himself encourageth those that he makes the executioners of his Justice Come put in your sithes for there is a great harvest before you the wickednesse of mine enemies is now ripe Come down into this vally For the wine-presse is full it runs over for the exceeding abundance of their great and bloudy offences for that may be intimated in the overflowing of the blood of the grape 14. O the multitudes of hereticks schismaticks irreligious and profane livers O the vast companies of Atheists Idolaters Tyrants and other malicious enemies of the true Profession and Service of God that methinks I see now making their appearance in the vally of Jehoshaphat or devine judgement that may now be called the valley of decision where they shall receive their doom or the vally of threshing after the harvest where their punishment shall begin For now after they have enjoyed their time the day of the Lord the time of divine vengeance is ready to come upon them in the valley of decision and of threshing 15. At the approach of this terrible day the world will seem to be all in confusion They that were the light and glory of their times and as eminent and conspicuous in the sphaere of their government as the Sun and Moon and Stars are in the firmament of heaven shall be suddenly obscured and loose their light 16. The Lion of the tribe of Iudah shall roar out of Sion to the terrour of all his enemies When he first utters his voice as the defender of Ierusalem i. of his holy Church whereof Jerusalem was a figure though the powers of heaven and earth may shake yet they that trust in him will stand as firm as mount Sion that cannot be moved The Lord will shew himself our refuge and the strength of the Israel of God 17. After the roaring of the Lion will you hear the comfortable voice of the Lamb of God Thus shall ye know saith he to his Servants thus shall you see that I am the Lord your God that dwell in my Church as in my Sion my holy mountain Thus shall you be assured that my Ierusalem my Church is holy and therefore shall be secured from the unhallowed hands of those strange children that shall not be suffered so insolently and triumphantly as they have done to go thorough her any more 18. After this treading the wine-presse of the wicked and threshing of their harvest we are onely to hear of the happinesse of the Church For then shall the mountains drop new wine to her for her stronger Saints and the hils shall flow with milk fit nourishment for her yet tender babes And all the rivers of this mysticall Iudah shall with waters of life to refresh all And to this end a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord to supply the sacred Font which is placed in the lower part of the Church like a little valley of Shittim which is the embleme of a vessel that will not putrifie 19. And then while Egypt and Edom i. e. great enemies of the Church shall lie ruinous and desolate because of the innocent blood which they have shed in the true Iudah the Church of God 20. Iudah in the mean while the holy Church shall dwell safe aud the true Jerusalem shall be comforted with a true and lasting felicity 21. And the blood of the Saints which I did not before manifest to be pure and innocent and therefore most unjustly spilt that shall I even by that meanes declare to be pure and innocent namely by the exemplary punishment of their executioners And thus will God ever abide with his Church and preserve his Servants in their greatest dangers or reward them with that which shall exceed a present delivery and be a sufficient vindication of their vertue and innocence A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF AMOS CHAP. I. 1. THe word of Amos who was among the herdmen of Tekoa which he saw concerning Israel in the dayes of Vzziah King of Iudah and in the daies of Ieroboam the son of Ioash King of Israel two years before the earthquake 2 And he said the Lord will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Ierusalem and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn and the top of Carmel shall wither 3 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus aud cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven and him that holdeth the scepter from the house of Eden and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir saith the Lord. 6 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they carried away captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. 7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza which shall devour the palaces thereof 8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod and him that holdeth the scepter from Ashkelon and I will turn mine hand against Ekron and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish saith the Lord God 9 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Tyrus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom and remembred not the brotherly covenant 10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus which shall devour the palaces thereof 11 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because he did pursue his brother with the sword and did cast off all pitty and his anger did tear perpetually and kept his wrath for ever 12 But I will send a fire upon Teman which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah 13 Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have ript up the women with child of Gilead that they might inlarge their border 14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah and it shall devour the palaces thereof with shouting in the day of battel with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind 15 And their King shall go into captivity he and his Princes together saith the Lord. CHAP. I. 1. THe words or things Prophetically imparted to the knowledge of Amos who was among the Shepherds or keepers of cattle in Tekoah six miles from Bethlehem which were famous for that employment Thence was he called to be a Prophet as David before that from following of sheep was chosen to be a Royal Prophet by that wise and merciful God that chuseth the base things of the world to confound the
or any that have near reference unto him as first to besot him with his strong and inticing liquor and then to make use of that time of infirmitie for the discovery of his nakednesse and the disclosing of any secret which he knowes is best gotten out of him when the warm drink hath sweetly washed away the remembrance of his Duty 16. This wo is for thee O Chaldaean that art so ready to discover and deride the weaknesse of others For thou shalt be fuller of shame than glory when thou meetest with thy reward at last in a worse cup whereof thou shalt be forced to drink deeply when thy turn comes So shall thy nakednesse also come to be discovered when in the midst of thy Pride and Gallantry the right hand of the Lord which cannot be resisted shall hold out that cup unto thee and make thee drink it all off though thou art forced to cast it up again to thy further disgrace And so shall Divine Justice repay thee with that shame and affliction which thou hast abundantly deserved for thy insolent opprobrious dealing with others whom thou hast laid open and naked to all kinds of injury and reproach 17. And deserved again if thou hadst no other fault for thy base sacrilegious and scornfull abuses of the Temple to which the whole Forrest of Lebanon did contribute her best Timber and therefore gave it also the name of another more sacred Lebanon but thy violent profane Army have now turned it again into the likenesse of a ruder Forrest that the wild Beasts have had to do withall That open injury to Lebanon that spoil and havock made there to the very laying it in the dust shall beat those Beasts thy rude Souldiers into dust that behaved themselves there like wild Beasts indeed rather than like men That Impiety in the desolation of my holy house saith the sacred Oracle shall overwhelm thee with a worthy punishment and thy own Houses and fair structures shall therefore be laid as waste and desolate as that which is the openest and vastest Habitation of the wild Beasts of the Forrest The rather because of thy imitation of those savage Creatures in the effusion of blood and ransacking of so many Persons and Places as do now in their ruines give a testimony of thy barbarous proceeding against them all 18. All which Sacriledge and cruell Barbarisine was accompanied with other waies of Irreligion and Idolatry and what fruit and advantage did any of them gain What profit can be shewed from the graven and molten Images He that made them and he that preached them up for Deities were both of them Inventers and Dispersers of Lies Yet could that Maker and Raiser of them adde this folly to the other to trust and repose a confidence upon such mute and false Gods as could not so much as make answer unto their Prayers 19. And this calls for another wo upon that sinfull nation Wo to him that commenceth his Prayer for releif to a piece of wood and calls to the dumb Idol of stone to awake and give him audience The Idol it self might teach him that another Deitie would be looked after if he look for help For who cannot see that though it be fairly guilded over with silver and gold to seem glorious to the eie yet there is not so much breath and spirit within it as can adde life and vigour to that glittering outside 