Loves Revenge VVHEREIN IS BRIEFLY SHEWED FROM THE HISTORIE OF the holy Scripture the rising grouth and finall fall of the Man of Sinne with the long and continuall strife betwixt the two Seeds how they have from time to time sought to disinherite each other and how that Christ by his righteous life and long sufferings in the end shall get the victory and justly revenge himself upon his adversarie Omnia vincit amor c. By Ios Speed HABAK. 1.5 ACT. 13.41 Behold ye despisers and wonder and vanish away for I work a work in your daies a work which ye shall not believe if a man should declare it you At AMSTERDAM Printed by Richard Raven 1631. The Preface WHen darknesse is supprest by light That nights black shadows shun the day True faith doth give the soul clear sight To see and finde the living way Then must proud Death give place to Life In vain it is his strength to try For Hope will end that deadly strife And swallow Death in victory And Errour must acknowledge Truth For all his fierce and cruell rage For Loue hath threatned him in youth And will not spare him in his age When Faith hath light for to discerne And Hope can hold in storm and rain If Love be there to guid the stern The wished shore they shall attain No travell can unfruitfull prove When Faith Hope do work by Love When unbelief is beaten down And Faith hath got the upper hand Then light doth shew true faith her crown Which she shall have if she do stand And then despair of force must flie In vain it is if she contend For life will give Hope victory If she continue to the end And hatred must of force depart And give true Love free place to dwell For truth will give Love true desert And hatred due reward in hell Light is the glance of Faiths clear sight Life is the crown which Hope requires Truth is the guide which leads both right Through Love to finish their desires Where Light and Life and Truth agree Faith Hope and Love make unitie To the Reader LEt prejudice be laid aside Christian Reader in thy reading Let love unfained be thy guide Thy thoughts to equall judgement leading The labour and the charge is mine I wish the profit may be thine To think that I should all men please All men would think such thoughts were vain Esteeming it a fools disease Arising from an idle brain That labour which I here bestow Is but to pay the debt I owe Vnto my Countrey and my Friends And all which do professe Christs name In him our faith begins and ends By him we hope to purchase fame If then our love be like to his We all shall see him as he is If any thing displeaseth thee When thou my Faith and hope dost prove Yet fasten malice to that tree On which she once did murder love And break in twain that Serpents head For love shall reigne when hate is dead I seek to trouble no mans minde Nor yet to give offence to any Yet dare not hide nor leave behind That good which may redound to many Whereat if any kick or hinch Were he not gauld he should not winch The mark whereat I chiefly aim Is to unfould the fraud of sinne What rightes and titles he doth claim The evill daies that we live in Our present danger his desire To bring us to eternall fire If then by chance I hit the mark At which my bow is holy bent Or if I misse this subtle Clark T is but one headlesse arow spent Yet hit or misse thus much I know The blinde by chance may kill a Crow The Authors Faith I Do believe in God alone Whose love doth passe all breadth length And do relie on other none To make the arm of flesh my strength My faith is such not to remove Such is my Hope such is my Love He is the onely Lord of lords A King of mighty strength and fame His Majesty with truth accords And great Iehovah is his name The first the last the totall summe Which is which was which is to come He is the God of Israel Their root and generation The vanquisher of Death and Hell The horn of our salvation Before whole throne all flesh shall come The wicked to their finall doom Then why should I fear mortall man Whose breath within his nostrills lies His life for length is but a span Although his malice never dies My body he may keep in thrall But cannot hurt my soul at all Let cursed Cain then fret and rage And wicked Lamech boast his fill Let scoffing Ham come on the stage Let bloudy Nimrod work his will Let Babels Tow'r through Satans pride Be once again re-edifi'd Let pharaoh with his hoast pursue Let Amaleck stand in the way Let Og and Sihons hatefull crue Their bloudy banners still display Let proud Goliah's hellish cry The God of Israel defie Let Balaam lay a stumbling block Let Rabshecah come railing down Let dogged Doeg accuse Christs flock Let Shemey curse let Nabal frown Let Philistines their battells pitch Let Saul ask counsell of a Witch Let the ten tribes of Israel Give care to Ieraboam's call Let Ahab marry Iesabel And build an altar unto Baal Let Baals Priests cry till heare doth break Their God can neither hear nor speak Let Nebuchadnezar pour out His thundring threats rage and revile Let Baltazar his drunken rout The vessells of the Lord defile Let haughtie Hamans pride bewray His hatefull thoughts to Mordekay Antiochus that wicked root Let him run on his wretched race To waste and trample under foot Gods Temple and his dwelling place Let Holofernes rule and sway Till Iudith take his head away Let Samballat the Horonite With all his cursed crue accord To race to sack to vanquish quite The walls and building of the Lord. Let men conspire with malice fraught Yet shall their counsells come to nought Let cruell Herod still assail The tender infants for to stay Let Scribes and Pharisees prevail Give Iudas money to betray My faith is fixt on him above So is my hope so is my love His waies are right his judgements just His mercy alwaies firm and sure To such as on his goodnesse trust And stedfast to the end endure He giveth all men life and breath And grieveth at the sinners death He did admonish wretched Cain To leave his wicked enterprise Suffer said he not sinne to reigne Least Abels bloud for vengeance cries Abandon wrath ther 's grace in store If not lo sinne is at thy door And when he saw and well perceiv'd All flesh corrupting of their waies His spirit strove his soul was griev'd Contain'd his wrath yet many daies Had true repentance there been found The world had sur'ly not been drown'd When Sodom and Gomorahs cries Ascended up unto his throne Yet was there mercy in his eyes He would have saved them each one Could he have found some godly
