LXVI. 6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD, that rendereth recompence to his enemies. Behold, their judgment is not afar off: hearken! methinks I do already hear a voice of noise and tumult from the city of Jerusa lem, and from the temple, which shall be wasted; even a fearful voice of that just God, which rendereth vengeance to his enemies. LXVI. 7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

My Church under the Gospel shall be exceedingly fruitful: she shall bear children unto her God, with great ease and speed; yea, she shall bear a generous and manly issue, before she finds the throws of her travail. So verse 8.

LXVI. 9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: &c.

What marvel can there be of this easy and speedy multiplication of the Church, when as the Lord himself hath undertaken the work? Is there any thing impossible or difficult to the Almighty? Finite powers may fail; but shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, saith the Lord? &c.

LXVI. 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.

Behold, I will give a happy and glorious condition to my Church: her peace and prosperity shall overflow her, like a full river; and the glory and excellency of the Gentiles shall come gushing in upon her, like a strong torrent: then shall ye sons of the Church your Mother, suck the breasts of her happy nourishment; and she, like an indulgent mother, shall bear you close to her in her arms, and shall dandle you on her knees, and testify her dear love and care of your tendance and education.

LXVI. 14 And your bones shall flourish like an herb.

Ye, which lay like dry bones scattered upon the earth, shall then live again and flourish, as an herb of the field.

LXVI. 15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, &c.. For, behold, the Lord will come in a furious and terrible manner, to take vengeance on his enemies; so as his adversaries shall be confounded with the horror thereof, &c.

LXVI. 17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abominations, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

They, that give themselves to their idolatries in their private groves within their orchards, with all fond ceremonies of superstition, making choice of some one tree above the rest, more peculiarly consecrated to their false god; and do wilfully transgress the law of God, in eating those things which are forbidden, as abominably unclean; they shall be consumed together, both the superstitious and the profane, saith the Lord.

LXVI. 18 It shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

The time shall come, when, out of all nations and tongues, I will gather me out a holy Church to myself; and they shall be partakers of that grace, which hath hitherto been appropriated to the Jews; and, as my truly adopted children, shall inherit my glory.

LXVI. 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 heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

And, amidst the common judgment, I will set a mark upon them, whom I will have reserved; and those, that do escape of them, I will send as my messengers to the nations round about, to convert them unto me: I will send them, both by sea and land, to all parts of the earth; as to Cilicia, to Africa, to the lesser Asia, to the Parthians, Grecians, Italians, and to the isles afar off, that have not formerly heard of my name, nor seen my glory; and they shall publish my Gospel amongst the Gentiles.

LXVI. 20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offer ing unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. And they shall be a means, to turn the hearts of the world unto God, and to win men from their superstitions and impieties to the service of the true God; so as, out of all nations, there shall be some added to the Church, and shall hasten, by all the several means of their conveyances, to join themselves to the assemblies of God's people; with no less zeal and purity, than now the chil dren of Israel are wont to serve and worship God, in the house consecrated to his name.

LXVI. 21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Lé vites, saith the LORD.

And, of these converted nations, will I take some to my immediate service, to be peculiarly devoted to me, in the public ministration of my Church, saith the Lord.

LXVI. 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.

And this happy condition of my Church shall be during and permanent; so as there shall never want those, that shall profess my name upon earth, &c.

LXVI. 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.

Whereas, under the Law, there were set and fixed solemnities, in which God was publicly attended upon with sacrifices and thankful celebrations; now, these festivities and religious duties shall be perpetual, and continue without all intermission; and all

nations shall, at all times, come to worship before me, saith the Lord.

LXVI. 14 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men 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.

And those, that have sincerely professed me, shall be made the witnesses of the heavy vengeance of God upon them, that have wilfully rebelled against me; who shall be tormented with perpetual anguish of conscience, and lie unrecoverably under the sense of the fearful wrath of God, and be a woeful and abominable spectacle to angels and men.

JEREMIAH,

I. 1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.

The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, that famous highpriest, who found the original book of the law; which Jeremy was one of the priests that dwelt in Anathoth, a town, within three miles of Jerusalem, which, in the tribe of Benjamin, was allotted peculiarly to the priests.

