masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many been explained as having an anatomical meaning, but there is little foundation for this method of interpreting them. The silver chord and the golden bowl are the myste books there is no end; and much 13 Let us hear the conclusion rious principles of life, the lengthen- 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. which in the heart and spirit is the golden bowl. Ver. 14. A noble, prophetical, and evangelical conclusion! THE SONG OF SOLOMON. The heads of both the Jewish and the Christian Church have always regarded this writing as the composition of Solomon, and as indited by that monarch in celebration of his marriage with the Shulamite, or the daughter of Pharaoh. It is a species of dramatic pastoral, and abounds in images proper to that species of composition, and to the expression of the most ardent conjugal affection. As it was admitted into the canon of Scripture by men whom the Spirit of God guided, we need not doubt but that it has a spiritual signification, and one which respects the doctrines of the universal Church. That this is the case, is the belief of the holiest and most learned writers on the subject of Evangelical theology who, under the figure of Solomon's marriage, teach us to contemplate the union of Christ with the body of his elect and faithful people, in which they are borne out by the writers of Scripture themselves, who repeatedly make use of this figure to describe the spiritual union. But care must be taken not to carry the allegory too far, by applying to the object alluded to in the general subject, those particulars of the description which belong only to the literal meaning. CHAPTER 1. THE Song of songs, which is Solomon's. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 8 Because of the savour of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 4 Draw me, we will run after thee. The King hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee; we will remember thy love more than wine the upright love thee. 5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards but mine own vineyard have 1 not kept. 7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks. of thy companions? 8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. 9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. 10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chaius of gold. We will make thee borders of gold, with studs of silver. 12 While the King sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. 13 A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. Ver. 4. For the spiritual application of this sentence, see John, vi. 44, and xii, 32.-Ver. 5. I am black: that is, in comparison with the Jewish women; or, I am black, that is, dark and uncomely, in one respect, as the tents of the Arabs in 14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi. 15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes. 16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant; also our bed is green. 17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. CHAPTER II. I AM the rose of Sharon, and the 2 As the lily among thorns, sa 3 As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines for our vines have tender grapes. 16 My beloved is mine, and 1 am his; he feedeth among the lilies. 17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. CHAPTER III. 4 He brought me to the banquet-Bnight on my bed I sought him ing-house, and his banner over me 5 Stay me with flagons, comfort 6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. 7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 9 My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. 10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13 The fig-tree putteth forth her the desert; but in others, I am whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 3 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? 4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. 5 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant ? 7 Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. Ver. 15. Psalm 1xxx. 13; Ezek. xiii. 4. Ver. 4. The anxiety of the church to find and unite itself unto the Redeemer, appears set forth in this passage. Ver. 6. The glory and majesty of Christ are described under these images, have eaten my honey-comb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yen, drink abundantly, O beloved. 24 sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. 3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. 5 rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet BEHOLD, thou art fair, my love; smelling myrrh, upon the handles behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. 2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. 3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate within thy locks. 4 Thy neck is like the tower of David, builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. 5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. 6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions 'dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! 1 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honey-comb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire with spikenard; 14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: 15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. 16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. CHAPTER V. IAM come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I Ver. 1. Here the bridegroom addresses the bride; and the beauty of the lock. 6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake 1 sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. 7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my vail from me. 8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? 10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. 11 His head is as the most fine gold; his locks are bushy, and black as a raven: 12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set: 13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers; his lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh : 14 His hands are as gold rings. set with the beryl; his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires: 15 His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold; his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars : 16 His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. CHAPTER VI. WHITHER is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. 2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 31 am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; he feedeth among the lilies. of the church, and Christ's love to it, are mystically described. Ver. 2. Rev. iii. 20. The church answers the address of Christ; and his labours and afflictions are prophetically alluded to, for truly was his head filled with dew, and his locks with the drops of the night, " when he first awoke the church which he had redeemed with his blood. Ver. 2. Christ is not visible to the church, but the church still 4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusa lem, terrible as an army with ban ners. 5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead: 6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them. 7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks. 8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and vir gins without number. 9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her: the daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. 10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the noon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners ? 11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded. 12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib. 13 Return, return, O Shulamite: return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies. CHAPTER VII. HOW beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman: 2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor; thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies: 3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins: 4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fish-pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim; thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon, which looketh toward Damascus : 5 Thine head rpon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple: the king is held in the galleries. 6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 7 This thy stature is like to a palm-tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 8 I said, I will go up to the palm-tree. I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the trusts to his love, and rejoices in his glory.-Ver. 4. Tirzah was the royal city of the kings of Israel, and was situated in a singularly rich and beautiful spot of country. The beauty of Jerusalem was proverbial. See Ps. xlviii. 2. 3.-Ver. 18. Amminadib, is said to have been the name of a distinguished warrior, whose chariots were celebrated for the splendour of their ornaments,Ver. 13. Shulamite: the meaning of this word is uncertain. By some it is interpreted, "O perfect in beauty.' Ver. 5. The word purple was used in many ancient languages to signify a very bright or beautiful colour, and not simply that which vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; 9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 101 am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. 11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the poinegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. 13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. CHAPTER VIII. OH that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. 2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause we call purple. Ver. 10. The bride, or the church, here speaks. thee to drink of spiced wine of the 3 His left hand should be under 4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. 