men He would have spar'd them all for ten But Cain which was through malice led Quite to renounce his chiefest good Did in his wicked collar shed His brother Abels guiltlesse bloud And wrath commixt with deadly hate Brought Cain to be a Runagate And boasting Lamech could not scape Which in his heart a man would slaie The wicked world for filthy rape Was drown'd and taken all away And Ham which in the Ark was nurst Was after for his sinne accurst And Nimrod was not quite forgot Which hunted sonnes of Shem away The wicked ones which vexed Lot The Lord at length did them repay They suffer for their foul desire The vengeance of eternall fire And Pharaoh with his hoast was drown'd The waters ouerwhelm'd them all When Israel did finde drie ground And passed through both great and small Thus can the Lord from Satans rage Preserve his own from age to age For Amalech was rooted out And Sihon was cast headlong down And mighty Og in battell stout Was dispossessed of his Crown And proud Goliah wicked bred Returned back without his head When Balaam came at Balacks call To bring his wickednesse to passe To work the means of Isr'els fall He was rebuked by his Asse And Ashurs king could not prevail Though Rabshecah ceas't not to rail Doeg Shemey Nabal and the rest Vilde instruments of Satans rage Whose mindes with malice be possest Quite to supplant Gods heritage With Dives shall in flaming fire Receive their due deserved hire And Israels anointed King Saul did himself of grace deprive Sinne struck him with a mortall sting For sparing Amalec alive His heart and hand was wholly bent To persecute the innocent And Ieroboam could not stand Because he was a wicked man God struck him with a with'red hand When he did sacrifice at Dan. For money he wrought many evills Made Priests which sacrific'd to Devills And Ahab wicked imp of hell Which built an altar unto Ball Was rooted out with Iesabel None left to pisse against a wall For in that place where Naboth stood The dogs lick't up the Tyrants bloud And Nebuchadnezar for pride Was metamorpos'd to a beast And Baltazar whom lust did guide Received judgement at his feast A hand prescribing on the wall His overthrow before them all And haughty Hamans sudden fall Whose thoughts all good men did deride May be a president to all Whose mindes be puffed up with pride That Gallows did his malice slay Which he set up for Mordecay Antiochus that wicked root Which did Ierusalem deface And trode Gods Temple under foot And set an idoll in the place God did him strange diseases send And brought him to a fearfull end And Sanballat must taste wraths cup For his proclaiming up and down That such as build Gods Temple up Be rebells to their King and Crown And Holofernes on his bed Must pay his ransome with his head And cruell Herod was accurst That he the tender Infants smote And Iudas for his trason burst Which never more shall be forgot And Christs dear bloud still vengeance cries Vpon the Scribes and Pharisees Behold and see what hath been past How sinne hath raged from his birth Such was the first such is the last There is no new thing on the earth Yet can no storm nor tempest move True Faith firm Hope and constant Love Ioshuah Speed Loves Revenge Wherein is briefly shewed from the history of the Holy Scripture the rising growth and finall fall of the man of sinne with the long and continuall strife betwixt the two Seeds THe Serpent which did first begin The powers of mans soul to draw To separate himself through sinne From God by breaking of his law Having by craft our Parents slain Did Tyrant-like begin to reigne For man did lose his first renown The world through justice to maintain Sinne swaies his scepter wears his crown And by injustice now doth reigne And will do still both far and near Vntill the righteous Iudge appear For man could now no man acquit Which was a breaker of Gods law Not any man condemne by right And not himself to judgement draw For man by sinne once overthrown Then judging sin condemnes his own This was the Serpents subtle bait Which did unto mans crown aspire To draw the woman by deceit To win her man to his desire That he might in his first-born Cain Begin and end his wicked reigne This Viper bred in Paradice No sooner born but instantly Drew Adam unto sinne and vice By changing truth into a lye And Adam caught in Satans gyn Became a bondslave under sinne By hearing Evah was deceiv'd By seeing Evah was beguilde By tasting Evah hath conceiv'd This man of sinne that cursed childe By taking in the Serpents breath Lust brought forth sin sin brought forth death Eare eye foot hand lips tongue and all Did band themselves against Gods law To work mans ruine by his fall And man through sin to judgement draw Thus was man brought in Satans thrall Eare eye foot hand lips tongue all But God whose love doth far exceed The fraud and malice of the Devill Did then make known his truth decreed To raise man out this lake of evill To quicken him which then lay dead And break in twain the Serpents head But Adam which could not discerne Twixt good and evill but through sinne Must now another lesson learne By grace to seek by faith to win That crown of glory joy and blisse Which he had lost for him and his For he which once was lord of all Had sole command did rule and sway Must