be in reft, and ́at eafe, and none fhall make him 28 afraid. Fear thou not, O Jacob my fervant, faith the Lord, for I am with thee, for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not wholly leave thee unpunished.

These two laft Prophecies are alone fufficient to confute the opinion of those who deny any future Restoration of Ifrael.

EZEKIEL prophefied in the land of the Chaldeans, about the year 595 before Christ.

XXXVII.

EZEK. xvi. 53. When I fhall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives, in 54 the midft of them. So that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayeft be confounded in all that thou haft done, in that thou art a comfort unto 55 them. When thy fifters, Sodom and her daughters fhall return to their former eftate, and Samaria and her daughters fhall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters fhall return to your 59 former eftate *.-For thus faith the Lord God, I

*As for their captyvite, namely, the captyvite of Sodom and her daughters; the captyvite of Samaria and her daughters: I wyll brynge them again, fo wyll I alfo brynge again thy captyvite amonge them.

TINDALE. will

will even deal with thee as thou hast done *, which haft despised the oath in breaking the covenant. 60 Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with

thee in the days of thy youth, and I will stablish 61 unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways and be afhamed, when thou fhalt receive thy fifters, thine elder and thine younger : and I will give them unto thee for daughters but 62 not by covenant +. And I will stablish my covenant with thee, and thou fhalt know that I am the 63 Lord, That thou mayeft remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou haft done, faith the Lord God.

Some may, perhaps, conclude, from ver. 55. that there fhall be no return of Ifrael, because it is faid, they fhall not return to their former eftate till Sodom and Samaria fhall return; but from the following verfes it plainly appears, that this is a wrong conclufion. For it is faid, ver. 60 and 61, I will remember my covenant with thee, &c. and thous halt remember thy ways, &c. thou shalt receive thy fifters, thine elder, and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, &c. all which rather prove that Sodom and Samaria fhall be reftored, than that Judab shall not.

* I fhoulde (by ryght) deale with thee as thou hast done, TINDALE. Which translation is much more agreeable to what follows in the next verse.

+ And that befide thy covenant.

E

TINDALE.

XXXVIII.

XXXVIII.

EZEK. XX. 39. As for you, O houfe of Ifrael, thus faith the Lord, Go yé, ferve ye every man his idols, and hereafter also if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with 40 your gifts, and with your idols *. For in mine holy

mountain, in the mountain of the height of Ifrael, faith the Lord God, there fhall all the house of Ifrael, all of them in the land ferve me; there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all 41 your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet favour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered, and I will be fanctified in you be42 fore the heathen. And ye fhall know that I am the Lord, when I fhall bring you into the land of Ifrael, into the country for the which I lifted up mine 43 hand to give it to your fathers. And there fhall ye remember your ways and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled, and ye fhall loath yourselves in your own fight, for all evils that your 44 mitted. And ye fhall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Ifrael, faith the Lord God.

for my

ye

have com

name's fake,

The gathering out of the countries wherein they were scattered, ver. 41. cannot be applied to

* Go now then (fayeth the Lorde God) ye house of Ifrael, caft awaye and destroye every man his idoles: then fhall ye heare me, and no more blafpheme my holie name with your offerings and your idoles. TINDALE.

the

the return from Babylon, becaufe it is faid in the preceding verfe, that ALL the house of Ifrael, ALL of them in the land fhall ferve the Lord, and be accepted of him in the holy mountain, whereas the two tribes only returned from that captivity. The two laft verfes alfo fhew that this Prophecy does not relate to the Babylonish captivity: for fince the return from thence, Ifrael have not loathed themfelves for all the evils that they have committed; neither has the Lord as yet wrought with them for his name's fake, and not according to their wicked ways, &c.

XXXIX.

EZEK. xxviii. 25. Thus faith the Lord God, When I shall have gathered the house of Ifrael from the people among whom they are fcattered, and fhall be fanctified in them in the fight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land, that I have 26 given to my fervant Jacob. And they fhall dwell fafely therein, and fhall build houses, and plant vineyards: yea, they fhall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all thofe that defpife them round about them, and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God.

XL.

EZEK. xxxiv. 25. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and I will caufe the evil beafts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell fafe26 ly in the wilderness, and fleep in the woods. And I will make them, and the places round about my hill, a bleffing; and I will cause the shower to come

down in his feafon; there fhall be fhowers of blef27 fing. And the tree of the field fhall yield her fruit,

and the earth shall yield her increafe, and they fhall be fafe in their land, and fhall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hands of those that 28 ferved themselves of them. And they fhall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither fhall the beafts of the land devour them; but they fhall dwell fafely, 29 and none fhall make them afraid. And I will raife, up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more confumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the fhame of the heathen any more.

The perfons with whom the covenant of peace mentioned in ver. 25. is to be made, are they who are described in the former part of the chapter, under the character of sheep; and thefe have been generally fuppofed to be the church, as it has hitherto fubfifted. But the circumstances mentioned in this Prophecy, and in that before it, will by no means admit of fuch allegorical interpretation. The being Scattered, the returning to their own land, the dwelling fafely, &c. are circumftances not applicable to the Chriftian church, but very properly fo to the difperfed Ifraelites. And that the Prophecy cannot be applied to the return from any former captivity, is plain, from ver. 29. They shall be no more confumed with hunger, neither bear the fhame of the heathen any more: and alfo from the 28th verfe, And they fhall no more be a prey to the heathen.

I now