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
give them Their unthankfulnesse for the contrarie benefits deserve no lesse Give them that which sufficientlie crosseth the fair omen of their name barrennesse Let it suffice that they shall have a barren womb and drie breasts For that other is a more sad and fearful punishment to give up their children to the mercie of the enemy when their growth and strength promise much help and comfort to their Parents 15. Yet I must confesse they deserve no such mitigation of their punishment when I call to mind all their wickednesse in Gilgal That very place might have put them in mind of the favours which I showed them there presently after their miraculous passage through Iordan and first entrance into the land of promise There I forgave the long neglect of their circumcision and did not onely take away that reproach but began my work of higher mercy and protection over them in that land This place therefore of all other should have been made a place of thankful acknowledgements and good resolutions of amendment of life and holy obedience for the future They should never have chose to make the Devila Chappel where they were first obliged to show their service to me The circumcision of their flesh there should have been seconded with the circumcision of their hearts and expressed in such actions as might have gained more of my love But they have so ordered it that I cannot but hate those things that have been done in that place And me thinks I hear God saying thus of thom For the wickednesse of those their doings and specially the erection of a house there for idolatrie I will drive them far from my house and show them no more tokens of my love The rather because all their Princes and Governors that should have prevented these mischiefs have bin as deep as any other inrebellion against me 16. We have now seen the stroke of justice come so heavily upon Ephraim that the verie root of that fair and far-spreading tree is like to be dried up and withered Or if they of Ephraim do bring any store of fruit and so hold out like their name yet that is a heavy sentence which God himself hath spoken in these sad terms I will slay the most amiable fruit of their womb that which they so much long for place so much affection upon when they have it because they spoil their fair beauty with the imitation of their fathers ugly sins 17. Thefore my God will cast them off with scorn because they have not been obedient unto him And they shall be scattered about like vagabonds among other nations All which I speak not as desirous to deliver a curse but as bound to make known a Prophesie against this nation CHAP. X. 1. ISrael is an empty vine he bringeth forth fruit unto himself according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars according to the goodnesse of his land they have made goodly images 2 Their heart is divided now shall they be found faulty he shall break down their altars he shall spoil their images 3 For now they shall say we have no King because we feared not the Lord what then should a King do to us 4 They have spoken words swearing falsly in making a covenant thus judgement springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field 5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven for the people thereof shall mourn over it and the priests thereof that rejoyced on it for the glory thereof because it is departed from it 6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to King Iareb Ephraim shall receive shame and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsell 7 As for Samaria her King is cut off as the some upon the water 8 The high places also of Aven the sin of Israel shall be destroyed the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars and they shall say to the mountains Cover us and to the hills Fall on us 9 O Israel thou hast sinned from the daies of Gibeah there they stood the battail in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them 10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them and the people shall be gathered against them when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows 11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught and loveth to tread out the corn but I passed over upon her fair neck I will make Ephraim to ride Iudah shall plow and Iacob shall break his clodâ— 12 Sow to your selves in righteousnesse reap in mercy break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousnesse upon you 13 Ye have plowed wickednesse ye have reaped iniquity ye have eaten the fruit of lies because thou didst trust in thy way in the multitude of thy mighty men 14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battel the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children 15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickednesse in a morning shall the King of Israel be utterly cut off CHAP. X. 1. ISrael is like a Vine that lies wast and fruitlesse to Him that is true owner of it Her enemies help to lay it wast and they that should dresse her and look to her by their carelessenesse leave it without good sap and moisture which makes the fruit accordingly little enough and bad enough Yet even that little fruit which Israel hath he makes use of for himself to be sent spent after his own humour And which is