make him the lyke against his comming home who being such a minister as was content to serue the Kinges turne made it with all spéede on the which Aultar the King at his comming home offered to those Idolles abolishing all the holye lawes and ordinaunces of God to stablyshe his owne wicked and vngodlye procéedings which turned to hys vtter confusion He reygned sixtene yeares and was buryed in the Citie of Dauid but not among the sepulchres of Kings leauing Hezekia his godly sonne to enioy his place Ahazia the sonne of Achab began his reigne ouer Israel in the xvlj yeare of Iosaphat king of Iuda and followed the steppes of that wicked Idolatour Achab his father in all thinges for the which the Lorde punished him two maner of wayes First the Moabites rebelled agaynst him refusing to pay any tribute Seconde as he walked vpon his house for his recreation he fell downe at a grate of the same which was made to gyue light beneath And being sore brused with the fall and in perill of death he sent to Belzebub the God of Ekrom to enquire of him whether he shoulde recouer or no. And as the Messengers were going Elia the Prophete by the prouidence of God met them and sayde is there no God in Israel to aske counsell at but your Maister must send to Belzebub returne and tell him he shall not liue The Messengers returned and tolde the king Who perceyuing by all the markes and tokens of the man that it was the Prophete Elia sent forth a Captaine with fiftie Souldiers to bring him with violence if otherwise he woulde not come And when the Captaine came to the Prophet he sayde Thou man of God come away the King hath sent for thée If I be the man of God quoth the Prophet fyre come downe from heauen and consume thée and all thy men which wordes were no sooner gone out of his mouth but fire fell downe from heauen and destroyed them all The King sent againe and they were likewyse destroyed Then went the thirde who fell downe before the Prophete and sayde O thou man of God let my life I pray thée and the life of these thy fistie seruants be precious in thy sight With this man the Prophet went boldly to the King and tolde him plainly be shoulde not recouer and so he died in the seconde yeare of his reygne and for lacke of issue his brother Iehoram succéeded Ahasuerus otherwise called Artaxarzes King of Persia reigned ouer an hundreth and twentie seauen Prouinces This King in the thirde yeare of hys reigne made a feast royall in the Citie of Susan to all his Princes and Nobles which continued an hundreth and foure score daies And these days expired he made another feast to all the people great and small for the space of seauen dayes and in the seauenth and last daye of the feast the King being mery and pleasantly disposed sent diuers of his Chamberlaines to fetch the Quéene named Vasthy and to bring hir to him with the Crowne Imperiall vpon hir heade that the people might sée hir bewtie But for so much as she woulde not come at the Kinges commaundement it was decréed that the King shoulde put hir awaye and take another at his pleasure And according to the same decrée the King was diuorsed from Vasthy and tooke Ester in hir place for whose sake he shewed great pleasure to hir nation the Iewes promoting Mardocheus which had preserued him from the danger of Treason and put downe Aman whome he had aboue all exalted Ahimaaz the sonne of Sadoch with Ionathas the sonne of Abiathar stoode wayting without the Citie of Ierusalem at the Well called Rogell to beare such newes to Dauid as they shoulde heare from their fathers being within with Absalom And when they were instructed of all thinges by a certaine Mayde sent from their fathers what they shoulde doe and saye vnto Dauid they departed with spéede But being espyed by a certaine yong man who went and tolde it to Absalom Messengers were sent forth in post haste which followed them so sore that they were constrayned to slip into a certaine mans house in Bahurim which had a Well in his yarde into the which they were conueyghed and being hid in the Well the wife of the house spred a Couerlet ouer the Welles mouth and strawed corne thereon whereby the Well was not séene Then Absaloms men comming into the house demaunded of the wyfe where the two men were which came in before them They be gone sayde she ouer the brooke of water The men beleuing the woman went after and sought and when they coulde not finde them returned home againe Then Ahimaaz and Ionathas were let out of the Well who went to Dauid and did their message as they were commaunded After this when Absalom was slaine Ahimaaz desired of Ioab the Captaine that he might beare newes to the King of Absaloms death Nay sayde Ioab thou shalt be no messenger this daye bicause the Kings sonne is deade but Chusy shall go Then I pray thée quoth Ahimaaz let me go with Chusy And wherfore quoth Ioab art thou so desirous to go séeing for thy tydings thou shalt haue no rewarde whatsoeuer I haue quoth he I pray thée let me go Then go sayd Ioab And so Ahimaaz ran a nearer way than Chusy and was euer before him And as they were comming the watch man spied them and sayde to the King I sée two men running hytherwarde and me thinke the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the sonne of Sadoch Oh sayd the King he is a good man and bringeth good tydings And so Ahimaaz came to the King before Chusy and fell downe before him and sayd Blessed be the Lorde thy God which hath shut vp the men that lift vp their handes against my Lorde the King is the yong man Absalom safe sayde the King Ahimaaz aunswered When Ioab sent Chusy and me thy seruaunt I sawe much a doe but I wote not what it was Well sayde the King stande still Then Chusy came and sayd Good tidings my Lorde the King for the Lorde hath deliuered thée this day out of the handes of all that roâ—e against thée Is the yong man Absalom safe quoth the King The enimies of my Lorde the King sayde he and all that rise against thée to doe thée hurt be as that yong man is And so the King departed and mourned for his sonne Ahimelech the sonne of Ahitob the sonne of Phiâ—ehes the sonne of Eli was Priest of the Citie of Nob in whose tyme it chaunced Dauid being persecuted of king Saule to flye vnto him for succour at whose comming with so fewe wayting on him Ahimelech was sore astonied and asked him wherefore he came so alone Then Dauid bearing him in hande that the King had sent him of a secrete businesse which might not be knowne desired Ahimelech to giue him of such thinges
farre excéeded all other in wysedome and learning that Salomon was compared vnto them Darius in taking of Babilon slue King Balthasar and possessed his kingdome In the seconde yeare of his raigne he graunted the same licence vnto the Iewes to builde againe the Citie of Ierusalem and the house of God that King Cyrus had graunted to them in the first yeare of his raigne And for so much as the worke had béene much hindered from the first yeare of Cyrus vnto the seconde yeare of this King Darius he gaue a strayte commaundement that whosoeuer dyd from hencefoorth hinder or let that worke a Beame shoulde be taken from that mans house and he hanged thereon and his house made a dunghill And so the buylding went forwarde with spéede and was perfectly finished in the sixte yeare of his raigne Dathan and Abiram were the sonnes of Eliab and two of the chiefe Captaynes with Chore in the insurrection against Moses on whom God tooke such vengeance that he caused the earth to open and swallow them vp quick Reade the story of Chore. Dauid was the yoongest sonne of Isai and by Gods commaundement annoynted King of Israell Saule yet raigning of the Prophet Samuel Wherefore Saule fearing that Dauid would defeate him of his kingdome vexed hym with continuall persecution during the which tyme Dauid shewed notable examples both of pacience and true obedient seruice to Saule his soueraigne Lorde And first to shew his obedient and faithfull heart to his Prince and loue he bare to his countrey he put himselfe in daunger to fight with that great monster Goliah and slue him of whome the king and all the host of Israell stoode in great feare And after this act also when Saule of enuie that the women in their daunce had giuen to Dauid more prayse than to him threwe his Iauelin at Dauid as he stoode and played on his Harpe before him to haue nayled him fast to the wall Dauid auoyded and armed himselfe with pacience and neuer sought other meanes to reuenge In so much that when Saule by the prouidence of God came into the Caue to ease himselfe in the which Caue Dauid lay hid for feare of Saul he woulde not being prouoked put foorth his hande to hurt his mayster But cut of a péece of the hemme of his coate in token that he might haue killed him And yet after that it sore repented him that he had done so much injury vnto his soueraigne Lorde and maister although he was his most gréeuous enimy and euery houre sought his death Also when he came into the host of Saule and founde the King and his men fast a sléepe he woulde not for his owne priuate cause though Iehu slue two Kinges at Gods commaundement lay his hand vpon the Lords annointed but onely that he shoulde know that Dauid was there might haue béene reuenged tooke his speare and pot of water which stoode at his heade and went hys waye Finally when it pleased God to deliuer him of his enimie in battaile against the Philistines one to get thanke of Dauid brought vnto him Saules crowne and the Bracelet that he wore on hys arme certifying him of the Kings death and that he with his owne handes had killed him whose acte dyd so much abhorre Dauid that he thought the man not woorthy to lyue but put him to death by and by Read more of Dauids pacient suffering and obedient seruice in the story of Michol Ionathas Ahimelech Achis and Absalon his sonne Nowe when Saule was dead Dauid was admitted king and reigned ouer Iuda .vij. yeares after which time expired he reigned both ouer Israel and Iuda .xxxiij. yeares And dyd that which was good in the sight of God and put his trust confidence in the Lord God of Israel so that before nor after him was not his like He cleaued so vnto the Lord that God of him bare witnesse that he had founde a man according to his hearts desire To him God made a promise that Christ shoulde come of his séede for the which cause Christ of the Prophets is called the sonne of Dauid To this holy Prophet God gaue many victories and excellent giftes which are touched in other stories and yet among all his vertues he suffred him to fall into the abhominable vice of adulterie and homicide and most gréeuously punished him for the same who notwithstanding after earnest repentaunce was receyued agayne into the fauour of God and neuer after offended in that sinne more Finally after many conflictes with his enimies he died after he had reigned .xl. yeares leauing Salomon his sonne to succéede him Debora the wyfe of one Lapidoth was a Prophetesse and the fourth Iudge and gouernour of the people of Israel who by the power and pleasure of God and helpe of Barack the Captayne of hir armie deliuered them from the Tyrannie of King Iabyn and of Sisera his Captaine generall putting the king to a great foyle in flying of his Captain Sisera Thorow the which victorie the Israelites were restored to libertie and their enimies the Cananites vtterly confounded She iudged Israel .xl. yeares Demas was Christes Disciple a great while and a faythfull minister to Paule and neuer shranke from him nor his doctrine so long as all things prospered well with Paule But when he saw Paule cast in pryson and in daunger of his life for the Gospels sake He forsooke both him and his doctrine and imbraceing the worlde conueighed himselfe to Thessalonica Such there be that so long as pleasure profite fauour honour glory or riches doe followe the worde of God so long will they fauour the same But when affliction persecution losse of goods riches landes possessions or such like aduersities doe come then they doe as Demas dyd forsake the Gospel and followe the worlde Demetrius the sonne of Sceleucus came from Rome with a small company of men to a certaine Citie of his owne lying vpon the Sea coast and prepared an armie to go to Antioche the Citie of his Progenitours where he founde Antiochus and Lisias which both he caused to be slayne and being stablished in his kingdom he began through the wicked counsell of Alcimus whom he had made hye Priest to séeke the destruction of the Iewes sending foorth diuers armies against them in the which he spedde diuersly Finally the sonne of noble Antiochus mooued warre agaynst hym and in battell slue him Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius being in the lande of Creta at his fathers death made haste homewarde to take possession of his Kingdome And being stablished therein he began to waxe mightie â–ª â—y reason that Ptolomy King of Egipt had withdrawne his fauour from Alexander his sonne in law and taken his daughter Cleopatra from him and giuen hir to Demetrius And also for as much as Ptolomy and Alexander lyued not long after the strife
to Daniel which is in the Lyons denne O Lorde quoth he I neuer saw Babilon and as for the denne I knowe it not With that the Angel caught vp the Prophet by the toppe of hys head and bare him to Babilon and set him vpon the denne Then Abacuck cryed to Daniel and sayde O Daniel thou seruant of the Lord take here the breakefast that God hath sent thée Daniel hearing the voyce of Abacuck reioyced greatly and sayde O Lorde hast thou thought vpon mée Well thou neuer faylest them that loue thée And so he rose vp and did eate of such things as the Prophet had brought hym And immediatelye after that Daniel had eaten the Angell set Abacuck in his place againe Abdy the Prophet prophecyed destruction to the Idumeans which came of Esau and were vtter enimies to the Israelites which came of Iacob as at the siege of Ierusalem it did most plainely appeare where as they ioyned wyth Nabuchodonosor against their brethren whom they ought rather to haue holpen and defended against the heathen Abedmelech was a Morian borne and Chamberlane wyth Zedekia King of Iuda This man had so great a confidence in God and loue to his Prophets that when he saw Ieremie so euill intreated he went to the king and besought his grace that Ieremie the Prophet might be taken out of the filthy dungeon wherinto he was cast least he there should perishe and dye for hunger And so obtayning the Kinges good will he tooke his men and went to the prison where Ieremie lay threwe downe vnto him olde ragges clowtes which he had prouided bidding him to put them vnder his arme holes to kéepe the cordes from hurting and fretting his armes in pulling vp Nowe for this his kindenesse shewed on Ieremie and trust that he had in the Lorde he was deliuered from captiuitie and saued from the handes of Nabuchodonosor at the destruction of Ierusalem when other perished Abel was the sonne of Adam borne of hys Mother Eue next after Cain Hée was a kéeper of Shéepe and wholy dedicated to vertue and godlynesse In all hys oblations he euer gaue of the best things he had Which of the Lorde was greatly accepted And therfore Cain perceyuing his brothers offerings to be regarded and hys reiected eâ—â—yed him to death And at the last by a subtyle trayne slue hym Abia the sonne of Roboam began his reigne ouer Iuda in the xviij yeare of Ieroboam King of Israel Hys mothers name was Maacha the daughter of Abisalom He walked not in the steppes of Dauid but followed the wayes of hys father before him Yet notwythstanding for Dauids sake God gaue him a light that is to saye a sonne to reigne ouer Iuda Hée ouercame Ieroboam in battell wyth an Armie of fower hundred thousande notwithstanding the other had twise so many chosen and picked men Of the which Abia fiue fiue hundred thousande and weakened the power of Ieroboam so sore that he was neuer able to recouer hys strength againe so long as Abia reigned This King had .xiiij. Wyues by whome he had xxij Sonnes and xvj Daughters Hée reigned but thrée yeares and was buryed in the Citie of Dauid Abia the sonne of Ieroboam being sick on a time hys father called the Quéene his wyfe vnto him and bade hyr disguise hir selfe the in no wyse she might be knowne what woman shée was And so go thy way quoth hée to Sylo and there shalt thou finde the Prophet of God called Ahia which tolde me long before Salomon dyed that I should be King of Israel Make spéede and take a present wyth thée and learne of him what shall become of the Childe The Quéene did then as shée was commaunded but all was in vaine For God had reuealed the matter vnto the Prophet before the woman came In so much that as soone as the blinde olde man hearde the noyse of hir comming and entring in at the dore he sayde Come in thou wife of Ieroboam why hast thou disguised and fayned thy selfe to be another woman Thou art come to receyue some comfort for thy sonne which lyeth sicke but I am commaunded to tell thée heauye and sorowfull things It repenteth the Lorde that he hath exalted Ieroboam and rented the kingdome from the house of Dauid and giuen it to him forsomuch as he hath forsaken the Lorde and not folowed him in hys heart as Dauid did but hath made him goddes of hys owne therefore the Lorde hath determined to bring such a plague vpon the house and posterity of Ieroboam that hée wyll not leaue one alyue to make water against the walle Wherefore now get thée home and as soone as thy foote shall enter into the Citie the child shall dye and all Israel shall lament him and bring him to hys Sepulchre And so shall none of the house of Ieroboam thy husbande enioy the honour of his buryall but only thys childe bicause the Lorde sawe in him some goodnesse towarde And so when the Prophet had all sayde the wyfe of Ieroboam rose vp returned home to hir house and founde hir sonne deade as the Prophet had foretolde Abia the Daughter of Zacharia was wyfe to Ahaz King of Iuda and Mother to Hezekia Which name signifieth thus Abiathar the sonne of Achimelech priest of Nob seyng the great crueltie of Saul in putting hys Father to death for refreshing of Dauid escaped hys handes and fledde to the forest of Hareth where Dauid at that tyme laye declaring to him the great murder that Saul had done to Achimelech hys father and to all the Priestes of the Lorde for his sake Then being comforted of Dauid he abode wyth him and was his Priest and Counsayler so long as he reigned But in the ende of Dauids reigne he consented wyth Adoniah who had exalted himselfe to stablishe him in the kingdome after the death of Dauid But Salomon beyng proclaymed and the other deposed as soone as he was possessed depryued Abiathar and placed Sadock in hys rowme And so was the worde of the Lorde fulfilled which he had spoken before concerning the house of Eli for Abiathar was the last of that lyne Abigail the wyfe of Naball y Carmelite was a woman not onely bewtifull but of a singular wysedome with all For when hir husbandes denyall to Dauids men for sustenaunce in their maisters necessitie was tolde hir she then considering the great displeasure that might arise of the occasion offered hasted to lode hir Asses wyth sundrye kinde of victuals sending them forth before hir and folowing after wyth spéede And as shée was goyng the prouidence of God was so that she mette Dauid by the way vpon the side of an hyll comming to Carmell determined vtterly to haue destroyed hir husbande and all that he had by the dawning of the daye folowyng Then she perceyuing the furie of Dauid lighted downe of hir Asse falling flatte on the
as he had in store that he and his men might be refreshed and go about the Kinges affaires Then Ahimelech beléeuing that all had bene well betwene the King and Dauid tooke him of the halowed breade bicause he saw his necessitie great and had no common breade vnder his hande Then Dauid desired Ahimelech to lende him eyther speare or sworde for I brought quoth he neyther weapon nor harnesse the Kinges businesse required such haste and by and by he fet out the sworde of Goliah and gaue it to him Nowe for this great kindenesse which Ahimelech had shewed to Dauid Doeg a seruant of King Saules accused him to his Lorde of Treason And being brought before the King with all the Priestes of the Lorde it was obiected agaynst him howe he had conspired with Dauid the Kinges enimie and asked counsell of God for him and ayded him both with vittayle and weapon To the which Ahimelech aunswered and sayde Oh King who is so faythfull among all thy seruantes as Dauid is or had in more honor in all thy house is he not the Kings sonne in lawe and doth whatsoeuer thou commaundest him haue I not at other tymes as well as nowe asked counsell of God for him Let not my Lorde the King impute anye such wickednesse in me or in my fathers house for truely thy seruaunt knewe nothing of all this that thou layest to my charge eyther lesse or more Well quoth the King thou shalt surely die And so was this innocent man put to death with lxxxiiij Priestes mo and the Citie of Nob destroyed Ahijah was a Prophete borne in Silo and chauncing to méete with Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat without the Citie of Ierusalem in the playne fieldes hauing a new cloake vpon his backe he caught the cloake from him and rent it in twelue péeces deliuering ten péeces thereof to Ieroboam saying Thus will the Lorde rent the kingdome out of the handes of Salomon bicause he hath forsaken the Lorde and serued straunge Gods and gyue ten Tribes vnto thée Therefore take héede when thou arte King that thou walke in the wayes of the Lorde thy God for so long as thou kéepest his statutes and holy commaundements so long will the Lorde prosper thée in the kingdome Reade more of this Prophete in the storie of Abia the sonne of Ieroboam The father of king Baasa was called Ahijah of the house of Isachar Aholah and Aholibah were twoo Sisters vnder whose names is set forth the fornication that is to saye the Idolatrye of Samaria and Ierusalem Aholibama was the daughter of Ana and wife to Esau who brought him forth children which became great men in the worlde Aioth the sonne of Gera was the seconde Iudge of the Hebrues a man of great strength and valiant of courage and had equall strength and aptnesse in both hys handes He slewe Eglon king of the Moabites on thys wise when Eglon had long warred on the Iewes and taken from them diuers Cities and kept them in much miserie this Aioth came to him to Iericho bringyng vnto him certaine presentes which lyked him well and desired to speake wyth him priuily which was graunted and all other being commaunded to auoyde Aioth stroke Eglom to the heart twise The last tyme with such puissaunce that the knyfe with the hyltes remayned in the wounde and so leauing him deade departed without suspicion and came vnto his people declaring what he had done who being glad armed them and fell vppon the Moabites and slewe of them ten thousande and braue all the residue out of their countrie And so the Iewes being deliuered by the wisedome and vertue of Aioth after made hym their Iudge and Prince Who gouerned them .lxxx. yeares in peace and died a very olde man in much honor Alexander the sonne of Philip King of Macedonia slewe Darius king of the Persians and Medes and conquered the moste part of all the worlde in lesse than twelue yeares space whereof he became so prowde that God was displeased with him And being visited with sickenesse so sore that he must néedes die he called all his Lordes and Princes before him and departed his kingdome among them So that they after his death were crowned and reygned as Kings euery one seuerally in his owne dominion as was to them appointed He reigned .xij. yeares Alexander the sonne of Noble Antiochus tooke the Citie of Ptolomais and after that mooued warre against Demetrius who to preuent Alexander sent Ambassadours to Ionathas gouernour of the Iewes to haue his friendshippe promising him as many fayre and large offers as he coulde deuise But forasmuch as Ionathas had experience of his deceytfull dealings and howe cruell an enimie he had alwayes bene vnto the Iewes nation he refused the offer of Demetrius and ioyned in league with Alexander knowing him to be a faythfull Prince and euer his friende And so Alexander hauing the Iewes ayde stroke battayle with Demetrius in the which conflict Alexander slewe Demetrius and ouercame all his hoste Nowe when Alexander had conquered the lande and was set in the Trone of his progenitours a mariage was concluded betwéene him and Cleopatra the daughter of Ptolomie King of Egypt which was finished at the Citie of Ptolomias at the which triumph Alexander made Ionathas a Duke and partener of his dominion and after that for his worthinesse gaue him the Citie of Accaron Alexander nowe lying at Antioch and hearing howe the Cilicians had rebelled against him marched towarde them with a great power to suppresse the rebellion And being there occupied with his enimies Ptolomie in the meane season defeated him of his kingdome and toke his daughter Cleopatra gaue hir to Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius in mariage Alexander hearing of this returned home with all his host but Ptolomy being to strōg for him chased Alexander out of his Realme who for succor fled into Araby where the king of that land against al law of arms smote of his heade and sent it to Ptolomie for a present Alexander a Iewe borne and a ruler at Ephesus what time as Demetrius the Siluersmith mooued sedition in the Citie against Paul for the goddesse Diana was in the rage drawne out of the Common Hall and going forwarde beckonned with his hande to haue spoken but till the Towne Clarke had ceased the noyse which lasted two houres he coulde not be hearde And then to pacifie the people more by worldly wisedome than for any respect he had to Religion he sayde Ye men of Ephesus what man is he that knoweth not howe that the Citie of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddesse Diana and of the Image which came from Iupiter Seing then that no man sayeth hére against ye ought to be content and to doe nothing rashely For yée haue brought hyther these men which are neyther robbers of Churches neyther yet despysers of your goddesse Wherefore if Demetrius
rebell agaynst the Lorde or to swarue from his lawes and ordinaunces in any poynt but rather for this consideration to be a witnesse betwéene vs and you and our generations after vs least it shoulde chaunce another daye your children to say vnto ours what haue ye to doe with the Lorde God of Israel yée children of Ruben and of Gad the Lorde ye sée hath made Iordan a border betwéene vs and you and therefore ye can haue no part in the Lorde with vs and so shoulde your children make our chyldren cease from fearing the Lorde And therefore to preuent such an inconuenience we tooke aduisement and made this Aultar that if any such kynde of talke shoulde be ministred of your children to ours in time to come that then our children might aunswere and say agayne Beholde the facion of the Aultar of the Lorde which our fathers made neyther for burnt offerings nor sacrifices but for a witnesse betweene vs and you that our part is in the Lorde as well as yours And when Phinehes and the other Lordes had hearde their aunswere they were well content and returned and so the matter ended They called the Aultar our witnesse that the Lorde is God. Gad the Prophet came to Dauid lying in the lande of Moab saying abyde not in holde but depart and go into the lande of Iuda At another tyme when Dauid had offended the Lord in numbring his people Gad was sent vnto him to giue him choyse of thrée thinges whether he woulde haue seauen yeares hunger or thrée monthes to flie before his enimies or but thrée dayes pestilence in the lande Gaius a certaine faythfull brother dwelling in Derba was one of Paules companions and in great ieoperdie of his lyfe at Ephesus thorowe the sedition of Demetrius the Siluersmith but after the businesse was ended he accompanied Paule into Asia To this man S. Iohn wrote his thirde Epistle Gallio was Proconsull of Achaia to wyt the Lord Deputie vnder Cesar the Emperour in the countrey of Achaia In this tyme it happened the Iewes which had made a conspiracie agaynst Paule to bring him before the place of iudgement where Gallio sate as Iudge accusing Paule vnto him of newe learning But when Gallio perceyued the controucrsie betwéene the Iewes and Paule was concerning Iewishe religion he sought to ridde his handes of them and preuenting Paule which was ready to speake in his owne defence sayde Dye Iewes if it were a matter of wrong or an euill déede reason woulde that I shoulde heare you but if it be a question of wordes of names or of your lawe looke vnto it your selfe for I will be no Iudge in such matters And so caused them to auoyde the place Gamaliel one of the auncient Pharisies was Paules Schoolemaister and in high estimation among the people both for his excellent knowledge in the lawe and for his singuler wisedome When the Apostles were brought and other of the Counsell for preaching in the name of Christ whose lyues he perceyued the Counsell sought he desired that for a whyle the Apostles might depart out of the Counsell house And when they were gone he sayde ye men of Israel take héede to your selues what ye intende to doe as touching these men for before these dayes rose vp one Theudas boasting himselfe to whome resorted a number of men about 400. who was slaine and they all which beléeued him were scattered abroade and brought to naught After this man rose vp one Iudas of Galile in the time when Tribute began who drewe away much people after him he also perished and all that obeyed him were scattered abroade And nowe I say vnto you refrayne your selues from these men and let them alone For if this Counsell or this worke be of men it will come to naught but if it be of God ye cannot destroye it least ye be founde to stryue against God. Gedalia the sonne of Ahicam was a great Captaine vnder Nabuchodonosor whome he made gouerneur of the lande of Iuda to rule the rascall people which he had left behinde him at the destruction of Ierusalem who intreated the people so gently and so friendly that all the Iewes which were scattered about in the lande hearing of his gentlenesse resorted vnto Gedaliah and founde great fauour at his hande for the which they bare vnto him their heartie good willes Insomuch that when Baal King of the Ammonites had sent one Ismael vnder pretence of friendship to slea him The Captaynes of the Iewes hauing knowledge thereof were so sore afrayde of Gedaliah least any misfortune shoulde chaunce him that they tolde him of Ismaels conspiracie And one among the reast named Iohanan offred himselfe to dispach Ismael out of the way so secretly that the déede shoulde neuer be knowne But Gedaliah not crediting their wordes neyther yet mistrusting Ismael woulde suffer nothing to be done vnto him And so forsaking the counsell and admonition of his friendes and trusting to much to Ismael he was of him in fine most guylefully slaine within his owne house Gedeon the sonne of Ioas was of the Tribe of Manasses To whome the Aungell of the Lorde appeared as he was threshing of Wheate saying The Lorde is with thée thou valiant man Then sayde Gedeon if the Lord be with vs why is all this cuill come vpon vs we haue heard by our fathers of all the miracles which the Lorde did for his people in Egypt and nowe hath he forsaken vs and giuen vs ouer into the handes of the Madianites Well sayde the Aungell go thy waye in this thy might and strength which I haue giuen thée for thou shalt deliuer Israell out of the hande of their enimies Oh Lorde quoth Gedeon wherewith shall I saue Israel séeing my kinred is but poore and I the least of all my fathers house With my helpe sayth the Lorde shalt thou saue Israel for I will be with thée and thou shalt smyte the Madianites as if they were but one man Then I beséech thée O Lord quoth Gedeon shewe me a signe that thou talkest with me depart not hence tyll I come agayne with myne offering which offering being brought and dressed accordingly the Angell had no sooner touched it with the ende of his rodde but fire came out of the stone whereon the sacrifice lay and consumed it altogither and so the Aungell vanished out of sight The same night following at the Lordes commaundement Gedeon went and destroyed the Altar of Baal which his father had made and cut downe all the Groue about it for the which déede the people hauing knowledge thereof woulde haue stoned him to death Then Ioas to saue Gedeon his sonne sayde vnto them what will ye doe will ye pleade Baals cause or will ye be his defenders If Baal be a god let him reuenge his owne cause vpon him that hath done the déede And from that day forth Gedeon was called
