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the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, I have heretofore gathered and plucked off some of thy fruits, that is thy people; but now I come to thee, with a basket, to gather all that grows upon Israel; and will so make an end of this gathering, that there shall be no more of this kind left for hereafter.

VIII. 3. And the songs of the temples shall be howlings in the day, saith the Lord GOD.

Instead of the songs and music of the temples of Beth-el, and other high places, there shall be nothing but howlings and shriekings of those that are slain.

VIII. 5. Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit ?

Saying, When shall we have done with these solemn feasts, wherein we are not allowed to buy and sell? Would to God, these new moons and sabbaths were once past, that we might sell our corn at a high rate; making the measure of the wheat small, and the weights, wherein the silver is weighed, great and heavy; and falsifying the balances by deceit.

VIII. 6. That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and sell the refuse of the wheat?

That we may cause the poor to sell themselves to our servitude, for a little silver, as being not able to sustain themselves; and that we may buy the needy for a pair of shoes, even for the basest necessaries: yea, and that, by this means, we may put off, at an unreasonable rate, the very refuse and offal of the wheat.

VIII. 8. And it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

And the judgment of God shall rise up, and overflow the land, as a flood; and the whole country shall be overspread and drowned therewith, as the plains are wont to be by the inundations of the river Nilus.

VIII. 9. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

Your sorrow shall be so extreme in that day, and that day shall be to you so black and gloomy, as if the sun were gone down at noon-day, and as if darkness had covered the earth in the clearest day.

VIII. 10. And I will make it as the mourning of an only

son.

Such a mourning will I cause amongst you, as when a mother mourns for her only son.

VIII. 11. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Not a famine of material bread, &c. but a spiritual famine of the word of God, which is only able to feed and save your souls.

VIII. 12. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

And they shall wander from the sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the north across unto the east, to seek the word of the Lord at the mouth of his prophets, and shall not find it.

VIII. 14. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

Those idolatrous Israelites, that swear by the molten images of Samaria, and say, As the God, which is worshipped in Dan, and the author of the religion of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall into utter perdition, and never rise again.

IX. 1. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword.

In my vision I saw the Lord, having left the temple, to stand upon the altar without: and he commanded his angel, saying, Smite thou the lintel of the door of the temple, so vehemently, that the posts thereof may shake; in signification of that main stroke, which I will give the rulers of Israel: for I will cut them in the head, or principal men, every one of them; and as for the posts, which are the inferiors, I will slay them with the sword of the Assyrian.

IX. 2. Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them.

Neither shall they ever be able, by any power or policy, to escape my judgments: though they should dig into hell, there shall my hand find them.

IX. 3. Thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.

There will I command my leviathan to swallow them up.

IX. 5. And it shall rise up wholly like a flood; &c. See chapter viii. verse 8.

IX. 6. It is he that buildeth the stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, &c.

It is he, that hath built and preserved the several contignations of his orbs in the heavens; and hath made provision of those infinite armies of his creatures, to execute his revenges

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upon earth it is he, that, by his command, lets loose the waters of the sea.

IX. 7. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Hare not I brought up Israel out of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

Is there any reason in you, O ye children of Israel, why I should respect you more than the very Ethiopians? Why should I make any difference, betwixt you and very Philistines? If you say, I brought up Israel out of Egypt; so also did I bring the Philistines out of Caphtor; and the Syrians from Cyrene, where they were captived.

IX. 9. Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

Yet shall not the least grain escape, unsifted, by falling to the earth, without agitation: every Israelite shall be tossed up and down, and dispersed in this captivity; no one shall be free.

IX. 11. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.

In that day will I raise up my Evangelical Church, which is the tabernacle of the true and glorious Son of David, the Messiah of the World; even upon the ruins of the Jewish Church; which I will repair, and so make up the breaches thereof, as that, both Jews and Gentiles, shall make up one Church; which shall be made as spiritually complete, as ever the temple was materially of old:

IX. 12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

That the bounds thereof may be extended over all the earth, even to the remotest heathen, which shall then be called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this.

IX. 13. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

Behold, I will continue such plentiful increase of my blessings under the Gospel, that one shall overtake another, in a perpetual succession: as it is in a rich and fruitful soil, that the harvest is no sooner in, than the plough is put into the ground for another crop; and the vintage is no sooner done, than the seed is sown for a new harvest; thus shall it be with my Church, where one blessing endeth, another shall begin: then even the driest and barrenest hearts, shall yield excellent fruits of grace, in very great abundance.

IX. 15. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

I will settle my Church upon earth, never to be rooted out by the violence of men; never to be prevailed against by the gates of hell; saith the Lord God.

OBADIAH.

1. We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

We, that are the prophets of God, have heard the Lord declaring his purpose concerning Edom; and sending his angel to stir up the Chaldees against him, saying, Arise ye, and I shall assist you, to make war against the Edomites.

2. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.

Behold, though thou art but a handful, in respect of the rest of the heathen round about thee, and art but meanly thought of, for thy power;

3. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

Yet thou art foolishly lifted up in the pride of thine own heart, and deceivest thyself with a false confidence in thine impregnable situation: thou dwellest aloft in the clefts of the rocks, which thou thinkest inaccessible; and sayest in thy heart, Who shall be able to bring me down?

4. Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

But know, that, though thy forts and castles were as high as the eagle can build her nest or fly, yea though thou couldst build as high as the stars, this should not avail thee: thence will I fetch thee down, saith the Lord.

5. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?

How art thou, contrary to thy expectation, utterly cut off, O Edom; without all remainders of hope of recovery! If thieves, if robbers by night come to steal from thee, they would only take their booty, so much as they can think enough to serve their turn, and leave the rest: if the grape gatherers come to pull the clusters from thy vine, they would leave some grapes for the gleaners, that shall come after.

6. How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

But as for thine enemies, the Chaldees, they shall ransack

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