will return unto you in that favour and mercy and tender care of your welfare which the great sins of your Fathers made me for a time withdraw from your nation saith the Lord of Hostes. 4. Be not you disobedient as your Fathers were whom the former Prophets have earnestly and zealously called upon saying Thus saith the Lord of hostes Repent ye now forsake all your evill waies and your wicked actions wherein you go on to get unto your selves a dangerous habit of sin Yet they would not diligently attend and accordingly obey me saith the great Iehovah 5. But where be your Fathers now that were so refractory and disobedient unto me and what is bâ—come of their false Prophets that soothed them up in their sins Did they live for ever Did I not send one calamity after another to hunt after them and bring them to their graves 6. Notwithstanding all their security and vain hopes of peace and an imaginary protection from me for my Temples sake have not my words and decrees which my Servantt the good Prophets delivered to them by my command proved now to be true Have not those judgements which I so decreed and foretold at the last justly overtaken them so that many of them in a true sense and apprehension of the greatnesse of their sins and the truth of those predictions returned in the end to a sober mind and ingâ—niously acknowledging their errour could not but say Just as the Lord of hostes resolved to do unto us by inflicting a heavie punishment answerable to our grievous sins in all the severall waies and wicked actions wherein we had offended even so hath he made it good upon us This confession my punishments extorted from your Fathers let it be one Motive of your true repentance that so you may escape those miseries which they pulled upon their own heads by not applying themselves unto me by a timely repentance 7. Now within two or three moneths after Zachary had preached this Sermon namely upon the twenty fourth day of the eleventh moneth which is the moneth Shebat and containes part of our January and part of February in the second year of Darius the son of Hystaspes the word of the Lord was revealed unto Zachary the Prophet the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo in this manner as I shall tell it 8. In the quiet silence of the night I saw a vision that promised though in a dark and mysticall way a quiet and peaceable time for the advancement of the work about the Temple and partly discovered how many Angels were ready with the Messias to assist and defend the Church in that time and much more under that figure how many helps would be afforded from heaven for that more spirituall Church whose foundation should be laid in that Citie by the preaching of the Messias and of his Apostles and Disciples In this vision to show the speed and forwardnesse of them that were sent I observed a man riding upon a red horse the very colour of the horse speaking the revenge that he meant to take of the enemies of the Church And he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in a bottom by a river side wherein again as the bottom and the shadow of the trees bid us take notice how obscurely these things are revealed and how little hope appeared from men for the delivery and tranquillity of the Church so the trees being the sweet and humble myrtle were a figure of meek and humble men that were for their holy life accounted as a sweet odour unto God But after the view of this Horse-man came more holy Emblems of our help For behind him as the Captain there appeared other as attendants on red horses and speckled and white as if the red were to signifie those that should attend their great Captain in prosecution of the revenge of the bloody enemies of the Church whereof we spake before and the other two those that came for the punishment of such as were other waies spotted with sin and for the protection of the pure and innocent 9. Then said I to the Captain of this troop of Horse the great Commander of this various armie under the Lord of Hostes Who are these my Lord And that great Angel or Messenger sent from God himself vouchsafeing to answer and discourse with me said I will let thee know what these be 10. Then presenting himself in the form of a man and staying still under the shade of the myrtle-trees he said These are the Armie and Messengers that the great Iehovah sends abroad to compasse the Earth to punish the worser and defend the better sort of men 11. Whereupon the rest in reference to what that great Messenger of the great Iehovah had said while he stood under the myrtle-trees gave this further answer to what I had presumed to ask of Him We have passed thorough the whole circuit of this land and we have taken such order that this all the Countries hereabouts are in peace and quiet and therefore they may safely and securely proceed in the fabrick of the Temple without any fear of disturbance at home or abroad 12. Vpon this occasion that great Messenger from the Lord was pleased to say as the great Mediator for his despised Church O Lord of Hostes how long was it ere thou wouldst have this pitie upon Ierusalem and other the Cities of Iudah which still appear but in their ruines and rubbish and which in thine anger thou didst keep under the Babylonian captivity no lesse than threescore and ten years the very age of a man 13. And the Lord Iehovah himself gave answer to that great Angel that had spoke so to me in most loving and comfortable words 14. Hereupon that great Angel and Embassador that had vouchsafed so far to commmune with me added this further and said Go and preach again unto thy people the Jewes and say Thus saith the Lord of Hostes I have indeed been jealous over Ierusalem and Sion and very jealous over them because of their spiritual adulteries which they have committed against me and I have punished them in some proportion to that jealousie 16. But now my anger shall fall in as great a measure upon those nations that have enjoyed their ease and plenty while you have been under the rod. And I will punish them the rather because whereas I used them like Schoolmasters for your correction onely they added more to your punishment than
accordingly in sign of a confirmation of him in his great and sacred office notwithstanding all that his greatest enemy could have objected against him And they clothed him all over with new and comely apparel and set a fair mitre upon his head while that great Angel of the Lord was pleased to stay there and see all this done as he had commanded 6. After which that great Angel of the Lord protested also unto Ioshuah thus consecrated for the High-Priest of the Jews and said 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts unto thee If thou wilt walk in those good waies which I have commanded and diligently observe that charge of divine service that I have entrusted thee withal then thou shalt judge and determine and give commands concerning all that belongs to the sacrifices and ceremonies of my house and to the custodie of the several Courts of my Temple And in due time thou shalt have more honour and liberty then to make use of the walks and galleries about the Temple when for thy walking here in my waies I shall admit thee to those places where thou shalt walk and converse with these Angels that stand all about to attend me this is the reward of them that here walk with God 8. And now give ear O Ioshuah the High-Priest to the ground of that promise Thou maist hear it and so may thy friends the Prophets and other my good servants that use to sit with thee to advise of setting forward that which belongs to my service They are fit Auditors of such mysteries as these because being miracles of piety in respect of other men they may be accounted the more worthy to have miracles and signs of things to come imparted unto them And such are these which I shall now relate For Behold I will at last bring forth my servant the BRANCH I will make the root of Iesse bud out of the earth and appear the Messias of whom Zorobabel is now the type and figure and that comes out of the same stock 9. And there is another mysterie worth an Ecce For you may observe the plummet which Zorobabel made use of when he laid the foundation of the Temple and which I caused to be given him in the presence of thee Ioshuah the High-Priest Vpon this one plummet there appeared the figure and representation of seven eyes to show my watchful providence over this and all other places devoted to my service and withall the wisdom and other graces which should be eminent in the Messias the chief corner stone of all the mystical Churches of God The engraving of those seven eyes in the plummet was not cut out by any Art of man but I my self by my extraordinarie power made the engraving of it appear as there it did saith the Lord of Hosts And for that Messias his sake I will take away the sins of this wicked world in one day by virtue of his death and passion upon that day or at one time in that once offering of himself for sinne 10. In those daies of your deliverie from the bondage of sin there shall be a time of peace and mutual amity when men shall be easily disposed to invite their neighbours to come and sit with them every man under his vine and under his fig-tree saith the Lord of Hosts which is a figure of that inward peace they shall have and that true love they shall bear to others who shall feel the benefit of that daies passion and the love and mercy of Him that died for them CHAP. IV. 1 ANd the angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that is wakened out of his sleep 2 And said unto me What seest thou and I said I have looked and behold a candle-stick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps which were upon the top thereof 3 And two olive-trees by it one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side thereof 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me saying What are these my Lord. 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me Knowest thou not what these be and I said No my Lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me saying This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying Not he mightâ— not by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts 7 Who art thou O great mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain and he shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shourings crying Grace grace unto it 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house his hands shall also finish it and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you 10 For who hath despised the day of small things for they shall rejoyce and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven they are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth 11 Then answered I and said unto him What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof 12 And I answered again and said unto him What be these two olive-branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oyl out of themselves 13 And he answered me and said Knowest thou not what these be And I said No my Lord. 14 Then said he These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth CHAP. IV. 1. NOt long after these Visions I was rapt into another extasie wherein the Angel that had conference with me before seemed to come again and awake and rouse me up as one out of a deep sleep and transe that I might be the more attent and observant of other mysteries that were then to be revealed unto me by way of vision 2. And he said unto me what seest thou Zacharie And I said there is another sight presented to my eyes which takes me up with such admiration that I cannot deliver it without an Ecce Methinks I see a Candlestick all of gold one of the great ornaments of the house of God and the bowl belonging to the top of it whence the oyl was conveyed as out of a fountain and his seven lamps thereon and seven several pipes which emptied the oyl out of the bowl and bestowed it the in match or wick of the seven lamps which pipes were upon the top of the shaft 3. And by this fair Candlestick stood two olive-trees one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left-side thereof which gave a continual supply of oyl to the bowls and might signifie the two sons of oyl as we call them i. the two sacred persons that have holy unction the King
