Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 19 · Chapter 5 – Chapter 6
CAP. V.
I Will sing a Song to Christ the deare Bride-groome of his Church, concerning his vineyard of Israel;1 Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved, touching his vineyard: my beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitfull hill. My God and Saviour had planted his Church of Israel, in a very fruitfull soile; with the greatest advantage of place, even in the highest eminence, where he might be likely to receive the most generous fruit of obedience.
He fenced it about, with his gracious protection,2 And he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof, & planted it with the choisest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therin: & he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wilde grapes. and good lawes, he removed out of it all the apparent impediments of growth and fruitfulnesse, he furnished it with choice persons, and those persons with excellent graces, he gave to it proofes of his vigilant care over it, and meanes to expresse, and make use of that sweet fruit, which it should yeeld; and now, hee made account that it should returne unto him the pleasant clusters of holy obedience: and behold, it runnes forth into miserable disorder, and yeelds nothing but the sowre and distastfull fruits of sinne and wickednesse.
And now, O my people, I dare appeale to your selves,3 And now, O inhabitants of Ierusalem, & men of Iudah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. and make you judges of this case betwixt you and me; say whether you can choose but condemne your selves.
Thus hath God pleased to reveale his will unto me, saying;9 In mine eares said the Lord of hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and faire without inhabitant. whereas these oppressors affect to joyne house to house, certainely, I will cause their houses to be desolate; and as they dispeopled townes and houses, their houses (though great and faire) shall be without inhabitants.
10 Yea ten acres of vineyard shall yeeld one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yeeld an Ephah.Yea, so will I curse that ground, with barrennesse, which they have wrung from the poore owners, as that ten acres of vineyard shall yeeld but sixe gallons of wine, and so much ground as seven bushells is able to sow, shall yeeld but three parts backe againe to the owner.
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged her selfe, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pompe, and he that rejoyceth, shall descend into it.Neither shall the wrath of God stay here; and take up with their captivity, and famine; but he hath prepared further judgement for these mercilesse oppressors, for he shall cause the insatiable gulfe of hell to devoure them, and to swallow up all their pompe and jollity.
But, though the Lord will take this just vengeance o… his rebellious enemies,17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste pla…s of the fat ones shall strangers eate. yet will he be ever gracious to his owne flocke; and shall cause the lambes thereof to feed comfortably, in their wonted pastures; and those places, which the insolent enemies had wasted, shall be againe possessed by his people, whom their long captivity hath made strangers to their owne land.
18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sinne, as it were with a cartrope.Woe be to them that are so set upon wickednesse, as that they use all possible perswasions, and provocations to draw themselves to a lawlesse commission of sinne, and continuance in it.
19 That say, let him make speed and hasten his workes that wee may see it: and let the counsell of the Holy one of Israel draw nigh and come; that we may know it.That make light of the threatned judgements, and i… a scornfull distrust, dare say; why doth not God hasten these menaced plagues? faine would we see the performance of these terrible threates; let not God say, but do; let that which God professeth to have determined against us, be speedily effected.
20 Woe unto them that call evill good, and good evill.Woe bee unto them that colour wickednesse with faire pretences, and cry downe goodnesse with slanderous calumniations, &c.
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drinke wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drinke.Woe be to them that improve their strength to excesse, glorying that they are able to powre in, and to beare much wine; and affect to be thought and approved strong and mighty drinkers.
24 So their root shall be rottennesse, their blossome shall goe up as dust.So they shall be utterly destroyed, & shall be as a tree whose roote is rotten, and whose blossome flies away like dust, &c.
25 And the hills did tremble, and their carkeises were torne in the midst of the streets: for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.The neighbour hils did tremble with the noise and fury of that siege; and their carcasses lay torne, and mangled in the midst of the streets; yet all this cannot be warning enough to this stubborne people, to turne from their sinnes, &c.
26 And he will lift up an ensigne to the nations from farre, and will hisse unto them, from the end of the earth.He will raise up warre against them, even from nations that dwell afarre off; and will stirre up and provoke enemies against them from the furthest parts of the earth, &c.
27 None shall be weary nor stumble amongst them, none shall slumber nor sleep.They shall come with such fiercenes and spirit to this warre, that they shall not be sensible of any wearinesse; they shall march nimbly and boldly, no one shall give himselfe to slumber in the way, &c.
