Paraphrase of the Hard Texts of Scripture, Scripture 31
HABAKKVK.
CAP. I.
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquitie, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.IT is but a vexation to me, O Lord, to see that iniquitie which I cannot reforme; I see every where cruelty and oppression before me; and when I reprove them, there are those that raise up strife, and contention against me.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgement doth never goe forth: for the wicked doth compasse about the righteous: therefore wrong judgement proceedeth.Hereupon it comes to passe, that the law is not pressed home, and judgement is neither denounced, nor executed; for the righteous are in the power and mercy of the wicked; so as it cannot be but that wrong judgment must needs proceed against the just, and innocent.
5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder maruelously: for I will worke a worke in your dayes which ye will not beleeve, though it bee told you.But, to take away the ground of all this complaint, behold, O yee degenerated people of the Jewes, and looke upon those heathen, whom ye hate and contemne; and wonder at that, which I will bring to passe by their hands against you; even a worke, which to your incredulity and selfe-confidence will seeme incredible.
They shall have the law in their owne hands,7 Their judgement and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. and they shall carve themselves, of your punishment, and their owne advancement, at their pleasure.
They shall come purposely to waste, and spoyle;9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the East winde, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. their very lookes shall blast all before them like an east-winde; and they shall carry away a number of captives, as the sand of the Sea for multitude.
They shall make a mocke at those Kings, and Princes that will offer to resist them, &c.10 And they shall scoffe at the Kings, and the Princes shall be a scorne unto them.
Then shall their King Nebuchadnezzar,11 Then shall his minde change, and hee shall passe over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his God. alter his determination of prosecuting his forraigne invasions, and returning home to Babylon, shall bee puffed up with these his victories, and shall foolishly impute them to his god Bel.
But, that I may turne my thoughts,12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine holy One? we shall not die: O Lord thou hast ordained them for judgement, and O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. and my speech to thee, O Lord my God, mine holy One, I hope thou hast not designed us to utter extirpation; thou hast ordained these Chaldees, most justly, for our punishment, and set them on worke for our correction, not for our destruction.
Thou art of purer eyes, than to behold evill,13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evill, and canst not looke on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deale trecherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than thee. &c. Wherefore shouldest thou give way to the wicked Chaldees, to devoure thy people that are more righteous than they.
Wherefore shouldst thou put men into the same condition with the fishes of the sea;14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no rule over them? amongst whom the greater devoures the lesse, without al regard of any thing but power; or, into the same case with creeping things, which having no ruler, have therefore no protection, or safety from mutuall violence?
Even as such fishes doth Nebuchadnezar take thy people of Judah; hee takes them up with the angle; and,15 They take up all of them with the angle: they catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragge, therefore they rejoyce and are glad. lest that dispatch should not be speedy enough, he catcheth them in his net, and gathers them in his dragge, to cast them out into captivity; and rejoyceth, and triumpheth in this his advantage.
And hereupon he and his Babylonians sacrifice to this net of their policy,16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burne incense unto their dragge: because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. and burne incense to the dragge of their power, because they have, by them, increased their dignity and dominion.
17 Shall they therefore emptie their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?Wilt thou therefore, O Lord, still suffer them to empty their net for a new draught? Wilt thou not restraine them from making spoile of the nations round about continually?
CAP. II.
1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the towre, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answere when I am reproved.SInce God hath appointed me to bee a watchman for his people, I will performe the charge committed unto mee; I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the Tower, and carefully view, and listen what his pleasure is to doe with them, and to reveale unto mee; that I may give a good account of this my station, and message, when I shall be challenged for it.
2 And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plaine upon tables, that he may runne that readeth it.Write thou this thing, that I doe now declare unto thee, in great text letters; and fixe the writing publikely, upon many posts; and let it be so legi…le, that hee who runnes, may read it as he passes.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speake and not lie.For this vision is not to be presently fulfilled, but hath a time set, and determined, wherein it shal be accomplished; at the expiring whereof, it shall be apparently verified to the world, &c.
4 Behold, his soule which is lifted up, is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.In any case, give thou full beleefe to this word of the Lord; for behold, that man which withdraweth his soule from trusting unto God, and will bee raysing to himselfe projects of his owne, as he is unsound and faithlesse to God, so is accordingly displeasing to him; but the just & upright man will depend upon the promises of God, and speed thereafter;5 Yea, also because hee transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. for his faith in God shall both uphold his life here, and crowne it with glory hereafter.
Know therefore, that this proud Babylonian, under whom thy nation shall suffer, shall at last be met with, in his owne kinde; he is now transported, and (as it were) intoxicated with his ambition, as with wine; which carries him from home, to the invasion of other countryes; and makes him as insatiable as hell it selfe, and as death, which can never be satisfied; whereupon hee gathers unto him, all the Kingdomes round about, and heapes up Crownes and Scepters to himselfe, over all the regions of the earth.
