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then fhall Ifrael be heir unto them that were his heirs, faith the LORD; he shall take their poffeffions who have 3 taken his; which was the cafe under the Maccabees. Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is fpoiled: cry ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with fackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges to hide yourselves; for their king, that is, Milcom, their god, fhall go into captivity, [and] 4 his priests and his princes together. Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing, or fruitful valley, O backfliding daughter, (perhaps fo called, as being defcended from Lot) that trufted in her treasures, [faying,] 5 Who fhall come unto me? Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, faith the LORD God of hoits, from all those that be about thee; and ye fhall be driven out every man right forth; and none fhall gather up him that wandereth, afford him fhelter and habitation.

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And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, faith the LORD.

Concerning Edom, or Idumea, thus faith the LORD of hofts; [is] wisdom no more in Teman? is counfel perifhed from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished, 8 for which Edom was once fo famous? Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, in caverns, in which they should hide themselves, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Efau upon him, the time [that] I will 9 vifit him. If grape gatherers come unto thee, would they not leave [fome] gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will deftroy till they have enough, they 10 would leave fomething. But I have made Efau bare, this fhall be an utter deftruction, I have uncovered his fecret places, where he hid his treasures and he fhall not be able to hide himself: his feed is fpoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, the Moabites and Ammonites, II and he [is] not; there is none left to fay, Leave thy fatherless children, I will preferve [them] alive; and let thy widows truft in me; tho' fome understand this as 12 God's word to his people. For thus faith the LORD; Behold, they whofe judgment [was] not to drink of the cup have affuredly drunken; that is, the Jews did

1 Job's friends came from this country.

fo, who had not deferved it so much as the Edomites; and [art] thou he [that] fhalt altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou fhalt furely 13 drink [of it.] For I have fworn by myself, faith the LORD, that Bozrah fhall become a defolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curfe; and all the cities thereof 14 fhall be perpetual wastes. I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambaffador is fent unto the heathen, [faying,] Gather ye together, and come against her, and rife up to the battle: God by his fecret influence shall gather them together, as if he had fent an ambasador 15 among them. For, lo, I will make thee small among 16 the heathen, [and] despised among men. Thy terriblenefs, that is, thy fecure fituation, hath deceived thee, [and] the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwelleft in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou, shouldst make thy neft as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, faith 17 the LORD. Alfo Edom fhall be a defolation: every one that goeth by it fhall be aftonished, and fhall 18 hifs at all the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour [cities] thereof, faith the LORD, no man fhall abide there, 19 neither fhall a fon of man dwell in it. Behold, he, that is, Nebuchadnezzar, fhall come up like a lion from the fwelling of Jordan against the habitation of the ftrong; like a lion driven from its den among the thickets when Fordan overflowed its banks, and thereby was rendered more fierce but I will fuddenly make him run away from her, or, run upon her: and who [is] a chofen [man, that] I may appoint over her; or, I will give a charge to him that is a choice one (Nebuchadnezzar) against her for who [is] like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] that fhepherd that will stand before me? who will appoint a time to contend with me? he fhall be no more able to do it, than a shepherd to oppose 20 an enraged lion. Therefore hear the counfel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: furely the leaft of the flock fhall draw them

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out, the leaft of the foldiers fhall prevail against and destroy them: furely he fhall make their habitations defolate 21 with them. The earth is moved at the noife of their

fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red 22 fea; the neighbouring country was aftonished. Behold, he fhall come up and fly as the eagle, and fpread his wings over Bozrah and at that day fhall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

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Concerning Damafcus, the capital of Syria, Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings; they are faint hearted; [there is] forrow on 24 the fea; as in a storm at fea; it cannot be quiet. Damafcus is waxed feeble, [and] turneth herself to flee, and fear hath feized on [her] anguish and forrows 25 have taken her, as a woman in travail. How is the 26 city of praise not left, the city of my joy!" Therefore young men fhall fall in her streets, and all the men of war fhall be cut off in that day, faith the LORD 27 of hofts. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damafcus, and it shall confume the palaces of Ben-hadad, king of Syria.

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Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon fhall fmite, thus faith the LORD; Arife ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the eaft; that is, part of Arabia. 29 Their tents and their flocks fhall they take away; they fhall take to themselves their curtains, and all their veffels, and their camels; and they fhall cry unto them, Fear [is] on every fide; there fhall be a univerfal panick.

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Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, faith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath 31 conceived a purpose against you. Arife, ye Chaldeans, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, faith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, [which] dwell alone; like shepherds in tents. 32 And their camels fhall be a booty, and the multitude

of

These are the words of the people, or of Jeremiah, who might. have made a vifit there, and been pleafed with the place.

of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them [that are] in the utmoft corners; and I will bring their calamity from all fides thereof, faith the 33 LORD. And Hazor fhall be a dwelling for dragons, [and] a defolation for ever; there shall no man abide there, nor [any] fon of man dwell in it; its inhabitants, if not flain, fholl be totally driven out of their country.

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The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, the Perfians, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, faying, 35 Thus faith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, famous for its archers, the chief of 36 their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven," and will fcatter them toward all thofe winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcafts of Elam fhall not come. 37 For I will caufe Elam to be difmayed before their enemies, and before them that feek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, [even] my fierce anger, faith the LORD; and I will fend the fword after them, till 38 I have confumed them: And I will fet my throne, the throne of Nebuchadnezzar, in Elam, and will deftroy from thence the king and the princes, faith the LORD.

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But it fhall come to pafs in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, faith the LORD; accordingly the Perfians were afterwards famous under Cyrus, conquered Babylon, and became a powerful nation.

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REFLECTIO N. S.

E are taught from hence, that God obferves and refents the injuftice of men to one another; as in the cafe of the Ammonites, who feized the land of the Jews, and for that reason were difpoffeffed of it again. He marks the injuftice of those who defraud perfons of their substance; or even their heirs, tho' they know it not, and

They fhall be invaded by many enemies, the Scythians and Chaldeans in particular, at the fame time, as hiftory informs us that they were.

and cannot right themselves. Fraud in the leaft inftances is difpleafing to him; and he will punish them that deal deceitfully.

2. How abfurd is it for those who forfake God, to glory in their poffeffions, like the Ammonites, v. 4. who had a fruitful country and great treasures, while they were refractory and wicked. Many thus boast of their families, their honours, and wealth, and make these their confidence, while they are deftitute of religion: but God will bring a fear and terror upon them, which all their abundance cannot filence..

3. The eleventh verfe fuggefts a comfortable lefson to widows and orphans. It intimates, that tho' it is a bleffing and comfort to heads of families to have relations and friends who will take care of their dependants, when they are dead and impoverished; yet that God will take care of them, provide for them, and preserve them; that is, if they ferve the God of their fathers, and truft in him.

4. If God fees it good to afflict his people, what have not his enemies to fear! v. 12. His defign is only to correct and improve them; and if his corrections are fo painful, and their cup of affliction fo bitter, how dreadful must that be which he will put into the hands of the wicked? We may learn hence, what an evil thing and bitter fin is, and how angry God is with it.

5. From the whole chapter we are taught, how vain it is to think of escaping the judgments of God. Who can oppose his defigns, or refift his power, when he will punish a wicked nation? not the fortifications of Rabbah, nor the wisdom of Edom, nor the palaces of Damafcus, nor the obfcurity of Kedar, nor the bows of Elam: he can appoint whom he will to execute his vengeance. Various as the characters, circumftances, fituations, and religions of these feveral countries were, God appears as their fupreme Lord and difpofer. We fhould therefore feek his favour, and truft only in him, in whose hand is the fate of

nations.

VOL. V.

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CHAP.

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