Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 19 · Chapter 10 – Chapter 13
CAP. X.
1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousnesse which they have prescribed.TO begin with the governors; woe be to them, who make unjust and bloody decrees against their inferiours, and that enact, and prescribe grievous things by way of oppression of the poore.
3 —to whom will ye flee for helpe? and where will ye leave your glory?What doe you thinke shall become of this glorious estate which you have scraped together by rapine, and extortion?
4 Without me they shall bow downe under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slaine.Though I should not denounce, or draw any judgement upon them, they shall, of themselves, runne into such grievous calamity, as that they shall fall downe amongst the prisoners, and amongst the slaine, &c.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, & the staffe in their hand is mine indignation.Come hither then, O thou Assyrian, come and execute my just wrath upon my people; for thou art the rod of mine anger, and the weapons, which are in thine hand, whereby thou fightest against Judah, are weilded by mine indignation.
I will send this Assyrian against that dissembling nation of the Jewes,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 spoile. which make an hypocriticall profession of my name; and against those Idolatrous Israelites, whom I hate, &c.
But though I intend the Assyrian to be my scourge for Israel, and to execute my will upon them,7 Howbeit, he meaneth not so, neither doeth his heart thinke so, but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off nations not a few. yet he hath no such meaning, as to fulfill my purpose herein; all his drift and intention is a cruell and bloody satisfying of his owne mercilesse, and ambitious minde; neither aimes he at any thing else, but a malicious destruction, and a conquest of many nations.
Is not the strong city of Calno as unable to hold out against me, and as sure mine, as Carchemish,9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? which I have already won? Is not Hamath as sure to be subdued by me, as Arpad, which I have taken? is not Samaria as sure to be mine, as Damascus now is?
As I have vanquished those Kingdomes,10 As my hand hath found the kingdomes of the idols, and whose graven images did excell thē in Ierusalem and Samaria: which worshipped those idols, which were accounted in the reputation of the world, and outward glory, farre to surpasse the deities of Jerusalem, and Samaria:
So, what should hinder me, to subdue these also?11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so doe to Ierusalem and her idols? The gods of Jerusalem are no other, no better then those of Samaria, Why should I not therefore subdue them as well as the other?
As for all the riches of the nations about me (saith the proud Assyrian) are they not to me, as a birds nest;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. the egges whereof are left open, by the dam, to the hand of the passenger; which a man may take up quietly, and not have so much as a birds wing moved against him, nor so much as a chirping noise of complaint.
Is not the Assyrian as my axe to hew downe Judah, my sawe to divide it, my rod to scourge it,15 Shall the axe boast it selfe against him that heweth therewith: or shall the sawe magnifie it selfe against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake it selfe against them that lift it up, or as if the staffe should lift up it selfe, as it were no wood. my staffe to beat it; and shall this axe, this sawe, this rod, this staffe magnifie it selfe against the hand that useth, and weildeth it? as if the instrument could doe ought, without, or against the arme that moves it.
Since the Assyrian hath so despised Israel, Israel shall be well avenged of him: for as commonly fire is not separated from light; that light of my countenance which Israel shall have from me,17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his holy one for a flame: and it shall burne and devoure his thornes and his bryers in one day. shall be as a fire to burne up the Assyrians; and this my people, which I have singled for my owne peculiar, shall be as a flame to those enemies, which shall consume them (even to the meanest of their host) in one day.
18 —and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.They shall be utterly disheartened, and give themselves up, to a weak, and heartlesse despaire, as a beaten troupe when their ensigne yeeldeth.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall bee few, that a child may write them.And the people of Assyria, which were a thick forrest, shall now bee brought to such a paucity of trees, that a child, which can scarce count his owne fingers, may reckon their number.
20 Shall no more againe stay upon him that smote them: but shall stay upon the Lord, the holy one of Israel in truth.My people, thus instructed, and reformed by their affliction, shall learne now to trust no more to the arme of flesh, which they see may be easily made against them; but shall depend wholly upon the Lord for aid and protection.
22 For thogh thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shal returne; the consumption decreed shall over-flow with righteousnesse.For though I have promised to thee, O Jacob, and to thy father Abraham, that thy seed shall be as the sand of the Sea, yet, since they have thus provoked me, and corrupted their wayes, onelyonly a remnant of them shall returne from their captivitie; and the consumption of the rest shall declare my righteousnesse abundantly to the world.
24 And shall lift up his staffe against thee after the manner of Aegypt.As the affliction which thou hadst from the Aegyptian bondage was grievous indeed, but not deadly; no more shall this be, which thou shalt suffer from the Assyrian.
26 And the Lord of hosts shall stirre up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rocke of Oreb; and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Aegypt.The Assyrian is my rod to thee; but I will have a scourge for him, that shall plague him; as the Midianites were destroyed by Gedeon, at the rocke of Oreb; and as I plagued the Aegyptians, whom I overthew and destroyed in the red Sea.
The yoke of servitude shall be taken from thy necke, because thou art a people consecrated to me; for the sake of that Messiah,27 And the yoke shall bee destroyed because of the anointing. mine anointed, which shall descend from thee.
Behold, the Assyrian is in his expedition against thee already,28 He is come to Ajath, he is passed to Migron: at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages. he is comne onwards his way to Ajath, and thence is he passed to Migron, and hath made Michmash the store-house for his provision, munition, & carriages.
29 They are gone over the passage, they have takē up their lodging at Geba, Ramah is afraid, Gibeah of Saul is fled.They have gone over the p…ssages of those rivers, which might seeme to have hindered their way; they are passed Iordan it selfe, and are comne to lodge at Gebah; and now the neighbouring cities, Ramah, and the rest quake for feare, the inhabitants of Gibeah are fled.
30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poore Anathoth.Yee cities that lie neare to the way of this mighty enemie, lift up your voices, and weepe for your imminent desolation, and cause your cryes to be heard unto the furthest parts of the land.
32 As yet hee shall remaine at Nob, that day he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Ierusalem.Ere a day be at an end, he will be at the towne of Nob, hard by Jerusalem; and then he shakes his hand at the mount of Zion, and the Temple, whereon it stands.
But howsoever he doe thus proudly exalt himselfe, and terribly bluster against Jerusalem, the Lord of hosts shall take him downe, and shall cut him off with terror.33 Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts shall lop the bough with terrour: and the high ones of stature shal be hewen down, the haughty shall be humbled. The insolent Assyrian shall be hewen down suddenly, and the haughty enemie shall be humbled.
These great and tall Cedars of Lebanon, that thus over-topt Gods people, shall be cut downe, and shall fall by the mighty hand of the destroying Angell.34 And he shall cut downe the thickets of the forrests with yron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
CAP. XI.
AT last, in the fulnesse of time,1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stemme of Iesse, and a branch shall grow out of his rootes. for the comfort of of Gods Church, there shall come forth a rod out of the seemingly withered stocke of Iesse, the father of David; and a flourishing branch, even the Messiah, shall grow out of his appearingly sere, and saplesse root.
He shall receive the spirit, beyond all finite measure,2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisedome & understanding. for as much as in him the God-head shall dwell bodily, replenishing his humane nature with all wisedome and understanding, &c.
And shall inable his humanity with a quicke and piercing understanding, to the perfect judging,3 And shall make him of quicke understanding in the feare of the Lord, and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his eares. and discerning of those, that doe truly professe to feare and serve the Lord, from falsehearted hypocrites; and he shall not judge by the outward appearance; according to the evidence of the eye, or the eare.
With the word of his mouth,4 And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall hee slay the wicked. which is the scepter of his Kingdome, shall he over-rule the earth; and with the same word (which is made a savour of death unto death, to the wicked) shall he slay the rebellious.
He shall not come in the gorgeous attire of worldly Princes,5 And righteousnesse shall be the girdle of his loynes, and faithfulnesse the girdle of his reines. but shall bee clothed in the glorious robes of righteousnesse, and truth; which shall be closely girded about him, as those which can never be separated from his person, and government.
This blessed Saviour, when he comes, shall reforme,6 The wolfe also shall dwell with the lambe, and the Leopard shall lie downe with the kid: and the calfe and the young Lyon and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. and restore the world to the first peaceable disposition of the creature, so as the savage beast shall put off his bloody nature, and live quietly with his fellowes; and those men which are of a wolvish, and Lion-like disposition for fiercenesse, and cruelty, shall bee so changed by the power of his Gospell, that they shall meekly, and plausibly converse with those that are most weake, and innocent.
So also verse 7. and 8.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountaine: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.All those that submit themselves to the power of the Gospell, shall live harmlesly; for they shall be taught of God to governe themselves accordingly; and all shall abound in the meanes of the knowledge of the Lord: so as the earth shal be no lesse over-spread with the Gospel, then the sea is covered with waters.
In that day, the Messias shall arise from the stocke of David;10 And in that day there shall be a root of lesse, which shall stand for an ensigne of the people: to it shall the Gentiles seeke, and his rest shall be glorious. and to him, as to a standard erected, shall all the nations flocke; and so shall he be advanced, as that all the Gentiles shall seeke unto him, and submit themselves to his word, and power; and he shall settle his rest among them, which shall be glorious for himselfe, and happy for them.