on the hoste of the liuing god Then Saule perceyuing the power of God to be wyth Dauid put his armour vpon him But Dauid not being woont to such put it of agayne and tooke him to his olde accustomed weapon which was his slyng And so hauing that in his hande and his shepeherdes bagge about his necke with a fewe little stones prouided therin he gat him downe to the place where the Philistine stoode wayting for a man to encounter with him And as he saw Dauid drawe neare and beholding the maner of hys weapon that he bare in his hand he disdained him greatly And cursing Dauid by all his gods he sayd in a great furie Am I a Dogge that thou commest to me wyth staues come hyther my chylde and I will giue thy flesh to the foules of the ayre and beastes of the fielde Nay quoth Dauid thou commest to me with sworde speare and shielde but I am come vnto thée in the name of the Lorde of hostes the God of the hoste of Israel whome thou doest despyse and blaspheme He shall this daye deliuer thée into my handes and I shall smyte thée and take thy heade from thée and giue the carkasses of all your hoste to the foules of the ayre and beasts of the field to deuour and eate that thou and all the worlde maye knowe that there is a God in Israel The Philistyne nowe was in such a chafe that he began to buskell hym to his weapon thinking to haue dispatched Dauid wyth no great adoe But Dauid hauing his slyng prepared redy in his hande slang out the stone at his face the Lord directing the same and smote the Philistine so euen and déepe in his foreheade that he fell downe groueling vnto the earth and then ranne Dauid and smote of hys heade Thus was this monstrous Gyaunt confounded and all the hoste of the Philistines put to flight and slaine Gomer The Lorde appearing to Ose the Prophet sayde Go thy way and take an harlot to thy wyfe and get children by hir for the lande hath commâ—tted great whooredome agaynst the Lorde So he went and tooke Gomor the daughter of Deblaim who bare vnto hym two sonnes and one daughter The first sonne was called Iesrael the daughter Lornhamah and the second sonne Laâ—my Gorgias a man of great experience in warre was Gouernour of Idumea and one among other noble captaynes whome Lysias the ouerséer of all the Kings businesse sent against the Iewes to destroy them And thinking by his policie to haue stollen vpon Iudas Machabeus by night and so to haue ouercome him he was preuented so that he durst not meete Iudas in the fielde but fledde into the lande of the heathen And when Iosephus and Azarias tooke vppon them in the absence of Iudas contrary to his commaundement to go out agaynst the heathen to get them a name Gorgias issued out of the Citie of Iamnia and slue two thousande of their men and chased Iosephus and Azarias to the borders of Iewrie Finally after manye conflictes with the Iewes a certaine Captayne named Dositheus had almost taken him if rescue had not bene thorow the which he escaped and fled into Moresa and was neuer séene more Reade the Storie of Dositheus H. HAdad being but a little boye borne in the lande of Edom and sprong of the King of Edoms séede what time as Dauid went about to destroye all the men children in Edom fled wyth certayne Edomites of his fathers seruants into the lande of Egypt Where in processe he gate such fauour with Pharao King of the lande that he gaue him great possessions and maried him to the Quéenes sister who bare vnto hym a sonne called Genubath which chylde was brought vp in King Pharaos hâ—use among his children But when tidings was brought to Hadad of the death of Dauid and Ioab he went to the King and besought him to let hym depart into his owne Countrie agayne why sayde the King what hast thou lacked here with mée that thou wouldest now so fayne returne home agayne Nothing sayd Hadad but that I haue a mynde to sée my countrey and therefore I pray thée let me go And so he departed out of Egypt from Pharao for the Lorde had stirred him vp to be an aduersarie to Salomon who had turned his heart from the Lord his God serued straunge gods And so Hadad reigned ouer Siria and abhorred Israel sore and vexed them so long as Salomon reygned Hadarezer the sonne of Reob King of Zoba had long warre with Thoi King of Hamoth And at the last as he went to recouer the borders by the ryuer Pherar Dauid met with him tooke 1700. horsemen of his host and. 20. thousande footemen and cut of the hoofes of all his Charet horses sauing an 100 â–ª which he reserued to himselfe And tooke away his shyldes of Golde brought them to Ierusalem And tooke out of his Cities excéeding much Brasse whereof Salomon afterwarde made all the Brasen vessels in the Temple of the Lorde Againe when this Hadarezer withall the Kings that serued him went to rescue Hanon King of the Ammonites agaynst Dauid he lost 700. Charettes and. 4000. footemen and his Captayne generall slayne Then the Kinges which serued Hadarezer being so discomfited made peace with Dauid and serued hym and neuer woulde helpe the Ammonites more Ham was the seconde sonne of Noe. Who on a tyme séeing his Father lye vnséemely discouered in his Tent laughed hym to scorne And in derision and contempt of his father brought Sem and Iapheth his two brethren to sée the vncomely sight But they mooued with shamefastnesse and honesty couered theyr fathers secrets and woulde not looke vpon them And when Noe was awaked out of sléepe and perceyued what Ham had done He woulde not curse hym whome the Lorde had blest but sayde to Canaan his sonne which had also as some suppose deryded his Graundfather Noe Cursed be Canaan a seruaunt of seruaunts shall he be vnto his brethren Haman was the sonne of Amada and serued Ahasuerus King of Persia who so highlye promoted hym that euery man bowed the knée to Haman dyd asmuch honour vnto him in a maner as they dyd to the King himselfe And being thus exalted aboue all other Princes about the King and honoured of all men there was notwithstanding a certayne Iewe borne named Mardocheus which would neyther bowe nor bende vnto hym as other dyd which being marked of Haman he tooke so great indignacion agaynst Mardocheus that he sought his vtter destruction and purchased a licence of the King for ten thousande talents of Siluer to haue him and all the Iewes destroyed in one day But whyle the writings were a making and postes sent into all quarters for the Iewes dispatch Mardocheus gat knowledge of all Hamans wicked intents and purposes and founde the meanes to haue the same vttered vnto Quéene Hester Who then
began his raigne ouer Israel after his brother Ahazia in the eyghtene * In the first Chapter of the fourth booke of Kings it is sayd that this man began his reygne in the seconde yeare of Ioram the sonne of Iosaphat whiche is thus to bee vnderstande Iosaphat going to battell agaynst the Sirians made his son Ioram King in the .xvii. yeare of his reygne and in the .xviii. yere which was the seconde yeare of hys sonne thys man began his reygne yeare of Iosaphat King of Iuda and wrought euill in the sight of the Lorde but not like vnto his father for he tooke away the Image of Baal which his father had made neuerthelesse he sacrificed to the golden Calues still which Ieroboam had made The King of Moab was woont yerely to render to the King of Israel an hundred thousand lambs and so many Rammes with the wooll bycause he now refused to pay this tribute to Ioram he warred agaynst him hauing to take his parte Iosaphat the King of Iuda and the King of Edom by whose helpe and chiefelye Eliseus reade the place in his storie he ouercame the Moabites Also the Sirians coulde lye no where but Ioram had knowledge by Eliseus who tolde him of all their secrete lurking places by which meanes Ioram euer saued him selfe Wherefore the King of Siria sent and bèsieged the towne rounde about where the Prophet Eliseus laye And as his seruaunt was going foorth in the morning about his maisters businesse and saw the towne so compassed with enimiâ—s he ranne ‡ 6. cap. in agayne crying Alas maister what shall we doe for the Sirians are come vpon vs Feare not quoth Eliseus for they that be with vs are me than they that be with them And by and by the eyes of his seruaunt were so opened that he saw the mounteynes lye full of horses and fyrie Charrettes to defende his maister And now when the SiriaÌ„s were come to Eliseus and thought themselues most surest of hym they were at his prayer smitten with such blindnesse that they coulde not knowe the Prophete when he spake vnto them saying that that was not the towne where the man laye which they sought but followe mée quoth he and I will bring you to the place where he is and so hée ledde them foorth and brought them into the Citie of Samaria where Ioram laye who séeing now his enimies to be in his daunger sayde to Eliseus Father shall I smite them No sayde he Smite those which thou takest with thine owne swoorde and bowe but rather set bread and water before them that they maye eate and drinke and so departe to their maister Then the King prepared a great refection for the Sirians and filled their bellyes well and sent them home againe for the which gentle intreatie of Ioram the King of Siria neuer troubled hym more After this when Benhadad King of Siria had besieged Samaria so long till women were constrayned to rate their owne children Ioram tooke such displeasure with Eliseus laying the cause vpon him that in his furye he sent to take away his heade Which thing being reuealed to the Prophet he sayde to his friends that were with him in his house Sée yée not how these murtherers sonne hath sent to take awaye my heade Take héede and be circumspect when the Messenger commeth and kéepe him at the dore for the sounde of his Maisters féete is behinde him which was euen so for the Kinges minde altered he followed the Messenger and came to the Prophet himselfe saying This euill is of the Lorde and what more shall I looke for of hym No more sayde the 4. Reg. 7. a. Prophet For to morow this tyme shall a bushell of fine flower be solde for a sicle and twoo bushels of Barley for another sicle in the gate of Samaria which came so to passe the next daye for the great hoste of the Sirians at the sounde of the féete of foure lepers were runne away and had left all their tentes behinde them Finally to fulfill 9. c. f. the worde of the Lorde concerning the destruction of Achabs posteritie Ioram was slayne with an arrowe â—hot of by Iehu and his bodie cast into a platte of ground that was Nabothes the Iesraelite after he had reygned twelue yeares 4. Reg. 8. d. Ioram the sonne of Iosaphat was twoo an thirtie 2. Par. 21. cap. yeare olde when he began to reygne ouer Iuda He maryed King Achabs daughter whose wicked steppes he followed He slue all his owne brethren with diuers of his nobles The Edomites which had béene subiect from Dauids tyme hitherto rebelled nowe agaynst Ioram Also Libna which was a certayne Citie in Iuda giuen to the Leuites Iosua â–ª 21. b. woulde no more be vnder his hande bycause he had forsaken the Lord God of their Fathers The Prophetes letter Finally the Prophet Eliseus to admonishe him of his wickednesse wrote to Ioram on this wise The Lorde sayth bycause thou hast not walked in the wayes of Iosaphat thy father nor in the wayes of Asa thy Graundfather but in the wayes of the Kinges of Israel and hast made Iuda to go a whoring after the house of Achab and hast also slayne thy brethren euen thy fathers house who were better men than thy selfe Therefore with a great plague will the Lorde smite thy folke thy children thy wyues and all thy goodes And thou shalt be diseased in thy bowels which day by daye shall fall out of thy bodie And so the Lord styrred vp agaynst Ioram the Philistines the Arabians with the blacke Moores which wasted his Countrey and caryed awaye his substaunce his wyues and al his sonnes saue Ahaziahu the yoongest and smote him with an incurable disease in his bowels which helde hâ—m two yeares till all his gutts fell out and so died after he had reygned eyght yeares ¶ Ioram the bighnesse of the Lorde Filius accrescens aspectu pulcher Ioseph Faemineo e turri conuitio petâ—â—â—â— Inuideam mihi cotraxit mea uita pudica Quodque manus leuibê° sit mihi proÌ„â—â—â— Gen. 30. d. 37. cap. Ioseph the sonne of Iacob and Rachel was in hys youth of his father aboue all other beloued in so much that he made him a coate of many colours But his brethren hated him bicause his dreames signified vnto them that he should be Lorde ouer them all and they his seruantes And being at the age of .xvij. yeares he was sent to them with victualles where they laye with their shéepe at Dothan who seeing him come a farre of began to deryde and mocke him saying Beholde where the Dreamer commeth and counsayled togithers to kyll him but Ruben the eldest brother woulde not consent to that Wherfore at his comming they stripped him out of his coate and cast him into an emptie pit And as certaine Ismaelites passed by they solde Ioseph to them for twentie pence of siluer and tooke his Coate and dipt it in Goates bloude and had
hande and giuen it to Dauid And moreouer sayth he to Saule the Lorde will deliuer the Israelites into the handes of the Philistines and tomorrow shalt thou and thy Sonnes be with mée And on the next day Saule being ouercome of the Philistynes and his thrée Sonnes slayne for anguishe of heart fell vpon his owne sworde and killed himselfe after he had reygned fortie yeares Sara the daughter of Aram was Abrahams wife And perceyuing that the Lorde had restrayned hir from bearing of children she gaue Abraham leaue to take Agar hir Mayden to wife But when she saw hir selfe despised of hir mayde which had conceyued she began to be so sharpe and quicke with Agar that she made hir runne awaye Neuerthelesse at the humble submission of Agar Sara receyued hir agayne Then Sara passing foorth till she came to the age of foure score and ten yeres it chaunced she hearde the Aungel of the Lorde as she stoode in hir Tent say vnto Abraham that Sara his wyfe should haue a childe which wordes séemed so impossible vnto hir that she laughed within hir selfe and sayde Is it of a surety that I shall beare a sonne Shall I now giue my selfe to lust being olde and my Lord olde also And when she had talked thus to hir selfe the Aungell of the Lorde demaunded of Abraham wherefore his wyfe dyd laugh as though it were quoth he to harde a thing for God to performe his promise Then she being asked the question denyed it for she was afrayde saying that she laughed not And so Sara iudging him faythfull which had promised brought forth a sonne at the time apointed of God and called his name Isaac And when the Childe was borne she sayde God hath made mée a laughing stocke for all that heare will laugh at mée Who woulde haue sayde to Abraham that Sara shoulde haue giuen Children sucke for I haue borne him a sonne in his olde age After this when Sara perceyued Ismael the sonne of Agar as he played with Isaac to be a mocker she sayde vnto Abraham put awaye this bonde mayde hir sonne for the sonne of this bonde woman shall not be eyer with my sonne Isaac Finally when Sara had lyued one hundred and seuen an twentie yeres she dyed in Kiriat Arba Which is also called Hebron And was buryed in the double Caue which Abraham had bought of the sonnes of Heth. Sara the daughter of Raguel had seauen husbands one after an other which men before they had lyen with hir were all slayne of the Deuill Asmodius to the great discomfort and heauinesse of the yoong woman And yet the more to aggreuate hir sorowe hir fathers Maydens when she did correct them for their faults woulde slaunder hir on this wyse saying God let vs neuer sée sonne nor daughter of thée more vpon earth thou kyller of thy husbandes wilt thou kyll vs also as thou hast done them Which woordes were so gricuous to Sara that she got hir vp to an hygh chamber of hir house where she continued thrée dayes and thrée nightes in prayer beséeching God that he woulde vouchsafe to lowse hir out of that rebuke or else to take hir out of y earth For thou knowest O Lorde that I neuer had desire vnto man and that I haue kept my soule cleane from all vncleanlye lust I haue not kept companie with those that passe there time in sporte neyther haue I made my selfe partaker with them that walke in light behauiour neuerthelesse an husbande haue I consented to take not for my pleasure but in thy feare Now peraduenture eyther I haue béene vnwoorthye of them or else were they vnméete for me for thou happily hast kept me for an other husbande And thus making hir prayers to God he hearde hir and sent yong Toby to be hir husband who being ioyned togither in Matrimonie lyued all their dayes an holy lyfe in the feare and lawes of God. Seba the sonne of Bichri assoone as Dauid was restored to his Kingdome agayne begun a new insurrection and got all Israel to followe hym saue onelye the men of Iuda which stacke fast by Dauid and as he came into the Citie of Abell to the which Ioab followed hym the Gouernesse of the citie being a woman of wisedome smote off the heade of Seba and threwe it ouer the Wall to Ioab and so the commocion ceased Sceua was a Iewe borne and the chiefe Priest among the Iewes This man had seauen sonnes who for lucre sake to purchase vnto themselues a great name thereby attempted to cast out euill spirites by inuocation of the name of the Lorde Iesus as Paule dyd saying vnto the man possessed we coniure you in the name of Iesus whome Paule preacheth that ye depart out of the man To whom the spirite aunswered and sayde Iesus I knowe and Paule I knowe but who are yée and as soone as he had spoken these woordes the man in whome the euill spirite was ranne vpon them and got the ouer hande on them In so much that they had much a doe to escape with their lyues and scarce got at the last naked and wounded out of the house And this example of the sonnes of Sceua being bruted abrode among the Iewes and Gentiles many which beléeued came to Paule and confessed their offences And besyde that diuers other which had vsed suche curious craftes of Coniurasions brought their bookes and burned them before all men the price whereof were counted at fiftie thousande Siluerlinges Sela the yoongest sonne of Iuda being growen to perfect age and not giuen to Thamar in mariage according to his Fathers promise was the occasion of Thamars playing the myswoman with Iuda hir Father in lawe Sela the sonne of Arphaxad of the generacion of Sem was the Father of Eber whome he begot when he was thirtie yeares of age and lyued after the birth of Eber foure hundred and thrée yeares Which make in the whole foure hundred and .xxxiij. yeares Sem the eldest Sonne of Noe receyued prayse of his Father bycause he couered his nakednesse as he laye vncouered in his Tent. Sem at the age of an hundred yeares begot Arphaxat twoo yeares after the floud and lyued after fiue hundred yeares .2 Ense meo cecidere uiri dum uindico stuprū Germanae fracto federe quod pepig◠Hinc pater iratus Sijmeoni dira precatus Nostraque posteritas heu masedicta fuit Sennacherib King of Assiria was a mightie prince which séeing that Salmanasar his predycessour had conquered the King of Israel and made them Tributaries thought it good to set vpon the King of Iuda who at that tyme was the godly and most noble Ezechias And when Sennacherib had gotten into his handes all the chiefe Cities of Iuda and Beniamin saue onely Ierusalem he besieged that also with such might and power that Ezechias was fayne to submit himselfe to the mercie of Sennacherib offering him tribute
THE lyues of holy Sainctes Prophetes Patriarches and others contayned in holye Scripture so farre forth as expresse mention of them is delyuered vnto vs in Gods worde with the interpretacion of their names Collected and gathered into an Alphabeticall order to the great commoditie of the Chrystian Reader By Iohn Marbecke Psalme 97. vers 10. O ye that loue the Lorde see that ye hate the thing which is euill the Lord preserueth the soules of his Saintes hee shall deliuer them from the hande of the vngodly COR VNVM VIA VNA Seene and allowed according to the Queenes Maiesties Iniunctions Anno. 1574. ¶ To the Right Honorable and my verye good Lorde the Lorde Burleigh Lorde high Treasurer of Englande one of the Knightes of the most Honorable order of the Carter and one of the Lordes of the Queenes Maiesties priuie Counsell Iohn Marbecke wisheth long lyfe with increase of all Honour and perpetuall felicitie ALbeit right Honourable it were good Reason and moste conuenient that nothing shoulde come before your Honourable presence but that which were moste perfect and excellent yet bearing my selfe bolde vppon that incomparable goodnesse which all men knowe to reast within your Noble nature I haue here presumed to offer a taste vnto your good Lordship of such simple fruite as my poore Orcharde coulde yeelde Moste humbly beseeching your Honour as well to pardon my rude boldenesse herein as also to accept my simple Present My meaning hereby is not my good Lorde to seeme to craue anye thankes or prayse where none is deserued but onely to seeke some such meanes as my poore abilitie will serue to leaue a Testimoniall of the dutifull good will and single heart which I beare vnto your Honour for whose good and prosperous estate as all men who are any thing touched eyther with zeale of godlynesse or loue of their Countrie haue good occasion earnestlye to pray so I especially for the fauourable inclination I haue alwayes perceyued in your good Lordship to remaine towards so simple a worme as I am haue most iust cause continually to craue the same at gods hand during my life which vnfainedlye I will. And being not able otherwise to make declaration of my dutie herein in most humble maner I besech your Honor in fauourable wyse to accept this my good meaning who being desirous to labour in the Lordes haruest and yet not able to holde tacke with strong and lustie labourers therein neyther worthie to bee accounted in the number of good workemen am contented to come after as it were a gleaning and as mine olde age and other mine imperfections will giue me leaue fayre and softly to creepe after the Carte picking vp such scattered corne as is fallen out by the waye in the Lordes fielde and yet to good to bee lost or troden vnder foote but rather now being gathered togither worthy in my simple iudgement to bee sorted into sheaues humbly desiring your good Lordshippe to suffer them to be placed in your Barne if your Honor shall thinke them woorth the threshing Or if otherwise yet that then by your Lordshippes licence and fauourable protection they may be permitted to be bestowed amongest the mainye and simple sorte of the reast of the Christian flocke The Lorde of all Lordes preserue your good Lordshippe in most prosperous and blessed estate Your Lordshippes most humble and daylie Orator I. M. ¶ To the Christian Reader THE best learned and wysest Phylosophers hauing receyued no taste or light of the Gospell of Christ but only being led and directed by Nature and Reason helde this for a Principle among themselues that MAN was not borne to himselfe onely but was framed of Nature such an excellent Creature as he is to that ende that he myght employ those singular gifts wherewith he is beautifyed as Wisedome Reason Memorie Discretion and Iudgement not onely to his owne priuate commoditie but also to the profite of his Countrie and others This good opinion ingraffed in their myndes by Nature deliuered from one to another by Instruction and so from time to time continued among themselues by consent caused the best able men among them such as God and Nature had plentifully endued with knowledge and vnderstanding to leaue such worthy Monuments as they did to Posteritie as Plato and Tullie good Rules of lyfe and gouernement Aristotle the hidden secretes of Philosophye Ptolomie the hie my steries of Astronomie Euclyde the infallible Principles of Geometrie Varro the necessarie obseruations of Husbandrye c. Out of the whiche so great commodities in all ages haue bene reaped and as occasion and good wittes haue serued haue also from time to time bene encreased If this Principle of theirs be sounde and true as in deede I take it to be then of consequence one other depending vpon the same must needes bee as true and that is this That those men doe nearest approch to the Rule of vncorrupt Nature and do best deserue of a common welth whose labours and traueyles are bestowed on those thinges which tende to the best ende For by the consideration of the ende wherevnto eche thing leadeth the goodnesse and excellencye of the thing it selfe is to be knowne and esteemed As for example If helth eyther maintayned or recouered bee good then Phisicke whose chiefe ende is to maintayne and recouer health must needes be good also If good gouernement publikelye and peaceable enioying of our owne priuately be a good thing and to be commended then the Law for that it respecteth Iustice in all actions and quietnesse as his chiefe ende must needes likewyse be good and deserue the like commendation And as be many things which for this selfe same Reason that I haue nowe alleaged are to bee accounted good and prayse worthy in their kynde So I thinke there is no man so farre from Reason but that hee seeth by the selfe same Argument it must needes bee inforced that though many Artes and sciences be good for that their endes be good yet some one there is that is to be accounted as best for that his ende is best The chiefe ende of Man in this worlde what it is I thynke no Christian man so slenderlye instructed that hee maketh anye doubt therof For the very Philosophers themselues of whome I spake before were fully resolued that it was to liue well and vertuously and affirmed that wheras other Creatures are made grooueling and still beholding the grounde as they go Man was therfore framed streyght and vpright that hee might alwayes beholde Heauen and heauenly things and so by the very shape of his bodye and countenance be put in mynde continually that albeit hee were here for a season as a wandring Pylgrime vpon earth yet his end was to be a free Citizen and an inheritor of heauen aboue And as they by Reason and Coniecture were ledde so to thinke so we by fayth and expresse commaundement are mooued so stedfastly to beleeue If then the knowledge of God and heauenly things
ground before him and so began hir peticion which was so pithilye framed and done that in the ende she pacifyed hys wrath and stayed his handes from shedding of bloud that daye for the which she was highly commended and praysed of Dauid who gently receyuing hir present did cléerely remyt the churlishe behauiour of Naball hir husbande for hir sake Which being graunted she tooke hir leaue and returned againe But when shée came home and founde Naball hir husbande so farre ouer charged with wyne that his wittes were gone she thought it conuenient to folowe the wyse mans counsell not to rebuke him in his wyne but to let the matter rest tyll the drinke were all out of his brayne and his memorie freshe And so on the next morowe shée declared to Naball the great and perilous daunger he was in for hys vnkindenesse shewed to Dauid which when he hearde did smyte him so sore to the heart that he neuer enioyed but dyed wythin tenne dayes after And then in processe thys woman Abigail became Dauids wyfe and bare hym a sonne called Chileab which in the first booke of Chronicles chapter iij is called Daniel There was another woman called Abigail which was Sister to Dauid and wyfe to Iether an Ismaelite vnto whome shée bare a sonne called Amasa Abimelech King of the Philistines was a manne which had the feare of God before his eyes as it may appeare in the storie of Abraham by his godly entertaynement of his wyfe whome he tooke to be his very sister and not hys wyfe as they had both confessed vnto hym And hauyng a mynde to the woman he tooke hir from Abraham intending to haue coupled wyth hir in mariage and not for no sinfull desire But when by the voyce of God he knewe she was Abrahams wyfe in déede and he a Prophet and his house sore plagued for hir sake he was right sorye for that he had done and also displeased with Abraham for so dissemblyng wyth hym in so weyghtie a cause considering the dishonestie that myght haue happened vnto his wyfe by some of hys men and the perill of Gods indignation on hym and on hys kingdome for the same yet notwithstanding when he knewe the cause of Abrahams dissembling he possest hym wyth cattell seruants and money and deliuered Sara his wyfe vnto hym agayne gyuing him also frée libertie to dwell and inhabite where he woulde wythin the precinct of hys dominion Then Abraham prayed vnto God for Abimelech at whose peticion the Lorde remooued his plague from the house of Abimelech so that the women conceyued and brought forth children as before they had done The lyke story is of Isaac Chapter xxvj Abimelech the sonne of Ierobaal otherwyse Gedeon was a wicked Tyrant and a prowde ambicious couetous man For when hys father was deade hée to be king of Israel consulted with all his mothers kyndred to perswade the people that it was better to haue one man to reigne ouer them than all y sonnes of Ierobaal which were lxx.persons in number And also to consider that he was of their fleshe and bloude as well as the other were which matter beyng mooued to the people they all consented to cleaue to Abimelech and to make hym their kyng and gouernour And that he shoulde be the better assured of their good wylles and obedient hearts they gaue vnto him a great summe of money wyth the whych he hyred a sort of light brayned felowes And first of all went to his fathers house and slewe all his brethren saue Iothan the yongest who escaped his bloudie handes and fled But or he had reigned a two or thrée yeares the fire of hatred began so to kindle betwéene him the Sichemites with the house of Mello who had preferde him before to the kingdome that at length it burst out into so great a flame that it coulde not be quenched till chaunce of warre made an ende of the Tyrant for in the ende after diuers victories he forced the Sichemites to take the strong tower of Thebes for their refuge and coueting nye to the same to haue set it on fire a certayne woman threwe downe a péece of a Mylstone vppon his heade and brake his Skull to the brayne Who then féeling himselfe sore wounded called his seruant and bade him drawe out hys sworde and ryd him out of his lyfe that it shoulde not hereafter be reported that a woman had killed him and so his seruant slew him Abinadab was a man of Gibea out of whose house Dauid tooke the Arke of God and had it from thence to the house of Obed. Isai the Father of Dauid had also a sonne called Abinadab and King Saul another of the same name which was slayne wyth him in battell Abisag was a goodly fayre yonge Damosell brought vp in the Citie of Sunem And for hir beautie and maners chosen to kéepe norishe King Dauid in his extreme age After whose death being still a pure Mayde She might not be suffered to marry with Adomah the Kynges brother Abisai was Dauids sisters sonne and Brother to Ioab His mothers name was Zarniah He consented not with Absalon but stacke to Dauid hys Unkle in all hys troubles He was so grieued with the spytefull rebukes and raylings of Semei which he made against his Unkle Dauid in his aduersitie that if Dauid had not stayed him he woulde haue made Semei shorter by the heade than he was By his great strength and hardinesse he rescued Dauid out of the handes of a monstrous Gyant the yron of whose speare weyed thrée hundred Sicles and slewe the Giant with thrée hundred Philistines mo for the which he is counted as chiefe among the thrée Worthyes belonging to Dauid CREDIDIT ABRAHAM DEO ET REPVTA TVM EST ILLI AD IVSTITIAM ROM IIII. Non extendas manum tuam super puerum neque facias illi quicquam nune cognovi quod timeas Dominum non pepercisti vnigenito filio tuo propter me Geneâ—â—â—â— Joan. Strada inuen Phls Gall. excud him about the secrete affayres of the king and sodeinlyâ— smote him with his dagger and slewe him Abraham was the sonne of Terah borne in Vr a Towne in Chaldey A man so endued with fayth vertue that when he saw the true religion and honouring of God to cease in the lande of Chalda he departed from thence with Terah his father Sara his wife and Lâ—t his brothers sonne to go into the lande of Canaan And being come to Haran which is a towne in Mesopotamia he remained there vntill the death of his father Terah Then God commaunded Abraham saying Get thée out of thy countrey and from thy kindred and from thy fathers house vnto the lande which I will shewe thée and I wyll make of thée a great nation and will blesse thée and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing and I