and the Priest and might intimate unto us that a Prince and Priest we should have till the times of the Messias according to the Prophesie of Iacob Though these mysteries both here and in the Temple might have a farther light in this Candlestick to show us the ecclesiastical function in the greater Church of God wherein the several Ministers like several and clear lamps should shine forth in their doctrine and conversation that others by their good light may be brought to glorifie their father which is in heaven 4. But these things at the first representation of the Vision I did not so discover but being wholly taken up with admiration I proceeded and said further to the Angel that discoursed with me what is the meaning of these things my Lord. 5. To which that Angel that had pleased so to talk with me replied and said Dost thou not conceave what is meant by the Candlestick and the Olive-trees and the other parts of the Vision and I said I do not indeed my Lord therefore I desire that you would vouchsafe to explain the mysterie of them 6. Then saith he to me by way of answer Thou maist gather part of the meaning out of those words which thou art commanded to deliver unto Zorobabel that takes so great care and pains about your sacred Fabrick For thus you are commanded by God himself so say unto Zerubbabel This building shalt thou be able to raise and fit for my service not by any wealth or power of your own for who sees not how poor and weak your nation is at this time but by my spirit saith the Lord of Hosts by the vertue and courage that I shall infuse into you all and the means and friends that I shall raise up for you while your own poor abilities contribute as little to the finishing of so great a work as you do to the supply of oyl for those lamps which are fed by olive-trees raised up miraculously by me on purpose for that intent 7. And who can hinder that which the Lord of Hosts will do Canst thou O Babylon Alas what art thou that vaunts thy self and thy Empire to overtop that of Zerubbabel and his little Jury as far as a high Mountain appears above a little mole-hill Did not I lay that high and mighty empire as low as a pore plain in the sight of Zerubbabel who carried in his very name a good omen of the confusion of Babel and the dispersing of her several Provinces Shall I not do the like against any other Potentates that oppose my poor Church in any age Yes and now to begin with Iurie and her Ierusalem and her Temple there maugre all opposition I inabled Zerubbabel to appear strong and powerful iu the work I made him the man that laid the first stone thereof accompanied with the acclamations and good wishes of all the people that cried out Let God ever favour let his mercy ever support it He blesse and succeed and maintain this great work so happily begun 8. Moreover the word of the Lord came to me his Angel saying 9. As the hands of Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this house so when his hands have finished it i. by his care at his command and direction and in his time the whole work be perfected as I foretold then shall you by that accomplishment of my prediction be able to conclude that I came with commission from the Lord of Hosts to encourage you in this businesse 10. But if any man slight and mistrust the time of these little beginnings of the Fabrick and think it promiseth but little for the conclusion If any such there be they will rather have cause to rejoyce and chear up themselves when they consider what was said of the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel and of those seven eyes that were so miraculously engraven in it by the immediate power of Almighty God For that is an embleme of the eyes of God that run thorough the whole world i. of his infinite providence and care that extends it self over all things and specially over his own people 11. Then said I further to him What is mean by those two olive-trees whereof one stands upon the right the other upon the left side of the Candlestick 12. And he deferring his answer I presumed to propose the same question again unto him and said What are those two branches of the olives hanging over the golden pipes thence emptying their pretious oyl as pure and cleare as gold 13. Then he replying said unto me Knowest thou not yet what is meant by them And I said I must confesse to my Lord I do not fullie conceave the meaning of them 14. He answered These are the two Sons of Oyl as you use to speak i. the two sorts of sacred persons annointed with holy oyl the Prince and the High-Priest who attend as two principal servants upon the Lord of the whole earth and whose vigilant care over the Temple and the whole Church of God in their respective places is here figured by those two branches of the olive that impart a continual supply of oyl to all the lamps i. of comfort and assistance to all those that shine as clear lights in the Church of God CHAP. V. 1 THen I turned and lift up mine eyes and looked and behold a flying roll 2 And he said unto me What seest thou and I answered I see a flying roll the length thereof is twenty cubits and the breadth thereof ten cubits 3 Then said he unto me This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it 4 I will bring it forth saith the Lord of hosts and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsly by my name and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof 5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth and said unto me Lift up now thine eyes and see what is this that goeth forth 6 And I said what is it and he said This is an ephah that goeth forth He said moreover This is their resemblance through all the earth 7 And behold there was lift up a talent of lead and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah 8 And he said This is wickednesse and he cast it into the midst of the ephah and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof 9 Then lift I up mine eyes and looked and behold there came out two women and the wind was in their wings for they had wings like the wings of a stork and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heaven 10 Then said I to the
angel that talked with me Whither do these bear the ephah 11 And he said unto me To build it an house in the land of Shinar and it shall be established and set there upon her own base CHAP. V. 1. AFter this lifting up mine eyes again I discovered that which took me up with so much wonder that it may challenge another Ecce and it was a kind of flying book written all in one long scroul 2. And the angel that I mentioned before said unto me What seest thou And I said I see a flying roul containing so much in that one volume that the length of it seems twenty cubits and the breadth ten cubits 3. Then said he unto me This roule or volume is a book of curses or dire punishments and it is gone out to fly through the whole land so far as the children of Iudah or Israel do inhabit For every one of this nation that is guilty of stealing and hath his name for that fault on one side of the book is accordingly to be emptied of his ill-gotten goods and suffer the losse of all in his house besides and every one that forswears and hath his name for that fault upon the other side of the book is emptied of what he got by his perjurie acrording to the evidence of the fault there 4. This roul will I produce saith the Lord of Hosts and it shall come into the house of him that steals and into the house of him that swears falsly by my name And it shall continue in the midst of his house till it have quite consumed it like a fierce and raging fire that consumes or disperseth the very stones as well as the timber 5. Then the Angel that used to discourse with me as my Interpreter and Director for the understanding of these mysteries having gone out for a while returned again unto me to explain a new Vision and said Lift up now thine eyes and observe that which seems to be coming forward towards us 6. At the sight of it I demanded of the Angel what it might be And he replied This is the full measure of an Ephah that now seems to move forward and discover it self an embleme of their heavy sins that have now filled up their measure and therefore must lie no longer concealed and winked at as a great while they did in expectation of their repentance before they brought them up to this height And he added withal that this might serve for a fit resemblance of those sins or sinners through the whole land whose full measure of sin brought that full measure of punishment which you see was visibly inflicted upon the whole nation in this last captivity 7. And you would wonder what a strange sight immediately appeared with it the likenesse of a huge massie weight of lead that was brought thither to be laid upon it And this other sight withal a woman sitting upon the middest of the Ephah impudent enough and no whit ashamed or afraid to own such a weight of iniquity 8. And while I was looking upon her and observing the pride and shamelessenesse of her posture the Angel informed me who it was This is the lively portraicture of the Jewish Impietie saith he from whence all those robberies and perjuries that we named before had their rise and their growth till they called to heaven for vengeance And at that word he took her and thrust her into the midst of the Epha and laid a great weight of lead upon the mouth of the Ephah to exclude her from getting out from that which she seemed so ready to return to as to a creature of her own 9. No sooner had I withdrawn my eyes from this sight to look up again but I perceived there two women coming forward suppose the two nations the Assyrian and the Babylonian by which God was pleased to revenge himself of this so great a measure of sin And they came with such speed as if they had come upon the wings of the wind which figured the sodain execution of Gods wrath that accordingly came upon our nation for our many offences And the wings seemed to be like the wings of a stork another expression of that sodain transmigration and deportation out of our Country And these two flying women lift up this Ephah we spake of between heaven and earth as we lift up a burden that is presently to be removed from where it is 10. Then I asked the Angel that discoursed with me whither they intended to remove that heavy weight of impiety to what place of punishment and execution of Justice 11. The place saith he which they are going to provide for that purpose is the land of Babylon where they shall be set fast upon their own basis the sure footing which themselves were the cause of sure enough for stirring thence till God of his own mercy make way for their removal And this Vision and representation of what they have suffered already may be a fair warning that the like sins or sins in the like measure bring not the like punishment upon their heads again CHAP VI. 1 ANd I turned and lift up mine eyes and looked and behold there came four chariots out from between two mountains and the mountains were mountains of brasse 2 In the first chariot were red horses and in the second chariot black horses And in the third chariot white horses and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses 4 Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me What are these my Lord 5 And the angel answered and said unto me These are the four spirits of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth 6 The black horses which are therein go forth into the north-countrey and the white go forth after them and the grisled go forth toward the south-countrey 7 And the bay went forth and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth and he said Get ye hence walk to and fro through the earth So they walked to and fro through the earth 8 Then cryed he upon me and spake unto me saying Behold these that go toward the north countrey have quieted my spirit in the north-countrey 9 And the word of the Lord came unto me saying 10 Take of them of the captivity even of Heldai of Tobijah and of Iedajah which are come from Babylon and come thou the same day and go into the house of Iosiah the son of Zephaniah 11 Then take silver and gold and make crowns and set them upon the head of Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high priest 12 And speak unto him saying Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying Behold the man whose name the BRANCH and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 Even he shall build the temple of the Lord and he shall bear the glory and and
that of His Kingdom and that of His Priest-hood 14. There shall be crowns also as for the High-Priest so for the honorable memorie of others that have found favour with God for their good endeavours about the outward Temple now in hand by name for Helem for Tobijah for Iedajah and for Hen the Son of Zephaniah And these crowns shall be hung up in the Temple of the Lord as a memorial of them with their names to that purpose expressed upon the crowns 15. And to help on the work and the ornaments and honour of the Temple many foreiners and people of remote countries shall come and contribute towards this building as the praeludium to the whole crowds of Gentiles that shall help to build up the spiritual Temple And by this you shall know that I Zacharie that relate the prophesie of these things am a true Prophet of the Lord and have my Commission from the Lord of Hosts for what I promise to you judge of me by the event Provided alwaies that you be diligent in obeying the commands of the Lord your God For this promise runs under that condition CHAP. VII ANd it came to passe in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the nineth moneth even in Chisleu 2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech and their men to pray before the Lord. 3 And to speak unto the Priests which were in the house of the Lord of hostes and to the prophets saying Should I weep in the fifth moneth separating my self as I have done these so many years 4 Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me saying 5 Speak unto all the people of the land and to the priests saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh moneth even those seventy years did ye at all fast unto me even unto me 6 And when ye did eat and when ye did drink did not ye eat for your selves and drink for your selves 7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets when Ierusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and the cities thereof round about her when men inhabited the South of the plain 8 And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah saying 9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying Execute true judgement and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother 10 And oppresse not the widow nor the fatherlesse the stranger nor the poor and let none of you imagine evill against his brother in your heart 11 But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear 12 Yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone least they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts 13 Therefore it is come to passe that as he cried and they would not hear so they cried and I would not hear saith the Lord of hosts 14 But I scattered them with a whirl-wind among all the nations whom they knew not thus the land was desolate after them that no man passed through nor returned for they laid the pleasant land desolate CHAP. VII 1. NOw in the fourth year of King Darius the second year after they had begun the structure of the Temple the word of the Lord was again revealed unto Zacharie in the fourth day of the ninth moneth which is called the Moneth Chisleu and containes part of November and of December And it did so upon this occasion 2. There was sent to the Temple and to the Priests there about that time Serezer and Regem-melech and some Attendants upon them to tender their humble devotions before the Lord in the behalf of those that lived out of the City and had sent them thither upon that service 3. And withall a message they had to the Priests that ministred in the Temple of the Lord of Hostes and to the Prophets who were to advise and direct them in matters of scruple or controversie This Message came in the name of the People who being desirous to be satisfied in some doubts about fasting in which it seems all had been well if their care to make it a true and acceptable fast unto God had been as much as their desire and power to enact it and enjoyn it as a holy Fast and being all considered as one body they ordered their message to be delivered in these or the like termes Shall I continue the times of fasting and mourning which I imposed upon my self under the captivity and have since most strictly observed whereof that is one in the fifth Moneth upon the tenth of July in the sad remembrance of the destroying and firing of the Temple by Nebuzaradan Captain of the guard to Nebuchadnezar Shall I still afflict my self and observe my wonted abstinence from pleasant meats and other matters of delight like a Nazarite for that day as I have now kept it upon the return of that day for many yeares 4. Then as I was saying came the word of the Lord of Hostes unto me furnishing me with an answer to that question of the People after some things to be premised upon occasion of their Fast and saying unto me 5. Speak to all the people of the land and among them to the Priests too to those of Jerusalem as well as to those out of the Citie that have sent these men hither and say When you fasted and mourned in the fifth Moneth in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple and in the seventh Moneth in memoriall of the death of Godoliah and so in the other Moneths in like pretended humble service for these seventy years of your captivity Did I require those Fasts or when they were voluntarily undertaken did they tend as they should do to my honour and glory by your true humbling and bettering of your selves upon those dayes For your Fasts without that are in themselves nothing so pleasing and acceptable to me as you may vainly conceive 6. For as at other times when you eat and drink at your liberty no advantage accrews to my honour out of that feasting of yours barely in it self considered without any other consequence of your due returnes of thankfulnesse and obedience for the blessing of that plenty so at these times when you fast that fasting in its self adds nothing to me nor is it any way considerable in my esteem 7. Should you not rather have observed the divine commands so plainly and openly delivered unto you by the Prophets that have gone before us when Ierusalem was at ease and abounded in peace and plenty And when the Cities and Townes all about her when the more mountainous and Southern parts that were then entirely possessed and when with them the lowest and fruitfullest countries in the
plain had the same benefit of a quiet and secure repose and a rich habitation 8. And the word of the Lord came again unto me saying 9. Thus spake the Lord of Hostes by former Prophets saying In your publick places of Judgement proceed according to the rules of true Iustice and Equity without any regard to silthy lucre or to the prejudice of Affection And in your private actions and commerce with one another show that kindnesse and compassion that should be expected among Brethren of the same stock and alliance and of the same Religion and Profession 10. Let there be no injuring or oppressing of the widow the orphan the stranger or any that are poor and afflicted amongst you And do not so much as in your hearts devise or conceive any mischeivous intention against one another All this I commanded your Fathers by the former Prophets 11. But they would not hear of that ear they shrunk up the shoulder and in plain rebellion turned their backs upon their good guides and followed those courses that would make their cares duller for any holy counsaile that called for this obedience 12. And thus by degrees they made their hearts as it were in a set opposition to all exhortations of obedience as hard as flint or any the hardest and most durable stone that there might be no admittance for the voice of the law and the precepts which the Lord of Hostes sent them by those that were to that purpose raised up and enlightened by his holy Spirit for such were all your former Prophets And this wilfull and obstinate rebellion of theirs could not but draw down the heavie and just indignation of the Lord of Hostes. 13. And accordingly you see it came to passe that as they suffered God to call upon them and would return him no answer of obedience so when their own miseries forced them to call for divine assistanee then did I refuse to answer their desires saith the Lord of Hostes. 14. And I dispersed them in mine anger as if it had been with a mighty whirl-wind into severall nations which they never knew before and their own land after their deportation into other parts was left waste and desolate like a wildernesse behind them There was not so much as a passenger to be seen either going thither or returning from that place that had been so much frequented Such and so heavie was the solitude and barrennesse of that land that had been accounted the delight and Paradise of the whole earth CHAP. VIII 1. AGain the word of the Lord of hostes came to me saying 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts I was jealous for Zion with great jealousie and I was jealous for her with great fury 3 Thus saith the Lord I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and Ierusalem shall be called a Citie of truth and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Ierusalem and every man with his staffe in his hand for very age 5 And the streets of the citie shall be full of boyes and girls playing in the streets thereof 6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these dayes should it also be marvellous in mine eyes saith the Lord of hosts 7 Thus saith the Lord of hostes Behold I will save my people from the east-countrey and from the west-countrey 8 And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and in righteousnesse 9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Let your hands be strong ye that hear in these dayes these words by the mouth of the prophets which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid that the temple might be built 10 For before these daies there was no hire for man nor any hire for beast neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction for I set all men every one against his neighbour 11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former daies saith the Lord of hosts 12 For the seed shall be prosperous the vine shall give her fruit and the ground shall give her encrease and the heavens shall give their dew and I will curse the remnant of this people to possess all these things 13 And it shall come to passe that aâ—â— ye were a curse among the heathen O house of Iudah and house of Israel so will I save you and ye shall be a blessing fear not but let your hands be strong 14 For thus saith the Lord of hosts As I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked me to wrath saith the Lord of hostes and I repented not 15 So again have I thought in these dayes to do well unto Ierusalem and to the house of Iudah fear ye not 16 These are the things that ye shall do Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates 17 And let none of you imagine evill in your hearts against his neighbour and love no false oath for all these are things that I hate saith the Lord. 18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me saying 19 Thus saith the Lord of hosts The fast of the fourth moneth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Iudah joy and gladness and chearfull feasts therefore love the truth and peace 20 Thus saith the Lord of hosts it shall yet come to passe that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many cities 21 And the inhabitants of one city shbll go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts I will go also 22 Yea many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hostes in Ierusalem and to pray before the Lord. 23 Thus saith the Lord of hostes In those daies it shall come to passe that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Iew saying We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you CHAP. VIII 1. ANd the commands of the Lord of Hostes were thus expressed further upon the same occasion and to make way for a satisfactory answer to their question 2. Thus saith the Lord of Hostes. As my great wrath and justice upon my own people followed upon the greatnesse of those sins which were mentioned before so now the greatnesse of my jealousie for Sion the seat on my Jewish Church and my great anger no now against her but for her shall be
