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house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers

iv. 5. Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 6. Set up the banner toward Zion; retire, stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. 7. The lion is come up from his thicket, the destroyer of the nations is on his way he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, to lay waste thy cities, that they may be desolate without an inhabitant. 8. For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl; for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. 9. And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. 10. Then said I, Ah Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people* and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace: whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. 11. At that time

* Ah Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people.] The Jews may imagine, that their restoration to their own country will be unattended by any calamities to them. selves; but both this, and many other prophecies, teach us, that they shall be severely scourged for their past iniquities.

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it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the plains in the wilderness approacheth the daughter of my people, not to fan nor to cleanse †. 12. A full wind shall come from those places for me: now therefore will I speak judgments with them. 13. Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Wo unto us, for we are spoiled! O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved: how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? 15. For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. 16. Make

* A dry wind of the plains.] See Dr. Blayney in loc]

↑ A dry wind-not to fan, nor to cleanse.] Antichrist shall shall go forth, not merely to subdue, but utterly to exterminate (Compare Dan. xi. 44.); to sweep away, not merely the chaff, but the wheat likewise. For a time he shall be suc

cessful, and the whole land shall be desolate yet (Ver. 27.) will the Lord not make a full end. "Tempestuous winds, or

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"the motion of clouds," says Sir Isaac Newton, for wars." Observ. on Dan. C. 2. p. 18. taphor applied to enemies and destroyers in Isaiah xxvii. 8. Jerem. xlix. 36. li. 1. Ezek. xvii. 10. xix. 12. Hos. xiii. 15.

↑ Dan-mount Ephraim.] This passage describes the progress of the Antichristian army from the north, a matter frequently mentioned in the course of the present prophecy. "The rumour of the enemy's approach is heard first from "Dan, which being the most northern part of Judèa was first of "all invaded. And the evil tidings still increase, as the army "marcheth forward toward Jerusalem, way of mount

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Ephraim." Mr. Lowth in loc.

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ye mention to the nations, publish against Jeru salem, Besiegers come from a far country*, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah19. My bowels, my bowels; I am pained at my very heart my heart maketh a noise in me: I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, and the alarm of war. 20. Destruction and destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. 21. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22. For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

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23. I beheld the earth; and, lo! it was without form and void; and the heavens and they had no light. 24. I beheld the mountains; and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25. I beheld; and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26. I beheld; and, lo the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken at the presence of the Lord by his fierce anger. 27. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate yet will I not make a full end. 28. For this shall the

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* A far country.] The empire of Antichrist, France and its vassal provinces.

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earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 29. The whole city shall flee *, for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: the whole city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

i. 13. And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot, and the face thereof is turned from the north. 14. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord: and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

vi. 1. O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up the firebeacon in Bethhaccerim: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. 22. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the northcountry, and a great nation shall be roused from the ends of the earth. 23. They shall lay hold on bow and spear: they are cruel, and have no

* The whole city shall flee.] Compare Zechar. xiv. 1, 2, 3.

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mercy their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, set in array as inen for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

x. 22. Behold the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north-country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of dragons. 23. O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 24. O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. 25. Pour out thy fury upon the nations that know thee not, and the families that call not on the name for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

xii. 10. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11. They have desolated it into a desolate wilderness: it mourneth unto me being desolate, for no man layeth it to heart. 12. Upon all the plains in the wilderness the spoilers have come for the sword of the Lord devoureth from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. 13. They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they

* Many pastors.] Princes or leaders, shepherds of the people. See Bp. Newton's Dissert. vII. 3.

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