fessing my Name, see thou be diligent in declaring my will, and giving holy counsels to all thy fellow-members: speak forth my praise in the great congregations, which all attend willingly upon thee, and let me hear the voice of thy constant and faithful confession of me before the world.

THE CHURCH.

VIII. 14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

I will most gladly do what thou commandest, O my Saviour; but, that I may perform it accordingly, be thou, which art according to thy bodily presence in the highest heavens, ever present with me by the Spirit, and hasten thy glorious coming to my full redemption.

ISAIAH.

I. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

Since that men are deaf unto my words, I will turn me and my speech to the very heavens and earth, and call them to witness against those which should be my people: hear therefore, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for it is not I that speak, but the Lord himself complaineth of the unthankfulness of Israel, &c. I. 3 The or knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib. What a wonder and shame it is, that they, which should be more than men, are indeed worse than beasts; for behold, the very ox and the ass, which are the dullest of all creatures, yet they take thankful notice of their owner, and of the crib wherein they are fed.

I. 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. I have already tried your reformation by many chastisements, yea, judgments; yet ye will not amend: to what purpose should I correct you further, since I see you do still grow worse and worse? those parts of you, that should be best, and are most eminent and of greatest use, are extremely out of order.

I. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oint

ment.

Even from the highest to the lowest, from the meanest drudge unto the greatest of your princes, ye are all miserably disordered and sinful; and are accordingly plagued, so as none of you are free from some grievous judgment; and such are your sins and your judgments, that they have made themselves incapable of remedy or mitigation.

1. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard.

The country round about being wasted, Jerusalem itself is left standing alone desolate, as a cottage in a vineyard, &c. and hath no more recourse unto it, and traffic in it, than if it were already besieged, as ere long it shall be.

I. 9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

If God had not been gracious unto us, contrary to our deservings, and restrained the fury of our enemies, and mercifully reserved this small remnant unto us, we had been utterly destroyed and laid waste, like to Sodom and Gomorrah.

1. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom.

Since ye have made yourselves then as sinful as those infamous cities, that were destroyed with fire from heaven, let me give you the names of those, whom ye have imitated: hear therefore the word of the Lord, O ye rulers of Sodom, &c.

I. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, &c. To what purpose is the formality of these your outward sacrifices; as if the multitude of your oblations, or the very act done, could please me without due affections?

I. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

Those your solemn feasts, which I have instituted, and do therefore well approve in themselves, yet as they are celebrated by you, I loathe and abhor them, &c.

I. 21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment.

Jerusalem was once my faithful spouse, a holy city: how is it, that she is now turned strumpet, and become desperately lewd and debauched? &c.

I. 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water. Those good graces, that thou didst once profess to have, are now utterly corrupted and depraved; thine obedience, which was once sincere and pure, is now adulterated with abominable wickedness.

1. 25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin.

Yet, in my judgment I will remember mercy: I will not utterly destroy thee as I might, but I will turn my hand upon thee, for thy restoration; and, whereas I might burn thee quite up, yet I will only purge away thy dross, and take away the base metal from thee, that the small remainder of the pure and precious may be reserved.

I. 29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. They shall be ashamed of that foul idolatry, wherewith ye have been tainted; and of those groves, which ye have used to that purpose; and of those gardens and orchards, which ye have so employed.

I. 30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leuf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

And, if ye again relapse, ye shall be left like one of the oaks of those destroyed groves, without leaf or sap; or like que of those gardens, which you have abused, in a time of drought, without

water.

I. 31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench

them.

And that mighty idol, whereto ye trust, shall be as tow; and the maker and worshipper of that idol shall be as a spark; and both of them shall burn together, with unquenchable fire.

II. 2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, &c.

It shall come to pass, in the days of the Messiah exhibited, and the Gospel revealed, that the Church of God shall not be obscurely confined to a corner of the world, but shall be eminently conspicuous; and so famously noted, that the Gentiles shall come in, and generally adjoin themselves unto it.

II. 3 For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

For in the Evangelical Church only, which is figured by Zion, shall the truth of God's sacred word be professed; and from it shall spread itself over the world.

II. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

And the true Messiah shall, by his spiritual government, rule over many nations, and hold many several kinds of people in an awful subjection; and shall so calm and quiet them, that they shall be altogether composed to peace; and therefore shall turn their swords, whereof they shall have no further use, into instruments of husbandry, &c.

II. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Yea, those new-converted Gentiles shall be ready to provoke and incite Israel to a holy and conscionable obedience, and say, O house of Jacob, conie ye, and let us walk together in the clear and glorious light of the Gospel, to the praise and honour of him that hath called us.

II. 6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

O God, while thou admittest of the Gentiles, thou findest too just cause to cast off thine own people; for that they are full of the superstitions and idolatries of the Syrians; and are given to magical practices, like the Philistines; and take pleasure rather

to imitate the false worship of foreign nations, than to keep close to thy holy prescriptions.

II. 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.

They give themselves over to the immoderate desire and pursuit of wealth; neither is there any end of their covetous endeavours, to heap up ill gotten treasures: they do also, in a proud or distrustful affectation, lay for abundance of horses of war; neither can they be satisfied with the number of chariots; as if these were the strength wherein they trusted.

II. 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.

O God, since they are so vile, and will not be reclaimed from their idolatry, spare them not, but make them examples of thy justice.

II. 10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.

And now, O thou wilfully idolatrous and rebellious people, since thou wouldst not prevent these judgments, see if thou canst withdraw thyself from them: go, hide thee in the rock, or shroud thyself within the earth, from his vengeance, &c.

II 12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty.

For in that terrible day, the fierce judgments of the Lord of Hosts shall seize upon every one, that hath proudly and stubbornly resisted his word and ordinance, &c.

II. 13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

And upon all those proud and lofty potentates, which bear themselves as high, as the cedars of Lebanon, and as stiff as the oaks of Bashan:

II. 15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And all those high towers and strong forts, wherein vain men have wont to put their trust, shall be cast to the ground:

II. 16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

And all that rich traffic, which you were wont to have with Cilicia and the countries round about, shall be cut off; and those pleasant and costly tapestries and pictures, which you had wont to bring home, shall fail and disappoint you:

II. 20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.

And those idolaters, which had wont to pride themselves in the glory of their false worship, shall now be ashamed of their fopperies; and, in a just indignation, shall hide up their puppets in blind corners, from the view of men.

II. 22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

I see, it is your vain self-confidence, that hath deceived you; if ye therefore regard your own safety and peace, cast off this false trust upon so poor and impotent a thing as man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for what can he avail you, or how can he give you any protection from the wrath of the Almighty?

III. 1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.

That, whereby the life of man is supported and sustained, even bread, and whatsoever necessary food, will I take away from Jerusalem;

III. 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient.

And whatsoever else you are wont to put confidence in, the mighty and strong warrior, the awful judge, the holy and learned prophet, the prudent councillor, the ancient and experienced

senator.

III. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

Whereas men usually are wont to affect pre-eminence and authority among their neighbours, ye shall be driven to that strait, that ye shall be fain to force honour upon your brethren, where ye see but means to subsist and live; and a man shall take hold of his brother, and importune and constrain him, saying, Thouhast clothing; be thou our ruler; and let the reparation of this miserable ruin, if it be possible, be thy work.

III. 7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

In that day he shall resist the motion, and disclaim the government with an oath, saying, It is not for me to meddle with the command of you, or to undertake the repairing of your ruins, for I have neither bread nor clothing.

III. 9 And they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. They do impudently make open profession of their sin, even as Sodom did, without all fear or shame, &c.

III. 12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of the paths.

As for my people, they have brought themselves to that pass, as that even very children trample upon them by proud oppressions, and they lie down willingly under them; and every effeminate usurper domineereth over them at pleasure; and, which is worse, those spiritual guides, which should lead them in the way of life, mislead them unto utter perdition.

III. 15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GoD of hosts.

What mean ye, O ye governors, which should be the only refuge