felt by he◠enemies 3. For Thus saith the great Iehovah I return now to Sion and to my former love and compassion that I showed to her of old And I will dwell again in the middest of Ierusalem my gracious presence and daily favours shall make them appear like my own domestick Servants which shull gain Ierusalem the title of the City where the true Religion is professed and the Mount of the lord of Hosts where you build your Temple unto me shall be called by the name of the holy Mountain because of the peculiar presence of my Holinesse and the daily observance of your sacred Duties and Devotions in that place 4. And concerning your temporall blessings thus also saith the Lord of Hostes there shall be seen again in the streets of Ierusalem Men venerable for their age and grave Matrons sitting there to refresh themselves and every one of them with a staffe in their hands to support their feeble bodies because of their extream old age and the extraordinary number of year to which they shall attain 5. And with this grave sight of your Ancients sitting before your doors you shall have another that will please you well great store of young children that shall fill up your spacious streets with severall companies of young boyes and girles here and there recreating themselves with their merry and innocent sports 6. And do not startle at it saith the Lord of Hostes for though this may seem a strange and wonderfull thing in the apprehension of this poor remnant of the People that are now returned out of the land of their captivity yet nothing should seem impossible for me saith the Lord of Hostes. 7. And look not upon your selves alone that are first returned and can yet make up but a little company for thus saith the Lord of Hostes I will wonderfully provide for the welfare of my people in the Eastern and Western parts 8. I 'le conduct them safely hither again from all parts of the world whither they are dispersed and they shall dwell in the middest of my holy City Ierusalem And they shall be my peculiar people and I will be their powerfull God Truely and justly shall I make this good to them by my blessing upon them and they to me by the true worship of my name and their just dealing and conversing with one another 9. And therefore Go on chearfully in the building of my Temple which you have now begun saith the Lord of Hostes you that live to see these daies and hear the comfortable words of these late Prophesies from the mouth of us the Prophets that were in the times that the foundation of the house of the Lord of Hostes was laid and that God hath raised up to incite and encourage you in the building and perfecting of his holy Temple 10. And to adde the more life and speed to your undertakings I am enjoyned to tell you that whereas before you setled your selves in earnest to this good work your men and your cattle at home had little reward of their labour in matter of Husbandry ye toyled and took paines with little or no successe and they that ventured further abroad could find no peace and quiet by reason of some affliction or other that was ready to overtake them beside the many quarrels and distractions which by my permission and connivence rose up amongst you 11. Now since I perceive your readinesse and alacrity to proceed in the building of my House I will not show my self so averse as formerly I have been from this remnant of the captivity saith the Lord of Hostes. 12. For you shall be a generation that shall live in peace and prosperity Your Vines shall be fruitfull and your land shall bring plenty of corn For the Heavens shall drop that dew which shall make them so And the remnant that return from Babylon will I make to be eye-witnesses and owners of all this felicity 13. So shall it come to passe that as you of the house of Iudah and Israel were held accursed of all nations by reason of the great misery that your great sins had brought upon you so upon this safety and prosperity which I shall give unto you you shall be accounted a Nation that God hath now blessed with extraordinary favours Therefore do not faint and give back from your good intentions but proceed on chearfully and couragiously in the building of the Temple 14. For thus saith the Lord of Hostes As there was a time when my thoughts and intentions were chiefly set upon afflicting of this nation for those sins by which your forefathers provoked me to anger and I had no mind to repent of it I would not 〈◊〉 diverted 15. So now in these times of amendment and of a more readiness to go on in my service I am willing to repent and to put on other resolutions of doing good and bestowing favours upon Iudah and Ierusalem And therefore be not discouraged nor taken off from your good beginnings 16. And let these be the actions wherein you shall practise and entertain your selves Let every man use candour and integritie in those things which refer to others and himself And you that as more publick persons are intrusted in your gates which are your courts of Justice pass your sentences according to that truth and equity which will be the best means to procure and prolong your peace and prosperity 17. And much more must you be careful that there be no studying of mischief against one another or delighting to deceive others or dishonour my name by false oaths For howsoever wicked men may love and take pleasure in such things yet are they all of them the object of my hatred saith the Lord of Hosts 18 After this for a full and clear solution of the queries and demands that were the errand of Sarezer end Regem-melech the word of the Lord was made known unto me to this sense 19. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Your fast of the fourth moneth which you observed in the sad remembrance of Jerusalem at that time taken by the King of Babylon and your fast of the fifth moneth wherein the Temple was consumed by fire and the City laid ruinous and desolate and your fast in the seventh moneth which put you in mind how your noble Patron and Commander Godoliah was treacherously and unhappily brought to an untimely death and your fast of the tenth moneth in which the Babylonians began their siege against Jerusalem All these daies of fasting shall be now to your whole nation upon your return from Babylon festivall dayes set times of merry and joyfull Solemnities In all which let not your joy obliterate the memorie of your dutie forget not to deal candidly and truly with your neighbours and to entertain one another with the mutual offices of true love and courtesie as well as of jollity and feasting 20. And to encourage you yet more
in this acceptable duty of mutual love thus saith the Lord of Hostes of that love and affection wherein your own people yet abroad and others with them shall be drawn to you and to your Countrey You are yet but a few but the time is coming on when many shall come hither form remoter parts and that are now inhabitants of many feveral Cities 21. For they that dwell in one City shall impart their desires to the inhabitants of another City for a journey towards the holy land and they shall say Come let us go thither to tender our humble supplications before the Lord and seek the Lord of Hosts in his holy worship and service and the precepts of his law Then the several parties thus invited shall say every man undertaking it in his own person I shall willingly make one for so good a voyage 22. Thus shall many and mighty nations come to Ierusalem to seek the Lord of Hosts in this Temple which you are building and to be informed by your Priests and Levites which is the true way of his service according to his divine laws and as a good means to that to offer up their hearty prayers for a blessing from the Almighty 23. For thus again saith the Lord of Hosts Ten men of several languages and nations shall then take hold of the skirts of you that are Iews and in that action deliver their desire to you and your Countrie saying Let us attend you to your happy home in the holy land for we have heard how wonderfully God hath been with you restoring you to your former happinesse in your own possessions repressing your enemies and setling the antient forms of his holy worship as he had foretold by his holy Prophets And He that foretells and fullfills such things shall be the God that we would fain serve and obey as you doe CHAP. II. 1. THe burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and Damascus shall be the rest thereof when the eyes of man as of all the tribes of Israel shall be toward the Lord. 2 And Hamath also shall border thereby Tyrus and Zidon though it be very wise 3 And Tyrus did build hâ—r self a strong hold and heaped up silver as the dust and fine gold as the mire of the streets 4 Behold the Lord will cast her out and he will smite her power in the sea and she shall be devoured with fire 5 Ashkelon shall see it and fear Gaza also shall see it and be very sorrowful and Ekron for her expectation shall be ashamed and the king shall perish from Gaza and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited 6 And a bastard shll dwell in Ashdod and I will cut off the pride of the Philistins 7 And I will take away his bloud out of his mouth and his abominations from between his teeth but he that remaines even he shall be for our God and he shall be as a governour in Iudah and Ekron as a Iebusite 8 And I will enc amp about mine house because of the army because of him that passeth by and because of him that returneth and no oppressour shall passe through them any more for now have I seen with mine eyes 9 Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Ierusalem behold thy king cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an asse and upon a colt the foal of an asse 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse frrm Ierusalem and the battle-bow shall be cut off and he shall speak unto the heathen and his dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river even unto the ends of the earth 11 As for thee also by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water 12 Turn ye to the strong hold ye prisoners of hope even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee 13 When I have bend Iudah for me filled the bow with Ephraim and raised up thy sons O Zion against thy sons O Greece and made thee as the sword of a mighty man 14 And the Lord shall be seen over them and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet and shall go with whirlwinds of the South 15 The Lord of Hosts shall defend them and they shall devour subdue with sling-stones and they shall drink and make a noise as through wine and they shal be filled like bowls and as the corners of the altar 16 And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people for they shall be as the stone of a crown lifted up as an ensign upon his land 17 For how great is his goodnesse and how great is his beauty corn shall make the young men cheerfull and new wine the maids CHAP. IX 1. A Burdensome Prophesie to the enemies of Israel I shall now acquaint thee O Iudaea with a sad and heavy Prophesie nothing like that prophesie of peace and prosperity which I delivered to thy self And it is the word of the Lord for Hadrach that is it concerns Syria one of thy places of retirement whither thou hast often fled to secure thy self against the assaults of a sodain enemie And it concerns Damascus too the Metropolis of Syria and her best refuge and repose for security whereon she relies when a storm is coming upon her self For The eies of the Lord are upon all men and all should fix their eyes upon him His power and providence and justice watching over others as well as over you the Tribes of Israel that are his peculiar people 2. Hamath also or Antiochia must be brought within the limits and compasse of this prophesie as it borders upon Syria and the maritine parts Tyre and Sidon too though they seem so wondrous wife that they chalenge a greater interest in wisdom then other countries must do 3. Howsoever Tyrus to be like her name hath built her self a strong defence and knowing what are the sinews of war hath heaped up silver like dust and the finest gold in such plenty as if it were with them as ordinary as the mire of the streets like the store that your nation enjoyed in the dayes of Salomon 4. Yet you will wonder in the end how God will bring her to poverty and cast her out of those possessions and give her wooden walls wherein she trusts so much and with them her strong fort another piece of her confidence such a blow as shall cast them altogether into the sea while Tyrus her self with all her rich buildings shall be consumed with fire 5. Ashkelon will trembie to see her neighbours houses thus set on fire and Gaza will be in as much or more perplexity So will Ekron for shame that she hath failed of her expectation presuming