now attend an others call Another rule and he obey For he once lending sinne his eare Must now for sin sins burthen beare And with a sad and heavy heart No vows nor prayers might avail Out of the Paradice depart His sinfull act there to bewail His mother Earth to plow and furrow And sweating eat the bread of sorrow And with his poore distressed wife Our mother Evah first misled Excluded from the tree of life whereof before they might have fed Their first neglect of Gods free grace Lost them the freedome of that place For now the way was full of fear No entring in but by the sword The Cherubims stood Centre there That none might passe without the Word Which word is Christ who on the Crosse Must pay mans debt redeem his losse Then Adam having known his wife In time brought forth her first-born Cain Next Abel whose unspotted life Did shew his life which must be slain And by his death and bloud then spild Declare his death which since was kild But Cain who in the flower of youth The supream power did obtain To judge with equitie and truth And by true justice for to reigne And by the vertue of his birth To be sole ruler of the earth In time true justice did pervert And was to wickednesse inclinde The Serpent did possesse his heart And made his eyes through malice blinde He which by
bent to hate nor strife Quoth Iacob then t is hunger slayes Isaac's first born so Esau die Thou shouldst provide so well as I. That man doth kill that will not save A man from death if in his power For God I say will mercy have Not cruelty for to devoure Quoth Esau then let mercy move And do not break the band of love Sell me thy birth-right then quoth he And I will lave thy hungry soul But thou shalt sweare twixt thee and me That it shall stand without controul Which being done I then will save Thy fainting body from the grave Then Esau with himself at strife Began to reason in his minde Should I through hunger lose my life VVhat comfort should I therein finde To sell my birth-right were a shame An endlesse blemish to my name Should I refuse for to consent And yeeld unto my brothers will And perish so through discontent The law which saies Thou shalt not kill Would soon reprove this evill fact And judge it for a murdrous act Should I unto my brother give My birth-right for a messe of broth I were unworthy for to live I should exclude my self by oath From Canaan the worlds delight Mine heritage by law and right Should Esau Jsaac's first-born die VVithout his blessing he would grieve Should he through hungers cruelty Perish unblest who should relieve His dying soul in this distresse And bring him unto happinesse Two evills hold my soul in thrall I must choose one I le choose the least Lose life I lose my land and all And more then that shall die unblest To live is bad to die is worse To lose a crown and win a curse Should I not shun sharp hungers blow And seek my self for to defend How should my father Isaac know VVho brought his first-born to his end I le sell my land and hold my blisse For live or die the land is his And yet to live in this disgrace Is worse then languishing to die For where shall Esau finde a place For him and his posterity When Jacob is by oath possest For Esau's seed there is no rest Better had Esau been unborn And never to have seen the light Then thus to be with hunger torn And live or die to lose his right Oh Jacob heare thy brothers cry Give me some broath I faint I die Sell me thy birth-right thou shalt have Both bread and broth to save thy life But thou must yeeld to what I crave And by an oath must end this strife What hopes can Esaus birthright give If Esau die and Jacob live Thus Esau was at length compel'd When he was weak could hardly stand Through cruell hunger for to yeeld Vnto his brothers full demand To sell renounce and binde by oath His birthright for a messe of broth But yet alas this was not all A greater wo was yet to come This but an entry to his fall A passage to his finall dome For now he lost laws right alone The promise lost then all was gone As he grew up in yeres and strength So did he grow in worlds delights And took to him two wives at length Both daughters of the Cananites Whereat Rebekah mourn'd and pin'd They were a grief to Isaac's minde But Isaac waxing old and blinde His glasse then being almost run His first-born came into his minde He called for his eldest sonne Let Esau come let him appear Father quoth he thy sonne is here My sonne quoth Jsaac I am old And almost ready to depart My first-born Esau is enrold Within the bowells of my heart Make haste my sonne and be not slow Take thou thy quiver and thy bow And get thee gone into the field Provide for me some pleasant meat Such as the woods and forrests yeeld Such as thy father loves to eate That I may feed thou standing by My soul may blesse thee fore I die Rebekah hearing what had past When Esau to the field was gone She called then in all the haste For Iacob her beloved sonne Who letting other matters fall Attended on his mothers call Thy father hath sent Esau out With all his instruments to hunt My sonne quoth she be bold and stout Thou must yet stand another brunt And I will be thy instrument Thy brothers blessings to prevent He that our mother Eye misled And did beget that wicked seed VVhich stroke our father Adam dead And made our brother Abel bleed And held mankinde in fetters bound Till God the world in justice dround Then did deride his fathers shame Almost brought Sarah to despair That vertuous and godly dame Distrusting how to have an heir And in my wombe did make such strife That I was weary of my life Shall he which was accurst in Cham In Hagars sonne was made a slave Be blest again in Abraham And in Isaac the promise have Then will he still himself advance In Iacobs true inheritance VVhile Esau Venison doth kill Bring thou two kids out of the fold It shall misse of a womans will If he which then his birth-right sold Lose not his blessing now again And Jacob unto both attain I will provide thee dainty meat And thou shalt bring it unto him Such as his soul desires to eate He cannot see his eies be dim Stand thou but by while he doth feed Thou shalt be blest in Esau's stead Then Iacob to his mother said My brother Esau he is rough And I am smooth therefore afraid With Esau's Heifer for to plough Though he be blinde I stand in doubt That he will feel and finde it out Thus doing I may him provoke Sharply to punish this offence And bring me under Esau's yoak A just reward and recompence For such a fact Nay that is worse My blessing may turn to a curse My sonne quoth she be not afraid But hearken to thy mothers voice Thou onely do what I have said Out of the goats take thou the choise Bring me two kids fat and well fed Then let the curse light on my head In all the haste then Iacob went And did his mothers minde fulfill His brother Esau to prevent He brought two kids and did them kill Rebekah she made pleasant meat Even such as he did love to eate And to attain to her desire All other things then being done She took her eldest sonnes attire And put it on her yongest sonne The yong goats skins she then did take His neck and hands rough for to make Then she did put into his hand That pleasant meat which she had drest Go thou quoth she at my command And bring it him thou shalt be blest When he came to his father near He said My father I am here Quoth Isaac then but who art thou Thy first-born Esau then quoth he I bring thee pleasant meat even now I have done as thou baddest me Arise and eate father t is I Give me thy blessing fore thou die Then Jsaac rising from his bed Began again for to demand How is my sonne so
What God hath promised in troth To Abrahams posterity And hath confirmed by an oath That cannot fail God cannot lie Then Isaac dead and Jacob slain No seed but Esau is to reigne Should I do this and Jsaac live In vain my labour would be spent God would him strength and courage give My wicked purpose to prevent And raise him seed in Iacob's stead Although Rebekahs wombe were dead Have I not once before been crost When I did think my self most sure Then Ishmael his birth-right lost God did old Abraham procure Another seed which then was bred In Sarahs wombe decaid and dead Revenge applauded this for good But hatred overcome with rage Could not contein her angry mood Nor could her passions asswage Her soul was ready to depart Vntill her tongue had eas'd her heart Thus was his project overthrown By trusting of his secret friend This rumour soon abroad was blown What mischief Esau did intend Which comming to Rebekahs eare The losse of both her sonnes did fear Wherefore she then without delay Call'd Iacob in her youngest sonne Sent him to Haran there to stay Vntill his brothers rage were done And Iacob willing to obey Receiv'd his charge and went his way As darknesse doth pursue the light And constantly his course doth run So doth the day expell the night At the arising of the Sunne Each one doth chase each one doth flie Till light at length gets victory Darknesse did claim the highest right Because he was the first in place But God did soon beget true light Proud darknesse from the earth to chase And that the day might bring to light What darknes had wrought in the night Darknesse betrothed was to lust Which did conceive beguiling sinne Who being born mans soul with rust Was cankred foul and eaten in Man scarcely had received breath But man was subject unto death But light took faith to be his wife Which did conceive unfained love Who being born abandon'd strife Did darknesse daunt and sinne reprove Bondage renounce and death affright And brought eternall life to light The Serpents craft his crown did gain By craft he made the woman fall The woman by her craft again Did thrust the Serpent out of all By craft he won by craft he lost Thus craft by craft was ever crost The Serpents seed by cruelty Did seek his crown for to maintain The womans seed as cruelly In time shall thrust him out again When bloud doth flow up to the brink Then bloud for bloud shall be his drink But once again for to return The Serpents malice to relate Who did through rage and fury burn To execute his deadly hate And did the shadow hunt and chase Vntill the substance came in place At him it was that he did aim At him which should his seed advance At him which did by promise claim True Canaans inheritance Could he bring him unto his fall The Serpent then was lord of all In time the substance did appear This Isaac was Gods onely sonne Which came to shed his bloud most dear To lose the works which sinne had done His life eternall life did win His death destroy and vanquish sinne The Wisemen from the East did spring When they did see his starre appear For to be hold this blessed King And worship him in love and fear And did enquire of the Iews To know where they should finde this news But Herod taking it in scorn Perceiving it for to be true The star did shew a King was born He called all the learned crue This King which shall subdue the earth Quoth he where shall he have his birth At Beth-lehem they did reply In Davids house he must arise According to the prophesie This hearing he did call the wise And sent them there to seek about Vntill that they had found him out When you have found him come and tell Me where he is that I may go And worship him I know it well This King is borne it must be so His star will go before your face Vntill you come unto the place These men they went as Herod told They found the babe and did him greet They did present incense and gold And did fall down before his feet But being warned of this thing They went not back unto the king But did return another way Vnto the place where they did dwell Which Herod hearing left delay And calling murder