Page images
PDF
EPUB

are there not ill-gotten goods scraped together, and hoarded up in the houses of thy wicked inhabitants? Are there not false and scant measures, which are abominable?

VI. 13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee. I will make thee sick, even to death, with my sharp and wounding stripes of affliction.

VI. 14 And thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

Thy casting down shall be in the midst of thine own streets; thou shalt fall, even within thine own walls; and thou shalt take hold on thy children, to deliver them from the eneiny, but thou shalt not rescue them; and those, whom thou hast obtained to deliver from the present slaughter, will I soon after give up to the sword.

VI. 16 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.

For those impious statutes of Omri, the idolatrous king of Israel, the father of Ahab, are still kept by you; and all the wicked. practices of the house of Ahab and Jezebel are in use amongst you and ye walk in their counsels, &c. Therefore ye shall justly undergo that reproach, which is due to a people, of whom I have deserved so well, and have been so ill requited.

VII. 1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat my soul desired the firstripe fruit.

Woe is me, that I can find so small comfort of my labours! it is with me, as with a man, that, after the vintage is past, seeks for a cluster of grapes, but can find none to eat; even so hath my soul desired, after all my preaching, to find some godly men, which would have been to me no less pleasing than the first ripe grape is to the palate, and behold, there is none to be found.

VII. 3 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 desires: so they wrap it up.

That there may be no slackening of their endeavours to do evil, on all hands; the very princes and judges of my people seek after bribes, to corrupt justice; the great man doth not modestly smother his wicked desires of unlawful gain, but openly professeth it; and so they contrive their mischief accordingly.

VII. 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.

The very best of them tears and scratches like a brier: the most upright wounds and pricks deeper than a thorn hedge: therefore there is judgment ready at hand for them; the day is coming of thy sharp visitation, wherein thy rulers and false prophets shall be

plagued for their corruption; even now is their perplexity at hand.

VII. 5 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. Ye shall be put to such straits, that every one shall be glad to shift for himself in silence; not daring to trust to a friend or to a guide, or to disclose his counsel to the wife that lies in his bosom.

VII. 6 For the son dishonoureth 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.

But every one shall be so intent upon his own escape and preservation, as that the son will not spare the honour of his father, if that shall lie in his way; the daughter will be casting off the respects due to her mother, and much more the daughter-in-law will put off all regard of her mother-in-law; and a man shall be justly suspicious of his own followers and domestic servants, lest they shall betray him.

VII. 7 Therefore I will look unto the LORD.

Thus shall men be distracted with their fears; but, as for me, I will look unto the Lord.

VII. 8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise.

Rejoice not too much in my misery, O Idumea and Babylon : though I fall into captivity, yet I shall arise.

VII. 10 Now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. Now shall Babylon be subdued, and trampled under feet, by the Medes and Persians.

VII. 11 In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.

In that day, that thy walls, O Jerusalem, are to be re-edified, in that day shall the decree, that was procured for the hinderance of the work, be laid aside, and the endeavour of thine opposites shall be frustrated.

VII. 12 In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.

In that day shall those of Judah and Israel flock to thee out of Assyria, and from the strong cities of Egypt, and shall be re-established in their wonted fortresses, even as far as to the bounds of Euphrates, and from one sea to another, all the land over. VII. 13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate. Notwithstanding, in the mean time, for a space the land shall be desolate.

VII. 14 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.

In this mean time, O God, take thou care of thy people: Oh, do thou feed and govern them, by thy gracious protection: lead thou this flock of thine heritage, which now dwell solitarily in the

wilderness of their captivity, into the midst of thy fruitful pastures of Carmel let them feed in the rich fields of Bashan and Gilead, as in former times.

VII. 15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.

Thy prayer is heard, saith the Lord: I will do thus for thee, O my people; and, as I did in the days of thy coming out of Egypt do marvellous things for thee, so will I do again in thy coming out of Babylon.

VII. 17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: &c.

The nations shall be humbled under the hand of my Church: they shall give way to them, to take possession of their former inheritance, and shall therefore move out of their places, as worms move out of the holes of the earth.

NAHUM.

I. 1 The burden of Nineveh.

The heavy tidings, that God sent to Nineveh, and to the whole kingdom of Assyria.