I. 2, 3. To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah &c., in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, &c., unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, &c., unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth

month.

To whom the word of the Lord came, in the thirteenth year of king Josiah; and continued long with him; insomuch as he prophesied one and forty years, under the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakin, and Zedekiah, besides those years, which he lived after the captivity.

1. 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Before ever thou wert conceived in the womb of thy mother, I foreordained thee, in mine eternal counsel, to be a worthy instrument of my glory; and, before thou wert born into the world, I set thee apart to this great service; and predetermined thee, to be a prophet to the nations.

I. 6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

Then said I, Alas, O Lord God! behold, I am unfit, and unable, and unworthy to carry thy great messages to the kings and princes of this world: I am a very child, both in years and abilities.

I. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

And the Lord said unto me, Never plead thine age or disability; for I will give thee a mouth and wisdom: I will send thee forth on my errand, and furnish thee sufficiently for the service thou goest about; go therefore to all that I send thee, and speak all that I command thee.

I. 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 down, to build, and to plant.

See, I have this day made thee a Prophet, not to the Jews only, but to the nations round about also; to several countries and kingdoms; with commission, to deliver my messages, concerning the destroying and rooting out, the planting and establishing, of their dominions and sovereignties.

I. 12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

It is true; thou seest indeed an almond tree, in a figure and representation of that haste, which I will make in the performance of my judgments; for, as that is the first tree which puts forth, so it well betokens the speed of my executions,

I. 13 And the face thereof was toward the north.

And the forepart thereof to the fireward, was, by the situation of it, towards the north.

I. 14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Then the Lord said, This cauldron or boiling pot is Judea; this fire is the affliction and vastation, which it shall undergo; and from out of the north, even from the Babylonians, shall this desolation come upon all the inhabitants of the land.

I. 15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; &c.

For, lo, I will call the neighbouring kingdoms of the north, in assistance to the Babylonians; and they shall come, &c.

I. 17 Therefore gird up thy loins.

Therefore, stir up thy courage, and rouze up thy spirits.

I. 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land.

For, behold, I do this day confirm thee against all the opposition, which shall be made unto thee: thou shalt be more surely defenced from henceforth, than a strongly walled city; more firm than a pillar of iron, or walls of brass, &c.

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II. 2 Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. I remember well, how graciously I dealt with thee of old; and how well thou wert affected to me, in my first choice of thee for my people; and how we were mutually engaged to each other, by covenants and professions of love; when I led three in the wil derness, and carried thee, with miraculous sustenance and preservation, through an uncultured desert.

II. 3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

Israel was then consecrated to the Lord, and set apart for his service; as the firstfruits are wont to be sequestered and devoted to God; so as all that devour them bring evil upon themselves.

II. 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.

The very priests, which should be the leaders of my people, do not inquire after the Lord, but after their own profits and occa sions; and they, that handle the law, do not acknowledge me, and give me that observance, which they ought; and the prophets turn from God to Baal, and prophesy in his name.

II. 10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be any such thing.

Look about, where ye please; take view of any whatsoever foreign nation, Grecians, Arabians, or whom else soever; and see if you find the like inconstancy and impiety amongst them.

II. 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? Is there any one of them, that hath been induced to change those deities, which they have professed to adore, and yet they are no gods at all?

II. 14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?

What dost thou make of thyself, O Israel? Dost thou go for a son, or for a slave rather, that thou art thus spoiled?

II. 15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste.

Thy enemies have come fiercely upon thee; and have roared and ramped upon thee, like lions, &c.

II. 16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.

Yea, not only those lion-like Assyrians have come upon thee, but the weak effeminate Egyptians have risen up, and prevailed against thee.

II. 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?

And now, what hast thou to do with ambassages to Egypt; what vain confidence is this, that thou puttest in treaties of aid with them? Or, wherefore dost thou send other a:nbassadors to Assyria, and cravest their friendship and succour, as if the waters of Jordan were not for thee, but thou must drink of Nilus and Euphrates?

II. 21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed. I bestowed much care and cost upon thee, in my first choice of thee: then thou wert a peculiar and holy people unto me.