out of hell This cruell bloudy Edomite Did seek to cut off David's right David quoth he did Ioab send To trample Edom under foot And slay his males ev'n to the end And leave him neither branch nor root He thought he would not leave him one For to uphold his fathers throne But Hadad being then a childe Escaped David's tyranny And Ioab also was beguild For Hadad did to Aegypt flie Where he did finde a dwelling place For to preserve our kingly race This Hadad did escape alone Of all the kings posterity But Herod will leave David none He now shall prove my tyranny I le lay his males all at my foot And leave him neither branch nor root With that he sent his Horsemen out To execute his full command At Beth-lehem and there about All males to murder out of hand Even all from two years old and under Must feel the rage of Herod's thunder But Ioseph warned in the night This Persecutor then beguil'd And into Aegypt took his flight With Mary and this tender Childe There to preserve this Infants breath Vntill this cruell Tyrants death This Childe escap't the Tyrants rage For he was manifest to none Till he was thirty years of age And then baptized was of Iohn For John was sent to make him known Though not received of his own When he out of the water went Then presently faith hope and love Which God from heav'n unto him sent Came down upon him like a Dove This Spirit kept him from all evill When he was tempted of the Devill Twise twenty daies and nights arow He then did fast no more nor lesse And did to extream hunger grow Who being in the wildernesse A desolate and barren place Began to wail his wofull case And to his father he did cry Oh help me out of this distresse And suffer not thy sonne to dye For hunger in this wildernesse Let not my soul be overthrown Father thou know'st I am thine own When Ishmael did heare this cry As he was shooting in that place He did imagine presently This sure is he for whose disgrace I and my mother heretofore Were both of us thrust out of dore I was deprived of my right And brought into this wildernesse Where hunger did my soul affright And I did lie in great distresse Which did augment my mothers grief Till God from heav'n did send relief Now he is come into my case Hunger doth make him now complain Now will I mock him to his face And get my birth-right once again With meat I will delude his eye But keep him fasting till he
abode Here in this place to void offence Till God send means to bring me hence If thou wilt not leap from this Tower Tell me wherein thy hope then lies Pale hunger will thy soul devoure VVhile plenty stands before thine eies Thy misery and great distresse Is worse then in the wildernesse If I should bend unto thy will My self cast down and falling die The law which saies Thou shalt not kill VVould tell me I had gone awrie I will not like a blinde man grope But live in faith or die in hope Those men which walked in the fire In hope did live by faith did win But those which wrought the kings desire Did hopelesse die to cast them in And Jonas in his jeopardye Did cast hopes ankor in the sea VVhen hopelesse Saul began to frown Then hopefull David he must flie Yet David's hope did win Saul's crown And hopelesse Saul must hopelesse die Eliah's hope was not in vain VVhen he did pray and hope for rain The Prophet in the Lyons den By faith did live through hope endure And hope did bring him out agen His cause was just his life was pure But his accusers they must try The Lyons force and hopelesse die That God which shut the Lyons jawes To shew his false accusers spite And bound their strong and cruell claws That they could neither scrach nor bite And by his mighty hand did keep The Prophet Ionas in the deep That God which did bring Ioseph out That desolate devouring pit Where envy hate and malice stout Had thrown him in there for to sit In deep despair and fainting dye VVhere no man should heare Ioseph cry That God which by his mighty hand Did once devide the raging sea And made the foming waves to stand Like walls to shew his strong decree And close again at his command To swallow up proud Pharaoh's band That God which in the wildernesse So many thousand souls did feed And succour them in their distresse And made their enemies to bleed And by his strong and mighty hand Possesse them in that holy land That God which Ieremy did call For to accomplish his desire Out of that dungeon of thrall VVhere he lay strugling in the mire And with one handfull meal did save Eliah's body from the grave That God which alwaies did defend His servant David in his thrall And did him means and comfort send VVhen he pursued was by Saul That God which on proud Saul did frown Brought lowly David to his crown That God which doth restrain the force Of burning and consuming fire And make the waters change their course To part or close at his desire Gives Lyons power to save or kill And makes the Whale attend his will That God which hath from age to age Been alwaies mercifull and just And hath preserv'd from tyrants rage His servants which did in him trust What should he now when all is done Forsake his own and onely Sonne Though thou do now my soul pursue And think I am forsaken quite Yet I do know that God is true And will not cast me from his sight In him alone is all my trust For he is mercifull and just The Serpent being at a stoun Amazed thus to hear him speak Thought should I cast him headlong down His faith is strong though he be weak And faith will win hope being by Will swallow death in victory But what is faith or what is hope If love be wanting all is vain For want of love doth make men grope And blindlings seek for to attain And catch at any thing they finde When want of love hath made them blinde With that he took him up again And set him on a mighty mount Where he did lay a subtle train To call him to his last account There he must either lose