ples also, as well as against their Master, will I stir up enmity and opposition in the world.

XIII. 8. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

And it shall come to pass, that if Judea be divided into three parts, equally; two of those three shall die, and miscarry under the great judgments which I will bring upon the land, for this murder of the Lord of Life; and only the third part shall be left alive.

XIII. 9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined.

And that third part, which shall be left alive, shall pass under many fiery trials of grievous afflictions, wherewith they shall be refined, as silver is refined.

XIV. 1. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Behold then, O Judea and Jerusalem, the day of the Lord's vengeance cometh: the Romans shall divide thy spoils in the midst of thee.

XIV. 2. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken.

For I will gather an army of all nations, brought together against thee, by the Romans; and Jerusalem shall be taken. XIV. 3. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Only, a remnant, viz. the third part, of the people, have I reserved, which shall not be cut off with the rest, but shall still continue the name of my Church and people.

XIV. 4. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

After this, the Lord Christ shall, in a terrible manner, come to judgment: when he shall descend down to the earth, the mountains shall be cloven in sunder before him, in a fearful motion at his appearance; even the Mount of Olives, where he set his last footstep upon earth, shall be divided in the midst, to the east and to the west; and there shall be a great valley betwixt these two halves, thus dissevered, whereof one half shall be fallen to the northward and the other half to the south.

XIV. 5. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fied from before the earthquake in the days

of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

And ye shall flee through this new valley, which is made by this division of the mountain; for it shall be very large, and reacheth far: ye shall flee away in great fear and astonishment, like as ye fled from before that terrible earthquake, which was in the days of Uzziah: and the Lord my God shall then come in glory, together with all his saints and angels.

XIV. 6, 7. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known unto the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be a vicissitude or interchange of light and darkness: But it shall be perpetually lightsome, as one continued day, which the Lord shall make to hold for ever; without this variety of sunshine, and darkness: so as, when, by the wonted natural course of time, it should be evening, it shall then be as bright as at the high noon.

XIV. 8. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

And in that day, the waters of life and everlasting refreshing shall flow forth from the midst of the heavenly Jerusalem to all the saints of God, every where, without all stop and intermission.

XIV. 9. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

And the Lord shall be King over all the Earth; having subdued all his enemies: there shall then be none, that shall make head against him; but all shall adore him, as their only Lord and God.

XIV. 10. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem : and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, under the corner-gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.

All things shall be then made even and smooth in the whole Church of God; and there shall be infinite store of eternal mansions, prepared for all the elect of God; even as if, in type thereof, the whole coast about the material Jerusalem should be levelled, and stately built, and populously inhabited. So also verse 11.

XIV. 12. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem ; &c.

Such shall be the day, and the issue of the Last Judgment: but, in the mean time also, God will punish the enemies of his chosen; even all those, that fight against his Church, shall have visible judgments inflicted upon them; &c.

XIV. 13. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

Neither shall God only punish them with his own immediate hand, but he shall cause them to be the executioners of each other, in those civil tumults, which they shall raise up amongst themselves.

XIV. 14. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

And, even the Jews themselves shall be the first, that shall fight against this spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of Christ; and, together with them, all the heathens round about shall oppugn it, and make use of all their power and riches for the suppressing of it.

XIV. 15. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.

But they shall not prevail: for both they and all their substance and might shall miscarry; and the punishing hand of God shall fall heavily, both upon them and their assistants in this evil quarrel: they shall be all enwrapped in the same common destruction.

XIV. 16. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

And it shall come to pass, that those, which are left alive of the nations, which made opposition to the Gospel of Christ, shall humbly and gladly submit themselves to the worship and service of God their Saviour; and shall cheerfully join themselves to his Church, in the religious adoration of him, upon all

occasions.

XIV. 17. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Those, who wilfully refuse to join themselves to the Church of God under the Gospel, from them will God sensibly withhold his blessings; even his seasonable rains, and the plentiful increase of the earth.

XIV. 18. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

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And if those of Egypt, which have ordinarily no rain, being supplied by the fruitful waters of Nilus, shall forbear and refuse to join in the service of God with the rest of his Church, they shall be no less plagued with drought and scarcity, than the other nations that depend upon the moisture that descends from above.

XIV. 20. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

In that day there shall be so general and happy a peace, that there shall be no need of horses of war; but the bells, wherewith those horses were wont to be adorned, shall be consecrated to the Lord, and converted to the holy use of the Temple: and there shall be such store of offerings, on all hands, as that the pots of the Temple, which are for the use of the sacrifice, shall be as frequent, as the small bowls that stand before the altar.

XIV. 21. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

Yea, such exceeding store shall there be of sacrifices, as that all the pots in Jerusalem and Judah shall be put to this holy employment; in a type, that every one that is a true Israelite shall offer up himself a living sacrifice to God, and shall present unto God liberal gifts and thankful oblations for the maintenance of his Church and service; and there shall no impure person, nor stranger from the commonwealth of Israel, be admitted to challenge a place in the holy Church of God.

MALACHI.

I. 2, 3. I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

I have loved you, O my people Israel, saith the Lord, ye that are returned from the late Babylonish captivity, I have loved you and done great things for you; yet ye, unthankful as ye are, will not acknowledge it, but are ready to say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Let me then convince you of my favours. Were not Esau and Jacob brothers? did they not both proceed from one womb and from one loins? yet, without all merit of yours or his, I loved Jacob freely and graciously; And, in comparison of you, hated Esau, and his posterity the Idumeans: so as that I have, for your sakes, laid waste those cities, which they inhabited in the mountains, and desolated his heritage by the sword of the Babylonian unrecoverably, so as it is turned desert, and fit only for wild beasts and dragons; whereas I have returned you to your old inheritance in peace.

I. 4. Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.

And, howsoever these sons of Esau say, We are indeed brought down, and our cities are spoiled; but why should not we return, as well as ye the sons of Jacob, and build up our ruined towns also? yet, Thus saith the Lord; In vain shall they attempt to repair their wasted cities; for, if they build, I will pull down: and I will cause them to be branded with the sensible mark of my displeasure; so as, all the regions about shall call them, The country noted for wickedness, and The people against whom the Lord hath conceived an everlasting indignation; whereas you, O Israel, are embraced with mercy and compassion, and restored to your ancient territories.

I. 5. And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.

And, behold, your very eyes shall be witnesses, both of these my favours to you, and of this my severity to the sons of Esau; and ye shall be forced to say, The Lord hath well deserved to be praised and magnified, from all the coasts of Israel.

I. 6. A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master : if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

This, indeed, I have deserved from you; but how is it performed on your part? A son is wont to honour his father, and a servant his master: ye call me your Father, yourselves my Sons; ye call me your Master, and yourselves my Servants; if then I be your Father, &c. saith the Lord of Hosts, even to you, the guides of my people, O ye the priests of my sanctuary; for even ye, who should be exemplarily holy, even ye have despised my name; and yet ye stand in your own justification, and say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

I. 7. Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

Let me tell you then, and convince you of your sin; ye have cast contempt upon me, in that ye have offered base and unworthy oblations upon mine altar: yet still ye stand upon your innocence, and say, Wherein have we cast contempt upon thee?