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be devoured, and all thine adverfaries, every one of them, fhall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee fhall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give 17 for a prey. For I will reftore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, faith the LORD; because they called thee an outcaft, [faying,] This [is] Zion, whom no man feeketh after.

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Thus faith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, alluding to their formerly dwelling in tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city fhall be builded upon her own heap, or hill, and the palace fhall remain after the manner thereof, that is, the temple, God's palace, shall be re-established 19 upon its former plan. And out of them, the temple and private houses, fhall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry, that is, cheerfulnefs and thankfulness: and I will multiply them, and they fhall not be few; I will alfo glorify them, and 20 they shall not be small, or brought low. Their children alfo fhall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me; their children shall inherit their fathers' honours and eftates, the church and the commonwealth fhall be restored as before, and I will punish 21 all that opprefs them. And their nobles, or, noble One, that is, the Meffiah, fhall be of themselves, and their governor fhall proceed from the midft of them; and I will caufe him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me; they fhall have no foreign governor, but approach to God, confult him, and be judged by his law: for who [is] this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? faith the LORD? without God's favourable interpo22 fition who could do fo? And ye fhall be my people again, and adhere to my inftituted worship, and I will be your God, to protect and bless you. Yet in the mean time,

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d Some understand it of their children being taken into covenant with God by baptifm, on their converfion, as they formerly were by circumcifion.

The word fignifies, the mighty One, and feems rather to refer to Chrift, who fhould draw near to God as a priest, as well as a king. Then follows a note of admiration, It is wonderful it fhould be fo! Who is fo entirely devoted to my fervice, and can approach to me as mediator, but He?

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked who will not repent, and it fhall be a continual whirlwind, not like a common one, which 24 is violent but short. The fierce anger of the LORD fhall not return, until he have done [it,] and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye thall confider it; when there fhall be a general converfion of the jews, then they shall fully understand the meaning of fuch prophecies as these.

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REFLECTION S.

T is both our duty and happiness to serve the Lord. To acknowledge God as our creator, preserver, and happiness; and, by his appointment, to ferve Jefus Chrift, to whom he hath given the throne of David! We are to reverence and honour him as a king; to fubmit to his laws, and truft in his protection: and our deliverance from the power of fpiritual enemies, is an unanswerable reason why we should serve him in holiness and righteousness all our days.

2. See the unreasonableness of anxious fear in God's fervants, even when their circumftances are moft diftreffing, V. 10. Ifrael is rebuked for their fears, (tho' they were punished with severity, and their wound feemed incurable) because they had fo many promises to trust in. Under preffing dangers, or long and heavy affliction, we are ready to defpair; but God hath promised support and relief: and he is able to grant them, when earthly helps fail, and when, to human appearance, there is no hope. Our afflictions will have an happy iffue; let us then trust in the Lord for ever.

3. Let us rejoice in the mediation of Jesus Christ, our great high prieft: he is not only our governor, but our interceffor alfo: he draws near to God on our behalf; God' has appointed and caused him to do fo, that we might have ftrong confolation: he engaged his own heart to do it; voluntarily and refolutely undertook this fervice. As we hope for the benefit of his mediation, let us engage our

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hearts likewife; and while in his name we come boldly to the throne of grace, let us approach it with feriousness, reverence, and godly fear.

*CHA P. XXXI. I-26.

In this chapter gracious promifes to Ifrael are continued; but it is hard to fay, whether they refer to their return from captivity, or to gofpel times: perhaps the former part of the chapter may refer to their return from Babylon, and the latter to their converfion in the last days.

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T the fame time, faith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Ifrael, and they shall 2 be my people. Thus faith the LORD, The people [which were] left of the fword of Pharaoh, found grace in the wilderness; [even] Ifrael, when I went to cause him to reft; I led them thro' the wilderness, and conducted them to their reft in Canaan, how therefore can they doubt 3 of my favour? The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [faying,] Yea, I have loved thee Ifrael with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee; what I did for thy fathers was founded on covenant love, therefore I will continue to be gracious to 4 thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Ifrael; I will reftore thee to thy former state, and thou shalt be reformed from idolatry, and become pure again like a virgin: thou fhalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and fhalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry; thou shalt have all marks of civil and 5 religious joy. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters fhall plant, and fhall eat [them] as common things; their vines fhall yield fuch plenty of fruit that every one may eat of it with6 out restriction. For there fhall be a day, [that] the watchmen

f There was a law, that when a vine was planted the fruit fhould not be touched for three years, the produce of the fourth was confecrated to God, and in the fifth it might be eaten as a common thing.

watchmen upon the mount Ephraim, which was near Samaria, where there used to be the greatest oppofition to the worship at Jerufalem, fhall cry, Arife ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God; an allufion to centinels or watchmen calling the people together on par7 ticular occafions, especially at feftivals. For thus faith, the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and fhout among the chief of the nations, when ye fee the beginning of deliverance: publifh ye, praise ye, and fay, O LORD, fave thy people, the remnant of Ifrael; complete this good work, or rather, Thou haft faved them, and we praise thee 8 for thy faithfulness. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coafts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together; thofe that are leaft able to travel fhall be inclined and enabled to come: a great company fhall return 9 thither. They fhall come with weeping, and with fupplications will I lead them; godly forrow for past fins fball mingle itself with all their joy: I will caufe them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a ftraight way, wherein they shall not stumble; I will provide for them, and protect them in their journey: for I am a father to Ifrael, and Ephraim [is] my first born, and I will restore them to 10 their former ftate. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare [it] in the ifles afar off, and fay, He that scattered Ifrael will gather him, and keep him, 11 as a fhepherd [doth] his flock. For the LORD hath

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redeemed Jacob, and ranfomed him from the hand of 12 [him that was] ftronger than he. Therefore they fhall come and fing in the height of Zion, and fhall flow together in great multitudes, like the streams of a river, to the goodness of the LORD, to share in the good things of the Lord, in the common fupplies of life, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their foul fhall be as a watered garden; the influences of divine grace fhall complete their L13

joy;

This is cuftomary ftill among the Turks, where the priests. proclaim from the tops of their churches, that the hour of

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joy; and they fhall not forrow any more at all; they fball have no fuch trouble again for a long time, as they 13 have lately experienced. Then fhall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their forrow; all 14 ages and ranks fhall agree in figns of univerfal joy. And I will fatiate the foul of the priests with fatness, they fhall have plenty of facrifices and offerings, and my people fhall be fatisfied with my goodness, faith the LORD; both the priests and the people fhall rejoice in the abundance of divine bleffings.

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Thus faith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, [and] bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refufed to be comforted for her child16 ren, because they [were] not. Thus faith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work, thy tender concern for thy children, fhall be rewarded, faith the LORD; and they fhall come 17 again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, or, to thy pofterity, faith the LORD, that [thy] children fhall come again to their own border.

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I have furely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus;] Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, I received inftruction, as a bullock unaccustomed [to the yoke;] or rather, tho' I was before as a bullock that would not bear it turn thou me, and I fhall be turned; for thou [art] the LORD my God; I need thy gracious influence 19 to bring me to a better temper. Surely after that I was turned, and felt the influence of thy grace, I repented; and after that I was inftructed, 1 fmote upon [my] thigh, expreffed great grief and humiliation: I was afhamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach

At the time of the captivity there was an affembly of the enemy at Ramah, ch. xl. i. the captives were brought thither, and from thence carried to Babylon; and as Rachel was buried near that place, the prophet, by an elegant figure, reprefents her as looking out of her grave and bewailing the captivity of her defcendants. This is applied and accommodated in the New Teftament to the laughter of the infants in this neighbourhood. See Matt. ii. 17, 18.

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