i. and viii. And Samuel said unto all Israel, in 1 Sam. xii. 3, 'Behold, here I am, bear record of me before the Lord; whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I done wrong unto? or whom have I hurt? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith, and I will restore it to you again? then they said, Thou hast done us no wrong, nor hurt us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hands,' &c. Samuel said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have found naught in my hands,' and they answered, He is witness.'

Now, can you priests of Christendom say, as Samuel said here in truth in his old age, and the people say so of you, as they said here of Samuel, and cleared Samuel, saying, 'Let the Lord be witness,' come try yourselves by this scripture; and by the prophets' example.'

'And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, went after Naaman for a reward, and when he came to him, he asked him whether all was well, and he said to him, all was well, then said Gelrazi, my master Elisha hath sent me, saying, behold there be come to me even now from Ephraim, two young men of the children of the prophets, give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment; and Naaman gave him two talents of silver, and two changes of raiment; and so Gehazi, laid them in his house, and came and stood before Elisha, and Elisha said unto him, whence, comest thou? and he said, thy servant went no whither, and he said unto him, went not my heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is this a time to take money, and to receive garments, and olives, and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants? then said Elisha to his servant Gehazi, the leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever; and he went out from his presence, a leper white as snow,' mark ye priests this, and whether the cause of this leprosy of Gehazi do not stick and remain upon you who are of his spirit and will take by force from them you do nothing for.

Now Elisha had healed this Naaman of his leprosy, and Naaman would have given Elisha a reward, and Elisha affirmed he would not receive it, when Naaman would have constrained him to have received it, but Elisha refused it; and Naaman would have given Elisha's servant something, but Elisha would not suffer him to give his servant any thing, yet greedy covetous Gehazi his servant run after him with a lie in his mouth, and received his rewards, and received thereby the leprosy to himself and his seed for ever.

And therefore take heed of Gehazi's leprosy in running after gifts and rewards, ye papists and priests, and other teachers, and mind also the nobleness of the spirit which was in Elisha, who refused all Naaman's gifts and rewards, and would not suffer his servant to take any neither,

2 Kings v. and in 2 Kings vi. would have taken off Elisha's head, but the Lord prevented them, as in 2 Kings vii. and the unbelieving prince was trodden to death, according as Elisha prophesied to him.

Such was the envy of some, that

And as Elisha went through Bethel, the children mocked him, and two bears came out of the forest and tore in pieces two and forty of their children; therefore take heed, all ye mockers and people, how ye suffer your children and yourselves to mock the prophets of God, who do what they do freely. 2 Kings. ii. 24. And in Isa. Ivi. the Lord God sent him to cry against the watchmen, and the shepherds, and were not these such as pretended to watch for people's souls, and to feed them, think ye?

The Lord saith, which gathereth the scattered of Israel, 'yet will I gather to them, those that are to be gathered to them,' all ye beasts of the field come to devour, yea all the beasts of the forest, [mark,] their watchmen are all blind, [mark,] all blind, strange watchmen to be all blind, they have no knowledge, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark, they lie and sleep, and delight in sleeping, and these greedy dogs can never have enough, and these shepherds cannot understand; for they all look for their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter, and say, 'come, I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant,' &c.

Now, are such watchmen and such shepherds as these to be held up, or to be justified in our days, which the prophet cried against, he says, 'they are all blind,' and calls them all greedy dumb dogs, who look for their own advantage, and seek their gain from their quarter,' and may not such be so called as do so now, as you may see in Isa. Ivi.

And Isaiah saith, Isa. lv. 1, 2. ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters, and ye that have no silver buy and eat, come, I say, buy wine and milk without silver and without price, wherefore do you lay out your silver and not for bread, and your labour without being satisfied, hearken diligently unto me, and eat that which is good, let your souls delight in fatness, incline your ears unto me, hear, and your souls shall live so the souls do not live without inclining the ears, and coming unto the Lord, and hearing him.

Now these shepherds and blind watchmen, which were called the greedy dumb dogs that could never have enough, they were of another spirit than Isaiah was of, who may get the form of the true prophets' words, but not in the power and spirit that they were in, as many are

now.

And in Jer. v. and in the latter part of the chapter, 'shall I not visit for these things,' saith the Lord, shall not my soul be avenged of such a nation as this? a horrible and filthy thing is committed in the land, the

prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests preach for hire, or bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so, what will ye do in the end thereof?"

And now people consider, is not this a filthy horrible thing committed in the land now, which Jeremiah the prophet cried against then? and Jeremiah wept over such, and said, 'oh! that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, &c. for they bend their tongues like bows for lies, but they have no courage for truth.' Jer. ix.

And again, in Jer. x. 21. For the pastors are become beasts, and have not sought the Lord, therefore have they no understanding, and all the flocks of their pastures are scattered: measure yourselves therefore, ye pastors of this age with those pastors, and try and see if you be out of their steps.

And in Jer. xiii. There you may see how the priests, and the false prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land, how that they were filled with drunkenness, &c. and how the Lord dashed them one against another;' and further see the false prophets in Jer. xiv. 'thus saith the Lord, the prophets' prophecy lies in my name, for I have not sent them, neither did I command them, neither did I speak to them, but they prophesy unto you a false vision, and divination, and vanity, and the deceitfulness of their own hearts, therefore, thus saith the Lord, concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I have not sent them; yet they say sword and famine shall not be in the land, by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed, and the people to whom these prophets do prophesy shall be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them, both they and their wives, and sons, and their daughters, I will pour out their wickedness upon them;' so see what judgments came upon these flattering false prophets, and the people that set them up, and do you think, that they which hold up such in our days, can they and them escape the hand of the Lord? does not many now prophesy and preach in the name of the Lord, that the Lord hath never sent, nor commanded, nor spoken to them? nay, do not they say in plain words there is no hearing of his voice now a-days, how should he send them then, what can they preach or prophesy? but a false vision, and a divination, and vanity and deceitfulness of their own hearts, now as then so the true must have a command and hear God's voice; the true prophets and preachers that he sends, which deny such as Jeremiah did then.

When Pashur the son of Immer the priest, heard Jeremiah prophesy these things, he smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, on the morrow Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks, then said Jeremiah unto him, the Lord hath

not called thy name Pashur, but Magor Missabib,' which by interpretation is fear round about; ' and thou Pashur, and all that dwelleth in thy house shall go into captivity, and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there shalt thou die, and be buried, and all thy friends to whom thou hast prophesied lies: so there was the end of the false prophet and his friends, see in Jer. xx. and take heed ye priests of Christendom of this, that breed up your sons in the way of the false prophets, who were strikers and persecutors of the true.

'Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture saith the Lord; therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto the pastors that feed my people, ye have scattered my flocks and thrust them out, and have not visited them; behold I will visit you for the wickedness of your works, saith the Lord, and I will gather the remnant of my sheep out of all countries, whither I had driven them, and will bring them again to their fold, and they shall grow and increase, and I will set up shepherds over them to feed them, and they shall dread no more,' &c. So here the Lord is the gatherer of his sheep unto his fold, which the false shepherds have scattered and thrust them out of, whom the Lord will visit; mark ye this, ye papists, priests, &c., of Christendom, that are found in the work of the false, and give over eating the sour grapes, and setting your teeth on edge against God's sheep, that are gathered into his fold.

And the Lord saith, I have seen the foolishness of the prophets of Samaria, that prophesied in Baal, and caused my people to err;' and further the Lord saith, I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem, filthiness and adultery, and walking in lies, they strengthen also the hands of the wicked,' [mark,] that none can return from his wickedness,' they are all unto me as Sodom,' says the Lord, those were sad prophets' and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah;' sad people, sad professors. So measure yourselves ye priests and shepherds, and people now a-days with these, and try whether ye be in their steps or not? therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, I will feed them with wormwood, and will make them drink the water of gall, for from the prophets of Jerusalem, (which was the highest place of worship,) is wickedness gone forth into all the land:' now this is the food the Lord will feed them withal. So mark, this is to be your food, who are found in their steps and practice, you priests in Christendom.

Again, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, hear not the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you, and teach you vanity, and speak the vision of their own hearts, and not from the mouth of the Lord;' and here it is clear we are not to hear such as do not speak out from the mouth of the Lord which is God's command; and is it not said, that none VOL. V.-3

hath any thing from the mouth of the Lord now a-days, and there is no hearing of his voice?

Moreover the Lord saith, 'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran, I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesy, but if they had stood in my counsel, and had declared my words to the people, then they would have turned them from their evil way, and the wickedness of their inventions.'

And now here you may see what is the cause that people are not turned from their evil ways, and from their wicked inventions, because the prophets run and God never sent them, and speak, and he never spoke to them, and stand not in the council of God. Now might not those false prophets say, 'we have the words of the Lord which Moses and the prophets spoke,' as you now say ye have the words that Christ and the apostles spoke, yet not from the mouth of the Lord? so would not the true prophets have reproved you, who are found in the false prophets' practice?

I have heard saith the Lord, what the prophets said that prophesy lies in my name, saying I have dreamt a dream: mark, still they go in God's name, and use his name, as all the false doth that God never sent nor spoke unto.

But saith the Lord, how long do the prophets delight to prophesy lies, even prophesying of the deceit of their own hearts; think they to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour as their forefathers have forgotten my name?' so it is but the deceit of their own hearts, and a dream, if it be not from the mouth of the Lord, though they may run and tell it in the name of the Lord; but the prophet that hath a dream, let him tell his dream, and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully; what is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord? is not my word even like a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the stone? and therefore saith the Lord, behold I will come against the prophets that steal my word, every one from his neighbour;' [mark,] that steal God's words, and therefore consider all you prophets and teachers, that do not speak from the mouth of the Lord, do not you steal God's words from your neighbour? will not the Lord come against you? for do not you all steal his words that have not the word from the Lord's mouth? then are not you all chaff? behold saith the Lord, I will come against the prophets which have sweet tongues, and say, he saith it,' (to wit, the Lord,) oh! is not this deceit ? and are not many found in this practice? try yourselves though your tongues be never so sweet, and let not means of lucre blind your eyes.

And behold, saith the Lord, I will come against the prophets that prophesy false dreams, and to tell them, and cause the people to err by