that hard employment as the heart of a strong man newly refreshed with wine Their very children shall take notice of their fathers alacrity and readinesse to the war and expresse it in their own joy and forwardnesse Thus all of them shall heartily rejoyce in the favour and protection of the Lord. 8. I will whistle for them that are not yet returned from Babylon and Egypt as the Shepherd doth for his flock and gather them together into my own fould the place that I haee chosen out for my own worship For I have resolved to redeem and deliver them from their enemies and here they shall be as numerous and as prosperous again as ever they were 9. For I dispersed them obroad into several and remote nations and there they remembred to serve me Therefore now will I remember them and theirs They and their children shall survive and return to their own home and their antient possessions 20. I will bring them back from the land of Egypt and gather them together from the land of Assyria by several waies and instruments of my providence and reduce them to their Gilead that furnished them with rich balms and Lebanon that stored them with strong timber And upon their return they shall swell into such multitudes that upon their own inheritance there will hardly be found room enough wherein to contein them 11. And to accelerate and facilitate their return they shall find passage through the streights of the sea for God shall represse the waves of the sea by his mighty power as if his own stroke made them give way to these passengers And he shall drie up the deeper chanels of the river Euphrtaes i. rather then they shall not have an easie passage the waves shall give back and the deeps shall be dried up to make way for them All which may represent in a figure a more conspicuous conduct over that great river of Assyria in the latter times And as you come forward to your prosperity so the pride of the Assyrian shall go downward and the scepter of Egypt to which you were subject while you were sojurners there shall vanish away the Egyptians shall have no more power and command over you 12. And I will make my people strong and chearful in the Lord their God And all their actions shall they prosperously undertake and finish in that name saith the great Iehovah CHAP. XI 1 OPen thy doors O Lebanon that the fire may devour thy cedars 2 Howl fir-tree for the cedar is fallen because all the mighty are spoiled howl O ye oaks of Bashan for the forrest of the vintage is come down 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds for their glory is spoiled a voice of the roaring of young lions for the pride of Iordan is spoiled 4. Thus saith the Lord my God Feed the flock of the slaughter 5 Whose possessors slay them and hold themselves not guilty and they that sell them say Blessed be the Lord for I am rich and their own shepherds pity them not 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land saith the Lord but lo I will deliver the men every one into his neighbours hand and into the hand of his king and they shall smite the land and out of their hand I will not deliver them 7 And I will feed the flock of the slaughter even you O poor of the flock and I took unto me two staves the one I called Beauty and the other I called Bands and I fed the flock 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one moneth and my soul loathed them and their soul also abhorred me 9 Then said I I will not feed you that that dieth let it die and that that is to be cut off let it be cut off and let the rest eat every one the flesh of anoanother 10 And I took my staff even Beauty and cut it asunder that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people 11 And it was broken in that day and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 And said I unto them If ye think good give me my price and if not forbear so they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver 13 And the Lord said unto me Cast it unto the potter a goodly price that I was prised at of them And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff even Bands that I might break the brotherhood between Iudah and Israel 15 And the Lord said unto me Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd 16 For lo I will raise up a shepherd in the land which shall not visit those that be cut off neither shall seek the young one nor heal that that is broken nor feed that that standeth still but he shall eat the flesh of the fat tear their claws in pieces 17 Wo to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock the sword shall be upon his arm and upon his right eye his arm shall be clean dried up and his right eye shall be utterly darkened CHAP. XI 1. BUt your hearty obedience unto me and to these pleasant daies of victory and prosperity will not last for ever Some daies of heavy suffering there will be and a sad visitation of the Temple and of the City When thou O Ierusalem that hast brought so much of Lebanon within thy gates for the fabrick of thy Temple and other stately buildings that thou maiest borrow the name too of another Lebanon must be forced to open thy gates and with other delights expose all the store which thou broughtest from Lebanon to the pleasure of a cruel enemie that with fire and sword will consume thy Palaces of Cedar and destroy the rich owners of those fair habitations 2. There will be matter of fear and lamentation for you of the poorer sort in the lesser towns and villages that stand so thick about Jerusalem like the firre-trees about the tall Cedars For some of your fairest Cedares in Lebanon the rich and great ones that are nestled so high must fall as how as the ground And the gallant Citizens that looked so big upon it must be humbled and seek abroad for another place of habitation while Jerusalem is laid desolate You were mounted before like the oaks of Basan but you will stoop and howl to see your Lebanon your mighty forrest cut down your populous City where the rich buildings were mounted to the height of the proudest trees in the forrest 3. This lamentation in the forrest will cause the howling of the shepherds l. the ruines about the Temple and City must needs be accompanied with the miserable cry of the Princes and of the Governours both Ecclesiastical and Civil whose glory is quite spoiled
his field near the Temple of the Lord. 14. Then it pleased God to proceed to the breaking of the second staff and to say I will even break asunder my other Shepherds staff too to which I gave the name of Bands and so dissolve the unity and brotherly concord that formerly had been between Iudah and Israel the two tribes and the ten tribes as the Sons of one father coming all out of the loins of Iacob 15. Then said the Lord unto me yet we will have somewhat more of the Shepherd Go and get thy self the poor habit and furniture of some silly Shepherd such as he useth to carry abroad with him 16. For this is my meaning by that silly Shepherds provision that for the sins of the people I will often send amongst them silly Shepherds and Governors in the land that shal neither have skill nor will to attend any thing but the advancement of their own advantages They shall not do their office to take care for the reducing of that which is lost and stragled from the company nor seek after the weak lamb that is left behind because it cannot hold out the pace of the rest nor heal that which is hurt and wounded by some evil accident nor feed that which continues healthful and free from hurts But providing rather for themselves then their flock they shall feed upon the fattest and so hurry many of their sheep up and down at their pleasure as if they longed to wear out their very clams that they might not be able to stir about for that which their Shepherds will not provide for them 17. Wo to such Shepherds no Shepherds that will have the name and place of Shepherds and Governors but nothing else that is requirable in good Shepherds Such carelesse Shepherds as these leave their flock to look to themselves but my curse shall attend them Such a Shepherd will I strike with a bright and sharp sword that shall break his arm and dazle his right eye so that his arm shall wither and be unfit for action because he would be lazy where he should not and his right eye shall not be able to see any thing that tends to his own good because he he would not look after that which was for the good of his flock CHAP. XII 1 THe burden of the word of the Lord for Israel saith the Lord which stretcheth forth the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within him 2 Behold I will make Ierusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Iudah and against Jerusalem 3 And in that day will I make Ierusalem a burdensome stone for all people all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in piece though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it 4 In that day saith the Lord I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madness and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Iudah and will smite every horse of the people with blindnesse 5 And the governours of Iudah shall say in their heart The inhabitants of Ierusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God 6 In that day will I make the governours of Iudah like an hearth of fire among the wood and like a torch of a fire in a sheaf and they shall devour all the people round about on the right hand and on the left and Ierusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place even in Ierusalem 7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Iudah first that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Ierusalem do not magnifie themselve against Iudah 8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Ierusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God as the angel of the Lord before them 9 And it shall come to passe in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Ierusalem 10 And I will pour upon the house David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his onely son and shall be in bitternesse for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Ierusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon 12 And the land shall mourn every family apart the family of the house of David apart and their wives apart the family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart 13 The family of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart the family of Shimei apart and their wives apart 14 All the families that remain every family apart and their wives apart CHAP. XII 1. ANother Prophesie that carries a burden in it to be laid upon Israel by the command of the great Iehovah Thus saith the great Iehovah that stretched out the heavens like a curtain and fixed the vast globe of the earth upon nothing and created the breath of life which he breathed first into Adam and placed within him i. who made all and therefore governed all from the beginning 2. You will wonder at the time when you see all things so brought about by my providence that Ierusalem shall become like a drunken cup of giddinesse and astonishment to all the nations about her not so much that others which would greedily swallow her up shall tast of that cup which will work their own shame and confusion but in reference to her self that she shall do the actions of a giddie-headed people Therefore upon all Iudah there shall fall great tribulation by occasion of that punishment which shall light first upon Ierusalem 3. But about the close of that time when I have so punished my own people I will make Ierusalem prove like a huge weighty stone to all people that shall go about to disturb her All that lift hard at her shall sooner show their strength in breaking of their own veins in pieces then in removing her from that loyalty towards me and that state of tranquillity wherein I shall place her And this difficulty of so moving Jerusalem shall be thus though all the people of the earth should be mustered up against her And this may be a figure of what shall afterward happen to the fierce and ventrous opposers of the mystical Jerusalem and such as are Jews within They that will be lifting at them and heaving at the true Messias their corner stone will have but ill successe in their vain attempts but on whomâ—soever that stone falls it shall bruise him to powder 4. For at that time saith the Lord if