or win And thus the Serpent did begin I found thee in the wildernesse A desolate and barren field Where thou didst lie in great distresse And almost ready for to yeeld Thy vitall breath and there to die In extream grief and misery Hunger had compast thee about No means there was food to attain Nor any way for to come out Not one to whom thou might'st complain Such was the place such was thy state Forsaken waste and desolate There I did come and bring thee meat Requiring thee but for to yeeld But thou refusing for to eate did'st put on faith to be thy shield And like a Captain bould and stout did'st fight and stand that combate out But then to prosecute this ditie Thy faith yet further for to try I brought thee to the holy Citie And set thee on a Tower high Where plenty was of bread and wine Though thou refuse to eat of mine There thinking for to prove thy faith If that thou would'st leap down and eat But then it was the Scripture saith Thou shalt not tempt thy God for meat Then hope did bear the greatest sway To come down thence some other way But now thou art left destitute Of faith or hope for to attain For now I see that thou art mute Thy faith thy hope and all is vain This is thy last extremity Then either yeeld to live or dye Iust Abraham denide his wife When he in Gerar went to dwell And all was to preserve his life Least beauty should ring murders knell Of him that promis'd Isaac came And art thou more then Abraham When famine was in Canaan And Isaac in much perill stood He did forsake his land and ran Vnto Abimelech for food And more then that to save his life He did deny his lawfull wife And Iacob to prolong his daies When hunger would have strok him dead Did call his sonnes and left delaies And sent to Aegypt to fetch bread Three holymen in one agree And art thou more then all these three Then yeeld or else for hunger sterve Think not the widows meal or oyl Or Ravens shall thy life preserve Give up thy right and end this broyl For life and death stand equall nigh Then eat and live or fast and die For thou art bound in hungers bands No hope thou hast for to get free What God can pluck thee out my hands What power can deliver thee Thy faith must fail for all thy trust Doth now lie bleeding in the dust Though I be ready for to sterve And see no means how to get free Yet know the God which I do serve Is able to deliver me And though he do forsake me still Yet will I not yeeld to thy will With that the Serpent did transform Himself his glory did appear And said All this is but a storm A calm will follow do not fear Nor fall thou not into despair I will make thee my onely heir Nothing I see will make thee yeeld Thou shalt be now my sole delight If thou wilt not forsake the field But wilt maintain my lawfull right All what I have all what is mine Do thou but crave it shall be thine And now behold
once again might live In Paradice to rule and reigne And cast the Serpent out again He did not seek to be made known But his Desciples daily prove To see how far that they were grown In stedfast faith in hope and love And trying them all one by one He pick't out Peter James and John These three forthwith along he led With him unto a mountain high Where he himself transfigured That they might see his majestie And in what glory he should reigne When he should come on earth again Behold quoth he and take a glance For all what is under the skies That is my sole inheritance Ev'n all what stands before your eies Faith hope and love my crown did gain Faith hope and love with me shall reigne As flesh and bloud cannot attain True faith to stand out constantly Ev'n so where flesh and bloud doth reign Faith hope and love of force must die Therefore he set before their eyes What flesh doth hate and bloud denyes Two witnesses he there did call That Peter Iames and Iohn might see It was no shadow on a wall No idle dream nor fantasie Then God from heav'n this being done Gave witnesse to his onely Sonne This pleased Peter passing well Master quoth he lot us here make Three Tabernacles here to dwell That Moses one of them may take Eliah one for making three There yet remaineth one for thee No Peter no here is no place The enemie will not permit I onely set before thy face A marke to aim at and to hit A royall kingdome for to win If thou by faith canst enter in And Iames can lay hopes ankor fast By casting it upon this rock Then Iohn shall by his love at last Preserve and keep my little flock And nourish them by love alone When faith is lost and hope is gone For faith and hope were born of man And therefore cannot long endure They both shall end as they began For they were born but to allure Eternall love to be mans friend That man may live when they do end Faith did finde out the holy Land Hope led them in the wildernesse But love did bear the chief command For he our fathers did possesse In Canaan that mighty hoast When faith was gone and hope was lost Faith first doth bring man under awe Then hope attends upon Gods will But love alone must end the law Each royall precept to fulfill For Love he is that onely one Which makes a servant prove a sonne Moses my servant gave my law Eliah did attend my will And kept all men in servile aw Now I am come for to fulfill Each royall precept and to give True grace that man by faith may live These are my faithfull witnesses These men have overcome by love These men have seen my holinesse On earth beneath in heaven above Their witnesse doth in one agree To testifie that I am he Faithfull Moses stands me by Hopefull Eliah doth the same And love from heav'n doth testifie That I am he which bears his name Faith hope and love in one agree That you may know that I am he Moses was sent for to destroy Not sparing either man or beast Proud Pharaoh's kingdome to annoy With sundry plagues till he releast His bond-slave and did let him go Moses did daily work