worse the more God encreaseth him with the fruits of temporal prosperitie in a goodlie soile He is so far from returning a thankful acknowledgement to God the good Author of it that he doth so much the more increase the number of Altars and Statues in remembrance of his false gods that do nothing for him and bestow the more cost upon them 2. Thus the heart of Israel is now clean departed from the observance of their dutie Therefore shall they be laid fullie desolate And he that I will make the instrument of that desolation will break those Altars of theirs in pieces and spoile their Statues 4. For nothing will reduce them to their dutie unto God and their King Hosheah But this will be their conclusion we will neither have Hosheah nor any other King over us For we that durst forsake the service of God what should we fear the forsaking of the Kings service who hath no great power now to do any thing for us nor much power to do any thing against us if we be resolute and hold close to our selves 4. In the progresse of such a violent and treasonable conclusion they will not stick at a false oath and covenant Therefore to answer
ride upon horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands Ye are our gods for in thee the fatherlesse findeth mercy 4 I will heal their backsliding I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him 5 I will be as the dew unto Israel he shall grow as the lillie and cast forth his roots as Lebanon 6 His branches shall spread and his beauty shall be as the Olive tree and his smell as Lebanon 7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return they shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine the sent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon 8 Ephraim shall say What have I to do any more with idols I have heard him and observed him I am like a green firre tree from me is thy fruit found 9 Who so is wise and he shall understand these things prudent and he shall know them for the waies of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in them but the transgressour shall fall therein CHAP. XIV THere is yet one way the way of serious and timely repentance to prevent or qualifie all this Come then O Israel Return again unto the Lord thy God by true repentance as thou hast taken from him by thy great offences 2. Take this form of confession into your mouths and say to him with a true penitent heart Take away the punishment of all our iniquities O Lord and pardon our offences And gratiously accept of that good service which we deserve to offer unto thee in all submission And though we have hitherto beenâ— fruitlesse in our actions yet now let the fruit of our lips our thankful acknowledgements be rendred as a pledge of our future obedience 3. We will make no more addresses to Assyria when we would be saved from our enemies We will seek no more succour from the Egyptian Horse wherein that nation excels We will never hereafter give that honour to idols the work of our own hands which belongs onely to God For thou art the true and sure refuge of all that are afflicted The very Orphans and they that are most destitute of help are wont to find pitie in thee when all other hopes forsake them and a pitie accompanied with such a loving affection as a dear mother bears to the fruit in her womb 4. Upon this humble submission of theirs I would give them this merciful answer saith God himself that I will upon their amendment of life cure them of all their strange aversions from me I will embrace them most lovingly with a free and hearty affection So easily would I be content that mine anger should be wholly turned from them 5. I will be to Israel like the hopeful dew the pledge of a plentiful encrease s He shall slourish like the fair lilly and take as deep root as the trees of Lebanon 6. His children like t olive-branches shall spread and dilate themselves all abroad For his excellencie shall be every way like that of the olive not in the green and long-flourishing boughs onely but in the goodnesse and fatnesse of the fruit that pleaseth God and men And his name and good report among other nations shall be as sweet as the smel of frankincense 7. So that many that upon their fame will come to live under the shadow and protection of Israel shall be converted to the worship of the true God And their newness of life shall be with as much fruit as the corn that dies in the ground and is again quickened with the advantage of much increase It shall be compared to the growth of the fruitful vine and the memorial of them shall be like the fragrant and pleasant wine of Lebanon that is never remembred but with high commendation 8. But for all these good promises of theirs and presages of mine how comes it to passe that Ephraim doth still continue his worship of idols I am readie to hear and help him in the time of need which they cannot and so carefully to look to him that he shall not cease to flourish like a green sirre tree For thou hast never done any thing O Ephraim but it hath been found that I have answered it to thee with the fruit of a high reward 9. Will any of you now be so wise as to consider these things Will any be so prudent in their actions as if they took full notice of the passages of the mercy and justice of God Though you will not do so yet are all the counsels and actions of God