Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 19 · Chapter 28
CAP. XXVIII.
WOe to the ten Tribes of Israel,1 Woe to the crowne of pride; to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose gloriour beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleies of them that are overcome with wine. which are both puft vp with pride, and growne to a shameful excesse of surfeting, and drunkennesse; Whose girlonds upon their heads (withering in the bankets, whiles they are worne) are a just resemblance of their fading glory, and beauty, who are the intemperate lands of those rich and plentifull vallies of Israel.
Behold, the Lord hath a mighty,2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of haile. and strong Assyrian in store, which shall come upon them like a tempest of haile, &c.
Those proud girlonds of the drunken Israelites shall be cast to the ground, and trampled under feet.3. The crowne of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim shal be troden under foot.
The rich crop which crowneth the fat & fertile vallies of Israel shall be suddenly destroyed; yea,4 And the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer. shall be snatched up, before it can have leasure to ripen, &c.
But, as for the tribe of Juda, in that day shall the Lord of hosts be, as a crowne of glory to it;5 In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a Crowne of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people. and as a flourishing and beautifull girlond to this residue of his people.
He shall give true judgement, and discerning to the Iudge, and true valour, and courage to the Souldier,6 And for a spirit of judgement to him that sitteth in judgement, & for strength to them that turne the battle to the gate. that beates back the enemie, and assailes him in his owne gate.
But yet even they also, (for a great part of them) have given themselves unto drunkennesse; and have beene miscarried through wine; not the baser sort onelyonly,7 But they have also erred through wine, and through strong drinke are out of the way: the Priest & the Prophet have erred through strong drinke, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink, they erre in vision, they stumble in judgement. but even the Priest & the Prophet, which should have beene examples of holinesse, and sobriety, &c. So as they have failed, not onelyonly in their other carriages and actions, but in those very visions, which they have received from God, and in those sentences of judgement, which they should have given from God.
To what purpose doe we cast away instruction upon an incorrigible people? it is all one, as if God should direct his precepts and counsels to a child new weaned from the brest;9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord. so uncapable are they of wholesome doctrine.
To them, as unto new weaned children, there must be both leasure and assiduity in teaching,10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little. one precept upon another, one rule after another; first they must bee taught to know their letters, then to spell them; by little at once must they be taught all that is put into them.
11 For with stammering lips & another tongue will he speak to this people.So is God forced to deale with this people; he is faine to frame himselfe to speake unto them, as unto children, in a stammering and unperfit language, such as they can be able to pronounce.
12 To whom he said, this is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing, yet they would not heare.For in his owne language they would not heare him; when God said; Loe, where you may finde true rest, and peace to your own hearts, and ability to comfort others, yet they would not understand him.
But since the word of the Lord, which was delivered to them,13 But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little, that they might goe and fall backward, and be broken, and snared and taken. one precept upon another, one rule after another, by a little at once, with all assiduity, and leasure, prevailed not with them, to their instruction, it shall be of force to obdure them, and an occasion of their fall, and further judgement.
Because ye have vainly promised safety, and impunity to your selves, notwithstanding all the judgemēts threatned against your sins, and have taken the more liberty to your leudnesse hereupon,15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement, when the overflowing scourge shall passe through, it shall not come unto us, for wee have made lies our refuge, and under falshood have we hid our selves. as if ye were at a fee with death and hell; and had said, when the fierce judgements of God shal come upon others, we shal escape well enough, for the very lies we have made shall secure us, and our falshood shall hide us from vengeance.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord; what I have said, I will performe; and behold, for this purpose, I have appointed my sonne, the true Messiah, to be the foundation, to bee the sure, and precious corner stone of the everlasting fabrick of my Church,16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation, he that beleeveth, shall not make haste. in whom all my promises, and judgements shall be fulfilled; he that beleeves shall rest himselfe contented with this alsufficient meanes of his comfort, and salvation, and shal not either hasten to look out for other helps, nor be ashamed of trusting to this.
And upon this foundation, and this corner stone will I raise the structure of my Church; which shall be built up in judgement,17 Iudgement also will I lay to the line, and righteousnesse to the plummet; and the haile shall sweepe away the refuge of lies. and righteousnesse, with wisedome and integrity; as for those wicked hypocrites, that lurk under the false name and pretence thereof, the just judgements of God shall sweep them away, &c.
And as for that false security,18 And your covenant with death shall bee disanulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand when the overflowing scourge shal passe through, then ye shall be troden downe by it. wherewith ye fond hypocrites pleased your selves, as vainly bosting of a covenant made betwixt you, and death, and hell, so as these judgements should not, either come neare, or not hurt you, ye shall finde, that it shall not hold; but that, contrarily, when the vengeance of God shall seize upon you, ye shall be utterly overwhelmed with it.
After the time that the judgement is once begun;19 From the time that it goeth forth, it shall take you, for morning by morning shall it passe over, by day and by night, and it shall be a vexation, only to understand the report. it shall continue without intermission, morning and evening, night and day, and it shall be no small part of affliction, but to heare and understand the report of those calamities.
These wicked ones shall have small ease during the continuance of their leudnesse;20 For the bed is shorter, then that a man can stretch himselfe on it, and the covering narrower, then that he can wrappe himselfe in it. they shall bee as a man that lies upon a bed too short and strait for him; or that in a cold night, is allowed a narrow coverled only, that will not reach to wrap him over, so deficient, and unsatisfying shall be all the comforts of the wicked.
For the Lord will rise up, and shew his power against these wicked men, as he did against the Philistims,21 For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perasim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may doe his work, his strange work, and bring to passe his act, his strāge act. in Baal Perazim, as he did against the Amorites, in the vally of Gibeon, that he may glorifie himselfe by doing some strange, and marvelous execution upon them.
Doe not therefore mock at these fearefull denunciations of Gods wrath, lest your stubborne strugling against the just proceedings of God,22 Now therefore bee yee not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. intangle you so much more, and make your bands more close and pinching; for certainly, God hath revealed to mee his certaine determination to bring a fearefull vastation upon the whole earth, which hath so grievously corrupted her waies.
Doe ye not know that God hath his seasons and opportunities for al his proceedings with men?24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sowe? doth he open and breake the clods of his ground? he is not alwaies taken up with one act; Doth the plowman spend his time altogether in plowing the ground, to prepare it for seed; doth he ever labour in breaking the clods?
Hath he not other work to doe, after this?25 When he hath made plaine the face thereof, doth hee not cast abroad the fetches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principall wheat. when hee hath laid the earth smooth, and levell, doth he not cast the severall seeds, and graines into the bosome of the earth, in their meet seasons? &c.
When he hath done that, and hath brought these severall kinds of graine into the barne,27 For the fetches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheele turned upon the cummin, but the fetches are beaten out with a staffe, and the cummin with a rod. he doth not thresh them out all after one fashion; for the fetches are not beaten out with the ordinary instrument of threshing, nor is the cummin crushed out with the cartwheele; but lesser force will shake out these seeds, even a flaffe, or a rod.
28 Bread corne is bruised, because he will not ever be threshing it, nor breake it with the wheele of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.But, that corne that is for bread, is bruised out with more force, by the strength of the flaile, or wheele; because he will not ever be working upon it, to fetch it out of the husks, wherein it lies, by those violent meanes which are used to this purpose.
29 This also commeth forth from the Lord of hostes, which is wonderfull in counsell, and excellent in working.Since the Lord of hosts hath given this wit, and understanding to plaine men, for the managing of their affaires, in due times, and fit waies; how much more shall he, who is infinite in wisedome, contrive his own works, both of mercy, and judgement with men?