There shall be both terrour and vigour in their horses prepared for this warre,28 Their horses hoofes shall be counted like flint, and their wheeles like a whirlewinde. and their chariot wheeles shall come ratling furiously on, like some dreadfull tempest, and flie swiftly like a whirlewinde.
What speake I of the roaring of a Lion?29 And in that day they shall roare against them, like the roaring of the sea: and if one looke unto the land, behold darknesse and sorrow, and the light is darkned in the heavens thereof. yea these Chaldeans, which I will bring upon them, shall come roaring in, like a mighty sea, in a tempest; with such terror that all shall be filled with confusion, the earth shall be darkned with sorrow, and the heavens shall yeeld no glimpse of comfort to the distressed.
CAP. VI.
IN the yeare that King Vzziah dyed,1 In the yeare that King Vzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his traine filled the temple. I had a vision from God; wherein it pleased the Lord to represent unto me a cleare signe of the majesticall presence of the Sonne of God, sitting on high, upon a glorious throne; and the traine of his shining robe filled the temple.
Who as he was glorious in himselfe, so in his attendants; for, over the throne stood the Angels of heaven;2 Above it stood the Seraphims: each one had sixe wings, with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twaine hee did flie. each one had sixe wings; with two whereof he covered his face, as not being able to behold the brightnesse of that divine majesty: with two he covered his feet, as favouring the weaknes of humane eyes, that cannot behold the least splendor of those celestiall creatures; with two he did swiftly move, and flie to execute the charge of God.
So strong and dreadfull was that voice of theirs, that the very posts of the doores,4 And the posts of the doore moved at voice of him that cried, & the house was filled with smoake. and the pillars of the Temple were moved therewith; and (as it had wont to bee, when God would signifie his presence in that sanctuary,) the whole house was filled with smoake.
Then said I, as one terrified with that sight;5 Then said I, wo is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of uncleane lips, &c. I dwell in the midst of a people of uncleane lips. woe is me there is no way but death with me; I have delivered messages from this holy God, but I am not, nor have beene so sanctified, as that I might be safely fit for this great service, &c.
Then one of those bright Angels flew unto me,6 Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me, having a live coale in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. having a live coale in his hand, (signifying the purging and purifying efficacy of the Spirit) which he had taken not from an ordinary, and common hearth, but from the altar of God; the true type of Christ, the Saviour.
Lo, this coale touching thy lippes, is a certaine signe,7 Loe this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquitie is taken away, and thy sinne purged. and representation of that powerfull operation of the spirit of God, whereby thy sin is purged away, and thou inabled to this great function.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shal I send, & who will goe for us? Then I said: here am I, send me.Then the Lord represented a voice to my eare, saying after the maner of men; whom shall I send to this people? & who is willing to deliver this message from us? Then, when as once my lips had been thus touched, and sanctified, I did gladly put my selfe forward, and said; Here I am, send me.
2 And he said, Goe and tell this people, heare ye indeed, but understand not: and see ye indeed, but perceive not.Be not discouraged, I shall send thee to an obstinate people, whose perversenesse I doe so well know, that I would have thee tell them before hand, what I expect from them; viz. that they will heare indeed, but not care to understand, they will see, but not regard to perceive.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their eares heavie, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and heare with their eares, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed.Yea, more then so, through the occasion of thy prophecie, and holy ministery amongst them, their hearts shall be hardened, and made obstinate; and their eares dulled, and deafened; that in my just judgement they may be given up to a spirituall insensiblenes, as a due punishment of their carelesse neglects of my ordinances; and that thereupon may follow their deserved condemnation.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? and he answered, untill the cities be wasted without inhabitant.Then said I, in a meet compassion of my people; But alas, Lord, how long shall this judgement lie upon thine Israel? and he said; untill the cities be utterly wasted, and left, &c.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall bee eaten as a Teyle tree, and as an oake, whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.But yet, there shall be a tenth part of Israel that shall returne after it hath beene dispersed, and consumed, and be a seed for the rest, even as it is with a tree, which having cast her leaves, yet hides the sappe within the stock or bulk, which buds forth againe in due season; so shall the remainder of the holy seed, which for the time seemed to lie dead, sprout forth into an abundant increase.