full of equity And as all his waies are just so all that are just will walk in his waies But the wicked and unjust are so far from walking in them as they should do that they cannot hold out long without discoverie of their great faults and relapses wherein they fall foule from him and his waies though they may pretend to walk in them A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF IOEL CHAP. I. 1 THe word of the Lord that came to Ioel the son of Pethuel 2 Hear this ye old men and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land Hath this been in your daies or even in the daies of your fathers 3 Tell ye your children of it and let your children tell their children and their children another generation 4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten 5 Awake ye drunkards and weep and howl all ye drinkers of wine because of the new wine for it is cut off from your mouth 6 For a nation is come up upon my land strong and without number whose teeth are the teeth of a Lion and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great Lion 7 He hath laid my vine wast and barked my fig-tree he hath made it clean bare and cast it away the branches thereof are made white 8 Lament like a virgin garded with sack-cloth for the husband of her youth 9 The meat-offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord the Priests the Lords ministers mourn 10 The field is wasted the land mourneth for the corn is wasted the new wine is dried up the oyl languisheth 11 Be ye ashamed O ye husbandmen howl O ye vine-dressers for the wheat and for the barley because the harvest of the field is perished 12 The vine is dried up and the fig-tree languisheth the pomegranate-tree the palm-tree also and the apple-tree even all the trees of the field are withered because joy is withered away from the sons of men 13 Gird your selves and lament ye Priests howl ye ministers of the Altar come lie all night in sack-cloath ye ministers of my God for the meat-offering and the drink-offering is withholden from the house of your God 14 Sanctifie ye a fast call a solemne assembly
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
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
and the Priest and might intimate unto us that a Prince and Priest we should have till the times of the Messias according to the Prophesie of Iacob Though these mysteries both here and in the Temple might have a farther light in this Candlestick to show us the ecclesiastical function in the greater Church of God wherein the several Ministers like several and clear lamps should shine forth in their doctrine and conversation that others by their good light may be brought to glorifie their father which is in heaven 4. But these things at the first representation of the Vision I did not so discover but being wholly taken up with admiration I proceeded and said further to the Angel that discoursed with me what is the meaning of these things my Lord. 5. To which that Angel that had pleased so to talk with me replied and said Dost thou not conceave what is meant by the Candlestick and the Olive-trees and the other parts of the Vision and I said I do not indeed my Lord therefore I desire that you would vouchsafe to explain the mysterie of them 6. Then saith he to me by way of answer Thou maist gather part of the meaning out of those words which thou art commanded to deliver unto Zorobabel that takes so great care and pains about your sacred Fabrick For thus you are commanded by God himself so say unto Zerubbabel This building shalt thou be able to raise and fit for my service not by any wealth or power of your own for who sees not how poor and weak your nation is at this time but by my spirit saith the Lord of Hosts by the vertue and courage that I shall infuse into you all and the means and friends that I shall raise up for you while your own poor abilities contribute as little to the finishing of so great a work as you do to the supply of oyl for those lamps which are fed by olive-trees raised up miraculously by me on purpose for that intent 7. And who can hinder that which the Lord of Hosts will do Canst thou O Babylon Alas what art thou that vaunts thy self and thy Empire to overtop that of Zerubbabel and his little Jury as far as a high Mountain appears above a little mole-hill Did not I lay that high and mighty empire as low as a pore plain in the sight of Zerubbabel who carried in his very name a good omen of the confusion of Babel and the dispersing of her several Provinces Shall I not do the like against any other Potentates that oppose my poor Church in any age Yes and now to begin with Iurie and her Ierusalem and her Temple there maugre all opposition I inabled Zerubbabel to appear strong and powerful iu the work I made him the man that laid the first stone thereof accompanied with the acclamations and good wishes of all the people that cried out Let God ever favour let his mercy ever support it He blesse and succeed and maintain this great work so happily begun 8. Moreover the word of the Lord came to me his Angel saying 9. As the hands of Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this house so when his hands have finished it i. by his care at his command and direction and in his time the whole work be perfected as I foretold then shall you by that accomplishment