inhabited from Gibeah of Benjamin in the Northern borders even unto Rimmon that lies as far South of Jerusalem And with the addition of her higher Towers and Walls Ierusalem shall seem to lift up her self higher and glory to see her self so fully and richly inhabited in her own place from the gate of Benjamin which leades into the Countrey of Benjamin toward the North and so to the old gate on the West and to the corner-gate that hath so many Towers jetted to the East and thence all along from the Tower of Hananiel which bounds the South of your Citie as far toward Sion as the place where the Kings wine-presses were wont to be And there also shall you have some buildings raised up for your new inhabitants 11. And they which shall then inhabite it in so populous a manner shall find that there will be no more such miserable destructions as have formerly been in that place but Ierusalem shall be inhabited in safety and security for a long time 12. And these shall be the plagues wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have come in hostile manner against Her Such a fearfull famine and sicknesse shall he send amongst them that their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet their eyes shall consume away while they are in those strong holds wherein Nature hath placed them for better use then from thence to watch the mischief of others that were better than themselves and their tongues shall moulder away while they are in their own wicked and blasphemous mouths So that they shall walk about like living carcases and ugly noisome spectacles of misery and memorandums of divine vengeance 13. And somewhat else shall happen in those dayes as an addition to their sorrow For great tumults and combustions will God raise among them in those hurries Every man shall be willing to lay hold of his neighbour and by their joynt-hands engage him to be faithfull and secure unto them but that hand of fidelity as he took it shall deceive his trust and be one of the first hands that shall be lift up against him 14. Anâ— which is the worst of it such deceit and contention shall not be onely amongst them but even Iudah too shall pick quarrels against Ierusalem And a means to tempt them to this will be the wealth of all the Heathen round about them that shall be gathered to this place great abundance of gold and silver and apparel that shall be in the tents of the Enemy 15. While that plague of war and famine that is amongst them will breed as great a mortality among the horses aad mules and asses and all the beasts in their tents which shall be like another plague among them 16. But these afflictions and your miraculous delivery shall prove good instructions to many that shall be left of those Nations that marched against Ierusalem For in acknowledgement of Gods Justice upon themselves and his miraculous protection of that place thither will they resort from year to year being made your Proselytes to tender their worship before the King of Kings and the Lord of hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles at least as you do that falling out in a time more seasonable for the undertaking of long â—urnies to Jerusalem 16. And while they do so much that are but Proselytes they read a Lecture of more readinesse to be required in you Therefore whosoever of the Families of this Land shall not come up to Ierusalem out of those countries into which they are dispersed once a year at least to bear a part in the divine service of the great King of Kings and Lord of Hostes no showre of Divine favour shall be expected to be powred upon them 18. As for instance if those Jewish Families that are in Egypt shall not make that ascent and approach hither neither shall that showre of his favour be upon them but in-instead of that some plague raâ—her with which the Lord will strike all those people that will not come up to keep so much as the Feast of Tabernacles after they have taken upon them the profession of his Name 19. This shall be the punishment of those Professours of the Jewish Religion that live in Egypt or among any other Nations and will not come up to the solemn Feast of Tabernacles and then at least bear a part in the publick service of God in that place which he hath chosen for that purpose 20. In these dayes of the strict observance of the worship of God great additions of prosperity shall be heaped upon this People and specially upon the place of Gods service by rich presents from forrein Nations Then the bridles of the war-horses and the rich ornaments about them shall be offered as a holy thing to the Lord and so come into the Treasurie of the Temple as a Testimonie that they acknowledge the victorie in which those horses were employed is to be ascribed to God onely though they seemed to guide and direct the Horses with the bridle in their own hands And not in this way of acknowledgement onely but many other waies too the offerings shall be so rich and frequent that the pots in the Lords house shall be as numerous as the bowles before the Altar whereof you have greater plenty than of any one vessell about the Temple because of the severall uses to which they are of necessitie required both in the offerings and in receiving the blood of the sacrifices 21. And not those pots onely in the Temple but by reason of the great abundance of sacrifices in those dayes every pot in Ierusalem and in Iudah will commonly be hallowed to that use which those in the Sanctuary are employed in for that service of the Lord of Hostes that all they that bring their Sacrifice may take of them and seeth their meat in them with which after the Sacrifice they use to entertain the Levites and their Friends whom they invite to the Feast And in those dayes as you shall have such store of Proselytes about the house of the Lord of hosts to help and encourage you in the service so you shall have no Cananites there to draw you from the service of the true God So shall you be all holy and clean without mixture of prophane and idolatrous people as was prophesied long before And withall you shall therein give a type of that happinesse which the whole Church shall have in the last day A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF MALACHI CHAP. I. 1 THe burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi 21 I have loved you saith the Lord yet ye say Wherein hast thou loved us was not Esau Iacobs brother saith the Lord yet I loved Iacob 3 And I hated Esau and laid his mountains and his heritage wast for the dragons of the wildernesse 4 Whereas Edom saith We are impoverished
but we will return and build the desolate places Thus saith the Lord of hosts They shall build but I will throw down and they shall call them The border of wickednesse and the people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever 5 And your eyes shall see and ye shall say The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel 5 A son honoreth his father and a servant his master if then I be a father where is mine honour and if I be a master where is my fear saith the Lord of hosts unto you O priests that despise my name and ye say Wherein have we despised thy name 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar and ye say Wherein have we polluted thee In that ye say The table of the Lord is contemptible 8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil offer it now unto thy governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of hosts 9 And now I pray you beseech God that he will be gracious unto us this hath been by your means will he regard your person saith the Lord of hosts 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought I have no pleasure in you saith the Lord of hosts neither will I accept an offering at your hand 11 For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in the very place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shal be great among the heathen saith the Lord of hosts 12 But ye have profaned it in that ye say The table of the Lord is polluted and the fruit thereof even his meat is contemptible 13 Ye said also Behold what a wearinesse is it and ye have snuffed at it saith the Lord of hosts and ye brought that which was torn and the lame and the sick thus ye brought an offering should I accept this of your hands saith the Lord. 14 But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my name is dreadfull amonge the heathen CHAP. I. 1. THe word of the Lord by the Prophet Malachi delivered in heavy and threatning words against the Israelites that were returned from the captivity and were guilty of many great sins specially of negligence and misdemeanour in things belonging to the worship of God and of keeping strange wives against those laws and admonitions that should have wrought better upon them 2. I might have expected better fruit from my people of Israel were it but meerly by way of thankfulnesse for my peculiar love and indulgence unto them not above all other nations onely but even above those of the same stock and original with them For I have ever loved you of Israel saith the Lord and you may read it in many arguments of that love But you will say Wherein hast thou showed any particular instances and evidences of that thy special love to us To which I answer that if you look to the root from whence you took your beginning there you may best begin to see the signes of my love For was not Esau brother to Iacob your Patriarch by the same venter Were they not twins and Esau the first-born yet did I show a more tender and fatherly affection to Iacob and his posterity placing you in the land of promise a land flowing with milk and honey and when your sins had cast you out reducing you hither again and shielding you here from all danger by the hand of providence 3. Esau all this while and his posterity the Edomites that came from him may rather see the signs of my hatred and disaffection to them from the very womb For as I foretold that he should be inferior to his younger brother before he was born so afterwards I placed him and his in the barren mountains of Seir no way to be compared with the fruitful land of Canaan And when my Justice had cast him out from thence I did not restore him thither again as I did you into Canaan but I turned those mountains of Seir his antient habitation into a wildernesse and as a testimony of mine anger that which was his peculiar lot and inheritance I gave to the Dragons and other wild beasts of the Desert as a place of habitation for them 4. And I am so far from any intention of restoring them now to those parts that if they of Edom should say We are now in poor condition indeed but we will take courage and return from whence we came and there we will build up again whatsoever the enemie hath laid wast Thus would the Lord of hosts answer to such fool-hardie undertakers If they rebuild them I will find waies to pull them down again and lay them even with the ground And they that see the execution of that justice shall say It was but deservedly done to a Countrie whose bounds and limits were all full of impiety to God and unnatural cruelty to you their brethren and the inhabitants thereof a People whom God had threatned with the effects of his anger and heavy displeasure for evermore 5 Your own eyes shall be the witnesses of the performance of what I thus speak against the Edomites and your own tongues shall makes profession and acknowledgement of this difference that I put between you and them and say Let God ever be magnified and praised for his mercie to the land of Israel which he restored and continues to us with the same bounds and limits that we had before 6. Such hath been my Fatherly affection to you and my anger and severitie upon them Which you should be so sensible of as to expresse it in your thankfulnesse and obedience For Doth not a Son worthily honour his father Is not a servant ready to expresse his bounden duty to his Master If my benefits show my fathèrly love why should not your honour and respect be answerable to them If I defend and maintain you as your Lord and Master where is that fear and reverence of my Name that should be seen in you saith the Lord of Hosts Specially in you my Priests that live upon such things as are devoted to my service and yet are so far from serving me aright that you rather openly contemn and despise my name If you ask wherein you have done any thing in neglect and contempt of me and in derogation to the Honour and Majestie of my name Look into your daily imployments about my Temple and there you will see it 7. For You bring to my Altar such provisions to be there offered up to me as I can no otherwise