20. But the Lord is not so Heaven is the glorious Temple wherein he dwells and whereof all other Temples are but figures And the Reverence we show in them is a Copy of that Fear and Reverence that is due to Him from all the ends of the Earth CHAP. III. A Prayer of Habakkuk the Prophet upon Sigionoth 2 O Lord I have heard thy speech and was afraid O Lord revive thy work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy 3 God came from Temon and the holy one from mount Paran Selah His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise 4 And his brightnesse was as the light he had horns coming out of his hand and there was the hiding of his power 5 Before him went the pestilence and burning coals went forth at his feet 6 He stood and measured the earth he beheld and drove asunder the nations and the everlasting mountains were scattered the perpetuall hills did bow his waies are everlasting 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction and the curtains of the land of Midiâ—n did tremble 8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivers was thine anger against the rivers was thy wrath against the sea that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation 9 Thy bow was made quite naked according to the oathes of the tribes even thy word Selah Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers 10 The mountains saw thee and they trembled the overflowing of the water passed by the deep uttered his voice and lift up his hands on high 11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation at the light of thine arrows they went and at the shining of thy glittering spear 12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation thou didst thresh the heathen in anger 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people even for salvation with thine anointed thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked by discovering the foundation unto the neck Selah 14 Thou didst strike thorough with his stâ—ves the head of his villages they came out as a whirl-wind to scatter me their rejoycing was as to devour the poor secretly 15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses through the heap of great waters 16. When I heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottennesse entred into my bones and I trembled in my self that I might rest in the day of trouble when he cometh up unto the people he will invade them with his troups 17 Although the fig-tree shall not blossome neither shall fruit be in the vines the labour of the olive shall fall and the fields shall yeild no meat the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls 18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation 19 The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hinds feet and he will make me to walk upon mine high places To the chief singer on my stringed instruments The Sum of the third CHAPTER THe third Chapter in a devout Prayer or divine Hymne set to an Instrument of Musick admires the Justice and Providence and Goodnesse of Almighty God And teacheth us by the holy Prophets example to trust and repose our selves in the will and mercy of God whatsoever it pleaseth him to bring upon us Wherein we cannot but observe that the devout Prophet made
no scruple either at a set Form of Prayer or of putting that Prayer into a Song and having that set to a Musicall Instrument which containes in it not a Prayer onely but a Prophesie of much sadnesse and calamity to his whole Nation I beleive it cannot be said that any were more truely and compassionately affected with it than himself was and I think he was never the lesse affected with it when he made it a part of his solemn Musick Shall I adde this too that though his Prayer could not move God any thing the more by the advantage of the rarest skill in Musick wherein it might be delivered yet if the Prophet or others that used it after him by the help of those solemn and harmonious Tones had their own Devotion any thing the more affected in the delivery then was there Motive enough why he should for theirs or his own sake commend it to some Artist that could fit it to a Musicall Instrument Of the Title of the third Chapter and of the Musicall termes there mentioned 1. A Prayer of the Prophet Habakkuk upon Shigionoth wherein he expresseth his content and acquiescence in the solution of his former doubts from the Divine Oracle comforts himself in the examples of Gods love and Providence over his Church puts his own pious thoughts and Resolutions into a Divine Meditation and refers all to be set to a Musicall Tune As appears by the Shigionoth in the front and the Musicall Selaâ— in the body and again by his Neginoth in the foot of this excellent Song and divine Ditty For Shigionoth first it seems to be some Musicall Tune or Instrument I agree with those that take it to be some erraticall various delightfull Modulation and I think it to be the same Tune or Instrument that the sweet singer of Israel made choice of under the name of Shiggaion in the Title of the seventh Psalm Which is also a Prayer of Davids made upon occasion of some words or actions of Cush the Benjamite i. of Saul that was like a Cush or AEthiopian in this that he would no more change his malice to David than the AEthiopian his skin As for Selah in the third and thirteenth verse of this Chapter that is a Musicall note which serves as a direction for the raising up of the voice in that place wherein it is fixed And I like that which Kimehi joynes with it the elevation of the heart too We never meet with it but in the Psalmes of David in whose time it seems to have been taken up as a word of Art and after him in this Prayer of Habakkuk Then for the word Neginoth It is properly referred to Instruments of Musick especially those that were played upon with the fingers and had the Voice joyned with them as in the solemn Hymnes and other Musicall Service of the Jewish Church And he that had a more extraordinary skill in that way and was the chief in composing or overseeing that kind of Melody is called here by the Prophet Habakkuk in the conclusion of this Prayer and by the Royall Prophet in the Title of the fourth Psalm Menatseach Binginoth One thing more I have to say before I come to the Prayer it-self that in this Chapter as it may well be expected where such Musick is the holy Prophet in expressing his Meditations seems to use a kind of Divine Poetry And he must follow that kind of Poeticall expression that will follow the Prophet in this Musicall Chapter The Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the Prayer it self beginning at the second verse 2. WIth fear and reverence have I heard that answer O Lord wherein thou art pleased to reveale the execution of thy Iustice. First upon the Jewes by Chaldeans and then more heavily upon the Chaldeans themselves by other Nations when thy own People after the expiration of seventy years shall be graciously delivered from Captivity In the interim of those years of their captivity be thou the life and comfort of thy Church the speciall work of thy own hands and let thy People feel the benefit of thy presence In that sad compasse of time O make thy self known to them that need thee most and in the midst of thy Anger and Justice remember Mercy 3. Remember thy tender mercies showed unto us of old in our miraculous delivery from the Egyptian bondage when after our safe conduct into the wildernesse out of the reach of our enemies Thou camest in such Majesty from Teman and madest thy holinesse shine forth in such beauty from mount Paran The first appearance of thy glory diffused in self over the air above filling it after an extraordinary manner with Thunder and Lightning the forerunners of thy divine approach and the Earth below was abundantly made happy with the just occasions of Praise and thankfull acclamations 4. For in great Light and Splendour and Glory were all the waies of God's most gracious appearance a Figure of that greater Light and Glory which is altogether invisible and inaccessible to poor Mortals But for our weaknesse they were so shadowed and qualified as might best fit the eyes of them that were then entertained with those wonders 5. And as such Lustres were a pledge and testimony of comfort to his own people so as a terrour to their Enemies fearfull Death and Destruction went before Him and He left behind Him the foot-steps of Horrour and speedy consumption 6. At last when he rested in his holy Ark in the land of Promise he divided that Land by lot for their inheritance At his appearance the Nations were so troubled They that had dwelt so long in those Mountainous Countries were much distracted with the sad apprehension of their likelihood to be now roused and expelled out of those ancient Seates and forced to submit to new Lords and Masters brought thither by Him in whose Power are all the Actions and alterations of the world 7. It was not for any good deserts of ours but for the wickednesse of those Nations that they were so rooted out by the hand of Justice That apparently removed not the Cananites onely out of their dwelling but the Midianites for their sinne When it troubled the tents of Cushan afflicted their whole land and made them content to pack away with their portable Houses to other places of mansion where they might be found 8. But still as the way of thy Justice was observable over other Nations so was thy Mercy O Lord over us to the very alteration of the ordinary course of Nature We found that in our passage thorough the Red Sea and thorough the River Jordan The waters seemed to start aside at our coming towards them and for very fear to give way to us Was it thy anger O Lord against the proud waves that forced them thus to shrink back Was the Sea afraid of thy triumphant approach Was it the noise of thy Chariots and the prancing of
whether we understand it of the religious Iews both of Iudah and Israel that returned out of the captivity or of the devout Christians after them that are the true holy seed and the true Israel of God and were delivered from a greater bondage CHAP. II. 1. SAy ye unto your brethren Ammi and to your sisters Ru-hamah 2. Plead with your mother plead for she is not my wife neither am I her husband let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts 3 Lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day that she was born and make her as a wildernesse and set her like a dry land and slay her with thâ—â—st 4. And I will not have mercy upon her children for they be the children of whoredoms 5. For their mother hath played the harlot she that conceived them hath done shamefully for she said I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water my wool and my flax mine oil and my drink 6. Therefore behold I will hedge up thy way with thorns and make a wall that she shall not find her paths 7. And she shall follow after her lovers but she shall not overtake them and she shall seek them but shall not find them then shall she say I will go and return to my first husband for then was it better with me then now 8 For she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold which they prepared for Baal 9 Therefore will I return and take away my corn in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recover my wooll and my flax given to cover her nakednesse 10. And now will I discover her lewdnesse in the sight of her lovers and none shall deliver her out of mine hand 11. I will also cause all her mirth to cease her feast-daies her new Moons and her Sabbaths and all her solemn feasts 12. And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees whereof she hath said These are my rewards that my lovers have given me and I will make them a forest and the beasts of the field shall eat them 13. And I will visit upon her the daies of Baalim wherein she burnt incense to them and she decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels and she went after her lovers and forgat me saith the Lord. 14. Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse and speak comfortably unto her 15. And I will give her her vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor for a door of hope and she shall sing there as in the daies of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt 16. And it shall be at that day saith the Lord that thou shalt call me Ishi and shalt call me no more Baali 17. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth and they shall no more be remembred by their name 18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and I will break the bow and the sword and the battel out of the earth and will make them to lie down safely 19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse and in judgement and in loving kindnesse and in mercies 20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulnesse and thou shalt know the Lord. 21. And it shall come to passe in that day I will hear saith the Lord I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth 22. And the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil and they shall hear Jezreel 23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I will say to them which were not my people Thou art my people and they shall say Thou art my God CHAP. II. 1. YOu that are of the ten tribes say to your brethren those of the tribe of Iudah and Benjamin Ammi for now I acknowledge them for my people And say to your Sisters of those two tribes Ruchamah For my mercy shall watch over them 2. And when you have acknowledged their happinesse then every one of you may think of a quarrel a just quarrel you have to your own Mother i. to all the ten tribes For she hath not behaved her self like my Spouse Nor shall I answer her with the love of a Husband unlesse she make way for reconciliation of her self by a clean removal of her filthy pollutions and of her doting foolish demeanour in the idle love shewed to those imaginarie dieties that deserve it not 3. Which she had best to remove least by way of requital of her making her self gay for those her best beloved I strip her stark naked and expose her as bare as ever she was born to the injury of the weather in some open wildernesse or drie land where I may take that advantage to kill her with very thirst 4. When this severitie falls upon the Mother the whole nation the particular children have no reason to expect any mercy being no better then children of an adulterous bed and most foul Idolatrie 5. For their Mother hath played the harlot she that conceived them hath brought shame upon her self and them the rather because she hath not sticked to professe it openly that she would follow the example of her Paramours the Assyrian and Egyptian idolaters that give her forsooth a constant supplie of her bread and her water and her wool and her flax and her oyl and her drink and what not for all this she ascribes to their acquaintance and to the bountie of their gods 6. Therefore saith the Lord The time shall come when she shall brag of none of these courtesies received from them The time when her way thither shall be hedged in as with thorns and in everie corner so fenced about that there will be no evasion from the Assyrian slaverie to which she shall be led along in bonds and triumph 7. When her quondam-lovers have brought her to those hard embraces she will then strive to court them and wooe them but shall be able to work nothing upon their affections And finding by sad experience that she seeks in vain for what will not be found she will then fall if not too late upon this sad resolution I will now go and return to my right Husband He was the first and he was the best And I have since tasted of no such happinesse as I ever was sure of in the fruition of his favour 8. This she will then say But she should sooner have taken notice that I was the true Author of what she called her corn and wine
debars us of the joy and pleasure that we were wont to take in our rich supply of sacrifices and offerings for the house of the Lord our God 17. For now not onely the corn above ground is destroyed but the very seed cast into the earth is putrisied under the clods so that our hope of a good harvest is buried with it and our garners are destroyed our barns emptied and ruined and our corn withered 18. O how the very cattel sensible of their wants in their loud bellowing seem to grone and cry unto God as elsewhere the hungry ravens are said to call upon Him who hath an ear for them and would much more be favourable to our prayers who are not so forward to bemoan our selves as the herds of bruit beasts are in their woful condition and perplexitie for lack of pasture And the flocks of sheep that as heavily though more remisly and silently expresse their sad and desolate case 19. I can not but crie unto thee O Lord the roaring of the poor beasts might put me upon it for that cruelty of our enemies that carrie all before them like a consuming fire destroying the fruitful places of the once-plentiful but now a most desert land and like a continued flame fearfully burning up all the trees of the field 20. And if I should leave crying and calling upon thee the beasts of the field every one of them as confuting the dulnesse and coldness of my affections and the too little pitty of my self and them would continue their louder and heavier cry unto thee because the great rivers of waters are dried up and the fruitful earth parched with heat is become like a drie and desolate wildernesse the pastures now deserve no other name among us CHAP. II. 1. BLow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord cometh for it is high at hand 2 A day of darknesse and of gloominesse a day of clouds of thick darkness as the morning spread upon the mountains a great people and a strong there hath not been ever the like neither shall be any more after it even to the years of many generations 3 A fire devoureth before them and behind them a flame burneth the land is as the garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness yea and nothing shall escape them 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses and as horsemen so shall they run 5 Like the noise of charets on the tops of mountains shall they leap like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble as a strong people set in battle array 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained all faces shal gather blacknesse 7 They shall run like mighty men they shall climb the wall like men of war and they shall march every one on his wayes and they shall not break their ranks 8 Neither shall one thrust another they shall walk every one in his path and when they fall upon the sword they shall not be wounded 9 They shall run to and fro in the city