Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 19 · Chapter 29
CAP. XXIX.
1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the citie where David dwelt, adde ye yeare to yeare, let them kill sacrifices.WOe to the Temple of Jerusalem, and thee, O Altar, yea, to that whole city of David; let the destruction be a little deferred, from one year to another, and in the meane time doe ye fearelesly kill, and offer your sacrifices, as if ye expected no danger.
2 Yet I will distresse Ariel, and there shall bee heavinesse and sorrow, and it shall be unto me as Ariel.Yet in my appointed time I will distresse the Altar & Temple; and there shall be heavinesse and sorrow; and the whole city shall be to me, as an altar embrued with blood.
4 And thou shalt bee brought downe, and shalt speake out of the ground, and thy speech shal be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.And thou shalt speak hollowly, & faintly out of the low estate of humiliation, into which thou shalt be cast; thou that hadst wont to speake bigge, and loftily; now so shall thy voice be changed, that it shall sound weakly, and hollowly, as one that hath a familiar, and speakes inwardly; or, as if it came like some soft whispering sound, out of the cranies of the earth.
Moreover, those hired forces of strangers, to which thou trustest,5 Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall bee as the chaffe that passeth away, yea it shall be at an instant suddenly. shall be dispersed, as small dust with the winde, and those powerfull and fierce warriours, whereof thou boastest, shall be as chaffe, blowne away, in an instant, suddenly.
For God himselfe (who is the Lord of hosts) shall take upon him the execution of these judgements upon thee, and shall testifie his displeasure by thunders,6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of Hosts with thunder, and with earthquakes. and earthquakes, &c.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distresse her, shall be as a dreame of a night vision.And the multitude of these nations, that fight against the Altar, temple, city of Jerusalem, and that distresse her, shall come upon her (in respect of her deep security) as some fearefull dreame upon a sleeping man.
And whereas the Jewes vainly pleased themselves with a false hope of deliverance from their enemies,8 It shall even bee as when a hungrie man dreameth, and behold he eateth, but he awaketh, and his soule is emptie; or as when a thirstie man dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his soule hath appetite, so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion. and raising of their siege, they shall be no lesse disappointed then an hungry man that dreames of meat, and seemes to himselfe to eate, but when he awakes he findes that his stomack is still emptie, &c. So shall it be with the conceit of defeating the multitude of nations, that fight against mount Zion.
Fixe your selves upon the thoughts of these judgements, and wonder; yea, cry out, cry aloud in the sense of this wrath; But, alas, why doe I thus speake unto them? they are growne senselesse, and stupid; they are drunken,9 Stay your selves and wonder, cry ye out, & cry, they are drunken, but not with wine, they stagger, but not with strong drink. not so much with wine, as with their false security, and giddy imaginations, &c.
For the Lord in his justice,10 For the Lord hath powred out upon you the spirit of deepe sleepe, and hath closed your eyes, the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. for a punishment of your Idolatries, and excesse, hath given you up, to a secure insensiblenesse; shutting up the eyes of your minde, that you should not see your fearefull condition; and that, not of the meaner sort only, but of your very prophets, and rulers, who should be the common seers for the rest.
Their religion and devotion is such,13 And their feare towards me is taught by the precept of men. not as God hath prescribed unto them, but such as they have received from the unwarranted precepts of superstitious men.
Their wise men,14 For the wisedome of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. and their learned teachers shall bee besotted, so as they shall not be able, either to see the truth, or to deliver it unto others.
Woe to those hypocriticall contemners of God, which thinke themselves so cunning,15 Woe unto them that seeke deepe to hide their counsell from the Lord. that they can elude either the knowledge, or proceedings of God, &c.
Surely, these plots and devises that you have, for the turning of things upside downe,16 Surely your turning of things upside downe shall be esteemed as the potters clay; for shall the worke say of him that made it, he made me not? and working them to your owne purposes, are no lesse in my hand to over-rule then the clay is in the hand of the potter; Is it for you to take upon you the contriving of the events of things? is not this worke proper only to me? shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? &c.
However, your secure hearts may suggest to you,17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitfull field, and the fruitfull field shall be esteemed as a forrest? it shall be very shortly, that I will make these strange alterations in the world; woody forrests shall be turned into fruitfull, and plaine fields, and those fields which were lately fruitfull, shall become a wilde desert forrest.
But notwithstanding these judgements,18 And in that day shal the deafe heare the words of the booke, and the eyes of the blinde shall see out of obscuritie, and out of darknesse. I will be gracious to mine owne remnant; and will open their eares, that they may heare, and illighten their eyes, that they may see the things belonging to their peace.
Those cruell men that are ready to take the utmost advantage against a man,21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turne aside the just for a thing of nought. for but a word speaking, and lay twigs, and snares to catch the prophet, which openly reproves sin, and disgrace the upright, and conscionable, causelesly.
They, that before, carelesly mocked at the prediction of these denounced evils,24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured, shall learn doctrine. shall now come to understand the truth of them.