9. "Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness."-And because she would not acknowledge this, therefore I will bereave her of those my blessings; and will take away from her my corn and my wine, wherewith she was wont to be fed and refreshed, even in that season when she makes most account of enjoying it; and will take back my wool and my flax wherewith I clothed her, that she may learn to know whence she received these benefits.

10. "And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand."]—And now, I will make her unthankfulness and vain confidence openly known to the world; and convince her of it before her professed confederates, and none of them shall be able to deliver her out of my afflicting hand.

11. "I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.”]—I will take from her all her solemn rejoicings, in abridging her of her feast days, and new moons and sabbaths, wherein she was wont to make public professions of mirth.

13. "And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD."]—And I will then call her to account for those festivities of Baalim wherein she did idolatrously burn incense to those her false gods; and set out herself in her best dresses, for the honour of her idols, and the pleasure of her heathenish confederates; and forgat me, saith the Lord.

14. "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her."]-Therefore, behold, I will take all courses to reclaim her; I will earnestly solicit her with all wholesome counsel, and will bring her into captivity; and will therein yet speak comfortably to her, sustaining her in the midst of her grievous adversity.

15. "And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt."]—And in her return from thence I will give her those vineyards which she had deservedly lost; and will readmit her into that valley of Achor which is on this side Jordan, as her entrance into that hoped and promised land of her inherit

ance; and there she shall rejoice and sing, and live cheerfully, as she did in her first possession of it, when she came out of the land of Egypt.

16. "And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali."]-And in that day thou shalt call me Ishi, My Husband, and shalt no more call me Baali, My Lord: which name, howsoever I mislike not in itself, yet, because it carries with it the sound and remembrance of your former idol, I will not abide to be put upon me.

17. "For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name."] -For I do so hate and detest those your idols, as that I will not endure the very mention of their names, but damn them to perpetual forgetfulness.

18. "And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lic down safely."]-And in that day will I ordain and give charge to all creatures, that they shall be helpful unto them, and forbear any annoyance of them; even to the beasts of the field and fowls of the air, and to the creeping things upon earth: and I will pacify all enemies; and prevent all those wars that may be in danger to be raised against them, and will cause them to dwell safely and peaceably.

19. "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies."]—And I will renew my everlasting covenant with thee: I will be thy God; thou shalt be my people: I will be thy Husband and Saviour; thou shalt be my Church and Spouse, inseparably united unto me; to whom I will graciously communicate my perfect righteousness; and whom I will embrace in my just acceptation, in lovingkindness and in

mercies.

20. "I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD."]-I will even marry thee unto myself, in all faithful plighting of our mutual troth one to another; and thou shalt find that I am and will be a gracious Lord unto thee.

21, 22. “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the

earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel."]—And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that all creatures shall receive a command from me to contribute their several blessings to my people; as if the heaven and the earth and the wine and oil, and my people Israel, did join all together, both to sue for and to confer those benefits unto my Church which their several natures and condition can and do yield unto them.

23. "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God."]—And I will so multiply my Church in the earth, as if I had sown it with men; and I will so alter the estate of things, as that my mercy shall magnify itself upon that people, both of Jews and Gentiles, that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, I have chosen thee to be my people; and they shall say again, in a blessed restipulation, Thou art my God.

III. 1. "Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine."]-Then said the Lord, Go, and by this act that I do now enjoin thee, show to Israel their sin, and their shame and punishment: go then, and make profession of love to a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress; and bring her home to thee, and make it known that thou dost it in a type of that love which the Lord beareth towards the adulterous nation of Israel, who idolatrously looks after other gods, and gives herself to intemperate courses.

2. "So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley."]-So I went, according to the command of God, and for no great price I procured such a woman, beloved of her friend, though otherwise infamous; and proclaimed her a type of Israel.

3. "And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man; so will I also be for thee."]-And for that purpose I said unto her, Thou shalt continue as a widow in my house, mourning for many days; and shalt not be permitted to play the harlot, neither will I suffer thee to have the liberty of conversing with any other man.

Neither will I come to thee to converse with thee:

te; the negative particle (1) being here to be understood to be repeated; so as the words seem to run, Neither will I be to thee.

4. "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim.”]—For the children of Israel, who have been guilty of these spiritual fornications, shall, for a just punishment of their uncleanness, be left desolate for many years; for, from the time of their deportation into captivity, till the restoration of my spiritual kingdom by the Messiah, shall be six hundred and fourscore years; in which time they shall be without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, and, in short, without any face, either of a church or commonwealth; yea, even of so much as a church miserably depraved by those superstitions and corrupt services which are now in use amongst them.

5." Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days."]—Afterward, when the Son of God shall be manifested in the flesh, the children of Israel, together with all my whole Church, shall return, and submit themselves to the worship of the true God, and of the Messiah, the true Son and Successor of David: and shall be holily and religiously affected to God and his service in the days of the Gospel.

IV. 2. "They break out, and blood toucheth blood."]-They break out into horrible outrages; and murders are so frequent, as that one overtakes another, without any distance or intermission of bloodshed.

4. "Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest."]-Yet let no man trouble himself, and lose his labour, in reproving those sins which he sees committed; for thy people are obstinately bent to continue in their wickedness: they are such as will be ready to brawl and quarrel with the messengers of God that shall endeavour to reclaim them.

5. "Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother."] -Therefore will I bring swift judgment upon thee: thou shalt

speedily fall, and thy prophets with thee; for if thou fallest in the day thy prophets shall not be long after thee, they shall fall in the night; and I will destroy the very church and kingdom whereto thou appertainest.

6. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."]—My people are destroyed for lack of the true knowledge of me their God, and of my law, &c.

8. "They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity."]-They make a gain of the sins of my people, and feed themselves fat with their sacrifices; willingly giving way to their sins for the benefit of their oblations; and being well pleased with their gainful iniquities.

9. "And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways."]-So as they shall be all too like to each other, wicked people and wicked priests: the people's sins deserved to be punished with such priests, and such priests have "helped to make the people thus wicked, &c.

10. For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD."]-They shall eat, and yet not find the benefit of their sustenance, in an increase of strength, or satisfaction of appetite: they shall spend their bodies in the acts of their lust and shall have no increase of issue; for that they cast off all care of God's service, and their obedience to him.

11. "Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart."] -They are so besotted with their whoredoms and drunkenness, that they have lost all the sense of whatsoever grace and goodness, and are utterly bereft of all care of God or themselves.

12. "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God."]My people are so sottish as to go unto their wooden images for either counsel or prediction of future events: a piece of a stick is their god and their oracle; for this gross idolatrous disposition, whereto they have long inclined, hath drawn them into these foul enormities, and hath drawn them a whoring from under their only true God.

14. "I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall