Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 19 · Chapter 19 – Chapter 21
CAP. XIX.
1 Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Aegypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Aegypt shall melt in the midst of it.BEhold, the Lord comes with a wonderfull swiftnesse, and unresistible power, to be revenged upon Aegypt, and the idols of the Aegyptians shall be cast downe before him; and the hearts of the Aegyptians shall be utterly dismayed.
And I will give over the Aegyptians into the hand of cruell tyrans,4 And the Aegyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruell Lord: and a fierce King shall rule over them. which shall oppresse them, as they have done my people heretofore; both of their owne, and of the Assyrians, &c.
And whereas,5 And the waters shall faile from the Sea, and the river shall be wasted and dryed up. they trust in the beneficiall waters of Nilus, which gives them both plenty and protection; behold, their hopes shall deceive them, for those waters shall be intercepted, and dryed up,
Even their channels shall be quite emptied,6 And they shall turne the rivers farre away, and the brookes of defence shal be emptied and dried up, the reeds and flagges shall wither. and the waters derived into other streames; so as the mud thereof shall be hardned, and the reedes and flagges which grew therein shall be quite withered.
That plant,7 The Paper reeds by the brookes, by the mouth of the brookes, and every thing sown by the brooks shall wither, be driven away, and be more. which yeeldeth the rich commoditie of Paper, which grows along the brookes, and every other thing which is set, or sowne by those otherwise fruitfull bankes, shall now, through extremity of drought be destroyed, and lost.
Moreover, through the failing of Nilus, all those curious and wealthy trades of them,9 Moreover, they that worke in fine flaxe, and they that weave net workes shall be confounded. who worke in fine flaxe, and weave net workes, the matter whereof had wont to be imported by those streames, shall be utterly undone, and disappointed.
All they that live upon the benefit of their fishponds,10 And they shall bee broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluces and pondes for fish. and sluces; preserving in these commodious stewes, those fishes, which they take, and sell for advantage of gaine, shall be now defeated of their trade.
Where now are those wise Counsellors,11 Surely the Princes of Zoan are fooles, the counsell of the wise Counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the sonne of the wise, the sonne of ancient Kings? and great Peeres of Aegypt, that made themselves so sure and safe against all events, I doe now, by commission from God, tell them, they are no better then fooles, yea then brutish, to what good issue are their fond bragges now comne, wherein they suggested unto Pharaoh the glory of his wisedome, and of his princely descent?
The Lord in his Justice hath given them up to a spirit of giddinesse, and perversenesse;14 The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Aegypt to erre in every worke thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. justly punishing their pride, with the seduction of their leaders, who have caused Egypt to goe wrong in all their enterprizes, even as a man extremely drunke reeleth and staggereth out of his way.
Nothing shall come to any good effect which the Aegyptians shall undertake,15 Neither shall there be any worke for Aegypt, which the head or taile, branch or rush may doe. from the highest to the lowest; all their attempts shall be unprosperous.
In that day shall the Lord daunt the spirits of the Aegyptians, so as they shall become weake,16 In that day shall Aegypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid, and feare because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which hee shaketh over it. and faint-hearted like women, and this shall be caused through their astonishment, and feare of the imminent judgements of God.
18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Aegypt speake the language of Canaan, and sweare to the Lord of hosts: one shall be called the citie of destruction.Yet, even upon Aegypt it selfe will God have mercy, and compassion; and shall, of sixe cities of theirs, preserve five still for himselfe; which shall be reclaimed from their superstition; and conspire in their holy worship and service with Gods people; and sweare by no other name but his; onelyonly one of them shall be called a citie rejected, and destroyed.
19 In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Aegypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.And the true religion of God shall be established, and flourish in the midst of the land of Aegypt, and in the utmost borders thereof shall be monuments of their holy devotion to the Lord.
He shall send them a temporall deliverer from their outward oppressions,20 And he shall send them a Saviour, and a great One, and hee shall deliver them. and at the last a spirituall Saviour, and Almighty redeemer from the ghostly bondage of sinne, and Satan.
23 In that day shall there be a high way out of Aegypt, to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Aegypt; and the Aegyptian unto Assyria, and the Aegyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.Neither shall this mercy be confined to Aegypt alone, but shall extend it selfe to other nations, no lesse averse from God, then it: both Aegypt and Assyria shall have free intercourse with each other; and shall communicate mutually in the same holy profession.
And in that day, Israel shall come in as a third nation, to joyne with them both;24 In that day shall Israel bee the third with Aegypt, and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. so as Israel, Aegypt, & Assyria, shalbe blessed all together, & in each other, with an holy conjunction of mindes, in one, and the same truth of religion.
CAP. XX.
1 In the yeare that Tartan came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the King of Assyria sent him)IN the yeare that Tartan the great Assyrian Captaine came unto Ashdod (a Philistim citie) when Sargon, or Senacherib (for he is called by both names) the King of Assyria sent him, &c.
2 Goe and loose the sackcloth from off thy loines, and put off thy shooe from thy foot, and he did so, walking naked and bare foot.Goe, and put off that hairy garment which is about thee, the ordinary habit of a Prophet, and put off thy shooe from thy foot; and hee did so, walking disrobed and barefoot.
3 Bare foot three yeares for a signe and wonder upon Aegypt, and upon Ethiopia.For a signe and token, that three yeares after this Prophesie, the forces of Aegypt and Ethiopia, led by Tirhaka, shall be utterly discomfited, and they stripped of that great power whereof they boasted.
5 And they shall bee afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Aegypt their glory.And my people the Jewes, shall be ashamed and confounded in themselves, to thinke they have beene so foolish, to put their trust in Ethiopia, and Aegypt, so impotent protectors.
And the inhabitants of this country,6 And the inhabitants of this Ile shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation whither wee flie for helpe to be delivered from the King of Assyria; and how shall wee escape? which I have sequestred for my selfe, from the rest of the world, shall say; See to what broken reeds we trusted for our deliverance; how vainely have we feared, that we could not possibly be safe, and escape without them?
CAP. XXI.
THe heavy tidings sent to Chaldea,1 The burden of the desert of the Sea; Whirlewindes in the South passe thorow: so it commeth from the desert; from a terrible land. and especially to Babylon; As those whirlewinds which arise from the South are most furious, so shall this be which shall passe over thee, O Babylon, from the Medes; who, like a violent tempest shall rush upon thee, and turne thee over.
It is a grievous vision to thee, O Chaldea,2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, & the spoiler spoileth: goe up, O Elam, besiege, O Media: all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. which is shewed unto me, concerning thee; wicked men do their kinde; The treacherous Syrian dealeth treacherously; and the cruell Babylonian spoileth unmercifully; & shall be dealt with thereafter; Goe up, O thou Persian, and besiege Babylon; O Media, doe thou joyne thy forces in this service; I will give no respect to any of the sighes of that oppressing nation, but will give them over to a just destruction.
I am deeply afflicted in my selfe,3 Therefore are my loines filled with paine: pangs have taken hold upon me. to foresee these grievous judgements which are comming upon these secure enemies of Gods Church, &c.
Proud and secure Babylon, sayes;5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eate, drinke, arise ye Princes, and anoint the shield. Furnish the tables with all delicates; let us feast our selves merrily; dispose of our watches to make sure of a seasonable notice, and prevention of any enemie; eate, drinke, but in the meane time, arise O ye Princes of Media and Persia, and make your armour, and munition ready.
Thus saith the Lord,6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Goe, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. these things which I bid thee denounce against Babylon, are yet afarre off; Goe therefore and set a watchman upon an high tower, and let him declare to thee what he seeth.
And hee saw farre off, and first discerned a chariot,7 And he saw a charet with a couple of horse men, a charet of asses, and a charet of Camels: and he hearkned diligently with much heed. then hee discried a couple of horse-men; and a chariot drawne by asses, & another drawn by Camels; as a lively representation of those enemies, and those meanes whereby the Babylonian should bee overthrowne, by Cyrus the King of Persia, &c.
And hee cryed, with a strong voice, like a Lion;8 And he cryed as a lyon (as it is in the margin) My Lord I stand continually upon the watch tower in the day time, and I am set in my ward whole nights. My Lord as thou hast appointed me, so am I carefull to keep my station in this watch towre, continually, both night and day, to observe what it shall please thee to represent unto me.
9 And behold, here cometh a charet of men, with a couple of horse men: and he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.And behold, whiles I am speaking, here commeth a chariot, &c. the interpretation of which vision is withall given to me, by the hands of these enemies, Babylon is sacked, and destroyed, &c.
O how the mighty arme of the Lord will thresh Babylon,10 O my threshing, and the corne of my floore, &c. as the corne is threshed in the floore, that which, &c.
11 The burden of Dumah; He calleth to me out of Seir: watchman, what of the night? watchman what of the night?The children of Edom called to me out of mount Seir, as scoffingly desiring to know what I had to say against them; watchman, what newes canst thou tell us of those calamities, which have beene threatned against us? Men have talked of a night that is comming upon us, What saist thou to it?
12 The watchman said, The morning commeth & also the night; if yee will inquire, inquire ye, returne, come.The watchman said; Ye please your selves in the hope of a faire morning, but know also that there is night comming which shall bring much sorrow and confusion with it; but if ye have a desire of your owne safety, returne to your God, inquire after him; and submit your selves humbly unto him.
13 The burden upon Arabia, In the forrest in Arabia shall yee lodge, O ye travailing companes of Dedanim.Ye shall bee glad to hide your selves in the desolate forrests of Arabia for feare of Senacherib; O ye travellers of Dedanim.
14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirstie, they prevented with their bread him that fled.The inhabitants of the land of Tema, in desert Arabia, pittying their chased neighbours, brought water to their thirsty companies, and bread to relieve their hunger, in that forced and sudden flight.
Within a yeare, in the strictest account, even such as the hireling keepes for the stint of his worke and bondage,16 Within a yeare, according to the yeares of an hirling, and all the glory of Kedar shall faile. even within that precise space, shall all the glory of Arabia faile.
17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be diminished.Their archers, and those other strong & mighty Arabians, shall but cut off.