11 And it shall comē to passe in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand againe the second time, to recover the remnāt of his people which shall be left, from Assyria and from Aegypt, & from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, & from the Ilands of the sea.Neither may this seeme hard, since the Lord will bee pleased in that day to set his hand to the worke, and, as he hath formerly shewed his power, in the miraculous deliverances of his people, so will he now againe mightily recover the remainder of them, from the Assyrians, Aegyptians, Ethiopians, and other nations, amongst whom they shall be scattered; as the Parthians, Medes, Chaldees, Cilicians, and those countries which are divided by the sea.
Gods people shall agree well together, and shall lay aside all envie,13 The envie also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Iudah shall be cut off. and heart-burning, which they had one towards another, &c.
But they shall band together against the common enemie of the Church; and with joynt forces set upon the Philistims,14 But they shall flie upon the shoulders of the Philistims toward the West. &c.
And the Lord will utterly destroy that Baye of the Aegyptian sea, which carries the forme of a tongue, in the entring upon the continent;15 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Aegyptian sea, and with his mighty winde shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streames, and make men goe over dry-shod. and with his mightie winde, shall, (as hee did once for the passage of the Israelites through the red sea) so divide Nilus, with all the seven streames thereof, as that men may goe over dry-shod.
CAP. XII.
MY salvation shall be as a full, & ever-flowing spring; out of which ye shall with joy of heart,3 Therefore with joy shall yee draw water out of the wells of salvation. draw up full vessells continually.
Shout for joy, O ye inhabitants of Zion, for the holy one of Israel,6 Cry out and shout thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy one of Israel: in the midst of thee. your merciful God, shewes the greatnesse of his power, and the abundance of his grace, in, and upon you, in his manifold blessings and deliverances.
CAP. XII.
THe heavie tidings of that prophesie,1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos did see. wherewith Isaiah the sonne of Amos was sent to & against Babylon.
I am commanded to proclaime an open warre which the Lord will raise against Babylon,2 Lift yee up a banner upon the high mountaine, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may goe to the gates of the Nobles. by the hands of the Medes and Persians; Lift yee up therefore a banner upon the highest mountaine (where it may be most conspicuous) that the people may draw together, for this purpose, and incourage them both by voice, and gesture, that they may goe courageously up to the stately palaces of the Babylonian nobles.
I have commanded (saith God) those, whom I have set apart for this great worke of Babylons destruction;3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoyce in my highnesse. I have called my mighty warriours of Media, and Persia, to be the executioners of my anger; even them that shall goe chearfully forward, upon my setting on, to this conquest.
This is so surely done,4 The noise of a multitude in the mountaines, like as of a great people: as if yee did already heare the noise of a multitude in the mountaines comming downe to this spoile and slaughter, &c.
They shall come, not only from Media, and Persia, but by their procurement, from farre-remote, nations,5 They come from a farre country, from the end of heaven. &c.
They shall be amazed at the sight of each others misery, and for anguish and consternation,8 They shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames. their faces shall be as red as fire.
God shall command both the heaven,10 For the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the Sun shall be darkned in his going forth, & the Moone shall not cause her light to shine. and earth to conspire against his enemies of Babylon; from whom (for their greater discomfort) he shall withdraw the light of those heavenly bodies (which they are wont most cutiously to observe) so as both the stars, the sun, the moon, shall deny their light unto them.
I will so give up Babylon to the slaughter,12 I will make a man more precious then fine gold; even a man then the golden wedge of Ophir. that there shall be very few left alive in it; and their enemies shall be so inexorable, that they shal rather care to shed blood then to take the richest ransome.
By wonderfull signes in the heaven,13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hostes, and in the day of his fierce anger and by terrible earth-quakes, (such as if heaven and earth did remove out of their places) will I testifie my fierce wrath against Babylon, in that day, when I shal execute my judgements upon it.
Behold, I will stirre up the Medes against them, whose drift shall not so much be their wealth, as their blood;17 Behold I will stirre up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. that shall care only to kill, not to enrich themselves with ransomes.
20 Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the sheepheards make their folde there.It shall be so utterly desolated, that the very Arabians (who shift their habitations continually for change of pasturage) shall not so much as pitch a tent there; nor the shepheard shal make choice of these plaines, to make his fold there.
21 And their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, and owles shall dwell there, and Satyrs shall dance there.Their houses shall be taken up with those dolefull creatures, that delight in solitude; and owles shall dwell there, and evill spirits shall haunt those habitations, &c.
So also verse 22.