grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine

eyes.

Let them repent, and I will deliver them from all their distresses; yea, even from death itself, and from the power of the grave: O death, I will vanquish and consume thee; O grave, I will destroy thee for ever, and will never repent me of that

victory.

XIII. 15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountains shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.

But now, as the case stands with Ephraim, though he be fruitful among his brethren, yet I will fetch the Assyrian upon him; who, like an east wind from the wilderness, shall blast him, and utterly dash all his hopes, and carry away all his treasures, &c,

XIV. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Go unto him with humble submission, and turn to the Lord, and say, O God, forgive all our iniquity, and receive us to mercy; so will we offer up unto thee the sacrifices of our thanksgivings.

XIV. 3 Asshur shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gads: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

We will no more trust to the king of Assyria, to save us : we will no more trust to our own munition and warlike preparation, neither will we any more make idols of the works of our own hands; for now we find and profess, that thou only art that God, in whom the fatherless and distressed can and shall find redress and mercy. XIV. 5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

I will be comfortable and refreshing unto Israel, even as the dew is to the mown grass: so as he shall grow up in beauty, as the lily; and in strength and height, as the cedar in Lebanon.

XIV. 7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

They, that dwell under the shadow of my Church, shall there find comfort and rest: they shall grow up fruitfully, as the corn in a well tilled field; and sprout forth, as the most generous vine; to the great joy and contentment of themselves and others.

XIV. 8 I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. I shall be to thee as a tall and shady fir tree; and, whatsoever fruit thou yieldest, it shall be of my giving: thou shalt be beholden to me for it.

JOEL.

I. 4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. The famine, wherewith I have plagued Israel, is very grievous; which I have caused through the strange increase of noisome worms in the land, all which have as it were agreed to waste all the fruits of the earth: for that, which the palmer worm hath left, the locust hath consumed; and if the locust hath left any thing, the cankerworm shall devour it, &c. every one of these shall come after other, in a succession of spoil; and all of them shall destroy the fruits of the land.

I. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. Even ye drunkards, which are wont to be most insensible of judgments, shall now have reason to howl and mourn; because the hope of your new wine is utterly cut off, even when it was ready to fall into your mouths: your vintage is forestalled by these consuming vermin, in the very height of your present expectation.

I. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion.

For there are infinite troops of noisome vermin come upon my land, strong and numberless, which shall so devour the fruit thereof, as if they had the teeth of lions.

I. 7 The branches thereof are made white.

The branches thereof appear white, by reason that the bark is eaten off from the boughs.

I. 8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

O distressed Judea, do thou mourn and lament for this plague of famine, as a virgin, girded with sackcloth, mourneth for the death of her betrothed husband.

I. 9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. The earth yieldeth not so much, as wherewith to make a meat offering or drink offering unto the Lord; the corn, and wine, and oil is so utterly consumed: so as the priests, the Lord's ministers, have just cause to mourn. So also verses 10, 11, 12, 13.

I. 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Alas, wretched men that we are, we do already endure much Inisery from the afflicting hand of God! but yet more is coming: Oh, woe to us! how shall we be able to abide the extremity of those his plagues, which are at hand?

I. 19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.

O Lord, to thee will I cry, who only art able to redress this woe

ful estate of ours: for the scorching drought hath devoured all the herbage of the wilderness, and the fiery beams have burnt up all the trees of the field. So also verse 20.

II. 1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Oye Priests and Levites of the Lord, call ye the people together in Zion: give warning to all the inhabitants of Judea, of that sad and fearful day of revenge, which the Lord denounceth against them; for it is nigh at hand;

II. 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spreadeth upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath been never the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A day of heaviness and sorrow, a day of utter discomfort, such a one, as is quite overspread with horror and darkness, like a gloomy morning which hides the light of the sun from all beholders: for a world of noisome creatures, in strong and mighty bands, is come upon your land to devour it; such as the like hath never been, never shall be in succeeding generations.

II. 3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. In the forepart of their troops, they devour all before them, like a fire; and, behind them, all looks as if the flames had burnt it up: where they have not yet been, the land looks richly, and plentifully, and pleasantly, like to the garden of Eden; but where they have passed, it looks like a desolate wilderness, all is consumed, nothing can escape them.

II. 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen so shall they run.

Their appearance shall be terrible to the people, like to the appearance of horses, armed for the wars; and they shall hastily overrun the land, as if they were horsemen that ran in their full speed.

II. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap.

The noise, which they shall make in their swarms and motions, shall be like to the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains.

II. 7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks.

There shall be no place free from their assault and annoyance : they shall creep up the walls of the cities, as valiant men are wont to scale them in a siege; they shall march on in those ways, which God hath appointed them, as if they were men trained to the wars. So also verse 9.

H. 8 And when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

They shall be such enemies, as the sword cannot be able to destroy; and such, as if they do fall upon the sword, yet their lightness shall deliver them from hurt.

II. 10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

They shall come upon you in such number, as shall amaze and affright the world; and shall, by their infinite and thick swarms, obscure the very light of the sun, and moon,

and stars.

II. 11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

And the Lord shall, as the great General of these his forces, encourage and stir them up to this their execution; whereto they shall be enabled by him, both in their number, and power to perform it.

II. 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God.

Do not rest in an outward ceremony of sorrow, viz. in the rending of your garments, but see that ye humble your hearts and souls before God.

II. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

Who knoweth whether your humiliation may not yet prevail with him, and cause him to retract and take off his judgments, and, instead thereof, to bestow a blessing of plenty upon us; so as there may be both matter and occasion of the sacrifices of our thanksgiving unto the Lord?

II. 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let all sorts and degrees and ages be assembled together, for a solemn humiliation; both the ancient, and the children, and sucklings: let all be afflicted with a general abstinence; and let the bridegroom and the bride forbear the pleasures of their new-made marriage, and shut up their wedding with mourning.

II. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar.

Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and mourn, even in that place where all sorrow and lamentation was wont to be interdicted, between the porch and the altar.

II. 18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

Then will the Lord be graciously affected towards his people; and, in a merciful compassion of them, will call off those evils, which they groan under.

II. 20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive them into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward

the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

But I will remove far off from you this mighty army of noisome creatures, which came upon you, from the northern coasts; and will drive them into the dry and barren wilderness, which lies towards the south: yea, I will disperse them into the four winds, so as the forepart, or vanguard, of them shall fly to the east sea; and the hinder part, or the rear, shall be carried to the west sea: and the stink of this vermin, where it shall fall, shall be exceeding otiensive and contagious.

II. 22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring.

Be comforted again, O ye beasts of the field; for, now that this plague is removed, the grass of your pastures begins to spring

again.

II. 23 And he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

And he will cause the rain to descend upon the earth, in all fit seasons: both the former rain, which is in autumn after your seed is cast into the earth; and the latter rain, which is in the spring in March or April, for the filling of the ear.

II. 28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall

see visions.

Neither will I content myself with the abundance of my temporal blessings conferred upon you, but I will pour upon you my spiritual gifts also; and will, in the days of the Gospel, give you plentiful revelations; filling your sons and daughters, your young men and old, with a large measure of the true saving knowledge of me and my Name; as also enriching them with miraculous graces and abilities, by the descending of my Spirit upon them; enduing them with power of tongues, and with the gifts of prophecy. So also verse 29.

II. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

And after those times, both before the destruction of Jerusalem, and before the Last Judgment, I will shew wonders and fearful signs, both in heaven and in earth: the heavens shall seem red, and fiery, and vaporous.

II. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. The sun shall lose his light, and shall seem utterly darkened; the moon shall be turned into the colour of blood; before that great and terrible day of the Lord come.

II. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.