5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple-tree: there thy mother brought thee forth; there she brought thee forth that bare thee. 6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm : for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. Ver. 5. These are supposed to have been the words of the daughters of Jerusalem, or of the Gentiles who desired to unite themselves to the church now wedded to Christ; or of the Jewish synagogue, wondering to see the church coming from the desert, that is, from the lands of the heathen, to be received 8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver; and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. 10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers: every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieres of silver. 12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. 13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it. 14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. in glorious marriage by the Messiah. -Ver. 8. A little sister: by this term was probably meant the newly converted congregation of the Gentiles, who were not yet fit for complete union with their spiritual head. THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. Isaiah began to prophesy about the year before Christ 758, or the last of the reign of Uzziah; and he continued the exercise of his heavenly office for forty-five, or, as some say, for more than sixty years. The sublimity of his style is only exceeded by the importance of the knowledge which he communicated. Raised up to warn his haughty and licentious countrymen of the ruin coming upon them, he was the great teacher of his age; and the events of the times in which he lived are alluded to in his solemn strains with a startling and affecting vigour. But it was not to the period in which he flourished, or to that which immediately succeeded, that the sublimest moments of his inspiration were devoted. The season of redemption, the actions, the doctrines, the sufferings of the Messiah, with the glory which should attend the establishment of his kingdom, formed the theme of his exalted visions; and so clearly did his predictions describe the nature of the gospel covenant, and the character of its divine author, that he has received the title of the evangelical prophet, CHAPTER I. 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, have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his inaster's crib: but Israel doth not know, iny people doth not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and Ver. 1. The son of Amoz: Isaiah was, it is supposed, of royal blood; and his father, Amoz, is said to have been the son of king Joash, and brother to Uzziah, or Azariah.Ver. 2. This solemn call upon the various portions of the universe to hear judgment passed against the apostate children of God, is equally sublime and pathetic. For similar appeals, see Deut. xxxii. 1; Jer. ii. 12; xxii. 29; Ezek. xxxvi. 4; and more. The whole head is sick, and 6 From the sole of the foot even 7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is Psal. 1.-Ver. 6. Never was afflic- 2 9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. 10 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? 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? porary buildings raised for the watchmen in vineyards, and in gardens of cucumbers, which, like melons, and other fruits of the same kind, were highly prized, and were guarded with great care.Ver. 9. Rom. ix. 29. Ver. 10. Ye rulers of Sodom: figuratively for the rulers of Jerusalem. - Ver. 11. The prophet does not here speak against the observation of those days and ceremonies ordained by the law, but against the superstitions which had been engrafted upon the Levitical system, and especially against the notion that the moral law might be safely neglected, if the ceremonial was 13 Bring no more vain oblations; Incense is an abomination unto me; the new-moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I 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 weary 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 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 judgnient; relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless; plead for widow. the 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 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; 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, I will ease me of mixe adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies : 25 And I 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 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. CHAPTER II. THE word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. strictly obeyed. Ver. 16. The whole of the following passage savours of the grace of the gospel. Ver. 1. This and the three following chapters form one connected prophecy, the commencement of which is a sublime delineation of the glory of the kingdom of heaven 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; 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 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 boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. 10 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 humbled, 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 be 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 wall, 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 haughtiness 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 they shall go into the to be established by Christ. The mountain of the Lord's house, or the hill of Sion, was typical of this kingdom.-Ver. 3. Many people : that is, the various nations of the earth, and not the people of Israel only. Ver. 7. Is full of horses. This was prohibited by the law in express terms; see Deut. xvii. 16, 17. Ver. 13. The cedars of Lebanon, in prophetic language, meant kings and nobles; high mountains and hills, nations and cities; and the ships of Tarshish, the wealth of commerce, and those engaged in its acquisition. 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. 20 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 accounted of? CHAPTER III. FOR, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, 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 honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. 4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. 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 ruin 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 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 with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given him. 12 As 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 staudeth 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 Moreover, the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched Ver. 4. See Eccles. x. 16.-Ver. 16. The Hebrew women, with 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 tinkling 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 headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21 The rings, and nose-jewels, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins, 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, 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 wellset hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in war. 26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground. CHAPTER IV. 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 shall come 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 judg ment, 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. many others of the East, painted or stained their eye-lashes, wore rings and jewels on their feet and ankles, and used various other means of adorning their persons, here generally alluded to by the prophet as instances of their wantonness and luxury. Ver. 1. That is, so many will be the men slain in the wars, or perishing in the desolations brought upon the country, that the women will rejoice to obtain marriage on the most humiliating terms -Ver. 2. God, in the worst times, protects his elect people: they remain holy; and Zion, or the Church, is preserved for their sake. CHAPTER V. NOW will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved 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 Je rusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, 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 down : 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. 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 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be 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 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; and 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 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honourable 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, Ver. 1. This chapter, it is remarked, is not apparently, or necessarily, connected with those which precede or follow it. Our Lord employs the same parable as the prophet to convince the Jews of their iniquity, and warn them of the coming destruction; Matth. xxi. 33. Ver. 6. The careful reader will readily find the fulfilment of this prophecy in the events recorded in the historical books of Scripture; and especially in the narratives of its more awful accomplishment when the cup of Jewish iniquity was filled by the rejection of Christ. -Ver. 10. One bath: that is, a quantity not exceeding about eight gallons of wine. An ephah was the 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 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 righteousness of the righteous from him! 24 Therefore as the fire devour. eth 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 carcases 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 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth and, behold, they shall come with 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 their shoes be broken: 28 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 hall 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 sor tenth of an homer, so that the husbandman would reap only the tenth of what he had sown. Ver. 26. The Assyrians who invaded Judea under Sennacherib are most probably alluded to in this place; and the expression, He will hiss unto them, is supposed to be taken from the custom of those who keep bees, when they would gather them about the hive. The language of this chapter is as grand as it is stern and monitory, |