they shall run upon the wall they shall climb up upon the houses they shall enter in at the windowes like a thief 10 The earth shall quake before them the heavens shall tremble the Sun and the Moon shall be dark and the Stars shall withdraw their shining 11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army for his camp is very great for he is strong that executeth his word for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible and who can abide it 12 Therefore also now saith the Lord Turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning 13 And rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse and repenteth him of the evill 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion sanctifie a fast call a solemn assembly 16 Gather the people sanctifie the congregation assemble the Elders gather the children and those that suck the breasts let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet 17 Let the Priests the ministers of the Lord weep between the porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord and give not thing heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them wherefore should they say among the people where is their God 18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land and pity his people 19 Yea the Lord will answer and say unto his people Behold I will send you corn and wine and oil ye shall be satisfied therewith and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen 20 But I will remove far off from you the Northern army will drive him into a land barren and desolate with his face toward the east Sea his hinder part towards the utmost sea his stink shall come up his ill savour shall come up because he hath done great things 21 Fear not O land be glad and rejoyce for the Lord will do great things 22 Be not afraid ye beasts of the field for the pastures of the wildernesse do spring for the tree beareth her fruit the fig-tree and the vine do yeild their strength 23 Be glad then ye children of Zion and rejoyce in the Lord your God for he hath given you the former rain moderately and he will cause to come down for you the rain the former rain and the latter rain in the first moneth 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten the canker-worm and the caterpillar and the palmer-worm my great army which I sent among you 26 And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wonderously with you and my people shall never be ashamed 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your God and none else and my people shall never be ashamed 28 And it shall come to passe afterward that I will powre out my Spirit upon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream dreams your young men shall see visions 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids maids in those dayes will I powre out my Spirit 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth bloud and fire and pillars of smoak 31 The Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood before the
great and the terrible day of the Lord come 32 And it shall come to passe that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered for in mount Zion and in Ierusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call CHAP. II. 1. NOw me thinks I see Ierusalem in danger of a siege Nabuchodonosars souldiers are on their march It is high time to leave your wonted mirth and musick Let the loud sounding of your trumpets in Sion which is a kind of summons and alarum to the Kings own house there and the beating of your drums in the holy Mountain which is a watchword to those about the Temple give notice of your necessary preparation for war And a terrible war it may prove to all the inhabitants of these parts They have had their day a long time of sin and liberty and now God will have his day a severe time of punishment which comes on faster then we think for 2. That destruction of Ierusalem by Nabuchodonosor shall be but the forerunner of a greater day and a heavier destruction by the Romans And that will be a terrible day indeed A sad and gloomy day a dismal and cloudy day which shall come with as much speed and as sodain danger upon Ierusalem in all their security as the clear light of the morning that in an instant spreds and diffuseth it self over the mountains and imparts his lustre to all the world And answerable to this will be the agilitiy and quick dispatch that shall be used by those Locusts with Lions teeth their numerous and potent enemies This will make it such a fearful day such á terrible army with such slaughter of men as was never yet seen nor ever shall be to the years of many generations 3. The fearful and utter davastation then made by the enemies will be like that of fire both before and behind that sodainly and totally consumes all about it so that this pleasant countrie of Judea that before the entrance of the enemie was as well stored and delight sâ—me to look upon as the garden of Eden shall before their vast army of locusts be removed be rather like a bare and desolate wildernesse In which if any shall be so fortunate as not to perish by the sword yet there would be no way to escape from hence nor any hope of continuance here without perishing by famine or submission to the pleasure of the enemy Who will no way be hindred from having what he comes for in the compassng of our ruine 4. Such will be the event of this coming of these locusts who by their courage and agility and specially by their cruel visage wherein they will rather be like fierce horses then locusts might fright us into death And yet like stout Horsemen they will fall upon us with that force and violence that the valiantest amongst us will never be able to resist 5. In which violence skipping with hast over our mountainous country they will make as great a noise as chariots would do if they were furiously driven over such high places Or which is yet more horrid to the ear like the noise of a slanting fire that devours the stubble In these or what else may be worse then these they will show themselves like an armie of lustie men sufficiently instructed ordered and prepared for war 6. This quick and rough way of onset will be terrible to our people and make all their sad faces contract a palenesse or rather blackness as visible as if they had lain among pots that have changed their natural colour over the fire 7. While this fear makes us at a stand they will on forward like strong men in their full speed readie to mount our walls with a valour befitting stout and true military persons Every man knowing his own way and his own task No man appearing so slow or carelesse as if he were ingaged either to stay there or to give way to any that would turn him out of his place 8. So will every one of them make sure to be no hinderance to his fellow in the execution of their charge either in their way or in their work For both which they shall be so well appointed and so strongly armed that if they chance to light unawares upon their enemies weapon whatsoever it is therewill be no such hazard unto them as to expose them to any dangerous wound So happy and successeful shall they be in their bold attempts 9. Their ventrous army being so well ordered they will resolve to make a fierce irruption into the city like skipping locusts running about the walls and by sodain invasion taking possession of them shaking their heels there and dancing as men secure of the victory and then entring into the houses if not at the doors yet at least climbing in at the windows like bold and desperate theeves that will neither be hindred from coming in nor driven out again till they have ransacked and plundered the secretest corners where there is any thing to be found worth the carrying away 10. After this rude and insulting demeanour of the souldiers it will the be easier to conjecture what misery must needs fall upon the poor people if we expresse it by an Earthquake and the shaking of the Heavens and the obscuring of the celestial lights The terrour of the lower and meaner sort of the people may be conceived by the fearful effects of an Earthquake So may the sad ruine of the Nobles by the shaking of the heavenly or higher powers And the woful confusion of all Order and Command that followed upon that by the darkning of the Sun and Moon and the Stars withdrawing their wonted lustre to the astonishment of all the Spectators as well as of those eminent persons that will be most concerned in that calamity 11. And that you may know the just and powerful author of all this miserie As God himself will have us know that he sends these signs before him so God himself in a signal victory will seem to own our enemies as his souldiers as plainly as if we had it from his own voice and declare openly that those mighty and numerous armies are his and come thither by his own command and irreversible decree and cannot be hindred from doing his pleasure in taking vengeance upon a sinful people that would take their liberty in their day and now must therefore be made sensible of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And who will be able to abide that time wherein he pleaseth to break the hearts of them that are assaulted and adde courage to their enemies 12. All this is threatned by him By him that would not be unwilling to have his hands stayed from such a severe execution of his justice It is therefore foretold that it may be timely prevented And O that even
men let all the men of war draw near let them come up 10 Beat your plow shares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears let the weak say I am strong 11 Assemble your selves and come all ye heathen and gather your selves together round about thither cause thy mighty ones to come down O Lord. 12 Let the heathen be wakened come up to the valley of Iehoshaphat for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about 13 Put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe come get you down for the press is full the fats overflow for the wickedness is great 14 Multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision 15 The sun and the moon shall be darkned and the Stars shall withdraw their shining 16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Ierusalem and the heavens and the earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the Children of Israel 17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain then shall Ierusalem be holy and there shall no strangers passe thorow her any more 18 And it shall come to passe in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine and the bills shall flow with milk and all the rivers of Iudah shall flow with waters and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord shall water the valley of Shittim 19 Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Iudah because they have shed innocent bloud in their land 20 But Iudah shall dwel for ever Ierusalem from generation to generation 21 For I wil cleanse their bloud that I have not cleansed for the Lord dwels in Zion CHAP. III. A Prophesie of what shall happen after a longer and more uncertain time in the vally of Iehoshaphat which what particular place soever is chiefly intended signifies a place or several places wherein God will please to exercise his judgement upon his and the Churches enemies at several times and upon several occasions before the last Day of Iudgement but compleatly then 1. FOr Behold it shall come to passe saith the Lord in those dayes of the Messias the times of the gospel when I shall bring again the captivity of Iudah and Ierusalem â— reduce all the true Israelites Jewes and Gentiles into one fold to be all under one Shepherd 2. Then will I as occasion serves summon the enemies of the Church in all nations and I will make them appear before me in the vally of Iehosphaphat or in the place wherein I will execute my judgement and there will I avenge the injuries done to my own People the true Israel of God mine inheritance whose cruell enemies dispersed them through all the world as if they would have taken possession of my own peculiar portion and divided it as their own haereditary possession 3. In those particular dayes of Judgement which will be as types and forerunners of the Generall Iudgement that will at last overtake all the enemies of the Church it will appear what scornes and injuries have been put upon all the Saints of God Particularly it will be made evident that upon some of my People they have cast lots they have sold the children of Christians an ingenuous young man have they made away for the price of an harlot and a modest Virgin for a sum of money that might furnish them with wine to drink and be merry 4. And what have you to do with me and my Church saith the Lord. You that are as great and close adversaries to the Christians as ever the Tyrians and Sidonians and all the Tract of Palestine were to the Jewes Doth your ill usage come in as a return of some injury that I and my People seem to have offered unto you If you do either provoke me with your ventrous and first attempts or pretend any such requital upon me or mine I shall very speedily take order to return a just recompense upon your own heads 5. And I may then truely say that you have deserved it otherwise For both silver and gold and other precious things which I bestowed upon my People those it will appear that you took away thereby the better to furnish and adorn your own Temples and Palaces 6. Likewise the true Sons of mystical Iudah and Ierusalem the good and constant Professors of my gospel you sold to the Grecians and other Merchants with whom you had the like commerce and so dispersed them thorough severall remote countries that they might be far enough from returning to their own home 7. But I shall as surely recall them and reduce them safe out of those parts to which you thought they had been confined by your selling of them thither And then I will requite you in a like return of your deserts upon your own pates 8. For I will leave your Sons and Daughters upon the same termes in the hands of those good Professours whereof Iudah is the type And they shall have power to dispose of them into far remoter parts even as far off as the Sabeans Because I have so determined to do and have justly passed such a decree upon them 9. Against which decree if you can have any hope to prevaile Bestir your selves to the purpose and use all the meanes you can Publish or proclaim your war among what nations you think fit Provide your self of the ablest auxiliaries Put all your strength upon it And leave not out a man that can assist you in this enterprise When you have done all you can all will be but lost labour against those my Servants that I have resolved to defend 10. Sell your plow-shares and sythes and other necessary instruments and implements of your country-labour to supply your selves the better with weapons and engines of war And let the weakest of all be encouraged to do some proper service to the cause 11. Let your troopes and Regiments out of severall nations multiply into a mighty army and muster up all your forces together There and then the Lord of Hostes hath his greater forces of men and angels and the meanest creatures that will quickly and utterly rout the very flower and strength of your most daring Souldiers at the hearing of this short prayer out of the mouth of his afflicted Servants There let thy mighty ones descend O Lord to the releif of thy people 12. That Prayer will procure a Command that shall rouse all the nations that oppose the Church and summon them personally to appear in the vally of Iehoshaphat in the place which I shall appoint there to sit in judgement against all nations on every side that have been enemies to Me and my Church 13. Upon this summons Hear how God
thy Horses that shrunk up the rivers with this terrour and drave them out of their wonted Station For in such triumph indeed didst thou seem to draw near the waters of Jordan when the Ark was thy Chariot the Chariot of our Salvation and thy glory seemed to be carried upon the holy Cherubims 9. After that glorius and miraculous passage over Jordan an Angel showed himself for a Captain of the Host of the Lord. And thy self O Lord as the great Lord of Hostes preparedst for the battle Thine arrowes were apparently drawn out of their quiver and thy Bow out of the Case to be in readinesse against thine Enemies The severall Tribes of Israel as thy Souldiers were mustered up to their military Sacramentall oath And the very Earth and the Waters and all the Elements divided themselves into their severall ranks at thy command and for thy service 10. And when thou beganst to set forward the Mountains O Lord as if standing higher they had made the first discovery of thy coming afar off were sore troubled at it like a woman that is in labour and longs to be delivered Presently whole Rivers of waters gushed out as the issue of that birth The noise and murmur which they made at their breaking forth of the hollow Earth was like the cry of this new-born Creature And the diffusion of those waters into severall courses and rivulets was like the stretching out of his armes which thou canst bind and lap up in his swadling clouts as it pleaseth thee 11. And if the Hills can thus discover and expresse thy powerfull approach how can the two fair eyes of the Firmament the Sun and the Moon but see it and give some acknowledgement of it As they did to all the world when the Sun stood still over Gibeon and the Moon over the valley of Ajalon as if then indeed they had come to their Houses wherein they should rest While by that so miraculously continued Light thy Hailestones like glittering speares and â—wift arrowes did sâ—y about to execute vengeance upon thine Enemies 12. This was the obedience every where tendred to our Lord when he brought us and our Armies to take possesion of the Land of Promise Into which we must ever thankfully acknowledge O blessed God as thou didst enter with wrath and terrour against all the Inhabitants of the Land so in the end in the like displeasure thou didst cause the Heads and Commanders of those Heathen people to be trampled on by the feet of the Conquerours 13 This was thy doing O Lord and thus hast thou often gone out with our Armies to save and defend thy People and thine Annointed whom thou hast set over them Thou hast often wounded the heads of those wicked Families that oppose them and discovered their Foundations so that from the highest to the lowest part of their best hold and confidence they were laid open to ruine 14. Thou hast pierced the Heads of those Peasants that sought our destruction with the same weapons that they used against us might Israel then say and taken them in their own Inventions when they had thought suddenly and violently like a whirl-wind to have set upon us scattered us and blown us away When their Triumph before victorie was like the exultation of those that have in their hopes already devoured the poor and innocent that hides himself from their fury and persecution 15. So did our enemies perish in that passage where they purchased their own death in the pursuit of ours While the Triumph which they hoped for was thine own and not their Horses or Chariots but Thy Chariots and Armes prevailed in the Red-Sea and went safe thorough the unusuall paths and heaps of many waters 16. Such hath been thy Providence over us in our former calamitie so far did thy Power then show it self in our delivery And shall it not be such in thy good time from the Babylonian slavery as it was from the Egyptian But alas what do I venture to entreat I have heard and seen so much in my former vision of the long sad time of our Captivitie as makes me startle and interrupt my prayer But my bowels do earne with compassion of my poor Country-men as well as quake for fear My inward parts are so wholly possessed and troubled with sorrow for them that my fearfull quavering lips will not suffer me to expresse it And though I live yet me thinks my bones are almost consumed with rottennesse while I labour to conceale my selfe-devouring feares and perplexities that I have within me And so much the rather because I must be still and silent for the day of their affliction For it seems the doom is now past no prayer can avert it when he shall rise up against thy poor People that shall bring his troupes of cruell Souldiers to prey upon them 17. To this most heavie but most just Sentence I humbly submit with this Prayer that they may endeavour as I shall to make sure for some inward solace when all outward helps and comforts shall be taken away For though the Figge-tree shall not flourish and give her wonted sweets nor the Vine-tree prosper and yeeld her comfortable wine though the Olive shall deceive our expectation of her fatnesse and the Corn-fields shall not continue the provision of their food to strengthen us though the Sheep shall be plundered out of their folds and the Oxen out of their stalls 18. Yet will I resolve to place my heart in the Lord and to rejoyce in the God of my Salvation 19. And it shall be my Prayer and my Hope that the Lord my God will be my strength and my safeguard supply me with Patience and Obedience and courage make my feet as nimble as Harts-feet and so conduct me chearfully in the way to those high places and Sanctuaries above were I shall be set out of the fear of all danger in everlasting blisse And as a testimony of my Joy and Solace in that I will take order with the chief Master of the Musick to have this Prayer set to my Instruments which may help to rouse up my spirits and my repose in God my Saviour A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF ZEPHANIAH CHAP. I. THe word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi the son of Gedaliah the son of Antariah the son of Hizkiah in the daies of Iosiah the son of Amon king of Iudah 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land saith the Lord. 3 I will consume man and beast I will consume the fowles of the heaven and the fishes of the sea and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked and I will cut off man from off the land saith the Lord. 3 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Iudah and upon all the inhabitants of Ierusalem and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the
heard from the Fish-gate which is in that part which you call the City of David Then a sad and doleful howling from the second part of the City And as woful and crashing a noise from the highest and most eminent part wherein is the Temple and the Palace places that have been often acquainted with sweeter sounds 11. When the three chief places in Ierusalem have thus begun to expresse their sad condition then you that dwell in the hollower part of the City may second them with as doleful an eccho to bewail the ruine of the multitudes of Merchants thereabouts and the many fair heaps of silver that they must leave behind them 12. Then will I suffer every rich corner in Ierusalem to be as narrowly searched and ransacked by the Chaldaean souldiers as a man would peep and prie into the closest places with the help of candles that he might be sure to let nothing escape him that he hath a mind to bear away And so shall my justice meet with those that have lived in ease and plenty and without any disturbance like wine that hath been long setled on the lees without any removal out of one vessel into another These are they that soothed up themselves in their own foolish perswasion that God took no great care of humane affairs either to reward or to punish us here below according to our good or bad life and conversation 13. But this is the day wherein I will confute them by exposing their ill-gotten goods as a prey to the enemie and bringing their houses wherein they nestled themselves so securely to utter ruine and fearful desolation or at least by changing the owners so that other men shall dwell in those goodly buildings which they have erected and drink up the fruit of those costly vineyards which they had planted for themselves 14. This great day of the Lord is near very near and withal it flies swiftly towards us as a time that hath quicker wings then ordinarie to convey it self It will be such a bustling day that you may hear it as well as see it and the stoutest man that hears the approach of that day will not passe it over so quickly but that he will be heard to expresse the bitteruesse of the day in most bitter lamentations 15. This day will be a day of wrath and a day of trouble and yet a day wherein we shall be so streightned and penned in that there will be no way of evasion It will be a day of desolation of utter desolation without hope of recoverie to most of them A dark and gloomy day without the least appearance of comfort and a cloudie and thick-cloudie day wherein the heavens whither we use to cast up our eyes for relief will seem continually to frown upon us 16. A day that will fright us with the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war against the strongest Cities and highest Towers that we have 17. In this day saith the Lord I will cause men to be in such pressure and such streights that they shall see no more then blind men which way to turn themselves or what course to take that may rid them out of this distresse And in the midst of those streights because they have sinned against the Lord their enemies shall make no more scruple of shedding their blood then of treading upon the dust that is under their feet and their bodies shall have no better esteem then the dung of the earth 18. In this day of Gods wrath their silver and gold shall not be able to purchase their ransome but the whole land shall be sodainly consumed by the fierce and jealous wrath of the Lord wherein he will make a full and speedy riddance of all that dwell in the land CHAP. II. 1 GAther your selves together yea gather together O nation not desired 2 Before the decree bring forth before the day passe as the chaff before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you before the day of the Lords anger come upon you 3 Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth which have wrought his judgement seek righteousnesse seek meeknesse it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger 4 For Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon a desolation they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day and Ekron shall be rooted up 5 Wo unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast the nation of the Cherethites the word of the Lord is against you O Canaan the land of the Philistines I will even destroy thee that there shall be no inhabitant 6 And the sea-coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks 7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Iudah they shall feed thereupon in the houses of Ashkelon shall they ly down in the evening for the Lord their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity 8 I have heard the reproach of Moab and the revilings of the children of Ammon whereby they have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their borders 9 Therefore as I live saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel surely Moab shall he as Sodom and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah even the breeding of nettles and salt-pits and a perpetual desolation the residue of my people shall spoil them and the remnant of my people shall possesse them 10 This shall they have for their pride because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts 11 The Lord will be terrible unto them for he will famish all the gods of the earth and men shall worship him every one from his place even all the isles of the heathen 12 Ye Ethiopians also ye shall be slain by my sword 13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria and will make Nineveh a desolation and dry like a wildernesse 14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her all the beasts of the nations both the cormorant and the Bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it their voice shall sing in the windows desolation shall be in the thresholds for he shall uncover the cedar-works 15. This is the rejoycing city that dwelt carelesly that said in their heart I am and there is none beside me how is she become a desolation a place for beasts to lie down in every one that passeth by her shall hiss and wag his hand CHAP. II. 1. THe day so foretold being so terrible and so near at hand Make an exact scrutinie and examination of your selves first and then of what else may conduce to your safety O nation little worthy the love and good liking of those that know your waies 2. Do this before Gods peremptorie and irrevocable decree produce the certain and final resolution for this day which shall be like one of his fanning and winnoing daies wherein he will separate
the building and adorning of your own private houses So your neglect of me and my service produced my neglect of you and your profit 10. That is the reason why the Heavens that are above you were prohibited to supply you with that dew which should help on the growth of those things that spring out of the earth And the earth that is under you had the like prohibition from affording her usual increase of fruit 11. And I commanded a drought and barrennesse to come upon all the land specially upon the mountainous and most eminent parts A barrennesse both of the corn and the new wine and the oyl And this barrennesse extended to all that which is brought forth of the ground or of men or of cattel and so to every thing that mny be esteemed as a fruit of the labour of your hands So that nothing that you went about did any way seem to prosper 12. These words of the Prophet wrought so with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Iosuah the son of Iosedech the High-Priest and the remnant of the Iews that returned out of the captivity that they readily obeyed what God had injoyned them to do and to what his Prophet Haggai had delivered to them they gave great attention and respect because the Lord their God had set him upon that message And so the people humbled themselves in the fear of the Lord and submitted to what had been said against them and to what was not required of them 13. Whereupon Haggai that had delivered the former message from the Lord spake again to them by vertue of a further commission and deputation from God himself and said I will be with you saith the Lord not onely to pardon all that is past but to prosper also what you readily undertake for the reedifying of my Temple 13. In prosecution of which promise the Lord stirred up the spirit i. the will and courage of Zorobabel the son of Shealtiel Governour of Iudah and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedec the High-Priest and the spirit of all the Jews that remained after the captivity of Babylon And they began to compose and prepare themselves for that work in the house of the Lord of Hosts their God 15. And what was thus resolved on was accordingly begun upon the 24. day of the sixth moneth which hath part of our August and part of September in the second year of Darius the King CHAP. II. IN the seventh moneth in the one and twentieth day of the moneth came the word of the Lord by the Prophet Haggai saying 2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel governour of Iudah and to Ioshua the son of Iosedech the high-Priest and to the residue of the people saying 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory and how do ye see it now is it not in your eies in comparison of it as nothing 4 Yet now be strong O Zerubbabel saith the Lord and be strong O Ioshua son of Iosedech the high-Priest and be strong all ye people of the land saith the Lord and work for I am with you saith the Lord of hosts 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt so my spirit remaineth among you fear ye not 6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land 7 And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts 8 The silver is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts 10 In the four and twentieth day of the nineth moneth in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying 11 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Ask now the Priests concerning the law saying 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt do touch bread or pot age or wine or oyl or any meat shal it be holy and the Priests answered said No. 13 Then said Haggai If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these shall it be unclean and the Priests answered and said It shall be unclean 14 Then answered Haggai and said So is this people and so is this nation before me saith the Lord and so is every work of their hands and that which they offer there is unclean 15 And now I pray you consider from this day and upward from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord. 16 Since those daies were when one came to an heap of 20 measures there were but ten when one came to the presse-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press there were but twenty 17 I smote you with blasting with mildew with hail in all the labour of your hands yet ye turned not to me saith the Lord. 18 Consider now from this day and upward from the four and twentieth day of the ninth moneth even from the day that the foundation of the Lords temple was laid consider it 19 Is the seed yet in the barnâ— yea as yet the vine and the fig-tree and the pomegranate and the olive-tree hath not brought forth from this day will I blesse you 20 And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four twentieth day of the moneth saying 21 Speak to Zerubbabel governour of Iudah saying I will shake the heavens and the earth 22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them and the horses and their riders shall come down every one by the sword of his brother 23 In that day saith the Lord of hosts will I take thee O Zerubbabel my servant the son of Shealtiel saith the Lord and will make thee as a signet for I have chosen thee saith the Lord of hosts CHAP. II. 1. IN the seventh moneth which consisted of part of our September and part of October and in the twenty first day of the moneth the Lord spake again to the Prophet Haggai and by him to the people of the Jewes to this effect 2. Speak now to Zerubbabel the Son of Shealtiel Governour of Iudah and to Ioshua the Son of Iosedech the High-Priest and to the People that are returned from the captivity of Babylon and say unto them 3. If there be any of you left of the captivity that hath seen the Temple which was formerly built in this place in the rich and glorious state and beauty which then it had being a work of much time and cost
of your hands and corrupted the fruit of your grounds with blasting and mildew and haile And therefore I did it because I would have had you to reflect upon your sinfull hearts and be converted unto me but yet this punishment was not followed with your conversion saith the Lord. 18. And now take it also into your serious consideration what better successe you have had from this day and upward from the twenty fourth day of the nineth moneth wherein you began to go on with the Foundation of the Temple of the Lord which had been laid before and too long neglected And again I advise you to take speciall notice of this day 19. We are now in the ninth Moneth And â—s your corn which you lately sowed yet come into your barnes Are you as sure of it as if you had it home into your own possession and at your own disposall No. It is still under the ground you have it but in hope and you stand still in need of my blessing upon it that it may be ripened and sitted for the barn And do you not see that the Vine and the sig-tree and the pomegranate and the Olive-tree are yet far from bringing forth that which gives you some likelihood of a good and plentifull year Yet from this day though these fruites are no forwarder and the seed be yet in the ground from this very day will I poure my blessing upon them and so from this day give you an assurance that all these things shall prosper and increase as you would have them 20. And again the word of the Lord came to the Prophet Haggai in this twenty fourth day of the aforesaid moneth to this effect 21. Speak to Zerubbabel the Governour of Iudah and say It shall not be long before I shake the heavens and the earth those that are placed above others as in a higher Orbe and those that are under them with many great wars and tumults 22. I will bring ruine and destruction upon the rich and large Kingdomes under the command of the Persian Monarch and so overthrow that high throne and state of His and bring down the pride and puissance of that great Empire which so overtops the kingdoms of the Heathen I will overturn their chariots of war with their skilfull Riders And their stately Steeds with those that are so bravely mounted upon them shall have a fall They shall all perish by the sword of those nations that are their brethren in iniquity and idolatry and deserve no better than they do 23. At that time when all these stormes shall fall upon them saith the Lord of Hostes will I take thee into my own protection O Zerubhabel the Son of Shealtiel my Servant and I will preserve thee as warily and as carefully as a man would preserve his own signet Thou and thy people shall be secure in the middest of those stirs that in thy time and long after shall be among the greatest nations And all this will I do because I have set my love and favour upon thee and selected thee and thy nation to be a more peculiar object of my care and mercy saith the Lord of Hostes. A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF ZECHARIAH CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers 3 Therefore say thou unto them Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye unto me saith the Lord of hosts and I will turn unto you saith the Lord of hosts 4 Be not as your fathers unto whom the former Prophets have cried saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts Turn ye now from your evil waies and from your evill doings but they did not hear nor hearken unto me saith the Lord. 5 Your fathers where are they and the prophets do they live for ever 6 But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets did they not take hold of your fathers and they returned and said Like as the Lord of hostes thought to do unto us according to our waies and according to our doings so hath he dealt with us 7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh moneth which is the moneth Sebat in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barachiah the son of Iddo the prophet saying 8 I saw by night and behold a man riding upon a red horse and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom and behind him were there red horses speckled and white 9 Then said I O my Lord what are these And the Angel that talked with me said unto me I will shew thee what these be 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle-trees and said We have walked to and fro through the earth and behold all the earth sitteth still and is at rest 12 Then the angel of the Lord answered and said O Lord of hostes how long wilt thou not have mercy on Ierusalem and on the cities of Iudah against which thou hast had indignation these three-score and ten years 13 And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words 14 So the angel that communed with me said unto me Cry thou saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts I am jealous for Ierusalem and for Zion with a great jealousie 15 And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord I am returned to Ierusalem with mercies my house shall be built in it saith the Lord of hosts and a line shall be stretched forth upon Ierusalem 17 Cry yet saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts My cities through prosperitie shall yet be spread abroad and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall ye choose Ierusalem 18 Then lift I up mine eies and saw and behold four hornes 19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me What be these and he answered me These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah Israel and Ierusalem 20 And the Lord shewed me four carpenters 21 Then said I What come these to do and he spake saying These are the hornes which have scattered Iudah so that no man did lift up his head but these are come to fray them to cast out the horns of the Gentiles which lift up their horne over the land of Iudah to scatter it CHAP. I. 1. IN the eighth moneth the moneth Bul which had part of our October and part of November in the second yeà r of Darius the son of Hystaspes God spake unto the Prophet
plain had the same benefit of a quiet and secure repose and a rich habitation 8. And the word of the Lord came again unto me saying 9. Thus spake the Lord of Hostes by former Prophets saying In your publick places of Judgement proceed according to the rules of true Iustice and Equity without any regard to silthy lucre or to the prejudice of Affection And in your private actions and commerce with one another show that kindnesse and compassion that should be expected among Brethren of the same stock and alliance and of the same Religion and Profession 10. Let there be no injuring or oppressing of the widow the orphan the stranger or any that are poor and afflicted amongst you And do not so much as in your hearts devise or conceive any mischeivous intention against one another All this I commanded your Fathers by the former Prophets 11. But they would not hear of that ear they shrunk up the shoulder and in plain rebellion turned their backs upon their good guides and followed those courses that would make their cares duller for any holy counsaile that called for this obedience 12. And thus by degrees they made their hearts as it were in a set opposition to all exhortations of obedience as hard as flint or any the hardest and most durable stone that there might be no admittance for the voice of the law and the precepts which the Lord of Hostes sent them by those that were to that purpose raised up and enlightened by his holy Spirit for such were all your former Prophets And this wilfull and obstinate rebellion of theirs could not but draw down the heavie and just indignation of the Lord of Hostes. 13. And accordingly you see it came to passe that as they suffered God to call upon them and would return him no answer of obedience so when their own miseries forced them to call for divine assistanee then did I refuse to answer their desires saith the Lord of Hostes. 14. And I dispersed them in mine anger as if it had been with a mighty whirl-wind into severall nations which they never knew before and their own land after their deportation into other parts was left waste and desolate like a wildernesse behind them There was not so much as a passenger to be seen either going thither or returning from that place that had been so much frequented Such and so heavie was the solitude and barrennesse of that land that had been accounted the delight and Paradise of the whole earth CHAP. VIII 1. AGain the word of the Lord of hostes came to me saying 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts I was jealous for Zion with great jealousie and I was jealous for her with great fury 3 Thus saith the Lord I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and Ierusalem shall be called a Citie of truth and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Ierusalem and every man with his staffe in his hand for very age 5 And the streets of the citie shall be full of boyes and girls playing in the streets thereof 6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these dayes should it also be marvellous in mine eyes saith the Lord of hosts 7 Thus saith the Lord of hostes Behold I will save my people from the east-countrey and from the west-countrey 8 And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Ierusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and in righteousnesse 9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts Let your hands be strong ye that hear in these dayes these words by the mouth of the prophets which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid that the temple might be built 10 For before these daies there was no hire for man nor any hire for beast neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction for I set all men every one against his neighbour 11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former daies saith the Lord of hosts 12 For the seed shall be prosperous the vine shall give her fruit and the ground shall give her encrease and the heavens shall give their dew and I will curse the remnant of this people to possess all these things 13 And it shall come to passe that aâ—â— ye were a curse among the heathen O house of Iudah and house of Israel so will I save you and ye shall be a blessing fear not but let your hands be strong 14 For thus saith the Lord of hosts As I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked me to wrath saith the Lord of hostes and I repented not 15 So again have I thought in these dayes to do well unto Ierusalem and to the house of Iudah fear ye not 16 These are the things that ye shall do Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates 17 And let none of you imagine evill in your hearts against his neighbour and love no false oath for all these are things that I hate saith the Lord. 18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me saying 19 Thus saith the Lord of hosts The fast of the fourth moneth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Iudah joy and gladness and chearfull feasts therefore love the truth and peace 20 Thus saith the Lord of hosts it shall yet come to passe that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many cities 21 And the inhabitants of one city shbll go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts I will go also 22 Yea many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hostes in Ierusalem and to pray before the Lord. 23 Thus saith the Lord of hostes In those daies it shall come to passe that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Iew saying We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you CHAP. VIII 1. ANd the commands of the Lord of Hostes were thus expressed further upon the same occasion and to make way for a satisfactory answer to their question 2. Thus saith the Lord of Hostes. As my great wrath and justice upon my own people followed upon the greatnesse of those sins which were mentioned before so now the greatnesse of my jealousie for Sion the seat on my Jewish Church and my great anger no now against her but for her shall be