^4" i;^ a o^ i^ .^:^ i:a.^^ AT PRINCETON, N. J. x> o :>f ^'V 1" I o >r cj »• SAMUEL AGNE^V, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA. q4^o.. - Ij Case, Division „, % Shelf, Section I ^^^^V No. - fi ^5)205 HARMONY OF THE KINGS AND PROPHETS; AN ARRANGEMENT OF THE HISTORY CONTAINED IN THE BOOKS OF KINGS AND CHRONICLES, TOGETHER WITH THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS INTRODUCED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER AS THEY WERE DELIVERED, COMMENCING WITH THE REVOLT OF THE TEN TRIBES, AND CLOSING WITH THE PROPHECY OF MALACHI. By STEPHEIN MERRILL, Pastor of the 1st Congregational Church in Kittery^ Maine. REVISED BY THE PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. BOSTON: MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY. Depository, No. 24, Cornliill. 1832. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1832, By Christopher C. Dean, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. PREFACE The object of this Compilation of the Holy Scriptures, is to present a connected view of the Kings and the Prophets with reference to order of time which each occupied. Every attentive reader must have noticed that this order is very little regarded, either in the historical or prophetical part of this portion of the sacred volume. We are carried forward several years, and then, without any distinctly marked notice, we are brought back to the same period. This occasions incon- venience to the reader, and not unfrequently obscurity. For persons in ordinary life to arrange, correctly, the chro- nology of these books, is more than we have a right to expect. Yet such arrangement not unfrequently gives peculiar force and beauty to the Scriptures. Take Hosea, xi. 8, for example. "How shall I give thee up, Ephraira? How shall I deliver thee, Israel ? How shall I make thee as Admah ? How shall I set thee as Zeboim ? My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together." The knowledge of the chronology of this inimitably pathetic address to the kingdom of Israel, makes it but five years before the utter extinction of that kingdom ; and thus presents to our view a scene, in which the great Jehovah is the actor, resembling that of the most affectionate parent pursuing his son in a last effort ta save him from self-destruction. iv PREFACE. , However much men were disposed to study the Scriptures, most of the Bibles in the community have no chronology noted, and they have no means by which correctly to ascer- tain it ; and others who have the chronology, either have not found leisure or inclination to search it out. The sacred text will be kept as distinct and as free as pos- sible from original composition ; adding nothing, except occa- sionally as a connecting link between passages which could not be gained harmoniously without ; and sometimes a short explanatory , note or parenthesis. That this book may assist in the study and in the under- standing of the Holy Scriptures, is the prayer of the au- thor. S. Merrill. HARMONY, i&c. The promise of a Saviour which God made to our first parents, was solemnly ratified in a covenant with Abraham, and confirmed to the sceptre of David. To him God said, 2 SAMUEL, VII. B. C. 1042. 12 I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy. bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will estabUsh the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son : if he commit ini- quity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men : 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, wbom I put away before thee. 16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee : thy throne shall be established for ever. 1 KI.NG3, II. B. C. 1014. 10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years : seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. 1 CHRONICLES, XXIX. 23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered ; and all Israel obeyed him. 24 And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons like- wise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. 25 And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty, as had not been on any king before him in Israel. 1 10 Solomon. :i CHRONICLES, I. 6 And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt-offerings upon it. 7 IT In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him. Ask what I shall give thee. 8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead, 9 Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established : for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people that is so great? 11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life ; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king ; 12 Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee ; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like. B. C. *992. ] KINGS, IX. God^s covenant in a vision with Solomon. The mutual presents of Solomon and Hiram. Solomoii^s yearly sacrifices. 1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's de- sire which he was pleased to do, 2 That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever ; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and v.'i]t keep my statutes and mj'^ judg- ments; 5 Then 1 will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying. There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, you, or your children, and will not keep my commandments, and my statutes, which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and wor- ship them ; * Mr. Townsend has dated this portion B. C. 100], which is three years only after the dedication; the date of which, in iiis hook and mind, ai^reo. But Solomon was thirteen years building his own house. Reckoning the first and the last of these, after the manner of the Hebrews, the date will agree with the above. I must con- clude, therefore, that Townsend's date is erroneous. Solomon. 1 1 7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them: and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people : 8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss ; and they shall say. Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house ? 9 And they shall answer. Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them : therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil. 1 KINGS, XI. B. C. 990 to 982. Soloinon's wives and concubines, in his old age, draw him to idola- try. God threateneth him. His death. 1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites ; 2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the chil- dren of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you : for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods : Solomon clave unto these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turn- ed away his heart after other gods : and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abom- ination of Moab, in the hill that is i3efore Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt in- cense and sacrificed unto their gods. 9 IT And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, 10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods : but he kept not that which the Lord com- manded. 11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 12 Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake : but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. 13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. 12 Ahijah. ReKohoam. The same predictions were made to Jeroboam the ruler of the tribe of Ephraim, by the prophet Ahijah; to which the foUoivirig additions ivere made : B. C. 979. ] KK\GS, XI. 37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. 3S And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as 1 built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. 39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. 42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, loas forty years. 43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father : and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead. 1 KIXGS, XII. Rehoboam refusing the old men's counsel, ten tribes revolt. 1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem : for all Israel were come to Shecliem to make him king. 2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt,) 3 That they sent and called him : and Jeroboam and all the con- gregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4 Thy father made our yoke grievous : now, theiefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 5 And he said unto them. Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. 6 !! And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men that stood be- fore Solomon his father, while he yet lived, and said. How do ye advise r that I may answer this people. 7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to thein, then they will be thy servants for ever. 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him > 9 And he said unto them, AVhat counsel give ye i that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter. 10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying. Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us ; thus shalt thou say unto them. My little firiger sh&W be thicker than my father's loins. 11 And now, whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke^ Rehohoam. ■ Jeroboam. Ahijah. 13 I will add to your yoke : my father hath chastised j'^ou with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 12 II So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him ; 14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying. My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke : my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people ; for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 IF So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying. What portion have we in David ? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse : to your tents, O Israel : now see to thine own house, David, So Israel de- parted unto their tents. 17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute ; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jeru- salem. 19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel : there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. 21 TI And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God cawie unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24 Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel : return every man to his house ; for this thing is from me. They hearkened, therefore, to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord. 25 IT Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein ; and went out from thence and built Penuel. 26 to the house of David : * We here have one of the most artful and successful devices to corrupt and de- stroy reHgibn. Selfishness lay at the foundation of Jerohoam's conduct. And this, alas, in every age, has been most fatally productive of false religions, aud of 1 * 14 Rehohoam. Jerohoam. Ahijah, 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves o/gold, and said unto them. It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem : behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin : for the people went to worahip before the one, even unto Dan. Si And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the loweit of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made : and he placed in^Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart ; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel : and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense. 2 CHRO.VICLES, XI. 13 IT And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel, resorted to him out of all their coasts, 14 (For the Levites left their suburbs, and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem : for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the Lord. 15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.) 16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. corruptions in tlie true. The fear of losing tlie government was the selfish motive. The art of liis conduct lay in addressing the ease and convenience of the people, " It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem ;" in pretending to worship the same gods which broughtthem up out of Egypt; in making the worship, in some mea- sure, resemble Die true, and in selecting from the lower classes his priests. This latter was calculated to secure the favor of the populace by raising them, without any preparation, to the otfices of ministers of religion. It was also calculated to prevent all instruction on the subject of religion, by which the truth should be per- ceived, and his errors detected. By this course. Jeroboam has become famous in- deed : for his uame is mentioned in the subseiiuent history something like twenty times, as the sinner who " made Israel to sin." From the time Israel left Egypt, the nation had manifested a strong propensity to idolatry. But revival after re- vival of tlie worship of Jehovah had saved them; and under the government of pious David, they had become a very numerous and prosperous people. But from the accession of Jeroboam to the throne of the ten tribes, no pious king reigned, and no extensive revival of true religion was enjoyed. God raised up prophets who labored to bring them back to his worship and fear; and a small remnant were saved by their means. But sin, like a consumption, was continually wasting their prosperity and their national being. Idolatry, encouraged by their kings, prevailed against all obstacles presented by the imperfect knowledge of the Scriptures, and the faithful labors of the Lord's prophets. And in 254 years from the setting up of Jeroboam's calves, the ten tribes ceased for ever to be a body politic. Jeroboam. The Prophet loithout a name. 15 17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Jiidah, and made Reho- boam the son of Solomon strong, three years : for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon. 1 KINGS, XIII. B. C. 974. 1 And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el : and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord ; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name ; and *upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken ; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying. Lay hold on him. And hishand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in agairt to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. 6 IT And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. 7 And the king said unto the man of Gotl, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying. Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou earnest. 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el. ^ 11 Tl Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el ; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el : the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12 And their father said unto them, WTiat way went he ? for his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons. Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon, 14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an * See 2 Kings, xxiii. j or, B. C. 624. 16 The Prophet imthout a natne. oak : and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that earnest from Judah ? And he said, I am. 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee : neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place : 17 For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou earnest. 18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art ; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. But he bed unto him. 19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 20 II And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back : 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, say- ing. Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, 22 But earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water ; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23 U And it came to pass after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him : and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass. 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass : and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said. It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord ; therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him. 27 And he spake to his sons, saying. Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28 And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass : the lion had not eaten the car- cass, nor torn the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back : and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn, and to bury him. 30 And he laid his carcass in his own grave ; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, iny brother ! 31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying. When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried ; lay my bones beside his bones: 32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high Jeroboam. Rehoboam. 17 places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass. 33 H After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places : whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the l>ice of the earth. 2 CHRONICLES, XII. B. C. 971. 1 And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the king- dom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. 2 And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord. 3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horse- men : and the people were, without number that came with him out of Egypt : the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, aud came to Jerusalem. 5 li Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them. Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. 6 Whereupon tlie princes of Israel and the king humbled them- selves ; and they said, The Lord is righteous. 7 And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying. They have humbled themselves ; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance ; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jeru- salem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants ; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. 9 * So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house ; he took all : he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house. 11 And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber. 12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well. 13 TF So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and * Thus, in the space of five years from the death of Solomon, was this powerful and wealthy kingdom reduced to a state of vassalage by sin. 18 Jeroboam. Ahijah. reigned ; for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there : and his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammon- itess. 14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. B. C. 960. 1 KKXGS, XIV. 1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that ihou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam ; and get thee to Shiloh : behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people. 3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him : he shall tell thee what shall become of the child. 4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah, But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. 5 IT And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam Cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son ; for he is sick : thus and thus shalt thou say unto her : for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another looman. 6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said. Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam ; why feignest thou thyself to be another ? For I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, 8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee : and yet thou hast not been as my servant David who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes ; 9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee : for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and m.olten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back : 10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jerobo- am, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man takethaway dung, till it be all gone. 11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat ; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the Lord hath spoken it. 12 Arise thou, therefore, get thee to thine own house ; and when thy feet enter into the city the child shall die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him ; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jero- boam. Jeroboam. Rehohoam. Abijah. 19 14 Moreover, the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day : but what ? even now. 15 For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 And he shall give Israel up, because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. 17 IT And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tir- zah : and when she came to the threshold of the door the child died. 18 And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, accord- ing to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his ser- vant Ahijah the prophet. 2 CHRONICLES, XII. B. C. 958. 15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not w^ritten in the book of Shemaiah tbe prophet, and of Iddo the seer, concern- ing genealogies ? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jero- boam continually, 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David : and Abijah his son reigned in his stead. 2 CHRONICLES, XIII. Abijah, succeeding, maketh war against Jeroboam, and overcometk him. 1 Now, in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, began Abijah to reign over Judah. 1 KINGS, XV. 3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him : and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his fother. 2 CHRONICLES, XIII. B. C. 957. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem : (his mother's name also was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah :) and there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men : Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valor. 4 IT And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said. Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and alllsrael : 5 Ought ye not to know, that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt ? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. 7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Be- 20 Jeroboam, Ahijah. lial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted, and could not withstand them. 8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David : and ye he a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of of/jer lands ? so that whosever cometh to consecrate him- self with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not forsaken him ; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business. 11 And they burn unto the Lord, every morning and every even- ing, burnt sacrifices and sweet incense : the shew-bread alsose? they in order upon the pure table ; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening : for we keep the charge of the Lord our God ; but ye have forsaken him, 12 And, behold, God himself /s with us for owr captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers ; for ye shall not prosper. 13 11 But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them : so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind ; and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpet. 15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout : and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah : and God delivered them into their hand. 17 * And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter : so there tell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him ; Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim with the towns thereof. 20 Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abi- jah : and the Lord struck him, and he died. 21 IT But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters. 22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the piopbet Iddo. * History affords few parallels to the slaughter made in this battle. Haifa mil- lion souls called from the field of blood to receive their endless reward according to the deeds done here in the body ! How solemn the thought ! Asa. Nadah. BaasJia. 21 2 CHRONICLES, XIV. B. C. 955. 1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. 2 And Asa did that which lotts good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves; 4 And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 Also he took away, out of all the cities of Judah, the high places and the images; and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 H And he built fenced cities in Judah : for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest. 7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us ; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side : so they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand, and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand : all these were mighty men of valor. 1 KINGS, XV. B. C. 952. 25 IT And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years. 26 And he did evil in the sight of tlie Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. 27 H And Baasha, the son of Abijah, of the house of Issachar, con- spired against him : and Baasha smote him at Gibberthon, which belongeih to the Philistines ; (for Nadab and all Israel laid seige to Gibberthon ;) 28 Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead. 29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam ; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Abijah the Shilonite : SO Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger. 34 And Baasha did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. 2 CHRONICLES, XIV. B. C. 942. 9 IT And there came out against Judah Zerah the Ethiopian, with an host of a thousand thousariJ, and three hundred chariots, and came unto Mareshah. 22 Asa. Oded the Prophet. 10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said. Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power : help us, O Lord our God ; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God ; let not man prevail against thee. 12 So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah ; and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa, and the people that were with him, pursued them unto Gerar : and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host : and they carried away ver}' much spoil. 14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar ; for the fear of the Lord came upon them : and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them. 15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried awaj' sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem. 2 CHRO^'ICLES, XV. 1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded. 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while ye be with him : and if ye seek him, he will be found of you : but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 Now for a long season Israel hath beeti v.^ithout the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5 And in those times there ivas no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations tvere upon all the inhabit- ants of the countries. 6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city : for God did vex them with all adversity. 7 Be ye strong, therefore, and let not jour hands be weak ; for your work shall be rewarded. 8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he liad taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the porch of the Lord. 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon : (for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when thej' saw that the Lord his God icas with him :) 10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.* And they offered unto the Lord the same time, of the spoil which tliey had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand sheep. * B. C. 941. Mr. Townsend, 944: yet lie makes Asa begin to reign 9ft5, which would make it only the 11th year of his reign. Here again his date is erroneous. Asa. BaasJia. Hanani the Seer. 23 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul ; 13 That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman, 14 And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting;, and with trumpets, and with cornets. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath ; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their wliole desire ; and he was found of them : and the Lord gave them rest round ahout. 16 IT And also concerning Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from bcins, queen, because she had made an idol in a grove : and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel : never- theless, the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18 11 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa. 1 KINGS, XV. B. C. 930. 17 And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ra- mah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 CHRONICLES, XVI. 2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, 3" There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father : behold, I have sent thee silver and gold ; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 4 And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel ; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 And it came to pass when Baasha heard it, that he left off build- ing of Ramah, and let his work cease. 6 Then Asa the king took all Judah ; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was a building: and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah. 7 II And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him. Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with verj' many chariots and horsemen ? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of the7n whose heart is per- 24 Asa. Elah. Zimri. feet toward him. Herein thou hast done foohshly ; therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. 10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison- house : for he was in a rage with liim because of this thing. And Asa oppressed soine of the people the same time. 1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baaslia, saying, 2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins: 3 Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the poster- ity of his house ; and will make thy house like the house of Jerobo- am, the son of Nel>at. 4 Him tbat dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat ; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. 6 So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah : and Elah his son reigned in his stead. 7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, came the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, in provok- ing him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam ; and because he killed him. 8 H In the twenty and sixth year of Asa kingof Judah began Elah, the son of Baasha, to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. 9 And his servant Zimri (captain of half his chariots) conspired against him as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah. 10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. 11 H And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha : he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks nor of his friends. 12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in pro- voking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not wiitten in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ? 15 II In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah ; and the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath con- spired, and hath also slain the king : wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. Asa. Omri. AJiab. 25 17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, 19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel sin. 21 IT Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni, the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. 22 But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni, the son of Ginath : so Tibni died, and Omri reigned. 23 * IT In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah, began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years : six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. 25 IT But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. 26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria : and Ahab his son reigned in his stead. 29 t IT And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah, be- gan Ahab, the son of Omri, to reign over Israel : and Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria, twenty and two years. 30 And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria, 33 And Ahab made a grove ; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 34 IT In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho : he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first-born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua, the son of Nun. 2 CHRONICLES, XVI. 12 And Asa, in the thirty and ninth year of his reign, was diseased in his feet, until his disease ivas exceeding great : yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. 13 J IT And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and forti- eth year of his reign. * B. C. 924. t B- C. 918. t B. C. 914. ~ 2* 26 Jehoshaphat. Elijah the Prophet. 14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors, and diverse kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art ; and they made a very great burning for him. 2 CHRONICLES, XVII. 1 And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened nimself against Israel. 2 And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. 3 And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim ; 4 But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel : 5 Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand ; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents ; and he had riches and honor in abundance. 6 And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord : moreover, he took away the high places and groves out of Judah. 7 * IT Also, in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Ben-hail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. 8 And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, Levites ; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests. 9 And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people. B. C. 910. 1 KINGS, XVII. Elijah, prophesying against Ahah, is sent to Cherith, where the ra- vens feed him : he is sent to the ividow of Zarephath : he raiseth the widow^s so7i. 1 And Elijah the Tishbite, ivho was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, Jls the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook ; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 5 So he went, and did according unto the word of the Lord : for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening ; and he drank of the brook. * B. C. 911. Elijah, and the woman of Zarephath. 27 7 And it came to pass, after a while, that the brook dried up, be- cause there had been no rain in the land. 8 * IT And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there : behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose, and went to Zarephath : and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman ivas there gathering of sticks ; and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, ^s the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruise ; and, be- hold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her. Fear not ; go and do as thou hast said : but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son : 14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went, and did according to the saying of Elijah : and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruise of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. 17 t TT And it came to pass, after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick ; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I done to thee, thou man of God ? Art thou come unto me to call ray sin to remembrance, and to slay my son ? 19 And he said unto her. Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 20 And he cried unto the Lord, and said, Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slay- ing her son ? 21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. 22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and delivered him unto his mother : and Eli- jah said, See, thy son liveth ! 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth. 1 KINGS, XVIII. B. C. 906. 1 And it came to pass, after many days, that the word of the Lord * B. C. 909. t B. C. 907. 28 Elijah. Obadiah. Akab, came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go shew thyself unto Ahab ; and I will send rain upon the earth. 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab : and there was a sore famine in Samaria. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of A/s house: (now Obadiah feaied the Lord greatly ; 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cutoff the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water :) 5 And Ahab said vmto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks; peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. 6 So they divided the land between them, to pass throughout it : Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiali went another way by himself. 7 IT And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him : and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, jlit thou that my lord Elijah ? 8 And he answered him, I am : go tell thy lord. Behold, Elijah is here. 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me ? 10 ^s the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee : and when they said. He is not (here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. 11 And now thou sayest. Go tell thy lord. Behold, Elijah is here. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not ; and so, when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me : but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did, when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how 1 hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water ? 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. 15 And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to-day. 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him : and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Jlrt thou he that troiibleth L^-ael ? 18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel ; but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim. 19 Now, therefore, send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. 21 H And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt Elijah confounds the false Prophets. 29 ye between two opinions ? If the Lord he God, follow him : but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord ; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Let them, therefore, give us two bullocks ; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under ; and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under : 24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord ; and the god that answereth by fire let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. 25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bul- lock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many: and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. 27 And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud ; for he is a god : either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. 28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves, after their manner, with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And it came to pass, when mid-day was past, and they prophe- sied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. 30 11 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him ; and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name ; 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord : and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said. Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt-sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said. Do it the second time : and they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time : and they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar ; and he filled the trench also with water. 36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me ; that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 30 Elijah. Jezebel 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacri- fice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it they fell on their faces ; and they said, The Lord, he is the God ; the Lord, he is the God. 40 And Elijah said unto them. Take the prophets of Baal ; let not one of them escape. And they took them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. 41 TT And EHjah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink ; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink : and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel ; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant. Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said. Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass, at the seventh time, that he said. Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said. Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. 45 And it came to pass, in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah ; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. B. C. 906. 1 KINGS, XIX. Elijah, threatened by Jezebel, fleeth to Beer-sheba : he is comfort- ed by an angel. God sendeih him to anoint Hazael, Jehu, and JElisha. Eiisha foUoweih Elijah. 1 And Ahab told Jezebelall that Elijah had done, and withal, how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying. So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them, by to-morrow about this time. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 H But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree : and he requested for him- self that he might die ; and said, it is enough ; now, O Lord, take away my life : for I a?n not better than my fathers. 5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper-tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise ayid eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cakebakenon the coals, and a cruise of water at his head ; and he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said. Arise and eat ; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of Elijah. Eli ska. 31 that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb, the mount of God. 9 H And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there ; and, be- hold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him. What doest thou here, Elijah ? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts : for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword : and I, even I only, am left ; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said. Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong "wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks, before the Lord ; bid the Lord ivas not in the wind : and after the wind an earthquake ; but the Lord teas not in the earthquake : 12 And after the earthquake a tire; but the Lord icas not in the fire : and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave : and, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said. What dost thou here, Elijah ? 14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts ; because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword : and I, even I only, am left ; and they seek my life, to take it away. 15 And the Lord said unto him. Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus : and, when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria : 16 And Jehu, the son of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel ; and Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, slialt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. 17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay ; and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left 77ie seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hatk not; kissed him. 19 IT So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth : and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said. Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my m.other, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him. Go back again : for what have I done to thee ? 21 And he returned back from him, and took a j'oke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat : then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. 2 CHRONICLES, XVII. B, C. 905. 10 IT And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. 32 Jehoshaphat. Benhadad. Ahah. 11 Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and tribute silver ; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he- goats. 12 H And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly ; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store. 13 And he had much business in the cities of Judah : and the men of war, mighty men of valor, locre in Jerusalem. 14 And these are the numbers of them, according to the house of their fathers: Of Judah, the captain of thousands, Adnah the chief, and with him mighty men of valor three hundred thousand. 15 And next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and four score thousand. 16 And next him was Amaziah, the son of Zichri, who willingly- offered himself unto the Lord ; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. 17 And of Benjamin ; Eliada, a mighty man of valor, and with him armed men with bow and shield, two hundred thousand. 18 And next him was Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore thousand ready prepared for the war. 19 These waited on the king, besides those whom the king put in the fenced cities throughout all Jiidah. B. C. 901. 1 KINGS, XX. Ben-hadad besiegeth Samaria. The Syrians are slain. Ahah dismisseth Ben-hadad : a jtyophet reprovethhim. 1 And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together ; and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chari- ots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. 2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him. Thus saith Ben-hadad, 3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine : thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. 4 And the king of Israel answered and said. My lord, king, ac- cording to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. 5 And the messengers came again, and said. Thus speaketh Ben- hadad, saying. Although I have sent unto thee, saying. Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy chil- dren ; 6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants ; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. 7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not. 8 And all the elders, and all the people, said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent. 9 Wherefore he said unlo the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell ray lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the lust I Ahah. Benhadad. 33 will do : but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. 10 And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto rne, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfals for all the people tliat follow me. 11 And the king of Israel answered and said,^ Tell him. Let not him. that girdeth on his harness boast himself, as he that putteth it off". 12 And it came to pass, when Ben-hadatl heard this message, (as he loas drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions,) that he said unto his servants. Set yourselves in array.: and they set themselves in array against the city. 13 II And, behold, there came a propTiet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying. Thus saith the Lord, Hast' thou seen all this great multi- tude ? behold, 1 will deliver it into thine hand this day ; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. 14 And Ahab said, By whom ? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said. Who shall order the battle ? And he answered. Thou. 15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the prov- inces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two : and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. 16 And they went out at noon: but Ben-hadad loas drinking him- self drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying. There are men come out of Samaria. 18 And he said. Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take tlicni alive. 19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. 20 And they slew evory one his man : and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them ; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel v/ent out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22 TI And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him. Go, strengthen thyself, and mark and see what thou doest : for at the return of the year the king of Syiia will come up against thee. 23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they were stronger than we : but let us light against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. 24 And do this thing ; Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms, 25 And number thee an army like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot : and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. 26 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad 3 34 Ahab. Benhadad. numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Is- rael. 27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them : and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids ; but the Syrians filled the country. 28 H And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said. Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys ; therefore will 1 deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days ; and so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined : and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city ; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that 'were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. 31 T And his servants said unto him. Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings : let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he will save thy life. 32 So th^j" girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben- hadad saith, I pray thee let me five. And he said, is he yet alive ? he is my brotiier. 33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said. Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said. Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him ; and he caused him to come up into the cha- riot. 34 And Ben-hadad said unto him. The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore ; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then, saidAhah. I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. 35 11 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. 36 Then said he unto him. Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him a lion found him, and slew him. 37 Then he found another man, and said. Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiling he wounded hitn. 38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. 39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king ; and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle ; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man : if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. * B. C. 900. ' ' Ahab. Nahoth. 35 40 And as thy servant was busy here and there he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment he; thy- self hast decided it. 41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face ; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. 42 And he said unto him. Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. 43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria. 1 KINGS, XXI. B. C. 899. 1 And it came to pass, after these things, that Naboth the Jez- reelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto iny house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. 4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased, because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him ; for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers : and he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. 5 U But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thon eatest no bread ? 6 And he said unto her. Because I spake unto Naboth the Jez- reelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money ; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it; and he an- swered, I will not give thee my vineyard. 7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him. Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel ? Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry ; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders, and to the nobles, that were in his city dwelling with Naboth. 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying. Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people ; 10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11 And the men of his city, even the elders, and the nobles, who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it ivas written in the letters which she had sent unto them : 12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Na- both, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him "forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. 36 Ahab. Elijah. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. 15 IT And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take posses- sion of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. 16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jez- reelite, to take possession of it. 17 IT And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, say- ings 18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Sama- ria : behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. 19 And thou shait speak unto him, saying. Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession ? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying. Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. 20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy ? And he answered, I have found thee. Because thou hast sold thy- self to work evil in the sight of the Lord, 21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, 22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, aud like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. 24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat ; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. 25 11 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. 26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. 27 H And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me .' Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; hut in his son's days will I bring the evi! upon his house. B. C. 897. 2 CHROiVICLES, XVIII, Jehoshaphat and Ahab go up against Ramoth-gilead. Ahah^s false prophets assure him of victory. Micaiah's prophecy, Src. 1 Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and joined affinity* with Ahab. * This affinity nearly ruined the house of David, as we shall see in ihe succeed- ing history. Jehoshaphat. Ahab. 3Ticaia7i. 37 2 And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria: and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the peo- ple that he had with hiin, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead. 3 Anif Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead ? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people ; and we will be with thee in the war. 4 H And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to-day. 5 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear ? And they said, Go up ; for God will deliver it into (he king's hand. 6 But Jehoshaphat said. Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him ? 7 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord : but 1 hate him ; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil : the same is Micaiah, the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. 8 And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah, the son of Imla. 9 And the king of I^-rael, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, sat either of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 10 And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these thou shalt push Syria, until they be consumed. 11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying. Go up to Ramoth- gilead, and prosper ; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. 12 And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent: let thy word, therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good. 13 And Micaiah said, jls the Lord liveth,even what my God saith that will I speak. 14 And, when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we goto Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear.' And he said. Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand. 15 And the king said to him. How many times shall I adjure thee, that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord ? 16 Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said. These have no master ; let them return, therefore, every man to his house in peace. 17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphatj Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil? IS Again he said. Therefore, hear the word of the Lord ; I saw 88 A hah slain. the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand, and on his left. 19 And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he maj' go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead ? And one spake, saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. 20 Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I vvill entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith ? 21 And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And Ihe LORD said, Thou shalt entice Hm, and thou shalt also prevail : go out, and do even so. 22 Now, therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. 23 Then Zedekiali, the son of Chenaanah, came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said. Which way went the Spirit of the Lord froui me to speak unto thee ? 24 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself. 25 Then the king of Israel said. Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son ; 26 And say. Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction, and with water of affliction, until I return in peace. 27 And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not the Lord spoken by me. And he said. Hearken, all ye people. 28 So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead. 29 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle ; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went to the battle. .80 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that laere with him, saying, Fightye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel. 31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel ; therefore they compassed about him to fight : but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him ; and God moved them to depart from him. 32 For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing him. 33 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness : therefore he said to his chariot-man. Turn thine hand, tliat thou mayest carry me out of the host; for I am wounded. 34 And the battle increased that day : howbcit tke king of Israel stayed himself up in /iis chariot against the Syrians until the even ; and about the time of the sun going down he died. 2 KINGS, XXII. 36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host, about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country. JehoskapJiat. Ahaziah. 39 37 IT So the king died, and was brought to Samaria ; and they bu- ried the king in Samaria. 35 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs hcked up his blood, (and they washed his armor,) according unto the word of the Lord which he spake. 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers ; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead. 2 CHRONICLES, XlX. 1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 2 And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord ? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. 3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God. 1 KiNGfs, XXII. B. C. 897. 51 T\ Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Sa- maria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat "king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. 52 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the v.'ay of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam, the son ot Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to an- ger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done. 2 CHRONICLES, XX. B. C. 896. 85 IT And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who (lid very wickedly. 36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tar- shish : and they made the ships in Ezion-gaber. 37 Then Eliezer, the son of Dodavah of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying. Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish. 2 KINGS, I. 1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that ivas in Samaria, and was sick : and he sent messengers and said unto thejn. Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease. 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the God of Ekron ? 40 Elijah. Ahaziah. Jehoram. 4 Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. 5 H And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them. Why are ye now turned back? 6 And they said unto him. There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him. Thus saith the Lord, /s it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron ? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. 7 And he said unto them, What manner of man ivas he which came up to meet you, and told you these words ? 8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girded with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said. It is Elijah the Tish- bite. 9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of tifty with his fifty. And he went up to him : (and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill.) And he spake unto him. Thou man of God, the king hath said. Come down. 10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty. If I &e a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and con- sumed him and his fifty. 11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, man of God, thus hath the king said. Come down quickly. 12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down fiom heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 13 II And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty, thy servants, be precious in thy sight. 14 Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties : therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. 15 And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, Go down with him : be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. 16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, Is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word ? there- fore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. 17 * !i So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken : and Jehoram reigned in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah/ because he had no son. * B. C. 896. Elijah taken to Heaven. 41 2 KINGS, II. 1 And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him. As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Eli.sha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day .' And he said, Yea, I know it ; hold ye your peace. 4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee ; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said. As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day .'' And he answered. Yea, I know it ; hold ye your peace. 6 And Ellijah said unto him. Tarry, I pray thee, here ; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. 8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither : so that they two went over on dry ground. 9 TT And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said. Thou hast asked a hard thing : nevertheless, if thou see rne when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee: but if not, it shall not be so. 11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, be- hold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder ; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 U And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father ! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more : and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan : 14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah .' And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. 15 II And when the sons of the prophets, which were to view at Jericho, saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. 42 Elisha. JehosTiapliat. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him : 16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let Ihera go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. 17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent, therefore, fifty men ; and they sought three days, but found him not. 18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them. Did I not say unto you, Go not ? 19 IT And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth : but the water is naught, and the ground barren. 20 And he said, Bring me a new cruise, and put salt therein : and they brought it to him. 21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said. Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters : there shall not be from thence any more dearth or barren land. 22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the say- ing of Elisha which he spake. 23 H And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him. Go up, thou bald-head; go up, thou bald-head. 2-t And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord : and there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. 25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel ; and from thence he returned to Samaria. B. C. 896. 2 CHRONICLES, XIX. 4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem : and he went out again through the people, from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers. 5 17 And he set judges in the land, throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, 6 And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do : for ye judge not for man, but lor the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. 7 Wherefore now, let the fear of the Lord be upon you ; take heed and do it : for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts. 8 IT Moreover, in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judg- ment of the Lord, and for controversies, when they returned to Jeru- salem. 9 And he charged them, saying. Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord fixithfully, and with a perfect heart. 10 And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that Jelioram. Jelioshaphat. 43 dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and com- mandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the Lord, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren : this do, and ye shall not trespass. 11 And, behold, Amariah the chief priest isovev you in all matters of the Lord ; and Zebadiah, the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters : also the Levites shall he officers before you. Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good. 2 KINGS, III. 1 Now Jehoram, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. 2 And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the image of Baal that his father had mt.-de. 3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin ; he departed not therefrom. 4 * ^ And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep- master, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. 5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 IT And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. 7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying. The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle ? And he said, 1 wiTl go up : I a/nas thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. 8 And he said, Which way shall we go up ? And he answered, the way through the wilderness of Edom. 9' So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom ; and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey : and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab! 11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him ? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Eh^ha, the son of Sha- phat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. 12 And Jehoshaphat said. The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, went down to him. 13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee ? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay ; for the Lord liath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. * B. C. 895. 44 The Moabiics vanquished. 14 And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. 15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 And he said. Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches : 17 For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain ; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. 18 And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord : he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. 19 And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. 20 H And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat-offering was offered, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom ; and the country was filled with water. 21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood in the border. 22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the I\Ioabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood ; 23 And they said. This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another ; now, therefore, Moab, to the spoil. 24 And w^hen they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them : but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country. 25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees : only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slir^gers went about it, and smote it. 26 H And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom : but they could not. 27 Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel ; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land. B. C. 894. 2 KINGS, IV. 1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead ; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord : and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bond-men. 2 And Elisha said unto her, what shall I do for thee .' tell me : what hast thou in the house ? And she said. Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house save a pot of oil. 3 Then he said. Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neigh- bors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4 And, when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee Elislia and the Shunammite. 45 and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. 6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son. Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7 Then she came and told the man of God : and he said. Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of tlie rest. - 8 IT And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that, as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said unto her husband. Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God which passeth by us continually. 10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall ; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candle- stick : and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. 11 And it fell on a day that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant. Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said unto him, say now unto her. Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care ; what is to be done for thee ? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host ? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. 14 And he said, What then is to be done for her .' And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. 15 And he said. Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16 And he said. About this season, according to the lime of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. 17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life. IS * IT And when the child was grown, it fell on a day that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 And he said unto his father. My head, my head. And he said to ? la . Carry him to his mother. 20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. 22 And she dalled unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that 1 may run to the man of God, and come again. * The child was between three and four years old when it was restored to life, and the account of this miracle w.. Id l-.ave fallen into the year 691 B. C, but the harmony of the story seems more inii oitant tliau the exact chronology. 46 Elisha and the Shunammite. 23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day ? it is neither new-moon nor sabbath. And she said. It shall be well. 24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant. Drive, and go forward ; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. 25 So she went, and came to the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite : 26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her ; and say unto her, 7s it well with thee ? is it well with thy husband i is it well with the child ? And she answered, It is well. 27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet : but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said. Let her alone ; for her soul is vexed within her : and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord ? did I not say. Do not deceive me ? 29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way : if thou meet any man, salute him not ; and if any salute thee, answer hirn not again : and lay my staff upon the face of the child. 30 And the mother of the child said, ^s the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. 31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child ; but there was neither voice nor hearing : where- fore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying. The child is not awaked. 32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 33 He went in, therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro ; and went up, and stretched himself upon him : and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her : and when she was come in unto him he said, Take up thy son. 37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out. 38 IT And Elisha came again to Gilgal, and there ivas a dearth in the land, and the sons of the prophets ivere sitting before him : and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lapfull, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage : for they knew them not. 40 So they poured out for the men to eat : and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, thou Elisha and Naaman, 47 man of God, there is death in the pot ; and they could not eat thereof. 41 But he said, Then bring meal : and he cast it into the pot ; and he said. Pour out for the people, that they may eat: and there was no harm in the pot. 42 H And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof : and he said. Give unto the people that they may eat. 43 And his servitor said. What ! should I set this before an hundred men ? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat : for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. 44 So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord. 2 KINGS, V. B. C. 894. 1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable: because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor; but he was a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive, out of the land of Israel, a little maid, and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3 And she said unto her mistress. Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria ! for he would recover him of his leprosy. 4 And one went in and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of rai- ment, 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now, when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. 7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. 8 II And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying. Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes ? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said. Behold, I thought. He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the 48 JElisha and Naaman. name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ? may I not wash in them and be clean ? So he turned, and went aw^ay in a rage. 13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it 7 how much rather then, when he saith to thee. Wash and be clean ? 14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God : and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15 H And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him : and he said. Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel ; now, therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. IG But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it : but he refused. 17 And Naaman said. Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth ? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. 18 In tins thing the Lord pardon thy servant, f^af when my mas- ter goeth into the house of Riminon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rinmion : when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. 19 And he said unto him. Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. 20 IT But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Be- hold, my mastei- hath spared Naaman this Sjaian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought : but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 21 So Gehazi followed after.Naaman : and when Naaman saw hi)n running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and «aid. Is all well ? 22 And he said. All is well. My master hath sent me, saying. Be- hold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets ; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. 23 And Naaman said, Be contejit, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid themupon two of his servants, and they bare them before him. 24 And when he came to the tower he took the7n from their hand, and bestowed tkeiyi in the house ; and he let the men go, and they departed. 25 But he went in, and stood before his master: and Elisha said unto him. Whence comest thou, Gehazi .' And he said. Thy servant went no whither. 26 And he said unto him, Went not mine heart tcith thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee ? Is it a time to Elisha. 49 receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vine- yards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants ? 27 The leprosy, therefore, of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snovi^. 2 KINGS, VI. ' B. C. 893. 1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there where we may dwell. And he answered. Go ye. 3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan they cut down wood. 5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water : and he cried, and said, Alas, master ! for it was borrowed. 6 And the man of God said, Where fell it ? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and the iron did swim. 7 Therefore, said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand and took it. 2 KINGS, VIII. B. C. 892. 1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn : for the Lord hath called for a famine ; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. 2 And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God : and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 2 KINGS, VI. 8 TT Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took coun- sel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place ; for thither the Syrians are come down. 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him, and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once, nor twice. 11 IT Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing ; and he called his servants, and said unto them. Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel ? 12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, king j but Elisha the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber. 50 ElisJia. 13 And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. -And it was told him, saying. Behold, he is in Dothan. 14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. 15 ^ And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots: and his servant said unto him, Alas, my master I how shall we do ? 16 And he answered, Fear not ; for they that be witli us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, I^ord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain teas full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18 II And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the citv ; follow me, and 1 will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. 20 And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these tnen, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw ; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them. My father, shall I smite them? shall 1 smite them? 22 And he answered. Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow ? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23 And he prepared great provision for them : and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. 24 II And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 2-5 And there was a great fimine in Samaria : and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 26 H And, as the king of Israel wa« passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king ! 27 And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, w^hence shall I help thee ? out of the barn- floor, or out of the wine-press ? 28 And the king said unlo her. What aileth thee ? And she an- swered, This woman said unto me. Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow. 29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him : and I said unto heron the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him ; and she hath hid her sen. 30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the wo- man, that he rent his clothes ; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. ElisTia. 51 31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of EHsha, the son of Shaphat, shall stand on him this day. 32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him, and the king sent a man from before him : but, ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head ? look when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door : is not the sound of his master's feet behind him ? 33 And, while he yet talked with fhem, behold, the messenger caBie down unto him, and he said. Behold, this evil is of the Lord, what should 1 wait for the Lord any longer ? 2 KINGS, VII. 1 Then Elisha said. Hear ye the word of the Lord ; Thus saith the Lord, To-morrow, about this time, shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said. Behold, if the I^ord would make windows in heaven might this thing be ? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 3 M And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate, and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die ? 4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there : and if we sit -still here, we die also. Now, therefore, come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians : if they save us alive, we shall live ; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians : and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there ivas no man there. 6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, eve7i the noise of a great host : and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7 Wherefore they arose, and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it ; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. 9 Then they said one to another. We do not well : this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace ; if we tarry till the morning-light some mischief will come upon us : now, therefore, come, that we may go and tell the king's household. 10 So they came, and called unto the porter of the city ; and they told them, saying. We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, iheie was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 52 Elisha. Jehoshaphat. 11 And he called the porters, and they told it to the king's house within. 12 H And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us : They know that we be hungry, therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. 13 And one of his servants answered and said. Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; be- hold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed,) and let us send and see. 14 They took, therefore, two chariot-horses ; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying. Go and see. 15 And they went after them unto Jordan ; and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste : and the messengers returned, and told the king. 16 And the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. 17 H And the king appointed the lord, on whose hand he leaned, to have the charge of the gate : and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18 And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying. Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow, about this time, in the gate of Samaria: 19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said. Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven might such a thing be ? And he said. Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20 And so it fell out unto him : for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died. B. C. 892. 2 CHRONICLES, XX. 1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshapliat to battle. 2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying. There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, on this side Syria ; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is En- gedi. 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord ; even out of ail the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. 5 H And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jeru- salem, in the house of the I^ord, before the new court, 6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven ? and rulest not tliou over all the kingdoms of the heathen .'' JelioshnpJiat. 53 and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee ? 7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever ? 8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If, v:hen evil cometh upon us, a.s the sword, judgment, or pes- tilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name ?6- in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 10 And now, behold, the children of Animon, and Moab, and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and de- stroyed them not : 11 Behold, I say^ hoio they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them ? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us ; neither know we what to do : but our eyes are upon thee. 13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 IT Then upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation ; 1.5 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Je- rusalem, and thou kini>; Jehoshaphat; Thus saith the Lord unto you. Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude ; for the battle is not yours, but God's. 16 To-morrow go ye down against them : behold, they come up by the clift' of Ziz ; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 Ye shall not neerf to fight in this battle ; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them ; for the Lord will be with you. 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head, with his face to the ground : and all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. 19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. 20 IT And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoah : and, as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said. Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established ; believe his pro- phets, so shall ye prosper. 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord ; for his mercy endiireth forever. 22 TI And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set 54 Jehoshaphat. Jehoram. ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah ; and they were smitten. 23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the in- habitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them : and, when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. 24 And when Judah came toward the watch-tower in the wilder- ness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance, both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, (which they stripped off for themselves,) more than they could carry away : and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. 26 IT And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah ; for there they blessed the Lord : therefore the name of the same place was called. The valley of Berachah unto this day. 27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the fore-front of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy : for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. 28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets, unto the house of the Lord. 29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of f^ose countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. 80 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet ; for his God gave him rest round about. 31 H And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty and five years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem : and his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord. 33 Howbeit, the high places were not taken away ; for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. 34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Jehu, the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel. B. C. 891. 2 CHRONICLES, XXI. 1 Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David : and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. 2 And he had brethren, the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah : all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah : but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the first-born. 4 Now, when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father. Jehoram. 55 he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel. 5 H Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab ; for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife : and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord. 7 Howbeit, the Lord would not destroy the house of David, be- cause of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever. 8 1[ In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king. 9 Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him : and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots. 10 So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand ; because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. 11 Moreover, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and com- pelled Judah thereto. 12 IT And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying. Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 1.3 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself; 14 Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods. 15 And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. 16 H Moreover, the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethio- pians. 17 And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives : so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. 2 KINGS, VIII. B. C. 885. 3 And it came to pass, at the seven years' end, that the woman* returned out of the land of the Philistines : and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house, and for her land. 4 And the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying. Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things tliat Elisha hath done. 5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house, and for her land. * This is the woman whose son Elisha had restored to life. Chap. iv. 8: viii. 1. 56 Elisha. Hazad. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Ehsha restored to Hfe. 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain otiicer, saying. Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field, since the day that she left the land, even until now. 7 IT And Elisha came to Damascus ; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick : and it was told him, saying. The man of God is come hither. 8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, say- ing. Shall 1 recover of this disease ? 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels burden, and came and stood before him, and said. Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease ? 10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him. Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit, the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die. ': 1 1 And he settled his countenance steadfastly until he was ashamed : and the man of God wept, 12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord ? And he answered. Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel ; their stiong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child. 13 And Hazael said. But what ! is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing ? And Elisha answered. The Lord hath shewed me that thou shah be king over Syria. 14 So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee ? And he answered. He told me that thou shouldest surely recover. 15 And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died ; and Hazael reigned in his stead. B. C. 884. 2 cHRo^'ICLEs, xxi. IS IT And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels, with an incurable disease. 19 And it came to pass, that, in process of time, after the end of two years, his feowels fell out by reason of his sickness ; so he died of sore diseases: and his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers. 20 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired : howbeit, they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings. 2 CHRONICLES, XXII. 1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead : for the band of men that came with the Ara- Ahaziah. Jehu anointed- 57 bians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, reigned. 2 Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign ; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem : his mother's name also ivas Athaliah, the daughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab : for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. 4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab ; for they were his counsellors, after the death of his father, to his destruction, 5 "il He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram, the son of Ahab king of Israel, to war against Hazael king of Syria at Kamoth-gilead : and the Syrians smote Joram. 6 And he returned to be healed in Jezreel, because of the wounds which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. 2 KINGS, IX. 1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber : 3 Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel : then open the door, and t^ee, and tarry not. 4 IT So the young man, even the young man the prophet, w"ent to Ramoth-gilead. 5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host tve7'e sitting : and he said, I have an errand to thee, captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us ? And he said. To thee, O captain. 6 And he arose, and went into the house ; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Isi-ael. 7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that T may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the whole bouse of Ahab shall perish; and' I will cutoff from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel. 9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. 10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door and fled. 11 * TT Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord : and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee.' And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication. * B. C. 884. 58 Jehu destroy eth Joram and Ahaziah. 12 And they said, It is false ; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. 13 Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. 14 So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram ; (now Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria: 15 But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria;) and Jehu said. If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel. 16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel ; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said. Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say. Is it peace ? 18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said. Thus saith the king. Is it peace ? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying. The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again. 19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said. Thus saith the king. Is it peace ? And Jehu answered, >\Tiat hast thou to do with peace ? turn thee behind me. 20 And the watchman told, saying. He came even unto them, and- cometh not again : and the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi ; for he driveth furiously. 21 And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel, and Ahaziah king of Judah, went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And it came to pass, when Joram ?aw Jehu, that he said, 7s it peace, Jehu ? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whore- doms of thy mother Jezebel, and her witchcrafts, are so many ? 2-3 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah ! 24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between liis arms ; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 25 Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain. Take up, mid cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite : for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him. 26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord ; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now, therefore, take and cast hrm into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord. 27 II But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house : and Jehu followed after him, and said. Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam: and he fled to Megiddo, and died there. Jeliu destroy eth the house of Ahah, 59 28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. 29 And in the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, began Ahaziah to reign over Judah. 30 IT And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it ; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window : 31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said. Had Zimri peace, who slew his master ? 32 And he Ufted up his face to the window, and said. Who is on my side ? who ? And there looked out to hira two or three eunuchs. 33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down ; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses : and he trode her under foot. 34 And when he was come in he did eat and drink, and said. Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her : for she is a king's daughter. 35 And they went to bury her ; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 Wherefore they came again, and told him : and he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying. In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel : 37 And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel ; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel. Jehu causeth seventy of AhaVs children to he beheaded : he de- stroy eth the worshijypers of Baal, yet followeth Jeroboam'' s sins. 1 And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying, 2 Now, as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armor ; 3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house. 4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said. Behold, two kings stood not before him ; how then shall we stand ? 5 And he that ivas over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers-up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying. We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king : do thou that which is good in thine eyes. 6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying. If ye he mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time. (No^y the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.) 7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they 60 Jehu, took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him ihem to Jezreel. 8 IT And there came a messenger, and told him, saying. They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said. Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. 9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people. Ye he righteous : behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him ; but who slew all these ? 10 Know now, that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah. 11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. 12 17 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria : and, as he ivas at the shearing-house in the way, 13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said. Who are ye .' And they answered. We are the brethren of Ahaziah ; and we go down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen. 14 And he said, Take them aliv-e. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men ; neither left he any of them. 15 TT And, when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him ; and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heaitw with thy heart ? And Jehonadab answered. It is. If it be, give we thine hand. And he gave him his hand ; and he took him up to him into the chariot. 16 And he said. Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So thej' made him ride in his chariot. 17 And when he came to Samaria he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spake to Elijah. IS ^r And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto thorn, Ahab served Baal a little, hut Jehu shall serve him much. 19 Now, therefore, call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests, let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal : whosoever shall be wanting he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. 21 And Jehu sent through all Israel ; and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not : and they came into the house of Baal ; and the house of Baal was full from one end (o another. 22 And he said unto him that teas over the vestry. Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments. 23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and Jehu. Athaliah. Jelwiada. 61 look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Loed, but the worshippers of Baal only. 24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his hfe shall he for the Ufe of him. 25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the guard, and to the captains, Go in and slay them ; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword ; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. 26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. 27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house unto this day. 2S Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. 29 *[y Howbeit, from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that ivere in Dan. 30 And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that ivhich is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that loas in mine heart; thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. 31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. 32 TI In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel ; 33 From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, (which is by the river Arnon,) even Gilead and Bashan. 2 KINGS, XI. 1 And when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose, and destroyed all the seed royal, 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bed-chamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. 3 And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years: and Athaliah did reign over the land. 2 CHRONICLES, XXIII. B. C. 878. 1 And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah, the son of Jerohara, and Ishmael, the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah, the son of Obed, and Maaseiah, the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat, the son of Zicliri, into covenant with him. 2 And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem, 62 Jehoiada. AthaUah. 3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God : and he said unto Ihem, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David. 4 This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall he porters of the doois ; 5 And a ti)ird part shall he at the king's house, and a third part at the gale of the foundation : and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. \6 But let none come into the house of the Lord save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites ; they shall go in, for they are holy: but ail the people shall keep the watch of the Lord. 7 And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house he shall be put to death : but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out. 8 So the Levites, and all Judah, did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go cut on the sabbath : for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses. 9 Moreover, Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God. 10 And he set all the people, (everj- man having his weapon in his hand,) from the right side of the temple to the leftside of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about. 11 Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, avA gave him the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king. 12 \: Now, when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the Lord. 13 And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king : and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets; also the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said. Treason, treason! 14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them. Have her forth of the ranges : and whoso followeth her let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord. 15 So they laid hands on her ; and when she was come to the entering of the horse-gate, by the king's house, they slew her there. 16 IT And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the Lord's people. 17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 18 Also Jehoiada appointed the officers of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed Jehoiada. Joash. 63 in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David. 19 And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the Lord, that none ivhich was unclean in any thing should enter in. 20 And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the Lord : and they came through the high gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom. 21 And all the people of the land rejoiced : and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword. 2 CHRONICLES, XXIV. 1 Joash teas seven years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem : his mother's name also luas Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives ; and he begat sons and daughters. 2 KINGS, XII. 3 But the high places were not taken away : the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. 2 CHRONICLES, XXIV. B. C. 865. 4 IT And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord. 5 And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them. Go out unto the cities of Judah, an^AH, II. 1 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me •, out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas ; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight ; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about even to the soul : the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains ; the earth with her bars ivas about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, Lord my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord ; and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. 10 II And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry Land. JONAH, III. 1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying. Jonah. 69 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. (Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.) 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said. Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 H So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sack- cloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh, (by the decree of the king and his nobles,) saying. Let nieither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing ; let them not feed, nor drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God : yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not .' 10 \\ And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way ; and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them ; and he did it not. JONAH, IV. Jonah, repining at God's mercy, is reproved by the type of a gourd. 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I v.as yet in my country .' therefore I tied before unto Tarshish : for ' l:new that thou ai't a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me ; for it is better for me to die than to live. 4 IF Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry ? 5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepai'ed a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm, when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind ; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. 9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd .-' And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. 6 70 Amaziah. 10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow ; which came up in a night, and perished in a night : 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left liand ; and also much cattle ? B. C. 827. 2 CHRONICLES, xxv. 5 IT Moreover, Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fatliers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin : and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel, for an hundred talents of silver. 7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee ; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. 8 But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle ; God shall make thee fall before the enemy : for God hath power to help, and to cast down. 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel ? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. 10 Then Amaziah separated them, to loit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again : wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger. 11 ^ And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of Salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. 12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that thej'^ ail were broken in pieces. 13 \\ But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-horon, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil. 14 H Now, it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to he his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. 15 Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of tlie people which could not deliver their own people out of thine liand ? 16 And it came to pass, as he talked with hira, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten ? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I Amaziah. Joash. 71 know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel. 17 * IT Then Amaziah, king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu king of Israel, saying. Come, let us see one another in the face. 18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying. Give thy daughter to my son to wife : and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle, 19 Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites, and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast : abide now at home, why shouldest thou meddle to ihine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah Avith thee ? 20 But Amaziah would not hear ; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies^ because they sought after the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash the king of Israel went up, and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah. 22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent. 3^ And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of Ephraim to the corner-gate, four hundred cubits. 24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and retui'ned to Samaria. 2 KINGS, XIV. B. C. 825. 16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel ; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead. 2.3 IT In the fifteenth year of Amaziah, the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam, the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. 24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord : he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the coast of Israel, from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah,t the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher. 26 For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter : for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel, * B. C. 826. ■f- Whether this prophecy was delivered before or after Jonah was sent to Nineveh we cannot decide. But one thing it makes certain, that Jonah was a prophet in Israel before, or at the time of the reign of Jeroboam II. 72 Uzziah. Amos. 27 And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name oi Israel from under heaven : but he saved them by the hand of Jero- boam, the son of Joash. B. C. 811. 2 CHRONICLES, XXV. 27 IT Now, after the time that Amaziah did turn away from fol- lowing the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish : but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there. 28 And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah. 2 CHRONICLES, XXVI. , 1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah,* who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his lathers. 3 Sixteen years old urns Uzziah when he began to reign ; and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem : his mother's name also wjas Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did that ivhich ivas right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did. 5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, w^ho had under- standing in the visions of God : and as long as he sought the Lord. God made him to prosper. 6 And he went forth, and warred against the Philistines, and brake dow'n the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines. 7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims. 8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt ; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. B. C. 795.f AMOS, I. 1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2 And he said. The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem ; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither, 3 T Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron : 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant * Called also Azariah. | Townsend, 793. Amos, the Prophet. . 73 from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden : and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the Lord. 6 IT Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; hecause they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom : 7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof : 8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon ; and I will turn mine hand against Ekron ; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God. 9 IT Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof ;. because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant : 10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof 11 li Thus saith the Lord, fo three transgressions of Edom, and for four, 1 will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast oifall pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever : 12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. 13 IT Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, 1 will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border: 14- But I will kindle afire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind : 15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes t02:ether, saith the Lord. 1 Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the pu?iishinent\heveo{ -y because he burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime : 2 But I will send a fire upon r>foab,and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth : and ?»Ioab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet : 3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the priac-^^^ thereof with him, saith the Lord. 4 IT Thus sniih the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the lav/ of the Lord, and have not kept his comjnand- ments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked : 5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. C ^ Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and 6* 74 Amos, the Prophet. for four, I will not turn awaj' the punishment thereof; because they gold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes ; 7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of tlie meek ; and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: 8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their cod. 9 *fr Yet destroyed I the Ainorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks ; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10 Also I biought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord. 12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to diink ; and commanded the prophets, saying. Prophesy not. 13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force^ neither shall the mighty deliver himself: 15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow ; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neitlier shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself: 16 And he that is courageous among the mighty, shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord. B. C. 790. AMOS, III. 1 Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth : therefore 1 will punish you for all your iniquities. 3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed ? 4 Will a lion roar in tlie forest when he hath no prey? will a young lion ciy out of his den if he have taken nothing ? 5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gin is for him ? shall ojie take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all? 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid ? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy ? 9 ^ Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say. Assemble j-ourselves upon the mountains of Amos^ the Prophet. 75 Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. 10 For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, An adversary there shall be even round about the land ; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. 12 Thus saith the Lord, As the siiepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear ; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus i?i a couch. 13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts, 14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el ; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 1.5 And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house ; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters. Bring, and let us drink. 2 The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with tish-hooks. 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her ; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord. 4 IT Come to Beth-el and transgress ; at Gilgal multiply trans- gression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years ; 5 And ofier a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free-offerings ; for this liketh you, ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. 6 TT And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places ; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, w^hen there were yet three months to the harvest : and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city : one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water ; but they were not satisfied : yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees, and your olive-trees, increased, the palmer-worm devoured the?n : yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 10 I have sent among you the pestilence, after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses ; and I have made the stink of your camps 76 Ajnos, the Prophet. to come up unto your nostrils : yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 11 I have overthrown so7ne of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebiand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. 12 Therefore thus will 1 do unto thee, O Israel : and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. 13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is his name. B. C. 789. AMOS, V. 1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, eren a lamenta- tion, O house of Israel. 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen ; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land ; there is none to raise her up. 3 For thus saith the Lord God ; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. 4 U For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live : 5 But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity and Beth-el shall come to nought. 6 Seek the Lord, and ye shall live ; lest he break out like fire in the h'ouse of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Belh-el. 7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night : that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth : The Lord is his name : 9 That sti-engtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. 10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading ?.s upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat : ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them ; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins : they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. 13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time ; for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live : and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate : it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. Amos, the Prophet. 77 16 Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets ; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas ! alas ! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing : for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord. 18 AVoe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you ? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him ; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light ? even very dark, and no brightness in it ? 21 IT I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt-offerings, and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them : neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs ; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilder- ness forty years, O house of Israel ? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Da- mascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts. AMOS, VI. B. C. 786. 1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came ! 2 Pass ye unto Calney, and see ; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great ; then go down to Gath of the Philistines : be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border ? 3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near ; 4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall ; 5 That chant to the sound of the viol, a7id invent to themselves instruments of music, like David ; 6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments ; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 IT Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. 8 The Lord God hath sworn by liimself, saith the Lord, the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces : therefore will I deliver up the city, with all that is therein. 78 Amos, the Prophet. 9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. 10 And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house. Is there yet any with thee ? and he shall say. No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue ; for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. 11 For, behoM, the Lord cornmandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little hoase with clefts. 12 H Shall horses run upon the rock ? will one plow the7-e with oxen ? for ye haA^e turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock. "l3 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say. Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength ? 14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel, saith the Lord, the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderness. AMOS, VII. The judgments of the grasshoppers, and of the fire, are diverted by the prayer of Amos. By a wall and plumb-line is signified the rejection of Israel. Amaziah coniplaineth of Amos. Ama- ziah''s judgment. 1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me ; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth ; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mow- ings. 2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee ; by whom shall Jacob arise ? for he is small. 3 The Lord repented for this : It shall not be, saith the Lord. 4 Tl Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me ; and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. 5 Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee; by whom shall Jacob arise .' for he is small. 6 The Lord repented for this : This also shall not be, saith the Lord God. 7 H Thus he shewed me ; and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou ? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, 1 will set a plumb-line in the midst of ray people Israel : I will not again pass by them any more : 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 10 IT Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel : the land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. A?nos, the Prophet. 79 12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophes)"^ there. 13 But prophesy not again anymore at Beth-el : for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. 14 H Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son ; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. 15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me. Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 16 IT Now, therefore, hear thou the word of the Lord ; thou sayest. Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and \hy land shall be divided by line ; and thou shalt die in a polluted land : and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. AMOS, VIII. By a basket of summer-fruit is shewed Israel's end. Oppression reproved. A famine of the word threatened. 1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me ; and, behold, a basket of summer-fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer-fruit. Then said the Lord unto me. The end is come upon my people of Israel ; I will not again pass by them any more. 3 And the songs of the temple shall be bowlings in that day, saith the Lord God : there shall he many dead bodies in every place ; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4 IT Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fall, 5 Saying, When will the new-moon be gone, that we may sell corn, and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat .? making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit. 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes ; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat ? 7 The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8 Shall not "the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein ? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood ; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as hij the flood of Egypt. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day : 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. 11 IT Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord : so Uosea, the Prophet. 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east ; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. 13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth ; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth ; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. B. C. 786* HOSEA, I. 1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel. 2 The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea : and the Lord said to Hosea, Go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms : for the land hath committed great whore- dom, departing from the Lord. 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim ; which conceived, and bare him a son. 4 t And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel ; for yet a little tohile, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. 6 t IT And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah : for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel ; but I will utterly take them away. 7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. 8 II IT Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bare a son. 9 Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi : for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. 10 11 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered ; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them. Ye are not ray people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. 11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land : for great shall he the day of Jezreel. * Mr. TownsencI has dated the three first chapters of tliis prophecy fifteen years earlier J and has given the cliapters one date. But at whatever time we fix the commencement of the booic, it is certain the historical facts related in these chap- ters required a lapse of time between the several messages recorded : so that it is impossible Mr. Townscnd's date should he correct throiigh these three chapters. Nor can [ see any sufficieKt reasc-n for placing the commenceraeut of Hosea's prophecy anterior to that of Amos. t B. C. 7S5. X B. C. 784. || B. C. 783. Hosea. 81 HOSEA, 11. The idolatry of the people. God's judgment against them : His promises of reconciliation with them. 1 Say ye unto your brethren, Amini, and to your sisters, Ru- haniah. 2 Plead with your mother, plead : for she is not my wife, neither atn I her husband : let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts ; 3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst. 4 And I will not have mercy upon her children ; for they be the children of whoredoms. 5 For their mother hath played the harlot : she that conceived them hath done shamefully : for she said, 1 will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. 6 H Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not tind her paths. 7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them ; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband ; for then was it better with me than now. 8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. 9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and I will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. 10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. 11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, hernew moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. 12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me : and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ear-rings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord, 14 IT Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope : and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 16 H And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi ; and shalt call me no more Baali. 17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they sball no more be remembered by their name. 18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the 7 82 Ho sea. Ainos. creeping things of the ground : and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. 19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving- kindness, and in mercies. 20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness : and thou shalt know the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth ; 22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; and they shall hear Jezreel. 23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth ; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy ; and I will say to them which were not my people. Thou art my people ; and they shall say. Thou art my God. AMOS, IX. 1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar : and he said. Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake : and cut them in the head, all of them ; and I will slay the last of them with the sword : he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. 2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them ; though they climb up to heaven, thence will 1 bring them down : 3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence ; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them : 4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them : and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. 5 And the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as hy the flood of Egypt. 6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth ; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth : The Lord is his name. 7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel ? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8 Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth ; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. 9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. 10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil sliall not overtake nor prevent us. Hosea. Amos. 83 11 IT In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old ; 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord, that doeth this. 13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed : and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fiuit of them. 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God. 2 Kirs^GS, XIV. B. C. 783. 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel. HOSEA, III. 1 Then said the Lord unto me. Go, yet love a woman, beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. 2 So I bought her to me for fifteen ■pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley. 3 And I said unto her. Thou shall abide for me many days : thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man^ so will I also be for thee. 4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. 5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord leir God, and David their goodness in the latter days. HOSEA, IV. B. C. 780. 1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel : for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God, in the land. 2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and commit- ting adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. 3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven ; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. 84 Hosea. 4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another : for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. 5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. 6 H IMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge : because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me : seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me ; thei'cfore will I change their glory into shame. 8 They eat up the sin of ray people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. 9 And there shall be, like people, like priest : and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. 10 For they shall eat, and not have enough : they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase ; because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. 11 Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, take away the heart. 12 H My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them : for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. 13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under ooks, and poplars, and elms, because the shadow thereof is good : therefore j^our daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. 14 I will not puni.=h your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses w^hen they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. 15 IT Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear. The I^ord liveth. 16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer : now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. 17 Ephraim is joined to idols : let him alone. 18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom con- tinually : her rulers with shame do love. Give ye. 19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. B. C. 775. HOSEA, V. 1 Hear ye this, O priests ; and hearken, ye house of Israel ; and give ye ear, house of the king : for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor. 2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me : for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled. 4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God : for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. Hosea. 85 5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face : therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity ; Judah also shall fall with them. 6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord ; but they shall not find him : he hath withdrawn himself from them. 7 They have dealt treacherously against the Lord ; for they have begotten .strange children : now shall a month devour them with their portions. 8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah : cry aloud at Beth-aven, after thee, O Benjamin. 9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke : among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. 10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound : therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment. 12 Therefore ivill I he unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb : yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. 14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah : I, even I, will tear and go away ; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. 15 IT I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face : in their affliction they w ill seek me early. HOSEA, YI. 1 Come, and let us return unto the Lord : for he hath torn, and he will heal us ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us ; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord : his going forth is prepared as the morning ; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. 4 TT O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee ? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee ? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. 5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets ; I have slain them by the words of my mouth : and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. 6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice ; and tlie knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. 7 But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant : there have they dealt treacherously against me. 8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood. 9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent for they commit lewdness. 7* 86 Uzziah. Zechariah. ShaUum. Blenahem. 10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. 11 Also, Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people. B. C. 773.* 2 KINGS, XV. 8 IF In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, reign over Israel in Samaria six months. 9 And he did ihat which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father? had done : he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 10 And ShaHum, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. 12 This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass. 13 t IT Sliallum, the son of Jabesh, began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. 14 For Menahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum, the son of Jabesh, in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. 16 "il Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah : because they opened not to hiiu, therefore he smote it ; and all the women therein that were with cliild he ripped up. 17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem, the son of Gadi, to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. 15 And he did that tvhich was evil in the sight of the Lord : he departed not all his days IVom the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 19 v?/2(i Pul the king of Assyria came against the land : and ISIenahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him, to confirm the kingdom in his hand. 20 And Menaliem exacted the money of Israel, eveti of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria : so liie king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land. B. C. 765. 2 CHRONICLES, xxvi. 9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, at the corner-gate, and at the valley-gulo, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them. 10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells : for * There had been an interregnum in the throne of Israel from the death of Jeroboam, of ten yeurs. t G. C. 772. Uzziah. Hosca. 87 he had much cattle, both in the low country and in the plains; husbandmen also and vine-dressers in the mountains, and in Carrnel : for he loved husbandry. 11 Moreover, L"zzi;ih had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account, by tbe hand of Jeiel the scribe, and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's cnptains. 12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valor were two thousand and six hundred. 13 And under their hand ivas an army, three hundred thousand, and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for them, throughout all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones. 15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal : and his name spread far abroad ; for he was marvellously helped till he was strong. HOSEA, VII. B. C. 765* 1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria : for they commit falsehood ; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without : 2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness : now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. 3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough until it be leavened. 5 In the day of our king the princes have made hiin sick with bottles of wine: he stretched out his hand with scorners. 6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven whiles they He in wait : their baker sleepeth all the night ; ic the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. 7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges: all their kings are fallen ; thcj'e is none among them that calleth unto me. 8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people ; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. 10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face ; and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this. 11 IT Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart : they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. 12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them ; I will * Townsend, 725. 88 Menahem. Pekahiah. Hosea. bring them down as the fowls of the heaven ; I will chastise them as their congregation hath heard. 13 Woe unto them ! for they have fled from me ; destruction unto them ! because they have transgressed against me : though 1 have redeemed thetn, yet they have spoken lies against me. 14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds : they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebelled against me. 15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. 16 They return, but not to the Most High ; they are like a deceitful bow : their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This shall he their derision in the land of Egypt. B. C. 762. 2 KINGS, XV. 22 And Menahem slept with his fathers : and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead. 23 IT In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. 24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord ; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. B. C. 760.* HOSEA, VIII. 1 Set the trumpet to thy mouth : he shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. 2 Israel shall cry unto me. My God, we know thee. 3 Israel hath cast off" the thing that is good : the enemy shall pursue him, 4 They have set up kings, but not by me ; they have made princes, and I knew it not : of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. 5 M Thy calf, O Samaria, hnst cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them : how long icill it be ere they attain to innocency .' 6 For from Israel icns it also: the woiknian made it; therefore it is not god : but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. 7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirl- wind : it hath no slalk ; the bud shall yield no meal : if so be it yield, the stranger shall swallow it up. 8 Israel is swallowed up : now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. 9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. 10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. * Townsend, 725. Hjsea. Isaiah. 89 11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. 12 I have written to him the great things of my law, hut they were counted as a strange thing. 13 They sacrifice flesh /or the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it ; hut the Lord accepteth them not : now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins ; they shall return to Egypt 14 For Israel hath forgotten his maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities : but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. ISAIAH, I. Isainh^s complaint of Judah : their universal corruption : he exhort- eth to repentance, with promises ajid threatenings : the prophet bewail eth their wickedness. 1 The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 * Hear, O heavens; and give ear, O earth ; for the Lord hath spoken : I have nourished and brought up childien, and they have rebelled against me ! 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib : hut Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters 1 they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 IT Why should ye be stricken any more .' ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no sound- ness in it; hut wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores : they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oint- ment. 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire : your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as over- thrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unro us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. 10 IT Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom : give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah : 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me ? * Many chronologers give another date from tlie second verse of this chapter to the close of the fifth. The reason of this is, they suppose the vision which com- mences the sixth chapter, to he the introduction of the prophet to his office, and a preface to all his communicalions. Others have supposed he migiit have delivered the precedingcliapters, and afterwards be more solemnly called and set apatttothe work of prophecy. Mr. Townsend dates the first verso of this, and the second, third, fourth, and fifth chapters, B C. 758 or two years later than the date above, and the remainder of the chapter, B. C. 740. 90 Isaiah. PeJcah. saith the Lord : I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts ? 13 Bring no more vain oblations : incense is an abomination unto me ; the new-moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, 1 cannot away with : it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons, and your appointed feasts my soul hateth : they are a trouble unto me ; I am wearj"^ to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear : your hands are full of blood. 16 IT Wash you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes : cease to do evil ; 17 Learn to do well ; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless ; plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land : 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 21 IT How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judg- ment; righteousness lodged in it ; but now murderers ! 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water : 23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves : every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards : they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 24 Therefore, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, 1 will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies : 25 And 1 will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin : 26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, The faithful city. 27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. 28 H And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. 29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. 30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. 31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. B. C. 759. 2 KINGS, XV. 25 But Pekah, the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired PekaJi. Uzziah. Isaiah. 91 against him, [Pekahiah,] and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Aiieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites : and he killed him, and reigned in his room. 27 H In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. 28 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord ; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 2 CHRONICLES, XXVI. 16 IT But when he, [Uzziah,] was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction : for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. 17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him four score priests of the Lord, that luere valiant men ; 18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense : go out of the sanctuary ; for thou hast trespassed ; neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God. 19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense ; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence ; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. 21 And Uzziah the king w^as a leper unto the day of his death, and dw^elt in a several house, being a leper ; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord : and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. 22 * IT Now, the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. 23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings ; for they said, He is a leper : and Jotham his son reigned in his stead. ISAIAH, II. B. C. 758. 1 The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; * B. C. 758. 92 Isaiah. and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many- people ; and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 6 U Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots : 8 Their land also is full of idols ; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. 9 And the mean man bovveth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. 10 IT Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be iiumbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall he upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low ; 13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced v.'all, 16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughti- ness of men shall be made low ; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 19 And the}' shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, •when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 2!) In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles, and to the bats ; 21 To go into the clefTs of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be acounted of.' ISAIAH, III. 1 For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Isaiah. 93 Jerusalem, and from Jiidah, the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, 3 The captain of fifty, and the honorahlc man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. 4 And I will give children to he their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor : the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother, of the house of his father, saying. Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruia be under thy hand. 7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing : make me not a ruler of the people. 8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen • because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory. 9 IT The shew of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not: woe unto their soul ! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. 10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well ivith him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 AVoe unto the wicked ! it shall be ill tvith him ; for the reward of his hands shall be given him, 12 IT Jis for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. 13 The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. 14 The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard ; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor ? saith the Lord God of hosts. 16 IT Moreover, the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks, and wanton eyes, walking, and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion. and the Lord will discover their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tink- ling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings, 21 The rings, and nose-jeweis, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crlsping-pins, 8 94 Isaiah. 23 The glasses, and the fine Mnen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell, there shall be stink ; and instead of a girdle, a rent ; and instead of well-set hair, baldness ; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sack-cloth ; and burning instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. 26 And her gates shall lament and mourn ; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground. ISAIAH, IV. 1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying. We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel : only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. 2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. 3 And it shalHcome to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem : 4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night : for upon all the glory shall be a defence. 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm, and from rain. ISAIAH, V. 1 Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill : 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein : and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more tomy vinej'ard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes ? 5 And now, go to ; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard : I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up ; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden dowm : 6 And I will lay it waste : it shall not be pruned, nor digged : but there shall come up briers and thorns ; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. Isaiah. 95 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant : and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression ; for righteousness, but behold, a cry. 8 IT Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there he no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth ! • 9 In mine ears, said the Lord of hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. 10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. 11 IT Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink ; that continue until night, till wine inflame them ! 12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts : but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. 13 IT Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge : and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst, 14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure : and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. 15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled : 16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sancrtfied in righteousness. 17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. 18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope : 19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it : and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it ! 20 IT Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil ; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter ! 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight ! 22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink : 23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the right- eousness of the righteous from him ! 24 Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust : because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them : and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 26 IT And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will 96 Isaiah. hiss unto them from the end of the earth : and, behold, they shall come whh speed swiftly : 27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them ; none shall slumber nor sleep ; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken : 23 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind : 29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. 30 And in that day they shall roar against them, like the roaring of the sea : and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. ISAIAH, VI. 1 * In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphinis : each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts : the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 11 Then said I, Woe is me ! for 1 am undone ; because I ain a man of iuiclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, ichich he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips : and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying. Whom shall I send, and who will go for us ? Then said I, Here am I ; send me. 9 H And he said. Go, and tell this people. Hear ye indeed, but understand not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11 Then said I, I^ord, how long ? And he answered. Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 13 T But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves : so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. * The manner of expression here, seems to indicate that tiiis was not the prophet's first vision. JotJiam. Hosea. 97 2 CHRONICLES, XXVII. 1 Jotham loas twenty and five years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem : his mother's name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did : howbeit, he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet cor- ruptly. 3 * He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. 4 Moreover, he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers. 5 IT He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year and the third. 6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. HOSEA, IX. B. C. 755.f The distress and captivity of Israel for their sins and idolatry. 1 Rejoice not, Israel, for joy, as other people : for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God ; thou hast loved a reward upon every corn* floor. 2 The floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her. 3 They shall not dwell in the Lord's land ; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. 4 They shall not offer Wine-offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him : their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord. 5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord ? 6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them : the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall he in their tabernacles. 7 The days of visitation are come, tb.e days of recompense are come ; Israel shall know it : the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred. 8 The watchman of Ephraim luas with my God : but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, ajid hatred in the house of his God. 9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah : therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins. 10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers * B. C. 755. t Townscnd, 725. 98 Hosea. as the first ripe in the fig-tree at her first time : hut they went to Baal-peor, anJ separated themselves unto that shame ; and their abominations were according as they loved. 11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall flyaway like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. 12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left : yea, woe also to them when I depart from them ! 13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place : but Ephraiiu shall bring forth his children to the murderer. 14 Give them, O Lord : what wilt thou give ? give them a mis- carrying womb and dry breasts. 15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal : for there I hated them : for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more : all their princes are revolters. 16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit : yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. 17 -My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him : and they shall be wanderers among the nations. B. C. 746 * HOSEA, X. Israel is reproved and threatened for their impiety and idolafrt/, 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 goodness 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 falsely in making a covenant r thus judgment 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 rejoiced 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 Jareb r Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. 7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water. 8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroy- ed : the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars ; and they shall say to the mountains. Cover us ; and to the bills. Fall on us. 9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah : there they stood : the battle 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 * Townsend, 725. Hosea. Micah. 99 shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind thenaselvea in their two furrows. 11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, andloveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride ; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy ; break up your fallow ground : for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 13 Ye have plowed wickedness, 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 battle : the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. 15 So shall Beth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off. MICAH, I. B. C. 743. 1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, w^hich he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 IT Hear, all ye people ; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and v,'\U come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. 5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem ? 6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as- plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. 7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate : for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. 8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. 9 For her wound «s incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. 10 ^ Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all : in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. 11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked : the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel; he shall receive of you his standing. 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem. 100 Ahaz, Micah. 13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast : she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion : for the transgressions of Jsrael were found in thee. 14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath : the houses of Achzib shall be a he to the kings of Israel. 15 Yet will 1 bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall coine unto AduUam the glory of Israel. 16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle ; for they are gone into captivity from thee. 2 CHRO^^ICLES, XXVII. 9 IT And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David : and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead. 2 CHRONICLES, XXVIII. Jlhaz, reigning wickedly, is afflicted hy the Syrians : he dying, Hezekiah succeedeth him. 1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem : but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David* his father. 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 3 Moreover, he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. B. C. 740. MICAH, II. 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. f 2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence ; and houses, and take them away : so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks ; neither shall ye go haughtily : for this time is evil. 4 II In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say. We be utterly spoiled : he hath changed the portion of my people : how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields. 5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord. 6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy : they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame. 7 1l thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the Lord straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly ? Micah. Aliaz. Isaiah. 101 8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy : ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely, as men averse from war. 9 The women 6f my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses ; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. 10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. 11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood, do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink ; he shall even be the prophet of this people. 12 IT I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel ; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the l!ock in the midst of their fold ; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. 13 The breaker is come up before them : they have broken up and hav^e passed through the gate, and are gone out by it : and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them. 2 KINGS, XVI. 5 IT Then Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah, son of Remaliah king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to war : and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath : and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. 2 KINGS, XV. 29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. ISAIAH, XVII. B. C. 739.* Syria and Israel threatened. A remnar^t shall forsake idolatry; the rest shall be plagued for tJieir impiety. 1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer ore forsaken : they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make theni afraid. 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,' and the kingdom from Damascus and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 5 And it shall be as when the harvest man gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm ; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6 IT Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an * Townsend, 742. 102 Isaiah, Oded. olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, And. his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the veork of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves or the images. 9 IT In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch which they left because of the children of Israel : and there shall be desolation. 10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: 11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: hut the harvest shall he a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. 12 IT Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas ; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters : but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. 14 And behold at evening-tide trouble ; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us. 2 CHRONICLES, XXVIII. 5 Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him [Ahaz] into the hand of the king of Syria ; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought ^Ae?n to Damascus ; and he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. 6 IT For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one &dy, which were n\\ valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim,slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah t]i.at ivas next to the king. 8 And the children of Israel carried away captive, of their brethren, two hundred thousand, women, sons and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. 10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bond-women unto you : but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God ? Isaiah. Ahaz. 103 11 Now hear me, therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren : for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. 12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehiz- kiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa, the son of Hadlai, stood up against them, that came from the war, 13 And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the Lord already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass ; for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. 14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. 15 And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm-trees, to their brethren : then they returned to Samaria. ISAIAH, VII. 1 And it came to pass, in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind, 3 Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field ; 4 And say unto him. Take heed, and be quiet ; fear not, neither be faint-hearted for the two tails of these smoking fire-brands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, 6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal ; 7 Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin ; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. 10 TI Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 104 Isaiah. 13 And he said. Hear ye now, O house of David ! 7s it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also ? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name IM- MANUEL. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. 17 M The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah ; evtn the king of Assyria. 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. 20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet ; and it shall also consume the beard. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep : 22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give that he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. 23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverUngs, it shall even be for briers and thorns. 24 With arrows., and with bows shall men come thither ; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. 25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of biiers and thorns : but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle. ISAIAH, VIII. w2 prophecy against Syria, and Israel, and Judah. God's judg- ments irresistible. Comfort to them that fear God. Great afflictions to idolaters. 1 Moreover, the Lord said unto me. Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen, concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah. 3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived and bare a son : then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash- baz : 4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry. My father, and ray mother, the riches of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. Ahaz. 105 2 KINGS, XVI. 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant, and thy son : come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him ; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. 10 II And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus : and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus : so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. 12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar : and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon. . 13 And he burnt liis burnt-offering, and his meat-otFering, and poured his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace-offer- ings upon the altar. 14 And he brought also the brazen altar, which was before the Lord, from the fore front of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar. 15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah (he priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening meat- offering, and the king's burnt-sacrifice, and his meat-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meat- offering, and their drink offerings ; and sprinkle upon it ail the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice : and the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire by. 16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded. 17 ^\ And king Ah^z cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off tliem ; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones ; 18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria. 2 CHRONICLES, XXVIII. 17 * For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. IS The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnali with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there. * Here Mr. Townsend introduces the prophecy of Ohadiah. His reason for it is, the prediction seems to be adapted to the historical fact liere recorded. 9 106 Aliaz. Hosliea. Isaiah. 19 For the Lord brought Judah low, because of Ahaz king of Israel ; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord. 20 And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. 21 For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria : but he helped him not. 22 ^ And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord : this is that king Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus which smote him ; and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they rnay help me : but they were the ruin of. him, and of all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of .God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers. 2 KINGS, XV. 30 IT And Hoshea, the son of Elah, made a conspiracy again-st Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned* in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham, the son ol Uzziah. ISAIAH, X. 1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed ; 2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless ! 3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desola- tion which shall come from far .' to whom will ye flee for help ? and where will ye leave your glory ? 4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 5 t H O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the gtreets. * After an interregnum of about seven years, or seven or eight years employed in efforts to secure the kingdom. So a king is sometimes said to reign several years more than is reckoned to him at another time ; because some kings associa- ted their sons with them in the government some years before their death. In which cases the date of both governments is sometimes embraced; and sometirres that of one only. I Townsend 715. Let the reader consult the notes of Mr. Scott. Isaiah. 107 7 Howbeit, he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so ; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. 8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings ? 9 Is not Calno as Cai*cheraish ? is not Hamath as Arpad ? is not Samaria as Damascus ? 10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 11 Shall 1 not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols ? 12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13 For he saith. By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom ; for I am prudent : and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. 14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people : and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth ; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. 15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith ? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it ? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. 16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts send among his fat ones leanness ; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame : and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; 18 And shall consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body : and they shall be as when a standard bearer fainteth. 19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. 20 H And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. 22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return : the consumption decreed shall over- flow with righteousness. 23 For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. 24 IT Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian : he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. 108 IsaidJi. 26 And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb : and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. 27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. 28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron ; at Michmash he J^ath laid up his carriages : 29 They are gone over the passage : they have taken up their lodging at Geba ; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled. 30 Lift up thy voice, daughter of Gallim : cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. 31 Madmenah is removed ; the inhabitants of Gebim gather them- selves to flee. 32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day : he shall shake his hand against'Xhe mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall 6e hewn down, and the haughty sliall be humbled. 34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forests with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. ISAIAH, XI. The peaceable Myigdom of the Branch out of the root of Jesse. The restoration of Israel, and vocation of the Gentiles. 1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots : 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord ; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord : and he shall not judge after the Ught of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears : 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And rigliteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reiqs. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice-den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 10 Ti And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek : and his rest shall be glorious. Isaiah. 109 11 And It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros and from Cus^«, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Jtidah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together : they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Amnion shall obey them. 15 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea ; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry-shod. 16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the daj- that he came up out of the land of Egypt. ISAIAH, XII. A thanJxSgiving for the mercies of God. 1 And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee : though thou wast angiy with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. 2 Behold, God is ray salvation ; I will trust, and not be afraid : for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is be- come my salvation. 3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day shall ye say. Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. 5 Sing unto the Lord ; for he hath done excellent things : this is known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion : for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. ISAIAH, viii. B. C. 737. 5 TT The Lord spake also unto me again, saying, 6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softlv, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son : 7 Now, therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory ; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks. 8 And he shall pass through Judah : he shall overflow and go over ; lie shall reach even to the neck : and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 9 =^ 110 Isaiah. 9 IT Associate yoiirselves, O ye people, and ye shall bfe-broken in pieces ; and give ear, all ye of far countries : gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces ; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand : for God is with us. 11 11 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed rae, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him he your fear, and let him he your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary ; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel ; for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 18 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house -of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Behold I, and the children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs and for w^onders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19 H And when they shall say unto j^ou, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God ? for the living to the dead .' 20 To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 And they shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry : and it shall come to pass, that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to dark- ness. ISAIAH, IX. What joy shall be in the riiidst of afflictions by the birth and king- dom of Christ. The judgments upon Israel for their pride, fur their hypocrisy, and for their impenitency. 1 Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as teas in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy : they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Isaiah. 1 1 5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood ; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the gov- ernment shall be upon his shoulder ; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall he no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the J.ord of hosts will perform this. 8 IT The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. 9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim,and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, 10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones ; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. 11 Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together ; 12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind ; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 13 IT For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. 14 TTherefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. 15 The ancient and honorable, he is the head ; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err ; and they that are led of them are destroyed. 17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows : for every one is an hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 18 Tl For wickedness burneth as the fire ; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. 19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire ; no man shall spare his brother. 20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied : they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm : 21 Manasseh, Ephraim ; and Ephraim, Manasseh : and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. ISAIAH, XIII. B. C. 736. God mustereth the armies of his wrath : he threateneth to destroy Babylon by the JMedes : the desolation therof. 1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, did see. 11*2 Isaiah. 2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded ray sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them tTiat rejoice in my high- ness. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people ; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together : the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6 H Howl ye ; for the day of the Lord is at hand ; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt : 8 And they shall be afraid : pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them ; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth ; they shall be amazed one at another ; their faces shall be as llames. 9 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate ; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, shall not give their light : the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity ; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold ; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up : they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through ; and every one that is joined unto them shall fail by the sword. 16 Their children also shall bedashed to pieces before their eyes ; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver ; and as for s;ohi, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces ; and they shall have no pity on the fiuit of the womb ; their eye shall not spare children. 19 IT And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chal- dee's excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation ; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there : 21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. Isaiah. 113 22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces : and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. ISAIAH, XIV. GocVs merciful restoration of Israel : their triumphant insultation over Babel. 1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land : and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to tbe house of Jacob. 2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were ; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 3 IT And it shall come to pass, in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, 4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased ! the golden city ceased! 5 The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. 6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hin- dereth. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet : they break forth into pinging. 8 Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying. Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. 9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth ; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall speak, and say unto thee. Art thou also become weak as we ? Art thou become like unto us ? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols : the worm is spread under thee, and the v/orms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morn- ing ! hoio art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations ! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north : 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will be like the Most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying. Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners ? 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, he in glory, every one in his own house. 114 Isaiah. Ahaz. Hoshea. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abommable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit ; as a carcass trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people : the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned. 21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 22 For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord, 23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water : and i will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts. 24 H The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying. Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass ; and as I have proposed, so shall it stand ; 25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon ray mountains tread him under foot : then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth ; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall dis- annul it ? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? 28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. 29 IT Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken : for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 30 And the first born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety ; and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. 31 Howl, gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. 32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation ? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. B. C. 73L^ 2 Ki>GS, XVII. 1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, began Hoshea, the son of Elah, to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. 2 And he did that which teas evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. 3 TI Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria ; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. 2 CHRONICLES, XXVIII. 27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the * Townsend, 730. Hezekiali. 115 city, even in Jerusalem; but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel : and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead. 2 CHRONICLES, XXIX. B. C. 728.* HezekiaKs good reign : he restoreth religion. The house of God cleansed. 1 Hezekiah began to reign wheyi he was fiv^e and twenty years old ; and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem : and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did that ivhich ivas right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 3 IT He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, • 5 And said unto them. Hear me, ye Levites ; Sanctify now your- selves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy j^lace. 6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. 7 Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incense, nor offered bvirnt-offerings in the holy place, unto the God of Israel. 8 Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusa- lem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 9 For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters, and our wives, are in captivity for this. 10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, be not now negligent : for the Lord hnth chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye siiould minister unto him., and burn incense. 12 U Then the Levites arose, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites : aud of the ?ons of Merari ; Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehalelel : and of the Gershonites; Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah : 13 And of the sons of Elizaphan ; Shimri, and Jeiel : and of the sons of Asaph ; Zechariah, and Mattaniah : 14 And of the sons of Heman ; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun ; Shemaiah, and Uzziel. 15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they ♦ Townsead, 726. 116 HezcJdali. found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. 17 Now they beijan on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord : so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days ; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. IS Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt-offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shew-bread table, with all the vessels thereof. 19 Moreover, all the vessels which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before (he altar of the Lord. 20 TI Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats, for a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah : and he conamanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar : likewise, when th&y had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar : they killed also the Iambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 23 And they brought forth the he -goats for the sin-ofFering before the king and the congregation ; and they laid their hands upon them: 24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel : for the king commanded, that the burnt-offering and the sin-offering should be made for all Israel. 25 And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet : for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. 26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the "burnt-offering upon the altar : and when the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded : and all this continued until the burnt- offering was finished. 29 And when they had -made an end of offering, the king and all that icere present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. 30 Moreover, Hezekiah the king, and the princes, commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer : and they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. 31 Then Hezekiah answered and said. Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near, and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation Hezekiah. 117 brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings ; and, as many as were of a free heart, burnt-ofterings, 32 And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, ancitwo hundred lambs : all these were for a burnt-offering to the Lord. 33 And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep. 34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not slay all the burnt-offerings : wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves ; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. 35 And also the burnt-offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings for every burnt-offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. 36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had pre- pared the people : for the thing was done suddenly. 2 CHROXICLES, XXX. Hezekiah prodaimeth a passover. The assembly destroy the altars of idolatry. 1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel. 2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation, 5 So they established a decree, to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem ; for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. 6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying. Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 And be not ye like your falhers, and like your brethren, wiiich trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who, therefore, gave them up to desolation, as ye see. 8 Now, be ye not stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever ; and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. 9 For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land : for the Lord your God is 10 118 Hezekiah, gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. 10 So the posts passed from city to city, through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun : -but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless, divers of Asher, and Manasseh, and of Zebulun, humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. 12 Also in Judah, the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord. 13 U And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the - feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congre- gation. 14 And they arose, and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kid r on. 15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt-offerings into the house of the Lord. 16 And they stood in their place, after their manner, according to the law of Moses, the man of God : the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites ; 17 For there were many in the congregation that were not sanc- tified ; therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that icas not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. 18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written : but Hezekiah prayed for them, saying. The good Lord pardon every one 19 That prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. 20 And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. 21 And the children of Israel, that were present at Jerusalem, kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness : and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord. 22 And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the knowledge of the Lord : and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace-ofierings, and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers. 23 And the whole assenibly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep ; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks, and ten thousand sheep : and a great number of priests sanctified themselves. 25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the Hezekiah. 119 strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem : for since the time of Solomon, the son of David king of Israel, there was not the like in Jerusalem. 27 IF Then the priests the Levites arose, and blessed the people : and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling-place, even unto heaven. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXI. The people forward in destroying idolatry. Hezekiah appointeih officers to dispose of the tithes: his sincerity . 1 Now, when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession into their own cities. 2 TT And Hezekiah appointed the cnnrsfis of the priests, and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt-offerings, and for peace-offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord. 3 He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt-offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt- offerings, and the burnt -offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord. 4 Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. 5 IT And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field ; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things, which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. 7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. 8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. 9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10 And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him, and said. Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people ; and that which is left is this great store. 120 Hezelciah. Hosea, 11 U Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord : and they prepared them ; 12 And brought in the offerings, and the tithes, and the dedicated things, faithfuHy : over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next. 13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and EHel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiab, weie overseers, under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God. 14 And Kore, the son of Iranah the Levite, the porter toward the east, icas over the free will offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the Lord, and the most holy things. 15 And next him icere Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shechaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to tlie small ; 16 Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entereth into the house of the Lord, his daily portion for their service in their charges, according to their courses ; 17 Both to the genealogy of the priests bv the house of their fathers, and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, in their charges, by their courses ; 18 And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation : for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness : 19 Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, nihich loere in the fields of he suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites. 20 \\ And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the conmiandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered. B. C. 726.* HOSEA, XI. The ingratitude of Israel unto God for his benefits : their judg- ment. 1 When Israel loas a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 2 Jls they called them, so they went from them : they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms ; but they knew not that I healed them. 4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love ; and I was * Townsend, 725. Ho sea. 121 to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. 5 TI He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. 6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. 7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me : though they called them to the Most High, none at all would exalt him. 8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? how shall I deliver thee, Israel ? how shall I make thee as Admah ? how shall I set thee as Zeboim ? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. 9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim : for I am God, and not man ; the Holy One in the midst of thee : and I will not enter into the city. 10 They shall walk after the Lord : he shall roar like a lion : when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. 11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord. 12 Ephraim compasseth me about -with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit : but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints. HOSEA, XII. A reproof of Ephraim, Judah, and Jacob. Jin exhortation to repentance^ 1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation ; and they do make a covenant with the xissyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2 The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways ; according to his doings will he recom- pense him. 3 11 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God : 4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto him : he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us ; 5 Even the Lord God of hosts ; the Lord is his memorial. 6 Therefore turn thou to thy God : keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. 7 H iJe is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand : he loveth to oppress. 8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I hav^e found me out substance : in all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me that ivere sin. 9 And I, that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast. 10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. 10* 122 Hosea. MicaJi. \l Is there iniquity in Gilead ? surely they are vanity : they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal ; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. 12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. 13 And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraiin provoked him to anger most bitterly : therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him. B. C. 726* MicAH, III. 1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel : is it not for you to know judgment ? 2 Who hate the good, and love the evil ; who pluck off their skin from ofi them, and their flesh from off their bones ; 8 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and slay their skin from off" them, and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. 4 Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them ; he will even hiile his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. 5 IT Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry. Peace ; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him : 6 Therefore night shall he unto you, that ye shall not have a vision ; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine ; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them . 7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded ; yea, they shall all cover their lips : for there is no answer of God. 8 IT But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declai-e unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princesof the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquit5\ 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money : yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, 7s not the Lord among us .' none evil can come upon us. 12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. MICAH, IV. The glory, peace, kingdom, and victory of the church. 1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of * Townsend, 7iK. Micah. Isaiah, 123 the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the moun- tains, and it shall be exalted above the hills ; and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jeru- salem. 3 TI And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks : nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig- tree ; and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. 5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. 6 IT In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted : 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation : and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. 8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion ; the king- dom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. 9 Now, why dost thou cry out aloud ? is there no king in thee ? is thy counsellor perished ? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. 10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, hke a woman in travail ; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon ; there shalt thou be delivered : there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. 11 H Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither under- stand they his counsel : for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion : for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass ; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people : and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. ISAIAH, XV. The lamentable state of Moat. 1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence ; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence : 2 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep : Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba ; on all their heads shall he baldness, and every beard cut off. 124 Isaiah. 3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth : on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. 4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh ; their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. 5 My heart shall cry out for Moab ; his fugitives shaU flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old : for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up ; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. 6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate : for the hay is with- ei'ed away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. 7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. 8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab : the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer- elim. 9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood : for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. ISAIAH, XVI. 1 Send ye the Iamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. 2 For it shall be, thai as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. 3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday : hide the outcasts, bewray not him that wandereth. 4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moah : be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. 5 And in mercy shall the throne be established : and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. 6 H We have heard of the pride of Moab ; he is very proud : even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath : hut his lies shall not he so. 7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl : for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn ; surely they are stricken. 8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah ; the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they aie come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness : her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. 9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah : I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh : for the shouting for thy summer-fruits and for thy harvest, is fallen. 10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field ; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be Isaiah. 125 shouting : the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses ; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. 11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh. 12 IT And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary- on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray ; but he shall not prevail. 13 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude ; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble. ISAIAH, XXXII. 1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. 2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. 3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. 4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. 5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. 6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 7 The instruments also of the churl are evil : he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. 8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things ; and by liberal things shall he stand. 9 TI Rise up, ye women that are at ease ; hear my voice, ye care- less daughters ; give ear unto my speech. 10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail ; the gathering shall not come. 11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease : be troubled, ye careless ones : strip ye, and make ye bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. 12 They shall lament for the tears, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers ; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city : 14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken : the multitude of the city shall be left ; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks : 15 IT Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. 126 Isaiah. 16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. 17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace ; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. 18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places; 19 V/hen it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. 20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. ISAIAH, XXVIII. B. C. 726.* 1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fiiding flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine ! 2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. 3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet : 4 And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer ; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. 5 H In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people ; 6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. 7 IT But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way ; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink, they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. 9 \\ Whom shall he teach knowledge .'' and whom shall he make to understand doctrine ? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept mxist he upon precept, precept upon precept ; line upon line, line upon line ; here a little, and there a little : 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said. This is the rest wherewithye may cause the weary to rest ; and this is the refreshing : yet they would not hear. 13 But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept ; line upon line, line upon line ; here a little, and there a little ; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared and taken. * Townsend, 740. Isaiah. 127 14 IF Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem : 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves : 16 IT therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation : he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet : and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. 18 ^ And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19 B'rom the time that it goeth forth it shall take you : for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night ; and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it : and the covering narrower than that he can w^ap himself m it. 21 For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work ; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. 22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong : for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. 23 IT Give ye ear, and hear my voice ; hearken, and hear my speech. 24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow ? doth he open and break the clods of his ground ? 25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the titches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye, in their place ? 26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. 28 Bread corn is bruised ; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. 29 This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts which is won- derful in counsel, and excellent in working. ISAIAH, XXIX. God's judgment on Jerusalem : their senselessness, and deep hy- pocrisy. A promise of sanctijication. 1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city ivhere David dwelt ! add ye year to year ; let them kill sacrifices. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow and it shall be unto me as Ariel. 128 Isaiak 3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 4 And thou shall be brought down, atid shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. 5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away : yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. 6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. 7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision, 8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth ; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty : or as when a thirsty ?nan dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh ; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite : so shall the mul- titude of all the nations be that fight against mount Zion. 9 11 Stay yourselves and wonder ; cry ye out, and cry : they are drunken, but not with wine ; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes : the prophets and your rulers, the seers, hath he covered. 11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which 7nen deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I cannot ; for it is sealed : 12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying. Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I am not learned. 13 IT Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men : 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder : for the wisdom of their wise meii shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent tnen shall be hid. 15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say. Who seeth us? and who knoweth us .' 16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay : for shall the work say of him that made it. He made me not ? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it. He had no understanding ? 17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest ? V 18 II And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of dark- ness. Hoshea. Hosea. 129 19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among; men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 20 For the terrible one is broii£;ht to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity arc cut off: 21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. 22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, con- cerning the house of Jacob. Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. 23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. 24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. 2 KINGS, XVII. B. C. 725. 4 And the king of Assja-ia found conspiracy in Hoshea : for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year ; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison, 5 ^ Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. HOSEA, XIII. B. C. 724. 1 When Ephraim spake tremblins:, he exalted himself in Israel ; but when he offended in Baal, he died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of tlieir silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen : they say of them. Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away; as the chaff that is driven wnth the whirl- wind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. 4 Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt^know no god but me : for there is no saviour besides me. 5 IT I did not know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. 6 According to their pasture, so were they filled ; they were filled, and their heart was exalted ; therefore have they forgotten me. t Therefore I will be unto them as a lion ; as a leopard by the way will I observe thetn. 8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her itheJps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will 1 devour them like a lion : the wild beast shall tear them. 9 IT Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. 10 I will be thy king : where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities ? and thy'judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes ? 11 130 Hosea. Ho shea. Ill gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up ; his sin is hid. 13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him : he is an unwise son ; for he should not stay long in the place o/the break- ing forth of children. 14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will redeem them from death : O death, I will be thy plagues ; O grave, I will be thy destruction : repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. 15 IT Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up : he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. 16 Samaria shall become desolate ; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword ; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. B. C. 723.* HOSEA, XIV. An exhortation to repentance. A promise of God's blessing. 1 O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord : say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously : so will we render the calves of our lips. 3 Asshur shall not save us ; we will not ride upon horses ; neither will W' e say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods : for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 4 TF 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 lily, 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 scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. 8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols .' I have heard hi?n, and observed him : I am like a green fir-tree : from me is thy fruit found. 9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things ? prudent, and he shall know them ? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them : but the transgressors shall fall therein. B. C. 721. 2 KINGS, XVII. 6 ^ In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of * Townsend, 725. i Israel carried captive. 131 Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, (whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel,) and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree : 11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them ; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger. 12 For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. 13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying. Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. 14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. 16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and inchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 20 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21 For he rent Israel from the house of David ; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king : and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. 22 For the childi-en of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did ; they departed not from them ; 23 Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. 24 IT And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and 132 Israel in captivity. placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel : and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. 25 And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord ; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them. 26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying. The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land : therefore he hath sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying. Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence, and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. 28 Then one of the priests, whom they had carried away from Samaria, came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. 29 Hcwbeit, every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dw'elt. 30 And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Neigal, and the men of Haraath made Ashima, 31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 So tliey feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of (hem priests of the high places, which sacriticed for them in the houses of the high places. S3 They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. 34 L'nto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their oi'di- nances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord com- manded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel : 35 With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying. Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacdnce tothem : 36 But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched-out arm, him shall ye fear and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. 37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore : and ye shall not fear other gods. 38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget, neither shall ye fear other gods. 39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. 40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. 41 So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children and their children's children : as did their fathers, so do they unto this day. Joel 133 JOEL, I. B. C. 720 * Joel^ declaring sundry judgments of God, exhort eth to observe them, and to mourn: he prescribeth a fast and prayer. 1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days 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 caterpillar 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 waste, and barked my fig-tree : he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away ; the branches thereof are made white. 8 IT Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth 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 Lord's ministers, mourn. 10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth ; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen ; howl, O ye vine-dressers, for the wheat and for the barley ; because the hiy-vest of the field is perished. 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth ; the pome- granite-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 yourselves and lament, ye priests : howl, ye ministers of the altar: come lie, all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of mj'^ God : for the meat-offering and tlie di ink-offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14 ^ Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders, an/l all the inhabitants of the land, into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord. 15 Alas for the day ! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction fiom the Almightj'' shall it come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God ? 17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the l>arns are broken down ; for the corn is withered. * Chronolojjori? differ consiilerabl^' in their date of tliis pro|)hecy. In tlie date above I follow Scott. Jahn dates it 98 years later, tliat is, B. C. 69-2; whilst others have dated it as early as B.C. 800: but all a^ree the precise date is uncertain. Townsend dates this prophecy B. C. 787. Thus making it synchronise with Amos and the former part of Hoaea. 11* 134 Joel IS How do the beasts groan ; the herds of cattle are perplexed because they have no pasture ; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19 O Lord, to thee will I cry : for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee : for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. The terribleness of God's judgments : he exhorteth to repentance^ prescribeth a fast, and promiseth a blessing thereon. 1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain : let all the inhabitants of the land tremble : for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand ; 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds ami of thick darkness, as the moining spread upon the mountains : a great people and a strong ; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3 A fire devoureth before them ; and behind them a flame burnetii : the land ts as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness ; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong pei)ple set in battle array. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained : all faces shall gather blackness. 7 They shall run like mighty men ; they shall climb the wall like men of war ; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8 Neither shall one thrust another : they shall walk every one in his path : and ivhen they fall upon the sword they shall not be Avounded. 9 They shall run to and fro in the city ; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses ; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10 The earth shall quake before them ; the heavens shall tremble : the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining : 11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great : for he is strong that executeth his word : for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible ; and who can abide it? 12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourn- ing: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God : for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Joel 135 14 "NATio knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him ; even a meat-offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God ? 15 IT Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly : 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts : let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say. Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them : wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God ? 18 IT Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19 Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people. Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith : and I will no more make you a reproach amono- the heathen : 20 But I will remove far of!" from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea ; and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savor shall come up, because he hath done great things. 21 IF Fear not, O land : be glad and rejoice : for the Lord will do great things. 22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field : for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength. 23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God : for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you : and my people shall never be ashamed. 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else : and my people shall never be ashamed. 28 II And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions : 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 130 Joel. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the g;reat and the terrible day of the Lord come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered : for in mount Zion and in Jeru- salem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. JOEL, III. GoiVs judgments against the enemies of his people : his blessing upon the church. 1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. 3 And they have cast lots for my people ; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. 4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine ? will ye render me a recompense ? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recom- pense upon your own head : 5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: 6 The children also of Judah, and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. 7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head : 8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it. 9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near ; let them come up: 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears : let the weak say, I am strong. 11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about : thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. 12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come^ up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe : come get you down ; forthe press is full, the fats overflow ; for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision : for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Joel. Isaiah. 137 Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the earth shall shake : but the Lord icill be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. 17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. 18 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land, 20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 For J will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed : for the Lord dvvelleth in Zion. ISAIAH, XXX. The jyeojjJe threatened for their confidence in Egypt, and contempt of God's word. 1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me ; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin : 2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth ; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to ti'ust in the shadow of Egypt ! 3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 5' They were all ashamed of a people, that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. 6 The burden of the beasts of the south : into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper, and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them, 7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose : there- fore have I cried concerning this. Their strength is to sit still. 8 1[ Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever; 9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord : 10 Which say to the seers. See not ; and to the prophets. Prophesy not unto us right things ; speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits : 11 Get ye out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 12 Wherefore, thus saith the holy One of Israel, Because ye 138 Isaiah. despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay- thereon : 13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. 14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces ; he shall not spare : so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. 15 For thus saith the Lord God, the holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength ; and ye would not. 16 But ye said, No ; for we will flee upon horses ; therefore shall ye flee : and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. 17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one ; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee; till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a moun- tain, and as an ensign on an hill. 18 H And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto 3'ou ; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you : for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem ; thou shalt weep no more : he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry ; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. 20 And thousrJi the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shah sot thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers : 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the waj^ walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold : thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth ; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. 23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal ; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous : in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. 24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the f^n. 25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. 27 11 Behold, (he name of the Lord cometh from far, burning loith his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indig- nation, and his tongvie as a devouring fire : 28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the Isaiah. 139 midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity : and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night ivhen a holy solemnity is kept ; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel. 30 And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. 32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps, and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. 33 For Tophet is ordained of old ; yea, for the king it is prepared ; he hath made it deep and large : the pile thereof is fire and much wood ; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. ISAIAH, XXXI. The prophet sheweth the cursed folly in trusting to Egypt, and forsaking God. 1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help ; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many ; and in horse- men, because they are very strong ; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord ! 2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil and will not call back his words : but will arise against the house of the evil doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God : and their horses flesh, and not spirit. VV'hen the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fall together. 4 For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me. Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them : so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. 5 As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem ; defending also he will deliver it ; and passing over he will preserve it. 6 IT Turn ye unto hi?n from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. 8 H Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man ; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him : but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discom- fited. 140 Isaiah. 9 And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. ISAIAH, XXXIV. The judgments wherewith God avengeth his church. The certainty of the prophecy. 1 Come near, ye nations, to hear ; and hearken, ye people ; let the earth hear, and all that is therein ; the world, and all things that come forth of it. 2 For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies : he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood, 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll : and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling ^ig- from the fig- tree. 5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven : behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood ; it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams : for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. 7 And the unicorn shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls ; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever : from generation to generation it shall lie waste ; none shall pass through it for ever and ever : 11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it ; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it : and he shall stretch out upofl it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow ; the screech-owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow ; there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate ; Isaiah. Micah. 141 16 IT Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read ; no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate : for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line : they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein. ISAIAH, XXXV. The joyful flourishing of Chrisfs kingdom. The weak are en- couraged by the virtues and privileges of the gospel. 1 The wilderness, and the solitary place, shall be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and sing- ing ; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon ; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. 3 IT Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not ; behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recom- pense ; he will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped : 6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing : for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. 7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water : in the habitation of dragons, wliere each lay, shall be grass, with reeds and rushes. 8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called. The way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over it ; but it shall be for those : the way-faring men, though fool-, shall not err therein. 9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there: but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. MICAH, V. The birth of Christ : his kingdom : his conquest. 1 Now gather thyself in troops, daughter of troops : he hath laid siege against us ; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 2 But thou, Beth-lehem, Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth ; then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 12 142 Micah. Isaiah. 4 IT And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide : for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth, 5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land ; and, when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nim rod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. 7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8 *\\ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sh&ep ; who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. 9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots : 11 And I will cut offlhe cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds : 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand ; and thou shall have no more soothsayers : 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images, out of the midst of thee ; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 14 And I will pluck up thy groves, out of tlie mit'st of thee : so will I destroy thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. ^. C. 718 * ISAIAH, XXTI. The invasion of Jewry by the Persians : their hiiraan wisdom reproved. 1 The burden of the valley of vision. "What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops .' 2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city : thy slain ???eri are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. 3 All thy rulers are fled together,, they are bound by the archers : all that are found in thee are bound together ivhich have fled from far. 4 Therefore said I, Look away from me : I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. 5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains. * Toxrnsend, 715. Isaiah. 143 6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be^ull of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. 8 IT And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest. 9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many : and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. 11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool : but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. 12 And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth : 13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine : let us eat and drink ; for to-morrow we shall die. 14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts, 15 * IT Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, 16 What hast thou here ? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth hiin out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock ? 17 Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. 18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country : there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall he the shame of thy lord's house. 19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. 20 H And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah : 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand : and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder ; so he shall open, and none shall shut ; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 2.3 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place ; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. 24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. * B. C. 713. Townsend, 698. He places this at the end of the prophecies of Isaiah. He supposes Shebna was put into office by Manasseh and was the prin- cipal agent in restoring idolatry, which Hezekiah had put down ; and that by this reproof he was so enraged as to procure tbe death of the propiiet. 144 Isaiah. 25 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fas- tened in the sure place be removed and be cut down and fall ; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it. ISAIAH, XXIII. The miserable ovei-fhroiv of Tyre : her return and whoredoms. 1 The burden of Tyre. Howl ye ships of Tarshish ; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in : from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle : thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue ; and she is a mart of nations. 4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon : for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. 5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 6 Pass ye over to Tarshish ; howl ye inhabitants of the.isle. 7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days ? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 8 Vv'ho hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth .' 9 The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, ond to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. 10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish : there is no more strength. 11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms : the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof, 12 And he said. Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon : arise, pass over to Chittim ; there also shalt thou have no rest. 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness : they setup the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. 14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish : for your strength is laid waste. 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy yevirs, according to the days of one king : after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. 16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten ; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17 li And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord : it shall not be treasured nor laid up ; for her merchandise Isaiah. 145 shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. ISAIAH, XXIV. God's judgment upon the land. A remnant shall joyfully praise him. 1 Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest ; as with the servant, so with his master ; as with the maid, so with her mis- tress ; as with the buyer, so with the seller ; as with the lender, so with the borrower ; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. 3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled : for the Lord hath spoken this word. 4 The earth mourneth and fadeth aw^ay ; the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate : therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry- hearted do sigh. 8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. 9 They shall not drink wine with a song ; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 10 The city of confusion is broken down : every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 11 There is a crying for wine in the streets : all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. 12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruc- tion. 13 IT When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapv^s when the vintage is done. 14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 15 Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea. 16 TI From the uttermost pai t of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me ! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. 17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. 18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit ; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare : for the windows 12* 146 Isaiah. from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth io shake. 19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, tlie earth is moved exceedingly. 20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage ; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it ; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. 23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. ISAIAH, XXV. The projjhet praiseth God for his judgments^ and for his victorious salvation. 1 Lord, thou art my God ; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name ; for thou hast done wonderful things : thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 2 For thou hast made of a city an heap ; o/adefenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city ; it shall never be built. 3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. 4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, v.iien the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. 5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers as the heat in a dry place ; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud : the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. 6 H And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees ; of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth : for the Lord hath spoken it. 9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for him, and he will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. 11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim : and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. Isaiah. 147 12 And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust. ISAIAH, XXVI. B. C. 718.* .5 song inciting to confidence in God. An exhortation to wait on him. 1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah ; We have a strong city : salvation will GotZ appoint /or walls and bulwarks. 2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. 3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, ivhose mind is stayed on thee ; because he trusteth in thee. 4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. 5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high ; the lofty city he layeth it low : he layeth it low, even to the ground ; he bringeth it even to the dust. 6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. 7 The way of the just is uprightness : thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. 8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee ; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remem- brance of thee. 9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night ; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early : for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 10 Let favor be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. 11 Lord, when thy hand is lifted up they will not see : but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people ; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. 12 IT Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. 13 Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us ; hut by thee only will we make mention of thy name. 14 They are dead, they shall not live ; they are deceased, they shall not rise : therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish, 15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation : thou art glorified ; thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. 16 Lord, in trouble have they visited thee ; they poured out a prayer ivhen thy chastening was upon them. 17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs ; so have we been in thy sight, Lord. 18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind ; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. * Townsend, 714. 148 Isaiah. 19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20 IT Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee : hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity : the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. ISAIAH, XXVII. The ear e of God over his vineyard : his chastisements dij^er from judgments. The church of Jews and Gentiles. 1 In that day the Lord, with his sore, and great, and strong sword, shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent ; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea. 2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. 3 1 the Lord do keep it ; I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. 4 Fury is not in me : who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle ? I would go through them, I would burn them to- gether. 5 Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me ; and he shall make peace witli me. 6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. 7 IT Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him .' or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him 1 8 In measure, when it sliooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it : he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. 9 By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged ; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin ; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalk-stones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. 10 Yet the defenced city shall he desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness : there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. 11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come and set them on (ire; for it is a people of no understanding : therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favor. 12 !! AuA it shall come lo pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off fiom the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, ye children of Israel. 13 And it si. all come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. B. C. 714. ISAIAH, XXI. 11 II The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night ? Watchman, what of the night .' Isaiah. 149 12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night : if ye will inquire, inquire ye : return, come. 13 II The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. 14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. 15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. 16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail : 17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished : for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. ISAIAH, XX. B. C. 713. 1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when S argon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it ; 2 At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 And the Lord said. Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia ; 4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to'the shame of Egypt. 5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expecta- tion, and of Egypt their glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria : and how shall we escape ? ISAIAH, XXI. The prophet in vision seeih the fall of Babylon : he giveth warning to Edom. The set time of Arabia's calamity. 1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through ; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A grievous vision is declared unto me ; The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, Elam : besiege, O Media : all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain ; pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth : I was bowed down at the hearing of it ; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 4 My heart panted, fearful ness affrighted me : the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. 5 Prepare the table, watch in the watch-tower, eat, drink : arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of 150 Isaiah. Hezekiah. asses, and a chariot of camels ; and he hearkened diligently with much heed. 8 And he cried, A lion : My lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the day time, and I am set in my ward whole nights ; 9 And, behold, heie cometh a chariot of men, vnth a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen ; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. * 10 my threshing, and the corn of my floor : that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto 5'ou. ISAIAH, XXXVIII. 1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order : for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, 3 And said. Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that U'hich is good in thy sight : and Hezekiah wept sore. 4 1l Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 5 Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears : behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria : and I will defend this city. 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken ; 8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun-dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. 9 IT The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness : 10 I said, in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave : I am deprived of the residue of my years. 11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, eveii the Lord, in the land of the living : I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. 12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent : I have cut off like a weaver my life ; he will cut me off with pining sickness : from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 13 I reckoned till morning, that as a lion, so will he break all my bones : from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 14 Like a crane, or a swallow, so did I chatter ; I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upwards : Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me. 15 What shall I say ? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it : I shall go softly all ray years in the bitterness of my soul. Isaiah. Hezekiah. 151 16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit : so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. 17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness ; but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption : for thoa hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 18 For the grave cannot praise thee ; death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day ; the father to the children shall make known thy truth. 20 The Lord was ready to save me : therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments, all the daysof our life, in the house of the Lord. 21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay ii for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover. 22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord ? ISAIAH, XXXIX. Merodach-baladan, sending to visit Hezekiah, hath notice of his treasures. Isaiah foretelleth the Babylonian captivity. 1 At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah : for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. 2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures : there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. 3 "iT Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men ? and from whence came they unto thee ? And Hezekiah said. They are come from a far country unto me, ev€7i from Babylon. 4 Then said he. What have they seen in thine house ? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. 5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts ; 6. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy flithers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon : nothing shall be left, saith the Lord, 7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said, moreover. For there shall be peace and truth in my days. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXII. 25 But Hezekiah rendered not again, according to the benefit done 152 Isaiah. Hezeklah. Sennacherib. unto him ; for his heart was lifted up : therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, {both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,) so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. 27 IT And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honor : and be made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels ; 28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil : and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks. 29 Moreover, he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him substance very much. 30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper water-course of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. 2 KINGS, XVIII. 13 II Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, did Senna- cherib, king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended, return from me: that which thou puttest on me, I will bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. 16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXII. Sennacherib invadeth Judah. An angel destroyeth the Assyrians. Hezekiah's sickness and recovery : he dying, Manasseh succeed- eth him. 1 After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. 2 And when Hezeliiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, 3 He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men, to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city; and they did help him. 4 So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water ? 5 Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and Hezekiah. Isaiah. 15S repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance. 6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, 7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him : for there he more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh ; but with as is the Lord our God, to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. ISAIAH, XVIII.* B. C. 712.t 1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia : 2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bul- rushes upon the w^aters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto ; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled ! 3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains ; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. 4 For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling-place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. 6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth : and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 7 ![ In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion. ISAIAH, XXXIII. God^s judgments against the enemies of the church. The privi- leges of the godly. 1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously wath thee ! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shaltmake * Mr. Scott, after B-ishop Lowth, supposes this chapter to be a prediction of the overthrow of Egypt. But Mr. Townsend embraces Bishop Horseley's interpreta- tion; which supposes this to be a prediction against Antichrist, and of the con- version of the Jews. But as this work is not designed as an exposition, it will be inconsistent to enter into the arguments for or against any interpretation, I have placed it here on the authority of Scott, who had the arguments, for and against, before him. t Townsend, 721. 13 154 Isaiah. an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. 2 Lord, be gracious unto us ; we have waited for thee : be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled ; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. 4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar : as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. 5 The Lord is exalted ; for he dwelleth on high : he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. 6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. 7 Behold, their vaUant ones shall cry Avithout ; the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. 8 The high-ways lie waste, the way-faring man ceaseth : he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. 9 The earth mourneth and languisheth ; Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down ; Sharon is like a wilderness ; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits. 10 Now will I rise, saith the Lord ; now will I be exalted ; now will I lift up myself. 11 Ye shall conceive chaff; ye shall bring forth stubble : your breath as fire shall devour you. 12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime ; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. 13 TI Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done ; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid ; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites : who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? 15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly ; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil ; 16 He shall dwell on high : his place of defence shall he the munitions of rocks : bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure. 17 Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty : they shall behold the land that is very far off. 18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe ? where is the receiver ? where is he that counted the towers ? 19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people ; a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive ; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand. 20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities : thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down ; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. 21 But there the glorious Lord will he unto us a place of broad Hezekiah. Isaiali. 155 rivers and streams ; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. 22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king ; he will save us. 23 Thy tacklings are loosed ; they could not well strengthen their mast; they could not spread the sail : then is the prey of a great spoil divided ; the lame take the prey. 24 And the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick : the people that dwell therein shall he forgiven their iniquity. ISAIAH, XXXVI. Sennacherib invadeth Jiidah. Babshakeh's blasphemous persua- sions to the people : his words are told to Hezekiah. 1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jeru- salem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. 4 IF And Rabshakeh said unto them. Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ? 5 I say, say est thou, (but they are but vain words,) / have counsel and strength for war : now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me 1 6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt ; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it : so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7 But if thou say to me. We trust in the Lord our God : is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar ? 8 Now, therefore, give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? 10 And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it ? The Lord said unto me. Go up against this land, and destroy it. 2 KINGS, XVIII. 26 — 37 ; or isaiah, xxxvi. 11 — 22. 11 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language ; (for we understand it ;) and talk not with us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 12 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to 156 HezeMah. Isaiah. thy master, and to thee, to speak these words ? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss, with you ? 13 IT Then llabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying. Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria : 14 Thus saith the king. Let not Hezekiah deceive you ; for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand : 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying. The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16 Hearken not unto Hezekiah : for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye everj' man of his own vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern; 17 Until I come, and take you away to a land like your own land : a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyard's, a land of oil- olive and of honey, that ye may live and not die : and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. 18 Hath an)^ of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arphad ? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Henah, and Ivah ? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand .' 20 Who are they, among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand ? 21 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying. Answer him not. 22 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah, with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. ISAIAH, XXXVIT. Hezekiah, mourning, sendeth to Isaiah to pray for thetn. Isaiah comfortelh the king. The angel slayeth the Assyrians. 1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 And they said unto him. Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy : for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard : wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. 5 So the servants of kino; Hezekiah came to Isaiah. Hezekiah. Isaiah. 157 6 IT And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land ; and 1 will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. 8 U So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah : for he had heard that he was departed from La- chish. 9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And, when he heard if, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in vvhom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly ; and shalt thou be delivered ? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar ? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Henah, and Ivah ? 14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the mes- sengers, and read it : and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, 16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest behveen the cherubims, thou art the God, eveii thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth : thou hast made heaven and earth. 17 Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear ; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see : and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. 18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, 19 And have cast their gods into the fire ; for they ivere no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone ; therefore they have destroyed them. 20 Now, therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only. 21 1l Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hasfprayed tome against Sennacherib king of Assyria : 22 This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn ; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed ? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high ? even against the Holy One of Israel. 24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said. By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the 13* 158 Hezekiah. Isaiah. mountains, to the sides of Lebanon ; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. 25 I have digged, and drunk water ; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. 26 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it ; and of ancient times that 1 have formed it"? now have I brought it to pass, tliat thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps. 27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb ; as the grass on the house-tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. 28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears ; therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest. 30 And this shall he a sign unto thee. Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of ttie same ; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vine- yards, and eat the fruit thereof. 31 And the renmant, that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion : the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. 33 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. B. C. 710. 2 KI^-Gs, xix. 34 — 37; or isaiah, xxxvii. 35 — 38. 35 For I will defend this city, to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 36 !T Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and foui'score and five thousand : and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 37 ^ So Sennacherib king of Ass5ria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 38 And it come to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword ; and they escaped into the land of Armenia : and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead. B. C. 710.* ISAIAH, XIX. 1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift * Townsend, 721. Isaiah. 159 cloud, and shall come into Egypt ; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt' in the midst of it. 2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians : and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor ; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord ; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord ok hosts." 5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6 And they shall turn the rivers far away, and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up : the reeds and flags shall wither. 7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. 9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave net works, shall be confounded. 10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. 11 IT Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of* the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish : how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings .' 12 Where are they ? where are thy wise men ? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived ; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that ofi'e the stay of the tribes thereof. 14 The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. 15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. 16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women : and it shall be afraid and fear, because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it. 17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt; everyone that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself ; because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it. IS !r In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the . language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts : one shall be called, The city of destruction. 160 Isaiah. Micali. 19 In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. 20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt : for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21 And the Lord shall be knovirn to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and obla- tion ; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. 22 And the Lord shall smite Egypt; he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them. 23 IT In that day shall there be an highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria ; and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land ; 25 Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed he Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. MICAH, VI. God's controversy for unkindness,for ignorance, for injustice, and for idolatry. 1 Hear ye now what the Lord saith ; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. 2 Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth : for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. 3 O my people, what have I done unto thee ? and wherein have I wearied thee ? testify against me. 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants ; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab con- sulted, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal ; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. 6 TI Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God ? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old ? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of livers of oil ? shall I give my first-born for my trans- gression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? 8, He hath shewed thee, man, what is good ; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to W'alk humbly with thy God ? 9 The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man q/' wisdom shall see thy name : fear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. 10 \\ Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable .'' 3Iica7i. Nahum. 161 11 Shall I count thein pure with the wicked balances, and with Uie bag of deceitful weights ? 12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabit- ants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. 14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied ; and thy casting down shall he in the midst of thee ; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver ; and that which thou deliverest will 1 give up to the sword. 15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap ; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil ; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine. 16 IT For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing : therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. NAHUM, I. B. C. 710.^ The majesty of God in goodness to his people and severity against his enemies. 1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth ; the Lord revengeth, and is furious ; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth ivrath for his enemies. 3 The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked : the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers : Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. 6 Who can stand before his indignation ? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger ? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. 7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble ; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 8 But with an over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. 9 What do ye imagine against the Lord ? he will make an utter end : affliction shall not rise up the second time. 10 For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. 11 There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the Lord, a wicked counsellor. * This prophecy has no chronology given. Some have dated it, B. C. 713. Scott, B. C. 710: whilst Jahn dates it B. C. 692. As Scott is the medium of the extremes, I have placed it according to his date. Townsend, B. C. 720. 162 Nahum. 12 Thus saith the Lord ; Though they he quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. 13 For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder. 14 And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown : out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image : I wiirmake thy grave ; for thou art vile. 15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows : for the wicked shall no more pass through thee ; he is utterly cut off. NAHUM, II. 1 He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face : keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. 2 For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel : for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches. 3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet : the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. 4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways : they shall seem like torches, they shall run hke the lightnings. 5 He shall recount his worthies : they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. 6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. 7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts. 8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water : yet they shall flee aw'ay. Stand, stand, shall they cry ; but none shall look back. 9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold : for there is none end of the store, and glory out of all the pleasant furniture. 10 She is empty, and void, and waste : and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness. 11 Where is the dw^elling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where (he lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid ? 12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin. 13 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions ; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be "heard. Nahim. ~ 163 NAHUM, III. The miserable ruin of JVineveh : no power able to resist God : their sudden destruction : their malice and ivickedness. 1 Woe to the bloody city ! it is all full of lies and robbery ; the prey departeth not ; 2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. 3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear : and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of car- casses ; and there is none end of their corpses ; they stumble upon their corpses : 4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. 5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts ; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. 6 And I vi'ill cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock. 7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste : who will bemoan her ? whence shall I seek comforters for thee ? 8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea ? 9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite ; Put and Lubim were thy helpers. 10 Yet ivas she carried away, she went into captivity : her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets ; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains, 11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy. 12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig-trees with the first ripe figs : if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater. 13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women : the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies : the fire shall devour thy bars. 14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln. 15 There shall the fire devour thee : the sword shall cut thee off: it shall eat thee up like the canker-worm : make thyself many as the canker-worm, make thyself many as the locusts. 16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm spoileth and flieth away. 17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day ; but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. 18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria ; thy nobles shall 164 Nahum. Isaiah. dwell hi the dust : thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them. 19 There is no healing of thy bruise ; thy wound is grievous : all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee : for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually ? B. C. 708. ISAIAH, XL.* The promulgation of the gospel. The j)reaching of John the Bap- tist. The preaching of the apostles. 1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned : for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. 3 IT The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straioht in the desert a high-way for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low : and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain : 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 6 The voice said. Cry. And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it : surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 9 1l O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain ; Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength : lift it up, be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God ! 10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong i^antZ, and his arm shall rule for him : behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd : he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 12 H Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of * Of the following chapter of Isaiah, Home has given an index hy dividing it into 19 discourses. 1. A promise of comfort to the captive Jews. 2. The coming of Christ, and the character and blessings of his kingdom. 3. Promises of redemp- tion, and of the Holy Spirit. 4. The captivity of the idols of Babylon, and the folly of worshipping tliem. 5. A reproof of the idolatry of the Jews, and a prediction of their deliverance. 6. Presents Christ in person, declaring his commission. 7. Foretells the rejection of the Jews for their rejection of Christ. 8. Predicts the person, office, and sufferings of Christ and the result. 9. Foretells the calling and conversion of the Gentiles. 10. Proclaims the fullness and freeness and glory of the gospel. 11. Predicts the calamities that would come upon the Jews for their hypocrisy and unbelief. 12. Predicts the future conversion of the Jews with the fullness of the Gentiles. Isaiah. 165 the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance ? 13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his coun- sellor, hath taui^ht him ? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of un;!erstanding ? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance : behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering, 17 All nations before him are as nothing ; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 18 1i To whom then will ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare unto him ? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot ; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known ? have ye not heard ? hath it not been told you from the beginning r have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhab- itants thereof are as grasshoppers ; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in : 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing ; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted ; yea, they shall not be sown : yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth : and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal ? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high;, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their hosts by number : he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power ; not one faileth. 27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 H Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard, that the ever- lasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint ; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall : 31 Bu-t they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles : they shall run and not be weary ; and they shall walk and not faint. 14 166 Isaiah. B. C. 708.* ISAIAH, XLI. God expostulateth ivith his people about his mercies to the church, about his promises, and about the vanity of idols. 1 Keep silence before me, O islands ; and let the people renew their strength : let them come near ; then let them speak : let us come near together to judgment. 2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings ? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. 3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. 4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning ? I the Lord, the first, and with the last ; I am he. 5 The isles saw it, and feared ; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near and came. 6 They helped every one his neighbor ; and every one said to his brother. Be of good courage. 7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering : and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. 8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant ; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 10 il Fear thou not ; for I am with thee : be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded : they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. 12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee : they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel ; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth : thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat the7n small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them : and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, / the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of * Townsend, 710 to 699. From the fortieth cliapter to the end of the sixty-sixth. Isaiah. 167 the valleys : I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree : I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together ; 20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 21 IT Produce your cause, saith the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob. 22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen : let them shew the former things, what they he, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them ; or declare us things for to come. 23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods : yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed and behold it together. 24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought : an abom_- ination is he that chooseth you. 25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come : from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name ; and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. 26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know ? and before time, that we may say. He is righteous ? yea, there is none that sheweth ; yea, there is none that declareth ; yea, there is none that heareth your words. 27 The first sJiall say to Zion, Behold, behold them : and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. 28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29 Behold, they are all vanity ; their works are nothing : their molten images are wind and confusion. ISAIAH, XLII. The office of Christ : God's promise to him. Jin exhortation to praise God. -1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold ; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth : I have put my Spirit upon him ; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench : he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4 He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth : and the isles shall wait for his law. 5 IT Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out ; he that spread forth the earth, and that which Cometh out of it ; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein ; 6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold 168 • Isaiah. thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles ; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and thern that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. 8 I ain the Lorp ; that is my name : and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare : before they spring forth I tell you of them. 10 IT Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth ; ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein ; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit : let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands. 13 The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war : he shall cry ; yea, roar ; he shall prevail against his enemies. 14 I have long time holden my peace ; I have been still, and refrained myself : now \\'\\\ 1 cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. 15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and -I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. 16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not ; \ will lead them in paths that they have not known : I will make dark- ness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten im.ages, Ye are oiir gods. 18 IT Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 19 Who is blind, but my servant ? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent ? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant ? 20 Seeing many things, but thou observestnot ; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 21 The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake ; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable. 22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled ; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth ; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 23 AVho among you will give ear to this ? lofio will hearken, and hear for the time to come ? 24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers ? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. 25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battles and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not ; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. Isaiah, 169 ISAIAH, XLIII. The Lord comforteth the church with his promises : he foretelleth Babylon^s destruction, and his people's deliverance. 1 But now thus sailh the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not : for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. 2 When thou passest through the veaters, I will he with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 3 For I am the Lord thy God, the holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt /or thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. 4 Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honorable^ and I have loved thee : therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. 5 Fear not ; for I am with thee : I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west ; 6 I wilt say to the north. Give up ; and to the south. Keep not back : bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth ; 7 Even every one that is called by my name : for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him ; yea, I have made him. 8 11 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled : who among them can declare this, and shew us former things ? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified : or let them hear, and say. It is truth. 10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen : that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he : before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no saviour. 12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you : therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. 13 Yea, before the day was, I am he : and thei'e is none that can deliver out of my hand : I will work, and who shall let it ? 14 IT Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel ; for your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 16 Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army, and the power ; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise : they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. 18 H Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing ; now it shall spring forth ; shall 170 Isaiah. ye not know it ? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls : because I give waters in the wilderness, aiid rivers in the desert, to give drink to ray people, my chosen. 21 This people have I formed for myself; they sliall shew forUi my praise. 22 IT But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. 23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt- offerings, neither hast thou honored me witli thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. 24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, nei^ther hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices ; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. 25 I, eve7i I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. 26 Put me in remembrance : let us plead together : declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. 27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. 28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches. ISAIAH, XLIV. God's church comforted. The vanity of idols, and folly of idol makers. 1 Yet now hear, Jacob my servant ; and Israsl, whom I have chosen : 2 Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee ; Fear not, Jacob my servant : and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my bles- sing upon thuie off-spring : 4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. 5 One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call ^iVi- self by the name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe ivith his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself hy the name of Israel. 6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts ; I am the first, and I am the last ; and beside me there is no God. 7 II And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people ? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. 8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid : have not I told thee from that time, and have declared t7? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a god beside me ? yea, there is no god ; I knew not a7iy. 9 IT They that make a graven image ai-e all of them vanity ; and Isaiah. 171 their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses ; they see not, nor know ; that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing ? 11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men ; let them all be gathered together, let them stand up ; yet they shall fear, andWiey shall be ashamed together. 12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers : and worketh it with the strength of his arms : yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth ; he drlnketh no water, and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule ; he marketh it out with a line ; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according ta the beauty of a man ; that it may remain in the house. 14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he plantelh an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. 15 Then shall it be for a man to burn : for he will take thereof and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread ; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it ; he maketh it a graven image, and faileth down thereto. 16 He burneth part thereof in the fire : with part thereof he eateth flesh ; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied : yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire : 17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image : he faileth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith. Deliver me ; for thou art my god. 18 They have not known nor understood : for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see ; aiid their hearts, that they cannot under- stand. 19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire ; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it ; and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination ? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree ? 20 He feedeth on ashes : a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say. Is there not a lie in my right hand ? 21 IT Remember these, O Jacob and Israel ; for thou art my servant : I have formed thee ; thou art my servant : O Israel, thoiz shalt not be forgotten of me. 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions,, and, as a cloud, thy sins ; return unto me ; for I have redeemed thee. 23 Sing, ye heavens ; for the Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts of the earth : break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein : for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. 24 Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone ; that spreadeth abroad the earth by my- self; 25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners 173 Isaiah. mad : that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish ; 26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited: and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers : 28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure ; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built ; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. ISAIAH, XLV. God calleth Cyrus for his churches sake: he challengeth ohedience: he convinceth the idols of vanity. 1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cj^rus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him ; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut ; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron : 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 5 11 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no god beside me ; I girded thee, though thou hast not known me : 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me : I am the Lord, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness : I make peace, and create evil : I the Lord do all these things. 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness : let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together : I the Lord have created it. 9 AVoe unto him that striveth with his Maker ! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou ? or thy work, He hath no hands ? 10 AVoe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou ? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth ? 11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. 12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it : I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways : he shall build my city, and he shall let go ray captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts. Isaiah. 173 14 Thus saith the Lord, the labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine : they shall come after thee ; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee ; and thei'e is none else, there is no god. 15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, God of Israel, the Saviour. 16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, al! of them : they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. 17 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation : ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. 18 For thus saith tlie Lord that created the heavens ; God himself that formed the earth and made it ; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited : I am the Lord ; and there is none else. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth : I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain : I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. 20 M Assemble yourselves and come ; draw near together, ye thai are escaped of the nations : they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together : who halh declared this from ancient time ? icho hath told it from that time ? have not I the Lord ? and there is no god else beside me : a just God and a Saviour : there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth : for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24 Surely, shall 07ie say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength : even to him shall men come ; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be juslified, and shall glory. ISAIAH, XLVI. The idols of Babylon could not save themselves. God saveth his ^ people to the end. Idols are not comparable to God. 1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle : your carriages were heavy loaden ; they are a burden to the weary beast. 2 They stoop, they bow down together ; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. 3 IT Hearken unto me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb : 4 And even to your old age I am he ; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear ; even I will carry, and will deliver you. 174 Isaiah. 5 II To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like ? 6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith ; and he maketh it a god : they fall down, yea, they worship. 7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth ; from his place shall he not remove : yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men ; bring it again to mind, ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old : for I am God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is none like me ; 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying. My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure : 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country : yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass ; I have purposed it, I will also do it. 12 T: Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from right- eousness : 13 I bring near my righteousness ; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry : and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. ISAIAH, XLVII. God^s judgments upon Babylon and Chaldea, for their unmerci- fulness, pride, and over-boldness. 1 Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon ; sit on the ground : there is no throne, daughter of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal : uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen : I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. 4 Jls for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. 6 H I w^as wroth with my people; I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand : thou didst shew them no mercy ; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. 7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever : so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, ihoii that aii given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly ; that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else besides me ; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children : 9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment, in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood : they shall come upon thee ' Isaiah. 175 in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine inchantments. 10 IT For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness : thou hast said^ None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge it hath perverted thee ; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else besides me. 11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee ; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth : and mischief shall fall upon thee ; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thine inchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth ; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble ; the fire shall burn them ; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame : there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast labored, eve/i thy merchants, from thy youth : they shall wander every one to his quarter ; none shall save thee. ISAIAH, XLVIII. God, to convince the people of their obstinacy, revealeth his prophe- cies : he exhorteth them to obedience. 1 Hear ye this, house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah ; Avhich swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel ; The Lord of hosts is his name. 3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them ; I did them sud- denly, and they came to pass. 4 Because 1 knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass ; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee ; before it came to pass I shewed it thee : lest thou shouldest say. Mine idol hath done them ; and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning ; even before the day when thou heardest them not ; lest thou shouldest say. Behold, I know them. 8 Yea, thou heardest not ; yea, thou knewest not ; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened : for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously^ and wast called a transgressor from the womb. 176 Isaiah. 9 11 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have re lined thee, but not with silver ; Ihave chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how sliould my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. 12 Ti Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called ; I am he : I am the first, 1 also am. the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens : when I call unto them, they stand up together. 14 All ye assemble yourselves, and hear ; which among them hath declared these f/imo-s ? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall he on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken ; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16 \\ Come ye near unto me, hear ye this : I have not spoken in secret from the beginning ; from the time that it was, there am I : and now the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me. 17 Thus so.ith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel ; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments ! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the wavesof thesea: 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut ofT nor destroyed from before me. 20 !T Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth ; say ye. The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob, 21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts : he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them ; he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. B. C. 706. ISAIAH, XLIX. Christ being sent to the Jews, complaineth of them: he is sent to the Gentiles. God^s love to the church. 1 Listen, O isles, unto me ; and hearken, ye people, from far ; The Lord hath called me from the womb ; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft ; in his quiver hath he hid me ; . 3 And said unto me. Thou art my servant, Israel, in whom I ■will be glorified. 4 Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strengtli for nought, and in vain ; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. 5 H And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to he his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not Isaiah. 177 gathered, yet shaU I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. 6 And he said, It is alight thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7 Thus saitl) the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, To him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhor* reth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. 8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee : and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages ; 9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners. Go forth ; to them that are in darkness. Shew yourselves : they shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. 10 They shall not hunger nor thirst ; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them : for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. 12 Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. 13 ^ Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, mountains : for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. 14 But Zion said. The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands ; thy walls are continually before me. 17 Thy children shall make haste ; thy tlestroyers and they that made thee waste, shall go forth of theCi 18 li Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold : all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. 19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabi- tants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me : give place to me that I may dwell. 21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these .' Behold, I was left alone ; these, where had they been? 22 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people ; and they shall 15 178 Isaiah, bring thy sons in their arms, and tiiy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers : they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet ; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord : for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. 24 IT Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered ? 25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered : for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. 26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh ; and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine : and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. ISAIAH, li. Christ sheweth the cause of the Jews dereliction. An exhortation to trust in God, and not in human resources. 1 Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? IBehold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. 2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man ? when I called, was there none to answer ? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem ? or have I no power to deliver ? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea; I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. 4 H The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to hitn that is weary : he wakeneth morning by morning ; he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5 IT The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7 IT For the Lord God will help me ; therefore shall I not be con- founded : therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 He is near that justifieth me ; who will contend with me ? let us stand together : who is mine adversary ? let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God will help me ; who is he that shall condemn me ? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment ; the moth shall eat them up. 10 IT Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. 11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about Isaidli. 179 with sparks ; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow. ISAIAH, LI. The righteous exhorted, after the pattern of Abraham ^ to trust in Christ : the certainty of his salvation. The prophet bewaileth the afflictions of Jerusalem, 8fc. 1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord : look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. 2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you : for I called hirn alone, and blessed him, and increased him. 3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion : he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord ; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4 IT Hearken unto me, my people ; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judg- ment to rest for a light of the people. 5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people : the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath ; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner : but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 7 IT Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law ; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool : but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. 9 IT Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon ? 10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep : that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over ? 11 Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy shall he upon their head : they shall obtain gladness and joy ^ and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you : who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass ; 13 And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth : and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy ? and where is the fury of the oppressor ? 180 Isaiah. 14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15 But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared : The Lord of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. 17 IT Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury ; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. 18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth ; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. 19 These two things are come unto thee ; who shall be sorry for thee.' desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall 1 comfort thee ? 20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets as a wild bull in a net ; they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God. 21 TI Therefore hear now this, thou, afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine : 22 Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people. Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury : thou shalt no more drink it again : 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee ; which have said to thy soul. Bow down, that we may go over : and. thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. ISAIAH, LII. Christ persuadeth the church to believe his free redemption, to receive the ministers, to joy in the power thereof. 1 Awake, awake ; put on thy strength, Zion ; put on thy beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, andsii down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought ; and ye shall be redeemed without money. 4 For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there ; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5 Now, therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought ? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord ; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name : therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak ; behold, it is I. 7 IT How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that Isaiah. 181 Bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reignelh ! 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice ; with the voice together shall they sing ; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. 9 IT Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jeru- salem : for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations ; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11 IT Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing ; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord, 12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight : for the Lord will go before you ; and the God of Israel will be your rere- ward. 13 IT Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonished at thee ; (his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men ;) 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations ; the kings 'shall shut their mouths at him : for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider. ISAIAH, LITI. The prophet exciiseth the scandal of the cross, by the benefit of Christ's passion. 1 Who hath believed our rejjort ? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and asu rbot out of a dry giound : he hath no form nor comeliness ; and when V€ shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him, 3 He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 IT Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he icas wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace tvas upon him : and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment : and who shall declare his generation ? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. J5* 182 Isaiah. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death ; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 IT Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord- shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied j by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong ; because he hath poured out his soul unto death ; and he was numbered with the transgressors ; and he bare tha sin of ma^ny, and made intercession for the trans-, gressors. ISAIAH, LIV. The amplitude of tlie Gentile church, their safety, their deliverance out of affliction, their fair edification, and sure preservation. 1 Sing, O barren, thou thatA'iAsi not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child : for more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations ; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left ; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4 Fear not ; for thou, shalt not be ashamed : neither be thou con- founded ; for thou shalt not be put to shame : for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth,^ and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5 For thy Maker is thine husbcwid ; the Lord of hosts is his name : and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel ; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken, and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when ihou wast refused, saith thy God. 7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith, the Lord thy Redeemer. 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. 11 TI thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted I Isaiah. 183 behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of car- buncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 13 And all thy children shall he taught of the Lord ; and great shall he the peace of thy children. 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established : thou shalt be far from oppression ; for thou shalt not fear : and from terror ; for it shall not come near thee. 15 IT Behold, they shall surely gather together, hut not by me : whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument lor his work ; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 If No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper ; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord ; and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. ISA.IAH, LV. The prophet, ivith the promises of Christ, calleth to faith, and to repentance. The happy state of them that helieve. 1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money : come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul deHght itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live ; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people, 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest net, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. 6 IT Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,^ call ye upon him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God ; for he will abundantly pardon. 8 H For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring 184 Isaialu forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater : 11 So shall my word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth : it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace : the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into ringing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree : and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off. ISAIAH, LVI. The prophet exhorteth to sandification : he promiseth that it shall be general : he inveigheth against blind watchmen. 1 Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice : for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it ; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 IT Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying. The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people : neither let the eunuch say, Behold 1 am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep jny sab- baths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant ; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house, and within my walls, a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters : I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that joined themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer : their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall he accepted upon mine altar ; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 8 The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith. Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him. 9 IT All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. 10 His watchmen are blind : they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark ; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs u^hich can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand ; they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. 12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink ; and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. Isaiah. 185 ISAIAH, LVII. The blessed death of the righteous. The Jews reproved for their whorish idolatry. 1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. 2 He shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. 3 IT But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. 4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue ? are ye not children of trans- gression, a seed of falsehood ; 5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks ? 6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion ; they, they are thy Jot : even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered a meat-offering. Should 1 receive comfort in these ? 7 Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed : evea thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. 8 Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remem- brance ; for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up : thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them ; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. 9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell. 10 Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way ; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope : thou hast found the life of thine hand ; there- fore thou wast not grieved. 11 And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart.' have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not.' 12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works ; for they shall not profit thee. 13 IT When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee : but the wind shall carry them all away ; vanity shall take them : but ha that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain ; 14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people. 15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth : for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. 17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I w^roth, and smote him : I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. 186 Isaiah. 18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him ; I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. 19 I create the fruit of the lips ; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord ; and I will heal him. 20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. ISAIAH, LVIII. Hypocritical facts reproved. The promises to godliness, and to a due observation of the sabbath. 1 Cry aloud, spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God : they ask of me the ordinances of justice ; they take delight in approaching to God. 3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not ? where- fore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge ? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness ; ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen ? a day for a man to afflict his soul ? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him 7 wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord ? 6 Is not this the fast that I have jchosen .' to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house ? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh ? 8 IT Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily ; and thy righteousness shall go before thee : the glory of the Lord shall be thy rere-ward. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer ; thou shalt cry, and he shall say. Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity ; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul ; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness he as the noon-day : 11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall he of thee shall build the old waste places : Isaiah. 187 thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations ; and thou shalt be called, The Repairer of the breach, the Restorer of paths to dwell in. 13 IT If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day ; and call the sabbath a Delight, the Holy of the Lord, Honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words : 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. ISAIAH, LIX. The damnable nature of sin. Calamity is for sin. Salvation is only of God. The covenant of the Redeemer. 1 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save ; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear : 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity ; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth : they trust in vanity, and speak lies ; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch cockatrice-eggs, and weave the spider's web : he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works : their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood : their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity ; wasting and destruc- tion are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they know not ; and there is no judgment in their goings : they have made them crooked paths ; whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. 9 li Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice over- take us : we wait for light, but behold obscurity ; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. 10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes : Ave stumble at noon-day as in the night ; ive are in desolate places as dead men. 11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none : for salvation, but it is far off from us : 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us : for our transgressions are with us ; and as for our iniquities, we know them ; 13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing 188 Isaiah. away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. 15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey : and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there teas no judgments 16 H And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there itjas no intercessor : therefore his arm brought salvation unto him ; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 17 For he put on righteousness as a breast-plate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head ; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. 18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies ; to the islands he will repay recompense. 19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall Come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. 20 IF And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. 21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord ; My spirit that is upon thee^ and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. Isaiah, lx. The glory of the church in the abundant access of the Gentiles, and the great blessings after a short affliction. 1 Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross dark- ness the people : but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the bright- ness of thy rising. 4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see : all they gather them-* selves together, they come to thee : thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged ; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah ; all they from Sheba shall come ; they shall bring gold and incense ; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord. 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee : they shall come up Isaiah. 189 with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. 8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ? 9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. 10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee : for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. 11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually ; they shall not be shut day nor night : that men may bring unto thee the forces of the GentileSj and that their kings may be brought. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, ?^ose nations shall be utterly wasted. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanc- tuary ; and 1 will make the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee ; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet ; and they shall call theej The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 M Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings : and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. 17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron : I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exacters righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ; but thou shalt call thy walls Salva- tion, and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day ; neither for bright- ness shall the moon give light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon with- draw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous : they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. 22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation : I the Lord will hasten it in his time. ISAIAH, LXIi The office of Christ. The forwardness, and blessings of the faithful. 1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me ; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek : he hath sent me 16 190 Isaiah. to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to thein that are bound ; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that mourn ; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; that they might be called Trees of righteous- ness. The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. 4 H And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desola- tions of many genei-ations. 5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen, and your vine-dressers. 6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord : men shall call you the Ministers of our God : ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. 7 IT For your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion : therefore in their land they shall possess the double ; everlasting joy shall be unto them. 8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt-ofFei-ing ; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people : all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. ISAIAH, LXII. The propheVs fervent desire to confirm the church in God's promises. The minister's office in preaching the gospel. 1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as bright- ness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. 2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory : and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. 3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 4 Thou shalt no more be termed. Forsaken ; neither shall thy land any more be termed. Desolate : but thou shalt be called Hephzi- bah, and thy land Beulah : for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry Isaiah* 191 thee : and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem, ivhich shall never hold their peace day nor night : ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence ; 7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 8 The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies ; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine for the which thou hast labored : 9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord ; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. 10 U Go through, go through the gates ; prepare ye the way of the people ; cast up, cast up the high- way ; gather out the stones ; lift up a standard for the people. 11 Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh ; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 12 And they shall call them. The holy people. The redeemed of the Lord : and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. ISAIAH, LXIII. Christ sheweth who he is, what his victory over his enemies, and what his mercy towards his church. 1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength ? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat ? 3 I have trodden the wine-press alone ; and of the people there was none with me : for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in ray fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my gar- ments, and I will stain all my raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 5 And I looked, and there was none to help ; and I wondered that there was none to uphold : therefore mine own arm brought salva- tion unto me ; and my fury it upheld me. 6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. 7 IT I will mention the loving-kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness towards the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses. 8 For he said. Surely they are my people, children that will not lie : so he was their Saviour. 9 H In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his 192 Isaiah. presence saved them : in his love and in his pity he redeemed them ; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. 10 U But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit : therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying. Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock ? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him ? 12 That led thejn by the right hand of Moses, with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name ? 13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble ? 14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest ; so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. 15 H Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory : where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels, and of thy mercies toward me ? are they restrained ? 16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer ; thy name is from everlasting. 17 IT O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear ? Return for thj"^^ servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. 18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while : our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. 19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name. ISAIAH, LXIV. The church j>r ay eth for the illustration of God's power, and com- j)laineth of affliction. 1 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, 2 As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence ! 3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. 4 For since the beginning of the world 7iien have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. 5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth, and worketh righteousness ; those that remember thee in thy ways : behold, thou art wroth ; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and alt our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. "7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up Tsaiah. 195 himself to take hold of thee : for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. 8 But now, Lord, thou art our Father : we are the clay, and thou our Potter ; and we all are the work of thy hand. 9 IT Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. 10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness,. Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt up with fire : and all our pleasant things are laid waste. 12 Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord ? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore ? ISAIAH, LXV. The Gentiles called. The Jews rejected: the blessed state of the new Jerusalem. 1 I am sought of them that asked not for me ; I am found of them that sought me not : I said. Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. 2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts ; 3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face ; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick ; 4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments ;. which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels ; 5 Which say. Stand by thyself, come not near to me ; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. 6 Behold, it is written before me ; I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, 7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills : therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom. 8 TT Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith. Destroy it not ; for a blessing is in it : so will I do for my servant's sakes, that I may not destroy them all. 9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains : and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. 10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. 11 IT But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink-offering unto that number. 12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter : because when I called, ye did not answer 16* 194 Isaiah. when I spake, ye did not hear ; but did evil before mine eyes, and' did choose that wherein I deUghted not. 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry : behold, my servants shall drink, bufc ye shall be thirsty : behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed : 14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. 15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen : for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name : 16 That he whoblesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of truth ; and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by the God of truth ; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. 17 T" For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create : for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days : for the child shall die an hundred years old ; but the sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be accursed. 21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plants, and another eat : for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work oi their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble ; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. 24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw hke the bullock : and dust shall he the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. ISAIAH, LXVr. God will be served in humhle sincerity. The faithful comforted. God's severe judgments against the wicked. 1 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven ?s my throne^and the earth /s my footstool : where is the house that ye build unto me ? and where is the place of my rest ? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord : but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 3 He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth Isaiah. 195 a Iamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood ; he that burneth incense, as (fhe blessed an idol : yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them ; because, when I called, none did answer ; when I spake, they did not hear : but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. . 5 H Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word ; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified : but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. 6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies. 7 Before she travailed, she brought forth ; before her pain came> she was delivered of a man-child. 8 Who hath heard such a thing ? who hath seen such things ? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day ? or shall a nation be born at once ? for as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children. 9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth ? saithi the Lord : shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the loomh ? saith thv God. 10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her : rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her ; 11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations ; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. 12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream : then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you ; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14 And when ye see this your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb ; and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his ene- mies. 15 For, behold, the Lcrd wHl come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his auger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh : and the slain of the Lord shall be many. 17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens, behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. 18 For I know their works and their thoughts : it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues ; and they shall come and see my glory. 19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not 196 Isaiah. Micah. heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20 And they shall bring all your brethren /or an offering unto the Lord, out of ail nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jeru- salem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 21 And I will also take of them for priests, and for Levites, saith the Lord. 22 For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. 24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the mea that have transgressed against me : for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. B. C. 700. MICAH, VII. The church, complaining of her small number, and the general corruption, putteth her confidence in God. 1 Woe is me ! for I am as when they have gathered the summer- fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage : there is no cluster to eat : my soul desired the first-ripe fruit. 2 The good ?na7i is perished out of the earth ; and there is none upright among men : they all lie in wait for blood ; they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3 IT That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward ; and the great man he uttereth his mischievous desire : so they wrap it up. 4 The best of them is as a brier ; the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge : the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh ; now shall be their perplexity. 5 IT Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide ; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6 For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law ; a man's enemies are the men of his own house. 7 Therefore will I look unto the Lord ; I will wait for the God of my salvation : my God will hear me. 8 H Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy : when I fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me : he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteous- ness. 10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God .-' mine eyes shall behold her : now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. Micah. Hczekiah. ManasseJi. 197 11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. 12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and fro7n the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and /rom mountain to mountain. 13 Notwithstanding, the land shall be desolate, because of thetii that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. 14 II Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel : let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. 15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous ihijigs. 16 H The nations shall see, and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth : they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee. 18 IF Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us ; he will subdue our iniquities : and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXfl. B. C. 699, 33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David : and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXIII. Manasseh's wicked reign : he is carried into Babylon : upon his prayer he is released : Anion succeedeth him : he being slain by his own servants, Josiah succeedeth him. 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem : 2 But did that which ivas evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 IT For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said. In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley 198 Manasseh, of the son of Hinnom ; also he observed times, and used enchant- ments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards : he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. 7 * And he set a carved image (the idol which he had made) in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I l;iave chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever : 8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers ; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law, and the statutes, and the ordinances, by the hand of Moses. 9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 IT And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people ; but they would not hearken. B. C. 660. 2 KINGS, XXI. 10 IT And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols ; 12 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab : and I will wipe Jerusalem, as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies ; 15 Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. 16 Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin where- with he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXIII. 11 TT Wherefore the Lord brought upon him the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 And prayed unto him ; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his king- dom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God. * B. C. 685. Manasseh, Amon. JosiaTi. 199 14 * Now after this he built a wall without the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. 15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 16 And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace-ofFerings and thank-offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 Nevertheless, the people did saciifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only. 2 KINGS, XXI. B. C. 644. 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead, 19 IT Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two j^ears in Jerusalem : and his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jothah. 20 And he did that which ivas evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did. 21 And he walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them : 22 And he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord. 23 t H And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 24 And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon ; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. 26 And he was buried in his sepulchre, in the garden of Uzza : and Josiah his son reigned in his stead. 2 KINGS, XXII. Josiah^s good reign : he provideth for the repair of the temple. Hilkiah findeih the hook of the law. Huldah's prophecy. 1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem : and his mother's name ivas Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Eoscath. 2 And he did that ichich ivas right in the sight of the Lord, and Walked in al! the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXIV. B. C. 634. - 3 IT For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father : t and in the * B. C. 650. t B- U- 642. J B. C. 630. 200 Josiah. Jeremiah, twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence : and the images that were on high above them he cut down ; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. 5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about 7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. B. C. 629. JEREMIAH, t. The caUing of Jeremiah : his vision: his message against Judah i God promiseth to assist him^ 1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin : 2 To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee ; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee ; aiid I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. 6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God ! behold, I cannot speak ; for I ajn a child. 7 IT But the Lord said unto me. Say not, I ani a child : for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8 Be not afraid of their faces : for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth : and the Lord said unto me. Behold, I have put ray words in thy mouth. 10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw dowuj to build, and to plant. 11 IT Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou ? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 12 Then said the Lord unto me^ Thou hast well seen : for I will hasten my word to perform it. 13 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying. What seest thou ? And I said, I see a seething pot ; and the face thereof is toward the north. Jeremiah. 201 14 Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, sailh the Lord ; and they shall come, and they shall sit every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will utter my judgments against them, touciiing all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. 17 IT Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee : be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls againat the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. 19 And they shall fight against thee ; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. JEREMIAH, II. B. C. 628. God's expostulation with the Jews touching their causeless revolt. 1 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord ; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3 Israel ivas holiness unto the I>ord, and the first fruits of his increase : all that devour him shall offend ; evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. 4 Hear ye the word of the Lord, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel : 5 Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain ? 6 Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt .' 7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof, and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not. Where is the Lord .' and they that handle the law knew me not : the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. 9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and with your children's children will I plead. 10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see ; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing : 17 202 Jeremiah. 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods ? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils ; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 14 IT Is Israel a servant ? Is he a homeborn slave 7 Why is he spoiled ? 15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste : his cities are burned without inhabitant. 16 Also the children ot Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. 17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast for- saken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way ? 18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor ? Or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? 19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee ; and thy backslidings shall reprove thee : know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosti. 20 IT For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands : and thou saidst, I will not transgress ; when upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed :- how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me ? 22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee muclt soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me^ saith the Lord God. 23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim ? See thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done : thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways : 24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snutieth up the wind at her pleasure ; in her occasion who can turn her away ? All they that seek her will not weary themselves ; in her mouth they shall find her. 25 Witlihold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst : but thou saidst. There is no hope : no; fori have loved strangers, and after them will I go. 26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed ; they, their kings, Iheirjjrinces, and their priests, and their prophets, . 27 Saying to a stock. Thou art my fother ; and to a' stone, Thoa hast brought me forth : for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face : but in the time of their trouble they will say. Arise, and save us. 28 But where" are thy gods that thou hast made thee ? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble : for according to the number of thy cities "are thy gods, O Judah. 29 Wherefore will ye plead with me ? Ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord. Jeremiah. Josiah. 203 30 In vain have I smitten your children : they received no correc- tion : your own sword hath devoured your prophets, Uke a destroying lion. 31 IT O generation, see ye the word of the Lord : Have I been a wilderness unto Israel ? a land of darkness ? Wherefore say mj- people, We are lords ; we will come no more unto thee ? 32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire ? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number. 33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love ? Therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. 34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents : I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. 35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. 36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way ? Thou also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hatli rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXIV. B. C. 624. 8 IF And it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent to Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the governor of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. 9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that loas brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Ben- jamin, and they returned to Jerusalem. 10 And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the over- sight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and amend the house ; 11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. 12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers oTthem were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari ; and Zechariah and Meshullam ; of the sons^ of the Kohathites, to set it forward ; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music. 13 Also they loere over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service : and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters. 14 M And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law ot the Lord s^iven by Moses. 15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have 204 Josiah. found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. 16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying. All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. 17 And they have gathered together the money that was found la the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. IS Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, 21 Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book. 22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe ; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college :) and they spake to her to that effect. 23 \\ And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, 24 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah : 25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands ; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. 26 And as for the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard. 27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardst his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me ; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. 28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in pence, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again. 29 fi Then the king sent, and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, 30 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant, that was found in the house of the Lord. Josiah, 205 31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. 32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benja- min to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. ^nd all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. 2 KINGS, XXIII. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven ; and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. 5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, Vv'homthe kings cf Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places, in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem ; them also that burn incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the jnoon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, raid burnt it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. 7 And he brake down the houses of the Sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove. . ■ 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city. 9 Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Loud in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 10 And he dehled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, .that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the tire to Molech. 11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with tire. 12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber ot Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which 17* 206 Josiah. Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zido- nians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. 14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. 15 H Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burnt the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burnt the grove. 16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that icere there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt ihem upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17 Then he said. What title is that that I see ? And the men of the city* told him. It is the sepulchre of the man of God which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el. 18 And he said. Let him alone ; let no man move his bones : so they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. 19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD (o anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to al! the acts that he had done in Beth-el. 20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that wei'e there upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. B. C. 623. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXV. Josiah keepeth a solemn passover. 1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem : and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the sei-vice of the house of the Lord, 3 And said unto the Levites t«hat taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build ; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders : serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel, 4 And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your ■ ■ !» ■ .III! * See 1 Kings, xiii. 2 : or, B. C. 974. ' Josiah. 207 courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and accord- ing to the writing of Solomon his son ; 5 And stand in the holy place, according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites ; 6 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover-offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks : these were of the king's substance. 8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites : Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover-offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen. 9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel his brethren, and Hashabiah, and Jehiel, and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites, for passover-offerings, five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen. 10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's com- mandment. 11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the Mood from their hands, and the Levites slayed them. 12 And they removed the burnt- offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses : and so did they with the oxen. 13 And they roasted the passover with fire, according to the ordinance : but the other holy offerings sod they in pots,, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people. 14 And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests, because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt-offerings and the fat until night ; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron. 15 And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthua the king's seer ; and the porters waited at every gate ; they might not depart from their service ; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them. 16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, (o keep the passover, and to offer burnt-offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah. 17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread, seven days. 18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel, from the days of Samuel the prophet ; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 208 Josiah. Jeremiah. 19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept. B. C. 620. 2 KINGS, XXIII. 24 IF Moreover, the workers ivith familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah, and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law, which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses ; neither after him arose there any like him. 2f} H isotwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. 27 And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said. My name shall be there. JEREMIAH, III. God/s great mercy in Judah^s vile whoredom. The promises of the gospel to the penitent. 1 They say. If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again ? shall not that land be greatly polluted ? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. 2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness ; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. 3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain ; and thou liadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be asliamed. 4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth ? 5 Will he reserve his anger for ever ? will he keep it to the end ? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as Ihou couldest. 6 ^ The Lord said also unto me, in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done ? She is gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. 7 And I said, after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of Jeremiah. 209 divorce ; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord, 11 And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 12 IT Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say. Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord ; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you : for I am merciful saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. 13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the stran- gers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith tiie Lord. 14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord ; for I am married unto you : and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion : 15 And 1 will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased m the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more. The ark of the covenant of the Lord : neither shall it come to mind ; neither shall they remember it ; neither shall they visit it ; neither shall that be done any more. 17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord ; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem : neither shall they walk any more after the imagina- tion of their evil hearts. IS In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. 19 But 1 said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations ? And I said. Thou shalt call me. My father ; and shalt not turn away from me. 20 IT Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. 21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and suppli- cations of the children of Israel : for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. 22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your back- slidings. Behold, we come unto thee ; for thou art the Lord our God. 2.3 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains : truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. 24 For shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth : their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 210 Jeremiah. 25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us : for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. JEREMIAH, IV. God calleth Israel h}i his promises : he exhorteth Judah to repent- ance. 1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me : and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. 2 And thou shalt swear. The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness ; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. 3 \\ For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem : lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, be- cause of the evil of your doings. 5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the .land : cry, gather together, and say. Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 6 Set up the standard toward Zion : retire, stay not : for i will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. 7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way ; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate ; and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabi- tant. 8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl : for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. 10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God I surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soid. 11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to Jan, nor to cleanse, 12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me : now also will I give sentence against them. 13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall he as a whirlwind : his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. 14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved : how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee .? 15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. 16 Make ye mention to the nations : behold, publish against Jeremiah. Zephaniah. 21 1 Jerusalem, that watchers come from afar country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. 17 As keepers of a field are they against her round about ; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord. 18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these thinga unto thee : this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart. 19 H My bowels, my bowels ! I am pained at my very heart ; my heart maketh a noise in me : I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20 Destruction upon destruction is ci-ied ; for the whole land is spoiled ; suddenly are my tents spoiled, a?id my curtains in a mo- ment. 21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me ; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding : they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 23 1 beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void ; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25 1 beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and ail the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. 27 For thus hath the Lord said. The whole land shall be desolate ; yet will I not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because 1 have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the liorsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall he forsaken, and not a man dwell therein, 30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do ? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair ; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child ; thfe voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying. Woe is me now ! for my soul is wearied because of mur- derer's. ZEPHANIAH, I. B. C. 620.^ God's severe judgments against Judah for divers sins. 1 The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of * This is between Jahn and Scott: the former dating it B.C. 630, the latter B.C.612. 212 Zephaniah. Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord, 3 I will consume man and beast : I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked : and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord. 4 1 will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests ; 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops : and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham ; 6 And them that are turned back from the Lord ; and tJiose that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him. 7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God : for the day of the Lord is at hand : for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that 1 will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their master's houses with violence and de- ceit. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall he the noise of a cry from the fish-gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. 11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down ; all they that bear silver are cutoff 12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jeru- salem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart. The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. 13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation : they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. 14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord : the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A daj^ of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord : and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung, 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath ; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy : for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. Zcphaniah. 213 ZEPHANIAH, II. An exhortation to repentance. The judgment of the Philistmes, of Moah^ and Amnion, of Ethiopia, and Assyria. 1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired ; 2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. 3 Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment ; seek righteousness, seek meekness : it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger, 4 IT For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Aslikelon a desolation : they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. 5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coasts, the nation of the Cherethites ! the word of the Lord is against you ; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. 6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. 7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon : in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening : for the Lord their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity. 8 IT I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. 9 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God orisrael. Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles and salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the rem- nant of my people shall possess them. 10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts. 11 The Lord icill he terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth ; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. 12 T[ Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword. 13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria ; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilder- ness. 14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations : both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it ; -their voice shall sing in the windows ; desolation shall be in the thresholds : for he shall uncover the cedar work. 15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me : how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in ! every one that passeth by her sliall hiss, and wag his hand. IS 214 Zephaniak. ZEPHANIAH, III. j3 sharp reproof of Jerusalem for divers sins. An exhortation to wait for the restoration of Israel, and to rejoice for their salva- tion by God. 1 Woe to her that is fihhy and polluted, to the oppressing city I 2 She obeyed not the voice ; she received not correction ; she trusted not in the Lord ; she drew not near to her God. 3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves ; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. 4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons ; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. 5 The just Lord 15 in the midst thereof: he will not do iniquity : every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not, but the unjust knoweth no shame. 6 I have cut otF the nations : their towers are desolate, I made their streets waste, that none passeth by : their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. 7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them : but thej^ rose early, and corrupted all their doings. 8 IT Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey ; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indigna- tion, even all my fierce anger : for all the earth shall be devoured M'ith the fire of m.y jealousy. 9 For then will 1 turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. 10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. 11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me : for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride ; and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. 12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. 13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies ; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth : for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 14 *ii Sing, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O Israel ; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, daughter of Jerusalem. 15 The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy : the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee : thou shalt not see evil any more. 16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not ; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. 17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty ; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy ; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. 18 1 will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, taho are of thee, to ivhom the reproach of it ivns a burden. 19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that atilict thee ; and I will Jeremiah. Josiah. 215 save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out ; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. 20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you : for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turned back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. JEREMIAH, XLVIII. B. C. 610. The judgment of Moab for several corruptions : the restoration of Moah. 1 Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Woe unto Nebo ! for it is spoiled ; Kiriathaim is confounded and taken ; Misgab is confounded and dismayed. 2 There shall he no more praise of Moab : in Heshbon they have devised evil against it ; come, and let us cut it' off from being a nation : also thou shalt be cut down, Madmen ; the sword shall pursue thee. 3 A voice of crying shall he from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. 4 Moab is destroyed ; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up : for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. 6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilder- ness. 7 IF For because thou hast trusted in thy works, and in thy treas- ures, thou shalt also be taken ; and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, with his priests and his princes together. 8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape ; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken. 9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away : for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. 10 Cursed he he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed he he that keepeth back his sword from blood. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXV. 20 H After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish, by Euphrates : and Josiah went out against him. 21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying. What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah ? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war ; for God commanded me to make haste : forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. 22 Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho fi-om the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. 216 Jehoahaz. JehuiaJcim. Hahakkuk. 23 And the archers shot at king Josiah ; and the king said to his servants, Have me awaj^ ; for I am sore wounded. 24 His servants, therefore, took him out of tliat chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had ; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers : and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25 IT And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah ; and all the singing-men and the singing-women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel : and, behold, they are written in the Lamentations. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXVI. 1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and con- demned the land in an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. 4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt. 5 % Jehoiakim was twenty and live years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem : and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. HABAKKUK, I. Unto Habakhiik, complaining of the iniquity of the land, is shewed the fearful vengeance by the Chaldeans. 1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. 2 Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear I 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 judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous ; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. 5^1 Belioid ye among the heatlien, and regard, and wonder marvel- lously : for I will work a work in your days, tohich ye will not believe, though it be told yoii. 6 For, lo, 1 raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling-places that are not theirs. 7 They arc terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. 8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more tierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far : they shall t^y as the ea2;le that hasteth to eat. Habahhih 217 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 he 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 pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. 12 IT Art thou not from everlasting, Lord my God, mine Holy One ? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. 13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity : wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacher- ously, and boldest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he .' 14 And makest men as the fishes of (he 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 rejoice and are, glad. 16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. 17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations ? HABAKKUK, II. Unto Habakkuk, waiting for an answer, is shewed that he tnust wait by faith. The judgment upon the Chaldeans. 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 run that readeth it. 3 F'or 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. 5 IT Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home ; who enlargeth his desire as he!i, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathercth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people : 6 Shall not all thc.-'j take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say. Woe to him that inci-easeth 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 bodlies unto them ? 8 Because thou hast spoiled many nation's, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee ; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land of the city, and of all that dwell therein. 18* 218 Habakkuk. 9^ Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that lie may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil ! 10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. 11 For the sione shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. 12 fi Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity ! 13 Behold is it not of, the ]>ord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity r 14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 15 M Woe unto him that givethhis neighbor drink ; that puttest thy bottle to hiyn, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! 16 Thou art filled with shame for glory : drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered : the cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. 17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood, and lor the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. IS \\ What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it ; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols ? 19 Woe unto him that saith to the w^ood, Awake : to the dumb stoiic, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over vfith gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. 20 But the Lord 2s in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. HABAKKUK, III. Hahakkuk, in hispi-ai/er, tremhleth at God's majesty: the confidence of his faith. 1 A prayer of Hahakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. 2 Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid : O Lord, revive thy word in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known ; in wrath remember mercy. 3 H God came from Teman, and the holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heaven, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 Aiul his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand : and there was the hiding of his powder. 5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. 6 Ho stood, and measured the earth : he beheld, and drove asunder the natn^n:> ; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the per- petual i)!lis did bow : his ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction : and the curtains of the land of i\iidian did treaible. 8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivei's .' was thine anger Hahakkuk. Jeremiah. 219 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 oaths 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 lifted 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 woundedst the head out of the house of the Avicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. 14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages : they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me : their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. , 15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. 16 AVhen I heard, my belly trembled ; my lips quivered at the voice ; rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble : when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. 17 IF Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit he in the vines ; the labor of tlie olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall he no herd in the stalls : 18 Yet I will rejoice 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 hind's /ee^, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. JEREMIAH, XXVI. B. C. 609. Jeremiah exhorteth to repentance : he is apprehended, and arraign- ed : his apology : he is quit i?i judgment. 1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord ; Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them ; diminish not a word : 3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them, because of the evil of their doings. 4 And thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord, If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, 220 Jeremiah. 5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened ; 6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. 7 So the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, heard Jere- miah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 U Now, it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, took hirn, saying, Thou shalt surely die. 9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabit3,nt ? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. 10 "IT When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house. 11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes, and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die ; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye liave heard with your cars. 12 H Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes, and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house, and against this city, all the words that ye have heard. 13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. 14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand ; do with me as seeraeth good and meet unto you : 15 But know ye for certain, that, if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you, to speak all these words in your ears. 16 If Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests, and to the prophets. This man is not worthy to die : for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. 17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, 18 Micah the Morashite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death ? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them } Thus might we procure great evil against our souls. 20 And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah, the son of Shemaiah of Kirjalh-jearim, who prophesied against this city, and against this land, according to all the words of Jeremiah : 21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; Jeremiah, 221 but when Urijah heard it he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; 22 And Jehoiakiin the king sent men into Egypt ; namely, Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt: 23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt; and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. 24 Nevertheless, the hand of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. JEREMIAH, V. B. C. 608. The judgments of God upon the Jews for their manifold corrup- tions. 1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth ; and I will pardon it. 2 And though they say. The Lord liveth ; surely they swear falsely. 3 O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth ? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved ; thou hast consumed them, hut they have refused to receive correction : they have made their faces harder than a rock ; they have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said. Surely these are poor ; they are foolish : for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them ; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God : but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities : every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces ; because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. 7 TT How shall I pardon thee for this ? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods : when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. 8 They were as fed horses in the morning : every one neighed after his neighbor's wife. 9 Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the Lord : and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? 10 t Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy ; but make not a full end : take away her battlements ; for they are not the Lord's. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. 12 They have belyed the Lord, and said. It is not he, neither shall evil come upon us, neither shall we see sword nor famine ; 222 Jeremiah. 13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them : thus shall it be done unto them. 14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, 1 will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord : it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. 16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat : they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds ; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees : they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. 18 Nev^ertheless, in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full end with you. 19 H And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, "Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us ? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land ; so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding ; which have eyes, and see not ; which have ears, and hear not : 22 Fear ye not me .-" saith the Lord : will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand /or the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it ; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail ; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it ? 23 But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart ; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season : he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 IT Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men : they lay wait as he that setteth snares ; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so ai'e their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 They are waxen fat, they shine ; yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked : they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper ; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the Lord : shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? 30 H A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land ; 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means ; and my people love to have it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof? Jeremiah, «223 JEREMIAH, VI. The enemies sent against Judah encourage themselves : God setteth them on work because of their sins. 1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem : for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. 2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. 3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her ; they shall pitch their tents against her round about ; they shall feed every one in his place. 4 Prepare ye war against her ; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us ! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. 5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6 H For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye do\vn trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem : this is the city to be visited ; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. 7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness : violence and spoil is heard in her ; before me continually is grief and wounds. 8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee ; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. 9 H Thus saith the Lord of hosts. They shall thoioughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine : turn back thine hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets. 10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear ? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken : behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach ; they have' no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord : I am v/eary with holding in : I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, iviih their fields and wives together : for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhab- itants of the land, saith the Lord. 13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness ; and from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. 14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying. Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination ? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they bhish ; therefore they shall fall among them that fall : at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. 16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, Wc will not walk therein. 224 Jeremiah. 17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying. Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. 18 H Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth ; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. 20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country ? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. 21 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumbling- blocks before this people, and the fathers and sons together shall fall upon them ; the neighbor and his friend shall perish. 22 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. 23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear ; they are cruel, and have no mercy : their voice roareth like the sea ; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. 24 We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble : anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail. 25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way ; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. 26 TI O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes ; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation : for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. 27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among n^.y people, that thou mayest know and try their way. 28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders : they are brass and iron ; they ore all corrupters. 29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire ; the founder melteth in vain : for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 Reprobate silver shall ?nen call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. JEREMIAH, XLVI. 1 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles ; 2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carciiemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon st!;ote in the fourth year of Jehoia- kim, the son of Josiah king of Judah. 3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. 4 Harness the horses ; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, a7id put on the brigan- dines. 5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed, and turned away back ? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back : for fear was round about, saith the Lord. Jeremiah. Jehoiahim. Daniel. 225 6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the migjhty man escape ; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. 7 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers ? 8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers ; and he sailh, I will go up, and will cover the earth ; I will destroy the city, and the inhabitants thereof. 9 Come up, ye horses ; and rage, ye chariots ; and let the mighty men come forth : the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. 10 For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries : and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood ; for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrilace in the north country by the river Euphrates. 11 Go up into Gilead and take balm, O irgin, the daughter of Egypt : in vain shalt thou use many medicines ; /or thou shalt not be cured. 12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land : for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together. 2 KINGS, XXIV. B. C. 607. 1 In his [Jehoiakim's] days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years : DANIEL, I. 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god ; and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. 3 II And the king spake unto Ashpenaz,the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain, of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes ; 4 Children in whom was no blemish, Imt well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank; so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. 6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Han- aniah, Mishael, and Azariah; 7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names : for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar ; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach ; and to Mishael, of Meshach ; and to Azariah, of Abed- nego. 19 226 Daniel, Jeremiah. 8 IT But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank : therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink : for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort ? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. 11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days ; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king*s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. 16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse. 17 11 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom : and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams, 18 Now, at the end of the days that the king had said that he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king communed with them ; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishae!, and Azariah : therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magi- cians and astrologers that were in all his realm. 21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus. JEREMIAH, XXV. 15 Ti For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me. Take the wine-cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. 16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of tlie sword that I will send among them. 17 Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me : 18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse ; (as it is this day ;) 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people ; Jeremiah. 227 20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, 21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, 22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, 23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, 24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, 25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elara, and all the kings of the Medes, 26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth : and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Ye shall certainly drink. 29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished ? Ye shall not be unpun- ished : for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. 30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation ; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation, he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth ; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh : he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. 32 Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coast of the earth. 33 And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth : they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried ; they shall be dung upon the ground. 34 IT Howl, ye shepherds, and cry ; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished ; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. 36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard : for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. 37 And the peaceful habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 38 He hath forsaken his covert as the lion : for their land is deso- 228 Jeremiah. late, because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger. JEREMIAH, XXXV. 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, 2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. 3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazi- niah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites ; 4 And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, w^hich was by the chamber of the princes, which ivas above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: 5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Recliabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them. Drink ye wine. 6 ]3ut they said, We will drink no wine : for Jonadab the son of Rechab our i^ther conmianded us, saying. Ye shall drink no wine, ■neither ye, nor your sons for ever : 7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any : but all your days ye shall dwell in tents ; that ye may live many days in the land where ye he strangers. 8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters ; 9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in : neither have we vine- yard, nor field, nor seed : 10 But we have dwelt in tents^ and have obeyed, and done accord- ing to al| that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusa- lem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians : so we dwell at Jerusalem. 12 IT Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 13 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words ? saith the Lord. 14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed ; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment : notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking : but ye hearkened not unto me. 15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, sajdng. Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve the.m, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers : but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. 16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed Jeremiah, 229 the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me : 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jeru- salem all the evil that I have pronounced against them : because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. 18 H And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you ; 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Jon- adab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me for ever. JEREMIAH, XLV. £aruch being dismayed, Jeremiah instructeth and comforteth him. 1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth j^ear of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch; 3 Thou didst say. Woe is me now ! for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow ; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. 4 ir Thus shalt thou say unto him, The Lord saith thus. Behold, that which I built will I break down, and that which 1 have planted i will pluck up, even this whole land. 5 And seekest thou great things for thyself ? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon ail tiesh, saith the Lord ; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither tliou goest JEREMIAH, XLVII. 1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Phnir.oh smote Gaza. 2 Thus saith the Lord, Boiiold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and ail that is therein ; the city, and them that dwell therein : then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. 3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands ; 4 Because of the day that coraeth to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth ; for the Lord will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. 5 Baldness is come upon Gaza : Ashkelon is cut off with the rem- nant of their valley : how long wilt thou cut thyself ? 19* 230 Jeremiah. 6 thou sword of the Lord, how long ivill it he ere thou be quiet ? Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. 7 How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore ? there hath he appointed it. JEREMTAH, XXXVI. Baruch icriteth JeremiaJi's prophecy. 1 And it came to pass, in the fourth j^ear of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day 1 spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them ; that they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah : and Baruch wrote from the mobth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unio him, upon a roll of a book. 5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up ; I cannot go into the house of the Lord : 6 Therefore go thou, and read inthe roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord, in the ears of the people, in the Lord's house upon the fasting-day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. 7 It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way : for great is the anger and the fury that the Lord hath pronounced against this people. 8 And Baruch, the son of Neriah, did according to all that Jere- miah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the wards of the Lord in the Lord's house. B. C. G06. JEREMIAH, Vil. Jeremiah is sent to call for true repentance : he rejecteth their vain confidence. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ?/eo/ Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Am.end your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying. The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. 5. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings ; if j-^e throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; 6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt : Jeremiah, 231 7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. 8 Tl Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto i3aal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not ; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say. We are delivered to do all these abomina- tions ? 11 Is this house which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes ? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord. 12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not ; 14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your lathers, as I have done to Shiloh. 35 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. 16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me : for I will not hear thee. 17 IT Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ? 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do they provoke me to anger ? saith the Lord : do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces.' 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground ; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. 21 IT Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel : Put your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. 22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt- offerings or sacrifices : 2.3 But this thing commanded I them, saying. Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people : and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. 24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt, unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them : 26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck : they did worse than their fathers. 232 Jeremiah. 27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them : but they will not hearken to thee ; thou shalt also call unto them ; but they will not answer thee. 28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction : truth is perisheti, and is cut off from their mouth. 29 \\ Cut off" thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places ; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. 30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord : they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. 81 And they ilave built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. 32 IT Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter : for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. 33 And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. 34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of glad- ness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride : for the land shall be desolate. JEREMIAH, VIII. The Jews'' calamity : their imj^enitency upbraided : their judgment shewed: their desperate estate bewailed. 1 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves : 2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried ; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. 3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts, 4 IT Moreover, thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord ; Shall they fall, and not arise? Shall he turn away, and not return ? 5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding ? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. 6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright : no man repented him of his wickedness, saying. What have I done ? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. 7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times ; and Jeremiah. 233 tVie turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming ; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. 8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is witli us ? Lo, certainly in vain made he it ; the pen of the scribes is in vain. 9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken : lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord ; and what wisdom is in them ? 10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them : for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness ; from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying. Peace, peace ; when there is no peace. 12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination ? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush : there- fore shall they fall among them that fall : in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. 13 II I will surely consume them, saith the Lord : there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade ; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. 14 Why do we sit still ? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter Into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there : for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us v^^ater of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. 15 We looked for peace, but no good ca7?je; and for a time of health, and behold trouble ! 16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan : the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it ; the city, and those that dwell therein. 17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. IS M When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. 19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people, because of them that dwell in a far country : Is not the Lord in Zion ? Is not her king in her ? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities ? 20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt ; I am black; astonishment hard will not be entreated. Lying prophets are no excuse. 1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning th^ dearth. Jeremiah, 241 2 Judah moiirneth, and the gates thereof languish ; they are black unto the ground ; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. 3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters : they came to the pits, and found no water ; they returned with their vessels empty ; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. 4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. 5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass, 6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons ; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass. 7 IF O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake : for our backslidings are many ; we have sinned against thee. 8 the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night ? 9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save ? Yet thou, Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name ; leave us not. 10 IT Thus saith the Lord unto this people. Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them ; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. 11 Then said the Lord unto me. Pray not for this people for their good. 12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry ; and when they offer burnt-offering and an oblation, I will not accept them : but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pesti- lence. 13 TI Then said I, Ah, Lord God ! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine : but I will give you assured peace in this place. 14 thence Lord said unto me. The prophets prophesy lies in my name ; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them : they prophesy unto you a false vision and divina- tion, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land ; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword ; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 17 IT Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease : for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. IS If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword ! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with 20 '^ 242 Jeremiah. famine ! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. 19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah ? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us ? we looked for peace, and there is no good ; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble ! 20 We acknowledge, Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers ; for we have sinned against thee. 21 Do not abhor lis, for thy name's sake ; do not disgrace the throne of thy glory : remember, break not thy covenant with us. 22 Are there anj/ among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain ? or can the heavens give showers ? Art not thou he, O Lord our God ? therefore we will wait upon thee ; for thou hast made all these thijigs. JEREMIAH, XV. The utter rejection, and manifold judgments, of the Jews. Jere- miah, complaining, receivcth a gracious promise. 1 Then said the Lord unto me. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people : cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee. Whither shall we go forth ? then thou shalt tell them. Thus saith the Lord, Such as are for death, to death ; and such as are for the sword, to the sword, and such as are for the famine, to the famine, and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. 3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord, the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5 But w'ho shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem ? or who shall bemoan thee ? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest ? 6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward : therefore will I stretch out mine hand against thee, and destroy thee, I am w^eary with repenting. 7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land : I will bereave thetn of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways. 8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas : I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday : I have caused hijyi to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. 9 She that hath borne seven languisheth : she hath given up the ghost ; her sun is gone down while it was yet day : she hath been ashamed and confounded : and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord. 10 TI Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth ! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury ; yet every one of them doth curse me. Jeremiah. 243 11 The Lord said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant ; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil, and in the time of affliction. 12 Shall iron break the northern iron, and the steel ? 13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders. 14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not : for a fire is kindled in mine anger, ivhich shall burn upon you. 15 H Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors ; take me not away in thy long- suffering : know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them ; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart : for I am called by thy name, Lord God of hosts. 17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced ; I sat alone, because of thy hand : for thou hast filled me with indigna- tion. 18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed ? Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail ? 19 IT Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me : and if thou tak^ forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee ; but return not tliou unto them. 20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall : and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee : for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. JKREMIAH, XXXVI. 9 And it came to pass, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem. 10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house, in the ears of all the people. 11 IT When Michaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord, 12 Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber, and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, andZedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. 14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelamiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying. Take in 244 Jeremiah. thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people and come. So Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the i*oll in his hand, and caine unto them. 15 And they said unto him, Sit down now and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears. 16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid, both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words. 17 And they asked Baruch, saying. Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth ? IS Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. 19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah ; and let no man know where ye be. 20 H And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama^the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll : and he took it out of EUshama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. 22 Now the king sat in the winter-house in the ninth month : and there was afire on the hearth burning before him. 23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that ivas on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 2-4 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his serv^ants that heard all these words. 25 Nevertheless, Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll : but he would not hear them. 26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the propliet ; but the Lord hid them. 27 H Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah hath burned. 29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord ; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast ? 30 Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah ; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. 31 And I W'ill punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity ; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jeremiah, 245 Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pro- nounced against them ; but they hearkened not. 32 H Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah ; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire : and there M'ere added besides unto them many like words. JEREMIAH, XXV. Jeremiah, reproving the Jews' disobedience to the prophets, fare- telleth the seventy years captivity, and after that, the destruction of Babylon. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon ; 2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, (that is the three and twentieth year,) the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking ; but ye have not hearkened. 4 And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending than; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. 5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever : 6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands, and I will do you no hurt. 7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord ; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt, 8 IT Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Because ye have not heard my words, 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mill-stones, and the light of the candle. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonish- ment ; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 ^ And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accom- plished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. 13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have 246 Jeremiah, pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also : and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. B. C. 605. JEREMIAH, XVI. The utter ruin of the Jews for eshewn : their return from captivity stranger than their deliverance out of Egypt. 1 The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying, 2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land ; 4 They shall die of grievous deaths : they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried ; hut they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth : and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine ; and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 5 For thus saith the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them : for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even loving-kindness and mercies. 6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land : they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them : 7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead ; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. 8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink. 9 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. 10 IT And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee. Wherefore haVh the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity, or what is our sin, that we have committed against the Lord our God .' 11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have for- saken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law : 12 And ye have done worse than your fathers ; (for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me ;) 13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers ; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not shew you favor. Jeremiah. 247 14 IT Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; 15 But the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. 16 H Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them ; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. 17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways : they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. 18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double ; because tliey have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things. 19 O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee fromthe ends of the earth, and shall say. Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. 20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods ? 21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might ; and they shall know that my name is The Lord. JEREMIAH, XVII. The captivity of Judah for sin. Trust in man is cursed, in God is blessed. The deceitful heart cannot deceive God. The salva- tion of God. 1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, ajid with the point of a diamond : it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars ; 2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 3 my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. 4 And thou, even thyself, shalt disconfinue from thine heritage that I gave thee ; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land that thou knowest not ; for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever. 5 11 Thus saith the Lord ; Cursed he the man that trusteth in man, and rnaketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh ; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wUderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 1i Blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat 248 Jeremiah. cometh, but her leaf shall be green ; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 TI The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ; who can know it ? 10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. 11 ^s the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. 12 IF A glorious high throne from the beginning js the place of our sanctuary. 13 O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. 14 Heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved : for thou art my praise. 15 11 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord ? Let it come now. 16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee, neither have I desired the woeful day thou knowest : that which came out of my lips was right before thee. 17 Be not a terror unto me : thou art my hope in the day of evil. 18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded : let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed : bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction. 19 H Thus said the Lord unto me ; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem ; 20 And say unto thein, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates : 21 Thus saith the Lord ; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath-day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jeru- salem ; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath- day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. 24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, but hallow the sabbath- day to do no work therein ; , 25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, thej-jand their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem : and this city shall remain for ever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Jeremiah. 249 plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt- offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of the Lord. 27 * But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day ; then will I kindie a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. JEREMIAH, XLVIII. 11 H Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity : therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. 12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. 13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence. 14 IT How say ye, AVe are mighty and strong men for the war ? 15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts. 16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction haste th fast. 17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him ; and all ye that know his name, say. How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod ! 18 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst ; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds. 19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done ? 20 Moab is confounded ; for it is broken down : howl and cry ; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, 21 And judgment is come apon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jaiiazah, and upon Mephaath, 22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, 23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Beth- meon, 24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord. 26 TI Make ye him drunken : for he magnified himself against the Lord : Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. 27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee ? was he found among thieves ? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. 28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the * See 2 Chronicles, xxxvi. 16— 2J. 21 250 Jeremiah. rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. 29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud,) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. 30 I know his wrath, saith the Lord ; but it shall not he so : his lies shall not so effect it. 31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab ; 7nine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres. 32 O vine of Sibraah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer : thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to thegsea of Jazer : the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and uponjthy vintage. 33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab ; and I have caused wine to fail from the wine- presses : none shall tread with shouting ; i/icir shouting shall be no shouting. 34 From the cry of Hesbbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaira, as an heifer of three years old : for the waters also of Niinrim shall be desolate. 35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that otfereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods. 36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres : because the riches that he hath gotten are perished. 37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped : upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. 38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the house-tops of Moab, and in the streets thereof, for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the Lord. 39 They shall howl, saying. How is it broken down ! how hath Moab turned the back with shame ! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them -about him. 40 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, lie shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his vfings over Moab. 41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified ^iw?se// against the Lord. 43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhab- itant of Moab, saith the Lord. 44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit ; and he that gettetb up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare : for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. 45 They that fled stood upon the shadow of Hesbbon, because of the force : but a fire shall come forth out of H[eshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Jeremiah. JehoiaJcim. Daniel. 251 46 Woe be unto thee, Moab ! the people of Chemosh perisheth : for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. 47 IT Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab ia the latter days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab. 2 KINGS, XXIV. B. C. 603. 1 Then Jehoiakim turned and rebelled against him, [Nebuchad- nezzar.] 2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets. 3 Sui'ely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did : 4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed, (for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood,) which the Lord would not pardon. DANIEL, II. JVebuchadnezzar forgetteth his dream: Daniel findeth it. The dream, and interpretation thereof. 1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebu- chadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrolo- gers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the inter- pretation. 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me : if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dung-hill : 6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts, and rewards, and great honor : therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7 They answered again and said. Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you : for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me till the time be changed : therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. 10 H The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said. There is 252 Daniel. not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter : therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magi- cian, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwel- ling is not with flesh. 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and com- manded to destroy all the wise me7i of Babylon. 1-3 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain ; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. 14 Ti Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the WMse men of Babylon : 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king ? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpreta- tion. 17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing knovrn to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah his companions : 18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven con- cerning this secret ; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with tiie rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 IT Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said. Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever : for wisdom and might are his : 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons : he removeth kings, and setteth up kings : he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and know- ledge to them that know understanding : 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things : he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23 1 thank thee, and praise thee, thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto nie now what we desired of thee : for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. 24 H Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise mew of Babylon : he went and said thus unto him ; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon : bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belte- shazzar, Art Ihou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise 7nen, the astrologers, the magicians, the sooth-sayers shew unto the king : 28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these : Daniel 253 29 As for thee, king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter ; and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall coriie to pass. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wis- dom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 31 H Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee ; and the form thereof ?x?a5 terrible. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass. 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of tlie summer threshing-floors ; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them : and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 36 !! This is the dream ; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, king, art a king of kings : for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven hafh he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all : thou art this liead of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces, "and subdueth all tilings: and as iron that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces, and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 Anil as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay ; so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixt with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of nien : but they shall not cleave one "to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, hut it shall break in pieces and consume all these kino;doms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold ; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter : and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 46 U Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and wor» 21 * 254 Daniel. Jeremiah. shipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation, and riweet odors unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. B. C. 600. JERE31IAH, XVIII. Under the type of a potter, God sheiveth his absolute power in dis- posing of nations. Judgments threatened to Judah. 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter ; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and con- cerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ; 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at u'hat instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and con- cerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them. 11 1 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you : return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. 12" And they said. There is no hope ; but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things : the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. 14 Will a. man leave the snow of Lebanon which Cometh from the rock of the field ? or shall the cold llowing waters that come from another place be forsaken ? 15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned Jeremiah. 255 incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; 16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing : every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. 17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy ; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity, 18 H Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jere- miah ; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. 19 Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 20 Shall evil be recompensed for good ? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their hlood by the force of the sword ; and let their wives be be- reaved of their children, and he widows ; and let their men be put to death ; let their young men he slain by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them : for they have digged a pit to take me> and hid snares for my feet. 23 Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me : forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but, let them be overthrown before thee : deal thus with them in the time of thine anger. JEREMIAH, XIX. Under the type of breaking a potter^s vessel, is foreshewed the desolation of the Jews. 1 Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests ; 2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, 3 And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and Inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whoso- ever heareth, his ears shall tingle. 4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents ; 5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind : 6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. 356 Jereminh. 7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place ; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives ; and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing : every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss, because of all the plagues thereof. 9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them. 10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, 11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Even so will I break this people, and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again, and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. 12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and eve7i make this city as Topbet: 1.3 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burnt incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods. 14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him to prophesy ; and he stood in the court of the Lord's house, and said to all the people, 15 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city, and upon all her towns, all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words. JEREMIAH, XX. Pashur, smiting Jeremiah, receiveih a new name, and a fearful doom. Jeremiah complaineth of contempt, of treachery, and of his birth. 1 Now Pashur, the son of Immer the priest, who icas also chief 2;overnor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were ii^the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. 3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib. 4 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the swoid of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it : and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. 5 Moreover, I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labors thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures Jeremiah, 257 of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. 6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house, shall go into captivity : and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies. 7 IT O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived ; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed : I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me. 8 For since I spake I cried out, \ cried violence and spoil ; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily. 9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name : but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. 10 II For 1 heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Re- port, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my hailing, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 11 But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one ; therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail : they shall be greatly ashamed ; for they shall not prosper : their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. 12 But, Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them : for unto thee have I opened my cause. 13 Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord ; for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-doers. 14 TT Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 15 Cursed he the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee, making him very glad. 16 And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not : and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noon-tide : 17 Because he slew me not from the womb : or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to he always great with me. 18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be confirmed with shame ? JEREMIAH, XXIII. Jeremiah prophesieth a restoration of the scattered flock. Against false prophets. 1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture ! saith the Lord. 2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them ; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. 258 Jeremiah. 3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them ; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. 5 T^ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely ; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUll RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say. The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; 8 But, The Lord liveth, which brought up, and which led, the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them ; and they shall dwell in their own land. 9 IT Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets ; all my bones shake : I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness. 10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth, the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. 11 For both prophet and priest are profane ; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. 12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery icays in tlie darkness ; they shall be driven on, and fall therein : for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. 13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria ; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing : they commit adultery, and walk in lies ; they strengthen also the hands of evil-doers, that none doth return from his wickedness : they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall ; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of Oie prophets that prophesy unto you ; they make you vain : they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say still unto them that despise me. The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace ; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18 For wlio hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word .' Who hath marked his word, and heard it? Jeremiah. 259 19 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind : it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart : in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. 21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 Bat if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned thera from their^vil way, and from the evil of their doings. 23 Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? 24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him ? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth .' saith the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26 How long shall ihis be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies ? Yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart ; 27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. 28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream ; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully : what is the chaff to the wheat ? saith the Lord. 29 Is not my Vv^ord like as a fire ? saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ? 30 Therefore, behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbor. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say. He saith. 32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness ; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them : therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. 33 IF And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying. What is the burden of the Lord ? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden ? 1 will even forsake you, saith the Lord. 34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house. 35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor, and everj' one to his brother, What hath the Lord answered .' and, What hath the Lord spoken ? 36 And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more ; for every man's word shall be his burden : for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What halh the Lord answered thee? and, AVhat hath the Lord spoken ? 38 But since ye say, The burden of the Lord ; therefore thus saith the Lord, Because ye say this word, The burden of the Lord, 260 Zedelciah. Jehoiachin. Jeremiah. and I have sent unto yon, saying, Ye shall not say. The burden of the Lord : 39 Therefore, behold I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that 1 gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence : 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a per- petual shame, which shall not be forgotten. B. C. 599. 2 KINGS, XXIV. 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers : and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken, from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt. 8 H Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. 10 IT At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. 12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his oflHcers : and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. 14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captiv^es, and all the craftsmen and smiths : none remained, save the poorest sort of people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive lo Babylon. 17 II And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiab. 18 Zedekiab loas twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. JEREMIAH, XXIV. By good and had figs, he foresheweth the restoration from captivity, and the desolation of Zedekiah and the rest. 1 The Lord shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set Jeremiah. 261 before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakini king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe : and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said the Lord unto me, Whatseest thou, Jeremiah .' And I said. Figs ; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4 TT Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel ; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land : and I will build them, and not pull them down ; and 1 will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God : for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 8 H And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil ; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that 1 gave unto them and to their fathers. JEREMIAH, XLIX. The judgment of the Ammonites, of Edom, of Damascus, of Ke- dar, of Hazor, and of Elam. 1 Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord, Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir.? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities ? 2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites ; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burnt with fire : then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord. 3 Howl, O Heshbon ; for Ai is spoiled : cry, ye daughters of Rab- bah, gird you with sackcloth ; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges : for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together. 4 Vv'herefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter ? that trusted in her treasures, saying. Who shall come unto me ? 5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all those that be about thee ; and ye shall be driven out 22 262 Jeremiah. every man right forth ; and none shall gather up him that wan- dereth. 6 And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Amnion, saith the Lord. 7 TI Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Teman ? is counsel perished from the prudent ? is their wisdom vanished ? 8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan ; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time iliat I will visit him. 9 If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes ? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough. 10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not. 11 Leave thj^ fatherless children, I will preserve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me. * 12 For thus saith the Lord ; Behold, they whose judgment icas not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken ; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished ? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 14 I have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15 For, lo. 1 will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men. 16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that boldest the height of the hill : though thou shouldcst make thy nest as high as the eagle, 1 will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. 17 Also Edom shall be a desolation : every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. 19 Behold, he shall come up like alien from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong : but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her ? for who is like me ? and who will appoint me the time ? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me ? 20 Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Edom : and his purposes, that he liath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman : Surely the least of the flock shall dravv them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. 21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall ; at the cry, the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea. 22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah : and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. Jeremiah. 263 23 U Concerning Divraascus. Hamath is confounded, andArpad: for they have heard evil tidings : they are faint hearted ; there, is sorrow on the sea ; it cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her : anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. 25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy ! 26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cutoff in that day, saith the Lord of hosts. 27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad. 28 H Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the Lord, Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east. 29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away : they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels ; and they shall cry unto them. Fear is on every side. 30 IT Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the Lord ; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you. 31 Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the Lord, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. 32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil : and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners ; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the Lord. 33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, a7ul a desolation for ever : there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it. 34 IT The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedediah king of •Judah, saying, 35 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. 36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quar- ters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds ; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come . 37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life ; and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord : and 1 will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: 38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the Lord. 39 H But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord. JEREMIAH, XXIX. B. C. 598. Jeremiah's letter to the captives in Babylon. The fearful end of Ahah and Zedekiah, two lying prophets. 1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet 264 Zedehiah. Jeremiah. sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the piinces of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem.) 3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,) saying, 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom 1 have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon : 5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them ; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them ; 6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters ; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that tliey may bear sons and daughters ; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it : for in the peace tliereof shall ye have peace. 8 ^ For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name : I have not sent them, saith the Lord. 10 fl For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accom- plished at Babylon I will visit yon, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that 1 think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord ; and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord ; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 15 IT Because ye have said. The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon ; 16 Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your biethren that are not gone forth with you into cap- tivity ; 17 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all Zedekiah. Jeremiah. 265 the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach among all the nations whither 1 have driven them. 19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them ; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord. 20 H Hear ye therefore tiie word of the Lord, all ye of the cap- tivity, whom J have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon : 21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the sonof Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name ; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon ; and he shall slay them before your eyes : 22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying. The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire ; 23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have com- mitted adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them ; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord. 24 ^ Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying. Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, ior every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks. 27 Now tlierefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Ana- thoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you .' 23 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying. This captivity is long; build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jere- miah the prophet. 30 IF Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite ; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie : 32 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will punish She- maiah the Nehelamite, and his seed : he shall not have a man to dwell among this people ; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord ; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord. 22* 266 Zedekiah. Jeremiah. B. C. 597. JEREMIAH, XXVII. Under the tyiye of bonds and yokes, he prophesieth the subduing of the neighbor kings unto J\"ebuchadnezzar. 1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakini* the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus saith the I^ord to me, Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, 3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah ; 4 And command them to say unto their masters. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your mas- ters; 5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power, and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. 6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebu- chadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant ; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. 7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come ; and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. 8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babyon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the iamine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your inchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon : 10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land ; and that 1 should drive you out, and ye should perish. 11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord ; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. 12 H I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying. Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon ? 14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon : for they prophesy a lie unto you. * This whole transaction seems evidently to refer to the days, and to be ad- dressed to Zedekiah ; therefore commentators have concluded that Jehoiakim was erroneously transcribed for Zedekiah in some early copy of the Scriptures. ZedeMah. Jeremiah. 267 15 For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in my name, that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. 16 Also I spake to the priests, and to all this people, saying. Thus saith the Lord, Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon : for they prophesy a lie unto you. 17 Hearken not unto them ; serve the king of Babylon and live : wherefore should this city be laid waste ? 18 But if they he prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. 19 IT For thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried^away captive Jeconiah, the" son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jeru- salem ; 21 Yea, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem, 22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that i visit them, saith the Lord : then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place. JEREMIAH, XXVIII. Hananiah's false prophesy : he breaketh Jeremiah's yoke. Jere- miah foretelleth of an iron yoke, and Hananiah's death. 1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the lifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azur, the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests, and of all the people, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon : 4 And 1 will bring again to this place Jeconiah, the son of Jehoia- kim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord : for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 5 TI Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah, in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord, 6 Even the prophet Jeremiah said. Amen : the Lord do so ; the Lord perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place. 268 Jeremiah. 7 Nevertheless, hear tliou now this word that 1 speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people ; 8 The prophets that have been before me, and before thee of old, prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdpms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. 9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known that the Lord hath tiuly sent him. 10 H Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. 11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchad- nezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations, within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. 12 IT Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the 2'>'>'ophet, (after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from oti" the neck of the prophet Jeremiah,) saying, 13 Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Thou hast hroken the yokes of wood ; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. 14 For tlius saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron upon the neek of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ; and they shall serve him : and I liave given him the beasts of the field also. 15 II Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet. Hear now, Hananiah, The Lord hath not sent thee ; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. 17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month. B. C. 505. JEREMIAH, L. 1 The word that the Lord spake against Babylon, and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. 2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a stand- ard, publish and conceal not : say, Babylon is taken, Bell is con- founded, Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. 3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate ; and none shall dwell therein : they shall remove, they shall depart both man and beast. 4 II In those da5's, and in that time, saith (he Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they, and the children of Judah together, going, and weeping they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. 5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord, in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. 6 My people hath been lost sheep : their sliepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains : Jeremiah. 269 they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place. 7 All that found them have devoured them : and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers. 8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the fiocks. 9 IT For lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country : and they shall set themselves in array against her ; from thence she shall be taken : their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man ; none shall return in vain. 10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil : all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord. 11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage ; because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls ; 12 Your mother shall be sore confounded ; she that bear you shall be ashamed; behold, the hindermost of the nation shall he a wilder- ness, a dry land, and a desert. 13 Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate : every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about : all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows : for she hath sinned against the Lord, 15 Shout against her round about : she hath given her hand : her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down : for it is the ven- geance of the Lord : take vengeance upon her ; as she hath done, do unto her. 16 Cut of! the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest : for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land. 17 !I Israel is a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away : first the king of Assyria hath devoured him ; and last this Nebuchad- rezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. 18 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel ; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan,and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Isiael shall be sought for, and there shall he none \ and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found : for I will pardon them whom I reserve. 21 IT Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod : waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 270 Jeremiah. 23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken ! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations ! 24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware : thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. 25 The Lord hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation : for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her store- houses ; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly : let nothing of her be left. 27 Slay all her bullocks ; let them go down to the slaughter : woe unto them I for their day is come, the time of their visita- tion. 28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29 Call together the archers against Babylon : all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about ; let none thereof escape : recom- pense her according to her work ; according to all that she hath done do unto her : for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord. 31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts : for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. 32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up : and I will kindle a tire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. 33 IT Thus saith the Lord of hosts. The children of Israel, and the children of Judah, were oppressed together; and all that took them captives held them fast ; they refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong ; The Lord of hosts is his name : he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 35 H A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. 36 A sword is upon the liars ; and they shall dote : a sword is upon her mighty men ; and they shall be dismayed. 37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her ; and they shall become as women : a sword is upon her treasures ; and they shall be robbed. 38 A drought is upon her waters ; and they shall be dried up : for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. 39 Therefore ^he wild beasts of the desert, with the wnld beasts of the islands, shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein : and it shall be no more inhabited for ever ; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord ; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. Jeremiah. 271 41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 42 They shall hold the bow and the lance ; they are cruel, and will not shew mercy : their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble ; anguish took hold of him and pangs as of a woman in travail. 44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan, unto the habitation of the strong : but i will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her ? for who is like me : and who will appoint me the time ? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me ? 45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon ; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans : Surely the least of the fleck shall draw them out ; surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. 46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations. JEREMIAH, LI. God's severe judgment against Babylon in revenge of Israel. 1 Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind ; 2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that ^hail fan her, and shall empty her land : for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. 3 Against /n?n that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine : and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all lier host. 4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. 5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of bis God, of the Lord of hosts ; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. 6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul : be not cutolf in her iniquity; for thists the time of the Lord's vengeance ; he will render unto her a recompense. 7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken : the nations have drunken of her wine ; there- fore the nations are mad. 8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed : howl for her : take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. 9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed : forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country : for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. 10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness : come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God. 11 Make bright the arrows ; gather the shields : the Lord hath 272 Jeremiah. raised up the spirit of tlie kings of the Medes : for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it ; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. 12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong ; set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes : for the Lord hath "both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabit- ants of Babylon. 13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. 14 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying. Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars ; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. 15 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his under- standing. 16 When he uttereth his voice there is a multitude of waters in the heavens ; and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth : he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge ; every founder is con- founded by the graven image : for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visita- tion they shall perish. 19 The portion of Jacob is not like them ; for he is the former of all things ; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance ; the Lord of hosts is his name. 20 Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war : for with thee will I break in pieces the nations ; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms ; 21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman ; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young ; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid ; 23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen ; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. 24 And I will render unto Babylon, and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord. 25 Behold, 1 a?n against thee, destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. 26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations ; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord. 27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz ; appoint a captain against her ; cause the horses to come up as the rough cater- pillars. Jeremiah. 273 28 Prepare against her the nations, with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. 29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow : for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds : their might hath failed, they became as women : they have burnt her dwelling-places ; her bars are bro- ken. 31 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end. 32 And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burnt with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her : yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, Ire hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say ; and. My blood upon tlie inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee ; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment and an hissing without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lion's whelps. 39 In their heat I will inrvce their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. 41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised ! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations ! 42 The sea is come up upon Babylon : she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon ; and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up : and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him ; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord. 46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumor that shall 23 274 Jeremiah. be heard in the land ; a rumor shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumor, and violence in the land, ruler ao;ainst ruler, 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon : and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon : for the spoilers shall come unto her from tlie north, saith the Lord. 49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. 50 Ye that have escaped the sword go away, stand not still : remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach : shame hath covered our faces; for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house. 52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon her graven images ; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord. 54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans : 55 Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of lier the great voice ; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered : 56 Because the spoiler is ceme upon her, even upon Babylon, and her miglity men are taken ; every one of their bows is broken : for the Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite. 57 And 1 will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men : and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not v.ake, saith the King, whose name is The Lord of-hosts. 53 Thus saitli the Lord of liosts ; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burnt with tire ; and ihe people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. 59 H The wQj'd which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Xeriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went v.ilh Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words ; 62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this Jeremiah. 275 book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates : 64 And thou shalt say. Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her : and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. JEREMIAH, XXX. B. C. 594. The Jews^ return. Joab comforted. Their return shall be gracious. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord God of L^i ael, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. ' 3 For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord ; that 1 will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord : and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. 4 li And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 For thus saith the Lord ; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child ? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness ? 7 Alas ! for that day is greatj so that none is like it : it is even the time of Jacob's trouble : but he shall be saved out of it. 8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him : 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. 10 IT Therefore fear thou not, ray servant Jacob, saith the Lord ; neither be dismayed, O Israel : for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee : though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee : but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. 12 For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, ayid thy w^ound is grievous. 13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up : thou hast no healing medicines. 14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee : they seek thee not : for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastise- ment of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased. 15 Why cryest thou for thine affliction ? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity : because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. 16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured ; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity ; and 276 Jeremiah. they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. 17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord ; because they called thee an Outcast, say- ing. This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. 18 IT Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places ; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. 19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry : and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few ; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congrega- tion shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. 21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them : and I will cause him to draw- near, and he shall approach unto me : for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me, saith the Lord. 22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind : it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart : in the latter days ye shall consider it. JEREMIAH, XXXI. The restoration of Israel. Christ promised : his care over the church. 1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Thus saith the Lord, The people which ivere left of the sword found grace in the wilderness ; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. 3 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying. Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee. 4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin af Israel : thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. 5 Thou slialt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria : the planters shall plant, and shall eat themns comujon things. 6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry. Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. 7 For thus saith the Lord ; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations : publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and Jeremiah. 277 the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together : a great company shall return thither. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them : I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble ; for I am father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. 10 Ti Hear the word of the I.ord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. 11 For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. 12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall sow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden ; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together : for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord. 15 H Thus saith the Lord, A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamenta- tion, and bitter weeping ; Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they ivere not. , 16 Thus saith the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears : for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord ; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that ^Ay children shall come again to their own border. 18 II I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke : turn thou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the Lord my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned I repented ; and after that I was instructed 1 smote upon 7nj/ thigh : I was ashamed, yea, even con- founded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. 20 Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a pleasant cliild ? for since I spake against him I do earnestly reniember him still ; therefore my bowels are troubled for him : I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. 21 Set thee up way-marks, make thee high heaps : set thine heart toward the highway, ei\-.i the way which thou wentest : turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn ajain to these thy cities. 22 H How long wilt thou go about, thou backsliding daughter ? for the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compjss a man. 23 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah, and in the cities thereof, when 1 shall bring again their captivity. The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. 24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks, 23* 278 Jeremiah. 25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and 1 have replenished every sorrowful soul. 26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld ; and my sleep was sweet unto me. 27 H Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to atflict ; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord. 29 In those daj's they shall say no more. The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity : every man that eateth the sour grapc% his teeth shall be set on edge. 31 IT Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah ; 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; (which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord ;) 33 But this shall he the covenant that 1 will make with the house of Israel ; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward paits, and write it in their hearts ; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord : for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord : for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 35 % Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar ; The Lord of hosts is his name : 36 If tho^e ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37 Thus saitli the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord. 38 1i Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that tlie city shall be built to the Lord, from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. 39 And the measuring-line shall go forth over against it upon the hill Gareh, and shall compass about to Goath. 40 Ai'd the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields, unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse- gate toward the east, shall he holy unto the Lord ; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down, any more for ever, Ezekiel 279 EZEKIEL, I. 1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth* year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, 3 Tlie word of tlie Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar ; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him. 4 TI And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness ivas about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire, 5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance ; they had the likeness of a man. 6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7 And their feet were straight feet ; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot : and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. 8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides ; and they four had their faces and their wings. 9 Their wings were joined one to another ; they turned not when they went ; they went every one straight forward. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side ; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side ; they four also had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus tcere their faces : and their wings were stretched up- ward ; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. 12 And they went every one straight forward : whither the spirit was to go they went ; and they turned not when they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance tt>as like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps : it went ' up and down among the living creatures ; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. 15 TT Now, as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel upon the earth by the living creatiu'es, with his four faces. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their work ivas like unto the color of a beryl ; and they four had one likeness : and their appear- ance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. * Thirtieth year. It is difficult to determine to what date the prophet here alludes. Some suppose he refers to the time of Josiah's reformation; some to the accession of Nabo-holassar to the throne of Babylon ; and others still to the years of his own life. Let those who would see the arguments on this subject consult Scott, and other commentators. 280 Ezelciel. 17 When they went, they went upon their four sides ; and they turned not when they went. 18 As for their rin2;s, they were so high that they were dreadful ; and their rings icere full of eyes round about them four. 19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them ; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. 20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go they went, thither was their spirit to go ; and the wheels were lifted up over against them : for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. 21 >Yhen those went, these went -^ and when those stood, these stood ; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them : for the spirit of the living crea- tures teas in the wheels, 22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. 23 And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other : every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. 24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech as the noise of an host : when they stood they let down their wings. 2-5 And there w^as a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. 26 U And above the firmament that icas over their heads was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne loas the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the color of amber, as the appeaiance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so ivas the appearance of the brightness round about. This icas the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when 1 saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. EZEKIEL, 11. EzekieVs coimnission : his instructions : the roll of his heavy pro- phecy. 1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. 2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that 1 heard him that spake unto me. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebelUous nation that hath rebelled against me : they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. 4 For they are impudent children, and stiff-hearted : I do send Ezekiel 281 thee unto them ; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. 5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. 6 IT And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither Be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns he with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions : be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear ; for they are most rebellious. 8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee ; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house : open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. 9 TT And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me ; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein ; 10 And he spread it before me : and it was written within and without : and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. EZEKIEL, III. Ezekiel eateth the roll: God shewethhim the rule of prophesy, and shutteth and openeth the propheVs mouth. 