not killed hym with the rest the Lorde was grieuously displeased with Saul and woulde not suffer Agag so to escape but sent Samuel to execute his iudgement vpon him who calling for Agag he came out vnto him very pleasantly fearing nothing lesse but that all bitternesse of death had bene past but contrary to his expectation Samuel sayde vnto hym as thy sworde hath made women chyldelesse so shall thy mother be chyldelesse among other women and with that he fell vpon Agag and hewed hym in péeces before the Lorde in Gilgal Agabus was a certaine Prophete which came from Ierusalem to Antioch where he prophecyed of a great dearth that shoulde be thoroweout all the worlde which came to passe as thys Prophete had sayde in the Emperour Claudius dayes Also whyle Paule laye at Cesarea in the house of Philip the Euaungelist purposing to kéepe his iourney to Ierusalem this Prophete chauncing to come thither tooke Paules girdle and therwithall bounde his owne hande and féete saying Thus sayeth the holy ghost so shall the Iewes at Ierusalem bynde the man that oweth this gyrdle and shall deliuer hym into the handes of the Gentyles Agar was handemayde to Sara Abrahams wyfe which Sara being long barren and chyldelesse gaue Agar hir Mayde vnto Abraham to be his wyfe who being conceyued and féeling hir selfe with chylde began to despise and set lyght by Sara hir Mistres for the which Sara complayned to Abraham hir husbande who giuing hir power to correct the Mayde at hir pleasure she began to deale so roughlye with Agar that in no wyse she woulde abyde it but ranne away into the wildernesse and sitting there besyde a fountayne of water not knowing whither to go an Angell appeared vnto hir and sayd Agar from whence commest thou and whither intendest thou to go I flie sayde Agar from Sara my mystresse which fareth so fowle wyth me that I am euen weary of my life Well sayde the Aungell returne to thy dame againe and submit thy selfe vnder hir handes for the Lorde will so encrease thy séede that it shall not be numbred for multitude Thou art with child and shalt beare a sonne whose name shall be Ismael Then Agar giuing God thankes for his consolation in trouble returned home againe to Sara hir mystres submitting hir selfe vnto hir and in processe of time brought forth hir sonne Ismael as the Aungell had sayde ▪ But when it pleased God to visit Sara that she conceyued and brought forth Isaac a new contention arose betwéene Sara and Agar for their children for Sara perceyuing Ismael to be a mocker and a despiser of Isaac woulde not suffer Ismael to companie with hir sonne Isaac but made hir complaynt to Abraham causing him to put both Agar and hir sonne away which thing although it grieued Abraham so to doe yet being comforted of God that he woulde multiplie Ismael bicause he was of his séede he obeyed the voyce of Sara his wife and with prouision of victuals sent Agar awaye with hir sonne to shifte for hir selfe Then Agar being departed from Abraham gat hir into the forrest of Béerseba where she wandred so long vppe and downe till all hir prouision of meate was spent and gone And when she sawe no remedie but that both she and hir childe must néedes perish for lacke of sustenance she layde downe the childe behinde a bushe and went hir selfe away bicause she woulde not sée it dye and as she sate a farre off mourning and wéeping for hir sonne she was comforted againe by the Angell of God who had so prouided for hir and hir sonne that they were both relieued and liued togithers a long time after to hir great ioy and comfort Aggeus was one of the twelue Prophetes which prophecied in the time of Zorobabel Kinge of the Iewes and rebuked them for that they were slacke in the worke of the Lorde Agrippa was a certayne king who as Paule reporteth had good knowledge in the Lawe and Prophets but vnderstoode not the true applying of the same Which King on a tyme came to Cesarea to sée Festus and to welcome hym into the Countrie who was then but newly entred into his office And being there a good whyle with Festus and hearing of him what a doe there was about Paule whome the Iewes had accused vnto him was much desirous to sée the man and to heare him speake Where vpon the next day following Paule was brought into the common Hall before Agrippa and other Magistrates of the Citie there assembled to heare his cause And when Festus had declared for what purpose he had brought forth Paule that after examination had he might haue somewhat of certaintie to write to Cesar to whome Paule had appealed Agrippa permitted the prisoner to speake and to say what he coulde for himselfe Who then so approoued his innocencie by rehearsing his conuersation before the audience that Agrippa interrupting his tale confessed and sayde vnto Paule Thou hast almost perswaded me to become a Christian And when the prisoner had ended his matter the king arose and all the Courte among whome was much secrete talke of Paule and for a finall sentence Agrippa sayde vnto Festus I sée no worthye cause of death or of bandes in this man but that he might haue bene loosed if he had not appealed to Cesar Ahaz the sonne of Iotham King of Iuda at the age of twentie yeares began his reygne in the xvj yeare of Pekah King of Israel and did not walke in the wayes of his godly Father but gaue himselfe to all kynde of ydolatrie and abhominations of the heathen consecrating his chyldren in fier and offering incense on euerye hill and Mountaine For the which his wickednesse the Lorde forsooke him and deliuered him into the handes and power of Razin king of Siria and Pekah king of Israel which two Kings on the one side with the Edomites and Philistines inuading his lande and spoyling his Cities and townes on the other side brought him very lowe And yet in all his aduersitie would he not once lyft vp his heart to call vpon God for his ayde and helpe but contrarye to the Prophetes admonition sought for the succour of man spoyling the Temple of God and sending the treasure thereof to Thiglath Pileser king of Assiria to come and deliuer him out of trouble by whose comming Ahaz was nothing the more strengthned but rather troubled and hindered Then Ahas measuring Gods fauour by the prosperitie of hys enimies not considering howe God oftentymes doth punishe those whom be loueth and giueth to his enimies good successe for a tyme turned his heart full and whole to the Sirians Gods who as he thought had plagued hym And to thintent he might serue them and worship them in al things according as the Heathen did to haue their helpe also he tooke the patterne of an aultar at Damascus the which he sent to Vria his Priest to
here was a counsayler ready at hande I will tell thée sayde Ionadab what thou shalt doe lay thée downe vpon thy bedde and feigne thy selfe sicke and when Dauid thy father commeth to visite thée desire him to let Thamar thy sister come and dresse thée such meate as thou hast a lust vnto Ammon did so and when Thamar was come and had dressed him meate and brought it into his Chamber he commaunded all to auoyde and neuer rested vntill he had by force gotten his pleasure which done he fell into such an excéeding hatred of Thamar that he coulde not suffer hir to be in his sight but caused his seruaunt to thrust hir out of his house and to bolt the doores after hir For this shamefull incest of Ammon Absalom two yeares after at a banket slewe him Lot had a sonne called Ammon which was borne him of his yongest daughter of him came the Ammonites Amon the sonne of Manasses was .xxij. yeare olde when he began his reigne ouer Iuda and walked not in the wayes of the Lord but gaue himselfe more to wicked Idolatrie and worshipping of stincking Idols than euer his father did and woulde neuer turne vnto god Wherfore at last certaine of his owne men conspired against him and slewe him which conspirators the people of the lande notwithstanding put to death and made Iosiah his sonne King in his steade Amos was an heardeman or shepehearde of a poore Towne called Thieme and one of the twelue Prophetes which God raysed vp to admonishe the Israelites of their wickednesse and Idolatrie and to threaten them with his plagues and punishments if they did not repent Reade of his death in the storie of Amasiah The father of Isai Dauids father was called Amos and there the worde signifieth Strong Amram the sonne of Caath the sonne of Leuy tooke Iochebed his fathers Sister to wife who bare vnto him two sonnes Aaron and Moses and also a daughter called Miriam He liued an hundreth and thirtie eyght yeres Amraphael was King of Sinhar and one of the foure Kings which fought against fiue other Kinges in the valley of Syddin where he and his partie had the victorie Amry was the chiefe Captaine and gouernour of the whole armie of Ela the sonne of Baasa king of Israel And lying at the siege of Gibbethon a Citie of the Philistines the whole hoste there hearing of the death of Ela constituted Amry King in his steade But the residue of the Israelites which abode at home and were not with Amry at the siege made Thebni the sonne of Gineth king So that the people were deuided and in great contention for their King which continued for the space of thrée yeares till Thebni chaunced to dye and then the whole multitude receyued Amry for their King who began his reigne in the .xxxj. yeare of the reigne of Asa king of Iuda and reigned most wickedly of all others before him .xij. yeares and dyed leauing his sonne Achab to succéede him Anah the sonne of Zibeon as he fedde and kept hys fathers Asses in the wildernesse was the first that founde out the monstrous generation of Mules betwéene the Asse and the Mare He had a Sister also called Anah whose daughter Aholibamah was wyfe to Esau the sonne of Isaac Ananias was a certayne man who to be counted one of the Christian religion solde his possession with his Wiues cōsent and notwithstanding kept away part of the price therof and brought the rest and layd it downe at the Apostles féete whose dissembling hypocrisie being reuealed vnto Peter he sayde vnto him Ananias howe is it that Sathan hath filled thyne heart that thou shouldest lye vnto the holy Ghost and kéepe awaye part of the price of the possession Perteyned it not vnto thée onely and after it was solde was it not in thine owne power howe is it that thou hast conceyued this thing in thine heart Thou hast not lyed vnto men but vnto god And when Ananias hearde these wordes he fell downe and dyed Ananias the Disciple of Christ dwelling at Damascus had a vision appeared vnto him saying Ananias arise and go into the stréete which is called Straight and séeke in the house of Iudas for one Saul of Tharsus for beholde he prayeth and hath séene a vision a man named Ananias comming vnto him and putting his hands on him that he might receyue his sight Then sayd Ananias Lorde ▪ I haue hearde by many of this man howe much euill he hath done to thy Saintes at Ierusalem and here he hath aucthoritie of the hye Priestes to binde all that call vpon thy name ▪ Well sayd he go thy wayes for he is a chosen vessell vnto me to beare my name before the Gentyles and Kings and the children of Israel For I will shewe him howe great things he must suffer for my names sake Then Ananias went to Saule and layde his handes on him and sayde Brother Saule the Lord that appeared vnto thée in the way as thou camest hath sent me that thou mightest receyue thy sight and be filled with the holy ghost And so by the handes of Ananias Saule receiued his sight agayne There was another Ananias who being hye Priest commaunded Paule to be smitten on the mouth as he was aunswering for himselfe before the Counsell Andrewe a poore Fisher man ▪ was called with his brother Peter to be an Apostle When Christ demaunded of his Disciples where they might buye breade to satisfie the people that followed him Andrewe made answere and sayde there is a little boye here which hath fiue Barley loaues and two fishes but what is that among so many Andronicus being a man of aucthoritie and in great fauour with Antiochus King of Siria was left in Iewrie and made Lieutenaunt ouer the Iewes vntill the returne of the King who was gone to pacifie a certayne commotion made by the Tharsians and Mallacians And in the meane time being corrupt with bribes rewardes of that vngracious man Menelaus to dispatch the good and godly man Onias whom he so hated out of the way he went to Onias who for his safegarde had taken the benefite of Sanctuarie and with fayre wordes perswaded him to come forth binding himselfe with an othe he should haue no harme And when he sawe that Onias suspected him he fell vpon him incontinently and without any regard of righteousnesse slewe him Whose innocent death so offended the people that they made a grieuous complaint of Andronicus to the King at his comming home who caused that wicked murderer to be stripped out of his purple clothes and led most villanously thorow the Citie to the place where he had committed his vngracious acte and to suffer most shamefull death Andronicus the faythfull Disciple of Christ to whome Paule sendeth commendations on this wise Salute Andronicus and Iunia my Cosins and felowe
a custome among the Iewes to haue a prisoner deliuered vnto them at the feast of Easter wherfore when Pilate sate in iudgement vpon Iesus he asked of the Iewes whether they woulde haue Barrabas or Iesus and they by the counsell of the great Priestes sayde Barrabas And so was the théefe and murtherer deliuered and the innocent put to death Barsabas surnamed Iustus was one of the twoo Disciples appoynted to be chosen in the rowme of Iudas the Apostle And when the lottes were cast the lot fell on Mathias hys fellowe Barthelmew was one of the twelue Apostles Mar. 10. g. * Bartimeus the sonne of Timeus was a certayne blinde begger which sate begging by the hye wayes side * The other Euangelists mention two but Marke nameth him that was most knowne of the people as they went by And when he heard Iesus of Nazareth passe that waye he began to crie and saye Iesus the sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon me and the people rebuked him to holde his peace but the more he was rebuked the more he cryed Then being called and comforted of the Apostles he threwe away his cloke for ioye and came to Iesus who demaunded of him what he woulde haue him to doe Mayster sayde he that I maye haue my sight and sée Go thy way sayde Iesus thy faith hath saued thée and by and by this blynde Bartimeus receyued his sight and followed Iesus ¶ Bartimeus a Blynde sonne or the sonne of blindnesse Iere. 36. cap. Baruch the sonne of Neriah wrote in a booke at the mouth of Ieremie the Prophete as he did indite all the curses agaynst Iuda and Israel which booke he read first to the Common people and after to the Rulers who being astonied at the wordes thereof caused Baruch to hide * The godly amonge the Princes gaue this counsell himselfe out of the way till they had shewed the booke vnto Ieohakim the King who when he had hearde thrée or fower leaues thereof caused the booke to be cut in péeces notwithstanding the great intreatie that certaine of hys Lordes made for the preseruation of the same and cast in the fire and brent Then Baruch wrote another booke at the mouth of Ieremie wherein was much more added than was before ¶ Baruch Blessed Gen. 22. d. 28. a. Bathuel was the sonne of Nahor his mothers name was Milca the daughter of Aran brother to Nahor and Abraham This Bathuel was Father to Rebecca and Laban ¶ Bathuel the Sonne begetting of God the Measure of God. Gen. 36. d. Bela the sonne of Beor reigned in Edem after whose death Iobab the sonne of Serah succéeded him 1. Par. 1. d. ¶ Bela Swalowing downe or destroying Num. 26. c â–ª Bela the sonne of Beniamin whose sonnes were Ard and Naaman and in the first booke of Chronicles 7. b. These are sayde to be the sonnes of Bela Ozban Ozi Oziel Ierimoth and Iri And in the. 8. chapter these Adar Gera Abiud 3. Esd 2. c. Belemus Mithridates Tabelius Rathunius Beeltethmus and Semellius the Secretarie with other mo wrote a sore complaint to Artaxerses King of Persia against the Iewes which were a building of the temple at Ierusalem through the which they were commaunded to cease and to builde no more Reade Artaxerses and Rathumus Sum natu minimus Beniaminus ex Cananea Mater in enixu est morte perempta Me scriptura LupuÌ„ natuÌ„ consumere proedaÌ„ In matutino tempore uera uocat Beniamin was the yoongest sonne of Iacob Gen. 35. c. hys mother was Rachel who dyed in traueyle and therfore Of the sonns of Beniamin Reade Gene. 46. c. 1. Par. 7. b. 8. a. called his name Benoni the sonne of sorrow But Iacob his father called him Beniamin sonne of the ryght hande His brothers name of father and mother was Ioseph who loued Beniamin aboue all the reast of his other brethren as in his storie appeareth ¶ Beniamin Sonne of the right hande Act. 13. b. Beriesus which by interpretacion is as much to saye as the sonne of Iesus was a Iewe borne and a great sorcerer which name he had taken vpon him to deceyue the people where as his right name was Elymas which worde in the Sirians language betokeneth an Enchaunter and a false Prophet also This false Sorcerer was got into the Citie of Paphos and there beyng crept into fauour with Sergius Paulus Ruler of the Countrie wythstoode the doctrine of Barnabas and Paule séeking by all meanes to turne the Rulers heart from the sayth in Christ But Paule being full of the holy ghost perceyuing the deuilishe and subtile craft of this sorcerer looked stedfastly vpon him and sayde O full of all subtiltie and mischiefe the chylde of the Deuil and enimie of all righteousnesse wylt thou not cease to peruert the streyght wayes of the Lorde Now therfore beholde the hande of the Lorde is vpon thée and thou shalt be blinde and not able to sée the Sunne for a season And when Paule had pronounced these wordes the Enchaunter was stricken with blyndenesse so that he as one amazed wandred vp and downe séeking for some man to leade him by the hande ¶ Beriesus an Ensorcerer or Coniurer 2. Reg. 17. g. Berzelai was a Gileadite borne who considered the necessitie of Dauid so much being flâ—dde out of hys owne Realme for feare of his owne sonne Absalon into the wildernesse of Mahanaim that he brought all things necessarie for â—eddes meate drinke and cloth out of Roglim to refreshe him and his men prouided so for him all the whyle he lay there that he lacked nothing and at his returne agayne he holped also to conuey both the King and all his men ouer Iordan Then Dauid séeing the great kyndenesse of Berzelai was much desirous to haue hym home with him to Ierusalem promising that all the dayes of his life he shoulde eate and drinke wyth him at his owne boorde and fare no woorse than he fared to whome Berzelai being a verye olde man sayde O my Lorde I am a man of foure score yeares of age and cannot discerne betwéene good and euill neyther yet taste any thing that I doe eate or drinke wherfore if I should then go with my Lorde the King I shoulde be but a burthen vnto him Therefore I beséech thée let thy seruant turne backe agayne that I may die in myne owne countrie and be buried in the graue of my father But here is thy seruant Chimeam my sonne let him go with my Lorde and doe vnto him whatsoeuer it shall please thée And so Dauid and Berzelai kissed eche other and departed but Chimeam went with Dauid who did not onely recompence his fathers kyndenesse in him so long as he liued but at the day of his death declared to Salomon his sonne the great fidelitie he had founde with Berzelai in the tyme of his exyle charging him therefore to shewe no
Chilion perfect or all like a Doue Chilion and Mahlon of the hand of Naomie and also haue purchased Ruth the Moabite the late wyfe of Mahlon to be my wyfe to stirre vp the name of the deade vpon his inheritance that his name be not put out among his brethren And all the people witnessed the same praying vnto the Lorde for Ruth to make hir as fruitefull as he did both Rachel Lea and Thamar And so Boos maryed Ruth who in processe conceyued and bare him a Sonne called Obed. ¶ Boos in Power or strength C. CAath was the sonne of Leuy had foure sonnes whereof the eldest was Amram the father of Moses and Aaron He liued 133. yeares Cain was the first sonne that Adam and Eue brought forth betwéene them and of an vnhappy disposition giuen to all vngraciousnesse He was the first tyller of the grounde and woulde alwayes offer the woorst and the vilest of the fruites of the earth vnto god Wherefore the Lorde had no respect to his offering And because God preferred his brother Abels offering before his he was so stirred with malice and enuie agaynst him that he fell vpon him in the fieldes and slue him Wherfore the Lord promised to withdrawe the increase of the grounde from Cain and so being in desperation he wandred about like a vagabonde in euery corner with much feare and treambling least any man shoulde kill him and at last Lamech slue him Caiphas was sonne in lawe to Annas and the hye Bishop in the time of Christes apprehension of whome he prophecied that it was expedient for one man to dye rather than all the people shoulde perishe Which thing he spake not of himselfe but God made him at that time euen as he made Balaam to be an instrument of the holye ghost And Christ being sent from Annas to him bounde to be examined was so caried from him to Pilate that he by the Temporall lawes might iudge hym to death Caleb was the sonne of Iephun otherwyse called Kenes of the Tribe of Iuda and one of those whom Moses sent out to search the lande of Canaan what maner of Countrie it was at the which time of going out he was about the age of .xl. yeres And when he and his companie had vewed the lande and were returned home agayne certaine of the explorators made an euill report to their brethren of that good land saying it was a countrey of strong and fierse people and such a lande as did eate vp the inhabiters thereof and with lyke perswasions made them both astonied and afrayde and to murmur grudge agaynst Moses and Aaron saying they woulde make them a Captayne and go into Egypt agayne Then Caleb and Iosua séeing their brethren so discomfited rent their clothes for sorrow and sayde Oh deare brethren be ye not discouraged at these false surmised tales neyther yet rebell agaynst the Lorde for we haue séene the lande as well as they that haue discouraged you and knowe it to be a better lande than they report a lande that floweth with milke and hony And as for the people therein feare them not for they be but breade for vs their shielde is departed from them and God is with vs therefore plucke vp your hearts and feare not With these and the like comfortable sayinges Caleb and Iosua withdrew the furie of the multitude which were ready to destroye them and also ceased their murmuring which murmuration of the people so gricued the Lorde that he swore to Moses that not one of them all shoulde sée that good lande saue Caleb and Iosua although their children shoulde sée it But first sayde God to Moses they shall wander in the wyldernesse fortie yeares and suffer for their fathers whoredome vntill their fathers carkasses be wasted a yeare for a daye according to the number of dayes in searching the lande which was fortie dayes And bicause Caleb followed the Lorde continually God swore to Moses that Caleb and his séede shoulde inherite that lande which came so to passe for after xlv yeares Caleb then being at the age of .lxxxv. yeres and as lusty as he was when Moses sent him first to search the lande required of Iosua his heritage who appoynted out vnto him the Citie of Hebron with the Countries thereabout out of the which Citie he droue out the thrée sonnes of Enach This Caleb had a yonger brother called Othoniel to whome he gaue his daughter Acsah to wyfe for taking of a certayne Citie called Kariasepher Carpus was a certayne godlye man dwelling at Croada with whome Paule left his Cloake with certaine bookes which he desired Timothie to bring with him when he came to him agayne Cendebius was Captayne Generall of Antiochus hoste And when he had done much harme in the lande of Iewrie and builded vppe Cedron and fortified it wyth men of warre he was at the last by the sonnes of Simon discomfited and put to flight Cereas was brother to Timotheus and Captayne of a strong Castle called Gazar into the which Timotheus being ouercome of Iudas Machabeus was fayne to flie for succor Nowe Cereas and they that were wyth him in the Forte trusted so much to the strength of the place that they fell to rayling and cursing of their enimies without who notwithstanding set so manfully vppon the holde that at last they wanne it and tooke the blasphemers and burnt them quicke slue this Cereas and his brother Timotheus with another famous Captaine called Appollophanes Cetura looke Ketura Chodorlaomor looke Kedorlaomor Cis was the sonne of Abiel of the Tribe of Beniamin and father to King Saule â–ª Whose Asses on a time being strayed abroade he sayde vnto Saule his Sonne Take one of the Laddes with thée and go and séeke out mine Asses that are lost This Cis is called also the sonne of Ner. 1. Par. 8. c. Cis the sonne of Abi Gibeon his mother was called Maacah Cis the sonne of Mahly sonne to Merari His brothers name was Eleazar Whose daughters he being deade the sonnes of this Cis tooke to their Wyues Claudia was a certaine godly brother who being with Paule at Rome sent as other mo did gréetings to Timothie in Paules letter Claudius was an Emperour in whose tyme the fourth yeare of his reygne was a great dearth thorâ—â— out all the worlde whereof Agabus the Prophet prophâ—cied aforehande Cleopatra the daughter of King Ptolomie was maried to Alexander the sonne of noble Antiochus And agayne for displeasure taken from Alexander hir lawfull husbande and giuen to Demetrius the sonne of Demetrius Cleophas was the husbande of Mary sister to Mary the mother of Christ and one of the two Disciples which after the death of Christ went to the towne of Emaus talking and reasoning togithers of all things that had happened to Iesus and as they were
the children of Israel out of captiuitie Chusan Risathaim was king of Mesopotamia into whose hande God deliuered the Children of Israel bicause they turned from him to serue straunge Gods which King kept them in bondage eyght yeares till at last they crying to the Lorde for helpe God raysed vp Othoniel which deliuered them out of his hands Dalila was the wyfe of Samson who thorowe the perswasions of the Philistines flattered him so long vntill she had got knowledge where all his strength laye that knowne she so dallyed with him that he laying down his heade vpon hir lappe and there falling a sléepe she caused the heare of hys heade to be shauen off and so betrayed him to the Philistines Damaris was a certayne godly woman dwelling at the Citie of Athens who among other Paule conuerted Dan was the sonne of Iacob borne him of Bilha Rachels mayde His brothers name of father and mother was Nephtaly Iacob before his death prophecied of him saying Dan shall iudge his people as one of the Tribes of Israel Dan shall be a serpent by the way and an Adder by the path byting the horse héeles so that his Rider shall fall backewarde O Lorde I haue wayted for thy saluation The generation of the Danites grewe to such a number that the portion which Iosua gaue them was not sufficient for all their Tribe wherefore they went out to séeke them an inheritaunce to dwell in And comming to the quiet Citie of Lais which mystrusted nothing they fell vpon it killed the people and brent the City And in the place therof they builded themselues another Citie and called it Dan. And set vp the Idols therein which they had taken from Micah and worshipped them and so continued in their ydolatrie till the Arke of God was taken 1. Reg. 4. Daniel was an holy Prophet of the Tribe of Iuda who beyng a welfauoured yonge springalde and of good erudition was among other of the children of Israel brought to Babilon and there founde at the Kings charges to learning to profite in the Chaldeys tongue and for the better nourishing and bringing vp of these yong striplings hée appoynted to them for thrée yeares space a portion of his owne meate euery day and of hys owne Wyne which he dranke to thintent that by their good intreatie and learning of his religion they might rather fauor him than the Iewes and to be able to serue him as gouernours in their lande But Daniel being determined in his heart that he woulde not defile himselfe with the Kinges meate and drinke desired his kéeper that he and his thrée companions to wit Ananias Misael and Azarias might not defyle themselues but that he woulde gyue them nothing else but Pulse to eate and water to drinke which thing he was afrayde to doe least when the King shoulde call them before him they might séeme in woorser lyking than the rest of their fellowes and so he to be in daunger of his lyfe Well sayde Daniel prooue thy seruaunts for ten dayes Then the Kéeper whose heart God had mooued to fauour Daniel prooued them ten dayes and when he saw them fatter in fleshe and in better lyking than the other he tooke away their portion of meate and serued them daily with Pulse and water And to these God gaue great knowledge and vnderstanding in all learning and wysedome But to Daniel onely he gaue the gyft of Prophecying and opening of visions and dreames Now when the time was expired that all the children whome the King had so long nourished shoulde be brought before him he founde Daniel and his thrée associates in matters of wisedome and vnderstanding that he requyred of them ten tymes better than all the learned men of his Realme so that the King had Danyel in great estimacion After this Daniel expounded the Kinges dreames and shewed him the true interpretacion and meaning thereof which none of the Chaldeans coulde doe for the which the King rewarded him wyth great gyftes and made him gouernour ouer the whole Prouince of Babilon wherewyth the other Princes and Rulers were sore offended and sought occasion against him concerning the kingdome but Daniel was so faythfull and vpright in all the Kings matters that they confessed and sayde We shall fynde no occasion against this Daniel except it be concerning the lawe of his God Therefore let vs perswade the king to make a decrée that whosoeuer shall aske a peticion of any god or man for thirtie dayes saue only of the King the same to be cast into the denne of Lyons And when the King had consented to this wicked decrée and sealed the wryting Daniel that all men might sée that he woulde neyther consent in heart nor déede for these fewe dayes to anye thing that was contrarye to Gods glorye went home to his house and set open the wyndowe of his Chamber towarde Ierusalem and fell downe vppon hys knées to gyue thanckes and prayse vnto God as hys custome was thrée tymes a daye to doe And thus making his prayers and supplication to his God his aduersaries came vpon him and founde hym a worke wherevpon they went to the king and sayde hast thou not sealed the decrée that whosoeuer shall make request to any God or man within thirtie daies saue to thée O King shal be cast into the denne of Lions True it is quoth the king and it cannot be broken Then sayd they This Daniel one of thy prisoners of Iuda regardeth neyther thée nor yet thy statute but maketh his peticion thrise a day vnto his god When the King heard this he was sore displeased in himselfe and sought by all meanes to haue excused Daniel and when he sawe no intreatie woulde serue nor no way be founde to alter the lawe he suffred Daniel to be cast down to the Lions which were seuen in numbre and were kept fasting that daye from their ordinarie dyet to the intent they shoulde haue deuoured Daniel But God had so stopped the mouthes and furie of the Lyons that they dyd him no harme and least he should perish there for hunger God sent his Prophete Abacucke with meate and drinke to féede hym and also mooued the kings heart to take such care for Daniel that the seuenth day after he went to the denne to sée if he were a lyue or dead and finding hym not perished but whole and sounde he reioyced greatly and caused Daniel to be taken out his accusers with their wyues and children cast downe among the fierce gréedy Lions ▪ who tore them all in péeces before they came at the grounde Thus being deliuered hée afterwarde prophecied of the comming of Christ and of the Empire of Babilon Medea Persia Grecia and the Romaines Reade more of him in the story of Bell and Susanna Darda the sonne of Mahol was one of the foure which came of the ofspring of the children of Chore and so
Ada. ¶ Eliphas the Sight of God or his intent or endeuour Iob. 2. d. Eliphas the Themanite was one of those that came to Iob in his extréeme afflictions to comforte him And 4. yet notwithstanding he blamed Iob for impaciencie 15. vniustice and for the presumption of his owne righteousnesse 12. Also he reprooued hym bycause he chalenged wisedome and purenesse to himselfe Affirming also that he was punished for his sumes and accused hym of vnmercyfulnesse and that he denyed Gods prâ—â—â—dence and therefore exhorteth hym to repentaunce But the Lorde was angrie with Eliphas and with his other Companions 42. b. bicause they had condemned Iob by the outwarde afflictions and not comforted him with his mercy and therefore commaunded them to take sâ—auen â–ª Oxen and seauen Rammes â–ª and to go and offer a burnt offering for their offence and his seruaunt Iob shoulde praye for them And they dyd as the Lord had commaunded them 1. Par. 1. 2. Elisa was the sonne of Iauan his brethren were Tharsis Citim and Dâ—â—â—â—int ¶ Elisa it is God or the â—ambe of Gâ—d or God that doth good â— Reg. 19. d. Eliseus was the sonne of Saphan And being at the plough with twelue yoake of Oxen before hym Eliah comming by him cast hys mantell ouer hym and went his wayes Then 〈◊〉 being instinct with the holye Ghost left his plough and ranne after Eliah desiring hym that he might first go home and take his leaue of his friendes then he woulde come and followe him which thing being done he returned and ministred to Eliah and went with him to Bethel from thence to Iericho 4. Reg. 2. ca. where the children of the Prophetes came to Eliseus and sayde Knowest thou not that the Lorde will take thy maister from thine heade this daye Yes quoth he I knowe it well holde yée your peace and be still And so foorth from Iericho they went to Iordan where Eliah â—he waters deuided smote the waters with his mantell which deuided themselues so that they two went ouer on dry land And when they were on the other side of Iordan Eliah sayde to Eliseus Aske what I shall doe for thée or I be taken away from thée I pray thée quoth Eliseus let thy spirite be double vpon mée Thou hast asked quoth he an harde thing Yet if thou sée mee when I am taken from thée thou shalt haue it so if not it shall not be And as Eliah is taken vp in the firie Charet they were walking and talking togithers Eliah was taken vp in a whirlewinde of fire and in a Charret of fyrie horses which sight Eliseus sawe and cryed My father my father the Charret of Israel and the horsemen thereof and sawe hym no more â–ª Then Eliseus rent his owne Cloake in twoo peeces and tooke vp Elias mantell which he had let fall from him and returned to the banke of Iordan and smote the waters saying Where is the Lorde God of Eliah and he himselfe and at the seconde smiting the waters deuided so that he went ouer on drye lande to the other â—yde agayne Then the Children of the Prophets perceyuing the spirite of Eliah to be vpon Eliseus came and fell down before him saying We doubt lest the spirit of the Lord hath taken thy maister and cast him vpon some mountayne therefore let vs â–ª sende foorth our men to go and séeke hym But Eliseus knowing assuredly that he was taken vnto God willed them not to doe so yet they â–ª not there withall satisfied intreated hym so much tyll he was ashamed and so let them go And when they had sought thrée dayes and thrée nightes and coulde not finde hym they returned to Eliseus who sayde vnto them Dyd not I saye yée should not finde hym The waterâ— are healed ¶ Nowe as the Prophete laye at Iericho the men of the Citie came vnto him saying Sir the scituacion of this Citie as thou séest is pleasaunt but the water is so euill and the grounde so barrayne that it killeth the inhabitaunts thereof Then sayde Eliseus bring me a Cruse and put Salt therein And when they had brought him the Cruse he tooke it and went vnto the spring of the waters and cast the Salt therein saying Thus saâ—th the Lorde I haue healed this water death shall no more come thereof neyther barrennesse to the grounde 4. Reg. 3. cap. ¶ After he had thus healed the water at Iericho and was departed thence to go to Bethel there came little chyldren out of the Citie who in mockery sayde vnto hym Come vp thou balde head come vp thou balde heade The The children for mocking the Prophet are deuoured with beares Prophet then turned backe and behelde the children and perceyuing their malicious hearts he cursed them in the name of the Lord which Curse was no sooner pronounced out of the Prophets mouth but twoo Beares came out of the forrest and ran vpon the Children and tore in péeces 42. of them And so went he foorth to mount Carmel and from thence to the Citie of Samaria ¶ It came to passe that when Iehoram y King of Israel and Iehosaphat King of Iuda with the King of Edom in their progresse towarde the King of Moab lacked water for them and their people â–ª they went by the counsell of Iehosaphat King of Iuda to Eliseus the Prophete beséeching hym to make intercession for them that they might haue water to sustayne their hoste which else were in ieoperdie of perishing And when the Prophete sawe the Kings he sayde to the King of Israel What haue I to do with thée Get thée to the prophets of Achab thy father and to the Prophets of Iezabel thy mother as truely as the Lorde of hostes lyueth in whose sight I stande if it were not that I regarde the presence of Iehosaphat King of Iuda I woulde not haue looked towarde thée nor séene thée But now bring mée a * This was no such Minstrell as vse to fil the peoples cares with songes of ribaudry but one that sang songs to Gods glory and so stirred vp the Prophetes heart to prophecie minstrell and when the mynstrell playde the hande of the Lorde came vpon Eliseus that he began to prophecie of water and of the ouerthrow of the Moabites which came to passe on the next morrowe as the Prophete had sayde for the Moabites being deceyued by the Sunnes shining vpon the water that fell which made it séeme as redde as bloude thinking it had béene the bloude of the Kinges hoste that had slayne one another but when they came they founde the hoste of Israel ready who fell vpon the Moabites and destroyed put them to flight euery one ¶ Eliseus Gods saluation or a God which saueth 4. Reg. 4. a. b ¶ There was a certaine woman late wife to one of the Prophetes which came and complained to Eliseus that hir husbande had left hir so farre
in debt that hir creditors were come to fet hir twoo sonnes awaye to be their bondemen What hast thou in thy house sayde the Prophet Nothing quoth she but a little Pitcher of oyle The widowe left in debt Well saide he go thy waye home and borowe of thy neyghbours as many emptie vessels as thou canst get and poure out the oyle of the Pitcher into the emptie vessels vntill thou hast filled them all And when the woman had done all as the Prophet had commaunded hir she came backe againe and tolde him howe mightily hir oyle was increased Nowe go sayde the Prophet and sell so much of the oyle as will pay thy Creditours and then liue thou and thy children of the rest 4. Reg. 4. b. c. d. e. ¶ There was a certaine woman of great estimacion in the Citie of Sumen who hearing tell that Eliseus was come to the Citie inuited him home to hir house and made him great cheare And whensoeuer after that he came into that quarters which he haunted much he woulde euer take that Gentlewomans house in his way Then she séeing that sayde vnto hir husband I perceiue that this is an holye man that commeth so ofte by our place let vs make him a little chamber with all things Eliseus obtaineth a son for the Sunamite necessarie for the same that when he commeth this way he may lodge there and be quiet therein And when the new Chamber was made and finished the Prophete at his next comming was brought into the same there to take his rest He then considering the great prouision the woman had made and howe carefull she had bene for him sayde vnto Gehezi his man Go and aske of hir what she will haue mée to doe for hir whether it be to speake vnto the King or to the Captaine of the hoste or any thing else and I will doe it The seruaunt went and The Sunamites sonne restored from death to life brought him worde agayne that she had no chylde and hir husbande was olde Well sayde the Prophete she shall haue a sonne which in processe she had in déede And when the chylde was a fewe yeares growâ—n vp it had a desire to go and sée his Father and the Reapers in the fielde and being there in the heate of the daye it fell sodenly sicke and was caried home to his mother and dyed But for the womans sake the Prophet restored hir sonne to life agayne 4. Reg. 4. g. ¶ On a tyme Eliseus commaunded his Cooke to make a great pot of pottage for the children of the Prophetes which boorded with him and as one went out for herbes he gathered vnwares his lap full of wylde Coloquintidas Hee maketh the pottage sweete and came and shred them into the pot of pottage And when the children of the Prophets had tasted a little of the pottage they fearing least they had bene poysoned cried out saying O thou man of God there is death in the pot Then the Prophet called for Meale and threwe it into the pot and all was well and no more harme in the pot 4. Reg. 4. g. ¶ A certaine man the dearth being great in the lande came from Baal Salisa and brought to Eliseus twenty Barley loaues of the first fruites of his newe Corne the which he commaunded his man to giue to the people to satisfie their hunger How shall I sayd he set this before The loaues are multiplyed so many will it satisfie an hundred persons Well sayd Elizeus set it before them for thus sayth the Lord they shall eate and there shall remayne And so the loaues were set before the people and they did eate and left ouer according to the worde of the Lorde 4. Reg. 6. a. ¶ Eliseus had so many of the Prophetes children wyth him at boorde and downe lying that his house was to little for them all wherefore they sayde to him that they woulde go to Iordan and buylde them a bygger house to dwell in desiring him to go with them And as a certaine man was felling downe a trée to serue for the buylding the Axe heade slipt of the Helue and fell into the water Iron swimmeth Then the man cryed to Eliseus and sayde Alas Mayster helpe me to haue it agayne for it was lent me Where fell it in sayde the Prophet and when the man had tolde him Eliseus cut downe a péece of woode and cast it into the water and immediately the yron did swymme And then the man stretched forth his hande and tooke it vp 4. Reg. 8. a. ¶ He prophecied vnto the Sunamite whose sonne he had raysed from death of a great dearth which shoulde come and continue vpon the land seauen yeares giuing hir counsell therefore to go and soiourne in some other plentifull countrey till these yeares were expired whose counsell she followed and went with all hir housholde into the Philistines lande where she remayned these seauen yeares of dearth which being ended she returned home agayne And when she came to hir house another hauing possession thereof withhelde it from hir wherefore she went to the King to make hir complaynt at which time it happened the King to be talking with Gehezi The Sunamite is restored to hyr house lande agayne the seruant of Eliseus the Prophet who was declaring vnto the King what great and notable déedes hys Maister Eliseus had done and among all declared of a deade bodie which he had raysed vp from death to lyfe and as he was telling of these thinges vnto the King the woman came with hir sonne and required hir house and lande againe And when Gehezi sawe the woman he sayde O my Lorde and King this same is the woman that I tolde your Grace of â—uen nowe and this is hyr sonne that was raysed from death Then the King commaunded hir house and lande to be restored hir againe with all the rent and profites thereof from the first daye she lâ—st it â–ª till that present time 4. Reg. 13. c. d ¶ Finallye when the time drewe me that Eliseus the Prophet shoulde dye Ioas King of Israel came to visite him as he stoode before him and considered what a losse he should haue of that good man which had bene so great a defence vnto his Realme the teares ranne downe hys chéekes and sayde O my father my father the Charet of Israel and the horsemen of the same And when the Prophet sawe the King he bade him take his bowe and arrowes in his hand and make him readie to shoote The Prophet put his hande vpon the Kings hande and caused a windowe to be opened Eastwarde which was toward Siria and bade the King shoote and he shot The arrow of helth of the Lorde sayde Eliseus and the arrowe of health against Siria For thou shalt smyte Siria in Aphek till thou haue made an ende of them Nowe take thine arrowes in thine hande sayde the Prophete and smyte
Ierobaal that is let Baal pleade for himselfe bicause he hath broken downe his Aultar At this time the Madianites and the Amalakites had pitched themselues in the valley of Iezrael and the spirite of the Lorde came vpon Gedeon so that he called his people togithers to go agaynst them And for to be the better confirmed in his vocation hée tooke a fléece of wooll and layde it in the threshing place and made his request vnto God saying Oh Lorde if thou wilt let the dewe this night fall vpon the fléece only and be drie on all the grounde beside then shall I be sure that thou wilt saue Israel by my handes as thou hast sayde And on the morrowe when Gedeon came to take vp the fléece it was full of dewe and the grounde drie all about Then sayde Gedeon O Lorde be not angry that I prooue thée once more let nowe the fléece be drie only and dewe vpon all the earth and so in the morning the fléece was drye and the grounde all dewy Gedeon nowe being thus confirmed pitched his hoste to fight with his enimies But when the Lorde sawe the number of his armie he sayd to Gedeon the people that thou hast with thée are to manye therefore make a proclamation thorowout all thine hoste that whosoeuer is timerous or fearefull let him depart home agayne and there returned .xxij. thousande and ten thousande remayned Then sayde the Lorde to Gedeon the people are yet to many Bring them downe to the water side and I will appoynt them that shall go with thée So many as doe lappe the water with their tongues as Dogges doth shalt thou take with thée the reast that knéeleth downe vpon their knées to drinke shalt thou resuse as men vnméete for this purpose And when it came to tryall all knéeled downe to drinke sauing 300. which lapped water with their hands those Gedeon tooke with him and sent the rest away Then the Lord to strengthen Gedeon least he shoulde faynt in so great an enterprise bade him take Phara his seruaunt with him and go downe that night to the hoste of the Madianites and harcken what they did say And when they came neare to the hoste they hearde one man saye to another I haue dreamed a dreame and me thought a lofe of Barley bread tumbled into the hoste of Madian and came vnto a Tent and smote it that it fell and lay along on the grounde This is nothing else quoth his felowe saue the sworde of Gedeon the sonne of Ioas a man of Israel for into his handes hath God deliuered Madian and all the hoste Then Gedeon hearing this praysed God and returned to his men who were so animated with his ioyfull tydings that most couragiously they fell vpon the infinite number of the Madianites and ouerthrew them and put them to flight euery one in the which flight y Ephraims on the other side of Iordan toke Oreb Zeb two mightie Captains of the Madianites sent their heads to Gedeon who was following the chase after Zebah Zalmana Kings of Madian which two at the last he tooke and led them back to the men of Socoth Phanuel who had denyed him sustenance before and sayde vnto them Behold here be the men by whom ye vpbrayded me saying are the hands of Zeba Zalmana already in thine hands that we should giue bread vnto thy weary people I tolde you then that when the Lord had deliuered them into my handes I woulde reiurne and teare your fleshe with Thornes and Briers of the wildernesse and breake downe the tower of Phanuel And so to performe hys promise he fell vpon the men of Socoth and Phanuel and put them to most paynefull torments and death and slue Zebah and Zalmana with his owne handes Thus he deliuered Israel out of the handes of the Madianites which had kept them seauen yeares in subiection And when he had iudged them fortie yeares he dyed leauing behinde him 70. sonnes for he had many Wyues beside Abimelech which his Concubine bare vnto him in the Citie of Sichem But when Gedeon was deade the Israelites turned from God againe and went a whoring after Baalim and made Baal-bereth their God forgetting the Lorde their God which had deliuered them out of the hands of their enimies neither shewed they mercy on the house of Ierobaal according to all the goodnesse which he had shewed vnto them But contrarywife like men vnthankfull and voyde of all faithfulnesse consented to the vtter destruction of all his posteritie Gehezi wayted vpon Eliseus the Prophet and was his seruant On a time there came to his Maister out of the lande of Siria a certayne Prince named Naaman to be holpen of his leprosie The which Prince being restored to health offered to Eliseus a great reward which he refused And when Gehezi sawe the great man gone and that his Maister had receyued nothing he then being stricken with couetousnesse folowed after Naaman And when the Prince sawe the Prophetes seruant come running so fast after him he for the reuerence he bare to his Maister descended from his Charret to méete him and asked of him if all were well with his Maister or no. Yea sayde Gehezi all is well But euen nowe there is come to my Maister from Mount Ephraim twoo yoong men of the sonnes of the Prophets wherefore he hath sent me to desire thée to let him haue one Talent of Siluer and twoo chaunge of garments Then the Prince of his liberalitie gaue him twoo Talents and made his men to carie the money and stuffe after Gehezi And when the men had brought it nie vnto the place where as he would haue it he tooke if of their handes and let them depart and conueyghed it priuily into his owne chamber And as soone as Gehezi came in the presence of his Maister he demaunded where he had bene No where quoth he No said Eliseus went not my hart with thée when the man turned againe from his Charret to méete thée Is it now a time to receiue money or garments Well forasmuch as thou hast offended in this the leprosie of Naaman shal eleaue vnto thée and to thy séede for euer And so he went out from his Maister a Leper as whyte as snowe Reade more of Gehezi in the Stories of Eliseus his Mayster Gerson the sonne of Moses had a brother called Eliezer Their mothers name was called Zephora y daughter of Raguel But of Gerson the son of Leuy came the Gersonites who had the gouernance of the habitacion within the tabernacle Gibeonites The Gibeonites hearing of the great destruction that Iosua had made at Iericho and Hai were in such feare that they wyst not howe to saue their liues but by this policie When they perceyued Iosua to drawe nye vnto Gibeon They chose out certaine men among them to sende as ambassadours to Iosua and made their prouision of breade dryed vp
and hored And put their wyne into olde bottels all to rent and torne and shodde themselues with olde clouted shooen and put on their backes olde garments and so sent them forth to Iosua to obtayne peace And when Iosua looked vppon them and behelde their simple state he asked what they were and from whence they came They aunswered from a farre countrey are thy seruauntes come for the name of the Lorde thy God for we haue hearde of hys fame and power and what he did in the lande of Egypt and in all other places till nowe And long haue we trauailed to come hither as ye may sée for this our foode the day we came forth was hote our bottels shooes and garments all newe and nowe are they olde and torne and our breade hored and mouled wherefore we shall desire your fauour and peace Then Iosua beléeuing it had bene so swore vnto the Gibeonites and made a couenaunt of peace with them and let them go Within thrée dayes after it fortuned the Israelites to come to the Citie of Gibeon thinking to haue destroyed it But when they sawe that they were the people which a little before had obtayned peace at their handes woulde not slea them bicause of their othe but went to Iosua and tolde him Then Iosua sent for them and demaunded wherefore they had so deceyued him They aunswered it was tolde vs that God commaunded Moses to giue you this lande and to slea all the inhabitants therof and therfore were we forced to make this prouision for our liues And nowe we be in your hands to dâ—e with vs as shall please you Wâ—ll sayde Iosua for our othe sake ye shall haue your liues But for as much as ye haue so craftilye deceyued vs the Lorde hath determined that ye shall be in bondage vnder Israel all the dayes of your liues and be hewers of woode and water drawers for the congregation and house of God continually And so the Israelites tooke their Cities but saued their lyues After this the Kings of the Amorites hearing how the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel came vpon them and besieged Gibeon which was the greatest Citie in all the kingdome of the Amorites wherevpon the Gibeonites were constrayned to sende to Iosua for his ayde who came from Gilgal with a great power rescued them and tooke the Kings of the Amorites which were fiue in number and hanged them on fiue seuerall trées and destroyed all their people and countries Thus the Gibeonites continued in bondage vnder the Israelites with their liues vntill the time of King Saule who then for a zeale he had to the children of Israel and Iuda slue a great number of them which déede God punished in the dayes of King Dauid at what time he sent an hunger vpon the lande which continued by the space of thrée yeares for when Dauid enquired at the Lorde the cause of that plague aunswere was made him of God that it was for Saule and the house of bloud who had killed the Gibeonites which Gibeonites were none of the séede of Israel but a remnant of the Amorites with whome the children of Israel had made a bonde of peace Then Dauid asking the Gibeonites what he shoulde doe for them and wherewith he shoulde recompence them they sayde we will neyther haue siluer nor golde of Saule nor of his house nor that any man of Israel be killed for our sakes but the man that hath consumed vs and imagined to bring vs to naught him will we destroy Therefore let his seauen sonnes be deliuered vnto vs that we maye hang them vp before the Lorde Then Dauid caused the two sonnes of Rizpa Saules Concubine and the fiue sonnes of Michol whome she bare to Adriel to be deliuered vnto the Gibeonites who tooke and hanged them vp on an hill before the Lorde And thus were the Gibeonites reuenged on Saule Giliad was the sonne of Machir and his chyldren were these Hiezer Helech Asriel Sechem Semida and Hepher Godolia looke Gedalia Golias was a mightie strong Gyant whome the Philistines had brought with them to battell agaynst the hoste of Israel His stature was sixe cubites and a span His helmet vpon his heade was of brasse and the Bootes on his legges of the same His coate of Fence weyed 5000. sicles The shaft of his Speare which he bare in his hande was lyke a Weauers beame And the heade vpon the same weighed 600. sicles of yron This man beyng thus armed came out from the Philistines one bearing his shielde before him and standing betwéene the twoo hostes in a valley he cryed to the hoste of Israel saying Why are ye come to set your battell in aray am not I a Philistine and you the seruauntes of Saule choose you out a man and let him come downe to me And if he be able to fight with me and to kill me then will we be your seruants and if I can ouercome him and kill him then shall ye be our seruants and serue vs Thus came he day by day defying the whole hoste of Israel the space of fortie dayes long wherewith the Israelites were sore afrayde and discomsited and durst not abyde his sight But God who by his secret prouidence had appoynted out a man to match him caused Isai to send his yong son Dauid to the hoste of Israel to sée his brethren howe they did And as he stoode with them and hearde the despytefull wordes of Golias which he spake against the holye hoste of Israel The spirit of God euen at that instant smote such a courage into the hart of Dauid that he slipt away from his brethren vnto the people whome he sawe in great feare and sayde What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the shame from Israel and what is this vncircumcised heathen that he shoulde thus reuyle the hoste of the lyuing god Dauid vttering this bolde maner of speach once or twyse he was at the last brought before King Saule to whome he sayde on this wyse Oh King let no mans heart fayle him or be afrayde this daye for I thy seruaunt will go and fight with yonder Philistine Thou art not able to stande in his handes quoth the King for he is a man brought vp all the dayes of his lyfe in feates of warre and thou art yet but a chylde without experience or knowledge thereof Then Dauid to strengthen the weake fayth of the King sayde thus vnto him As thy seruaunt was kéeping his fathers shéepe there came a Lion and a Beare likewyse and tooke a shéepe out of the flocke Then I not fearing the force of these twoo cruell beastes ranne out first after the Lion and tooke the pray out of his mouth and in spite of his bearde I slue him Likewyse I serued the Beare Wherefore I haue no doubt but as the Lorde did ayde me then so wyll he nowe against this bragging Philistine that hath so rayled
that had sent Dauid so wyse a sonne to sit in his seate and graunted hym Timber of Cedar Fyrre and other precious woodde so much as he woulde desire Wherefore Salomon to gratifie Hyram agayne sent hym twentye thousande quarters of wheate and twentye Butts of Oyle and gaue him also twentye goodly Cities which Cities Hyram called the lande of Cabul forasmuch as when he sawe them they pleased hym not After this Hyram gaue to Salomon sixe score Talents of Golde and sent him Ships and men which had knowledge of the Sea to go with his Nauye into the countrey of Ophir which Shippes brought vnto Salomon * In the. 2. Par. 8. d. is menciō made of 30. talents mo whiche seeme to haue ben employed for their charges foure hundred and twentye Talents of golde ¶ Hyram The hight of Lyfe 3. Reg. 7. b. Hyram This man was a certayne wydowes sonne dwelling in the Countrie of Tyre and of the Tribe of Nepthaly and dyd so excell in all maner of workemanship that Hyram King of Tyre sent him to Salomon to worke and finishe all things that pertayned to the Temple of the Lorde which Salomon went about to edifie Hobab was the sonne of Raguel whose * Some think that Raguel Iethro Hobab and Keni were all one Kymhi sayeth that Raguel was Iethros father So Hobab was Moses father in lawe companye Num. 10. d. Moses his Father in lawe woulde so fayne haue had into the lande of Canaan that he intreated him on this wise saying We are nowe going to the place which the Lord sayde that he woulde giue vs therefore I pray thée go with vs and we will doe thée good for the Lorde hath promised good vnto Israel Then Hobab made aunswere saying I will not go but I will departe to mine owne Countrey and kindred Nay quoth Moses I pray thée forsake vs not but go with vs and be our guide for thou knowest our comping places in the wildernesse and whatsoeuer goodnesse the Lorde shall shewe vnto vs the same will we she we vnto thée But all this coulde not mooue Hobab but that he woulde depart And so returned home into his owne countrey agayne ¶ Hobab Beloued Iudith 2. cap. Holofernes was the chiefe and most terrible Captaine of all Nabuchodonosors hoste sent of him to subdue all the worlde And comming to the Citie of Bethulia 14. b. where all the Iewes lay in great feare of him and his power he was there by Gods prouision slayne by the handes of an holy woman called Iudith Read hir storie ¶ Holofernes A stoute and valiant Captaine 1. Reg. 1. a. Hophni and Phinehes the twoo sonnes of Ely were the Lordes Priestes and became so wicked that they abused the women that wayted at the doore of the Tabernacle of wytnesse And whereas the law was that 2. c. d e. whenseeuer any man did make any offering the Priests boye should come whyle the fleshe was a séething and not before with a fleshe hooke in his hande hauing thrée téeth which he shoulde thrust into the Panne Kettle or whatsoeuer vessell it were and so much as the flesh hooke brought vp was the Priestes part and no more yet notwithstanding this lawe the Priestes boye woulde come before the fleshe was sodde and require flesh to rost for the Priest and say vnto him that made the offering that his Maister woulde haue no sod fleshe but rawe And if he woulde not giue it him then woulde the boye take it by violence By the which abusing of the Lawe the Lordes offering was had in such contempt among the people that they began to abhorre it Wherefore the Lorde plagued the sonnes of Eli permitting the Philistines 4. c. to slea them both in one day ¶ Hophni a Fyst or as much as one may comprehende betweene his thumbe and two fingers or couering 4. Reg. 15. g. 17. cap. Hosea the sonne of Ela by treason slue Pekah the sonne of Remaliahu King of Israel and possessed hys place and began his reigne in the .xij. yere of Ahas king This was the last King that reigned ouer Israel of Iuda and did euill in the sight of the Lorde but not so euill as other Kings before him He denyed to pay Tribute to the Assirians and sent to the King of Egypt to haue his ayde agaynst them wherefore Salmanasar King of Assiria came against Hosea and besieged him in Samaria thrée yeares and in the ende wanne the Citie destroyed his kingdome and ledde Hosea and all his people captine into Assiria Thus was Israel nowe deliuered into the handes of spoylers for their wickednesse which the Lorde had long suffred ¶ Hosea a Sauiour or health 4. Reg. 22. d. Hulda the wyfe of Sallum was a Prophetesse dwelling in Ierusalem in a place called the house of doctrine To whome Iosia King of Iuda sent certayne messengers to inquire of the Lorde for him and hys people concerning the booke of the Lawe which was founde in the Temple and red before him and when they had done their message the Prophetesse made aunswere saying Go and tell the man that sent you to me Thus sayth the Lorde beholde I will bring euill vpon this place and vpon the inhabiters thereof euen all the wordes of the booke which the King of Iuda hath readde bicause they haue forsaken me and haue burnt incense to other gods to anger me with all the works of their hands My wrath also shall be kindled agaynst this place and shall not be quenched But to the King of Iuda who sent you to inquire of the Lorde so shall ye say vnto him Thus sayth the Lorde God of Israel the wordes that thou hast heard shall come to passe But bicause that thine hart did melt and thou hast humbled thy selfe before the Lorde when thou heardest what I spake agaynst this place and against the inhabiters of the same howe they shoulde be destroyed and accursed and hast rent thy clothes and wept before mée I haue also hearde it sayth the Lorde Beholde therefore I will gather thée vnto thy fathers and thou shalt be put in thy graue in peace and thine eyes shall not sée all the euill that I will bring vpon this place And so the Messengers departed and tolde the King. ¶ Hulda the worlde ▪ or a Weesell Hur came of the Tribe of Iuda and * This is not that Hur which came of the kinrede of Caleb although they came both of the Tribe of Iuda but an other of the same name Lyra vppon 1. Par. 2. c. This Hur was husband to miriam sister to Moses was one of the Exod. 17. d. principall fathers and Rulers vnder Moses He and Aaron 24. d. 31. a. stayed vp the handes of Moses whyle the Chyldren of Israel fought with King Amalech And was also appointed with Aaron afterwarde to heare and determine all matters of controuersie among the people till Moses
