Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 19 · Chapter 1 – Chapter 4
CAP. I.
2 Heare, O heavens, & give eare, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.SInce that men are deafe unto my words, I will turne mee and my speech to the very heavens, and earth, and call them to witnesse against those which should be my people; heare therefore, O heavens, and give eare O earth; for it is not I that speake, but the Lord himselfe complaineth of the unthankfulnesse of Israel, &c.
3 The oxe knoweth his owner, and the asse his masters crib.What a wonder & shame it is, that they which should be more then men, are indeed worse then beasts; for behold, the very ox, and the asse, which are the dullest of all creatures, yet they take thankfull notice of their owner, and of the crib wherein they are fed, &c.
5 Why should yee bee stricken any more? ye wil revolt more and more: the whole head is sicke, and the whole heart faint.I have already tryed your reformation by many chastisements, yea, judgements; yet yee will not amend; to what purpose should I correct you further? Since I see you doe still grow worse, and worse; those parts of you that should be best, and are most eminent, and of greatest use, are extremely out of order.
6 From the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there is no soundnes in it, but wounds & bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not beene closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.Even from the highest to the lowest; from the meanest drudge unto the greatest of your Princes, ye are all miserably disordered, and sinfull; and are accordingly plagued; so as none of you are free from some grievous judgement; and such are your sins, and your judgements, that they have made themselves incapable of remedy, or mitigation.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard.The country round about being wasted, Jerusalem it selfe is left standing alone desolate, as a cottage in a vineyard, &c. and hath no more recourse unto it, and traffique in it, then if it were already besieged, as ere long it shall be.
9 Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, wee should have beene as Sodome, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.If God had not been gracious unto us, contrary to our deservings, and restrained the fury of our enemies, and mercifully reserved this small remnant unto us, wee had bin utterly destroyed, and laid waste, like to Sodom and Gomorrah.
10 Heare the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodome.Since ye have made your selves then as sinfull as those infamous cities, that were destroyed with fire from heaven, let me give you the names of those, whom yee have imitated; heare therefore the word of the Lord, O ye rulers of Sodom, &c.
To what purpose is the formality of these your outward sacrifices; as if the multitude of your oblations,11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, &c. or the very act done, could please me without due affections?
Those your solemne Feasts, which I have instituted,14 Your new moones, and your appointed feasts, my soule hateth; they are a trouble unto me, I am weary to beare them. and doe therefore well approve in themselves, yet as they are celebrated by you, I loath and abhorre them, &c.
Jerusalem was once my faithfull Spouse, an holy City,21 How is the faithfull Citie become an harlot? it was full of judgement. how is it that she is now turned strumpet, and become desperately leud, and debauched? &c.
Those good graces that thou didst once professe to have, are now utterly corrupted, and depraved;22 Thy silver is become drosse, thy wine mixt with water. thine obedience, which was once sincere, and pure, is now adulterated with abhominable wickednesse.
Yet, in my judgement I will remember mercy;25 And I will turne my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy drosse, and take away all thy tinne. I will not utterly destroy thee as I might, but I will turne my hand upon thee, for thy restauration; and, whereas I might burne thee quite up, yet I will onelyonly purge away thy drosse, and take away the base metall from thee, that the small remainder of the pure and precious, may be reserved.
They shall be ashamed of that foule Idolatry wherewith ye have beene tainted;29 For they shall bee ashamed of the okes which ye have desired, and yee shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. and of those groves which ye have used to that purpose; and of those gardens, and orchards which ye have so imployed.
And, if ye againe relapse,30 For yee shall be as an oke whose leafe fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. ye shall be left like one of the oakes of those destroyed groves, without leafe or sappe, or like one of those gardens, which you have abused, in a time of drought, without water.
And that mighty Idoll whereto ye trust,31 And the strong shall be as towe, and the maker of it as a sparke, and they shall both burne together, and none shall quench them. shall be as towe, and the maker and worshipper of that Idoll, shall be as a sparke, and both of them shall burne together with unquenchable fire.
CAP. II.
IT shall come to passe in the dayes of the Messias exhibited, and the Gospell revealed,2. And it shall come to passe in the last dayes, that the mountaine of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountaines, and shall bee exalted above the hills, &c. that the Church of God shall not be obscurely confined to a corner of the world, but shall be eminently conspicuous; and so famously noted, that the Gentiles shall come in, and generally adjoyne themselves unto it.
3 For out of Zion shall goe forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem.For in the Evangelicall Church onelyonly, which is figured by Zion, shall the truth of Gods sacred word be professed; and from it shall spread it selfe over the world.
4 And hee shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into Plowshares, & their speares into pruning hookes.And the true Messias shall by his spirituall governmēt, rule over many nations, and hold many severall kinds of people in an awfull subjection; and shall so calme, and quiet them, that they shall be altogether composed to peace; and therefore shall turne their swords, whereof they shall have no further use, into instruments of husbandry, &c.
5 O house of Iacob, come ye, and let us walke in the light of the Lord?Yea those new-converted Gentiles shall be ready to provoke, and incite Israel to an holy and conscionable obedience, and say, O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walke together in the cleare and glorious light of the Gospell, to the praise and honour of him that hath called us.
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.O God, whiles thou admittest of the Gentiles, thou findest too just cause to cast off thine owne people; for that they are full of the superstitions and Idolatries of the Syrians, and are given to magicall practices, like the Philistims; and take pleasure rather to imitate the false worship of forraine nations, then to keepe close to thy holy prescriptions.
They give themselves over to the immoderate desire, and pursuit of wealth,7 Their Land also is full of silver & gold, neither is there any end of their treasures: their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their charets. neither is there any end of their covetous endeavours, to heap up ill gotten treasures; they doe also in a proud, or distrustfull affection lay for abundance of horses of warre, neither can they bee satisfied with the number of chariots; as if these were the strength wherein they trusted.
9 And the meane man boweth downe, and the great man humbleth himselfe; therefore forgive them not.Oh God, since they are so vile, and will not be reclaimed from their Idolatry, spare them not, but make them examples of thy Justice.
10 Enter into the rocke, and hide thee in the dust, for feare of the Lord, and for the glory of his majestie.And now, O thou wilfully Idolatrous, and rebellious people, since thou wouldst not prevent these judgements, see if thou canst withdraw thy selfe from them; Goe hide thee in the rock, or shrowd thy selfe, within the earth from his vengance &c.
12 For the day of the Lord of Hosts, shall bee upon every one that is proud, and lofty.For in that terrible day, the fierce judgements of the Lord of Hosts, shall seize upon every one, that hath proudly and stubburnly resisted his word and ordinance, &c.
13 And upon all the Cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oakes of Bashan.And vponupon all those proud and lofty potentates, which beare themselves as high, as the Cedars of Lebanon, and as stiffe as the oakes of Bashan.
15 And upon every high Tower; & upon every fenced wall.And all those high towers, and strong forts, wherein vaine men have wont to put their trust, shall be cast to the ground.
And all that rich traffique which you were wont to have with Cilicia and the countries round about,16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. shall be …ut off; and those pleasant and costly Tapestries, and pictures, which you had wont to bring home, shall faile, and disappoint you.
And those Idolaters,20 In that day a man shal cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made, each one for himselfe to worship, to the moales & to the bats. which had wont to pride themselves in the glory of their false worship, shall now be ashamed of their fopperies, and, in a just indignation, shal hide up their puppets in blinde corners from the view of men.
I see, it is your vaine selfe-cōfidence,22 Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nosthrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? that hath deceived you; if yee therefore regard your owne safety and peace, cast off this false trust, upon so poore and impotent a thing, as man, whose breath is in his nosthrills; for what can he availe you, or how can he give you any protection from the wrath of the Almighty?
CAP. III.
THat whereby the life of man is supported,1 For Behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from Ierusalem, and from Iudah, the stay and the staffe, the whole stay of bread, & the whole stay of water. and sustained, even bread, and whatsoever necessary food, will I take away from Jerusalem.
And whatsoever else you are wont to put confidence in, the mighty and strong warriour, the awfull Judge,2 The mightie man, and the man of warre, the judge and the Prophet, and the prudent and the ancient. the holy and learned Prophet, the prudent counselour, the ancient and experienced senator.
Whereas men usually are wont to affect preeminence and authority among their neighbours,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 ruine bee under thy hand. ye shall be driven to that straight, that ye shall be faine to force honor upō your brethren, where ye see but meanes to subsist, and live; and a man shall take hold of his brother, and importune and constraine him, saying; Thou hast clothing; be thou our ruler; and let the reparation of this miserarable ruine (if it be possible,) be thy work.
In that day he shall resist the motion,7 In that day shall hee sweare, saying, I will not be an healer: for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people. and disclaime the government with an oath, saying; It is not for mee to medle with the command of you, or to undertake the reparing of your ruines, for I have neither bread nor clothing.
They doe impudently make open profession of their sinne, even as Sodome did, without all feare or shame,9 And they declare their sinne as Sodome, they hide it not. &c.
12 As for my people, children are their oppressours, and women rule over them: O my people, they which leade thee, cause thee to erre, and destroy the way of the pathes.As for my people they have brought themselves to that passe, as that even very children trample upon them by proud oppressions, and they lie downe willingly under them; and every effeminate usurper domineereth over them at pleasure; and, (which is worse,) those spirituall guides, which should lead them in the way of life, mis-lead them unto utter perdition.
15 What meane ye that ye beate my people to peices, and grind the faces of the poore? saith the Lord God of hosts.What meane ye, O ye governors, which should be the onelyonly refuge and protection of my people, to offer this cruell violence unto them? how dare ye thus unmercifully oppresse the poore?
16 Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walke with stretched forth necks.Neither only are the men thus vicious, but the women also are given over to a proud new-fanglenesse: Even the dames of Jerusalem goe in an haughty fashion, &c.
As all the parts of their body are tainted with their disguise,17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crowne of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. so the Lord will, in his justice, punish them in all parts, from the crown of the head to the sole of their feet, and will lay open this their loathsome and deformed nakednesse, to the eyes of the world.
In stead of beauty, which they had wont so curiously to preserve,24 In stead of beauty shall be burning. that they would not so much as looke forth into the heate of the Sun, shall be a vehement burning, and scorching of the skinne.
CAP. IIII.
1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eate our owne bread, and weare our owne apparell: onelyonly let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.VPonUpon that slaughter and vastation, there shall be so few men left, as that seven women shall lay hold, and hang upon one man, with importunate suit to yeeld but to their protection and cohabitation; saying, It shall cost thee nothing; we have food & raiment of our owne; onelyonly doe thou beare the name of our husband; and take from us the reproach of our widowhood, and sterilitie.
2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord bee beautifull & glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely, for them that are escaped of Israel.In that day, the day of the blessed restauration of the Church, shall the Messias, as the branch of the Lord, sprout out gloriously, and happily, out of the seemingly-dead stocke of Judah; and excellent and pleasant fruits of his appearance shall glad the hearts of those that are the faithfull remainders of Israel.
3 And it shall come to passe, that hee that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Ierusalem, shall be called holy: even every one that is written among the living in Ierusalem.And it shall come to passe, that those who pertaine to the true Church of Christ, shall be holy; even every one that shall be a lively member of the mysticall body of Christ.
When the Lord shall, by his severe judgments have washed,4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Ierusalem, from the middest thereof by the spirit of judgement, and by the spirit of burning. & wip'd away the blemishes, & grievous sins of his Church; and shall have delivered his Jerusalem from all the pollutions, wherewith she was tainted, by the power of his Spirit, and the sharpnesse of his chastisements.
There shall be no corner of his Church, wherein the grace of God shall not marvelously appeare;5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, & the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shal be a defence. and wherein he will not manifest himselfe, and his mercifull presence and protection, as he did to his ancient people of Israel, by a cloud and smoke by day, and by the shining a of flaming fire by night.
And whereas the Church shall be still subject to the scorching heates,6 A… there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heate, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storme and from raine. and tempestuous stormes of persecution, God shall erect a safe tabernacle for her, to shade her from the heate, and shelter her from those violent tempests.