his wo. But I am sent for to preserve And call all men unto a feast From grace and truth I may not swerve Vntill that I have all releast Both Iew and Gentile in their kinde I may not leave one hoof behinde Moses obeyed my command And did the Passover ordain That Iacobs heritage might stand When Aegypts first-born all were slain And be preserved by that Lambe When the devouring Angell came Moses the red sea did divide An Angell went before his face Which did him through the waters guide When Pharaoh did pursue and chase A fiery pillar in a cloud Did this preserving Angell shrowd Now I am come for to fulfill I am that Lambe which shall be slain I must obey my fathers will My coming cannot be in vain I am that Angell which shall slay The Serpents first-born in one day Moses the Red-sea and the Cloud The fiery Pillar all am I That Angell which the Serpent proud Shall overthrow ev'n when I die My bloud shall Aegypts slave defend And bring the Serpent to his end In flaming fire I once came down And did desend upon the mount That men might fear when I did frown And Moses calling to account Both high low might trembling stand For breaking of my least command Eliah with consuming fire Did prosecute this fiery law To execute my wrath and ire On such as would not live in aw He made both high and low obey And in his zeal Ball 's prophets slay That law which I did once reveal In fire unto my servant true And after by Eliah's zeal With burning fire again renue Now love hath found a faithfull friend This law in fierie love to end All what by Moses was begun And never had been taught before Shall now by me be all undone Shall vanish and appear no more And circumcision shall fall And end in me for I am all This law is minister of death And sheweth the reward of sinne It must be ended with my breath My guiltlesse bloud the crown must win I must by death Gods wrath expell And overcome sinne death and hell This law I gave in flaming fire Thunder and lightning made men quake The trumpet did blow wrath and ire The burning mount did trembling shake Curse upon curse did there begin Thunder and fire did threaten sinne But now in love I did appear No thunder lightning smoak nor fire No trumpet blew the skie was clear All men might come which did desire Into the mount to heare what is Vertues reward blisse upon blisse That curse which I did then pronounce Is due to all men by desert Yet I will beare it ev'ry ounce No man shall beare with me a part All men be guilty and in thrall I guiltlesse free must pay for all That blessing which I now did give Is due to all men which deserve For love which would that all should live Gives food of life that none should sterve If men do come again in thrall The guilty then must pay for all In fiery love I gave this law That men might one another love And love hereafter might men draw To fix their eies on him above Who sitting at the righter hand Shall have the rule and sole command In fiery love I will proceed I will not banish scourge nor kill No tares nor cockles will I weed Out of my wheat they shall grow still Both shall have place both shall have room To grow untill the harvest come And then the wheat which love did sow By love shall reaped be again Hates cockles shall no longer grow For love will then in great disdain Burn and consume in wrath and ire Hate and his tares
again But as these witnesses before Came down with God to testifie That Love which he had kept in store His onely Sonne which came to die Gods wrath and justice to appease And all mankinde from death release So then they shall go up again When all this wickednesse is done And unto God they shall complain For they shall witnesse with the Sonne And call for justice at Gods hand For breach of every command The n God in wrath and great disdain When he doth hear their plaint and moan VVill send his Sonne yet once again To overthrow the Serpents throne And Jacob's seed for to advance In Canaans inheritance Then all the soules of holy men Which do under the Altar lie Even all the Chikens with the Hen Which now to God for vengeance cry Shall then behold sinnes overthrow When the seventh trumpet gins to blow The seventh seal shall be then undone Then earthly men shall all despair The seventh plague then shall light upon The Prince that ruleth in the aire Then Loves revenge shall surely come For God will be no longer dome The Serpents throne he will divide And rend his kingdome into three And over throw all tyrants pride All Aegypts bands and slaverie Sodoms foul sin and Babels jar And make an end of bloudy war He shall to Edom come in white As he him once to Pilate sent And Edom shall condemne by right T is then too late for to repent He will him not to Pilate send That Pilate should his quarrel end For Edom must lay down his life For murder done by him before Then lying with his fathers wife To make his mother play the whore Such facts Gods wrath they do procure And justice can them not endure From Edom he shall go in red As Hagar did him once attire And set a crown on Ishm'els head Of pricking thornes then flaming fire Shall burn and lay all under foot And leave them neither branch nor root Yet shall his bloud be justly shed The law will take away his life He did defile his fathers bed And made a harlot of his wife Injustly then when this was done Did crucifie Gods onely sonne Then Hagars spite and foul disdain Her gould shall then appear but drosse He shall reward her for her pain Whom she doth still mock on the crosse And cast out Hagar and her sonne For all the spite that they have done The Winepresse he shall tread in red And with a massie rod of steel Shall break in twain the Serpents head Because that he hath bruis'd his heel The cup is full up to the brink And bloud for bloud shall be his drink Proud Egypt shall be drown'd in bloud When Israel shall be set free They shall not know where Babel stood For they shall all in one agree And Sodoms sinne and foul desire Shall vanquish't be in flaming fire Then shall he plant his dwelling place Vpon the top of mountains high That nations may see his grace His glory and his majesty And all may come with one accord Vnto the mountain of the Lord. That they may learn to live in aw And be instructed of the Lord From Sion shall go forth his law And from Jerusalem his word For he shall judge in truth and right And men shall learn no more to fight Their swords and spears they then shall break And shall not use them any more But shall them sithes and mattocks make To dresse the earth and bring in store That men may reap the earths encrease And live in perfect joy and peace The wolf shall with the lambe then dwell The leopard lye with the kid The calf feed with the lyon fell A little childe shall them forbid The bear and cow together eat Their young ones lying at their feet No Asp no Cocatrice annoy Vpon the mountain of the Lord There shall be nothing to destroy But all shall then obey his word By justice he shall rule and sway And with his lips the wicked slay For when this trumpet ' gins to blow Christs kingdome then is at the door For he himself on earth shall show To save the needy and the poor The widow and the fatherlesse To succour in their great distresse All prophesies be then fulfil'd All shadows ended gone and vain That Lamb which once on earth was kil'd Shall then come down on earth to reigne He bought his kingdome with his life And won it with an endlesse strife He dide that man might ever live He strove to bring in endlesse peace Because the earth again might give Her fatnesse and her full encrease Her children all alike to nurse When he had tane away the curse The poor in heart he will sustein The mourners shall be comforted The meek with him on earth shall reigne The hungry soul it shall be fed The mercifull shall mercy gain For mercy then they shall obtain The pure in heart shall God behold Peace-makers shall his children be Such as unjustly be control'd Shall in his kingdome be made free Such as men now do most disdain Shall with him in his kingdome reigne The rich he will not once respect Such as rejoyce shall mourn and cry The haughty minde he will reject The glutton shall for hunger die He which no mercy had in store Shall mercilesse be judg'd therefore The unclean shall not see his face Peace-breakers peace shall never finde Such as do persecute and chase Shall be rewarded in their kinde And such as do revile and hate Shall never come within his gate This King is righteous and true In all his combates he shall thrive And shall his enemy pursue Vntill he take the Beast alive And apprehend his learned Clark Which makes most men receive his mark Also his image to adore And at his greatnesse to admire Them will he cast alive therefore Into a lake of burning fire A sword shall out his mouth proceed Which all the rest shall make to bleed They shall be justly judg'd to die Their sentence shall come from above Distrust despaire and cruelty The breach of faith of hope and love Shall them to endlesse torments bring Then men Hallelu-jah shall sing Then the old Serpent which did crave When he had slain the worlds pure light To have a stone laid on his grave That none should take him out by night And have him lock't and sealed in Before his Sabbath did begin Shall then be chained at the last And cast into a groundlesse pit The door upon him sealed fast That he shall not come out of it The world to cumber nor molest While Christ is taking of his rest Then shall there be no more complaints No anguish sorrow grief nor pain God will give judgement to his Saints And they a thousand years shall reigne VVith him in perfect joy and peace Before the Serpent he release When thousand years be come about He shall be losed in his gail Then the old Serpent shall come out And in the world shall much prevail And Gog and Magog shall combine To execute his last designe And like the sand upon the shore In multitudes they shall come down To make the Saints appear no more But God will at their malice frown And burning fire from heav'n shall send To bring them all unto their end The Serpent which did them beget And drew them unto his desire Shall then be taken in the net And cast into the lake of fire To be tormented evermore With them that were cast in before There shall they ever scorch and senge In endlesse torments never die And love shall have his full revenge On them for all their cruelty Then Loves reward shall come to his When they shall see him as he is For then the judgement shall appear And all shall rise both great and small Each one shall then his sentence hear For they shall then be judged all And death and hell which did aspire Shall go into the lake of fire Then shall come in mans perfect joy And sorrows then shall have an end None shall be left for to annoy Jerusalem shall then descend That blessed Bride from God shall come Trim'd and adorned for her grome He then shall end her dolefull cries Release her from all grief and pain And wipe all tears off from her eyes And death shall then no longer reigne For then he will make all things new His words be faithfull just and true FINIS A Post-script to the Author THose that so quaintly in such gaudy dresse Trim their vain lines their vainer Loves to prove May come and view thy Poems comelinesse Here they shall see the mighty pow'r of Love Behold that brand that everlasting stain Which Envie mark't upon all Adams breed Almighty Love hath rinz'd it out again With better bloud then could young Abel bleed Thou Broaker car'st not for to set it forth For Love thy subject is and Love's thy end Thou bear'st the labour and the charges both For love unto thy Country and thy Friend Thy usefull Lines may well be seen in Print Vnlesse the Stati'oner or the Devill be in 't R. RAVEN