grounde Which done she went and stoode in hir Tent dore and séeing Baruck pursuing Sisera she went mette hym saying Come and go with mée and I will shewe thée the man whome thou séekest and so he followed Iael who brought him into hir tent where Sisera laye dead Iair was a Gileadite borne He had .xxx. sonnes which were men of authoritie for they rode vppon .xxx. Asses colts And they had xxx Cities lying in the lande of Gilead which Cities were called the townes of Iair He reigned .xxij. yeares After whose death the Children of Israel fell to wickednesse agayne and serued Baalim and Astharoth the gods of Siria other straunge gods for the which the Lord was wroth with Israel and solde them into the hands of the Philistynes and Ammonites which oppressed them so sore by the space of .xviij. yeares That thâ—y were fayne to cry for helpe of the lord Who then sayde vnto them Dyd not I when yée cryed vnto mée deliuer you from the Egiptians the Amorites the Ammonites the Philistines the Sidonites the Amalakites and the Moabites which nacions had oppressed you And yet haue ye now forsaken me and serue theyr gods Therfore crie vnto these gods whom yée haue chosen and let them helpe you in your tribulacion for I will deliuer you no more Oh Lord said they we haue sinned doe vnto vs whatsoeuer pleaseth thée Then had the Lord so great compassion and pittie on the miserye of Israel that he styrred vp a man one Iephtah who by the power of God saued them Iames the sonne of Zebede and brother to Iohn was a poore fisherman and being in the ship with his father mending of his net Iesus came by and called him who immediately left his shippe his father and all and went after Iesus and was one of his Apostles and receyued with his brother the name of Bonarges which is to saye The sonnes of thunder Math. 10. a. Iames the lesse was the sonne of Alphâ—us and Marie sister to Marie the Lords mother And being bishop He suffered martyrdome in the. vi yere of Nero. of Ierusalem he wrote to the Iewes that were scattered abroade after the persecution and death of Steuen Instructing them with sundry precepts howe to order their lyues 2 Tim. 3. b. Iannes and Iambres were twoo false Sorcerers of Egypt who in the time of Moses with their enchantments Exo. 7. b. went about to put those miraculous woonders out of credence that Moses by the power of God did And euen as they withstoode Moses so do the aduersaries of the Gospell at this day and euer will resist the truth vnder a certaine false pretence of godlynesse Gen. 9. d. Iapheth was the youngest of Noes thrée sonnes who being enformed of his fathers vnséemely lying a The nations that came of his children Of Gomer came the Italians Of Magog the Scitians of them the Turkes Of Madai the Medes Of Iauan the Greekes Of Tubal the Spanyards Of Mosoch the Moscouites and of Tiras the Thracians Lanquet sléepe in his Tent tooke a garment and bare it betwene him and Sem on their shoulders and comming toward their father ashamed to looke on his nakednesse tourned their faces backwarde and so couered their fathers priuiâ—ies For the which déede Noe hauing knowledge thereof blessed them saying to Iapheth on this wise God shall enlarge Iapheth and he shall dwell in the Tentes of Sem and Canaan shall be their seruant ¶ Iapheth perswading or entycing Iairus was * Mark. 5. c. d one of the Rulers of the Synagoge among the Iewes whose daughter of the age of twelue yeares lay sicke and at the poynt of death And hearing of the fame of Iesus went and fell downe at his féete beséeching him that he would come home to his house lay his hande vpon his daughter that by the touching therof she might be safe and lyue And while there was an occasion giuen whereby to reforme the vnperfect fayth of the Ruler and that by the ensample of a woman diseased with an issue of bloude .xij. yeares there came certaine * Luk. 8. f. g. messengers from the Rulers house which sayde vnto him that his daughter was deade wherefore it shoulde not néede to trouble the Maister anye further Then Iesus perceyuing the Ruler to be as a man in dispayre sayde vnto him Be not afrayde for although thy daughter be deade in déede onely beléeue and thy daughter shall liue And so Iesus went home to the Rulers house and raised vp his daughter from death to life ¶ Iairus Lightning or being lightned Gen. 5. d. Iared was the sonne of Mahalaleel who liued an hundred sixtie and two yeares and then begat Henoch and liued after that eyght hundred yeares and begat sonnes and daughters And when he had liued in all nine hundred sixtie and two yeares he dyed ¶ Iared Commaunding or descending 2. Mac. b. 4. cap. Iason was a wicked man and so desirous of honor that he laboured his owne brother Onias out of the hye Priestes office promising Antiochus the King to gyue him for the same thrée hundred and thrée score talentes of siluer and of another rent foure score And also if the King woulde licence him to set vp a place for exercise a place for the youth and to name them of Ierusalem Antiochians he promised an hundred and fiftie Talents And when these things was graunted to Iason and that he had got the superioritie he beganne immediately to drawe his kinsmen to the customes of the heathen abolishing the lawes and priuiledges of the Iewes he brought in newe statutes contrary to the lawe of god So that thorowe the exceeding wickednesse of this vngodly man Iason the people had a great desire to follow the maner of the Gentyles The Priestes also had no lust in seruing the Lorde but in casting the stone and such wanton sportes Nowe after thrée yeres when Iason shoulde paye the King his money which he had promised for his brothers office he sent it by one whome he most trusted called Menclaus who gate the office from Iason as appeareth more plainly in his storie Then Iason being thus deceyued by Menelaus was fayne to flye into the lande of the Ammonites remayning there till he might spye a time to be reuenged And when hée hearde the rumor that went abrode of Antiochus death he gat him a bonde of men to the number of a thousande or mo and came sodenlye vppon the Citie killing and slaying his owne Citizens without mercie regarding neyther kinne nor friende But neuerthelesse when he coulde not spéede of his purpose he fledde into the lande of the Ammonites againe Where in the ende it came to this poynt that he was accused to Areta King of the Arabians and so abhorred of all men and he was pursued from Citie to Citie and driuen into Egypt And going from thence to the Lacedemonians thinking by
reason of kinred to haue had some succour of them he was not regarded but suffered to perishe in a straunge land no man mourning for him nor putting him into hys graue ¶ Iason He that maketh whole a Phisition Iecksan looke Iocsan 4. Reg. 23. f. Iehoahas the sonne of Iosias was .xxiij. yeare olde when he began to reygne ouer Iuda and had not reygned thrée moneths or that Pharao Necho King of Egipt came and put him downe and set vp his brother in hys steade And put the lande to a tribute of an hundred Talents of Siluer and one of Golde and caryed Iehoahas away into Egypt where he dyed ¶ Iehoahas The possession of the Lorde 4. Reg. 23. g. 24. a. Iehoakym the sonne of Iosias was .xxv. yeares of age when he began to reygne ouer Iuda and dyd that which was euill in the sight of the Lorde His name was chaunged from Eliakim to Iehoakym by Pharao Necho King of Egypt which came and deposed his brother This Kyng dyed in the way as they led him prisoner into Babilon Reade Ieremie 22. e. Iehoahas and made him King in his steade and mersced the lande as before is sayde in Iehoahas For the payment of which money Iehoakym taxed the land and leuyed of euery man according to his habilitie and payde the money to Pharao After this came Nabuchodonosor King of Babilon and besieged Ierusalem to whome Iehoakym yéelded and serued Nabuchodonosor thrée yeares and then rebelled agaynst him into whose hande the Lorde deliuered him so that the King of Babilon tooke him and bounde him in twoo chaynes and caried him and all the vessels of the Lordes house into Babilon This King reigned a .xj. yeares ¶ Iehoakym the Rysing or aduenging of the Lorde * He is called also Iechonias Math. 1. b Iehoachin 4. Reg. 24. b. c. d. was the sonne yof Iehoakm who at the age of xviij yeares began to reigne ouer Iuda and did euill in the sight of the Lorde as his fathers before him He had not reygned thrée moneths or that the King of Babilon came and deposed him making Mathania his fathers brother King in his steade chaunging his name from Mathania to Zedekia and caryed Iehoachym away into Babilon where he remayned in pryson xxxviij yeares after euen vntill the comming of Euilmerodach King of Babilon after Nabuchodonosor hys father who had such a mynde to Iehoachym that he deliuered him out of prison and exalted him aboue all the Princes in Babilon and fedde him at his owne table all the dayes of his lyfe ¶ Iehoachin the Resurrection of the Lorde 4. Reg. 13. a. b. c. Iehoahas the sonne of Iehu began his reygne ouer Israel in the .xxiij. yeare of the reygne of Ioas the sonne of Ahaziahu King of Iuda and walked so wickedly in the sinnes of Ieroboam by worshipping the Calues which he had erected that God deliuered him into the handes of Hazael and his sonne Benhadad Kinges of Siria which destroyed the people of Israel and vexed them so sore that they made the Israelites like threshed dust yet neuerthelesse when Iehoahas humbled himselfe and besought the Lord he hearde him and had such pitie compassion on the misery of Israel that he deliuered him out of the Sirians subiection which had brought him so lowe that they had left him but fiftie horsemen ten Charets and ten thousande footemen He reygned xvij yeares and then dyed and was buryed in Samaria leauing behinde him his sonne Ioas to reigne in his steade ¶ Iehoahas Apprehending possesing or seeyng 4. Reg. 11. ca. Iehoiada was the hye Byshop and Priest in the dayes of Ahaziahu King of Iuda whose daughter he maryed named Iehosabeth He preserued Ioas the yongest sonne of Ahaziahu his father in lawe sixe yeares in the Lordes house and in the seauenth yeare he brought him forth and proclaimed him king And being his gouernour and protectour trayned him vp in all godlynesse and vertue So that so long as Iehoiada liued the King 2. Par. 24. d. walked in all the wayes of the Lorde from the which he swarued after the death of this good Bishop Iehoiada Who liued 130. yeares and for his faythfulnesse towardes God and his people was most honorablye buried in the Citie of Dauid among the Kings ¶ Iehoiada the Knowledge of the Lorde 4. Reg. 11. a. Iehosabeth was the daughter of Ahaziahu King of Iuda and wyfe to Iehoiada the hie Bishop of the Iewes 2. Par. 22. d. And when Atthalia hir Graundmother went about to destroy the Kings séede shée stole awaye Ioas hir yoongest brother from among the Kings sonnes and hid both him and his Nurse in hir owne Chamber with hir husbands consent the space of .vj. yeares and so preserued him that he perished not with the reast of hir brethren ¶ Iehosabeth the fulnesse of the Lorde 4. Reg. 9 ca. Iehu the sonne of Nimsi was annoynted King ouer Israel by Eliseus the Prophet for to destroye the house of Achab his mayster And being commaunded to go about it with spéede he began first with Ioram which lay at Iezrael to be healed of his wounds which the Sirians had giuen him And as Iehu was comming thitherward the watchman espying a company comming toward the Citie tolde the King who then sent out an horseman to méete them and to knowe whether they came peaceably or no. And when the Messenger came to Iehu he sayde The King woulde knowe whether it be peace or no What hast thou to doe with peace quoth Iehu turne thée behinde me and so the messenger turned behynde Iehu and went backe no more and likewyse the second Then the watchman tolde the King that he thought by the dryuing of the Charret it shoulde be Iehu that was comming for he driueth quoth he as he were mad The King hearing that he made him readye to warre and tooke Ahaziahu King of Iuda with him and went toward Iehu and met him in the furlong of Naboth saying is There was a Prophete also called Iehu the sonne of Hanani which prophecied of the destruction of Baasa King of Israel and his posterity Read. 3. Reg. 16. a. b. it peace Iehu or no What peace should it be quoth he so long as the whooredomes of thy mother Iezabel hir witchcrafts are so great and so in the Battell Iehu shot Ioram to the heart with an arrow killed him And fell vpon Ahaziahu and slue him also And so procéeding forth to Iezrael he came thither and found Iezabel looking out at a windowe And as he demaunded of the companye about hir who was on his side and woulde for his sake cast hir downe two or thrée of hir Chamberlaines threw hir out at the windowe and brake hir necke notwithstanding bicause she was a Kings daughter he caused hir to be buryed Then he sent his letters to Samaria 10. cap. commaūding those which had the gouernance of Achabs seauentie sonnes
to kill them all and to bring their heades on the next morrowe to Iezrael And when they for feare had fulfilled his commaundement and brought their heades to him Iehu fell vpon the murtherers and slue them also And in the waye to Samaria he slue the brethren of Ahaziahu euen fortie and two which were going to visite Achabs sonnes Finally he trained all the Priests of Baal into the Temple of Baal and there slue them euery one conuerted the temple to a Iakes house And now when Iehu had left neyther Priest Kinseman nor any that fauoured Achab aliue the Lord for his well dooing made him this promise that his séede shoulde sit on the seate of Israel vntill the fourth generation But notwithstanding that Iehu had thus seuerely punished the vice of Idolatrie in Achabs posteritie yet he himselfe committed the same in worshipping the golden Calues and caused Israel to sinne as other before him had done He reygned .xxviij. yeares ¶ Iehu He himselfe or that which is Iudic. 11. cap. Iephtah was the sonne of Gilead base borne whose brethren which were legittimate thrust him out of their companie and so hated him that they coulde not suffer him to remayne among them wherfore Iephtah departed and fled into the lande of Tob where vnto him resorted all naughtie and light persons Nowe in the meane time that Iephtah was thus a straunger from his brethren the Ammonites made sore warre agaynst the Israelites so that they were in great ieoperdie and feare to be ouercome of them Then the Elders of Gilead considering Iephtah to be a strong and a valiant man went to Tob where he laye to intreate him to be their Captayne against the Ammonites Howe commeth thys quoth Iephtah that ye come to me in the time of your trouble did ye not hate me and * Often tymes those things which men reiect God chooseth to doe greater enterprises by expell me out of my fathers house Therefore sayde they are we turned to thée that thou mayest go with vs and be our heade and ruler But will ye promise nowe quoth Iephtah that when the Lorde shall deliuer the Ammonites into my hande ye will make me then your heade and gouernour They sayde yea And so he went with the Elders who brought him to Mizpa and being there made and confirmed their heade and Ruler he sent his messengers to the King of Ammon demauÌ„ding what cause he had to striue with Israel who answered and sayde Bicause they tooke away my countrie when they came from Egypt which if they will now restore agayne I will cease from warre Then Iephtah sent him worde agayne that Israel tooke not his lande from him but comming from Egypt and passing through the wildernesse euen to the redde Sea they remayned at Cades and sent to Sehon King of the Ammorites to suffer them quietlye to passe thorowe his Countrie And bicause he woulde not shewe them this kyndenesse the Lorde deliuered both him and his land into their hands and shall they dispossesse themselues of that which the Lord hath giuen them Nay not so Looke what people Chamos thy God driueth out that land possesse thou whatsoeuer nation the Lord our God expelleth that will we enioy Art thou better than Balac King of Moab did he not stryue with Israel and fight agaynst them all the whyle they laye in Hesbon and there about 300. yeares and why didst thou not recouer thy lande in all that space Thou doest mée wrong to warre against me for I haue not offended thée and therfore the Lorde be Iudge betwéene thée and me But when Iephtah perceyued the Ammonites not to regarde his words he prepared his armie to set vpon them And before his going made this vowe vnto the Lorde That if he did deliuer the Ammonites into his hande the first thing that met him out of his doores at his returne home againe shoulde be the Lordes and he woulde offer it vp vnto him for a burnt offering And when he had subdued the Ammonites and was comming homewarde to hys house the first thing that met him out at his doores was his owne daughter who for ioye of hir fathers victorie came against him with Timbrels and daunces Then Iephtah séeing his onely chylde come agaynst him with a companie of women after hir he rent his clothes and sayde Alas my daughter thou hast brought me lowe and art one of them that doe trouble mée for I haue opened my mouth vnto the Lorde and cannot go backe To whome she sayde Oh my father if thou hast promysed to the Lorde then forasmuch as the Lord hath auenged thée and giuen thée victorie ouer thine enimies doe with me according to thy promise But yet this one thing I shall desire of thée to spare me for two monthes that I may go downe to the Mountaynes and there with my my fellowes * For it was counted as a shame in Israel to dye without children bewayle my Virginitie Which done she returned to hir father who did with hir according as he had vowed vnto the Lorde After this the Ephraites fell at deâ—iance with Iephtah bicause he had not called them to take his part against the Ammonites and for this matter was a fielde pitched betwéene them and the Gileadites and a great battell foughten in the which the Ephraites were put to flight and séeking to haue escaped ouer Iordan the Gileadites had preuented them and stopped the passage that no Ephraite shoulde escape that way And to knowe who was an Ephraite and who was not the Gileadites vsed this policie if any preased to go euer the water they woulde bidde him say * Schibboleth signifieth the fall of waters or an eare of corne Schybboleth and as many as coulde not say Schibboleth they slue him for by that they knewe he was au Ephraite for the Ephraites coulde not sounde nor say Schibboleth but Sibboleth And so were slaine of the Ephraites that daye two and twentie thousande Iephtah vuled Israel vj. yeares and dyed ¶ Iephtah Opening Iere. 1. 2. Ieremy was the sonne of Helkia whome some thinke to be he that founde out the booke of the lawe and gaue it to Iosia He was borne in a citie called Anathoth Epiphanius wryteth that this Prophet Ieremy was slayne of hys people at a citie in Egipt called â—aphnis in the Countrie of Beniamin and by the commaundement of God began very yong to prophecie that is in the .xiij. yeare of Iosias and continued .xviij. yeares vnder the saide King and thrée monthes vnder Iehoahas and vnder Iehoakym .xi. yeares and thrée monthes vnder Iehoachin and vnder Zedekia .xi. yeares vnto the time they were caried away into Babilon So that the tyme amounteth to aboue fortie yeares beside the time that he prophecied after the captiuitie This storie is drawne out of Geneua in the Argument before the booke of Ieremie the Prophet ¶ Ieremy the Maiestie or highnesse of the Lorde Iudic. 6.
by Dauids authoritie he fled to the Tabernacle of the Lorde out of the which he woulde not depart but catching holde on the * The holynesse of the place ought not to saue the wilfull murther Exo. 21. b. corners of the Aultar sayde he woulde euen in that place dye Then Salomon hearing thereof commaunded Banaihahu to go and kill him euen there for the bloude of Abner and Amasa which he had shed causelesse And so was Ioab slayne in the Tabernacle and caried out and buried in his owne house in the wildernesse ¶ Ioab willing â–ª or voluntarie Luk. 8. a. 24 a Ioanna the wyfe of Chusa Herodes Stewarde was a godly Woman and ministred vnto Christ of hir substance while he liued And after he had suffered his passion she went with other women to séeke him at hys Sepulchre And being tolde by the Aungels that he was not there returned to the Apostles to bring them tydings of his resurrection which séemed to them but feyned things and therefore beléeued them not ¶ Ioanna the grace of the Lorde or the Lordes gift or the Lordes mercy .6 Isachar onusto cur sim simulatus asello Inque manu signet quid ligo scire capis Finibus exiguis coÌ„tentus ferre lahores Me iuuat et collo non recusare iugum 4. Reg. 13. b. c. d. Ioas the sonne of Iehoahas began his reygne ouer Israel in the .xxxvij. yeare of Ioas King of Iuda and did euil in the sight of the Lord grieuing him with the sinnes of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebab Of the great victorie 2. Par. 25. c. f. g. the Lorde gaue Ioas against Amasiah King of Iuda reade his storie And howe he visited Elizeus the Prophete in his sicknesse reade the last ende of his story also This King reygned .xvi. yeares and dyed leauing Ieroboam his sonne to take his place Iob. 1. cap. Iob was a perfect iust man dwelling in the lande of Hus and one that feared God who gaue vnto him seauen sonnes and thrée daughters and also endued him with great riches His substance was .7000 shéepe .3000 Camels .500 yoake of Oxen 500. she Camels and a very great housholde So that he was one of the moste principall men among all them of the East Countrie He was so carefull ouer his sonnes least in their banketting they had committed some offence or bene vnthankfull to God in their heartes that he dayly woulde sanctifie them and offer for euerye one a burnt offering vnto the Lorde he was a man also replenished with such pacience that Sathan with all his temptacions coulde not mooue him out of the same for when worde was brought him how that the Sabes had taken away his Oxen and slayne his seruants and that the Lorde had consumed all his shéepe with fire and that the Chaldeys had taken away his Camels and howe that all his Children were slaine in their eldest brothers house which the lâ—ynde blewe downe vppon them he made no more a doe but said Naked came I cut of my mothers wombe and naked shall I returne agayne The Lorde gaue and the Lorde hath taken away euen as it hath pleased the Lorde so is it come to 2. cap. passe blessed be the name of the Lorde Also when Satan by the permission of God had plagued Iob with extreme sores euen from the sole of the foote to the crowne of his heade so that he sate vpon the grounde in dust and ashes scraping off the filth of his sores with a potsherde and being also inwardly afflicted with the sharpe temptacion of his wife which tempted him to blaspheme God he tooke all in good woorth reproouing his wife for hir foolishe talking for shall we quoth he receyue good at the hande of God and not receyue euill not so I am as well content to suffer this aduersitie sent of the Lorde as I was to receyue the prosperitie he gaue me before And so Iob continued in his perfitenesse and was at the last Iob. 42. c. d. restored to as manye children as he had before and to double riches He liued an hundred and fortie yeares and sawe his chylders chyldren to the fourth generation before he dyed ¶ Iob Sorrowfull or hated Iochebed was the daughter of Leuy and * She was Amrams fathers sister which kynde of mariage was after in the lawe forbidden Leuit 18. borne in Exod. 6. c. Num. 26. g. Egipt Hir husbandes name was Amram to whom she bare thrée children Aaron Moses and a daughter called Miriam ¶ Iochebed Glorious Iocsan was the sonne ‡ Gen. 25. a. of Abraham begotten of his wife Cetura his twoo children were called the one Seba and the other Dedan ¶ Iocsan Hardnesse or Offence Ioel the sonne of Phatuel was * Ioel. 1. 2. 3. cap. an holy Prophet and prophecied against the Iewes exhorting the Priests ‡ 1. Par. 1. c. to prayer and fasting for the misery that was comming at hande And giuing them warning of the comming and crueltie of their enimies mooued them to turne and conuert And last of all he setteth out the Iudgement of God against the enimies of his people ¶ Ioel willing or beginning Iere. 40. d. Iohanan the sonne of Cariah Prophecied to Gedaliah whom Nabuchodonosor King of Babilon had made gouernour ouer the people that he left at Ierusalem that Ismael the sonne of Nathaniah by the procurement of Baal King of the Ammonites shoulde kill hym which came so to passe in déede as ye shall reade in the storye of Gedaliah After whose death Iohanan with the reast of 41. ca. 42. ca. the Captaynes ouer the Iewes persecuted Ismael and recouered from him all the people which he had caryed awaye and put Ismael to flight Then Iohanan fearing the Chaldeys bicause of the death of Gedaliah consulted with the reast of the Captaynes and agréede to conueigh themselues all the people into Egipt and asked counsell of Ieremie the Prophete who had dwelt quietlye in the lande vnder Gedaliah whither it were best so to doe or no who made them aunswere that if they went into Egipt they shoulde perishe but if they taryed still in the lande God would surely so defende them that the Chaldeys 43. a. shoulde not hurt them yet they of a prowde minde despising the counsell of Ieremie and taking his wordes for lyes ledde the people awaye into Egipt to their vtter destruction Luke 1. cap. Iohn Baptist the sonne of Zacharye was sanctified in the wombe of Elizabeth his mother and ordayned of God to be an abstayner and to go before the Lord in the spirite and power of Helias to prepare his waye and make ready a perfect people vnto him thorowe preaching the amendement of life and baptizing in the water Luk. 3. a. b. c. d of repentaunce And was a man of so great perfection and holinesse of life that the people stoode in a doubt whither that he were
Countrey and the cause of my flying to Tharsus that thou wast a mercyfull God full of compassion long suffering and of great goodnesse and wouldest repent thée of the euill And now O Lord forasmuch as I am founde false in my sayings take I beséeche thée my lyfe from mée for I had rather dye than lyue And so Ionas got him out of the Citie and made him a booth on the East side thereof And as he sate vnder the shadow of his booth to sée what shoulde become of the Citie the Lord caused a wylde Vine to spring ouer his heade to giue him more shadowe to defende the heate of the Sunne from him whereof Ionas was very glad But on the next morrowe when he perceyued the Vyne withered awaye and that for lacke of the shadowe thereof he waxed faynt thorow the feruent heate of the Sunne which burned him so sore he wished in himselfe that he might die Then sayde the Lorde to Ionas doest thou well to be angrie for the wylde Vine Yea sayde he very well euen vnto death If thou than quoth the Lord hast had pittie vpon the wylde vine whereon thou bestowedst no labour nor madest it growe which sprang vp in one night and perished in an other Howe much more ought I to haue pittie vppon Niniue that great Citie wherein are sixe score thousande persons that cannot discerne betwéene their right hande and their left beside much cattell And thus was Ionas reprooued of God for his disobedience ¶ Ionas a Doue 1. Reg. 13. a. Ionathas the sonne of King Saule was a valiant man in all his actes who helped his father so mightily agaynst 14. cap. the Philistynes that at the first brunt he bette downe the strongest holde they had And after that the Philistynes being pitched in Michmas into the which passage lay two sharpe rockes He sayde to his Armour bearer come and let vs go ouer toward the Philistynes garrison peraduenture the Lorde will worke with vs for it is no harde thing with him to saue with many or with fewe we will go ouer and shewe our selues to these vncircumcised * Ionathas spake this by the spirite of Prophecie And if they saye on this wyse vnto vs Tarie vntill we come vnto you then will we stande still and not remooue But if they say come vp vnto vs then will we go vp for the Lorde hath surely deliuered them into our hands and this shall be a signe vnto vs So they went without the knowledge of Saul and shewed themselues vnto the Philistynes who when they sawe them sayde in derision sée howe the Ebrues are crept out of the holes wherein they had hydde themselues but the watchmen sayde vnto them come vp vnto vs and we will shewe you a thing Then sayde Ionathas to his Armour bearer come vp after me for the Lorde hath deliuered them into the handes of Israel And so Ionathas clammered vp the rocke vpon his handes and féete and his Armour bearer after him And when the Philistines sawe the face of Ionathas they were so sodeinly smytten with feare that they fell downe before him so that Ionathas and his man slue twentie of them and put all the reast to flight And when the watchmen of Saul saw the Philistynes scattered abrode and smitten downe as they went they tolde it to the King who caused a search to be made to knowe who was gone out of the hoste and not a man was founde lacking saue Ionathas and hys Armour bearer Then Saule with all his hoste folowed after the Philistynes charging the people which had long bene without sustenance on paine of death no man to touch any foode vntill he were that day auenged on his enimies And so the people being sore opprest with hunger and comming into a woode where much Hony laye vpon the grounde durst not for their liues comfort themselues with one droppe thereof Then Ionathas being faint and not knowing the charge of his father tasted a little hony with the ende of his rodde and was greatlye comforted and refreshed therewith And being told what daunger he had incurred for breaking his fathers commaundement he sayde My Father hath troubled the lande in making such an extreme lawe for séeing that I haue receyued my strength agayne by tasting a little of this hony howe much more shoulde the people if they had eaten of the spoile of their enimies which they found haue bene the stronger and more able to haue made a greater slaughter among the Philistynes than they haue done But neuerthelesse for this offence of Ionathas lottes were cast and Ionathas iudged to suffer death wherevpon the people cryed out to Saule saying Shall Ionathas dye which hath so mightily defended Israel God forbid as truely as the Lorde liueth there shall not one heaire of his heade fall vnto the grounde for he hath wrought with God this day And so the people deliuered Ionathas After this Ionathas fell into such loue and amitie with Dauid whome Saule his father persecuted that he made a bonde with him which was neuer dissolued betwéene them And at his first acquaintance with Dauid he put off his robe and gaue it to him with hys other garments euen to his sworde Bowe and Girdle And whatsoeuer from that day forth was sayde done or wrought by Saule his father agaynst Dauid that woulde Ionathas finde the meanes to staye and pacifie whereby many times he saued Dauid from the cruelty of Saule and so continued his faythfull friende during his lyfe Finally in battell with his father against the Philistynes he was slayne ¶ Ionathas the gift of the Pigeon or Doue 1. Mac. 2. 2. Ionathas the yoongest sonne of Mathathias and brother to Iudas Machabeus did so valiauntly behaue 9. c. himselfe in the warres that the Iewes after the death of Iudas his brother made him their chiefe gouernour who at length vanquished Bachides Whereby his 10. cap. same so encreased that both Demetrius and Alexander sought to be in league with him But forsomuch as Demetrius had vexed Israel before Ionathas mistrusting Demetrius forsooke his offer and agréed to Alexander who had alwayes bene his friende and so continued as his storie declareth After this he vanquished Appolonius Captayne of Demetrius hoste brent the Citie of Azotus with the Temple of Dagon subdued Ascalon and with great victorie returned to Ierusalem where for his worthye prowesse he receyued a coller of golde from Alexander Finallye after long prosperitie in 12. f. g. 13. c. warres he was betrayed by one Triphon in the Citie of Ptolomais and afterwarde most piteously put to death ¶ Of Ionathas sonne of Abiathar the Priest looke in the storie of Ahimaaz the sonne of Sadoch 2. Reg. 21. d. Ionathas the sonne of Simea Dauids brother encountred with a mightie Gyant who had on euery hande sixe fingers and on euery foote so many toes and slue him 4. Reg. 3. cap. Ioram the sonne of Achab
foorth to pray And as Holofernes laye stretched along vpon his bed ouercome with Wyne Iudith stoode by his beddes syde and prayed on this wise O Lorde God of all power strengthen me and haue respect vnto the workes of my handes in this houre that thou mayst set vp thy citie of Ierusalem like as thou hast promised O graunt that by thée I may performe the thing which I haue deuised and so tooke downe his swoorde and holding him fast by the heaire of his head sayde Strengthen mée O Lorde God of Israel in this houre and with that smote off his head and rolled the deade bodye asyde and got hir foorth to hir mayde and put the headde in hir Wallet went foorth togithers as though they had gone as their custome was to praye And so passing by the hoste and comming nyghe to the Citie of Bethulia she called to the watchmen to open the gate for God is with vs quoth she and hath shewed his power in Israel And when the gates were set open the people receyued hir yoong and olde with such ioye as neuer the lyke was séene Then sayde Iudith Oh prayse yée the Lorde and giue thankes vnto our God which hath not taken away his mercy from the house of Israel but hath destroyed our enimies this night by my hande And beholde here his head whome the Lorde hath slayne by mée his minister and returned his handmayde without any reproche of vylanie wherefore giue praise and thanks to our God ▪ whose mercye endureth for euer Nowe take the head and hange it vpon the hyest place of your walles and in the morning when the Sunne appeareth go foorth with your weapons like valiaunt men and make as though yée woulde set vpon your enimies who will then prepare them to Armour But when they shall go to rayse vp their Captayne and finde hym without a heade there will such a fearefulnesse fall vpon them that euery man will séeke to saue himselfe by flying then doe yée followe them without all care for God hath deliuered them into your handes And so the Israelites followed the Assirians which kept no order and siue them downe right And when they had slayne all their enimies and gathered vp the spoyle they gaue the Tent of Holofernes and all that belonged to hym vnto Iudith by whome God had so mightyly wrought their deliueraunce had hir in great honour all the dayes of hir lyfe who at the age of an hundred and fiue yeares dyed and was most honorably buryed in Bethulia beside hir husbande ¶ Iudith he that prayseth or confesseth Gen. 26. g. ¶ Iudith the daughter of Bery an Hethite was wyfe to Esau the sonne of Isaac Act. 1. 7. a. Iulius was an vnder Captaine of the bande of Augustus to whome Paule with other prisoners were committed to be caryed to Rome and of him gentlye intreated ¶ Iulius Downe or downie and full of fine beares K. KEdorlaomor was King of Elam Who with thrée Kings mo that tooke his part fought with the King of Sodome and the King of Gomorra and other thrée on their parties which fiue kings had ben .xij. yeres in subiection vnder him in the valley of Siddim put them to flight and spoiled the cities of Sodome and Gomorra where they founde Lot Abrahams brothers sonne and caried him away with all the goodes of Sodome and Gomorra which goodes with Lot also were recouered againe by Abraham Ketura was Abrahams wyfe who bare vnto hym sixe sonnes L. LAban the sonne of Bethuel called also Nahor Abrahams brother had two daughters the one named Lea and the other Rachel which two he marryed to Iacob his sisters Sonne as in the storie of Iacob is at large set forth Lamech the sonne of Mathuselah came of the generation of Cain and was the first man that tooke him two Wyues whereby the lawfull institution of mariage which is that twoo shoulde be one fleshe was first in him corrupted His twoo wyues were called Ada Zilla By Ada he had twoo sonnes Iubal and Tubal By Zilla one sonne called Tubalcain and a daughter called Noema He siue Cain but not willingly and tolde his wiues saying I haue slaine a man vnto the wounding of my selfe and a yoong man vnto mine owne punishment If Cain shall be auenged seauen folde truely Lamech seauentie times seauen folde When Lamech had liued 182. yeres he begotte a sonne and called his name Noe of whome he prophecied saying This shall comfort vs from the workes and labours of our handes in the earth which the Lord hath cursed He liued 777. yeres and dyed Lazarus was a certaine man dwelling in the towne of Bethania which towne pertayned to him and his sisters called Martha and Marie Magdalene And being sicke on a time his sister Marie sent vnto Iesus saying Oh Lorde beholde he whome thou loouest is sicke At whose request Iesus when he sawe his time tooke his iourney into Iewrie to visite his friende Lazarus who was deade and buried foure dayes before his comming Then Iesus who was not ignorant of that which was done went to his graue wherein they had layde him and sayde Lazarus come forth And forthwithall he came out of his graue bounde hande and foote with his graue clothes vpon him and a napkin bounde about his face who being vntyed came forth of his clothes as whole and as lustie as euer he was in all his lyfe For the which myracle the Iewes sought not onely how they might put Iesus to death but Lazarus also vppon whome the myracle was done bicause that for his sake manye of the Iewes went awaye and beléeued on Iesus After this about a sixe dayes before the feast of Easter came Iesus to Bethania againe where they had prepared him a supper at the which Martha serued him but Lazarus sate at the Table with him as other did Lazarus the poore begger which laye at the great mans gate full of botches and sores euen ready to die for hunger coulde not be relieued with so much as one crum of the scrappes which fell from the rich mannes boorde when he made his earnest peticion for them where as the dogs were fed with great lumpes cantels of good bread yea he found more fauour and gentlenesse with the dogs than with the rich man For where as the rich glutton would refresh the poore begger with nothing of all his delicious and sumptuous fare yet the hungry dogges came and licked his sores But when it chaunced this begger to die he was caried by the Angels into Abrahams bosome And contrarywise the rich man then dying also being sumptuouslye buried was caryed into hell where in his torments he lifted vp his eies saw Abraham a farre of Lazarus in his bosome vnto whom he cryed saying O father Abraham haue mercy vpon me and send Lazarus hither that he may but dip the top
of Israel but forget them and put them cleane out of remembraunce Lornhama not obtayning Mercy S LVCAS EVANGELISTA Acta Apost Cap. 9. SAVLE SAVLE QVID ME PERSEQVERIS DOMINE QVID ME VIS FACERE ET DOMINâ— IHS Collo 4. d. Luke was a Phisition borne in the citie of Antioche 2. Tim. 4. c. and became Saint Pauls Disciple and companion in all Luke liued 84. yeares and was buried at Constautinople his traueyles He wrote the volume of his Gospell as he had learned of Paule and of the other Apostles as he reporteth himselfe in the beginning of the same worke saying As they haue deliuered them to vs which from the beginning saw them with their eyes and were ministers of the thinges that they declared But the volume called the Actes of the Apostles he composed as he had séene the story whereof came euen to Paules tyme being and tarying twoo yeares at Rome where the woorke was finished ¶ Luke his Resurrection M. MAacha the daughter of Thalmar king of Gessur was King Dauids wyfe and mother to Absalom Maacha the daughter of Absalom was wyfe to Roboam and Mother to Abia which Abia his father Roboam ordayned to raigne after hym for the loue that he bare to Maacha his mother aboue all the reast of his wyues â–ª Reade the storye of Asa Machabeus was the thirde sonne of Mathathias and after his fathers death he was made Ruler ouer the Iewes Who in the defence of the holye lawes fought most manfully against Goddes enimies during his lyfe Machir was the sonne of Amiel of Lodebar and a great friende to Miphiboseth the sonne of Ionathas who kept him in his house tyll King Dauid sent for hym to his preferment Manahen the Sonne of Eady besieged Sallum King of Israel in Samaria and slue him whose Kingdome he possessed and began his raygne in the nyne and thirtie yeare of Azariahu King of Iuda And because the Citie of Tiphsah woulde not receyue him as there he destroyed the Citie and all that was within it And for this great wickednesse and tyrannie God styrred vp Phul King of Assiria agaynst him vnto whom Manahen gaue a thousande Talents of siluer to breake vp his warres which money he exacted of his people taking of euerye man of substannce fiftie Sicles He raygned ten yeares leauing Pekahia his sonne to succéede him Manahen which was brought vp of a Childe with Herode and his playsere at the last forsooke him and followed Christ Manasses the sonne of Hezekia was twelue yeare olde when he began his raygne ouer Iuda and wrought much euill before the Lorde For he buylt vp the hye places agayne which his father had destroyed He erected vp Altars for Baal and made Groues as Achab dyd and woorshipped all the hoste of heauen and serued them He offered his children in fire as the maner of the Gentyles was and gaue himselfe to witchcraft and Sorcerye and fauoured Soothsayers and such as vsed familiar spirits He set the Image of the groue in the house where the Lorde sayde he woulde put his name for euer Ouer and beyonde all these euils he shed so much innocent bloude that all Ierusalem was replenished from corner to corner wrought more wickednesse than dyd all the Amorites Wherefore the Lorde gaue hym ouer into the handes of the King of Assiria who tooke Manasses and bounde him with twoo cheynes and caryed him to Babilon Where at the last he so humbled him selfe to the Lorde that he had compassion vpon hym and restored him to his Kingdome agayne Who after that became a good man and put downe all such abhominacions as he before had mayntayned and reygned fiue an fiftie yeres leauing Amon his sonne to succéede Mardocheus the sonne of Iair was a Iew borne dwelling in the Citie of Susan and one of them which were caryed away from Ierusalem with Iechonia King of Iuda by Nabuchodonosor into Babilon This man had a fayre Damosell in his house named Hester his vncles daughter whose Father and Mother being dead he brought vp as his owne daughter so long till at last for hir bewtie fayrenesse she was taken vp by the Kinges commission with other mo had to the Court there to be brought vp at the Kings charges in an house appointed for that purpose the King had called them for And euery day would Mardocheus walke before the womens house to he are and know how Hester dyd what should become of hir whose lotte in processe was to be made Quéene in the steade of Vasthi late deposed And on a time as Mardocheus sate in the Kings gate he heard an ynckling of certaine treason conspired against the Kings owne person by twoo of his pryuie Chamber Bigthan and There 's which treason he caused Hester to open vnto the King and to certifie his grace thereof in his name Vpon whose certification inquirie being made founde true the conspiratours were put to death and the matter Registred in Chronicle for a remembrance of their acte After this bycause Mardocheus would doe no reuerence to Haman both he and the Iewes shoulde all haue béene slayne in one daye Whereof Mardocheus hauing knowledge he rent his clothes and put on mourning apparell and so ranne thorow the Citie of Susan where their destruction was denised Crying out vntill he came to the Kinges gate where he might not be suffered to enter in that araye Then Hester hearing thereof was sore astonished and sent him other rayment to put on But he refusing the rayment declared vnto the messenger the whole effect of Hamans commission and working and tooke him a Copye of the same to giue to Ester charging hir to go vnto the King for the lyues and â—afegarde of hir people For who can tell quoth he whither God hath called hir to the Kingdome for that purpose or no it may be that he hath And therefore if she nowe holde hir peace the Iewes shall haue helpe from some other place and so shall she hir fathers house be vtterly destroyed And so whyle Ester went about the deliueraunce of the Iewes Mardocheus was exalted into the Kings fauour to the great reioysing of all the Iewes whose wealth he sought so long as he lyued Reade the story of Ester and Haman Marie the Virgin and mother of God whose parentes are not expressed in Scripture was affianced to a certaine good man of hir owne stocke and Tribe which was of Iuda named Ioseph And before she came to dwell with him the Angell Gabriel being sent of God came and saluted hir saying Hayle full of grace the Lorde is with thée blessed art thou among women The Virgin séeing the Angel was sore abashed at his words and mused much in hir mynde what salutation that shoulde be Then sayde the Angell feare not Mary for thou hast founde fauour with God for lo
But when Menelaus was come to the King he so craftily handled the matter with flatterie and fayre promises that he both defrauded the King of his money and Iason of his office which when he had obtained returned with an hye stomacke more lyke a cruell tyrant and the wrath of a wylde brute beast than any thing that beséemed a Priest But when the King had knowledge of all his deceyte and falshoode he discharged him agayne putting Lysimachus hys brother in hys roume Then Menelaus being thus thrust out of office wayted hys tyme to be reuenged And when he had spyed the King about his weightie affayres as in the suppression of certayne Kebels leauing Andronicus behinde him to be his Lieutenaunt and supposing then to haue a conuenient tyme he went and stole out of the Temple certayne vessels of golde and gaue them to Andronicus And after he had made him his assured friende he ministred such wicked counsell both to Andronicus and Lysimachus his brother that the one murdred Onias and the other spoiled and robbed the â–ª Temple of god Wherfore the King at his returne againe caused Andronicus to be put to death and the other the people furiouslye fell vpon him and killed him And forsomuch as Menelaus â–ª was greatlye suspected to be the chiefe causer of all this murther a Court was called and many sore complaintes layde against him Then Menelaus perceyuing himselfe in the Kings displeasure and daunger of his lawes went to Ptolomie one of the thrée Ambassadours and with money made him his friende who went to the King and so laboured the matter that he brought Menelaus into such fauour with the King againe that he was quite â–ª discharged from all accusations and his accusers condemned to death Thus thorow couetous Magistrates Menelaus remayned still in authoritie Being nowe more malicious vnto the Iewes his owne nation than euer he was As it appeared afterwarde what time as he ayded Antiochus and was his guyde to the spoyling of the Temple But at the last his falshoode came to a foule ende for Lysias which was Lorde Steward to Antiochus and chiefe Ruler of all his matters so enformed the King of his vngraciousnesse that he commaunded â–ª Menelaus who had done so much mischiefe against the Aultar of God whose fire and ashes were holy to be cast into a tower of fiftie cubites hye heaped vp with ashes and so miserably ended his lyfe Merob was the eldest Daughter of King Saule who promised hir in mariage to Dauid But or the time came that Dauid shoulde enioy hir Saule gaue hir to an other man named Adriel by whome she conceyued and bare him fiue sonnes 4. Reg. 3. cap. Mesa the King of Moab was a great Lord of shéepe And where as the Moabites had of long time payed tribute vnto the Kings of Israel euery yeare one hundred thousand Lambes with so many Rammes or Wethers in the Wooll with their fléece vpon their backes Thys King woulde paye none to Ioram the sonne of Achab for the which Ioram made warre agaynst him and ouercame him ¶ Mesa Health or the water of health or looking vpon the water Iudic. 17. cap. Micah was a certaine man dwelling in Mounte Ephraim whose mother made him an Idoll of siluer which he set vp in the house of his goddes and made an Ephod and consecrated one of his owne sonnes to be his Priestes and so continued vntill it chaunced a yong Leuite to come from Bethleem Iuda to séeke seruice Which Leuite Micah hyred for tenne siluerlings by the yeare two garments and meate and drinke And when he had hyred the Leuite he was glad saying Nowe am I sure that God will looue me séeing I haue a Leuite to my Priest At this time the Tribe of Dan forasmuch 18. cap. as the portion which Iosua gaue them was not sufficient for all their Tribe went to seeke them a place to dwell in And as they were going to the Citie of Lays they came by the house of Micah And being enformed by those men whome they had sent before to spye out the lande howe there was in the house of Micah a grauen and a molten Image they turned in thither and saluted him peaceably but at their departing they tooke hys Idols against the Leuites will perswading him that it was not so good to be a Priest vnto the house of one man as it was to be a Priest vnto a whole Tribe or kinred in Israel and so tooke him away with them also And being gone Micah made a great outcrie and followed after the children of Dan with all the power he coulde make to rescue his goddes but being perswaded to be content and to get him home least a woorse thing did happen he then perceyuing he was not able to make his partie good returned backe againe Reade the Storie of Dan. ¶ Micah who lyke our God or pouertie or the lowlynesse of the Lorde or the Lorde striking Michael the sonne of Israhia ¶ Michael who is 1. Par. 7. â— lyke the Lorde Dan. 10. c. Michael one of the chiefe Princes that was sent to comfort Daniel Iude. Michael the Archaungell which stroue agaynst the Deuill and disputed about the body of Moses Apoc. 12. b. Michael and his Aungels that fought agaynst the Dragon 3. Reg. 22. ca. Micheas the sonne of Imla was a Prophete in This was not that prophete that wrote the booke of prophecies but another of that name the dayes of King Achab and â–ª for bicause he woulde not flatter the King as the foure hundred false Prophetes had done but prophecied plainly of the Kings death he was smitten and cast in prison ¶ Micheas Poore or lowe and base 1. Reg. 18. â— f. g. Michol was the seconde daughter of King Saule whome he gaue to Dauid to be his wyfe that she might be a snare to bring him into the hands of the â–ª Philistines But Michol loued Dauid so well â–ª that he coulde not haue 19. c. his purpose that waye For when he sent men to watche his house and to sley him Michol tolde â–ª Dauid â–ª saying Except thou saue thy selfe this night to morrowe thou wilt be slayne wherefore to saue the lyfe of Dauid she let him downe at a backewindowe and layed an Image in his bedde â–ª with a pillow vnder his heade stuffed with Goates heaire and couered it with a cloth And when the men came into the house in the morning and asked for Dauid Michol sayde he was sicke â–ª The Messengers then thinking to haue caryed hym bedde and all to the King as he had commaunded went into Dauids chamber and when they came there and founde nothing else in the bedde but a blocke they were ashamed and so returned to Saule and tolde hym Thon Michâ—â— being demaunded wherefore she had so derided hym and sent his enimie awaye made hir excuse that if she had not let hym go he woulde haue
kylled hir After this hir father tooke hir from Dauid and gaue hir to * Loke in the hystorie of Psaltei howe he vsed Michol Dauids wyfe Psaltei the sonne of Lays to wyfe with whome she remayned tyll the death of Saule and then was restored agayne to Dauid by Abners meanes Finally when Dauid came dauncing before the Arke of God in his shyrte â–ª to the Citie of Dauid it chauncâ—d Michol to looke out at a window and beholding the King how he leaped and daunced before the Arke she began to despise hym in hir heart â–ª and méeting him after all thinges were done she sayde O how glorious was the King of Israel this daye which was vncouered to day in the eyes of the Maydens of his seruaunts as a foole vncouereth himselfe And for thus despising of Dauid the seruaunt of God the Lorde plagued hir with Baraynesse that she neuer â–ª had Childe ¶ Michol who is perfect 2. Reg. 4. b. Miphiboseth the sonne of Ionathas was lame in his féete by reason his nurse by misfortune in his infancie let him fall to the grounde out of hir armes and was brought vp and nourished after the death of his father 9. cap. in the hâ—uie of Machir tyll Dauid comming to his Kingdome tooke him from thence and restored him to all the lande of King Saule making Ziba his seruaunt chiefe ouerséer and nâ—câ—yuâ—r of the landes and to sée Micah his maysters sonne well brought vp and cherished for so much as Miphiboseth shoulde remayne with hym and eatâ— and drincke at his owne boorde â–ª Now after this when Dauid was brought into so great affliction trouble by reason of Absalom his sonnâ— Miphiboseth remayned still at Ierusalem and neuer â–ª remooued But Ziba 2. Reg. 16. â— his seruaunt went after Dauid with a present and by false report of Miphiboseth his mayster got hys lande from hym â–ª And when the King was returned and come to Ierusalem â–ª agayne then Miphiboseth who had neyther 19. â— washed his féete nor dressed his bearde nor washed his clothes from the tyme the King departed vntill he returned in peace went out to méete him and when the King sawe him he sayde Wherefore wentest thou not with mée Miphiboseth He aunswered My Lorde O King my seruaunt deceyued mée for thy seruaunt sayde I woulde haue myne Asse sadled to ryde thereon for to go with the King bycause thy seruaunt is lame Therefore Ziba hath falsely accused thy seruaunt to my Lorde the King but my Lord the King is as an Angell of God Doe therefore what it pleaseth thée for all my Fathers house were but deade mâ—n before my Lord the King and yet dydst thou set thy seruaunt amonge them that dyd eate at thine owne table What right haue I to cry any more vnto the King Then sayde Dauid â–ª why speakest thou yet in thine owne cause I haue sayde Thou and Ziba deuide the lande betwéene you Yea sayde Miphiboseth let him take all séeing my Lord the King is come home in peace ¶ Miphiboseth shame or confusion from the mouth â— Reg. 21. b. Miphiboseth the sonne of Rizpa King Sauls Concubine was of the Gibeonits with his brother Armony hanged for their fathers offence Exo. 6. c. Miriam was the daughter of Amram Iochebed and sister to Aaron and Moses When hir brother Moses 15. c. had brought the children of Israel thorow the redde Sea Miriam the Prophetesse tooke a Tymbrell in hir hande with other women following in like sorte and began ioyfully to sing and daunce their song was this Sing yée vnto the Lorde for he hath triumphed gloriously The horse and ryder hath he ouerthrowen in the Sea. After this she grudged agaynst Moses because he had taken a Num. 12. cap. woman of Inde to his wyfe wherefore the Lorde smote hir with Leprosie Then Moses partly for pittie and partly at the intercession of Aaron his brother besought the Lorde to heale hir who made hym aunswere saying If hir father in anger had spitte in hir face shoulde she not haue béene ashamed seauen dayes Let hir be shut out of the hoste seauen dayes which being doone she was restored and receyued in agayne Finallye when 20. 2. Moses and the children of Israel were come to Cades there she dyed and was buryed ¶ Miriam exalted or reaching Dan. â— b. 3. ca. Misach first called Misael was one of Daniels companions and one of the thrée which was cast into the whote burning Ouen and myraculously preserued ¶ Misach prolonging or drawing to him or compassing the waters or hedging 3. Esd 2. b. Mithridatus was King Cyrus treasurer at whose commaundement he deliuered all the holye vessels of golde and siluer pertayning to the house of the Lorde to Salmanasar the Deputie in Iewrie The number of which vessels was fiue thousand eyght hundred and thrée score ¶ Mithridatus dissoluing the lawe Act. 21. d Mnason was a certayne godlye man and a Cyprian borne who had of long tyme beléeued the Gospell in whose house Paul was hosted at Ierusalem ¶ Mnason a searcher out or promising or remembring Exod. 2. cap. Moyses the sonne of Amram and Iochebed was myraculously preserued at his byrth For where as Pharao the King of Egipt had straightly commaunded the Moses signifieth preserued from the water Mydwyues that whensoeuer they saw an Hebrue bring soorth a man chylde they shoulde cast it into the ryuer yet Moses being borne a proper childe was notwithstanding the Kinges commaundement kept secretlye thrée monthes And when his parents coulde hide him no longer they closed him in a basket made of réede or Bulrushes dawbed with slyme and pitch and layd him in the ryuer And as the childs sister stoode looking what should become of him it came to passe that King Pharaos * Hir name was Termuth daughter came awalking by the ryuer syde who séeing the basket â—leting vppon the ryuer caused one of hir folkes to take it vp â–ª And when she had opened the basket and sawe the Childe she had pittie vpon it and caused the Mayde his sister to fet hir a Nurse who went and brought his owne mother And so the childe being nursed brought vp in Pharaos house was instructed from his Childehoode in all maner cunning and wisedome of the Egiptians and became mightie in wordes and déedes Howe that Moyses impediment of speach came The king on a time for his daughters sake tooke the childe in hys armes and set the crown vppon hys heade which Moses as it were chyldishly playing hurled to the grounde and with hys foote spurned it At the whiche the Priest cryed out saying that this was he of whome it was prophecied that he should destroy Egipt Then Termuth excused the chylde alleaging his infancie and sacke of discretion And for proofe thereof caused burning coales to be put to hys mouth which the child with his tongue licked
vpon hym to raygne in his steade Nahas was King of the Ammonites And as hys predecessours afore tyme had made a claime to the lande of Israel so he now purposing the same went and besieged the Citie of Iabes in Gilead And when the men of Iabes perceyued themselues in great daunger of theyr lyues they desired the King to make a couenaunt with them and they woulde be his seruaunts Then sayde Nahas If yée will suffer mée to thrust out all your right eyes to bring Israel to shame I shal be content to make peace with you Then sayde they Giue vs respite seuen dayes and if none doe come to helpe vs in that space we will come out vnto thée Then Nahas thinking that none burst come to ayde them agaynst him graunted their request Vpon the which they sent messengers into all the coastes of Israel which newes was so heauy tydinges to them that they fell a wéeping And as they were mourning and lamenting their case it chaunced Saule by the prouidence of God to come out of the fielde following the Cattell And beholding the people what a doe they made he demaunded wherefore they mourned And when they had tolde hym the tydinges of the men of Iabes his heart was so mooued by the spirit of God that he tooke out twoo of his Oxen and hewed them in péeces and sent them thorowe all the coasts of Israel saying whosoeuer commeth not foorth after Saule and Samuel so shall his Oxen be serued And the people were stricken in such a feare that they came out to Saule as they had béene but one man to the number of thrée hundred thousande of Israel beside thirtie thousand of the men of Iuda And then Saule sent woorde by the messengers to the men of Iabes that the next morrowe they shoulde haue helpe They being glad of that sent woorde vnto Nahas saying To morow we will come foorth vnto you and yée shall doe vnto vs whatsoeuer pleaseth you And so on the morow Saule came vpon the Ammonites and slue them Nahor when he was nyne an twentie yeares of age begot Terah And lyued after he had begotten him an hundred and twentie yeares Naomy was the wyfe of a certayne man called Elimelech dwelling in the lande of Iuda in a Citie called Bethleem And for bycause of the present dearth which was ouer all the lande of Iuda She went with hir husbande and hir twoo sonnes into the Countrey of Moab to sogeourne Where in processe hir husbande died And hir twoo sonnes being maryed to twoo of the Moabitishe Damosels dyed there also So that Naomy which had dwelt in the lande of Moab ten yeares was left desolate both of hir husbande of hir sonnes Then Naomy hearing how the Lorde had visited hir countrey agayne with plentie retourned from Moab homewardes agayne hir twoo daughters in lawe bringing hir on the waye And when she saw they had gone a good way with hir coueted not to retourne she sayde vnto them Go nowe my Daughters and returne eche of you vnto your mothers house and the Lorde deale as kindlye with you as yée haue delt with the deadde and with mée And the Lorde giue you that yée maye finde rest eyther of you in the house of hir husbande and so kyssed them to haue bid them farewell But when she sawe that they would not depart from hir she sayde vnto them agayne Returne my Daughters I praye you for what cause will yée go with mée Are there any mo children within my wombe to be your husbands Turne agayne therefore I say for I am to olde to haue an husbande And if I dyd take one this night and had all ready borne children woulde yée tary for them tyll they were growne and refrayne from taking husbandes so long Not so my daughters it grieueth mée much for your sakes that the hande of the Lord is gone out agaynst mée Then they wept all togithers and Orpha kyssed hir mother in lawe and returned into hir owne lande agayne but Ruth abode still And so when they came to Bethleem Iuda which was about the beginning of Barley harnest the women which saw Naomy sayde Is not this Naomy Nay sayde she call me not Naomy which is as much to say as bewtyfull but call me Mara that is to saye bitter for the Almightie God hath made mée verye bitter I went out full and the Lorde hath brought mée agayne emptie why then call yée mée Naomy séeing the Lorde hath humbled mée and the Almightie hath brought mée vnto aduersitie And so Naomy remayned in Bethleem Iuda where or it were long God gaue hir a Sonne by the wombe of Ruth hir daughter in lawa who was maryed to Boos a kinsman of Naomyes which Childe being borne the women sayde vnto Naomy Blessed be the Lorde the which hath not left thée without a kinsman to haue a name in Israel and that shall bring thy lyfe agayne and cherishe thyne olde age for thy daughter in lawe which loueth thée hath borne vnto hym and she is better vnto thée than seuen sonnes And Naomy tooke the Childe and layed it in hir lap and became nurse vnto it being glad that a sonne was borne vnto hir in hir olde dayes Nathan the Prophet what tyme as King Dauid was minded to buylde God an house to dwell in was sent of the Lorde to forbid him not to meddle withall for Salomon his sonne shoulde doe it Agayne what tyme as Dauid had committed adultery with Vrias wife Nathan came to hym and sayde There were twoo men in one Citie the one riche and the other poore The riche man had excéeding many shéepe and Oxen but the poore had none at all saue one little Shéepe which hée had bought and nâ—urished vp And it grew vp with him and with his Children also and did eate of hys owne meate and drancke of his owne Cuppe and slept in his bosome And was vnto him as his daughter Nowe there came a straunger vnto the rich man who refused to take of his owne shéepe and Oxen to dresse for the straunger but tooke the poore mans shéepe dressed it for the man that was come to hym Then Dauid was excéeding wroth with the man and sayde As surely as the Lord lyueth he that hath done this is the Childe of death He shall restore the lambe foure folde bycause he dyd it without pittie Then sayde the Prophet thou art the same man thus sayth the Lord God of Israel I annointed thée king ouer Israel and deliuered thée out of the hands of Saule and gaue thée thy Lordes house and his wyues into thy bosome and gaue thée the house of Israel and Iuda and woulde if that had béene to little haue giuen thée much more Wherefore then hast thou despised the commaundement of the lord to do euil in his sight Thou hast kilde Urias the Hethite with the swoorde hast taken his wife to be thy wyfe and
in hys booke of the Reuelation .ij. Chapter reprooueth Nymrod was the sonne of Chus sonne of Cham the seconde sonne of Noe. He was the first that tooke on him to reigne ouer men and became a cruell oppressor and tyrant He was called a mightie hunter for that he was a deceyuer of soules and oppressor of men He attempted to builde the great towre of Babel intending to haue raysed it aboue the Clowdes thinking thereby to haue escaped if any floude shoulde eftsoones haue happened Noe was the sonne of Lamech and fiue hundreth yeares of age before he begat Sem Cham and Iaphet And being a iust and perfite man he founde such fauour in the eyes of God that when all fleshe had so corrupt his way vpon earth that God threatened the destruction of the worlde yet to saue Noe and to declare it vnto him 120. before it came he bade him prepare an Arke of Pine trées which shoulde conteyne in length thrée hundreth cubites in bredth fiftie cubites and in déepenesse thirtie Nowe when Noe had made the Arke and was sixe hundreth yeares of age the Lorde tolde him that after seauen dayes the deluge shoulde fall wherefore Noe at the Lordes commaundement got him into the Arke with his wyfe and thrée sonnes with their wyues prouiding in the meane space all things necessary for them And when Noe was in the Arke sodeynly by the power of God and not of mans bringing there came into the shippe two and two togither of euery kinde of beast and soule the male and the female And when they were all in the Lorde shut the doore of the Art◠and opened the windowes of heauen so that the raine fell continuallye fortie dayes and fortie nightes wherevpon the waters preuayled and rose aboue all Mountaines .xv. cubites So that all liuing creatures dyed except fishe and such as might endure in the bowels of the earth And after the waters had preuayled a hundred and fiftie dayes They decreased againe and in the seauenth day of the seauenth month which was October the Arke stacke vpon the Mountaines of Armeny Then Noe opened a windowe and sent forth a Crowe which returned agayne After seauen dayes he put forth a Doue which came againe at night bringing a braunch of Oliue with gréene leaues in hir mouth Neuerthelesse he remayned seauen other dayes and put forth the Doue againe which neuer returned Then Noe after he had continued one yeare in the Arke and sawe the earth drie he at the commaundement of God issued out of the Arke and incontinent builded an Aultar wherevpon he offered a sacrifice vnto the Lorde of euerye cleane beast and of euerye cleane foule which sacrifice was a swéete smell vnto the Lorde and pleased him so well that he made a promise to Noe that he would neuer more destroy the world with water for the confirmation thereof gaue the Rainebowe for a sure token betwéene him and man Noe was the first inuenter of Wine and therewithall was made drunke He liued after the fludde 350. yeares O. OBed the sonne of Boos and Ruth begat Isai the father of King Dauid Obed Edom the sonne of Ieduthun had the Arke of God remayning in his house thrée monthes for the which the Lorde blessed him and all his house And when it was tolde to Dauid that the house of Obed Edom was blessed bicause of the Arke of God he remooued it thence and brought it into the city of Dauid with great triumph and ordeyned Obed Edom and his brethren which were Leuites to kéepe the doore of the Arke Obedia notwithstanding hée was chiefe gouernour of all King Achabs house yet he was a man that feared God greatly Insomuch that when Iezabel destroyed the Prophetes of the Lorde he tooke an hundred Prophets and hidde them fiftie in one Caue and fiftie in another prouiding all things necessary for them On a time as Obedia was going about the lande at Achabs commaundement to searche for water and grasse for their cattell which were almost ouercome with drouth he chaunced to méete Elia the Prophete And when he saw him he fell downe and sayde Art not thou my Lord Elia yea quoth he go tell thy Lorde that I am here O quoth Obedia what haue I sinned that thou wouldest deliuer thy seruant into the handes of Achab to be slaine As truly as the Lord thy God liueth there is no nation or kingdome whither my Lorde hath not sent to séeke thée And when they sayd he is not here he tooke an othe of the kingdome and nation if they had not founde thée And now thou sayest go tell thy Lord that Elia is here And when I am gone from thée the spirite of the Lorde shall cary thée into some place that I doe not knowe and so when I come and tell Achab and he cannot finde thée then will he kill me But I thy seruaunt feare the Lord from my youth was it not tolde my Lorde what I dyd when Iezabel slue the Prophets of the Lorde howe I hid an hundred men of the Lordes Prophets by fifties in a Caue and fed them with breade and water And nowe thou sayest go and tell thy Lorde beholde Elia is here that he maye sley mée Well sayde Elia as truely as the Lorde of hostes lyueth before whom I stande I will shewe my selfe vnto him this daye Then Obedia hearing him saye so went to Achab and tolde him Oded when Pekah King of Israel had taken so manye Captyues of the Children of Iuda and caryed them to Samaria the Lord sent this Prophet vnto him saying Beholde bycause the Lorde God of your fathers is wrath with Iuda hée hath deliuered them into your handes and yée haue slayne them in your cruelnesse that reacheth vnto heauen and now yée purpose to kéepe vnder the children of Iuda and Ierusalem as bonde men and bonde women And doe yée not lade your selues with sinne in the sight of the Lorde your God Now therefore heare mée and deliuer the Captyues agayne which yée haue taken of your brethren or else shall the wrath of God be vpon you Then certayne which were the heades of the children of Ephraim being sorye for the great offence they had committed tooke the prisoners and with the spoyle clothed all that lacked shodde them and fed them with meate and drinck annoynted the woundes of such as were hurt and the féeble they caryed vpon asses and brought them to Iericho the citie of Palme trées to their brethren And leauing them there returned to Samaria agayne Og the King of Basan was a mightie great Giaunt whose bedde was made of Iron and in length nyne Cubites that is thirtéene foote an halfe And foure cubites brode that is sixe foote This Og was next neighbour to Seon King of the Amorites And hauing knowledge of all that Moses had done to Seon his neighbour made out a great Armye
agyanst Moses thinking to haue wonne his spurres in reuenging his neighbours quarell But when it came to triall he spedde no better than his neighbour had done before him Onan was the seconde Sonne of Iuda who after the death of Er his eldest brother was maryed to Thamar his brothers wife to styrre vp séede vnto his brother But when he perceyued that the séede shoulde be none of his he practised such wickednesse that the vengeaunce of God fell vpon him and siue hym Onesimus being in seruice with Philemon lyke an vnfaythfull seruaunt robbed his mayster and ranne away from him to Rome Where by hearing of Paule who at that time was in bondes he receyued the Doctrine of the Gospell and serued Paule in Prison and became so faithfull a souldiour of Christ that Paule sent him with Tichicus to the Collossians with his Epistle commending him vnto them on this wise And with Tichicus I haue sent Onesimus a faythfull and beloued brother which is one of you Finallye he sent him home to his mayster agayne beséeching Philemon not to receyue him now as a seruaunt but more than a seruaunt euen as a faythfull brother as his owne sonne whome he had in his bandes begotten to Christ offering himselfe suertye to make good whatsoeuer hurt he had done him in tyme past Onesiphorus was a faythfull godly man a great refresher of suche as were in bondes for the doctrine of Christ as Saint Paule doth testifie of him saying The Lorde giue mercy vnto the householde of Onesiphorus for he oft refreshed mée and was not ashamed of my chayne But when he was at Rome he sought mée out very diligently and founde mée The Lorde graunt vnto him that he may finde mercye with the Lorde at that daye and in howe many thinges he ministered vnto mée at Ephesus thou knowest very well O Tymothy Onias the hye Priest among the Iewes was a man of such godlynesse and holinesse of lyfe that he alwayes sought the honour of the lawes and wealth of the people of god By his prayer that wicked man Heliodorus was restored to his health but notwithstanding all his vertue and goodnesse yet had he enimies For Symon a man voyde of all godlinesse neuer ceased withall slaunderous and euill reportes that he coulde deuise to Seleucus the King to bring him out of fauour which he coulde neuer doe so long as the King lyued But Seleucus being dead Onias was soone put out of office by the false deceyt and meanes of his owne brother Iason and brought in such feare thorow him and Menelaus with other his enimies that he was fayne to take sanctuary Where at the last by the counsell of Menelaus he was without all regarde of righteousnesse most trayterously slayne by the hands of Andronicus whose innocent death was so sore lamented both of the Iewes and also of Antiochus the King himselfe that at his comming home hée rewarded the malefactor according to his dédes Ooliab the sonne of Achisamec of the Tribe of Dan was a Craftes man whome the Lorde had endued with great cunning and appointed him to Moses for one of the chiefe workemen for the finishing of the Temple Oreb and Zeb were two great Captaynes among the Madianites whome the men of Mount Ephraim which had stopped the waters from Bethbarath to Iordane tooke and smote of their heades and sent them to Gedeon on the other side of Iordan Ornan was a certayne Iebusite vnto whome the Lorde commaunded Dauid after he had plagued hym with pestilence to go and reare vp an Aultar in his threshing floure At whose comming Ornan fell downe before hym and sayde Wherefore is my Lorde the King come to his seruaunt I am come quoth he to buye thy threshing floure and to make an Aultar vnto the Lorde that the plague maye cease from the people Ornan Let my Lorde the King take and offer what séemeth him good in his eyes And moreouer here be Oxen for burnt sacrifice and sleades with other instruments for woodde take them all to thée as thine owne Dauid sayde Naye not so but I will buye it for sufficient money for I will not take that which is thine for the Lorde nor offer burnt offerings without cost And so Dauid gaue Ornan for that place Sixe hundred sicles of golde by waight Orpha and Ruth were twoo Damosels of the countrey of Moab which were maryed to the twoo sonnes of Elimelech and Naomy straungers come out of the Lande of Iuda there to dwell Reade the Story of Naomy for the reast Osias the sonne of Micha of the Tribe of Symeon was one of the principall Fathers and Rulers among the Israelites what tyme as Holofernes besieged the Citie of Bethulia This man comforted Achior which had so boldlye magnified praysed the great power and strength of God before Holofernes and tooke him into his house where he made hym a great Supper to the which he called the Elders who altogithers praysed God in him Also when the people came wéeping and crying out ▪ vnto hym to giue ouer the Citie into the handes of the Assirians he sayde vnto them Oh take good hearts vnto you deare brethren and be of good cheare and let vs wayte yet these fiue dayes for mercye of the Lorde peraduenture he shall put away his indignacion and giue glorie vnto his name But if he helpe vs not after these fiue daies be past we shall doe as ye haue sayde which counsell of Osias pleased not Iudith bycause he had set the mercye of God a tyme and appointed hym a daye at his pleasure So that after this Osias remayned in prayer and followed the deuise of Iudith in all things Othoniel was the sonne of Kenes vnto whom Caleb his elder brother gaue Acsah his daughter to wyfe for winning of a certayne Citie called Kariath Sepher This man deliuered the children of Israel from the Captiuitie of Chusan Kisathaim king of Mesopotamia which had oppressed them eyght yeares and Iudged Israel fourtie yeares P. CONVERSIO SAVLI Io. Sadeley sculpt C. M. Cum priuil 1580 F. Pourbus inven Saulus Tharsensis ex itinere diuinitus prostratus Damascum Ananiae in disciplinam tradendus ducitur An. ' ab Ascenss XI II. Illustri ac Generoso D. D. Ottoni Henrico Comiti à Suuartzenberg Et̄ Sa. Cae. M. t is Consiliario supremo ausae Mareschallo Sculptor obser ergó d. d. Pekahia the sonne of Menahen began his reigne ouer Israel in the fiftie yeare of the reigne of Azaria king of Iuda and departed not from the sinnes of Ieroboam but walked therein as his father did before him He had not reygned two yeares or that Pekak his owne Captaine rose against him and slue him in Samaria and reygned in his steade Pekah the sonne of Remaliahin began his reygne ouer Israel in the .lij. yeare of Azaria King of
that when the children of Israel had committed whooredome with the daughters of Moab and saw an Israelite named Zamry bring to his brethren a Madianitishe wyfe named Cozby euen in the sight of Moses and all the multitude of Israel that stoode before the doore of the Tabernacle lamenting their offence he tooke his weapon in his hande and followed the man into his Tent and thrust them both thorowe the bellyes and killed them And then the plague wherein were dead foure an twentie thousande ceased For the which déede the Lorde sayde to Moses Phinehes the sonne of Eleazar hath turned awaye mine anger from the children of Israel whyle he was gelious for my sake among them that I had not consumed them all in my gelousie Wherefore I giue vnto him my couenaunt of peace to him and to his séede after him euen the Couenaunt of the Priestes office for euer because he was gelous for his Gods sake and made attonement for the Children of Israel Pilate was Liefetenaunt of Iewrye when Annas Caiphas were the hye Priestes who with the Scribes and Elders of the Iewes sate in counsayle vppon Iesus nowe betrayed vnto them by Iudas how and by what meanes they might dispatch hym out of the waye But hauing no aucthoritie to condemne or put hym to death they brought hym bounde vnto Pylate the temporall Iudge Saying howe that they had founde him peruerting the people and forbidding trybute to Cesar and calling himselfe a king Pilate hearing this demaunded of him whither he were a King or no. Iesus neyther denying nor affirming that he was made aunswere that Pilate himselfe had sayde so Then Pilate sayde vnto all his accusers how that in examining of Iesus he coulde not sée that he had offended in anye such thing as they had charged him withall The people than more vehementlye affirmed how that he had with his teaching and preaching which he first began in Galile mooued all Iewry to follow his doctrine When Pilate perceyued the man to be of Galile and that his matter pertayned to Herods iurisdiction he sent hym foorthwith to Herode lying at Ierusalem Who of a long tyme had béene desirous to sée hym But when as Herode had demaunded many things of him and coulde haue no aunswere agayne he dispised and mocked hym and so returned hym backe agayne to Pilate clothed all in white And from that daye foorth Pilate and Herode were euermore friendes who before were enimies Then Pilate for so much as Herode had sent Iesus backe agayne and done nothing vnto hym and that neyther he nor Herode coulde finde anyething in him woorthie of death would haue chastyned Iesus and so let him go But the hyghe Priestes layed so manye thinges agaynst him that Pilate after he had reasoned a little with Iesus concerning his Kingdome and other thinges went and sate in iudgement knowing right well in his conscience that the Priestes of verye enuie had deliuered Iesus vnto him And being set downe vpon the iudgement seate his wyfe sent to hym saying Haue thou nothing to doe with that iust man for I haue suffered manye thinges this daye in a dreame by reason of hym Which counsell of his wyfe nor yet his owne knowledge did any thing the more mooue him to defende the innocencie of Christ but asked of the people which of these twoo they woulde haue quitte Barrabas or Iesus and they sayde Barrabas What shall I then doe quoth he with Iesus which is called Christ They all saide let hym be Crucified What euill or great offence hath hée done quoth Pilate that deserueth death The people being much more eager than they were before cryed out amayne to haue him Crucified When Pilate saw this that he coulde not preuayle agaynst them he tooke water and washed his handes saying I am innocent of the bloud of this iust person in the which saying he bare witnesse of his innocencie before he condemned him And so delyuering Iesus to the Souldiours they scourged him and arayed him in purple with a crowne of thorne vpon his heade In which sorte Pilate brought hym foorth agayne and sayde to the people Beholde I bring hym foorth to you that yée may knowe that I finde no fault in him And when Iesus appeared before them Pilate said Beholde the man which he spake in mockerye bicause that Christ had called him selfe a king And when the hye Priestes and Officers sawe hym they cryed out Crucifige Crucifige Then saide Pilate take him to you and Crucifie hym for I can finde no cause of death in the man They aunswered agayne and sayde It is not lawfull for vs to put any man to death but we haue a lawe by our lawe he ought to dye bycause he made hymselfe the Sonne of god When Pilate hearde this he was afrayde and went agayne into the iudgement Hall and demaunded of Iesus what he was but he made hym no aunswere Then Pilate sayde Why speakest thou not Doest thou not sée that it lyeth in my handes eyther to kyll or saue thée To that he made aunswere and sayde Thou couldest haue no power at all agaynst mée except it were giuen thée from aboue therefore he that deliuered mée vnto thée hath the more sinne from that tyme foorth Pilate sought by all meanes to deliuer hym But the Iewes cryed vppon hym saying If thou let him go thou arte not Cesars friende for whosoeuer maketh himselfe a King speaketh agaynst Cesar When Pilate hearde them say so he brought Iesus foorth and sate him downe in the Iudgement seate saying vnto the people Beholde your King they cryed awaye with him away with him crucifie hym What quoth Pilate shall I crucifye your King To that the hyghe Priestes made aunswere and sayde We haue no King but Cesar At that woorde Pilate delyuered Iesus to be crucifyed and being brought to the place of execution and spreade vpon the Crosse Pilate caused this tytle to be set ouer his heade Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes which was written in Hebrue Gréeke and Latine that all Nacions might vnderstande it With the which writing the hyghe Priests were offended sore and woulde haue had Pilate to correct it and not to write him King of the Iewes but that he sayde I am King of the Iewes Well quoth Pilate What I haue written that haue I written Priscilla looke Aquila Ptolomy King of Egipt had a fayre daughter named Cleopatra the which he gaue to Alexander the sonne of noble Antiochus in Mariage which was solemly and with great Royaltie finished in the Citie of Ptolomais But notwithstanding this great bonde of Amitie nowe knit betwéene them Ptolomy afterwarde withdrew his fauour from Alexander and sought by all meanes howe he might defeate him of his Kingdome And thinking to bring his purpose nowe better to passe whyle Alexander hymselfe laye out of his Realme he prepared a great hoste and tooke his iourney into Siria where into euerye
brought his daughter into hir Chamber and sayde Be of good chere my daughter the Lorde of heauen giue thée ioy for the heauinesse that thou hast suffered and so went to rest Then in the morning about the Cocke crowing Raguel supposing all things to haue happened to Toby as it did to the other seauen before called vp his men and went and made ready his graue which being done he bade his wyfe sende one of hir Maydens to looke if Toby were dead that he might burye him before day light And when it was tolde him they were both sounde and fast a sléepe he praysed God and caused his men to fill vp the graue agayne and made a great feast to all his neighbours and friendes And gaue to Toby the halfe of all his goodes and made him a sure writing for the other halfe that remayned to be his also after his death And at the daye of their departure deliuered the goodes taking his leaue sayde The holy Angell of the Lord be with you in your iourney and bring you forth safe and sounde that ye may finde all things in good case with your Elders and that mine eyes my sée your Children before I dye and so kissed them and let them go Rathumus with other Officers vnder Artaxerses King of Persia writeth vnto him agaynst the Iewes on this wyse Sir thy seruaunts Rathumus the story writer Sabellius the Scribe with other Iudges of the Court in Celosiria and Phinehes Be it knowne and manifested to our Lorde the King that the Iewes which are come vp from you to vs into the rebellious and wicked Citie beginne to buylde it agayne and the Walles about it and to set vp the Temple a newe Nowe if this citie and the Walles thereof be set vp agayne they shall not onely refuse to giue Tributs and Taxes but also rebell vtterly agaynst the king And for so much as they take this in hande nowe about the Temple we thought it not méete to passe ouer such a thing but to shew it vnto our Lorde the king And to certifie him thereof To the intent that if it might please the King to cause it to be sought in the bookes of old and thou shalt finde such warning written and shalt vnderstande that this Citie hath alwayes béene rebellious and disobedient that it hath subdued Kinges and Cities and that the Iewes which dwelt therein hath euer béene a rebellious obstinate vnfaythfull and fighting people for the which cause this Citie is wasted Wherefore nowe we certifye our Lorde the King that if this Citie be buylded and occupyed agayne and the Walles thereof set vp a newe thou canst haue no passage into Celosiria and Phenices And when Rathumus and the other had receyued the Kinges aunswere they got them to Ierusalem with an hoste of men and made the Iewes cease from their buylding which was not begun agayne vntill the seconde yeare of King Darius Rebecca was the daughter of Bathuel and sister to Laban As she went on a tyme with a pitcher vpon hir heade to the common Well without the Citie to draw water it chaunced Abrahams seruaunt to stande by the Well with ten Camels lying there about And when the Mayde had filled hir pot and set it vpon hir head readye to go awaye the man desired to drinke a little of hir water who foorthwithall set downe hir pot and gaue him drincke And when he had droncken she powred out the reast into the water trough and ran againe to the Well drew water for his Camels vntill they had all droncken their fill Then the man in hope the Lorde had made his iourney prosperous tooke out a Golden earing and twoo bracelets of Golde and gaue them to the Mayde demaunding whose daughter she was I am quoth she the daughter of Bathuel the Sonne of Milca which she bare vnto Nahor Then tell mée I praye thée is there rowme in thy fathers house for vs to lodge in Yea quoth she there is both rowme and lodging and also litter and prouander ynough for your beastes Blessed be God quoth he that hath delt so mercyfullye with my Mayster and hath brought me the right way to my maysters brothers house Then Rebecca hearing him speake of hir fathers brother ranne home and tolde all thinges what the man had sayde And as Laban behelde his sister and sawe the earyngs and bracelets vpon hir handes he ranne out to the man with gentle entertaynement brought him into the house and sawe his Camels drest and prouided for also set meate before him to eate But the man woulde not eate before he had declared the cause wherefore hys mayster had sent him which being done and his request graunted he eate made mery and taryed all night And on the morrow as the man made haste to go his way the Damosell was called foorth to know whither she woulde go with the man or no and being content to go with the man he woulde not tarye but tooke the Mayde and had hir to Isaac his maysters sonne whose wyfe she became And being twentie yeares without a Childe at last she conceyued with twoo and when she felt them striue within hir wombe she made hir mone to God saying Séeing it is so why am I thus with childe God made hir answere saying There are twoo maner of people in thy wombe two Nacions shal be deuided out of thy bowels And the one Nacion shal be mightier than the other And the elder shal be seruaunt to the yoonger And so when hir tyme was come to be delyuered she brought foorth twoo twynnes the one named Esau and the other Iacob Which twoo became mightie men but Rebecca looued Iacob better then Esau and to preferre hym before the other she sayde Heare mée my sonne Iacob I haue hearde thy Father saye to thy brother go and kyll some Venison and make mée meate thereof that I may eate and blesse thée before the Lorde afore I dye Now therefore my Sonne heare my voyce in that which I commaunde thée Get thée to the flocke and bring mée thence two good kyddes that I may make meate of them for thy father such as he loueth and thou shalt bring it hym to eate that he may blesse thée before his death Then sayde Iacob My brother Esau is a rough man and if my father shall happen to féele mée I shall séeme vnto him as I went about to deceyue him and so shall I bring a curse vpon mée not a blessing Well sayde Rebecca vpon mée be thy cursse my sonne onely heare my voyce and go and fetche me them And when he had brought the Kyddes and that she had drest the meate and made it readye she fette out certayne rayment of Esaus and put it vpon Iacob and couered his hands and the smoothe of his necke with Goate shinnes and put the meate in his hande to cary to his Father by which policie of Rebecca Iacob had his brothers
This man in whose fielde thou hast leysed all this whyle is our nyghe Kinsman therefore doe nowe by my counsell This night he wynoweth Barley in the barne washe thy selfe therefore and annoynt thée and put thy rayment vpon thée and get thée to the Barne and kéepe thy selfe close vntill he haue left eating and drincking And when he goeth to sléepe marke the place where he layeth him downe And when he is a sléepe go and lyft vp the clothes softly at his féete and lye thée downe and he shall tell thée what thou shalt doe So when Ruth had doone all thinges according to hir Mother in lawes teaching Boos about midnight waked out of his sléepe and féeling one lye at his féete was afrayde and groping with hys hande he asked who it was I am Ruth quoth she thine handmayde spreade therefore the winge of thy garment ouer thine handemayden for thou arte next of my kinne Nowe blessed arte thou quoth Boos for thou hast shewed more goodnesse in the latter ende than at the beginning inasmuch as thou followedest not yoong men were they poore or riche And nowe my daughter feare not I will doe vnto thée all that thou requyrest For thou arte well knowne to be a woman of vertue Howbeit there is one néerer of kinne to thée than I if he will do the kinsman part vnto hée well let him doe it If he will not then will I. And so in the morning he gaue hir so much corne as she could carye home And shortly after she became his wyfe and in processe brought him foorth a sonne called Obed which was the father of Isai the father of Dauid Reade the story of Boos and Naomy SAdoch the sonne of Ahitob was father to Sallum and Ahimaas and one of the Priestes that gouerned the Arke of God which he caryed out of Ierusalem with Dauid what time as he sled from his sonne Absalom And when Zadock had brought the king ouer the brooke Kidron he desired him to returne againe with the Arke into the citie that from him Abiathar he might haue worde of all things that Absalom and Achitophell determined against hym And so he returned with the Arke to Ierusalem and there remained Dauids faythfull man in all thinges that he had commaunded him And when he had knowledge of Absaloms ouerthrowe he then exhorted all Israel and Iuda to remember the kyndenesse of Dauid their soueraigne Lorde and King who had so many times deliuered them out of the handes of their enimies that now like true faythfull and obedient subiects they woulde fâ—t him home againe restore him to his kingdome By whose godly exhortacion the heartes of all Iuda were bowed to Dauid euen as the heart of one man This Sadoch was euer a faythfull Priest and neuer swarued from Dauid For in the ende when Adoniah tooke vppon him to reygne as King his father Dauid being olde and alyue Zadock consented not vnto him but according to Dauids will and commaundement annoynted Salomon King who afterwarde promoted him into the roume of Abiathar which had the hye Priestes office Sallum the sonne of Iabes conspired against Zacharia and slue him and reygned in his steade In the xxxix yeare of Azaria King of Iuda began Sallum hys reigne ouer Israel and had not reygned one noneth but Menahen rose vp against him and slue him in Samaria and reygned in his steade Salmanasar King of Assiria came in the seuenth yeare of Hosea King of Israel and besieged Samaria and in the thirde yeare which was the ninth yere of Hosea he wanne it and tooke Hosea prisoner and caryed him away into Assiria Salomon the sonne of Bethsabe was ordeyned to reygne after his father Dauid â–ª and annoynted King ouer Israel by Sadock the Priest and Nathan the Prophet Who being stablished in his kingdome began to minister Iustice first vpon Adoniah his brother which had aspired to the Kingdome Secondlye vppon Ioab which had slayne Abner and Amasa and conspired with Adoniah Thirdly vpon Semei which had curssed Dauid his father This King was so dearelye belooued of God that in a dreame he appeared to him and bade him aske whatsoeuer he woulde and he shoulde haue it Then Salomon considering in himselfe that he was but yong and that being called to the office of a King howe harde a thing it was to gouerne the whole multitude of the people well desired of God to giue him an vnderstanding heart to iudge the people and to discerne betwéene good and euill Which thing pleased the Lorde so well that he gaue him not onely a wyse and an vnderstanding heart but also riches and honour wherein he excelled all other Kings that euer were before or after him And that he passed all men in wisedome and vnderstanding doth manifestly appeare by the wyse sentence he gaue vppon the liuing chylde that the two Harlots stroue for before him And also by his thrée thousande Parables and his thousande and fiftie songes wherein were declared such wise and graue sentences that all the worlde hearing thereof came to sée his presence and to heare his wysedome which did so farre excéede the wisedome of Ethan Heman Chalcal and Darda foure of the notablest men then liuing in all the worlde that they fell a woondering and sayde that the great fame that was bruted of hys wisedome and royaltie before they came forth was nothing to be compared with that they had now both heard and séene And as he did excéede all men in wisedome so he did all other in riches For he had .xij. Officers which prouided victualles for his housholde euerye moneth in a yeare And his ordinary expences euery day was thirtye quarters of Manchet floure and sixtie quarters of meale ten stalled Oxen and twentie out of the pasture and an hundred shéepe beside Hartes Buckes wylde Goates Capons and Fowles He had fortie thousande horses and .xij. thousande horsemen to kéepe them The weight of golde that came euery yere out of Ophir to Salomon was sixe hundreth thrée score and sixe talents of golde beside that which Merchantes and other men brought him Whereof he had so great abundance that he made the furniture of the Lordes Temple all of cleane golde Yea there was not so much as a drinking pot in all his owne house but it was of golde And as for Siluer he made it as plentye as stones in the streate But notwithstanding all this his wisedome and riches which God had giuen hym yet at the last he fell to louing of outlandishe women contrary to the lawe of Moses whereof he tooke so many that he had seauen hundreth Quéenes and thrée hundreth Concubines which turned his heart to strange goddes and made him of a wyse king a starcke foole and great Idolater for the which his horrible offence he lost the fauour of god And when hée had raygned fourtie yeares he dyed
13. g. ¶ Simon the Tanner with whom saint Peter hosted many a day Act. 9. g. 10. a. ¶ Simon surnamed Niger which was one of the Prophetes and teachers in the Congregation at Antioche Act. 13. a. ¶ Simon the Cananite surnamed Zelotes and one of the twelue Math. 10. a. Luke 6. c. Sintiches was a certayne Christian brother to whome Paule sent salutacions from Rome exhorting him and Euodias to be of one accorde in the Lorde Sisennes the vnder shirife in Siria and Phenices with other heade Rulers there went to Zorobabel and his Companions the Iewes which were come by Darius licence to builde the house of the Lorde at Ierusalem agayne and demaunded who had giuen them such commaundement And when they saw the Iewes would not cease then he with others sent their letters of complaint to Darius the King to knowe his pleasure And when they had receyued the Kings aunswere Sisennes with all the reast of the Rulers obeyed the Kinges commaundement and helped the Iewes with all diligence to builde the sanctuaire agayne and so the woorke went foorth and prospered Sisach King of Egypt came to Ierusalem in the fift yere of the reigne of Roboam with twelue hundred Charets and thréescore thousande horsemen and people innumerable and spoyled the Temple of the Lorde and the Kings house and tooke away all the treasure in both with the shieldes of gold which Salomon had made and so departed Sisera was the generall Captaine of King Iabyns hoste And trusting in the great strength of his Chariots of yron which were nyne hundred and power of his men he went against the children of Israel thinking to haue cuerrunne them all But God so wrought with the holye Prophetesse Debora and wyth Barach hir Captayne that they destroyed his Chariots with all his host So that Sisera himselfe was fayne to flie on foote And comming by the tent of Heber for there was peace betwéene King Iabin and the house of Heber he turned in And being sore a thirst he desired Iael the wyfe of Heber to giue him some drinke and she brought a bottell of milke and gaue it him to drinke and when he had drunke and was layde downe to take his rest he sayde to Iael Goe I praye thée stande in the Tent doore And when any doth come to enquire of thée if there be any man here say nay And so thinking he had béene safe ynough tooke his rest and fell a sléepe Then Iael with a nayle which shée droue into his heade slue him Soby the sonne of Nahas out of Rabba the Citie of the children of Ammon and Machir the sonne of Ammiel out of Lodebar and Berzelai the Gileadite out of Rogel what time as Dauid lay with his people in the wildernesse of Mahanaim hungrye wearye and thirstye brought vnto him bedding Wheate Barley with all other necessaries to ease and refreshe Dauid and hys men in that time of aduersitie Sostenes of whome saint Paule maketh mention in his first Epistle to the Corinthians first Chapter was the chiefe Ruler of the sinagoge in the Citie of Achaia agaynst whome the Gréekes had such indignation for taking Paules part agaynst the Iewes that they fell vpon him before the Iudges féete where Gallio the Lorde Deputie sate and smote him And Gallio not passing thereof let them alone and woulde not meddle luyth the matter Stachis to whome Paule in his letter of commendations sendeth gréeting saying salute Vrban our helper in Christ and Stachis my beloued Stephana was a faythfull louer of Christ and hys doctryne in whose commendation Paule to the Corinthians wryteth thus Brethren ye knowe the house of Stephana and of Fortunatus and Achaicus howe that they are the first fruites of Achaia And that they haue appoynted themselues to mynister vnto the sayntes I beséech you that ye be obedient vnto such and to all that helpe labour I am glad of the comming of Stephana and Fortunatus and Achaicus for that which was lacking vnto me on your part they haue supplyed For they haue comforted my spirite and yours Looke therefore that ye knowe them that are such Steuen a man full of fayth and of the holy ghost was one of the seauen Deacons chosen in the congregation to make prouision for the poore which did greate woonders and myracles amonge the people Against whome arose certayne of the Sinagoge which were called Libertines Cirenites and of Alexandria Cilisia and Asia which disputed with him And when they could not resist his wisedome and the spirit of God wherewith he spake they accused him of blasphemie agaynst God and Moses and brought him before the Counsell wyth their false witnesses ready which sayde we hearde this fellowe speake blasphemous wordes against this holye place and Lawe saying that Iesus of Nazareth shoulde destroy this place and chaunge the ordinaunces which Moses gaue vs And all the Counsell looked stedfastly vppon him and sawe his face as it had bene the face of an Angell Then Steuen for as much as he was accused to be a denyer of God made an earnest aunswere vnto hys accusation in the ende whereof the Counsell waxed so angry against him that their hearts claue a sunder and gnashed on him with their téeth But he being full of the holy ghost looked stedfastly vp with his eies into heauen and sawe the glorye of God and Iesus standing at the right hande of God and sayde Beholde I sée heauen open and the sonne of man standing on the râ—ght hande of God with the which the people gaue a grâ—at shoute and stopped their eares and ranne vpon him all at once and caryed him out of the Citie to put him to death And as they stoned him he sayde Lord Iesu receyue my spirite And knéeling downe cryed with a lowde voyce Lorde lay not this sinne vnto their charge And so fell a sléepe in the Lorde Susanna the daughter of Helchia was a verye fayre woman giuen to all vertue and godlinesse Hir husbandes name was Ioachim a man of great reputacion among the Iewes In the first yeare that Susanna was maryed there were twoo Iudges made which resorted much to Ioachyms house and all such as had anye thing to doe in the lawe came thither vnto them These twoo Iudges being wicked men were so wounded with the loue of Susanna and burned so in lust with hir that they coulde not tell what to doe But neyther durst tell the other his griefe nor yet for shame vtter their inordinate lust vnto hir And so on a daye when they had sit long in Ioachyms hâ—use about matters of the lawe and wayted for to haue their purpose on Susanna and coulde not they brake vp and went home to dinner And at their returne agayne togithers the one brake to the other their whole mindes and appointed a tyme when they might take hir alone And when they had spyed oute a conuenient tyme that Susanna went into
the Garpen as hir maner was with twoo of hir Maydens onely to wash hir selfe these twoo hidde themselues in the Garden agaynst hir comming And assoone as the Maydens had shut the Drcharde doores and were gone for Oyle and Sope for their Mystresse the twoo Elders came vppon Susanna and sayde The Garden doores be nowe shut that no man can sée vs and we burne in lust towardes thée therefore consent and lye with vs if thou wilt not we will beare witnesse agaynst thée that a yoong man was in the Drchard with thée and therefore thou senâ—t away thy Maydens Then Susanna sighed and sayde If I doe followe your minds it will be my death and if I consent not vnto you I cannot escape your handes It is better for mée to fall into your handes without the déede dooing than to sinne in the sight of the Lorde and with that cryed out with a lowde voyce and the Elders cryed out agaynst hir which clamour on both parties was so great that it was hearde among the Seruauntes without which ranne to the Orcharde doore and burst it open to sée what the matter was And when the seruaunts had heard the Elders report of Susanna they were greatly ashamed for there was neuer such a reporte made of Susanna before And so on the next morowe the twoo Elders full of mischieuous imaginacions declared the matter to Ioachym hir husband to bring hir to death And when she was come with hir father and mother hir Children and all hir kinne to be iudged according to the law she stoode before the twoo wicked Iudges with hir face couered who commaunded to take the cloth from hir face that at the least they might be satisfied with hir bewtie which thing being done The Iudges stoode vp and layed their handes vpon the heade of Susanna saying As we were walking in the Orcharde alone this woman came in with hir twoo Maydens whom she sent awaye from hir making fast the Orcharde doore after them Then starte their vp a yoong fellowe which laye hidde in the Garden and went vnto hir laye with hir Then we which stoode in a corner séeing this wickednesse â—anne vnto them and saw them as they were togither but we coulde not holde the fellowe for he was stronger than we and got open the doore and leaped out And when we demaunded of hir what fellow it was she woulde not tell vs This is the matter and we be witnesse of the same Then Susanna cryed out and sayde O euerlasting God thou searcher of heartes thou that knowest all things before they come â–ª to passe â–ª thou wotest that they haue borne false witnesse agaynst mée And beholde I muste dye whereas I neuer intended anye such thing as these men haue maliciously ymagined agaynst mée And as she was ledde towarde the place of execution the Lorde of Heauen which hearde hir prayer raysed vp the spirite of a little Childe called Daniel who cryed with a lowde voyce â–ª saying I am cleane from the bloude of this woman And when the people hearde that they stayed to knowe of the Childe what he ment by his woordes O yée Children of Israel sayde he are yée such fooles that without examinacion and knowledge of the truth ye haue condemned a daughter of Israel returne agayne to iudgement for they haue borne false witnesse agaynst hir Then the people went backe agayne and the Elders tooke Daniel and set him among them in iudgement Who when he had commaunded the twoo false witnesses to be seuered that he might examine them he called the one before hym and sayde O thou that arte olde in a wicked lyfe nowe thy sinâ—es which thou hast committed afore tyme are come to light Tell mée vnder what Trée thou sawest this woman and the yoong fellowe togither he sayde vnder a Mulbery Trée Now veryly quoth Daniel thou hast lyed and arte woorthy of death in that thou hast oppressed the innocent and letten the guiltie go frée contrarie to the woordes of the Lorde which sayth The innocent and righteous sée thou slay not Then he called the other and sayde O thou séede of Canaan but not of Iuda Bewtie hath disceyued thée and lust hath subverted thine heart Thus haue ye dealt with the daughters of Israel and they for feare consented vnto you but the daughters of Iuda woulde not abyde your wickednesse Now tell mée vnder what Trée dyddest thou take them companying togither He aunswered vnder a Pyne Trée Nowe verily sayde Daniel thou hast lyed also agaynst thine head The messenger of the Lord standeth wayting with the swoorde to cut thée in twoo and so to destroye you both And with that the whole assembly cryed with a lowde voyce and praysed God which so myraculously had preserued Susanna that daye And so fell vppon the twoo wicked Iudges and according to the law of Moses put them both to death ¶ Susanna one of those godly women which followed Christ and his Apostles relieuing them with hir substaunce as much as laye in hir power T. TAddeus was one of the twelue Apostles Act. 24. a. Tartullus was a certayne Dratour the which Ananias the hye Priest had brought with him to informe Felix the ruler agaynst Paule And when Paule was brought foorth Tartullus began to accuse hym saying Séeing that we lyue in great quietnesse by the meanes of thée and that many good thinges are done vnto this nacion thorowe thy prouidence that we euer alowe and in all places most mightie Felix with all thanks Notwithstanding that I be not tedyous vnto thée I praye thée that thou wouldest heare vs of thy curtesie a few words For we haue founde this man a Pestilent fellowe and a moouer of debate vnto all the Iewes thoroweout the Worlde and a maintayner of the sect of the Nazarites And hath also inforced to pollute the Temple whom we tooke and woulde haue iudged according to our law But the hygh captayne Lysias came vpon vs and with great violence tooke him away out of our handes commaunding his accusers to come vnto thée Of whome thou mayst if thou wilt inquyre knowe the certaynetie of all these thinges whereof we accuse him Tartullus a salsâ—reporter or a teller of tales a lyer Gen. 11. d. Terah was the sonne of Nahor the Sonne of Serug He at the age of seuentie yeres begot Abraham but he had before by an other wife Nahor and Haran All the dayes that Terah lyued were two hundred and fiue yere ¶ Terah Smelling ¶ Looke in the story of Abraham Rom. 16. d. Tercius was the name of him that wrote the Epistle of S. Paule to the Romaynes whyle Paule endited it saying on this wyse I Tercius salute you which wrote this Epistle in the Lord. ¶ Tercius a Latine worde 2. Reg. 13. a. b. c. d. Thamar the daughter of Dauid was so bewtiefull a yoong woman that Ammon hir brother fell sicke for hir loue And when she had visited Ammon at
hir Fathers commaundement and drest hym certayne meate and brought it into his Chamber he began to force hir to lye with hym Then she séeing that sayde Naye my brother doe not force mée for no such thing ought to be done in Israel commit not this folye For whither shall I be able to go with my shame And thou shalt be as one of the fooles in Israel Nowe therefore I praye thée speake vnto the King he will not denye mée vnto thée Nowbeit Ammon would not hearcken vnto hir voyce but being stronger than she forced Thamar and laye with hir And than was his hatred so great agaynst hir that hée thrust hir from him and bade hir get hir out of his sight Well sayde Thamar Thou hast no cause thus to intreate mée for this euill that thou puttest mée awaye is greater than that thou dyddest vnto mée Neuerthelesse there was no remedye but out of his house she must go And when his seruaunt had put hir foorth and made fast the doores after hir she put ashes vpon hir head and rent hir gay kyrtle which was of diuers colours the maner of apparell that Kings daughters such as were Virgins dyd vse to weare and so went crying home to hir brother Absaloms house where she remayned desolate ¶ Thamar a â—almeirâ—e ¶ Thamar which was daughter in Lawe to Iuda the sonne of Iacob Reade hir story in the storie of Iuda â–ª ¶ Thamar the daughter of Absalom 2. Reg. 14. g. Act. 5. g. Theudas was an Inchaunter and false deceyuer who by boasting himselfe to the people and promising of prodigious thinges drewe vnto him a great company of men to the number of foure hundred Whose wicked enterprise for as much as it procéeded of a malicious stomacke came to an vnthriftie ende For both he hymselfe suffered paynes of death and his partakers some slayne and some taken prisoners And so the reast being scattered abrode the sect came to naught 4. Reg. 16. b. Thiglath Peleser King of Assiria who had receyued of Ahaz King of Iuda a great summe of treasure to come and helpe him agaynst Rezin King of Siria came to Damasco and tooke the Citie and slue Rezin the King there And caryed the people awaye to Kyr 2. Reg. 8. c. Thoi King of Hamath had a great enimie of Hadarezar King of Zoba And when he heard how Dauid had ouercome and beaten hym he sent his sonne Ioram to Dauid with vessels of Golde siluer and brasse for a present and to salute him with peace to giue him thanks for that he had fought with his auncient enimie and so valyauntly ouercome him Iudic. 10. a. Thola the sonne of Phua of the generacion of Isachar dwelling in Samir in Mount Ephraim succéeded his vncle Abimelech and iudged Israel thrée and twentie yeares and was buryed in Samir And after hym rose Iair ¶ Thola a Worme Math. 10. â— Thomas otherwise called Didimus which signifieth in English doubtfull was one of the twelue Apostles of Christ Who what time as the Disciples diswaded Iesus from going into Iewrye agayne forasmuch as the Iewes had lately sought to stone him sayde Let Iohn 11. c. vs go also that we maye dye with hym This Thomas 20. f. g. doubting of the resurrection of Christ sayde vnto his fellowes which tolde him that they had séene the Lorde Except I sée in his hands the print of the nayles and put my finger into the print or place of the nayles and put my hande into his side I will not beléeue After eyght dayes Thomas being with the Disciples came Iesus agayne and stoode in the middest saying peace be with you and saide to Thomas put thy finger here and sée my handes and thrust foorth thy hande and put it into my side and be not faythlesse but faythfull Then Thomas conceyuing a full fayth that it was the Lorde sayde Thou arte my Lord and my god Which confession Iesus dyd well accept imbrace but yet withall to reprooue the hardnesse of his beliefe he sayde vnto him Thomas bycause thou hast séene mée thou beléeuest Blessed are they that haue not séene and yet haue beléeued ¶ Thomas A twin Luk. 3. a. Tiberius was an Emperour of whom saint Luke maketh mencion in his Gospell saying That in the fiftene yeare of his raygne the worde of God came to Iohn Baptist in the Wildernesse ¶ Tiberius A good sight or vision Act. 20. a. Tichicus was one of the Disciples which went out of Asia to Troas where he abode Pauls comming who Ephe. 6. b. sent him afterwarde to the Ephesians and also to the Collossians with his Epistles to informe them in what Coll. 4. b. case he stoode in and what he dyd in all thinges ¶ Tichicus casuall or comming by chaunce 1. Mac. 5. cap. Timothy was a certayne Captayne of the Ammonites which was twise ouercome and put to flight of Machabeus and at the thirde tyme so sore discomfited 8. e. thorowe helpe of the fiue men which God made to appeare 10. e. f. g. on horsebacke with brydels of Golde leading the Iewes and twoo of them hauing Machabeus betwéene them that Timothyes hoste were so confounded with blindnesse and so sore afrayde that they fell downe and were slayne of them twentie thousande and fiue hundred footemen with sixe hundred horsemen and he himselfe fayne to take the strong holde of Gazar to the which Machabeus layed siege foure dayes and coulde not winne it Wherefore they within trusting to the strength of the holde fell to cursing and rayling on the Iewes with moste spitefull woordes and made so great crakes and boast of their strength that on the fift daye the Iewes were so chafed in their mindes that with bolde courage they scaled the Walles and set the Portes on fire and brent those crakers and blasphemers and got the Castle which was twoo dayes in destroying where at the last they found Timothy which was crept into a corner and slue him with Cereas his brother captayne of the Castle Reade the storie of Dositheus ¶ Timothy the honour of God or be that honoureth God. Act. 16. a. Timothy was a certayne godlye Disciple whose mother was a Iewe and his father a Paynim Of this man there went so good a report of his verteous lyuing among the brethren of Lystra and Iconium that Paule was much desirous to haue him go foorth with him in his iourney wherefore he tooke and circumcised him bicause of the Iewes in those quarters which knewe his Father to be a Gréeke And so went Timothy foorth with Phil. 2. c. Paule and as he reporteth euen as a sonne with the Father bestowed he his laboure with hym vppon the Gospell He was a man of great studye and abstinence thorowe the which he fell oftentymes sicke And therefore Paule to measure his abstinence exhorteth him to 1. Tim. 5. d. drincke no longer water but
with great rewardes And being mette togithers Triphon sayde to Ionathas Why hast thou caused this people to take such traueyle séeing there is no warre betwéene vs Therefore sende them home againe and choose certayne men to wayte vpon thée and come thou with mée to Ptclomais for I will giue it thée with other strong holdes for that is the onelye cause of my comming and so I must depart Then Ionathas beléeuing Triphon sent away his hoste all saue a thousande and so went with Triphon to Ptolomais And assoone as Ionathas and his men were entered the Citie the gates were shut and Ionathas put in warde all his men were 1. Mac. 13. a. b. c. d. slayne After this Triphon went into the lande of Iuda with a great hoste hauing Ionathas with hym in warde And when he had knowledge that Symon stoode vp in the steade of his brother Ionathas and that he woulde come agaynst him he sent worde to Symon that where as he kept Ionathas his brother in warde it was but for mony he ought in the Kings account and other businesse he had in hande Therefore if he woulde sende hym an hundred Talents of Siluer and the twoo sonnes of Ionathas to be their fathers suretie he would sende him home againe But Symon knewe his dissembling heart well ynough Yet neuerthelesse least he should be a greater enimie to the people of Israel and say an other daye that bycause he sent him not the money and the children therefore is Ionathas dead he sent him both the money and the Children Then Triphon hauing the money and Children kept Ionathas still and shortlye after put both the Father and his children to death Now Triphon to bring his long pretenced purpose about on a tyme as he walked abrode with the yoong King he most trayterously slue him and possessed the Realme and crowned himselfe King of Asia and dyd much hurte in the lande Finally Triphon 15. b. cap. was so behated of all men that when Antiochus the sonne of Demetrius came vpon him the most part of his owne hoste forsooke him and went to Antiochus who neuer left persecuting of Triphon till he made hym flée by shippe where he was neuer séene more ¶ Triphon a delicate and fine man. Act. 20. a. Trophimus was an Ephesian borne who went with Tichicus out of Asia to Troas to make all thinges ready agaynst Paules comming and abode there till Paule came from thence they went with Paule to Ierusalem where certaine Iewes which were of Asia mooued the people agaynst Paule complayning of hym that he 21. f. cap. had brought Gréekes with hym to polute the Temple bicause they saw Trophimus with him in the Citie whom they supposed Paule had brought into the Temple Gene. 4. c. d. Tubal was the sonne of Lamech by his wyfe Ada. And was the first that inuented the science of Musicke by the strokes and noyse of the hammers of his brother Tubalcain which was a Smith and the first finder out of Mettall and the woorking thereof Iubal was his brother by father and mother and Tubalcain onely by the Father for Zilla was his mother ¶ Tubal borne or brought or worldly ¶ Tubalcain Worldly possession V. VAsthi was a verye fayre woman and wyfe to Ahasuerus otherwise called Artaxerses King of Persia And bycause she woulde not come to the King when he sent for hir a lawe was deuised and made by the seuen Princes of Persia and Medea That forasmuch as it coulde not be chosen but that this déede of Quéene Vasthi must néeds come abrode into the eares of all women both Princes and other so dispise their husbandes and saye Thus and thus dyd Vasthi to Ahasuerus by which occasion much dispitefulnesse and wrath shoulde aryse The King shoulde therefore put hir awaye and take an other to the ende that all other women great and small shoulde holde their husbandes in more honour And so she was diuersed from the King and Hester receyued in hir place Vrban was a certayne faythfull Christian brother to whome Paule sent gréetings saying Salute Vrban our helper in Christ Vrias the Hethite was a man alwayes for the most part occupyed in the Kings warres with Ioab the Kings Captayne generall This Vrias had a fayre woman to his wyfe called Bethsabe whome King Dauid in his absence had got with childe And when the King had knowledge that the woman was conceyued he sent for Vrias to come home Who being come to the King and had tolde him of all thinges concerning Ioab and his men of warre The King bade him go home to his house and repose himselfe there a whyle with his wyfe And so Vrias being departed from the King went not home to his wyfe but laye without the Kinges gate he and all his men that night And when on the morowe the King had knowledge thereof he sent for Vrias demaunded why he went not home To whome he sayde The Arke of Israel and Iuda dwell in Tentes and my Lorde Ioab and the seruaunts of my Lorde abide in the open fields shall I than go into mine house to eate and drincke lye with my wyfe By thy lyfe and by the life of thy soule I will not doe this thing Then he was commaunded to tarye a daye or twoo more and the King wrote a letter to Ioab the Tenour whereof was this That he should set Vrias in the fore front of the battell where it was most sharpest to the intent he might be slayne And so Vrias departed from the King carying his owne death with him and was soone dispatched out of his lyfe Vriah was the hye Priest in the tyme of Ahaz King of Iuda And hauing the patterne of an Altar sent vnto hym by the King from Damasco to make hym the lyke agaynst hys comming home Vriah consented to the Kinges wicked minde and made the Altar and did whatsoeuer the King woulde haue him to doe without any regarde of the lawes of God. Vza and Ahio were the sonnes of Abinadab which wayted vpon the newe Cart whereon the Arke of God which was taken out of their fathers house to be caryed to the house of Obeth was layed And forasmuch as Vza of a good intent put foorth his hande to staye the Arke when the Oxen stumbled the Lorde smote hym for his fault that he dyed euen before the Arke Z. ZAbulon was the sixte sonne of Iacob and Lea. Of whome his father prophecied before his death saying Zabulon shall dwell by the Sea side and hée shal be an hauen for shippes his border shal be vnto Zidon Zachary was a certayne godlye Priest in the dayes of Herode King of Iewrye which came of the course or familie of Abia. And walked so perfectly in the ordinaunces and lawes of the Lorde that no man could iustly complayne on hym But he had no childe by his wyfe Elizabeth for she was barren
And when his course came to burne incense euening morning according to the lawe he went into the Temple And as he was in prayer an Angell appeared vnto him saying Feare not Zachary for thy prayer is hearde And thy wyfe Elizabeth shall beare thée a sonne and thou shalt call his name Iohn c. Whereby sayde Zachary shall I knowe this for I am olde and my wyfe olde also I am Gabriel quoth the Aungell which am sent vnto thée to shew thée these glad tydinges And beholde thou shalt be dumme and not able to speake vntill the day that these things be performed And so Zachary remayned speachelesse vntill the tyme came that his wyfe brought him foorth a sonne And when the childe shoulde be circumcised great controuersie was there about his name Some woulde haue him called Zachary some by one name some by an other and his mother woulde haue him called Iohn but to that woulde none agrée bycause there was none of the kinred so named Then they made signes to Zachary how he woulde haue his sonne called And he calling by signes for writing tables wrote therein His name is Iohn Whereat they all marueyled And immediatly the mouth of Zacharye was opened so that he spake and sayde Praysed be the Lorde God of Israel for he hath visited and redéemed his people c. Zacharia the sonne of Ieroboam King of Israel began his raygne in the eyght and thirtie yeare of Azaria King of Iuda and walked in the sinnes of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat as dyd other before hym Hée had not raygned sixe monthes or that Sallum conspired against him and slue him euen in the face of the people raigned in his steade This Zacharia was the fourth and the last King of the generacion of Iehu which the Lord had promised shoulde sit on his seate after hym when he sayde Thy children vnto the fourth generacion after thée shall sit on the seate of Israel Zarah was one of the twoo twynnes which Thamar bare vnto Iuda at one birth who proffering to come forth before his brother put foorth his hande when the Mydwyfe had knit a redde thréede about it he pluckt in hys hande agayne and than his brother came out first whom they called Phares and than he with the redde thréede about his hande whome they called Zarah Zacharia the sonne of Iehoiada was an holye Prophet And when he sawe Ioas King of Iuda whome his father had trayned from his youth vp in the feare of god with all his people declined from the Lorde to the woorshipping of Idols and woulde not heare the Lordes admonicion sent by his prophets to call them home againe he stoode vp before the people sayde Why transgresse yée the commaundementes of the Lorde surelye it shall not prosper bycause yée haue forsaken the Lorde he also hath forsaken you For the which the King not regarding the kindnesse of Iehoiada his Father commaunded the people to stone him to death in the court of the house of the Lorde And as he suffered his martyrdome he desired the Lorde to reuenge his death and to requyre his bloude at their handes Zachy was a Publican and chiefe receyuer of the Kinges Tribute among them He was a very lowe man of stature And being much desirous to sée Iesus what maner a man he shoulde be made great meanes to sée him And when he sawe the prease so great that he coulde not he ranne before knowing which waye he woulde come and clymed vp into a wilde Figge trée And when Iesus saw him in the trée he sayde Zachy come downe at once for to day I must abyde at thy house And Zachy came downe receyued him ioyfully And shewing foorth the true fruites of repentaunce sayde Beholde Lorde the halfe of my goodes I giue to the poore and if I haue done any man wrong I restore him foure folde To whome Iesus sayde agayne This daye is saluacion come to this house forasmuch as thou art also become the sonne of Abraham Zaruia was Dauids sister Hir thrée Sonnes were Ioab Abisai and Asael Zedekia the fourth sonne of Iosia was one twentie yeare olde when Nabuchodonosor made him King of Iuda in the steade of Ieoacin his brothers sonne And made him take an othe of the Lorde faythfullye and truelye to serue the Chaldeis in token whereof hée chaunged hys name from Mathania to Zedekia This King suffered sinne and wickednesse so much to raygne in his lande as well among the heade rulers and Priestes as among the common sorte that God was forgotten his worde despised and his Prophets misused Wherefore the Lord styrred vp the Chaldeis with whom he had broke his league which came and destroyed the Citie of Ierusalem and the holy Temple of God with fyre as the Prophet Ieremie had sayde and tooke Zedekia the King his army being dispersed abrode in the playne of Iericho and brought him to the King of Babilon who first destroyed both his sonnes before his face and then pulled out the eyes of Zedekia and so caryed him to Babylon bounde with twoo chaynes where he dyed his people remayning in bondage vntill the dayes of Cyrus which was about thrée score and ten yeares Zedekia the sonne of Canaana was one of the false Prophets which deceyued Achab. And when Micheas the true Prophet of God spake agaynst them this Zedekia smote him on the Chéeke saying When went the spirit of the Lorde from mée to speake vnto thée Well sayde Micheas Thou shalt sée in that daye when thou shalt go from Chamber to chamber to hide thée Zelaphead the Sonne of Hepher the sonne of Gilead the Sonne of Machir the Sonne of Manasses the sonne of Ioseph had fiue daughters who forasmuch as their father dyed in the Wildernesse without male issue and was none of those that rebelled agaynst the Lorde in the Congregacion of Chore They requyred of Moses to haue a possession among their fathers brethren least the name of their Father shoulde be vtterlye taken awaye from among his kinred Whose request God alowed and bade Moses giue them a possession among their brethren and to make a law that whosoeuer dyed without a sonne his inheritaunce should turne to his daughter If he haue no daughter to his brethren If he haue no brethren to his Fathers brethren If his father haue no brethren than it shoulde turne to the next of the kinne And also to stabishe their inheritaunce that it should not be remooued thorow mariage into an other Tribe an order was taken that no Tribe shoulde marry with an other Tribe but euery Tribe shoulde mary with whom he lyst among his owne Tribe and kinred And so the daughters of Zelaphead were maryed to their Fathers brothers sonnes which were of the kinred of Manasses the Sonne of Ioseph by which meanes their inheritaunce remayned styll in the Tribe and kinred of their Father Zenas was