I. 3 God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

The Lord comes to revenge, in fury and terror, as in a whirlwind and tempest; and, as the march of a great host raises dust in their passage, so, in this motion of the Lord to his vengeance, the clouds are as the dust of his feet.

I. 4 Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

The fruitfullest regions of Bashan, and Carmel, and Lebanon, at his command grow sere and barren.

I. 7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

He takes gracious notice of them, that trust in him; and will deliver them.

I. 9 Affliction shall not rise up the second time.

God will make so full dispatch of his enemies the Assyrians at once, that there be no place for a second onset.

I. 10 For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

For, while they combine themselves, and plot together in wickedness, as thorns are folded up together in a hedge; and, while they are consorting together in their drunkenness and excess; then, even then, shall the judgment of God fall upon them, and devour them as the fire consumes the dry stubble.

I. 11 There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counseller.

There is one come out of thee, even Rabshakeh, that both imagineth and dareth to utter evil, against the Lord; a man, that speaketh blasphemous words, and gives wicked counsels to my people.

I. 12 Thus saith the LORD; Though they be 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. Thus saith the Lord; Though the Assyrians be secure, and many, and strong, yet they shall be cut down, when the destroying angel shall pass through their camp; and for thee, O Jerusalem, if I have afflicted thee by his siege, yet I will afflict thee no more. I. 13 For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.

For now I will confound his power, and disappoint that yoke of servitude which he had intended to thee, and free thee from the bonds of his subjection.

I. 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 will make thy grave; for thou art vile.

And the Lord hath decreed concerning thee, O Sennacherib, that thou shalt be slain of thine own sons, and shalt have no more of thy posterity to succeed in the following generations; and out of the house of Nisroch thy god, and other of thine idol temples, will I cut the graven and molten images: I will prepare for thee a speedy and miserable death, for thou art vile.

I. 15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Ŏ Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

Behold, upon the mountain of Sion, and the other mountains of Judah and Israel, there shall be a joyful gratulation of thy deliverance and peace, O Judah; and do thou rejoice accordingly, in thy God: keep thou thy solemn feasts, and perform thy vows cheerfully to the Lord thy deliverer: for this wicked tyrant shall no more pass through thy borders; he is utterly cut off.

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.

The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who subdueth all before him, is come up before thy gates; look well to thyself therefore : stand upon thy guard; fortify thy bulwarks; and rouse up thy courage to defend thyself.

II. 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.

But, notwithstanding all thy preparation and warlike forces, he shall prevail against thee, O Nineveh: for, if the Lord have turned away the excellency of Jacob and Israel, and hath given it over to the spoil of the Assyrians who have destroyed their vineyards, how much more will he deface the glory of Nineveh !

II 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. Thine enemy of Babylon shall come fiercely upon thee, and with great pomp of terror: the shield of his mighty warriors shall glitter with brightness; his valiant men shall be decked with scarlet; his chariots shall whirl with such fury, that the fire shall sparkle out of their wheels, and the earth and woods adjoining shall shake with the noise. So also verse 4.

II. 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.

Then shall the Assyrian muster up his forces, and call together his choice commanders: they shall so hasten towards Nineveh's defence, that they shall stumble in the way: they shall make speed to the wall thereof, and prepare their best fortifications.

II. 6 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.

But all in vain; for those ports, which lead to the river, shall be broken open, and the palace of the king, and temple of Jupiter Belus, shall be demolished.

II. 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.

And the queen shall be led away captive: she shall be led away with her maids following her, in a sad mourning and lamentation like to the doleful voice of doves, and beating their breasts for the anguish of her deportation.

II. 8 But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back. Though Nineveh be noted of old for rich and strong, and furnished with multitudes of inhabitants as a pond with spawn of fishes, yet all this shall not avail her; for all her inhabitants shall betake themselves to flight: they shall call up to each other to stand, but all shall run away; no one shall dare so much as to look back.

II. 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. Go to then, ye Babylonians, take ye the spoil of the silver and gold, which the fearful citizens have left behind them; neither can ye be able to carry away that store of glorious and rich furniture, wherewith that city aboundeth.

II. 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.

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »