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
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
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
f. Ierobaal is a name which was giuen to Gedeon the sonne of Ioas after he had broken downe the aultar of Baal and cut downe all the Groue about it ¶ Ierobaal That which resisteth anydoll a destroyer of ydols Reade Gedeon Ieroboam was the sonne of * Some saye that Nebat and Semei whome Salomon put to death were one person of whose death Zarnah the mother of Ieroboam put him oft in remembrance Nebat and of the 3. Reg. 11. cap e. f. g. Tribe of Ephraim who being nourished and brought vp of Zarnah his mother in hir wyddowhed after the death of his father became King Salomons seruant and was made ouerséer of Salomons workes for the Tribe of Ephraim and Manasses And on a time as he walked abroade in the fielde alone the Prophet Ahia came to him and sayde that after the death of Salomon he shoulde reygne and be King ouer ten Tribes of Israel which wordes of the Prophet did so animate Ieroboam that he began to murmour against King Salomon his Mayster who therefore sought to kill him but Ieroboam fled into Egypt where he remayned with Sisah King of that Countrie vntill the death of Salomon Then being sent for he returned home againe and had so much fanour of the people that they all forsooke Roboam saue the Tribe of Iuda and Beniamin and made Ieroboam their king Who being surelye stablished in his kingdome began to thinke thus in his heart If this people go vp â–ª and doe sacrifice in the house of the Lorde at Ierusalem as they were woont to doe then shall their harts turne to Roboam and séeke to kill me Wherefore he by the aduise of his Counsell made two goldâ—n Calues and set the one vp at Dan and the other at Bethel perswading the people that they were the Goddes which brought them out of Egipt and therefore it shoulde not néede any more for them to go vp to Ierusalem and worship so farre of but shoulde doe it nearer hande and with lesse traueyle and paine And when he perceyued the people to incline to his purpose he made a Temple to builde hyll Aultars therein for ydolatrie and placed a sorte of ignorant ministers which were not of the sonnes of Leuye in Dan and Bethell to trayne vp the people in worshipping of these Calues And the more to stirre vp the peoples deuotion he commaunded a solemne offering to be made in the honor of these Calues the .xv. day of the eyght Moneth and the same yearely to be obserued in remembrance of this newe kynde of ydolatrie whych in continuaunce was so rooted in Israel that it coulde neuer be cleane extinguished till it had brought al Israel to vtter destruction Nowe as the King was standing beside 13. cap. the Aultar at Bethell doing of sacrifice there came a man of God which cryed out against the Aultar saying O Aultar Aultar Thus sayth the Lorde beholde a chylde shall be borne vnto the house of Dauid Iosia by name and vpon thée shall he offer the Priestes of the hyll Aultars that burne incense vpon thée and they shall burne mens bones vpon thée And this is the token that the Lorde hath spoken it Beholde the Aultar shall rent and the ashes that are vpon it shall fall out The King was so angry with this that he stretched out hys hande agaynst the Prophet commaunding to lay hands on him and by by the Kings hand was dried vp so that he could not pull it to him agayne the Aultar claue a sunder and the ashes fell out as the man of God had spoken The King séeing now Gods iudgement fallen vpon him humbled himselfe to the Prophet by whose intercession to God his hande was restored agayne Great and continuall 2. Par. 13. cap. warre was betwéene this King Roboam King of Iuda but this euer preuayled till Abia the sonne of Roboam reygned and then he lost as much honour and more than he wanne before He reygned twoo and twenty yeares and dyed leauing Nadab his sonne to succéede him Reade more of this King in the storie of Abia King of Iuda and in the storye of Ahiah the Prophet and of Baasa King of Israel 4. Reg. 14. f. g Ieroboam the sonne of Ioas King of Israel began his raygne in the .xv. yeare of Amaziahu King of Iuda and woorshipped the golden Calues which Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat had set vp as other dyd before him He was a great warryour and victorious He restored the coastes of Israel from the entring of Hemath vnto the Sea of the wildernesse according to Ionas Prophecie And was styrred vp of the Lorde to helpe Israel being excéedingly afflicted out of all their trouble He reygned xlj yeares and dyed leauing Zacharias his sonne to succéede him ¶ Ieroboam Increasing the people 3. Reg. 16. g. 19. a. Iesabel the daughter of Ethbaal King of the Sydonites was a wicked woman Shée entised and pricked forwarde Achab hir husbande to all kinde of Idolatry she slue the Prophets of the Lorde and persecuted Elia. She 21. cap. caused Naboth to be stoned to death that hir husbande might inioye his vyneyarde Finally as she laye at Iesrael and hearing of Iehu his comming she trimmed hir 4. Reg. 9. g. selfe in gorgious attire and lay looking out at a window and as he came in at the gate she sayde vnto him Had Zimri peace which slue his maister As who should say Can a Traytour or any that riseth agaynst his superiour haue good successe But for asmuch as this was euen Gods â–ª determinacion that she shoulde be destroyed shée was cast out at the windowe with such violence that she was dashed all to péeces and so betramped and trodden with the féete of horses that when they came to take hir vp to be buried they founde no more of hir saue the scull the féete and the palmes of hir handes And then was the Prophecie of Elia fulfilled which sayde In the fielde of Iesrael shall dogges eate the flesh of Iezabel and the carcasse of Iezabel shall lye as dung vpon the earth so that none shall saye this is Iezabel ¶ Iezabel an Ylande or an babitacion Luk. 2. cap. Iesus the sonne of God was borne of the Virgin Mary in Bethleem a citie of Iuda in the yeare after the Creacion of the worlde 3962. Lanquet whose byrth immediatly was honoured by the glorification of Angels the Agnition of Shepheards the veneracion of the wisemen and the Prophecies of holy Symeon and Anna. And at the age of .xij. yeares was had in admiracion among the Doctours in the Temple at Ierusalem where their parents founde hym and brought him to Narareth but what he dyd from that time foorth tyll he came to the age of thirtie yeares the Euaungelistes make no mention Hée was then Baptised of Iohn in Iordane And to witnesse â— cap. that he was the very Messias sent of God the holy Ghost descended downe from
heauen in the likenesse of a Doue and lighted vppon him and also the voyce of the father was heard from heauen saying This is my welbeloued sonne in whome I am well pleased heare him And after he had finished the legacie of his father and opened the Doctrine of eternall life to the people and confirmed the same with myracles he was at the age of .xxxiij. yeares or there about betrayed of his owne disciple Iudas Math. 26. b. and by the Iewes his owne peculiar people most cruellye put to death at what tyme of his passion was a great earthquake and at sixe a clocke of the daye such a terrible Eclipse of the Sunne that for darckenesse it séemed to be very night The thirde day hée arose agayne 28. a. from death to lyfe In token he conquered sinne death and Satan And on the fourtie daye to declare himselfe Act. 1. b. to be a mightie a puissant Conquerour he ascended into heauen where he sitteth at the right hande of the Father And the fiftie day according to his promise he sent downe the true comforter the holy Ghost which shoulde leade the Apostles into all truth At the ende and last day of the world he shall come agayne with glorye to Iudge the quicke and the dead He suffered his passion the yeare after the creation of the Worlde 3994. or there about ¶ Iesus A Sauiour Eccl. 1. cap. Iesus the sonne of Sirach being among the Captiues in Egipt in the tyme of King Ptolomy Energets got libertie to reade and write many good things which Iesus his Graundfather had gathered and left them with Sirach his sonne which thinges this Iesus tooke and put in order in a booke which is called Ecclesiasticus or the wisedome of Iesus the sonne of Sirach Coll. 4. c. Iesus otherwise called Iustus was a Iewe borne and one of Paules workefellowes in preaching and setting foorth the Kingdome of God whome he commended to the Collossians desiring them that if he or anye such dyd come vnto them they shoulde receyue and entreate them with all gentlenesse Exod. 4. c. 18. cap. Iethro the Priest of Madian had seauen daughters of the which one was called Zephora whome he maried to Moses And when that Iethro had hearde of all the mightie déedes which God had done for Moses and howe he had deliuered the children of Israel out of Egipt from the bondage of Pharao and brought them thorow the red Sea he mette Moses in the Wildernesse and brought to him his wife and twoo children which he had sent backe before at whose comming Moses was excéeding glad Then as Iethro abode with Moses and sawe the great paynes he tooke in iudging the people from morning to night he sayde vnto him what is this that thou doest vnto the people Why sittest thou thy selfe alone and all the people stand about thée from morning vnto euen When the people quoth Moses haue any matter they come vnto mée and I iudge betwéene one and an other and declare vnto them the statutes and lawes of god Thou doest not well quoth Iethro for thou both wearyest thy selfe and the people that is with thée The thing is of The counsell of Iethro Moses father in lawe more weyght than thou arte able to performe alone Therefore heare my counsayle God shall prosper thée Be thou for the people to God warde and report the causes to him Admonish them of the ordinances and lawes and shewe them the waye wherein they must walke and the worke that they must doe Moreouer séeke out among the people men of courage and such as feare God true dealing men hating couetousnesse and appoint them to be rulers ouer thousands ouer hundreds ouer fiftie and ouer ten And let them iudge the people at all seasons and euery great matter let them bring it to thée But al small causes let them iudge themselues and so shall it be easier for thée when they shall beare the burthen with thée If thou shalt doe this thing and God so commaund thée thou shalt be able to endure and all the people shall go quietly to their place ¶ Iethro Excellent or remayning or searching foorth or a little corde 2. Reg. 2. cap. Ioab was the sonne of Zerniah Dauids Sister and the chiefe Captayne of all Dauids hoste In the first battell he made against Abner King Saules Captayne he was the victor and put Abner to flight and of malice afterwarde by treason slue him for â—he which déede Dauid 3. d. e. was fore offended that he besought God to auenge it on Ioab and that his house and posteritie might alwaies be plagued with the bloudy flixe leprosie feblenesse of bodie the swoorde or famine for the death of Abner Ioab also was the death of Absalom and slue him as he 18. d. hanged by the haire of his heade vpon the twist of a trée And when it was tolde him of the great lamentacion the King made for Absalom his sonne he went vnto him and saide Thou hast this day shamed the faces of all thy seruaunts 19. a. b. which this day haue saued thy lyfe and the liues of all thy sonnes and daughters the lyues of thy wiues and Concubins in that thou louest thine enimies and hatest thy friendes For thou hast declared this daye that thou regardest neither thy Princes nor seruants Therefore I doe perceyue that if Absalom had lyued and all we had bene slayne this day that then it had pleased thée well Nowe therefore vp and come out and speake comfortably vnto thy seruaunts for I sweare by the Lorde except thou come out there will not tary one man with thée this night and that wil be woorse vnto thée than all 20. cap â–ª the euill that fell on thée from thy youth hitherto Also in persecuting of Seba which had made a new insurrection against Dauid he mette Amasa his Auntes sonne by the way and * Lyra supposeth that Ioab slue Amasa of enuy bicause Dauid had made an othe in the Chapter before that Amasa shuld be his Captaine in Ioabs steade slue him and leauing him dead on the ground he followed Seba and besieged him in a Citie called Abell where the Gouernesse of the Citie being a wise woman cried vnto Ioab demaunding why he went about to destroy that Citie which was a Mother in Israel and to deuour the inheritance of the Lorde before he had offered peace To whome he aunswered saying That he went about no such matter but I come quoth he for Seba the sonne of Bichri deliuer me him and I will be gone and as soone as the heade of Seba was throwen ouer the wall to Ioab he departed Finallye after the death of Dauid who had ordeyned Salomon to reigne in hys steade Ioab tooke part with Adonia Salomons brother which vsurped the kingdome and went about with all his power to stablishe him in Dauids seate But when he hearde Salomon proclaimed