6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverbe against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his: how long? and to him that ladeth himselfe with thicke clay.But, when his turne comes, shall not all these nations, whom hee hath subdued, seeing his overthrowe, and utter ruine, insult upon him, and take up a taunting proverb against him and say; What is now become of the man that raked up those Kingdomes whereto he had no right? How long hath hee enjoyed these ill-gotten crownes? Where now is he that ladeth himselfe with extent of earth; and with the unprofitable weight of this base earthly trash?
Shall not the Medes and Persians rise up suddenly against thee? and set upon thee, and spoile thee?7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee? and awake that shall vexe thee? and thou shalt be for booties unto them? and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
Woe be to thee O insolent Babylonian,9 Woe to him that coveteth an evill covetousnesse to his house, that hee may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evill. that out of a covetous, and ambitious desire, scrapest together the wealth of the world, that thou mayst make thy nest on high in this Babylon; and that thou maist be freed from all the feare, or power of an enemie.
Thou vainely devisest thus to advance thine house,10 Thou hast consulted shame to thy house, by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soule. but thou shalt finde this to be the way to bring shame, and ruine upon it; even in this bloody violence, which thou hast used, in the cutting off many people, thou hast brought confusion upon thy house, and hast sinned against thy soule.
For, if men should hold their peace,11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beame out of the timber shall answere it. the very stones out of the wall, which thou hast raised by this cruelty, shall cry out against thee; and the beame out of the timber-worke shall second this clamour against thine unjustice, and violence.
Woe to him that buildeth,12 Woe to him that buildeth a towne with blood, and stablisheth a citie by iniquitie. and enlargeth his city Babylon with those bloody spoiles, and rapines of other innocent nations.
Behold, shall it not be just with the Lord of hosts,13 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hostes, that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanitie. to crosse, and defeat all thy projects? and to cause this people whom thou settest on worke in these buildings, to lose their labour; in that, they shall finde they have wearied themselves vainly in raising up that pile, which shall soone be consumed with fire?
The notice of which just revenge from God,14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. shall so fill the world, as that it shall bee over-spred with the acknowledgement of Gods just proceedings herein, (even as the sea is covered with waters, and shall give glory to his infinite justice.
Woe to thee, O Nebuchadnezar,15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drinke: that puttest thy bottell to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou maiest looke on their nakednesse. that forcest thy neighbour Princes to drinke deepe of the cup of thy cruell affliction; & when thou hast brought them downe into extreme misery, makest thy selfe merry by insulting upon their calamity.
Thou art requited accordingly,16 Thou art filled with shame for glory, drinke thou also, and let thy foreskinne be uncovered: the cup of the Lords right hand shall bee turned unto thee, and shamefull spewing shall be on thy glory. for in stead of that glory, which thou promisest thy selfe, thou art filled with shame; Now shalt thou also drinke deepe of the cup of Gods anger, and thy shame and miserable impotencie shall be discovered to the world; thou shalt bee made drunke with this bitter draught, from the hand of God, and thy shame and disgrace shall bewray it selfe palpably in a lothsome fashion, to the eyes of men.
17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee: and the spoile of beasts, which made them afraid, because of mens blood, and for the violence of the land of the citie, and of all that dwell therein.For it shall be with thee, as with the wild beasts in the forrest of Lebanon, which are violently chased by the hunter, and terrified in their pursuit; even so shalt thou be hunted by the Persian, because of the blood of men, which thou hast shed, and the violence that thou hast done to the lands, and cities of thy neighbours.
18 What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten Image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his worke trusteth therein, to make dumb Idoles?What then shall the Chaldean finde himselfe benefited by his graven Images which he hath made; and what stay and safety (worthy of his reliance) shall he meet with in his molten Image, which is no other then a teacher of lies; to what purpose hath he made these dumb Idols of either kinde?
19 That saith to the dumb stone; Arise, it shall teach.That saith to the senselesse stone; Arise; and shall adde; This image shall teach us future things; this oracle shall instruct us,20 Let all the earth keepe silence before him. &c.
Let all the inhabitants of the earth be awfully affected, before his Majesty.
The Title.CAP. III.
1 A propheticall and supplicatory song of Habakkuk, set to mixed tunes.O Lord, I have heard the words spoken by thee, concerning the future captivity of thy people,2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid; O Lord revive thy worke in the midst of the yeares, in the middest of the years make knowne: in wrath remember mercy. and was much troubled with them; And now O Lord, since they must lie under thi… grievous affliction, for a time; make good upon them, the worke of thy gracious preservation of them; uphold them, whiles those yeares of their misery continue; let thy mercifull protection be made known to the world, &c.
3 God came from Teman, and the holy one from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.God hath given abundant proofe of his power, and care over his Church; if we looke to his ancient mercies, and dreadfull manifestations of himselfe; when the Lord God came before his people from the South, even from Aegypt through the wildernesse, heaven and earth were full of the Majesty of his glory.
4 And his brightnesse was as the light: he had hornes comming out of his hand, and there was the hiding of his power.His brightnesse was as the light of the Sunne; he had radiant beames that came streaming out from him; and under those glorious raies his power was rather hid, then manifested.
Before him, he sent the pestilence;5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coales went forth at his feet. and other consuming judgments were ordained, and executed by him upon his enemies, and rebells.
When he fixed his station in Canaan,6 He stood and measured the earth: hee beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountaines were scattered, the perpetuall hils did bow: his wayes are everlasting. and gave order by Joshua, for the dividing of the land of promise; hee (by his very looke) drove out the nations before Israel; those mountaines, which from their first creation, had beene fixed to their places, were now so shaken at the awfull presence of God, as if they had been scattered and removed from their foundations; those hills which had ever stood upright, now bowed; so dreadfull and glorious is God for ever, in the manifestation of himselfe to his creatures.
I saw the neighbouring nations of the Arabians,7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtaines of the land of Midian did tremble. and Aethiopians, in great distresse; and the Midianites trembling under the expectation of his judgements, which he was ready to bring upon them, in the behalfe of his people.
O God, when thou dividedst the red Sea,8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the Sea; that thou didst ride upon thy horses, and thy charets of salvation. and driedst up the river of Jordan, was it upon any displeasure that thou conceivedst against those waters? or wa it out of a desire to triumph over the sea, that thou didst, as it were, passe, in state, upon the horses, and charets of salvation, and deliverance, before thy people, through the channell thereof? or was it not for the confusion of those proud Aegyptians which pursued thine Israel.
Thou didst draw forth,9 Thy bowe was made quite naked, according to the oathes of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. and bend the bowe of thy mighty power among thine enemies, according to the oathes, which thou swarest to the tribes of Israel; even the word of promise which thou gavest them to settle them in that good land. Selah. Thou didst cleave in sunder the rivers which runne upon the earth, to give way to thy people.
The very mountaines felt the terriblenesse of thy presence, and shooke withall,10 The mountaines saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lift up his hands on high. the over-flowing streame of the red Sea, and Jordan passed backward in their channells; the deepe made a noyse in his running together on heapes, & did lift vp his waves, as so many hands to praise and magnifie thy power.
The Sunne,11 The Sunne and Moone stood still in their habitation, at the light of thine arrowes they went, and at the shining of the glittering speare. and the moone stood still upon the command of Joshua, for the time, in the orbes of their heaven; in which extraordinary light of those stāding plants, thy thunder and lightening and hailestones flew abroad, as so many arrowes, or glittering speares, to wound thine enemies.
12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.In despight of which enemies, thou didst march through the land of Canaan, before thy people, in great indignation at their resistance, and didst subdue the heathen before them, in thine anger.
13 With thine annointed, thou woundedst the head out of the houses of the wicked, by discovering the foundation, unto the Necke. Selah.With Moses thy servant, thou didst cut off the Kings, and Princes, which were the heads of those seven wicked nations, and leftest them destitute; even as when the head is cut off by the sword, the junctures thereof unto the necke and shoulders, are fully discovered.
14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages, they came out as a whirlewinde to scatter me: their rejoycing was as to devoure the poore secretly.Thou didest with thine immediate judgements, and by the weapons of thy people, overthrow those which were the Princes, and leaders of those hostile forces; they came out furiously as a whirle winde to scatter & defeat Israel; and they rejoyced to think how easily their power and subtilty should be able to consume this poore handfull of thy people.
15 Thou didst walke through the sea with thine horses, through the heape of great waters.When thou led'st thy people through the Sea, thou didst, as it were, passe triumphantly with thine horses of warre through the heapes of the great waters.
16 When I heard, my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice, rottennesse entred into my bones, and I trembled in my selfe that I might rest in the day of trouble; whē he commeth up unto the people, hee will invade them with his troupes.I heard thy speeches, O Lord, as I before said, concerning those grievous afflictions, which thou hast threatned to bring upon thy people; and when I heard thereof, I was moved with much feare, and compassion; my heart trembled, my lips shooke; and I was even consumed with inward griefe and heavinesse; and all this sorrow, and consternation, should I thinke well bestowed; on condition, that I might rest in the day of the common calamity; when the Chaldees come up against my nation, and invade Judah with their troupes.
17 Although the fig-tree shall not blossome, neither shall fruit be in the Vines, the labour of the Olive shall faile, and the fields shall yeeld no meat, the flocke shall bee cut of from the fold, and there shall bee no herde in the stalles.Although God should so crosse us, as that none of these outward comforts should prosper in our hands; though our fig-trees should not yeeld us any blossomes, nor our vines yeeld us grapes, though our olive trees should faile us, after the labour and cost bestowed on them, though our fields should yeeld us no graine, nor our folds any flocks, nor our stalls any heards.
18 Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord: I will joy in the God of my salvation.Yet I will depend chearefully upon the Lord, even against hope, and joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength, and hee will make my feet like hindes feet, and he will make me to walke upon my high places, to the chiefe singer on my stringed instruments.See 2 Sam. 22. verse 34, &c.