of my prediction be able to conclude that I came with commission from the Lord of Hosts to encourage you in this businesse 10. But if any man slight and mistrust the time of these little beginnings of the Fabrick and think it promiseth but little for the conclusion If any such there be they will rather have cause to rejoyce and chear up themselves when they consider what was said of the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel and of those seven eyes that were so miraculously engraven in it by the immediate power of Almighty God For that is an embleme of the eyes of God that run thorough the whole world i. of his infinite providence and care that extends it self over all things and specially over his own people 11. Then said I further to him What is mean by those two olive-trees whereof one stands upon the right the other upon the left side of the Candlestick 12. And he deferring his answer I presumed to propose the same question again unto him and said What are those two branches of the olives hanging over the golden pipes thence emptying their pretious oyl as pure and cleare as gold 13. Then he replying said unto me Knowest thou not yet what is meant by them And I said I must confesse to my Lord I do not fullie conceave the meaning of them 14. He answered These are the two Sons of Oyl as you use to speak i. the two sorts of sacred persons annointed with holy oyl the Prince and the High-Priest who attend as two principal servants upon the Lord of the whole earth and whose vigilant care over the Temple and the whole Church of God in their respective places is here figured by those two branches of the olive that impart a continual supply of oyl to all the lamps i. of comfort and assistance to all those that shine as clear lights in the Church of God CHAP. V. 1 THen I turned and lift up mine eyes and looked and behold a flying roll 2 And he said unto me What seest thou and I answered I see a flying roll the length thereof is twenty cubits and the breadth thereof ten cubits 3 Then said he unto me This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it 4 I will bring it forth saith the Lord of hosts and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsly by my name and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof 5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth and said unto me Lift up now thine eyes and see what is this that goeth forth 6 And I said what is it and he said This is an ephah that goeth forth He said moreover This is their resemblance through all the earth 7 And behold there was lift up a talent of lead and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah 8 And he said This is wickednesse and he cast it into the midst of the ephah and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof 9 Then lift I up mine eyes and looked and behold there came out two women and the wind was in their wings for they had wings like the wings of a stork and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heaven 10 Then said I to the
over all A Paraphrastical EXPLICATION Of the PROPHESIE OF HABAKKUK CHAP. I. 1 THe burden which Habakkuk the Prophet did see 2 O Lord how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear even cry out unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save 3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance for spoiling and violence are before me and there are that raise up strife and contention 4 Therefore the law is slacked and judgement doth never go forth for the wicked doth compasse about the righteous therefore wrong judgment proceedeth 5 Behold ye among the heathen and regard and wonder marvellously for I will work a work in your daies which ye will not believe though it be told you 6 For lo I raise up the Chaldaeans that bitter and hasty nation which shall march through the breadth of the land to possesse the dwelling places that are not theirs 7 They are terrible and dreadful their judgement and their dignity shall proceed of themselves 8 Their horses also are swifter then the leopards and are more fierce then the evening wolves and their horse-men shall spread themselves and their horsemen shall come from far they shall flie as the eagle that hasteth to eat 9 They shall come all for violence their faces shall sup up as the east wind and they shall gather the captivity as the sand 10 And they shall scoff at the kings and the princes shall be a scorn unto them they shall deride every strong hold for they shall heap dust and take it 11 Then shall his mind change and he shall passe over and offend imputing this his power unto his god 12 Art thou not from everlasting O Lord my God mine holy one we shall not die O Lord thou hast ordained them for judgement and O mighty God thou hast established them for correction 13 Thou art of purer eies then to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous then he 14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea as the creeping things that have no ruler over them 15 They take up all of them with the angle they catch them in their net and gather them in their drag therefore they rejoyce and are glad 16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net and bnrn incense unto their drag because by them their portion is fat and their meat plentuous 17 Shall they therefore empty their net and not spare