account of then as of things polluted rather then sanctified to my service But you will say yet further What is that pollution wherein we are said to offer contempt unto thee And I must tell you it lies in those base words of yours that the Table of the Lord is so despicable a thing that we need not be very scrupulous of sacrificing and offering any thing there though it be not so perfect and without blemish as is required 8. And so when you bring a lamb or any other creature that is blind to be offered up in sacrifice that is no great harm O by no means in your opinion it is not And when your offering is of that which is lame and sickly there is no ill in so doing as you seem to imagine But go and bestow such a blind and lame and sickly present upon your Prince and Governour and see if he will accept kindly of it and be of your opinion that it is a present good enough for him saith the Lord of Hosts Sure he will not What shall then be said of those poor contemptible sacrifices so unfit to be brought in your addresses to me and as types and figures of that immaculate lamb that must take away the sinnes of the world 9. Now therefore it onely remains that in lue of them you present your selves before him in humble prayer that he would please to be merciful to us all who are all of us likely to fare the worse for these great sins For it is plain that this great fault hath been committed by you And therefore while you continue in it do you think that you can be acceptable in his sight at whose altar you serve or that he shall accept of such offerings of yours saith the Lord of Hosts 10. Nay if these be thought fit sacrifices for my Temple which of you will do me that acceptable service to shut up your doors and passages to your Sanctuarie that there may be no more fire in vain kindled upon my altar for all your service is in vain while it is tendered in such negligent and scornful manner I can take no pleasure in you that are such sacrificers saith the Lord of Hosts nor will I accept of any such sacrifices from your hands 11. But I will tell you what sacrifice I shall delight in In the spirituall sacrifice of a good and spiritual heart For ere long from East to West all the world over shall my Name be magnified among the Gentiles and in every place shall the holy incense of prayer and the pure offering of themselves their souls and bodies be presented unto me For once again I tell you great shall my name be among the Gentiles since it is so slighted and undervalued by you saith the Lord of Hosts 12. But you still go on to pollute that sacred name as much as in you lies as when you say within your selves that the Table of the Lord is no such pure thing nor the offering so pure that is laid upon it neither is that fire which consumes the sacrifice so pure that we need be so nice and dainty about the choice of the sacrifice 13. Nor is this contempt among the Priests onely that do attend the sacrifice but it is the fault of you among the people too that bring it to the Priest For you have been heard to say when you have brought the sheep or what else was sent into that Court of the Temple where you were to leave it O what a wearisom businesse is this How am I tired with the weight of this burden And then you have puffed and blown at it as if that you brought had been so fat and plump that the bringing of so heavy a burden had almost taken away your breath This you have said in a jesting and scornfull manner puffing at my sacrifice and indeed slighting of it saith the Lord of Hosts Nay such things have some of you brought to be offered as have been stolne or purchased by rapine and oppression and you have sent into the Courts of my Temple lame and weake sickly creatures to serve for an offering and so for a poor acknowledgement of the many mercies and favours that I have showed to you And do you think I shall ever be pleased with what is offered by you in such contempt saith the Lord of Hosts 14. No cursed be that subtle and deceitful man that makes a mock at these Acts of Religion and being able to send that which is good and having in his flock a male that is sound and in good liking doth yet when he comes to pay his vows render a poor weak and blemished sacrifice unto the Lord. But I am the great King of Heaven and earth and therefore other kind of presents were fitter for me saith the Lord of Hosts and among the very Gentiles more fear and reverence shall be given unto my Name CHAP. II. 1. ANd now O ye priests this commandment is for you 2 If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name saith the Lord of hosts I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings yea I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart 3 Behold I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces even the dung of your solemn feasts and one shall take you away with it 4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you that my covenant might be with Levi saith the Lord of hosts 5 My covenant was with him of life and peace and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me and was afraid before my name 6 The law of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips he walked with me in peace and equity and did turn many away from iniquity 7 For the Priests Lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts 8 But ye are departed out of the way ye have caused many to stumble at the Law ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi saith the Lord of hosts 9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people according as ye have not kept my wayes but have been partiall in the Law 10 Have we not all one Father hath not one God created us Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother by profaning the Covenant of our Fathers 11 Iudah hath dealt treacherously and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Ierusalem for Iudah hath profaned the holinesse of the Lord which he loved and hath married the daughter of a strange god 12 The Lord will cut off the man that doth this the master and the scholar out of the Tabernacles of Iacob and him that offereth an offering unto the
Lord of hosts 13 And this have ye done again covering the Altar of the Lord with tears weeping with crying out insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more or receiveth it with good will at your hand 14 Yet ye say Wherefore Because the Lord hath been witnesse between thee and the wife of thy youth against whom thou hast dealt treacherously yet is she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant 15 And did not be make one yet had he the residue of the spirit and wherefore one That he might seek a godly seed therefore take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth 16 For the Lord the God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away for one covereth violence with his garment saith the Lord of hosts therefore take heed to your spirit that ye deal not treacherously 17 To have wearied the Lord with your words yet ye say Wherein have we wearied him when ye say Every one that doth evill is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in them or where is the God of judgement CHAP. II. 1. ANd now I come to speak to you again O you Priests For somewhat more I have in charge to acquaint you withall And this it is 2. If you will not hear and obey what is told you by my Prophets against your own profaness and negligence in my service and your connivence at the like fault in the people or rather your drawing of them into it by the scandall of your own ill example If you will not take it seriously to heart and show your repentance by your amendment giving more honour and respect to me in the execution of your severall functions then you have done heretofore saith the Lord of Hosts Then will I instead of a blessing send a curse upon you that sacrifice and you the people that bring such contemptible sacrifices unto me And I will send a curse upon your corn and whatsoever I have bestowed upon you as a blessing upon your former labours I will did I say Nay you may see that this curse of mine hath begun to work upon you already because as you neglected me and my service so you neglected to take that great fault into your serious consideration but made light of it notwithstanding the many admonitions and exhortations that have been made unto you 3. Therefore if you will at least consider the punishment of your sin you shall see and wonder what destruction I will bring upon you and your seed after youâ— And when you come to appease me by sacrifices rather then I will be pleased with such poor service I will throw the dung of them in your faces even the dung of your solemnest sacrifices to show my contempt of you in that sacred place where you have dared to show your contempt of me And out of that place out of the very Temple one that I will appoint shall take you away with him and dispose of you with as much scorn and contempt as you have showed to Me and my holy Altars 4. Thus you will know by your own punishments why I send these first commands and lawes of Reverence to be showed in my House and in my service I did it that my Covenant might be kept which I made with the Tribe of Levi saith the Lord. 5. For my Covenant with the Levitical Priest was a Covenant of Life and Peace i. of long life and felicity or of a long prosperous and happy life upon the carefull discharge of their Priestly office And these favours I bestowed upon him because of his fear and awe of me which made him show so much heed and reverence in my service and make his approaches before me with all religious devotion and humility as one sensible of the service he was to perform to me and in a place of my speciall presence 6. Nothing came out of his mouth but what was agreeable to Law and Truth and Equitie And when he was to expresse his judgement in any case no word was found to proceed from between his lips that had any wicked or by-respect And his good conversation was answerable to his good words He converted many from their sinfull and unrighteous courses 7. And from whom should all this be expected but from the Priest And so ever let the Priest be exemplary in his life and language Let the Priests lips preserve knowledge And let him be such a one that from him men may enquire the true sense and meaning of the Law For He is like an Angel of the Lord not onely to present before God the prayers of the people but acquaint them also with the will and pleasure of Almighty God Which two are the great employments of the blessed Angels 8. But you are Priests of no such Angelical strain for as you have gone out of the right way your selves so you have made others stumble after your scandalous example and mistake the way which is made plain for them in the law and wherein your first and good Levites walked with me according to the Covenant whereas you take a course to frustrate and null the Covenant made with those Leviticall Priests saith the Lord of Hostes. 9. Therefore will I also null my part of the Covenant and bring you to that passe that you shall be scorned and contemned of all the common people because you would not contein your selves within the wayes of my lawes and ordinances but stepped aside for private respects wresting and wracking of the law that it might be brought to what would fit your own turnes for pleasing the persons of men 10. But are we not all Brethren in Nature the Sons of one man of Jacob our Father And are we not Brethren in Religion too Hath not one God by a kind of new creation moulded and formed us into a peculiar people for his service Why then do you injure and oppresse and defraud one another and so make a breach of that Covenant made with your Fathers and of that love which you owe to one another as Brethren 11. They of the Kingdom of Iudah are guilty of this great transgression and so are they of the Kingdom of Israel such of the ten tribes as returned with them into their own Countrey And they of Ierusalem too nearest to my own House where the best livers should have been expected They and these have been abominable in their actions Even Iudah my more peculiar people have prophaned my Sanctuary and the holy City which I honoured with so many testimonies of my love For they have made a mixture of Iewes and Gentiles and married them that are devoted to the service of a strange God 12. God will destroy the man that hath done this vile act whether he be Priest or Laick and send him far enough from the tents of Iacob Yes though he
came to make peace by presents and offerings unto me as to the Lord of Hostes. 13. But there 's another fault too that you have committed upon occasion of this marrying of strange women i. You show so much love to them and so little to your own wives that you make them cover the altar of the Lord with teares and disturb the sacred Temple with bitter lamentations so that I can have no more delight in your offerings nor can I take any thing well from your hands though it be purposely brought thither to appease my wrath and make you acceptable in my sight saith the Lord. 14. And why so will you say Because the Lord Iehovah is a witnesse between thee and the wife of thy youth thy lawfull and first love whom thou abusest after such a harsh and inhumane manner But she should be used as thy Dear Consort and Fellow-servant to the same God and the wife of the same Covenant not onely made thy wife by a solemn Covenant and stipulation mutually tendred before me for the securing of your mutuall love and affection but the wife that is interested in the Covenant made with God himself to serve and obey him Whereas neither of these so strong obligations to ingage thee to those wives that are superinduced and of meer strangers are made the proud Usurpers and Commanders of thy House 15. Now Echad i. Abraham whose example you pretend to follow did not so But he was of a more excellent Spirit And when he took a maid for his Concubine why did Abraham do it He did it not for lust nor with injury to Sarah for it was at her intreaty but onely desirous of a pious seed and a seed promised by God Himself Therefore take heed of being led by that violent and erring spirit of your own Think of Abraham's meek and obedient Spirit and commit not such a cruell fault as to suffer a stranger to domineer over the wife of thy youth 16. For thus saith the great Iehovah the God of Israel He that doth so hates to put her away He cannot do that for shame but he cloakes the injury that he doth to her by keeping her still in his own house saith the Lord of Hostes. But once again I warn you take heed of being led by your own unruly spirits and let me hear no more of this great fault 17. There is yet another thing in your ordinary talk wherein you have offended and wearied out the patience of Almighty God And wherein have we so tired and displeased Him will you say It is in using those wicked Proverbs of yours Every one that is evill is acceptable enough in the sight of the Lord and sure he takes delight in them for so you guesse by the preferment of wicked men And in your other said saw Where is the God of Iudgement that doth not rather presently punish those wicked men if he knew them to be such As if we were to limit and confine him for his times and his waies how and when He shall make proof of his Justice CHAP. III. 1 BEhold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple even the messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in Behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts 2 But who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth for he is like a refiners fire and like fullers sope 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and he shall purifie the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousnesse 4 Then shall the offerings of Iudah and Ierusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the daies of old and as in former years 5 And I will come neer to you to judgement and I will be a swift witnesse against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against those that oppresse the hireling in his wages the widow and the fatherlesse and that turn aside the stranger from his right and fear not me saith the Lord of hosts 6 For I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Iacob are not consumed 7 Even from the daies of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them return unto me and I will return unto you saith the Lord of hosts but ye said wherein shall we return 8 Will a man rob God yet ye have robbed me But ye say Wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings 9 Ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed one even this whole nation 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house that there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven and powre you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field saith the Lord of hosts 12 And all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land saith the Lord of hosts 13 Your words have been stout against me saith the Lord yet ye say What have we spoken so much against thee 14 Ye have said It is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts 15 And now we call the proud happy yea they that work wickednesse are set up yea they that tempt God are even delivered 16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name 17 And they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him 18 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not CHAP. III. 1. NOw because you inquire after the Lord of Judgement and after his coming will you hear what himself saith of his first coming Behold I will shortly send my Angel or Embassadour John the Baptist my fore-runner who shall prepare the way before me by his Baptism and Sermons of Repentance and his Testimonie of Me and my coming and then the Lord the Messias that you so earnestly expect and inquire after shall sodainly come into his Temple before he is looked for the time being concealed from men to honour his Temple at Jerusalem with his bodily presence and there to teach and instruct his people of
the house of Israel Even he shall come that is the great Angel of the New Testament whom you long for as your promised Messias Behold He shall surely come saith the Lord of Hosts 2. But who will abide the time of his coming and when he appears in person who shall be able to stand without great fear and terrour before Him to hear the discoverie and reproof of their sinnes and the Prophesie of that heavy punishment that will fall upon you for them and the many afflictions that must be expected and suffered by all those that will follow him For He shall be like a Refiners fire to make trial of us in the fire of affliction as well as like the Fullers purging herbs to cleanse and purge us in the Laver of Regeneration by vertue of his precious bloud 3 And when he settles himself to 〈◊〉 great work of trying and purging as the Refiner doth when he removes the drosse from the pure silver then shall He cleanse and purifie the sonnes of Levi reducing manie of them from the drosse of their false doctrines and traditions and other mistakes to the knowledge and profession of the truth And so being purged from what was amisse in them like silver and gold that comes out of the Refiners furnace they shall offer unto the Lord a righteous and pious sacrifice of humble prayers and divine praises and the constant exercise of all holy virtue 4. All these offerings and sacrifices of Iudah and Ierusalem shall be as acceptable and well pleasing unto God as ever were any of their most costly presents and oblations in former times and in the daies of old the daies of your good Patriarchs and Judges and Prophets 5. But if you will not forsake your drosse As you called for the God of Judgement so I will come near to you in the Acts of Iudgement and Iustice. saith the Lord And I that have been privie to all your secret sinnes which cannot be concealed from my all-seeing eye I will not be wanting to be a readie witnesse my self against such as have been tampering with Magick Arts and against adulterous and perjured persons and against all such as defraud the poor hirelings of their wages and the widows and orphans of that which is their due and against those that oppresse the stranger all which have the least means to relieve themselves and withall my Justice shall be showed upon all those that do any thing against the fear and reverence of my name saith the Lord of Hosts 6. For I am a God immutable in all my waies in my waies of Justice and in my wayes of Mercy the same God in the performance of all threats and promises upon all persons And yet you sonnes of Iacob doe not make an end of your wicked courses and either for fear or love of my immutable waies follow those good steps that your Father Iacob hath traced out before you 7. And so from the daies of all your fore-fathers you have gone astray from the way of my statutes and have not kept them as you should have done And yet return unto me by a true Repentance and I will return unto you in great mercy saith the Lord of Hosts But I know you will be ready to excuse your selves and ask wherein you should return For you would be accounted the onely Observers of my laws and cannot bethink your selves what it should be wherein you have offended 8. Therefore I will tell you wherein Will any man think it fit to rob and defraude God of his due Yet are you that justifie your selves guiltie of that fraude and injurie towards me If you ask wherein thse your fraudulent actions against me may consist I answer In your tithes and offerings which you have paid in a sordid covetous and deceitful way 9. And for that fraudulent detaining of my antient right from me there is a heavy curse hangs over your heads And the whole nation are in danger of it as the reward of a national fault if it be not averted by your speedie repentance 10. But let me see you faithfully and truely bring in all my tithes into my barnes that there may be a plentiful provision for those that attend the dayly service of my house And make triall of me now in this one point of your obedience saith the Lord of Hosts whether I will not open the windows of Heaven for your sakes and powre a blessed increase upon you in such a superabundant way of plenty that your barnes and vessels wherein you intend to lay it up shall not be able to contein it 11. And for your sakes will I hinder the devouring locusts that are destructive to your fruit and they shall not corrupt anie more fruit of your grounds And it shall be my care and providence that your vines in the field the remotest from your eyes may not cast their fruit before their due time to deceive your expectation of a good vintage saith the Lord of Hosts 12. And whereas by my curse upon you and my punishment of your great sinnes you lived a long time poor and despicable among the heathen now all nations shall call you blessed For you shall be a delightsome land worthy the love and admiration of all for your peace and plenty and specially for the exercise of the true Religion amongst you saith the Lord of Hosts 13. Yet are you no way worthy of these loving promises from me or these kind words from other people For you have used very bitter and wicked words against me saith the Lord of Hosts Yet you will be ready to deny it now and to say What is that which we have spoken so often and so ill against thee 14. This it is In saying that it is a vain and unprofitable thing to serve God and in asking what you have gained by observing those things that God would have you to observe and that in times of fasting and humiliation you have walked like pensive and sad mourners before the Lord of Hosts 15. And this also you have said Now when all is done we account them the happiest men not that have so humbled themselves but that have stoutly and proudly without any scruple showed themselves the contemners of all Religion And this too They thrive best in raising of their houses and families that dare do the worst things And yet more You say They that have tempted and provoked God most have been soonest delivered out of affliction or escaped the best 16. Such have been the impious and prophane words of the wicked But then they that fear the Lord have often had better discourses among one another And to their discourse God himself gave serious attention observing well what they said and causing it to be written down in his book of Remembrances for them that fear the Lord and think reverently of his name 17. And he dismissed them with this encomium and gracious