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whereby he shall be called "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUS"NESS." Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, "The Lord liveth, "which brought up the children of Israel out of the land "of Egypt," but "The Lord liveth, which brought up, " and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the "north country, and from all countries whither I had "driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land." Jer. xxiii. 5-8.

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No. CVI.

No. 106. "Lo, the days come," saith the Lord, "that I "will bring again P the captivity of my people Israel and "Judah," saith the Lord: "and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. For it shall come to pass in that day," saith the Lord of Hosts, "that I will break his yoke from "off thy neck; and will burst thy bonds, and strangers "shall no more serve themselves of him, but they shall "serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom "I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O "my servant Jacob," saith the Lord, "neither be dis"mayed, O Israel; for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and "thy seed from the land of their captivity-and Jacob "shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none "shall make him afraid: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, "to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations "whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full "end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will "not leave thee altogether unpunished." Jer. xxx. 3. 8. 9, 10, 11.

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Bring again," &c. i. e. " bring home the captive Israelites "and Jews;" put an end to their captivity. See Jer. xxxiii. 26. "I will cause your captivity to return, and have mercy upon "them."

No. 107. "I will be the God," saith the Lord," of all the "families of Israel, and they shall be my people. I will "build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel "thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt "go forth in the dances of them that make merry: thou "shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria; the "planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things. "For there shall be a day that the watchmen upon Mount "Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion "unto the Lord our God.' For thus saith the Lord, "Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the "chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O "Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, "I will bring them from the north country, and gather "them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the "blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her that "travaileth with child together; a great company shall

This prophecy seems to refer to an event not yet accomplished, "the restoration of the ten tribes." Israel was the name of their kingdom, Samaria their capital, and they were occasionally called "Ephraim," to distinguish them from the people of Judah; (See Isa. vii. 8, 9.17. Hos. iv. 5—7. ;) and from the almost exclusive use of these terms in the early part of this chapter, without ever having recourse to any appropriated to the kingdom of Judah, it should seem that at least this prophecy, if not the preceding one, was contemplating the restoration, not of the kingdom of Judah, whose captivity in Babylon was just commencing, but of the ten tribes, who had been carried into captivity from which they have never yet returned. It was about 136 before this proyears phecy in Jeremiah, that Isaiah had foretold the destruction of the ten tribes" Within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people." Isa. vii. 8. Had the prophecy been in terms appropriated to the kingdom of Judah, not to that of Israel, it might have been supposed to look forward to, and to have been verified in, the return from the Babylonish captivity. But there are other prophecies which use words to include the ten tribes and the two, and this circumstance makes it more probable that this relates to the ten tribes.

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"return thither. They shall come with weeping, and "with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them "to walk by the rivers of waters in a strait way, wherein they shall not stumble for I am a father to Israel, and "Ephraim is my first-born. Hear the word of the Lord, "O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and 66 say, he that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep "him as a shepherd doth his flock: for the Lord hath "redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of "him that was stronger than he." Jer. xxxi. 1. 4—11.”

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No. 108. "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning "himself="Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised: 666 turn thou me, and I shall be turned: for thou art the "Lord my God.' Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do ear"nestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are "troubled for him: I will surely have mercy upon him," saith the Lord. "Set thee up way-marks, make thee high "heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the

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way which thou wentest; turn again, O virgin of Israel, "turn again to these thy cities." Jer. xxxi. 18. 20, 21.

No. 109. "Behold the days come," saith the Lord, "that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Ju"dah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast: " and it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched "over them to pluck up and to break down, and to throw "down, and to destroy and to afflict: so will I watch "over them to build and to plant," saith the Lord. Jer. xxxi. 27, 28.

No. CX.

A prophetic Intimation of the Establishment of Christianity (a Religion of the Spirit and of the Heart,) amongst the Israelites, and of Forgiveness of their Sins.

No. 110. "Behold, the days come," saith the Lord, "that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel,

"and with the house of Judah, not according to the cove"nant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took " them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, "which my covenant they brake, although I was a hus"band unto them," saith the Lord; "but this shall be "the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: "After those days," saith the Lord, "I will put my law in "their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will "be their God, and they shall be my people: and they "shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every "man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they "shall all know me, from the least of them unto the great"est of them," saith the Lord: "for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jer, xxxi. 31-34.

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No. CXI.

A prophetic Intimation of the Continuance of the Seed and Nation of Israel.

No. 111. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of Hosts is his name: "If those ordinances depart from before me," saith the Lord, "then the seed of Israel also shall cease from "being a nation before me for ever." Thus saith the Lord," If heaven above can be measured, and the foun"dations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also "cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done," saith the Lord. Jer. xxxi. 35-37 r.

See Jer. xxxiii. 7-9. 11.

No. CXII.

A Renewal of the Promise of Christ's Coming of the Justice of his Government and the Duration of his Kingdom, and the unlimited Number of his Followers.

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No. 112. "Behold the days come," saith the Lord, "that I will perform that good thing which I have pro"mised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Ju"dah: in those days, and at that time, will I cause the "branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he "shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. "In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall "dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith he shall be "called, 'THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."" For thus saith the Lord, "David shall never want a man to sit upon the "throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests, the "Levites, want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, "and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice conti"nually." Thus saith the Lord, "If ye can break my "covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and "that there should not be day and night in their season, "then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, 'that he should not have a son to reign upon "throne;' and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers. "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither "the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the "seed of David, my servant, and the Levites that minister "unto me." Jer. xxxiii. 14-18. 20-22.

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No. CXIII.

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A prophetic Assurance of the Restoration of the twelve Tribes. No. 113. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, say

s" To offer," &c. not literally, but " to perform the offices of "the temple," signifying the future offices by what were the offices at that time.

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