continually to slay the nations The Sum of the first CHAPTER of this PROPHESIE THe first Chapter sets out the sins of the time wherein the Prophet Habakkuk did exercise his holy Function and the heavy punishment which they pulled both upon the Iews and upon the Chaldaeans Their sins made up their full measure by neglect and contempt of the very Laws of Kings and Governors and of God himself These strange enormities were answered with a punishment that had matter of as much wonder if it were well observed For that of the Chaldaeans though it came slowly on yet it fell the more heavily upon them to their utter ruine and destruction when they were in the height of all their glory and of their confidence and presumption in their own strength That of the Iews came with more speed and more favour For though it were very sharp for the time yet it spent it self in the compasse of 70 years and left then in a fair and easie pursuit of their former Peace and Liberty when their enemies supposed them to be so low that there was no hope of recoverie And the greatest wonder and terror in their punishment was in respect of those to whom the execution was committed For being inflicted upon them by the Chaldees a fierce and cruel Nation and far worse livers then the Iews it starâ—led the Prophet a little at that way of divine dispensation that suffered Gods peculiar people to be so handled by such lewd and notorious sinners And besides which might trouble them as well as the other did the Prophet the Chaldees that were intended for their scourge and executioners in this calamity were now in Manasses his time when this Prophesie came out in the number of their good Friends and Confederates whom of all other they little suspected for the Authors and Contrivers of their ruine The Paraphrastical EXPLICATION of the first CHAPTER 1. THe sad Prophesie and vision of that burden which Habakkuk foresaw as a heavy punishment that would shortly fall upon the Iews and Chaldaeans and which the heavier weight of their own grievous sins had brought upon them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or The sum of that which the the Prophet received by divine Revelation and which gave occasion to what he delivered amongst his own Countrymen to that effect as followeth 2. O Lord How long shall I make my humble addresses unto thee without any answer How long shall I continue my heavy Cry and Complaint against Injustice and oppression the crying sins of these sad times while thou refusest to relive us 3. Why hast thou reserved me for such wicked daies wherein my eyes cannot but with tears behold the injurious and violent dealing of men in those sins which now walk openly and impudently without any disguise without any shame or care of being concealed Above all the unjust oppression of their neighbours even to desolation presents it self unto me whither so ever I cast mine eyes And yet where there is so much cause of complaint and calling for justice somewhat still there is that obstructs and hinders or rather takes away the course of justice 4. Hence is it that the pulse of the law beats so slowly as if the life of the law which is the execution of her eâ—icts began to draw to an end And therefore either justice cannot appear at all but with too many demurs and tedious siâ—â—ts or if she do all is not right For while the wicked with his malitious plots encloseth and besets the righteous man on every side and so domineers over him that he hath not liberty to follow the dictate of his own understanding All this while Iustice seems to tread inward and comes out lame and distorted by bribes and other by-respects that turn her quite awry and so is she made altogether unlike her self 5. But if justice can hear no better amongst men let them hear the voice of divine justice from Heaven And she will tell them a wonder if that can get her audience For thus saith she Behold and wonder you that make so slight of it in your high pride and scorn and security Wonder and admire at what I shall tell you of the Gentiles by whom I shall bring such a strange work to passe in your daies that if it were plainly told you now before hand you would by no meane be induced to believe it 6. For whatsoever
your thoughts are of me and my mercy and protection over you and yours I shall raise up against you the fierce and nimble Chaldèans that are now your confederates and whom of all other you would least suspect to be ingaged in such undertakings And they according to their innate cruelty and agility shall sodainly and barbarously over-run this land stretching their victorious armies into every corner and where they please possessing themselves of many fair habitations that are none of theirs 7. Whatsoever you now conceit of them cruel and terrible they will then appear to be as they are indeed and the rather because their will shall be their law and out of their proud mouths shall proceed those imperious commands and decrees that you shall not dare to controll 8. When they are once mounted on horseback to set upon you the nimble pace of the Leopards shall not have more speed then their horses And to adde furie to their speed their hungry appetites shall be more eagerly bent upon the prey then you have seen the greedy wolves that steal out in the evening to satisfie their hunger So shall their horse-men