1 Moreover he said unto me. Son of man, eat that thou findest ; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. 3 And he said unto me. Son of man, cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it: and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. 4 Tl And he said unto me, Son of man, go get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. 5j.For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech, and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel : 6 Not to many people of a strange speech, and of an hard lan- guage, whose words thou canst not understand : surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. 7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee ; for they will not hearken unto me : for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 As an adamant, harder than flint, have I made thy forehead : fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 10 Moreover, he said unto me. Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine 'heart, and hear with thine ears. 11 And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them. Thus saith the Lord God, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a 282 Ezekiel. great rushing, saying. Blessed he the glory of the Lord from his place. 13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great lushing. 14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.. 15 *I Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonislied among them seven days. 16 And it came to pass, at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel : therefore, hear the word at my mouth, and give them warn- ing from n>e. 18 When I say unto the wicked. Thou shalt surely die ; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life ; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity : belt his blood wall I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wicked- ness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity : but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die : because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered ; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, that, the right- eous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned : also thou hast delivered thy soul. 22 IT And the hand of the Lord was there upon me, and said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. 23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar ; and I fell on my face. 24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. 25 But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and siiall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them : 26 And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God ; He that heareth, let him hear ; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear : for they are a rebellious house. By the type of a siege is shewed the time from Jerusalem-s defec- tion to the captivity. 1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem : Ezekiel 283 2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it ; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. 3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city ; and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This .s7ta// he a sign to the house of Israel. 4" Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it : according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. 5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number Of the days, three hundred and ninety days : so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when tliou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days : I have appointed thee each day for a year. 7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall he uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. 8 And behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the daj^s of thy siege. 9 If Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one ves?e!,aiK] make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that (l\ou shalt lie upon thy side : three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. 10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall he by weight, tvvetity shekels a day : from time to time shalt thou eat it. 11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the s\\i\\ part of an hin : from (imo to time shalt thou druik, 12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and tlsou shalt bake it with dung that cometh^out of man, in (heir sight. 13 And the Lord satcl, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither 1 will drive them. 14 Then said I, Ah Lord God ! behold, my soul hath not been polluted : for from my youth up, even till now, have I not eaten of that which dicth of itself, or is torn in pieces ; neither came tl-.ere abominable flesh into mv mouth. 15 Then he said unto'me, Lo, i have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepaie thy bread therewith. 16 TI Moreover he said unto me. Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem ; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care ; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment : 17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one wit'; another, and consume away for their iniquity. EZEKIEL, v. Under the type of hair, is shelved the judgment of Jerusalem for their rebellion, by famine, sword, and dispersion. 1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a bar- 284 Ezckicl ber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head, and upon thy beard ; then take thee bahances to weigh and divide the hair. 2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled ; and thou shalt take a third part and smite about it with a knife ; and a thhd part thou shalt scatter in the wind : and I will draw out a sword after them. 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 4 Then take of tlfem again, and cast them into the "midst of the fire, and burn them in the lire ; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. 5 IT Thus saith the Lord God, This is Jerusalem : I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. 6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her ; for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you ; 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee, in the sight of the nations. 9 And I w ill do in thee that which I have not done, and where- unto I will not do any more the like ; because of all thine abomina- tions. 10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers ; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. 11 WTierefore, as I live, saith the Lord Gb^, Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee ; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. 12 Tl A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee ; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee ; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds ; and I will draw out a sword after them. 13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord liave spoken it in my zeal, when 1 have accom- plished my fury in them. 14 Moreover, I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. 15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, unto the nations that ore round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee, in anger and in fury, and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it. " 16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you : Ezekiel 285 and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread. 17 So will I send upon you famine, and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee ; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee ; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it. EZEKIEL, VI. The judgment of Israel for their idolatry. A remnant shall be eaved. The faithful are exhorted to lament their calajnities. 1 And the woi-d of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God ; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, Behold I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places : 4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken ; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. 6 In all your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate ; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished, 7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you ; and ye shall know that I a?n the Lord. 8 IT Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. 9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations, whither they shall be cairied captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eye;:, which go a whoring after their idols : and they shall loathe theiTiselves tor the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. 11 IT Thus saith the Lord God, Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel ! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 12 He that is far off shall die of the pestilence ; and he that is near shall fall by the sword ; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine : thus will I accomplish rny fury upon them. 13 Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savor to all their idols. 14 So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land 24 286 Ezekiel desolate ; yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblatb, in all their habitations ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. EZEKIEL, VII. IsraeVs final desolation. The mournful repentance of them that escape. Under the type of a chain is shelved their miserable captivity. 1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying;, 2 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel ; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Z Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. 4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity : but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God ; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. 6 An end is come, the end is come : it watcheth for thee ; behold, it is come. 7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land : the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sound- ing again of the mountains. 8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee ; and 1 will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. 9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity : I will recompen!=e thee according to thy ways, and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth. 10 BehoUl the day, behold, it is come : the morning is gone forth : the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs : neither shall there he wailing for them. 12 The tijne is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn : for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive : for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return ; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready ; but none goeth to the battle : for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine with- in : he that is in the field shall die with the sword ; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. 16 U But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. JEzekiel. Zedekiah. 287 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 18 They shall also gird thetnselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them ; and shame shall he upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed ; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord : they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels ; because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity. 20 TF As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty ; but they made the images of their abominations, and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil ; and they shall pollute it. 22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place : for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it. 23 T[ Make a chain ; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses : I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled. 25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor ; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet : but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled : I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXVI. B. C. 593. 11 IT Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, ajid humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet s;pea/fm^ from the mouth of the Lord. 13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God : but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. 14 IT Moreover all the chief of the priests and the people trans- gressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen ; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jeru- salem. 15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his mes- sengers, rising up betimes, and sending ; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 288 Ezehiel EZEKIEL, VIII. EzekieVs vision of jealousy. The chambers of imagery. 1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. 2 Then I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire ; from the appearance of his loins, even downward, fire : and from his loins, even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of amber. 3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head, and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. 4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. 5 TI Then said he unto me. Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward? the north, and, behold, northward at the gate of the altar, this image of jealousy in the entry. 6 He said, furthermore, unto me. Son of man, seest thou what they do ? even the great abominations that the house of Israel com- mitteth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary ? But turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. 7 H And he brought me to the door of the court ; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall : and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door. 9 And he said unto me» Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. 10 So I went in and saw ; and, behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all thf^ idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand ; and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12 Then said he unto me. Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery ? For they say, The Lord seeth us not ; the Lord hath forsaken the earth. 13 U He said also unto me. Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. 14 Tlien he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north ; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tarnmuz. 15 IT Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man ^ Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the Ezekiel 289 porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. 17 IT Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man ? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abom- inations which they commit here ? For they have tilled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore will I also deal in fury : mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity : and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. EZEKIEL, IX. Jl vision whereby is shewed the preservation of some, and the de- struction of the rest. God cannot be entreated for them. 1 He ciied also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying. Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. 2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand ; and one man among them loas clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side : and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. 3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called, to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side ; 4 And the Lord said unto him. Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 5 li And to the others he said in mine hearing. Go ye after him through the city, and smite ; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity : 6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women : but come not near any man upon whom is the mark ; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. 7 And he sal! unto them. Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain : go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. 8 "il And it came to pass, while they were slating them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said. Ah Lord God ! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in the pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem ? 9 Then said he unto me. The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness : for they say. The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. 10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither v.'ill I have pity ; but I will recompense their way upon their head. 24 * 290 EzeUel 11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the ink- horn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me. EZEKIEL, X. The vision of the coals of fire to be scattered over the city. The visio7i of the cheruhims. 1 Tlien I lool^ed, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said. Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. 3 Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house when the man went in ; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house ; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory. 5 And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. 6 And it came to pass, tJwt when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying. Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels. 7 And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that ivas between the cherubims, and took thereof and put it into the hands oHwu that was clothed with linen; who took it, and went out. 8 H And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings. 9 And wlicn 1 looked, behold, the four wheels by the cherubims^ one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub : and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a beryl stone. 10 And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. 11 When they went, they went upon their four sides ; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they fol- lowed it ; they turned not as they went. 12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, icere full of eyes round about, eveii the wheels that they four had. 13 As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel ! 14 And every one had four faces : the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face ivas the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 1-5 And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. Ezehiel 291 16 And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them ; and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. 17 When they stood, these stood ; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also : for the spirit of the living creature was in them. 18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. 19 And the cherubims lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight : when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house ; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar, and I knew that they were the cherubims. 21 Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings ; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves : they went every one straight forward. EZEKIEL, XI. The princes^ presumption: their sin and judgment. God's purpose of saving a remnant, and punishing the wicked, 1 Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the Lord's house, which looketh eastward ; and behold at the door of the gate live and twenty men ; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city. 3 Which say, it is not near ; let us build houses : this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh. 4 IT Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man. 5 And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me. Speak ; Thus saith the Lord ; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel : for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. 6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron, but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. 8 Ye have feared the sword ; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord God. 9 And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 10 Ye shall fall by the sword ; I will judge you in the border of Israel ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 292 Ezekiel 11 This ci"/?/ shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; hut I will judge you in the border of Israel : 12 And ye shall know that I am the Lord : for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you. 13 1[ And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord God ! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel ? 14 H Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get ye far from the Lord ; unto us is this land given in possession. 16 Therefore say. Thus saith the Lord God, Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. 17 Therefore say. Thus saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. IS And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof, and all the abominations thereof, from thence. 19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you : and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh ; 20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them : and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God. 22 H Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them ; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. 24 !! Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity : so the vision that 1 had seen went up from me. 25 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the Lord had shewed me. EZEKIEL, XII. The type of EztkieVs removing, sheweth the captivity of Zedekiah. EzekieVs trembling sheweth the Jews' desolation. 1 The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, EzeJciel 293 which have eyes to see, and see not ; they have ears to hear, and hear not : for they are a rebellious house. 3 Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight ; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. 4 Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff" by day in their sight, as stuff" for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth inlo captivity. 5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. 6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight : thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground ; for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. 7 And I did so as I was commanded : I brought forth my stuff" by day, as stuff" for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand ; I brought it forth in the twilight, and 1 bare It upon 7711/ shoulder in their sight. 8 IT And in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me, laying, 9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, raid unto thee. What doest thou ? 10 Say thou unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, This burden ^oncerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them. 11 Say, I am your sign : like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them : they shall remove and go into captivity. 12 And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth : they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby : he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes. 13 My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare : and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chal- deans ; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. 14 And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands ; and I will draw out the sword after them. 15 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. 16 But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence ; that they may declare all their abominations, among the heathen whither they come ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. 17 U Moreover, the word of the Lord came to nie, saying, 18 Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness. » 19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel ; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonish- ment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of ail them that dwell therein. 294 Ezekiel 20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 21 II And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 22 Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth ? 23 Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God ; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel ; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. 24 For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divina- tion within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the Lord : I will speak, and the word that I shall gpeak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged : for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God. 26 li Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 27 Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. 28 Therefore say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God ; there shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XIII. The reproof of lying prophets, and their untempered mortar. Of the jjrophetesses, and their pillows. 1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord : 3 Thus saith the Lord God, Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing ! 4 Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. 5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. 6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying. The Lord saith ; and the Lord hath not sent them : and they have made othtrs to hope that they would confirm the word. 7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith zY; albeit I have not spoken ? 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye have spoken vauitN', and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God. • 9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies ; they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God. 10 11 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying. Ezekiel. 295 Peace ; and there was no peace ; -and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar : 11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall : there shall be an overflowing shower ; and ye, great hailstones, shall fall : and a stormy wind shall rend it. 12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you. Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it 7 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury ; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. 14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fajl, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that 1 am the Lord. 15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and I will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it ; 16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord God. 17 H Likewise thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart ; and prophesy thou against them. 18 And say, Thus saith the Lord God ; Woe to the wome/i that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls ! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you ? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies ? 20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make thein fly. 21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad ; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return frojn his wicked way, by promising him life : 23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations : for I will deliver my people out of your hand : and ye shall know that 1 am the Lord. EZEKIEL, XTV. God's answer to idolaters. His sentence. A remnant shall be saved. 1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 296 Ezekiel 2 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, aiid put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face : should I be inquired of at all by them ? 4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols ; 5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 6 H Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Repent, and turn ?/0Mrse/res from your idols ; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me ; I the Lord will answer him by myself: 8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet ; and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity : the pun- ishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him ; 1 1 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions ; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God. 12 IT The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 13 Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break die staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it.. 14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver hut their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. 15 ^ If 1 cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: 16 Though these three men loere in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sous nor daughters ; they only shall be delivei-ed, but the land shall be desolate. 17 H Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say. Sword, go through the land ; so that I cut off man and beast from it : 18 Though these three men icere in it, as 1 live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. 19 H Or ?/ I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upc>i it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast : Ezekiel 297 20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter ; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. 21 For thus saith the Lord God ; How much more when 1 send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off" from it man and beast ? 22 IT Yet, behold therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, hoth sons and daughters : behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings : and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jeru- salem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. 23 And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings : and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XV. By the unfitness of the vine branch for any work, is shelved the rejection of Jerusalem. 1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man. What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest ? 3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work ? Or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon ? 4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel ; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work ? 5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work : how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned ? 6 IT Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerasalem. 7 And I will set my face against them ; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XVI. By a wretched infant is shewed the state of Jerusalem ; God's love to her. 1 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3 And say. Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem ; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan ; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. 4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy naval was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee ; thou was not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have com- 25 298 Ezekiel passion upon thee ; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. 6 IT And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live ; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. 7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent orna- ments : thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. 8 Now when 1 passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of" love ; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness : yea, 1 sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine, 9 Then washed I thee with water ; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger's skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. 11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thine hands, and a chain on thy neck. 12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. 13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver ; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work : thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil ; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. 14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty : for it ivas perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. 15 TI But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by ; his it was. 16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with diverse colors, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which 1 had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them ; 18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them ; and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. 19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savor : and thus it was, saith the Lord God. 20 Moreover, thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast born unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, 21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them ? 22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. 23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe upto thee ! saith the Lord God ;) Ezehiel, 299 24 That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. 25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. 26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh ; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. 28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable ; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. 29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea ; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. 30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman ; 31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire ; 32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, whkhidkQih strangers instead of her husband ! 33 They give gilts to all whores : but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. 3-1 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whore- doms, whereas none foUovveth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, there- fore thou art contrary. 35 IT Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord : 36 Thus saith the Lord God ; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them ; 37 Behold, therefore, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated ; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. 38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged ; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. 39 I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. 40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords, 41 And the}'^ shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judg- ments upon thee in the sight of many women : and I will cause thee 300 Ezehiel to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. 42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy j'outh, but hast fretted me in all these things ; behold, therefore, I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God : and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations. 44 IT Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying. As is the mother, so is her daughter. 45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that loatheth her husband and her children ; and thou erf the "sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and their children : your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand : and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. 47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations; but as if that loere a very little thing, thou wast cor- rupted more than they in all thy ways. 48 Jis 1 live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughtei-s, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness, was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. 51 Neither halh Samaria rommitted half of thy sins ; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. 52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame, for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they : they are more righteous than thou ; yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that t!)ou hast justified thy sisters. 53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then tvill I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them ; 54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be con- founded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. 55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate. 56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride. 57 Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which depise thee rouad ?ibout, EzeTcid. 301 58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord. 59 For thus saith the Lord God ; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the cove- nant. 60 IT Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting cove- nant, 61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger : and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. 62 And I will establish my covenant with thee ; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord : 63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when 1 am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God. EZKKIEL, XVli. , By two eagles and a vine, is shewed God's judgment upon Jeru- salem. God promiseth to plant the cedar of the gospel. 1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel ; 3 And say. Thus saith the Lord God ; A great eagle with great wings, long- winged, full of feathers, which had diverse colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar : 4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffic ; he set it in a city of merchants. 5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field ; he placed it by great waters, ayid set it as a willow tree. 6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. 7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers : and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. 8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. 9 Say thou. Thus saith the Lord God ; Shall it prosper ? Shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither ? It shall wither in all the leaves of her spring even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. 10 Yea, behold, ^e/no- planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, w^lien (he east wind toucheth it .' It shall wither in the furrows where it grew. 11 H Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell the?n, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, 25=^ 302 Ezekiel and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babyton ; 13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him : he hath also taken the mighty of the land: 14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. 15 But he rebelled against him, in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people : shall he prosper ? shall he escape that doeth such things ? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered ? 16 jis 1 live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place ivhere the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. 17 Neither shall Pharaoh, with his mighty army and great com- pany, make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons : 18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when^ lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. 20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare ; and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. 21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds ; and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it. 22 IT Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it ; 1 will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent. 23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it ; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing ; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish : I the Lord have spoken, and have done it. EZEKIEL, XVIir. God disalloweih ike parable of sour grapes : he defendeth the equity of his dealings, and exhorteth to repentance. 1 The word of the Lord came unto me again, sa5'ing, 2 What mean ye, that ye use this proyerb concerning the land of Israel, saying. The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge ? 3 ^s I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Ezehitl 303 4 Behold, all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine : the soul that sinneth, it shall die. 5 IT But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, 6 And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman, 7 And hath not oppressed any, hut hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment ; 8 He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, 9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly ; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God. 10 H If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things. 11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife, 12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence^ hath not restored the pledge, and hath hfted up his eyes to the idols, hath apmmitted abomination, 13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase : shall he then live? He shall not five ; he hath done all these abomina- tions ; he shall surely die ; his blood shall be upon him. 14 M Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, 15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbor's wife, 16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, 17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes : he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. 18 As for bis father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. 19 H Yet say ye. Why ? Doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father ? When "the son hath done that which is lawful and right, ajid hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath com- mitted, and keep all n)y statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him : in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure at all that the v>^icked should die ? saith 304 Ezehiel. the Lord God ; and not that he should return from his ways, and live ? 24 IT But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live ? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned : in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. 25 li Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, house of Israel, Is not my way equal ? are not your ways une- qual ? 26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them ; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wicked- ness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his trans- gressions that he hath committed he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal ? 30 Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, every one accord- ing to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yoMrseZues from all your transgressions ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 IT Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye hare transgressed ; and make you a new heart and a new spirit : for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God : wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. EZEKIEL, XIX. A lamentation for the princes of Israel, under the parable of lions^ whelps taken in a pit. 1 Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Is- rael, 2 And say. What is thy mother ? A lioness : she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. 3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey ; it devoured men. 4 The nations also heard of him ; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. 5 Now "when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. 6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. 7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities ; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. 8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the prov- inces, and spread their net over him : he was taken in their pit. Ezehid. 305 9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon ; they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. 10 IT Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful, and full of branches, by reason of many waters. 11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she ap- peared in her height with the multitude of her branches. 12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong rods were broken and withered, the fire consumed them. 13 And now she is planted in .the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. 14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit ; so that she hath no strong rod to he a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation. EZEKIEL, XX. B. C. 592. God refuseth to be consulted by the elders of Israel: the story of their rebellion: he promiseth to gather them. 1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day £)i the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. 2 Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, 3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, Are ye come to inquire of me ? jis I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. 4 11 Wilt thou judge them, son of man? wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers ; 5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God; C In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt, into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands ; 7 Then said I unto them. Cast ye away every man the abomina- tions of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt : I am the Lord your God. 8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me : they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt : then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they loere, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. 10 IT Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness, 306 Ezekiel 11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do he shall even live in them. 12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness : they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them : and my sabbaths they greatly polluted : then 1 said, 1 would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them. 14 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be pol- luted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. 15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flow- ing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands ; 16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths : tor their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness. Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols : 19 I am the Lord your God ; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them ; 20 And hallow my sabbaths ; and thej'' shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. 21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me : they walked not in my statutes neither kept my judgments to do them, which i/^a man do, he shall even live in them ; they polluted my sabbaths : then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. 23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries ; 24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols. 25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live : 26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that 1 am the Lord. 27 IT Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high Ezekiel 307 hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering : there also they made their sweet savor, and poured out there their drink- offerings. 29 Then I said unto them. What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. 30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God ; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers ? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations ? 31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day : and shall 1 be inquired of by you, house of Israel ? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. 32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say. We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. 33 U ^s 1 live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you : 34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. 36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. 37 And'l will cause you to pass under the rod, and 1 Avill bring you into the bond of the covenant : 38 And I will purge out fiom among you the rebels and them that transgress against me : I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel : and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God ; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me : but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols. 40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land serve me : there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 41 I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered ; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 42 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. 43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled ; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. 44 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways. 308 Ezekiel nor according to your corrupt doings, ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God. 45 Tf Moreover, the worn of the Lord came unto me, saying, 46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field; 47 And say to the forest of the south. Hear the word of the Lord ; Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree ; the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. 48 And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it : it shall not be quenched. 49 Then said I, Ah Lord, God ! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables ? EZEKIEL, XXI. Ezekiel prophesieth against Jerusalem. The sharp and blight sword. 1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, 3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north ; 5 That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath : it shall not return any more. 6 Sigh, therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of ^Ay loins; and with bitterness sigh before their ej'es. 7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee. Wherefore sighest thou ? that thou shalt answer. For the tidings, because it cometh ; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water : behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God, 8 TT Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 Son of man, prophesy, and say. Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished : 10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter ; it is furbished that it may glitter : should we then make mirth ? it contemneth the rod of my son as every tree. 11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled : this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. 12 Cry and howl, son of man ; for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel ; terrors, by reason of the sword, shall be upon my people : smite therefore upon thy thigh. 13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod ? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God. 14 Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands Ezekieh 309 together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain : it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. 15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied : ah ! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter. 16 Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set. 17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest : I the Lord have said it. 18 IT The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, 19 Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come : both twain shall come forth out of one land ; and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. * 20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Anunonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. 21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination : he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. 22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to iift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. 23 And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths : but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken. 24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear ; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. 2-5 IT And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniqiiity shall have an end, 26 Thus saith the Lord God ; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown ; this shall not be the same : exalt him that is low, and atase him that is high. 27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn it ; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is ; and I will give it hi7n. 28 TI And thou, son of man, prophesy and say. Thus saith ti:e Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, Tlie sword, the sword is drawn : for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering : 29 While they see vanity unto thee, while they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. 30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath ? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. 31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of ray wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. 32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire ; thy blood shall be in the 26 310 Ezekiel midst of the. land, thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it. B. C. 59], EZEKIEL, XXII. A catalogue of sins in Jerusalem. God will hum them as dross in his furnace. 1 Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Yea, thou shalt shew her ail her abominations, 3 Then say thou. Thus saith the Lord God ; The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. 4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed ; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made ; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years ; therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. 5 Those that he near, and those that he far from thee shall mock thee which art infamous and much vexed. 6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. 7 In thee have they set light by father and mother : in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger : in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. 8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned ray sab- baths. 9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood : and in thee they eat upon the mountains : in the midst of thee they commit lewd- ness : 10 In thee have ihey discovered their father's nakedness : in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution. 11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law ; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood ; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbor by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. 13 "li Behold, therefore, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. 14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee ■ I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it. 15 And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. 16 And thou shall lake thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. 17 *T And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross : all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the fur- nace ; they are even the dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye are all become Ezekiel 311 dross, behold therefore, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusa- lem. 20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fife upon it, to melt it ; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. 21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you. 23 IF And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, say unto her. Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things ; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine iioly things : they have put no difference between the holy and pro- fane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying. Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy ; yea, they have op- pressed the stranger wrongfully. 30 And I sought for a man among thern that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it ; but 1 found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them ; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath : their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XXIII. The whoredoms ofAholah and Aholibah: Aholibah is to he j>lagued by her lovers : their judgments. 1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother : 3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt ; they committed whoredoms in their youth : there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister ; and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names ; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholi- bah. 313 Ezekiel 5 And Aliolah, played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, 6 Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. 7 Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them thai were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted : with all their idols she defiled herself. 8 Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt : for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. 9 Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. 10 These discovered her nakedness : they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword : and she became famous among women : for tliey had executed judgment upon her. 11 And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms. 12 She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbors, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 Then 1 saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, 14 And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with Vermillion, 15 Gilded _with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon (heir heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity : 16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her iiilo the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom ; and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. 18 So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her naked- ness : then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 JFor she doited upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth. in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth. 22 TT Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alien- ated, and I will taring them against thee on every side ; 23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, aiid all the Assyrians with them : all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses. 24 And they shall come up against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against Ezekiel 313 thee buckler, and shield, and helmet, round about ; and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments. 25 And I will set my jealousy against thee : and they shall deal furiously with thee : they shall take away thy nose and thine ears ; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword : they shall take thy sons and thy daughters ; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. 26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. 27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt : so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. 28 For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, 1 will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated : 29 And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare ; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. 30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols. 31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister ; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand. 32 Thus saith the Lord God, Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large : thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision ; it containeth much. 33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Sa- maria. 34 Thou shalt even drink it, and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, pluck off thine own breasts : for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. 35 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast forgotten rae, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewd- ness and thy whoredoms. 36 IT The Lord said moreover unto me ; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Ahohbah ^ Yea, declare unto them their abom- inations ; 37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery ; and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them. 38 Moreover, this they have done unto me : they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. 39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it ; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house. 40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent ; and, lo, they came : for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments, 26* 314 JEzekiel. Zedekiah. Jeremiah. 41 And sattest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil. 42 And a voice of a multitude being at ease icas with her : and with the men of the common sort icere brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads. 43 Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them? 44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot ; so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women. 4-5 H And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood ; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. 46 For thus saith the Lord God ; 1 will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled. 47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords ; they shall slay thejj' sons and their daugh- ters, and burn up their houses with fire. 48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. 49 And they shall recompense j'our lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols : and ye shall know that I am the Lord God. B. C. 590. 2 KINGS, XXV. 1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. JEREMIAH, XXXVII. 3 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the Lord our (^od for us. 4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people ; for they had not put him into prison. EZEKIEL, XXIV. By a boiling pot, is shewed Jerusalem's destruction. By EzekieVs not mourning for his ivife, is shewed the Jews' calamity to be beyond all sorrow. 1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Ezekiel. 315 2 Son of man, Write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. 3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it : 4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder ; fill it with the choice bones. .5 Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein. 6 ^ Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece ; let no lot fall upon it. 7 For her blood is in the midst of her ; she set it upon the top of a rock ; she poured it not upon the ground to cover it with dust ; 8 That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance ; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. 9 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Woe to the bloody city ! I will even make the pile for fire great. 10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burnt. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed. 12 She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her : her scum shall be in the fire. 13 In thy filthiness is lewdness : because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged froai thy filthines.s any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. 14 I the Lord have spoken it ; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will 1 spare, neither will I repent: according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God. 15 TI Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke : yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. 17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. 18 So I spake unto the people in the morning ; and at even my wife died : and I did in the morning as I was commanded. 19 IT And the people said unto me. Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so ? 20 Then I answered them, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Be- hold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth ; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. 316 Ezekiel 22 And ye shall do as I have done : ye shall not cover your lips, •nor eat the bread of men. 23 And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep ; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another. 24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign : according to all that he hath done shall ye do ; and when this cometh, ye shall know that I ain the Lord God. 25 Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters, 26 That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thijie ears ? 27 In that day shall thj' mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb : and thou shalt be a sign unto them ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. EZEKIEL, XXV. GoiVs vengeance on the Ammonites for their insolence against the Jews, 4'c. 1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them : 3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the I^ord God ; Thus sailh the Lord God, Because tbOu saidst. Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned ; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate ; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity ; 4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee : they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. 5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammon- ites a couching place for flocks : and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 6 For thus saith the Lord God ; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel ; 7 Behold, therefore, I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen ; and I will cut thee off from the people, and J will cause thee to perish out of the countries. I will destroy thee ; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, 8 IT Thus saith the Lord God ; Because that Moab and Seir do say. Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen ; 9 Therefore, behold, 1 will open the side of Moab from the cities; from his cities ivhich are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, 10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. Jeremiah. Zedekiali. 317 11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. 12 II Thus saith the Lord God, Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah-by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them : 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it ; and I will make it desolate from Teraan ; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel : and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger, and according to my fury ; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the" Lord God. 15 TI Thus saith the Lord God, Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred ; 16 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant upon the sea-coast. 17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes ; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. JEREMIAH, XXI. Zedekiah inquireth the event of JVebuchadrezzar's war. A hard siege foretold. 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, « 2 Inquire. I pray thee, of tho Lord for us, (for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us,) if so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us. ' 3 IT Then said Jeremiah unto them. Thus shall ye say to Zede- kiah, 4 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city. 5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, even in anger and in fury, and in great wrath. 6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast : they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 And afterward, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life ; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. 318 Jeremiah. 8 IT And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. 9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence : but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. 10 For 1 have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord ; it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 11 ^ And touching the house of the king of Judah, say. Hear ye the word of the Lord ; 12 house of David, Thus saith the Lord, Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 13 Behold, I a)n against thee, 6 inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord ; which say. Who shall come down against us ? or who shall enter into our habitations ? 14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord : and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it. JEREMIAH, XXII. Jin exhortation to repentance. The judgment of Shallum, of Coniah. 1 Thus saith the Lord ; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, 2 And say. Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people thai enter in by these gates ; 3 Thus saith the Lord ; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor : and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house, kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus saith the Lord unto the king's house of Judah ; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon : yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. 7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons : and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. 8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city ? 9 Then they shall answer, Beeause they have forsaken the cove- nant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. 10 TT Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him : but weep Jeremiah. 319 sore for him that goeth away ; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. 11 For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place ; He shall not return thither any more : 12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 13 H Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong ; that useth his neighbor's service without w^ages, and giveth him not for his work ; 14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows ; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermillion. 15 Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him ? 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him : was not this to know me ? saith the Lord. 17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. 18 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah ; They shall not lament for him, saying. All my brother! or. Ah sister ! they shall not lament for him, saying. Ah lord ! or. Ah his glory ! 19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 20 IT Go up to Lebanon and cry ; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages : for all thy lovers are destroyed. 21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity ; but thou saidst f will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, tliat thou obeyedst not my voice. 22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity : surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded tor all thy wickedness. 23 inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nests in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail ! 24 As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would 1 pluck thee thence ; 25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born ; and there shall ye die. 27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. 28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol .' Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure ? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not ? 29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. 320 Jeremiah. 30 Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days : for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. B. C. 589. JEREMIAH, XXXVII. 5 Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt : and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem. 6 II Then came the word of the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah," saj'ing, 7 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me ; Behold,. Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. 8 And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. 9 Thus saitVi the Lord, Deceive not yourselves, saying. The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart, 10 For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against j'ou, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. 11 % And it came to pass, that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, 12 Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people. 13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward urns there, whose name ivas L'ijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah ; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans. 14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false ; 1 fall not away to the Chal- deans. But he hearkened not to him : so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes, 1.5 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jerejniah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe ; for they had made that the prison, 16 ^ When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days ; 17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out ; and the king asked him secret!}- in his house, and said, Is there any word from the Lord.' And Jeremiah said, There is : for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, 18 Moreover, Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have i offended against thee, or against thy servaiUs, or against thisj>eople, that ye have put me in prison ? 19 Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land ^ 20 Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king : let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee ; that thou cau*e me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. Jeremiah. Zedckiah. 321 21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the piison, and that they should give him daily a piece of hread out of the baker's street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. JEREMIAH, XXXVIII. Jeremiah is put into the dungeon. Ebed-melech geiteth him some enlargement : his counsel to the king. 1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashurthe son of Mal- chiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live ; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. 3 Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it. 4 Therefore the princes said unto the king. We beseech thee, let this man be put to death : for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in the city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them : for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. 5 Then Zedekiah the king said. Behold, he is in your hand : for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. 6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Mal- chiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison : and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire : so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. 7 H Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon ; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin ; 8 Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying, 9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dun- geon ; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is : for {here is no moie bread in the city. 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, beloi-a he die. 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with iiim, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts, and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said imto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten lags under thine armholes, under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. 1.3 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon : and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prisou. 27 - ■ 322 Zedehiah. Jeremiah. 14 TI Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord : and the king said unto Jeremiah, 1 will ask thee a thing ; hide nothing from me. 15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death ? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me ? 16 So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. 17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire ; and thou shalt live, and thine house : 18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. 19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. 20 But Jeremiah said. They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee : so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. 21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me : 22 And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall he brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those icoynen shall sajs Thy friends have set thee on, and have pre- vailed against thee : thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back. 23 So they shall bring out all (liy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans ; and thou shalt not esc .o;^ out of their hand, hut shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Ba'oylon : and thou shalt cause this city to be burnt with fire. 24 II Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. 25 But if the princes hear that 1 have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not fsom us, and we will not put thee to death ; also what the king said unto thee : 26 Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there. 27 Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him : and he told them according to all these words that the king had com- manded. So they left off speaking with him : for the matter was not perceived. 28 So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken : and he was there vvhen Jeinisalem was taken. Ezekiel 32^ EZEKIEL, XXIX. The judgment of Pharaoh, 8fc. 1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt : 3 Speak, and say. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. 4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales ; and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. 5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers : thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered : 1 have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field, and to the fowls of the heaven. 6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a statT of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder : and when they leaned upon thee thou brakest, and raadest all their loins to be at a stand. 8 1i Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. 9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste ; atid they shall know that I am the Lord : because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. 10 Behold, therefore, I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. 12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 13 IT Yet thus saith the Lord God, At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scat- tered : 14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habita- tion ; and they shall be there a base kingdom. 15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms ; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations : for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. 16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them : but they shall know that I am the Lord God. 324 Jeremiah. JEREMIAH, XXXII. Jeremiah's imprisonment : his complaint to God. The captivity confirmed. .^1 promise of a gracious return. 1 The word that came to Jereiiiiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem : and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying. Wherefore dost thoii prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes ; 5 And lie shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord : though ye fight with the Chal- dean? ye shall not prosper? 6 H And Jeremiah said. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 7 Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum, thine uncle, shall come unto thee, saying. Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth ; for the right of reden)ption is thine to buy it. S So Hanameel, mine uncle's son, came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me. Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin : for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine ; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. 9 And I bought the field of Hanameel, my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. 10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. 11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open. 12 And 1 gave the evidence of the purciiase unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel, mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison . 13 TT And I charged Bai-uch before them, saying, 14 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, (both which is sealed,) and this evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days : 15 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses, and fields, and vineyards, shall be possessed again in this land. 16 Tl Now, when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch; the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying. Jeremiah. 325 17 Ah, Lord God: behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee : 18 Thou shevvest loving-kindness unto thousands, and recom- pensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them : the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name ; 19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work : (for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men; to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:) 20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even, unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men ; and hast made thee a name, as at this day ; 21 And liast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terror ; 22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey ; 23 And they came in, and possessed it ; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law : they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do ; therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them. 24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it ; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence : and what thou hast spoken is come to pass ; and, behold, thou seest it. 25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord God, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses ; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 IT Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 27 Behold, I om the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me ? 28 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it, with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink-offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. SO For the children of Israel, and the children of Judah, have only done evil before me from their youth : for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. 31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury, from the day that they built it, even unto this day, that I should remove it from before my face ; 32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel, and of the children of Judah, which ihey have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face : though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. 326 Jeremiah. 34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to delile it. 35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnojii, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. 36 *?[ And now, therefore, thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be deUvered into the hand of the king of Babylon, by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence ; 37 Beliokl, 1 will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fur}-, and in great wrath ; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely : 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God : 39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them : 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul. 42 For thus saith the Lord ; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. 43 And the fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say. It ts desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them^ and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south : for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord. JEREMIAH, XXXIII. A gracious return promised. Christ the Branch of righteousness. 1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the pii-;on, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it ; the Lord is his name. 3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. 4 For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword ; 5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city. Jeremiah. 327 6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. 7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first. 8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, where- by they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. 9 IT And it sball be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them : and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. 10 Thus saith the Lord; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ihat are deso- late without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, 11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness ; the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; the voice of them that shall say. Praise the Lord of hosts : for the Lord is good ; lor his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saitli the Lord. 12 Ti Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing theii- flocks to lie down. 13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth the7n, saith the Lord. 14 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah. 15 IT In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David ; and he shall execute judg- ment and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely : and this is the name wherewith she shall be called. The Lord our righteousness. 17 TI For thus saith the Lord ; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel ; 18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt- offerings, and to kindle meat-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. 19 TI And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus saith the Lord ; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not? be day and night in their season ; 21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne ; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured : so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. 32S Jeremiah. 23 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 Con :^ide rest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two faniihes which the Lord hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? Thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25 Thus saith the Lord ; If my covenant he not with day and night, and if 1 have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth ; 26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my ser- vant, so that I will not take any of his seed to he rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : for I will cause their captivity to return, and have meicy on them. JEREMIAH, XXXIV. Jeremiah prophesieth the ca2)tivity of Zedekiah, and of the city. 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the king- doms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel ; Go and speak to Zede- kiah king of Judah, and tell him. Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire : 3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand ; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt ^o to Babylon. 4 Yet hear (he word of the Lord, Zedekiah king of Judah ; Thus saith the Lord of thee. Thou shalt not die by the sword: 5 But thou shalt die in peace : and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odors for {hee; and they will lament thee, saying. Ah lord! fori have piononnced the word, saith the Lord. 6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words Onto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7 AVhen the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah : for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah, 8 IT This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which vere at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; 9 That every man srhould let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, heing an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free ; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. 10 ?v"ow, when all the princes, and all the people which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his man- servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more ; then they obeyed, and let them go. 11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the Jeremiah. 329 handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. 12 IT Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 13 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egyp*:, out of the house of bondmen, saying, 14 At the end of seven years, let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and, when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee : but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. 15 And ye wore now turned, and had done rightly in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor : and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name : 16 But ye turned, and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor : behold, 1 proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine ; and 1 will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not perfoimed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, 19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; 20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life ; and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. 21 And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes, will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. 22 Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city ; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire : and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant. JEREMIAH, XXXIX. 15 IT Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 16 Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring n>y words upon this city for evil, and not for good ; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee. 17 But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord : and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. 330 Jeremiah. Zedekiah. 18 For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee : because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. B. C. 588. JEREMIAH, XXXIX. Jerusalem is taken. Zedekiah made blind, and sent to Babylon. The city is ruined. The people are captivated. 1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah kingof Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. 2 And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up. 3 And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon. 4 ^ And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they t^ed, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls : and he went out the way of the plain. 5 Bui the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zede- kiah in the plains of Jericho : and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him. 6 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes : also the king of Babvlon slew all the nobles of Ju- dah. 7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon. 8 IF And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with tire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away cap- tive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained. 10 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. JEREMIAH, LII. Zedekiah rebelleth. Jerusalem is besieged and taken. Zedekiali's sons killed, Sfc. 1 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name toas Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did that lohich was evil in the eyes of the Lord, ac- cording to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 H And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth Jeremiah. 331 month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about. 5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zede- kiah. 6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden ; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about :) and they went by the way of the plain. 8 IT But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho ; and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they took the king, and carried him up\ unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath ; where he gave judgment upon him. 10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah ; and the king of Baby- lon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. 12 H Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, Avhich loas in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Baby- lon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, 13 And burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house ; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. 15 Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away cap- tive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. 16 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vine-dressers and for husbandmen. 17 Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that ivas in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. IS The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. 19 And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the cal- drons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups ; that which was of gold in gold, and //io^ which icas of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away. 20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that tcere under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord : the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 21 And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar loas eigh- 332 Ztdekiah. teen cubits ; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it ; and the thickness thereof was four fingers : it was hollow. 22 And a chapiter of brass was upon it ; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these. 23 And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side ; and all the pomegranates upon the network ivere an hundred round about. 24 IF And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door : 25 He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war ; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city ; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land ; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. 26 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. 27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away cap- tive out of his own land. 28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive : in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty : 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons : 30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzar- adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons : all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. 2 KINGS, XXV. 2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zede- kiah. 3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the citj^ and there was no bread for the people of the land. 4 TT And the city was broken up, and all the men of war tied by night, by the way of the gate, between two walls, which is by the king's garden ; (now the Chaldees were against the city round about;) and the king went the way toward the plain. 5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and over- took hitn in the plains of Jericho : and ail his army were scattered from him. 6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Baby- lon to Riblah ; and th-^y gave judgment upon him. 7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and car- ried him to Babylon. 8 H And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, (which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,) came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem : 9 And he burnt the house of the Lokd, and the king's house, and Jeremiah. 333 all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great inan's house burnt he with tire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that ivere with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the uiultitude, did Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, carry away. 12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to he vine-dressers and husbandmen. 13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that icas in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried tiie brass of them to Babylon. 14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass, wherewith they ministered, took they away. 15 And the fire-pans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord ; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 17 The height of the one pillar u'as eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it loas brass : and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass : and like unto these had the second pillar witii wreathen work. IS TT And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door. 19 And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city : 20 And Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. 21 And the king of Bab3ion smote them, and slew them at Riblah, in the land of Plamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land. 2 CHRONICLES, XXXVI. 15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his n>cssen- gers, rising up betimes, and sending ; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place : 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose ogainst his people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, wlio slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctu- ary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age ; he gave them all into his hand. 28 334 Jeremiah. 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes ; all these he brought to Babylon. 19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia ; 21 * To fullil the word of the Lord, by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyetl her sabbaths : for as long as she lay deso- late she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. JEREMIAH, XXXIX. 11 ^ Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concem- iag Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying, 12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm ; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee. 13 vSo Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushas- ban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the king of Babylon's princes ; 14 Even thej^ sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home : so he dwelt among the people. 2 KI^"GSJ XXV. 22 ^ And o.s for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaiiah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Careah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of aMaachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees : dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well v/ith you. 25 But it came to pass, in the seventh month, that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. JERE3IIAH, XL. Jeremiah, being set free by A''ebuzar-adan, goeth to Gedaliah: the dispersed Jews repair to him. IshmaeVs conspiracy. 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that * Bee Jeremiah, xvii. 21 — 27. » Jeremiah. 335 Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had let him go fram Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon. 2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him. The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. 3 Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said : because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obey- ed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. 4 And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well unto thee ; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee ; whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. 5 Now, while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people ; or go wheresoever it seemeth conve- nient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a revv^ard, and let him go. 6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam to Miz- pah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land. 7 IT Now, when all the captains of the forces which u-:ere in the fields, even thej' and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon ; 8 Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netopha- thite, and Jezaniah, the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 9 And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, sware unto them, and to their men, saying. Fear not to serve the Chal- deans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 10 As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to serve the Chal- deans v/hich will come unto us : but ye, gather ye wine, and sum- mer-fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken. 11 Likewise, when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; 12 Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer- fruits very much. 13 IT Moreover, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14 And said unto him. Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent to Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, io slay thee f But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, believed them not. 336 Jeremiah. 15 Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spake to Gedahah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall kno\v?7.' wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? 16 But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikain, said unto Johanan, the son of areah, Ishmael. JEREMIAH, XLI. Ishmael treacherously killeth Gedaliah and others. Johanan recov- ereth the cajJtives. 1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah ; and there they did eat bread together in Miz- pali. 2 Then arose Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with hiiu, and smote Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. 3 Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah at JMizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war. 4 And it came to pass, the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it, 5 That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, everi fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord. 6 And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went : and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahi- kam. 7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him. 8 But ten men were found among them, that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not ; for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren. 9 Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men (whom he had slain because of Gedaliah) ivas it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel ; and Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled it with them that were slain. 10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that tf ere in Mizpah, evenihe king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam : and Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites. H !! But when Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains at Jeremiah, 337 the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done, 12 Then the}^ took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael, tire son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon, 13 Now it carae to pass, that when all the people which ?oe?-e with Ishmael saw Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad. 14 So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about, and returned, and went unto Johanan, the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites. 16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon : 17 And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt, 18 Because of the Chaldeans : for they were afraid of them, be- cause Ishmael the son oi Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land. JEREMIAH, XLII. Johanan desireth Jeremiah to inquire of God, promising obedience. Jcre7niah's answer. Their hypocrisy reproved. 1 Then all the captains of the forces, and. Johanan the son of Ka- reah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, 2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet. Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, et-e/i for all this remnant; (for we are left &wf a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us :) 3 That the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do. 4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord shall an- swer you, I will declare it unto you ; I will keep nothing back from you. 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us. If we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us, 6 Whether it he good, or whether it he evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send tliee ; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God. 7 IT And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah. 8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and ail the captains 28* 338 Jeremiah, of the forces which were with hiin, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9 And said unto them. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him ; 10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up : for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. 11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord : for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. 13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the Lord your God, 14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hun- ger of bread ; and there will we dwell : 15 And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Eg3'pt, and go to sojourn there ; 16 Then it siiall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt ; and there ye shall die. 17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there ; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. IS For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt : and ye shall be an execration, and an aston- ishment, and a curse, and a reproach ; and ye shall see this place no more. 19 TT The Lord hath said concerning you,0 ye remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt : know certainly that I have adQionished you this day. 20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord ovu- God : and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto u?, and we will do it. 21 And now I have tliis day declared it to you ; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you. 22 Now, therefore, know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go, and to sojourn. JEREMIAH, XLIII. Johanan carricth Jeremiah into Egypt. Jeremiah prophesieth the conquest of Egypt by the Babylonians. 1 And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of Jeremiah. 339 speaking unto all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, even all these words, 2 Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely : the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there : 3 But Barach, the son of Neriah, setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon. 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah. 5 But Jolianan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces, took all tlie remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah ; 6 Eveii men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch tlie son of Neriah. 7 So they came into the land of Egypt : for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord : thus came they even to Tahpanhes. LAMENTATIONS, I. Jerusalem'' s misery for her sins : her complaint, and confession of God's righteous judgment. 1 How doth the city sit solitary that teas full of people I hoio is she become as a widow ! she that ivas great among the nations, and princes among the provinces, hoio is she become tributary ! 2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her : all her friends have dealt treacherously with her ; they are become her enemies. 3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude : she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. .4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts : all her gates are desolate : her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. 5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper ; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions : her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. 6 And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed : her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer. 7 Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her : the adversaries saw her, ayid did mock at her sabbaths. 8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned ; therefore she is- removed ; all that honored her despise her, because they have seen her naked- ness ; yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward. 9 Her filthiness is in her skirts : she remembereth not her last 340 Jeremiah. end ; therefore she came down wonderfully : she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction : for the enemy hath magnitied kbii' self. 10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon ail her pleasant things : for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy con- gregation. 11 All her people sigh, they seek bread ; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul : see, O Lord, and con- sider ; for I am become vile. 12 IT Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by ? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his tierce anger. 13 From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them : he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath marie me desolate and faint all the day. 14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand : they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck : he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, frorii whom I am not able to rise up. 15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men. in the midst of me : he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men : the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress. 16 For these things I weep ; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me : my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. 17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversa- ries should be round about him : Jerusalem is a menstruous woman among them. 18 "[[ The Lord is righteous ; for I have rebelled against his com- mandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow : my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. 19 1 called for my lovers, but they deceived me : my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. 20 Behold, O Lord ; for I am in distress : my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me ; for 1 have grievously rebelled : abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death. 21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me : all mine enemies have heard of my trouble ; they are glad that thou hast done it : thou wilt bring the day that ihou hast called, and they shall be like unto me. 22 Let all their wickedness come before thee ; and do unto them as thou hast done unto me for all niy transgressions : for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint. LAME^TATtO^S, II. usalcm''s misery. He God. 1 How hath the Lord covered the dauohter of Zion with a cloud Jeremiah lamentcth Jerusalem'' s misery. He complaineth thereof to God. Jeremiah. 341 in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel,"and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger ! 2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied : he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah ; he hath brought them down to the ground : he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. 3 He hath cut oft' in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel : he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. 4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy : he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion : he poured out his fury like fire. 5 The Lord was as an enemy ; he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces ; he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. 6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it ivere of a garden ; he hath destroyed his places of the assembly : the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised, in the indignation of his anger, the king and the priest. 7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast. 8 The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying : therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. 9 Her gates are sunk into the ground ; he hath destroyed and broken her bars ; her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more ^ her prophets also find no vision from the Lord. 10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence : they have cast up dust upon their heads ; they have girded themselves with sackcloth : the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. 11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people ; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. 12 They say to their mothers. Where is corn and wine ? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mother's bosom. 13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee ? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem ? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion ? for thy breach is great like the sea ; who can heal thee ? 14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee ; and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens, and causes of banishment. 15 AH that pass by clap their hands at thee ; they hiss and wag 342 Jeremiah. their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying. Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth ? 16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee : they hiss and gnash the teeth : they sa}'^, We have swallowed her up : certainly this is the day that we looked for ; we have found, we have seen it. 17 The Lord hath done that which he had devised ; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old : he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied : and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee ; he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. 18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night ; give thyself no rest ; let not the apple of thine eye cease. 19 Arise, cry out in the night ; in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord : lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street. 20 IT Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long ? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord ? 21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets : my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword ; thou hast slain the7n in the day of thine anger ; thou hast killed, and not pitied. 22 Thou hast called, as in a solemn day, my terrors round about ; so that in the day of the Lord's anger none escaped nor remained : those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy con- sumed. LAME^TATIO^•S, III. The faithful bewail their calamities, fyc. 1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. 3 Surely against me is he turned ; he turneth his hand against me all the day. 4 My fiesh and my skin hath he made old ; he hath broken my bones. 5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. 6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out : he hath made my chain heavy. 8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. 9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone ; he hath made my paths crooked. 10 He was unto me as a bear^lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. 11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces : he hath made me desolate. 12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. 13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. Jeremiah. 343 14 I was a derision to all my people, and their song all the day. 15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. 16 He hath also broken my teeth with grarel-stones, he hath cov- ered me with ashes. 17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace : I forgat prosperity. 18 And 1 said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord : 19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 U It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning : great is thy faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; therefore will I hope in him. 25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul thai seeketh him. 26 It is good that a man should both hope aiid quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the j^oke in his youth. 28 He sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. 29 He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. 30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him : he is filled full with reproach. 31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever : 32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion accord- ing to the multitude of his rnercies. 33 For he doth not afflict wilUngly, nor grieve the children of men. 34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, 35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, 36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. 37 ¥ Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not ? 38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good ? 39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punish- ment of his sins ? 40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. 42 We have transgressed, and have rebelled : thou hast not par- doned. 43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us : thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. 44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud that our prayer should not pass through. 344 Jeremiah. Ao Thou hast made.us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. 46 All our enemies hav^e opened their mouths against us. 47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. 48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49 ]Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not without any inter- mission. 50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven. 51 Mine eye aflEecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. 52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird without cause. 53 They have cut ofi'my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 54 Waters flowed over mine head ; then I said, I am cut off. 55 IT I called upon thy name, Lord, out of the low dungeon. 56 Thou hast heard my voice : hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. 57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee : thou saidst. Fear not. 58 Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul ; thou hast redeemed my life. 59 Lord, thou hast seen my wrong : judge thou my cause. 60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me. 61 Thou hast heard their reproach, Lord, and all their imagi- nations against me ; 62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. 63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up ; I am their music. 64 Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. 65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. QQ Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord. LAMENTATIONS, IV. Zion's pitiful estate bewailed: she confesseth her sins. Edam threatened. 1 How is the gold become dim ! how is the most fine gold changed ! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter ! 3 Even the sea-monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones : the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst ; the young children ask bread, andno man breaketh it unto them. Jeremiah. 345 5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets ; they that were brought up in scarlet, embrace dung-hills. 6 For the punishment of (he iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was over- thrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. 7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire : 8 Their visage is blacker than a coal ; they are not known in the streets : their skin cleaveth to their bones ; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 9 They that he slain with the sword are better than they that he slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their ovi^n children, they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11 The Lord hath accomplished his fury ; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. 13 TT For the sins other prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15 They cried unto them. Depart ye ; it is unclean ; depart, depart, touch not : when they f!ed away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 16 The anger of the Lord hath divided them ; he will no more regard them : they respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders. 17 As for us, our 6yes as yet foiled for our vain help : in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets : our end is near, our days are fulfilled, for our end is come. 19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven : they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. 21 U Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, that dwellestin the land of Uz : the cup also shall pass through unto thee ; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom ; he will discover thy sins. 29 346 Jeremiah, Ezehiel. LAMENTATIONS, V. Jl pitiful complaint of Zion in prayer to God. 1 Remember, Lord, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. 2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to ahens. 3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 4 We have drunken our water for money ; our wood is sold unto us. 5 Our necks are under persecution ; we labor, a7id have no rest. 6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, an.d to the Assyrians, •to be satisfied with bread. 7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not ; and w'e have borne their iniquities. 8 Servants have ruled over us : there is none that doth deliver w^ out of their hand. 9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives, because of the sword of the wilderness. 10 Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine. 11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. 12 Princes are hanged up by their hand : the faces of elders were not honored. 13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. 14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music. 15 Tiie joy of our heart is ceased ; our dance is turned into mourning. 16 The crown is fallen /rom our head : woe unto us that we have sinned ! 17 For this our heart is faint ; for these things our eyes are dim. 18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. 19 Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever ; thy throne from generation to generation. 20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time ? 21 Turn thou us unto thee, Lord, and we shall be turned ; renew our days as of old. 22 But thou hast utterly rejected us ; thou art very wroth against us. EZEKIEL, XXX. 20 11 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first nionth,'m the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 21 Sonof man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt ; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword. 22 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against Pha- Ezehiel 347 raoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken ; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand : but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. 25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down ; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and dis- perse them among the countries ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. EZEKIEL, XXXI. ^ relation unto Pharaoh nfthe glory of.fissyria, and the fall thereof for pride : the like destruction of Egypt. 1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third 7nonth, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multi- tude ; Whom art thou like in thy greatness ? 3 IF Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature ; and his top was among the thick boughs. 4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. 5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the fields and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long, because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. 6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. 7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches : for his root was by great waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him : the fir- trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut-trees, were not like his branches ; nor any tree in the garden of God was liks unto him in his beauty. 9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches : so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. 10 IT Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 111 have, therefore, delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen ; he shall surely deal with him : I have driven him out for his wickedness. 12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him : upon the mountains and in all the vallies his branches 348 Ezehiel are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land ; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. 13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches : 14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt them- selves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water : for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. 10 Thus saith the Lord God, In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning : I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed ; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. 16 1 made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice ami best uf Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. IT They also went down into hell with him unto them that he slain with the sword ; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. 18 H To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden .' Yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth : thou shalt lie in the midst of the imcircumcised with them that he slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XXVI. Tyncs, for insulting against Jerusalem, is threatened : JVehuchad' rezzar's power against her : the mourning for her. 1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people ; she is turned unto me ; I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste : 3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I ara against thee, Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. 4 And they shall destroj' the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. 5 it shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea : for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God ; and it shall become a spoil to the nations. 6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword ; and they shall know that I ain the Lord. 7 IT For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. Ezekiel 349 8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field ; and he shall make afort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. 9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy lowers. 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee : thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. 11 With the hoofs of his horses sliall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. 12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise : and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses; and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water. 13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease : and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. 14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock : thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon ; thou shalt be built no more : lor I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God. 15 ^ Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus ; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee ? 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered gar- ments : they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be aston- ished at thee. 17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and shall say to thee. How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabi- tants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it ! IS Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall ; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure. 19 For thus saith the Lord God ; when I shall make thee a deso- late city, like the cities that aie not inhabited ; when 1 shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee ; 20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall ?et thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to tlie pit, that thou be not inhabited ; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; 21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more : though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XXVII. The rich supply of Tyrus : the great and irrecoverable fall thereof. 1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; - 3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the 29* t350 Ezekiel. sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God ; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have per- fected thy beauty. 5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir-trees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. 6 Ofihe oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory brought out of the isles of Chittim. 7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt, was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail ; blue and purple from the isles of Eiishah was that which covered thee. 8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Afvad were thy mariners : thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. 9 The ancients of Gebal, and the wise i7ie7i thereof were in thee, thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. 10 They of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, were in thine army thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee ; they set forth thy comeliness. 11 The uien of Arvad, with thine army, tuere upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers : they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about ; they have made thy beauty perfect. 12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they tcere thy merchants : they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. 14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses, and horsemen, and mules. 15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand : they brought thee /or a present horns of ivory and ebony. 16 Syria teas thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. 17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants : they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. 18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy n;iaking, for the multitude of all riches ; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. 19 Dan also and Javan, going to and fro, occupied in thy fairs; bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. 20 Dedan icas thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. 21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats ; in these were they thy merchants. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah,they ivere thy merchants : they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all pre- cious stones, and gold. 23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. Ezehiel 351 24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. 25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market ; and thou wast replenished, and n)ade very glorious in the midst of the seas. 26 U Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters ; the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. 27 Thy riches and tby fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company, which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. 28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. 29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, a7id all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land ; 30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads ; they shall wallow themselves in the ashes ; 31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth ; and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. 32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying. What city is like Tyrus, like the de- stroyed in the midst of the sea ? 3o3 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people ; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches, and of thy merchandise. 34 In the time ivheii thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. 35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. 36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee ; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt beany more. EZEKIEL, XXVIII. God's judgment upon the prince of Tyrus. The judgment of Zidon. 1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God ; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I a??i a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas : yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel ; there is no secret that they can hide from thee : 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures : 5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches : 352 Ezekiel 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God ; 7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations : and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall detile thy brightness. 8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. 9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God ? but thou shalt be a man, and no god, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers : for 1 have spoken it, saith the Lord God. 11 IT Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him. Thus saith the Lord God ; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God ; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold : the workmanship of thy tabrets, and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth ; and I have set thee .90 .• thou wast upon the holy mountain of God ; thou liast walked up and down in the rnidst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned : therefore I will cast thee as protane out of the mountain of God : and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thuie heart was lifted up because of thy beaut5% thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic ; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee ; and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee : thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. 20 TT Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, 22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I ain against thee, O Zidon ; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee : and they shall know that I ain the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. 23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets ; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. 24 H And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Jeremiah. 353 Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them that despised them ; and they shall know that I am the Lord God. 25 Thus saith the Lord God ; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards ; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have ejiecuted judgments upon all those that despise them round about them ; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God. JEREMIAH, XLIV. B. C. 587. The desolation of Jiidah for idolatry. The Jeius* obstinacy is threatened. The destruction of Egypt foreshewn. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah ; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein ; 3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed, to pro- voke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers. 4 Hovvbeit, I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early, and sending them, saying. Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. 5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. 6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ; and they are wasted and. desolate, as at this day. 7 Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain ; 8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth ? 9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you, and before your fathers. 11 TT Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and so cut off all Judah. 12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces 354 Jeremiah. to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be con- sumed by the sword and by the famine : they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine ; and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach. 13 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : 14 So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a de- sire to return to dwell there ; for none shall return but such as shall escape. 15 ![ Then all the men which knew that their wives had burnt incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. 17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kin2;s, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem : for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, we have wanted all thingS} and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19 And when we burnt incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink-offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to wor- ship her, and pour out drink-offerings unto her, without our men ? 20 1[ Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, 21 The incense that ye burnt in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and came it not into his mind ? 22 So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have com- mitted ; therefore Is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 23 Because ye have burnt incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies ; there- fore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day. 24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt: 25 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we Jeremiah. 355 have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perforin your vows. 26 Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord God liveth. 27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil and not for good ; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. 28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine or their's. 29 IT And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil : 30 Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life ; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life. JEREMIAH, XLVI. IS II The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt. 14 Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph, and in Tahpanhes : say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee, for the sword shall devour round about thee. 15 Why are thy valiant men swept away ? they stood not, because the Lord did drive them. 16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another ; and they said. Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword. 17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise ; he hath passed the time appointed. 18 As I live, saith the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts. Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. 19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity : for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabi- tant. 20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, hut destruction cometh ; it Cometh out of the north, 21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together : they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation. 22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent ; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. 356 Ezekiel 23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched ; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable. 24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded ; she shall be de- livered into the hand of the people of the north. 25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith ; Behold, I will punish the multitudes of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings ; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him. 26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants : and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the Lord. 27 IT But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel ; for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest, and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord, for I am with thee, for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee ; but correct thee in measure, yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished. B. C. 586. EZEKIEL, XXXII. A lamentation for the fearful fall of Egypt. 1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the sea : and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. 3 Thus saith the Lord God ; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people ; and they shall bring thee up in my net. 4 Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. 5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, arid fill the valleys with thy height. 6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. 7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God. 9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known. 10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword Ezekiel 357 before them ; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for bis own life, in the day of thy fall. 11 IT For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. 12 By the swords of the mi2;hty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them : and they shall spoil the pomp of E^ypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. 13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters ; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. 14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Loid God. 15 When 1 shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall he destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that \ am the Lord. 16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her : the daughters of the nations shall lament her ; they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God. 17 II It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit. 19 AVhom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. 20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword; she is delivered to the sword : draw her and all her multitudes. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst "of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, shin by the sword. 22 Ashur is there, and all her company : his graves are about him; all of them slain, fallen by the sword: 23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living. 24 There is Elam and all her multitude, round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncir- cumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living ; yet have they bo-ine their shame with them thot go down to the pit. 25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain, with all her multitude ; her graves are lound about him : all of them uncircum- cised, slain by the sword, though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit : he is put in the midst of them thai he slain. 29 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude : her graves are round about him : all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war : and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they tvere the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 30 358 Ezekiel 28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword, 29 There is Edotn, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword : they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit. 30 There he the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain ; with their terror they are ashamed of their might ; and they lie uncircumcised with them that he slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that ffo down to the pit. 31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord God. 32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living : and he shall be laid in the midst with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XXXIir. By the duty of a watchman, Ezekielis admonished of his duty. God sheweth the justice of his ways. 1 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them. When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for (heir watchman : 3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people ; 4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned ; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is takers away in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at the watchman's irand. 7 H So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel ; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt stirely die ; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but his blood will 1 require at thine hand. 9 Nevertheless, if thon warn the wicked of his way to turn from it ; if he do not turn fro.'.n his way, he shall die in his iniquity ; but tliou hast delivered thy soul. 10 ^ Therefore, O thou son of tnan, speak unto the house of Israel, Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins &e upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live .' 11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from Ezckiel. 359 his way and live : turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, house of Israel? 12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people. The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression : as for the wickedness of tlie wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. 13 When 1 shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live ; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his right- eousnesses shall not be remembered ; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. 14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die ; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right ; 15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity ; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall he mentioned unto him : he hath done that which is lawful and right ; he shiall surely live. 17 IT Yet the children of thy people say. The way of the Lord is not equal : but, as for them, their way is not equal. 18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and com- mitteth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways. 21 IT And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the tifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying. The city is smitten. 22 Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came, and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning ; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. 23 Then the word of the Lord came unto rae, saying, 24 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25 Wherefore say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood : And shall ye possess the land ? 26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife : and shall ye possess the land ? 27 Say thou thus unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword ; and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured ; and they that be in the forts, and in the caves, shall die of the pesti- lence. 28 For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease ; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid 360 Ezekiel the land most desolate, because of all their abominations which they have committed. 30 IT Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying. Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. 31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them : for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. EZEKIEL, XXXIV. 1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds. Woe &e to the shepherds of Israel thai do feed themselves I should not the shepherds feed the flocks ? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed : hut ye feed not the flock. 4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. 5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd : and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. 7 IT Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord ; 8 jIs I live saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, be* cause there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock. 9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord ; 10 Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock ; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. 11 IT For thus saith the Lord God ; Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered ; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in th§ cloudy and dark day. Ezekiel. 361 13 And I will bring; them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the in- habited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be : there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick : but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. 17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats. 18 "Seemtth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures ? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet ? 19 And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet ; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. 20 ^ Therefore, thus saith the Lord God unto them. Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. 21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad ; 22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle, 2.3 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he sliall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them ; I the Lord have spoken it. 25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land : and they shall dwell safely in the wilderjiess, and sleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing ; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season ; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served them- selves of them. 28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the land devour them: but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. 29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed vvith hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. 30 Thus shall they know that f the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. 30* 362 EzeJcieL 31 And ye my flock, the flock of ray pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XXXV. The judgment of mount Seir for their hatred of Israel. 1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, "3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate, 4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou &halt know that 1 a/n the Lord. 5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end : 6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee : since thou hast not hated blood, even blood shalt pursue thee. 7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. 8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men : in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. 9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return : and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 10 Because thou hast said. These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it ; whereas the Lord was there : 11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do accord- ing to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them ; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. 12 And thca shalt know that 1 om the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the moun- tains of Israel, saying. They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. 13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me : I have heard them. 14 Thus saitli the Lord God, When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. 15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance .of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee : thou shalt be deso- late, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, eve/i all of it ; and they shall know that 1 ain the Lord. EZEKIEL, XXXVI. The land of Israel is comforted by the heatheii's destruction, and God's biessing. 1 Also, (hou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israe), hear the word of the Lord : Ezekiel 363 2 Thus saith the Lord God, Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession ; 3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people : 4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God ; Thus saith the Lord God to the inountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are lound about; 5 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. 6 Prophesy, therefore, concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, 1 have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen, 7 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, 1 have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you they shall bear their shame. 8 H But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel ; for they are at hand to come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown. 10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it : and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded : 11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit : and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inher- itance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men. 13 Thus saith the Lord God, Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved ihy nations; 14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God. 15 Neither will I cause meii to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God. 16 W Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way, and by their doings : their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. 18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land ; and for their idols wherewith they had pol- luted it : 19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dis- 364 Ezekid. persed through the countries : according to their way, and according to their doings, I judged them. 20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. 21 IT But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this (or your sakes, () house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them ; and the heathen shall know that I om the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 II Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spuit will I put within you : and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And 1 will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in ray statutes, and ye shall keep niy judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers ; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will also save you fiom all your uncleannesses : and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. 31 Then shall ye remember 3'our own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you : be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. 33 Thus saith the Lord God ; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities 1 will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of ail that passed by. 35 And tl.ey shall say. This land that was desolate, is become like the garden of Eden ; and the waste, and desolate, and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. 36 Then the heathen that are left round about you, shall know that I the Lord build the ruined /)/ac(S, and plant that that was des- olate : I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it, 37 Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them ; 1 will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts. Ezekiel. Ohadiah. '3G5 so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. OBADIAII, I. B. C. 586.* The destruction of Edom for their pride, and for their unnatural behavior in Jacob's distress. The salvation and victories of Jacob. 1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom ; We have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. - 2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. .S H The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high ; that saith in his heart. Who shall bring ine down to the ground ? 4 Though thou exalt thyself ^s the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. 5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough ? if the grape- gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? 6 How are the things of Esau searched out ! how are his hidden things sought up ! 7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee cwen to the border ; the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee ; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee : there is none understanding in him. 8 Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau ? 9 And thy mighty 7nen, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau rnay be cut off by slaughter. 10 IT For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou ivast as one of them. 12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger : neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction: neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. 13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity ; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity ; 14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the cross-way, to cut off * There is no date given in this prophecy : I have therefore followed Mr. Scott in the above date. Mr. Townsend dates this prophecy 154 years earlier, i. e. B. C. 740. He says in a note: "I have ventured to place the book of Obadiah in this place, from comparing the tenor of the prophecy contained in it with 2 Chronicles, jcxviii. 17, where it is expressly said, For agaio the Edomites had come andsraittea Judah and carried away captive^." 366 Obadiah. Ezehiel. those of his that did escape ; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. 15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen : as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee : thy reward shall return upon thine own head. 16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as thouoh they had not been. 17 ir But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them ; and there shall not be any remaining of tlie house of Esau ; for the Lord hath spoken it. 19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau ; and they o/the plain the Philistines : and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath ; and the cap- tivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. 21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau ; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. EZEKIEL, XXXVII. By the resurrection of dry hones, the dead hope of Israel is revived. 1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord> and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about : and, behold, there were very many in the open valley ; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live ? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me. Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into yon, and ye shall live : 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you v^ith skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So I prophe-^ied as I was coiruiianded : and as I prophesied there was a noise, and, behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above : but there was no breath in them. 9 Then said he unto me. Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind. Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came Ezekiel 367 into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11 ^ Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel : behold, they say, Our bones are ciried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land : then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and perfoi med it, saith the Lord. 15 IT The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it. For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions : then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the slick of Ephraim, and/or all the house of Israel his companions : 17 And join them one to another into one stick ; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18 U And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these ? 19 Say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraiin, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20 IT And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21 And say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land : 22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel : and one king shall be king to them all ; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all : 23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of ail their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them : so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24 And David my servant shall he king over them ; and they all shall have one shepherd : they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 2.5 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fatb.ers have dwelt ; and'they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever : and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them : and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 368 Ezekiel 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, 'when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. B. C. 585. EZEKIEL, XXXVIII. The army and malice of Gog. God's judgment against him. 1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tuba!, and prophesy against him, 3 And say. Thus saiih the Lord God ; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal : 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords : 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia with them ; all of them vi'ith shield and helmet : 6 Gomer, and all his bands ; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. 7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 8 II After many days thou shalt be visited : in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste : but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. 9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 10 Thus saith the Lord God ; it shall also come to pass, thai at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought : 11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land, of unwalled villages ; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey ; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and gocxls, that dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshisb, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee. Art thou come to take a spoil ? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey .' to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil .'' 14 IF Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God ; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it 7 15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, ail of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army : Ezekiel. 369 16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land ; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. 17 Thus saith the Lord God ; ^rt thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years, that I would bring thee against them ? 18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. 19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel ; 20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God : every man's sword shall be against his brother. 22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood ; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing lain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. EZEKIEL, XXXIX. Go(Vs judgments upon Gog. Israel's victory. The feast of the folds. 1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal : 2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel : 3 And 1 will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee : I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured. 5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field ; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. 6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles; and they shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel ; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more ; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the holy One in Israel. 31 370 Ezekiel 8 IT Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God ; this is the day whereof I have spoken. 9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand-staves and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years ; 10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests ; for they shall burn the vreapons with fire : and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God. 11 H And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the^ east of the sea ; and it shall stop the noses of the passengers : and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude ; and they shall call it, The valley of Hamon-gog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury the7ti, and it shall be to them a renown, the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. 14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land, to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. 16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 ^ And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God, Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field. Assemble yourselves, and come ; gather yourselves on every side to my sacri- fice that 1 do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, a:;! drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and ui goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drhik blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God. 21 And I will set my glory among ihe heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that 1 have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that chy and forward. 23 'W And the heathen shall knov/ that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity : because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies ; so fell they all by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness, and according to their trans- gressions, have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Now will 1 bring again the Ezekiel. Jeremiah. Daniel. 371 captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for ray holy name ; 26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations ; 28 Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen : but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. 29 Neither will T hide my face any more from them : for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. JEREMIAH, XLIII. B. C. 584. 8 H Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah ; 10 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid ; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. 11 And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death ; and such as are for captivity to captivity ; and such as are for the sword to the sword. 12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them and carry them away captives, and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment, and he shall go forth from thence in peace. 13 He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt, and the house of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire. DANIEL, III. B. C. 580. JVebuchadnezzar dedicateth a golden image in Dura. Shadrach, Meshach, and Ahed-nego are accused. 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits : he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, Xhe treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the piovinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image 372 DanieL that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up ; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, people, nations and languages, 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up. 6 And V, hoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be ca?t into tbe midst of a burning fiery furnace. 7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worsliip- ped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the kingliad set up. 8 TT Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. 9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. 10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shalj hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulci- mer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image : 11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego ; these men, O king, have not regarded thee ; they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 13 M Then Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before tlie king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.' do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up ? 15 Now if ye be ready, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have m^(\e,well; but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace : and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands ? 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery i'urnace ; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 19 H Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated, Daniel. Ezekiel, 373 20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore, because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors. Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire ? They answered and said unto the king. True, king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the lire, and they have no hurt ; and the form of the fourth is like the son of God. 26 \\ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, aad spake, and said, Shadrach, v Meshach, and Abed- nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's coun- sellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 23 Then Neduchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree. That every people, nation, and lan- guage, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill : because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 30 H Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego^ in the province of Babylon. EZEKIEL, XL. B. C. 574. The time, mariner, and end of EzehieVs vision. Eight tables, the chambers, the porch of the house. 1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the self-same day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither. 2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which ivas as the frame of a city on the south. 3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, 31* 374 Ezehiel whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line oi flax in his hand, and a measuring-reed ; and he stood in the gate. 4 And the man said unto me. Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee ; for to the intent that J might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. 5 And, behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's liand a measuring-reed of six cubits long, by the cubit; and an hand-breadth : so he'measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height one reed. 6 U Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad, and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad. 7 And every little chamber M'as one reed long, and one reed broad ; and between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate, by the porch of the gate within, was one reed. 8 He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed. 9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits ; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate luas inward. 10 And the little chambers of the gate eastward icere three on this side, and three on that side ; they three icere of one measure : and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. 11 And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits ; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. 12 The space also before the little chambers ivas one cubit on this side, and the space laas one cubit On that side ; and the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. 13 He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another : the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door. 14 He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round nbout the gate. 1.5 And from the face of the gate of the entrance, unto the face of the porch of the inner gate, were fifty cubits. 16 And there ivere narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches ; and windows were round about inward : and upon each post were palm-trees. 17 Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about : thirty chambers wej'e upon the pavement. 18 And the pavement by the side of the gates, over against the length of the gates, was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the breadth, from the fore-front of the lower gate unto the fore-front of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward. 20 ^ And the gate of the outward court, that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. 21 And the little chambers thereof ^vere three on this side, and three on that side ; and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, Ezekiel 375 were after the measure of the first gate : the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. 22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm-trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east ; and they went up unto it by seven steps ; and the arches thereof were before them. 23 And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east ; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits. 24 H After that he brought me toward the south, and, behold, a gate toward the south : and he measured the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures. 25 And there were windows in it, and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows : the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. 26 And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them : and it had palm-trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. 27 And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south : and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits. 28 And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate : and he measured the south gate according to these measures ; 29 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about : it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. 30 And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad. 31 And the arches thereof were toward the outer court ; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. 32 H And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures. 33 And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. 34 And the arches thereof tt'ere toward the outward court; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side and on that side : and the going up to it had eight steps. 35 IT And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it accord- ing to these measures ; 36 The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. 37 And the posts thereof were toward the outer court ; and palm- trees were upon the posts thereof on this side, and on that side : and the going up to it had eight steps. 38 And the chambers, and the entries thereof, were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt-offering. 39 H And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt-offering, and the sin- offering, and the trespass-offering. 376 Ezekiel 40 And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables ; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables. 41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate ; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacri- fices. 42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt-offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high : whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt-offering and the sacrifice. 43 And within were hooks, an hand broad fastened round about : and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. 44 i[ And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate ; and their prospect was toward the south ; one at the side of the east gate, having the prospect toward the north. 45 And he said unto me. This chamber whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house. 46 And the chamber whose pro«pect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar : these are the sons of Zadok, among the sons of I^evi, which come near to the Lokd to minister unto him. 47 So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits bi-oad, four square, and the altar that ivas before the house. 48 IF And he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch five cubits on this side, and fiv^e cubits on that side : and the breadth of the gate was tln-ee cubits on this side, and three cul)its on that side. 49 The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it ; and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side. EZEKIEL, XLI. The measures, parts, chambers, and ornaments of the temple. 1 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, ivhich was the breadth of the tabernacle. 2 And the breadth of the door was ten cubits ; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side : and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits : and the breadth, twenty cubits. 3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door two cubits ; and the door six cubits ; and the breadth of the door seven cubits. 4 So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits ; and the breadth twenty cubits, before the temple ; and he said unto me, This is the mo?t holy place. 5 After he measured the wall of the house six cubits ; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side. EzeMel. 377 6 And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order: and they entered into the wall, which ivas of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. 7 And there icas an enlarginf^, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers : for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house : therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. 8 I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. 9 The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, ivas five cubits : and that which was left was the place of tlie side chambers that were within. 10 And belween the chambers icas the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. 11 And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south : and the breadth of the place that was left tvas five cubits round about. 12 Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building icas five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. 13 So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long ; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long ; 14 Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits. 15 And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which ivas behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side, and on the otiier side, an hundred cubits with the inner temple, and the porches of the court; 16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered ; 17 To that above the door, even unto the inner house and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. 18 And it was made with cherubims and palm-trees, so that a palm-tree ivas between a cherub and a cherub ; and every cherub had two faces ; 19 So that the face of a man was toward the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm-tree on the other side : it was made through all the house round about. 20 From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm-trees made, and un the wall of the temple. 21 The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary ; the appearance of the o?reas the appearance of the other. 22 The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits ; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me. This is the tahl^ that i$ before the Lorp. 378 Ezekiel 23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. 24 And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves ; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. 25 And there icere made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm-trees, like as tvere made upon the walls ; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without. 26 And there were narrow windows and palm-trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side-chambers of the house, and thick planks. EZEKIEL, XLII. The priests^ chambers : the use thereof. The outward court measured. 1 Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north, and he brought me into the chamber that ivas over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north. 2 Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits. 3 Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which ivas for the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. 4 And before the chambers icas a walk of ten cubits' breadth inward, a way of one cubit ; and their doors toward the north. 5 Now, the upper chambers were shorter : for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building. 6 For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts : therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground, 7 And the wall that ivas without over against the chambers, toward the outer court on the fore-part of the chambers, the length thereof was fifty cubits. 8 For the length of the chambers that tvere in the outer court ivas fifty cubits : and, lo, before the temple ivere an hundred cubits. 9 And from under these chambers ivas the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the outer court. 10 The chambers ivere in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building. 11 A.nd the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they ; and all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. 12 And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them. 13 11 Then said he unto me, The north chambers, and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy cham- bers, where the priests that approach unto the Lord shall eat the piost holy things : there shall they lay the most holy things, and the Ezelciel. 379 meat-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering ; for the place is holy, 14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister ; for they are holy ; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people. 15 1[ Now, when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about. 16 He measured the east side with the measuring-reed, five hun- dred reeds, with the measuring-reed round about. 17 He measured the north side five hundred reeds, with the measuring-reed round about. 18 He measured the south side five hundred reeds, with the meas- uring-reed. 19 He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds, with the measuring-reed. 20 He measured it by the four sides : it had a wall round about five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separa- tion between the sanctuary and the profane place. EZEKIEL, XLIir. Hie returning of the glory of God into the temple. The tin of Israel hindereth God's presence. 1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketfa toward the east : 2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east ; and his voice was like a noise of many waters : and the earth shined with his glory ; 3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city : and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar ; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the Loud came into the hou^e, by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5 So the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. 6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house ; and the man stood by me. 7 IT And he said unto me. Son of man, the place of my throne, and tlje place of the soles of iHy feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the chddren of Israel for ever, and my holy name shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whore- dom, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high places. 8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the v/all between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed : wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. 9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcas=?es of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. 380 Ezehiel 10 IT Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities : and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof, and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. 12 This is the law of the house ; Upon the top of the mountain, the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold this is the law of the house. 13 And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits. The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth ; even the bottom shall he a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span : and this shall be the higher place of the altar. 14 And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit. 15 So the altar shall be four cubits ; and from the altar and upwards shall be four horns. 16 And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof. 17 And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof: and the border about it s/m// &e half a cubit, and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about : and his stairs shall look toward the east. 18 ^ And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord God, These are the ordinances of the altar, in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood there- on. 19 And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord God, a young bullock for a sin-offering. 20 And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it ; and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the bor- der round about : thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. 21 Tliou shalt take the bullock also of the sin-offering : and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house without the sanc- tuary. 22 And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats with- out blemish for a sin-offering: and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock. 23 When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish. 24 And thou shalt offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt- offering unto the Lord. 25 Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin-offer- EzekieL 381 ing : they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a rain out of the flock without blemish. 26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it, and they shall consecrate themselves, 27 And when these days are expired, it shall be that upon the eighth day and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt-offerings upon the altar, and your peace-offerings : and I will accept you, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XLIV. The prince's gate. The priests reproved for polluting the sanc- tuary. 1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looketh toward the east, and it was shut. 2 Then said the Lord unto me ; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 3 It is for the prince : the prince he shall sit in it to eat bread be- fore the Lord ; he shall enter by the way of the porch oi that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. 4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord : and I fell upon my face. 5 And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. 6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, ei'en to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, O ye house of Israel, let it suaice you of all your abominations, 7 In that ye have brought into wiu sancfuar^ strangers uncircuni- cised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, (he fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, because of all your abom- inations. 8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things : but ye have set keepers of my cb.arge in my sanctuary for yourselves. 9 IT Thus saith the Lord Cod ; No stranger, uncircumrised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the childien of Israel. 10 And the Levites that arc gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols ; ihey shall even bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house-: t'ley shallslay the burnt-offering, and the sacrifice for the people, and the}'^ shall stand before them to minister unto them. 12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have 1 lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity. f59 382 Ezekiel 13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the oflSce of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place ; but they shall bear their shame, and their abom- inations which they have committed : 14 But 1 will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. 15 II But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God : 16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table to minister unto me, and they shall keep ray charge. 17 IT And it shall come to pass, that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments ; and no wool shall come upon them whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins ; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat. 19 And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments ; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments. 20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long ; they shall only poll their heads. 21 Neither shall any priest drink wine when they enter into the inner court. 22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away : but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before, 23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in controversy they shall stand in judgment ; and they shall judge it according to my judgment? : and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies ; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. 25 And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves : but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. 26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. 27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord God. 28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance : I am their inher- itance : and ye shall give them no possession in Israel : I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the meat-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering ; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be their's. 30 And the first of all the first fruits of all things, and every obla- Ezekiel. 383 tion of all, of every sort of your oblations shall be the priests : ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. 31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast. EZEKIEL, XLV. The portion of land for the sanctuary, for the city, and for the prince. 1 Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the Lord, an holy portion of the land : the length shall he the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall he holy in all the bor- ders thereof round about. 2 Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in hreadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. 3 And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand : and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place. 4 The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the minis- ters of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the Lord ; and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary. 5 And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thou- sand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers. 6 U And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion : it shall be for the whole house of Israel. 7 ^ And a portion shall he for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the pos- session of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and be- fore the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward ; and the length shall he over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. 8 In the land shall be his possession in Israel : and my princes shall no more oppress my people ; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes, 9 H Thus saith the Lord God, Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord God. 10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer : the measure thereof shall be after the homer. 12 And the shekel shall he twenty gerahs ; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh. 13 This is the oblation that ye shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley. 14 Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer 384 Ezehitl. the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths ; for ten batlis are an homer : 15 And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel, for a meat-offering, and for a burnt-offering, for peace-offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord God. 16 All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. 17 And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt-offerings, and meat-offerings, and drink-offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in (he sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel : he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the meat-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. 18 Thus saith the Lord Gon ; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary : 19 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple : so shall ye reconcile the house. 21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days ; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock /or a sin-offering. 23 And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt-offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days : and a kid of the goats daily for a sin-offering. 24 And he shall prepare a meat-offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an bin of oil for an ephah. 25 In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin- offering, according to the burnt- offering, and according to the oil. EZEKIEL, XLVI. Ordinances for the prince in his worship, and for the people. 1 Thus saith the Lord God ; the gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days ; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new" moon it shall be opened. 2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate W'ithout, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priest shall prepare his burnt-offering, and his peace-offerings, and he shall wor- ship at the threshold of the gate : then he shall go forth ; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord in the sabbaths and in the new moons. 4 And the burnt-offering that the prince shall offer unto the Lor.r Ezckiel. 385 in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. 5 And the meat-offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat- ofFering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an bin of oil to an ephah. 6 And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram : they shall be without blemish, 7 And he shall prepare a meat-offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 8 And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. 9 II But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate ; and he that entereth by the w^ay of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate : he shall not return by the way of the gate where- by he came in, but shall go forth over against it. 10 And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in ; and when they go forth, shall go forth. 11 And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat-offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 12 Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt-offering or peace-offerings voluntarily unto the Lord, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his tuirnt-offering and his peace-offerings, as he did on the sabbath day : then he shall go forth; and after his going forth, one shall shut the gate. 13 Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt-offering unto the Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish : thou shalt prepare it every morning. 14 And thou shalt prepare a meat-offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to tem- per with the fine flour ; a meat-offering continually, by a perpetual ordinance unto the Lord. 15 Thus shall they prepare the Iamb, and the meat-offering, and the oil, every movn'mg, for a continual buint-offering. 16 IT Thus saith the Lord God ; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons', it shall be their possession by inbeiitance. 17 But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty ; after it shall return to the prince : but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them. 18 Moreover, the prince shall not t^^ke of the people's inheritance by oppression, to t\rust them out Oi their possession; but he shall give his sons' inheritance out of his own possession : that my people be not scattered every man from his possession. 19 II After he brought me through the entry, which ^vas at the side of the gate, intoVne holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north ; and, behold, there ivas a place on lbs two sides westward. 32=^ 386 Ezekiel 20 Then said he unto nie, This is the place where the priests shall boil the tiespass-otfering and the sin-offering, where they shall bake the me at- offering ; that they bear them not out into the outer court, to sanctify the people. 21 Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court ; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. 22 In the four corners of the court there loere courts joined of forty cubits long, and thirty broad : these four corners were of one measure. 23 And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling-places under the rows round about. 24 Then said he unto me. These are the places of them that boil, where the minislcrs of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people. EZEKIEL, XLVII. The vision of the holy waters: the virtue of them. The borders of the land. 1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house ; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house east- ward : for the fore-front of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. 2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the outer gate by the way that looketh eastward ; and, behold, there ran out waters on the rigfft side. 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth east- ward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters ; the waters ivere to the ancles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters ; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thou- sand, and brought me through ; the waters were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand ; and it was a river that I could not pass over ; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. 6 ^ And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this! Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. 7 Now, when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 Then said he unto me. These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea; which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. 9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live ; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither : for they shall be healed ; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. 10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it, from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim ; they shall be di place to spread I Ezehiel 387 forth nets : their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11 But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed ; they shall be given to salt. 12 And by the river, upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed : it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary ; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. 13 II Thus saith the Lord God, This shall he the border whereby ye shall inherit the land, according to the twelve tribes of Israel : Joseph shall have two portions. 14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another ; concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers : and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. 15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad ; 16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath ; Hazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. 17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side. 18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side. 19 And the south side southward, from Tainar evoi to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward. 20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side. 21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 M And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you : and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel : they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give hitn his inheritance, saith the Lord God. EZEKIEL, XLVIII. The 2')ortions of the twelve tribes, of the sanctuary, Sfc. 1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazar- enan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west, a portion for Dan. 2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, ^portion for Asher. 388 Ezckiel 3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, ^ portion for Naphtali. 4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh. 5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraiin. 6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, ?i portion for Reuben. 7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side even unto the west side, ^portion for Judah. 8 IT And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side : and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. 9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the Lord shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and often thousand in breadth. 10 And for them, eveii for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward -ths north five and twenty thousand fn length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty tbousand in length : and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof. 11// shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok ; which have kept my charge, which went not astray, when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. 12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites. 13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth : all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. 14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the first friiits of the land: for it is holy unto the Lord. 15 And the five thousand that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city : for dwelling,' and lor suburbs : and the city shall be in the midst thereof. 16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. 17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty. 18 And the residue in length, over against the oblation of the holy portion, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward : and it shall be over against the oblation of the ho]y portion ; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city. 19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out ot all the tribes of Israel. 20 All the oblation shall be fiv^e and twenty thousand by five and I Ezekiel 389 twenty thousand : ye shall offer the holy oblation four-square, with the possession of the city. 21 IT And the residue shall he for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince : and it shall be the holy oblation ; and the sanctuary of the house shall he in the midst thereof. 22 Moreover, from the possession of the Levites, and from the pos- session of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince. 23 As for the rest of the tribes from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have 2i portion. 24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion. 25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a. jyortion. 26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion. 27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a. portion. 28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the bor- der shall be even from Tamar ujito the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea. 29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord God. 30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures. 31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel : three gates northward ; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. 32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred : and three gates; one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. 33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures : and three gates ; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun. 34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates ; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. 3.5 /< u'os round about eighteen thousand ?7ieasM?-es ; and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there. EZEKIEL, XXIX. B. C. 572. 17 TI And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first dayoi the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus : every head was made bald, and every shoulder ivas peeled ; yet had he no wages, nor his army, for TyruS; for the service that he had served against it ; 390 Ezekiel. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon ; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey ; and it shall be the wages for his arm5\ 20 I have given him the land of Egypt /or his labor wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God. 21 H In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. EZEKIEL, XXX. The desolation of Egypt, and her helpers. The arm of Babylon shall be strengthened to break the arm of Egypt. 1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Howl ye. Woe worth the day ! 3 For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day ; it shall be the time of the heathen. 4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. 5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lj^dia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. 6 Thus saith the Lord ; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall ; and the pride of her power shall come down : from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God. 7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. 8 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed. 9 In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships, to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt : for, lo, it conieth. 10 Thus saith the Lord God ; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land : and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill tlie land with the slain. 12 And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked : and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers : I the Lord have spoken it. 13 Thus saith the Lord God ; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph ; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. 15 And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt ; and I will cut off the multitude of No. Ezehiel. Daniel, 391 16 And I will set fire in Egypt : Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily. 17 The young men of Aven and of Phibeseth shall fall by the sword : and these cities shall go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt : and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her : as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. 19 Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt : and they shall know that I am the Lord. DANIEL, IV. B. C. 570. JVebuchadnezzar's dream : Daniel interpreteth it : the story of the event. 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and lan- guages that dwell in all the earth ; Peace be multiplied unto you. 2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 3 How great are his signs ! and how mighty are his wonders ! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from genera- tion, to generation. 4 TT I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace : 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid : and the thoughts upon my bed, and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the inter- pretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers : and 1 told the dream before them ; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. S Cut at the last Daniel came in betbre me, (whose name loas Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods,) and before him I told the dream, sat/ing, 9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because 1 know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. 10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed : I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. 12 The leaves thereof it'ere fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it 1V0S meat for all : the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. 13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud, and said thus. Hew down the tree, and cut ofT his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches. 39$J Darnel 15 Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field ; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion he with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him ; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand s by the word of the holy ones : to the intent that the living maj'^ know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. 18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof ; forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are riot able to make known unto me the interpretation : but thou art able ; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, 19 IT Then Daniel (whose name was Belteshazzar) was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dieam be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. 20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth ; 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all ; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation : 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong : for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying. Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field ; and let it be w^et with the dew of heaven, and let his portion he with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him ; 24 This is the interpretation, king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king : 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the i^ew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots: thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalthave known that the heavens do rule. 27 Wherefore, king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it "may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. 28'^ All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. 29 * At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have * B. C. 569. Daniel. Jehoiacldn. 393 built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ? 31 While the word was in the king's mouth there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken ; The kingdom is departed from thee ; 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field : they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomso- ever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws. 2 KINGS, XXV. B. C. 562. 27 M And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the cap- tivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that * Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison ; 28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon ; 29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread contin- ually before him all the days of his life. 30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life. DANIEL, IV. 34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation : 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth : and none can stay his hand, or say unto him What doest thou ? ' 36 At the same time my reason returned unto me ; and for the glory of my kingdom mine honor and brightness returned unto me ; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me ; and I was estab- lished in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment : and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. DANIEL, VII. B. C. 555. DanieVs vision of the four beasts, of God's kingdom : the interpre- tation thereof. 1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a * This prince rnled during the insanity of his father Nebuchadnezzar. t>0 394 Daniel dream, and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings : I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5 And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it : and they said thus unto it. Arise, devour much flesh. 6 After this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl : the beast had also four heads ; and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth : it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it vms diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots : and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. 9 H I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, who?e garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool : his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning tire. 10 A fiery stream issued and cam? forth from before him : thousand thousands n)inistered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him : the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Ill beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake ; I beheld, even till ihe beasi was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away : yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 13 1 saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before liim. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve hirn : his domin- ion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass awa}', and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. 15 H I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpreta- tion of the things. 17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever, 19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was Daniel. 395 diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass ; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet ; 20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell ; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them ; 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High ; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 23 Thus he said. The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise : and another shall rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws : and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his domin- ion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the king- dom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kin gdom'is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogi- tations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me : but I kept the matter in my heart. DANIEL, VIII. B. C. 553. DanieVs vision of a ram and he-goat. The two thousand three hundred days of suspension of the sacrifice. 1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appear- ed unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. 2 And I saw in a vision ; (and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam ;) and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai. 3 Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high ; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward and south- ward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand ; but he did according to his will, and became great. 5 And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west, on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground ; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 306 Daniel 6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. 7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there w^s no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him : and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8 Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken ; and for it came up four notable ones, toward the four winds of heaven. 9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven ; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. 11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, andbj'- him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctu- ary was cast down. 12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground ; and it practised, and prospered. 13 IT Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake. How long shall he the vision con- cerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot .' 14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 15 IT And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man's voice between the hanks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. 17 So he came near where I stood ; and when he came I was afraid, and fell upon my face : but he said unto me. Understand, O son of man ; for at the time of the end shall he the vision. 18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground : but he touched me, and set me upright. 19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation : for at the time appointed the end shall he. 20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the iirst king. 22 Now, that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four king- doms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. 23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of lierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power : and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shaU destroy the nughty and the holy people. Daniel 397 25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand ; and he shall magnify himself \n his heart, and by peace shall destroy many : he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes ; but he shall be broken without hand. 26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true : wherefore shut thou up the vision ; for it shall be for many days. 27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days: afterward I rose up, and did the king's business ; and I was astonished at tiie vision, but none understood it. DANIEL, V. B. C. 538. Belshazzar^s impious feast : a hand-ivriting troubleth him : Daniel repruveth him, and interpreteth the writing. 1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem ; that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden ves.-els that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem ; and the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, 5 IF In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace ; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king's countenance was clianged, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. 7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. 8 Then came in all the kinv;'., wise men : but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof 9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. 10 ^ JS/ow the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet-house; and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever : let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed : 11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods : and, in the days of thy father, light and understanding, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the god:^, was found in him ; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, / say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and sooth- sayers ; 12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and under- standing, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and 33* 398 Daniel dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar : now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. 13 Then was Daniel brought in* before the king. And the king spake and sai«i unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry ? 14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom, is found in thee. 15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in be- fore me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing : It) And 1 have heard of thee that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts : now, if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in tiie kingdom. 17 II Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor: 19 And, for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him : whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put down. 20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him : 21 And he was driven from the sons of men ; and his heart was made like the beast's, and his dwelling was with the wild asses : they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wei with the dew of heaven ; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. 22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this ; 23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven ; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them ; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know : and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glori- fied. 24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him ; and this writing was written, 25 IT And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSfN. 2G This is the interpretation of the thing : MENE ; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL ; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting^ Daniel 399 28 PERES ; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medesand Persians. 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel veith scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a procla- mation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 IT In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three- score and two years old. DANIEL, IX. B. C. 537. Daniel confesseth his sins, prayeth for the restoration of Jeru- salem : Gabriel informeth him of the seventy weeks, 8fc. 1 In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans ; 2 In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jere- miah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 IT And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his com- mandments ; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 Lord, righteousness belongetk unto thee ; but unto us con- fusion of faces, as at this day : to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their "trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8 O Lord, to us belongetk confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him : 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice ; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil : "for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us : yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from cur iniquities, and understand thy truth. 400 Daniel. 14 Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us : for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth : for we obeyed not his voice, 15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day ; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 II O Lord, accoiding to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain : because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now, therefore, our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and be- hold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name : for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord hear; O Lord, forgive ; O Lord, hearken, and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God : for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 20 M And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God ; 21 Yea, whiles 1 was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom 1 had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am" come to shew thee ; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 24 * Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting right- eousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. 25 Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, ahall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks : the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for liimself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof shall be with a tlood, and unto the end of the war desolations are deter- mined. 27 And be shall confirm the covenant with many for one week : and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for tiie overspreailing of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. * See B. C. 458. Note on Ezra, vii. 12. Daniel 401 DANIEL, VI. B. C. 536. DanieVs preferment : the princes cons'pire against him, and he is cast into the den of lions : he is miraculously saved. 1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom ; 2 And over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first ; that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him ; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 4 H Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom ; but they could find none occasion nor fault ; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. 6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. 7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 10 IT Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed he went into his house ; and, his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 Then ihey came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree ; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions ? The king an- swered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 13 Then answered they, and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him ; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king. Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is. That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may ho phanged. 402 Daniel. Ezra. 16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of Hons. JVow the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den ; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. 18 H Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fast- ing : neither were instruments of music brought before him ; and his sleep went from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel : and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, ser- vant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions ? 21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me : forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me ; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. 23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no maimer of hurt was found upon him, be- cause he believed in his God, 24 II And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and thej'^ cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives ; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. 25 IT Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and lan- guages, that dwell in all the earth ; Peace be multiplied unto you. 26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom, men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel ; for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be de- stroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. B. C. 535. EZRA, I. The proclamation of Cirrus for the building of the temple. The people provide for their return. Cyrus restoreth the vessels of the temple to Sheshbazzar. 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a procla- mation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Who is there among you of all his people .' his God be with him, Ezra. 403 and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God,) which is in Jeru- salem. 4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojournethjet the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill-offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. 5 H Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all the?n whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jeru- salem. 6 And all they that tvere about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. 7 M Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the bouse of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jeru- salem, and had put them in the house of his gods ; 8 Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this is the number of them : thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine andtwenty knives, 10 Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hun- dred and ten, and other vessels a thousand. 11 All the vessels of gold and of silver icere five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity, that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. The number that returned. Of the priests ivhkh cnuld not shew their pedigree. 1 Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebu- chadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto BabyJon, and came again unto Jeiusalem and Judah, every one unto his city; 2 Which came with Zerubbabel. 64 H The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore. 65 Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among th<^m two hundred singing men and singitig women. 66 Their horses icere seven hundred thirty and six ; their mules, two hundred forty and five ; 67 Their camels, four hundred thirty and five ; their asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty. 68 IT And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the bouse of the Lord which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place : 69 They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work, threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pounds of silver, and one hundred priests' garments. 70 So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the 404 Ezra. singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities. EZRA, III. The altar is set up. Offerings frequented. The foundation of the temple laid. 1 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 And they set the altar upon his bases ; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries : and they offered burnt- offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt-offerings morning and evening. 4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required ; 5 And afterward offered the continual burnt-offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the Lord that v)ere conse- crated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill-offering unto the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 7 They gave money also unto the masons and to the carpenters ; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, accord- ing to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. 8 * H Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem ; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. 9 Then stood Jeshua ivith his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God : the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trunspets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 And they sung together by course, in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord ; because he is good, for bis mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a greatshout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. * B. C. 535. Ezra. Daniel. 405 12 But many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foun- dation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice ; and many shouted aloud for joy ; 13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people : for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. EZRA, IV. The building hindered. The letter to Artaxerxes : his decree. 1 Now, when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel, 2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them. Let us build with you ; for we seek your God as ye do ; and we do sacrifice unto him, since the days of Esar-haddou king of Assur, which brought us up hither. 3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Lsrael, said unto them. Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God ; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus, the king of Persia, hath commanded us. 4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building ; 5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the iahabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. DANIEL, X. B. C. 534. Daniel having hiimbled himself, seeth a gloricnis vision : being troubled with fear, he is comforted by the angel, 8fc. 1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar ; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long : and he undei'stood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel ; 5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins loere girded with fine gold of Uphax : 6 His body also urns like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 34 40o DaMifl. 7 Auvi I l>Auiel alone savr tlie vision : lor tlio men that wot\' with mo ^iw iK^ iho vi-5K>« ; but a great quaking loll ufK«\ thoiu. so that thoY tloU ti» hivlo thojnsolvos. S There kxrx" 1 was loft aUwo, ami saw this givat viswn. anvi there remaiuoti iv^ stren^Lth in nvo : tor nu- oxmuoUvu^^ w\\s turnovl iu ine iuto «vrruj^i^>ice ctf his wvhxIs : and when I hearxl the ^-oie© of his worvls. thou was I in a lieep sleep on n)Y Mce, and luy laee towarvi the grotmd. 10 ^ Anvi, behold, an hand touohotl me, whieh set me ujhmi my ksuvs and m;vm the jvihus of my haiH^s : 11 Vnd ho said unto n\e. O Paniol. a man greatly belov^xl. undor- staihi the wor\ls that 1 sjvak unto thee. ;md stand upright : for unto thee am I now sent. And, when he had !?poken this word unto me, I stoo.1 trembling. 12 Then saivl he uuto iro. Fear not. Paniol : tly frwH the l\rst day that thou didst set thine ho.\rt to understaiHl. and to ohaston thyself ivtO!V thy Gxxl, thy worv'.s wore hoarxi. and I am i\Mue for thy worvis. 13 But the priue^ of the kin<^k>in of Persia withstood! me one and twenty days: but, lo. Mtohaol. one of the chief princes, came to help me : ami I remainovl there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now 1 am cc»me to make thee umieivtand what shall befall thy por^ple in the latter days : for yet the vistoi^ i\< tor tnaHtf days. 15 And wlion he havi sjx^kon such wvvrds uuto me.* I set my face towarvl the grv.^und. aiui I became dumb. 16 AikK behoki. oiut like the similitude of the sons of nx>n toucheti my lips : then I openovl my mouth and spake, and said unto hini th.^t srocvi before me. O >ny lord, by the visiv>a my sorrows arv turneii upoii me. and 1 have retainovi no strength. 17 F- - ' ' ' -\ r\-ant of this ray loni ralk with thus my lord ? for. as y there ren>ained no strength in me, neither is there .' . IS Tiien liiere Cv^ime again and touchovi me ime like the dpi>ear- »nce of a man, and he strengthenoxi me. 19 At^.d said. O man greatly beloveil, fear not ; peace be imtothee; be sirvMiiT. yea, be strong. Auv!, when he h.>d sj^K>ken unto me, 1 was strengthenoi!. and said. Let my lord speak ; lor thou hast strengih- eneii me- 20 Then saiii he, Knowest thou ivheretore I con\e unto thee : ami now will 1 return to fight with the prince of Persia : and, when I am gvMie ft»rth, lo. the prince of Grecia shall come. 21 F ' " -■ ow thee that which is nototi in the scripture of truth . - none that holdeth with me iu these ihiufr?, but Mioha;: ,.... , .. .:o. PAXIEL, XI. 1 Also I, in the nrst year of Darius the Metie, cTi'.n I, stooii to con- firm and to strengthen him. 2 And now will 1 shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia ; and the ftvurih shall be for richer than thei/ all : and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all asrainst the realm of Grecia. Danitl. /^fl % Arid a nuiidity kio^ iliall »tarKl up, tlnat fball rule with great d^- miiiifni, nr,.* *' "'•''-• ". v - y.jH. 4 A/>'i V. , hw kioti/iffro lAtnW \>f, broken, and eJiiiJi U; 0) wiud* of >«eaven; a»d liot to bic posterity, i»ve him, arid hare dfjiniukm; bit domiaioD */i/i// //« a y? , . ..jU. 6 And irj the ewi oi y*:^r*! Ui*:y %h?.Jl jojo themielvef toeettter: for the kifi^'fs diu^hier '>( the tsouih •■liall f:ome to the kifi^ of the north to inake au ijfreeajent : hut feite ishail rjot retain Xite power of the arm ; iieitiier feJiall be *taiid, oor ht« ana ; but *be i>bajl he jpvea up, ami tJjey tJi^t hrou^rht her, aod he that begat her, a^d he ii>at ctreogth- ened her iii tfu^-ie tiriie*. 7 But out ol a branch of her roote sha^l » of the ki/j^ of the noriii, arid »bail deal a^n^t rhfrn. ?n'! shall prfiVioi; H And shall ali« carrj' captive's into K^r r, with their prittces, a/i/i with tlieir precio«« r*:meU of - gold ; arid be ^xall continue r/iore years thao tije kiag ey riiall bU. 15 So the king of the north shall come, aod east sp a moofit, and take the most fenced cities ; and the anns of the sooth tbsiU ta^A withstand, needier his chosen people, neither shall there be e of God with joy, 17 And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs : and for a sin-offer- ing for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God which is at Jerusalem ; as it is written in the book of Moses, 19 And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the' first month. 20 For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them ivere pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. 21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of cap- tivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, did eat, 22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy : for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the W'Ork of the house of God, the God of Israel. B. C. 510. ZECHARIAH, IX. 1 The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord. 2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. 3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. 4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea ; and she shall be devoured with fire. 5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear ; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed ; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be in- habited. 6 And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off" the pride of the Philistines. Zechariah. 423 7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abom- inations from between his teeth : but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. 8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, be- cause of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth : and no oppressor shall pass through them any more : for naw have I seen with mine eyes. 9 11 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : Behold, thy king cometh unto thee : he w just, and hav- ing salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I wil cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen : and his dominion shall he from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. 12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee ; 13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, Zion, against thy sons, Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. 14 And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south, 15 The Lord of hosts shall defend them ; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling-stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine ; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the cor- ners of the altar. 16 And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people : for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty ! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids. ZECHARIAH, X. 1 Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain ; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. 2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain : therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. 3 IT Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats : for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made ihem as his goodly horse in the battle. 4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. 5 IT And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle : and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded. 424 Zechariali. 6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them ; for I have mercy upon them : and they shall be as though I had not cast them olf: for I om the Lord their God, and will hear them. 7 And they o/Ephraim shall be like a mighty man^ and their heart shall rejoice as through wine : yea, their children shall see if, and be glad ; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. 8 I will hiss for them, and gather them, for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. 9 And I will sow them among the people : and they shall remem- ber me in far countries ; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. 10 1 will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria : and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon ; and place shall not be found for them. 11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up : and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. 12 And I will strengthen them in the Lord : and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord. ZECHAUIAR, XI. 1 Open thy doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 Ilowl, lir-tree ; for the cedar is fallen ; because the mighty are spoiled : howl, ye oaks of Bashan ; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 3 ^ There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds ; for their glory is spoiled : a voice of the roaring of young lions ; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. 4 Thus saith the Lord my God, Feed the flock of the slaughter, 5 Vv'hose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty ; and they that sell them say, Blessed he the Lord ; for I am rich : and their own shepherds pity them not. 6 Eor I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord : but, lo, 1 will deliver the men every one into his neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver the7n. 7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves ; the one I called Beauty, imd the other I called Bands: and I fed the flock. . 8 Three shepherds also 1 cut oiV in one month ; and my soul loathed them, and their soul ah=o abhorred me. 9 Tlien said I, I will not feed you : that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. 10 !i And I took my staff, etr/i Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break ni)^ covenant which I had made with all the peoph. 11 And it was bioken in that day : and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it icas the word of the Lord. 12 And I said unto them. If ye think good, give me my price ; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty jneces of silver. Zechariah. 425 13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter : a goodly- price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then 1 cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15 H And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instru- ments of a foolish shepherd : 16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, ivhich shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still ; but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. 17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock ! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye : his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. ZECHARIAH, XII. B. C. 500. 1 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah a7id against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people : all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all tlie people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4 In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with aston- ishment, and his rider with madness : and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabi- tants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their 6 IT In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left : and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem, 7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David ; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 IT And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhab- itants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace, and of supplications : and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 426 Zechariali. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart ; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart ; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart ; 13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart ; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart ; 14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. ZECHARIAH, XIII. 1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. 2 !! And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered ; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. 3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him. Thou shalt not live ; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord : and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. 4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive : 5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman ; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. 6 And one shall say unto him. What are these wounds in thine hands ? Then he shall answer. Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends, ^ 7 17 Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts : smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered ; and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off, and die ; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried : they shall call on mj^ name, and I will hear them ; I will say, It is my people ; and they shall say. The Lord is my God, ZECHARIAH, XIV. 1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be di- vided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle ; and the city shall be taken, and the houses ril3ed, and the women ravished ; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 ^ Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east: and the mount of Olives Zechariah. \^1 shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley : and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains ; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal : yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah ; and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. 6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark : 7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night : but it shall come to pass, that at evening-time it shall be light. 8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem ; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth : in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. 10 All the land shall be turned as a plain, from Geba to Rimmou, south of Jerusalem : and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner-gate, and from the tower of Hananiel unto the king's wine- presses. 11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction ; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 12 M And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem ; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neiirhbor. 14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem ; and the wealth of all the healherw round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, oT the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 16 Tl And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain, 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the ifeast of tabernacles. 20 II In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HO- LINESS unto" THE LORD, and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 428 Zechariali. Esther. 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be Holiness unto the Lord of hosts : and all they that sacrifice, shall come and take of them and seethe therein : and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. B. C. 460. ESTHER, I. Ahasuerus maketh royal feasts. Vashti sent for, refuseth to come. 1 Now it *came to pass, in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasu- erus whicii reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces,) 2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes, and his servants ; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him ; 4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honor of his excellent majesty, many days, even an hundred and fourscore days. 5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace, 6 J^fHiere were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of tine linen and purple to silver rings, and pillars of marble : the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble. 7 And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king. 8 And the drinking was according to the law ; none did compel : for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure. 9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus. 10 H On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehum.an, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, 11 To bring Vashti the queen before the king, with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. 12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command- ment by his chamberlains : therefore was the king very wroth,- and his anger burned in him. 13 Ti Then the king said to the wise men which knew the times, (for so ivas the king's manner toward all that knew law and judg- ment ; 14 And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tar- shish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia * Ahasuerus supposed to be one of the names of Artaxer.xes, Longimanus, and is so called by Josephus and by the Septuagint. Esther. 429 and Media, which saw the king's face, and which sat the first in the kingdom,) 15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, be- cause she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains ? 16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all tlie people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. 17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported. The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. 18 Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contelnpt and wrath. 19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus ; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. 20 And when the king's decree, which he shall make, shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honor, both to great and small. 21 And the saying pleased the king. and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan : 22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house ; and that it should be published according to the language of every people. ESTHER, II. B. C. 459. Out of the choice of virgins a queen to be chosen. 1 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeas- ed, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. 2 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him. Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king : 3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his king- dom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women ; and let their things for purification be given them; 4 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so. 5 TI JVoxo, in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Be nj a mite, 6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem, with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. 36 430 Esther. Ezra. 7 And he brought up Hadassah (that is Esther) his uncle's daughter ; for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful : whom Mordecai (when her father and mother were dead) took for his own daughter. 8 H So it came to pass, when the king^s commandment and his de- cree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also. unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. 9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him ; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens tvhich ivere meet to be given her, out of the king's house : and he preferred her and her maids unto the hesX place of the house of the women. 10 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred : for Mor- decai had charged her that she should not shew it. 11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her. 12 H Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahas- uerus, after that she had beeti twelve months, according to the man- ner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accom- plished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors, and with other things for the purifying of the women ;) 13 Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house. 14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of wShaashgaz the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines : she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her. and that she were called by name. B. C. 458. EZRA, vir. 1 Now after these things, in the reign of Arfnxerxes king of Persia- Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, tli;- son of Hilkiah, 2 The son of Shaiium, the son of Zadok, the -^on of Ahitub, 3 The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4 The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5 The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest : 6 This Ezra went up fion\ Babylon ; and he wa^ a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Eord God of Israel had given : and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. 7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the poiters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fiUh month which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For upon the first dat^ of the first month began he (o go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. Ezra. 431 10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 11 TT Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel. 12 * Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. 13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. 14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven coun- sellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand ; 15 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his coun- sellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, 16 And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem : ' 17 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money, bullocks, rams, Iambs, with their meat-offerings, and their drink-offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 18 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God. 19 The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house. 21 And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which m'e beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily. 22 Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing hov^ much. 23 AVhatsoever is conimanded^by the God of heaven, let U be dili- gently done for the house of the God of heaven : for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons ? 24 Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Le- vites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God. It shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them. 25 And thou Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the lav/s of thy God ; and teach ye them that know them not. 26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of ^/ jAI^^T^*" ^, ^^^ '^''"^^ *o ^''^'<^'^ tli^ prophet Daniel was cited. Daniel, ix. 24 and ^5. And calculating from this date, B. C. 4.58, gives us, reckonin-j a week seven years which is doubtless the true reckoning, 65 weeks and three days to the coming ot Christ, to which add 33 years, the term of Christ's life, and we have 70 weeks and one daj. i ^ 432 Ezra. the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it he unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to impris- onment. 27 U Blessed he the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem ; 28 And hath extended mercy unto me before the king and his coun- sellors, and before all the king's mighty princes ; and { was strength- ened as the hand of the Lord my God ivas upon me; and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me. EZRA, VIII. 1 These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the gene- alogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. 2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom ; of the sons of Itharaar, Daniel ; of the sons of David, Hattush ; 3 Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh, Zechariah ; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty. 4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males. 5 Of the sons of Shechaniah ; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males. 6 Of the sons also of Adin ; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males. 7 And of the sons of Elam ; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy n>ales. 8 And of the sons of Shephatiah ; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males. 9 Of the sons of Joab ; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males. 10 And of the sons of Shelomith ; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males. 11 And of the sons of Bebai ; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males. 12 And of the sons of Azgad ; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with hisn an hundred and ten males. 13 And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males. 14 Of the sons also of Bigvai ; ITthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males. 15 "!i"And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava ; and there abode we in tents three days : and I viewed the people and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. 16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elna- than, and for Jarib, and for Elnathaa, and for Nathan, and for Zecha- riah, and for Meshullam, chief men ; also for Joiarib, and for Elna- than, men of understanding. 17 And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring; unto us ministers for the house of our God. Ezra. 433 18 And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of MahU, the son of Levi, the son of Israel ; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen ; 19 And Hashabiah,and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty ; 20 Also of the Nethiniins, whom David and the princes had appoint- ed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name. 21 Ti Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way ; because we had spoken unto the king, saying. The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him ; but his power and his wrath is against all thejn that forsake him. 23 So we fasted, and besought our God for this : and he was en- treated of us. 24 li Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them ; 25 And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, ctjm the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered : 26 I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents ; 27 Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams ; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. 28 And I said unto them", Ye ore holy unto the Lord ; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering unto the Lord God of your fathers. 29 Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh fAem before the chiet of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord. 30 So took the priests and the Levites, the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God. 31 Ti Then we depa.-ted from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way. 32 And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days. 33 H Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and tlie vessels weighed in the house of our God, by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest ; and wilh him jya.s Eleazar the son of Phinehas ; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noa- diah the son of Binnui, Levites ; 34 By number and by weight of every one : and all the weight was written at that time. 35 Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivit}^ offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy" 36* 434 Ezra. and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering : all tim loas a burnt-offering unto the Lord. 36 H And ihey delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river : and they furthered the people, and the house of God. B. C. 457. EZRA, IX. 1 Novv, when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying. The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing accord- ing to their abominations, tven of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons; so tirat the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. 3 And when I heard this thing I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of ray head and of my beard, and sat down astonied. 4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away ; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice. 5 II And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness ; and, l.aving rent my garment and my mantle, 1 fell upon my knees, and spread out n)y hands unto the Lord my God, 6 And said, my God ! I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, ii!y God : for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto ihe heavens. 7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day •, and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, asi^ is this day. 8 And now for a little space grace h^h been shelved from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to esca-.v^, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 For we v)tre bondmen ; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this ? for we have forsaken thy commandments, 11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying. The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their unclean- ness. 12 Now, therefore, give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their Ezra. 435 wealth for ever ; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. 13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou, our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; 14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in afl5- nity vpith the people of these abominations, wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping ? 15 O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous ; for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day ; behold, we are before thee in our tres- passes : for we cannot stand before thee because of this. 1 Now, when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men, and women, and children : for the people wept very sore. 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land : yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. 3 Now, therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God ; and let it be done according to the law. 4 Arise ; for this matter belongcth unto thee: we also will be with thee ; be of good courage, and do it. 5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word: and they sware. 6 IT Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib ; and wheji he came thither he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the tiansgression of them that had been carried away. 7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather them- selves together unto Jerusalem ; 8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, accord- ing to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away. 9 IT Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days : it was the ninth month, and the twentieth day of the month ; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. 10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them. Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives to increase the trespass of Israel. 11 Now, therefore, make confession unto the Lord God of your 436 Ezra. Esther. fathers, and do his pleasure ; and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. 12 Then all the congregation answered and said, with a loud voice. As thou hast said, so must we do. 13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two : for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. 14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. 15 \\ Only Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah, were employed about this matter ; and Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite, helped them. 16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. 17 And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month. B. C. 456. ESTHER, II. 15 IT Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Monlecai, v.'ho had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chambeilain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther ob- tained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her. 16 So Esther waslaken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17 And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she ob- tained grace and favor in his sight niorcthan all the virgins ; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king. 19" And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate. 20 Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people ; as Mordecai had charged her : for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she'was brought up with him. 21 17 In those days while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlain's, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. 22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen ; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name, 23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree : and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. B. C. 452. ESTHER, III. 1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son Esther. 437 of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. 2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haraan: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. 3 Then the king's servants which were in the king's gate said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment ? 4 Now it came to pa«s, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see Avhether Mor- decai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he teas a Jew. 5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Hainan full of wrath. 6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone ; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai : wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that ivere throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. 7 * IT In the first month, that is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. 8 IT And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom ; and their laws are diverse from all people, neither keep they the king's laws : therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. 9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed ; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it unto the king's treasuries. 10 And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it unto Ha- man. the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. 11 And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemcth good to thee. 12 Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written, according to all that Haman had com.manded, unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every pi evince, according to tlie writing thereof, and to every people after their language : in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed \\\\h the king's ring. 13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. 14 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. 15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king's command- ment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink ; but the city Shushan was per- plexed. * B. C. 451. 438 Esther. ESTHER, IV. Mordecai and the Jews mourn. Esther appointeth a fast. 1 When jMordecai perceived all that was done, IVIoidecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and ciied with a loud and with bitter cry ; 2 And came even before the king's gate : for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4 H So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved ; and she sent raiment to clotjie JMordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him : but he received it not. 5 Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a command- ment to Mordecai to know what it was, and why it was. 6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate. 7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries lor the Jews, to destroy them : 8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her tViat she should go in unto tlie king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. 9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 10 H Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him command- ment unto Mordecai ; 11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put Itim to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden i^ceptre, that he may live : but 1 have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. 12 And they told to Moi'decai Esther's words. 13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. 14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargemer»t and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed : and who knovveth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? 15 IT Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer ; 16 Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night nor day : I also and my maidens will fast likewise ; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law ; and if I perish, I perish. Esther. 439 17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had comraanded him. ESTHER, V. Esther, obtaining the king's favor, inviteth the king and Haman to a banquet. 1 Now it came to pass on the third ;day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner^ court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of (he iiouse. 2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained fa-vor in his sight : and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. 3 Then said the king unto her. What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request ? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. 4 And Esther answered. If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the bunquet that I have pre- pared for him. 5 Then the king said. Cause Haman to make haste, that lie may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Hainan came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. 6 H And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine. What is thy petition ? and it shall be granted thee : auvi what is thy re- quest ? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. 7 Then answered Esther, and said. My pefi'ion and mv request is/ 8 If I have found favor in the pight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare lor them, and I will do to-morrow as the king hath said. 9 IF Then went Hainan foith that day joyful and with a glad heart : but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mor- decai. 10 Nevertheless, Haman remained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife. 11 And Hainan told them of the glory of his riches, and the mul- titude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had pro- moted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king. 12 Haman said, moreover. Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in witli the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but rayself : and to-morrow am I invited unto her also with the king. 13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, ^o long as 1 see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. 14 IT Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him. Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to-morrov/ speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be handed thereon : then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman : and he caused the gallows to be made. 440 Esther. ESTHER, Vr. Ahasuerus rewardeth Mordecai : Haman doeth him honor. 1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles ; and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. 3 And the king said, "What honor and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this ? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. 4 IT And the king said, Who is in the court ? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5 And the king's servants said unto him. Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. 6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor ? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself.' 7 And Haman answered the king. For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, 8 Let (he royal apparel be brought which the king nseth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head ; 9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor. 10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the ap- parel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate : let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. 11 H Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor. 12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning and having his head covered. 13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every /Tim^ that had bef^illen him. Then said his wi>e men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shall not prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him. 14 And while they icere yet talking with him came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Hainan unto the banquet that Esther had prepared. ESTHER, VII. Esther siieth for her own life and her peojpWs. The king causeth Haman to he hanged on his own gallows. 1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. Esther. 441 2 And the king said again unto Esther, on the second day, at the banquet of wine. What is thy petition, queen Esther ? and it shall be granted thee : and what is thy request ? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom. 3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish : but if we had been sold for bond-men and bond-women I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. 5 TI Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen. Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so ? 6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. TTien Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. 7 *" And the king, arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace-garden, and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen : for he saw that there was evil deter- mined against him by the king. 8 Then the king returned out of the palace-garden, into the place of the banquet of wine ; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king. Will he force the queen also before me in the house ? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. 9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king. Behold also the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon. 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows, that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified. ESTHER, VIII. 1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy, unto Esther the queen : and Mordecai came before the king ; for Esther had told what he was unto her. 2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 3 !i And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, 5 And said. If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I he pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces. 6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people ? or how can I endure to see the destruction of ray kindred ? 37 442 Esther. 7 IT Then the kina; Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen, and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, 1 have given Esther the house of Hainan, and hitn they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews, 8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring : for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse. 9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, (that is the month Sivan,) on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written, (according to all that Mordecai coni- mandod,) unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces, which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hun* dred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the w^riting thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jev^s according to their writing, and according to their lan- guage. 10 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring ; and sent letters by post on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries : 11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and pro- vince that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey ; 12 Upon one day, in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, Ma??ieZ_y, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13 II The copy of the writing, for a commandment to be given in every province, was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the de- cree was given at Shushan the palace. 15 '^ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple ; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. 16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor. 17 An I in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews ; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. ESTHER, IX. The Jews slay their enemies, with the ten sons of Hainan. The two days of Piirim are made festival. 1 Now, in the twelfth month, (that is the month Adar,) on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them,) Esther, 143 2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities, through- out all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as .nought their hurt ; and no man could withstand them : for the fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews ; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For JNIordecai icas great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces : for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. 5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them. 6 And in Shushan the palace, the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men. 7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha, 8 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, 9 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha, 10 The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they ; but on the spoil laid they not their hand. 11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king. 12 1i And the king said unto Esther the queen. The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman ; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Nov/, what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee : or what is thy request further ? and it shall be done. 13 Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to-morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. 14 And the king commanded it so to be done : and the decree was given at Shushan ; and they hanged Haman's ten sons. 15 For the Jews that icere in Shushan gathered themselves to- gether on the fourteenth day also of the mon^h Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan ; but on the prey they laid not their hand. 16 But the other Jews that ivere in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey. 17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on (he four- teenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews that were, at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day o/ gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions oiie to another. 20 * H And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far, * B, C. 450. 444 Esther. 21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, 22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day : that they should make them days of feast- ing and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor. 23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mor- decai had written unto them ; 24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them ; 25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, 27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their ^vriting, and according to their appointed time every year ; 28 And that these days should be remembered and kept through- out every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. 29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and IMordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed, ac- cording as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves, and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. 32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim j and it was written in the book. B. C. 446. ESTHER, X. 1 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. 2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declara- tion of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of tlie kings of Media and Persia ? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren^ seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed. Nehemiah. 445 NEHEMTAH, I. B. C. 444. JVehemiah, understanding by Hanani the misery of Jerusalem^ mourneth, fasteth, and prayeth: his jirayer. 1 The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachahah. And it came to pass, in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shu- shan the palace, 2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah ; and I asling the first-fruits of our douah, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine, and^'of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God ; and the (ithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tiiiaa-e. 38 And the priest the son o^Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes : and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of cur God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house. 39 For the children of Israel, and the children of Levi, shall brintr the offering of the corn, of the nev,- wine, and the oil, unto the cham^ bers where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that 38* 458 Nehemiah. minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God. B. C. 443. ^'EHEMIAII, xi. 1 And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem : the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities. 2 And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered them- selves to dwell at Jerusalem. B. C. 441. NEHEMIAH, XIII. 10 H And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his iield. 11 Then contended I with the rulers, and said. Why is the house of God forsaken ? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place. 12 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn, and the new wine, and the oil, unto the treasuries. 13 And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe ; and of the Levites, Pedaiah ; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah : for they were counted faithful ; and their office was to distribute unto their brethren. 14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof. 15 * "il In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses ; as also wine,' grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath-day: and I testified ao'amsf them in the day wherein they sold victuals. 16 There dv.elt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath- day ? 18 Did not j^our fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sab- bath : and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden bo brought in on the sabbath-day. 20 So the merchants, and sellers of all kind of ware, lodged with- out Jerusalem once or twice. 21 Then 1 testified against them, and said unto them. Why lodge ye about the wall ? if ye do so again, 1 will lay hands on you. From that time forth came Ihcy no more on the sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites, that they should cleanse them- selves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the * B. C. 428! Nehemiah. Malachi. 459 sabbath-day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. 23 IT In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab : 24 And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. 25 And 1 contended with them, and cursed them, and smote cer- tain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things ? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless, even him did outlandish women cause to sin. 27 Shall we then heaiken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God, in marrying strange wives ? 28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite : therefore I chased him from me. 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. 30 Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business; 31 And for the wood-offering, at times appointed, and for the first- fruits. Remember me, my God, for good. MALACHI, I. B. C. 420. Malachi complaineth of Israel's unkindncss, irreligion, and pro- faneness. 1 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. 2 I have loved you, saith the Lord ; Yet ye say. Wherein hast thou loved us ? Was not Esau Jacob's brother .? saith the Lord : yet I loved Jacob, 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. 4 Whereas Edom saith, W^e are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places ; thus saith the Lord of hosts. They shall build, but I will throw down ; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever. 5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say. The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. 6 TF A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master : if then I be a father, where is mine honor ? and if I &e a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, priests, that despise my name. And ye say, W'herein have we despised thy name ? 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar ; and ye say, W^herein have we polluted thee .' In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. 8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice. Is it not evil ? and if ye offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil ? offer it now unto thy gover- 460 Malachi. nor ; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person ? saith the Lord of hosts. 9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us : this hath been by your means : will he regard your persons ? saith the Lord of hosts. 10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought 7 neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither wiU J. accept an offering at your hand, 11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall he great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense shall he offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 IT But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted ; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contempti- ble. 13 Ye said also. Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts ; and ye brought that ichich was torn, and the lame and the sick ; thus ye brought an offering : Should I accept this of your hand ? saith the Lord. 14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I «??i a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. MALACHI, II. He reproveth the priests for neglecting their covenant, and the peo- ple for idolatry, adultery, and infidelity. 1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If ye wilfnot hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. 3 Behold," I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts ; and one shall take you away with it. 4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant n;ight be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. 5 My covenant was with Isim of life and peace ; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips ; he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. 7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouih : for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But ye are departed out of the way ; ye have caused many to stumble at the law ; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. 9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all Malachi, 461 the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law. 10 Have we not all one father ? hath not one God created us ? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers ? 11 IT Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is com- mitted in Israel and in Jerusalem ; for Judah hath profaned the holi- ness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. 12 The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that ofFereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts. - 13 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. 14 IT Yet ye say, Wherefore ? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously : yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did not he make one ? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one ? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. 16 For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith, that he hateth putting away : for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts ; therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treach- erously. 17 11 Ye have wearied the Lord with your words : yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him ? When ye say. Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them ; or. Where is the God of judgment ? MALACHI, III. Of the messenger, majesty, and grace, of Christ. Of the rebellion, sacrilege, and infidelity of the people. The promise of blessing to them that fear God. 1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me : and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in : behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming .' and who shall stand when he appeareth ? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap : 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver : and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5 And I will come near to you to judgment ; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his 462 MalacM. wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, salth the Lord of hosts. 6 For I am the Lord, 1 change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 IT Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said. Wherein shall we return ? 8 H Will a man rob God ? yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee ? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse : for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be roo)n enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground ; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed : for ye shall be a delight- some land, saith the Lord of hosts. 13 IT Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord : yet ye say. What have we spoken so much against thee ? 14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God ; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mourn- fully before the Lord of hosts ? 15 And now we call the proud happy : yea, they that work wick- edness are set up ; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. 16 H Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened, and heard it : and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked ; between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. MALACHI, IV. God's judgment on the wicked, and his Messing on the good : he telleth of Elijah's coming. 1 For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven ; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble : and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 H But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings ; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked ; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. MalacM. 463 4 TF Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I com- manded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judg- ments. 5 TT Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord : 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.