be affected spreading and disfusing themselves over the best part of your Country and from the remote parts of the Babylonian Empire falling upon you with that hast and soddainnesse that you would think neither the ravenning wolf nor the hungry eagle her self should be able to exceed 9. No otherwise shall they encourage one another and proceed to their violent mischievous attempts then with such furie and unhappy successe as if a pestilent east-wind did set them on to consume all before them And when all is done if you would know the number of them that shall be carried into captivity and so by escaping a present death reserved to a further miserie you may as well desire to have the number of the sands on the sea-shore 10. All this while there is little hope of opposition to be made against them by King or people As for your Kings first if such should be your Commanders abroad the proud Chaldean doth rather scorn and deride then any way dread that sacred name And for your people or any strong forts and Bulwarks at home that you conceive them able to make by way of resistance in as much scorn will he look upon them and never doubt by the raising of a muddie frontier against it to make an easie surprisal of your strong defence 11. Which done his haughty spirit will be the readier to passe all the bounds of moderation with as little difficulty as he brake through your military works and so to go on to a further degree of wickedness ascribing this goodly successe of his bold enterprises to no other Deity then one of his own making And that is his own valerous policie which is the idol that he will magnifie above all that is called God But O my Lord God the true Deitie whose power and wisdom is over all my Holy Lord who art from all eternity to oll eternity and by whom onely we hope to be preserved from death and destruction Hast not thou set him up hast not thou raised this Babylonian Tyrant as the executioner of these thy judgments upon us Hast not thou inabled him thus to chastise us and thus to prevail over the rock of our strength that power of ours that we accounted to be most impregnable 13. Surely thou art of purer eies then to see and approve the wicked designs of our cruel and malitious enemies that entitle their own prowesse to all their Trophies and Triumphs over us Why then dost thou seem by their prosperous atchievements to favour so great sinners and to keep silence and wink at it while the wicked Chaldeans do thus consume thy own people that are far more righteous then they 14. Were we but onely as other men yet shall we not as men have a more peculiar aspect of thy loving providence But we are thy people And while we are in the troublesome Sea of this world where the greater fishes are ever ready to devour the lesse Shall there be no more regard had of our lives then is of ordinary Fishes and other inferior Creatures that have no such ready addresse as we have to the Gvide and Ruler and defender of mankind 15. Shall Nebuchadnezar and his rude Souldiers have liberty to fish where they will and take all for fish that comes to their net Shal such cruel fishers of men that pursue their ruine and destruction have so good success attending their nets and hooks their projests and devises that therein they shall go on to triumph and applaud themselves 16. And that therefore they shall be encouraged to sacrifice to their own nets and impute all their victorious successes to the virtue of their own power and policy by which they are inriched with so many fat booties that increase upon them while they devour us and our substance and at their pleasure feed greedily upon that which is none of theirs 17. And for all this shall they be still suffered to expose and extend their nets more and more And while they make no spare wilt thou also defer to revenge our slaughters and oppressions by the deserved punishment of that barbarous people guilty of so many so gross sins as they are CHAP. II. 1. I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am reproved 2 And the Lord answered me and said Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may â—un that readeth it 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak and not lie though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry 4 Behold his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him but the just shall live by his faith 8 Yea also because he transgresseth by wine he is a proud man neither keepeth at home who enlargeth his desire as hell and is as death and cannot be satisfied but gathereth unto him all nations and heapeth unto him all people 6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him and a taunting proverb against him and say Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his how long and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay 7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee and awake that shall vex thee and thou shalt be for booties unto them 8 Because thou hast spoiled many nations all the remnanâ— of the people shall spoil thee because of mens bloud and for the violence of the land of the city and of all that dwell therein 9 We to him that coveteth an evill covetousnesse to his house that he may set his nest on high that he may be delivered from the power of evill 10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy