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CONCERNING DAVID,

No: he did fall, I tell you all;
Then now his offspring see:

Then David here you soon would clear,
His standing was the same-
The man did fail, I tell you all,
And so his offspring came
To follow on as he began,

So tainted by the Fall;

And worse and worse they still went on,
I now do tell you all.

So Adam see, the Fall of he,
Which was the Fall of Man;
But after him, you all do see,
A fataller Fall become ;

Because that Cain-call to your mind→→

A murderer did appear;

And so from David you do find

What murdering sons were there.

So all in sin they did begin;

The parents first did fall,

When I the Promise made to them;
Once more I tell you all,
While Satan stands in every land,
He hasty will pursue ;

Like men of war he will appear;
All ages find it true;
Because on man the Curse did stand,
As I did say before ;

And now I say, in every land

It strongly doth appear.

So marvel on as thou'st begun,

To think of David's Fall:

You see the Tempter still is strong,
I say, to cast down all,

Where Promise great to them I make ;
But see they cannot stand,
Until my Sceptre I do shake,

To gain the PROMIS'D LAND.
The Promise first for Man to burst;
The Serpent's curse appear;
Then all may say another way,
"We see the Promise clear:

"A David's Reign doth now begin

"In happiness to burst;

"We see the curse remov'd from mens

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Upon the Serpent cast."

Then children free all men will see,

Like Solomon appear;

That is in WISDOM great to be,

But not in SIN to err:

No, no; I say to thee, that day

When I destroy the Root,

And every evil take away,

Then Satan must stand mute.

11

"I've had my time I now do find,
"When God did promise Men,
"That he unto them would be kind,
"If they would worship him."
That is, to do, you all do know,
As I do them command.
But Satan he did find a way,

He would not let them stand:
For like the first, this sure did burst,
Like Adam's promise make;
And Satan then so strong did come
These promises to break.
Then of what use can I produce
A Promise great to Man?
They'll not obey what I do say;
I see they cannot stand,

While Satan here do strong appear.-
Weigh every Promise through:
As Adam first I here have plac'd;
My Bible all go through:
And Moses see, I promis'd he

The land of Canaan there,

That I my children then would free;

But how did they appear?

Sin did abound in every sound,

And Satan did pursue,

Like Adam's Fall, I tell you all,
Was then their passage through.
Then how could I who dwell on high,
Preserve the life of Man?

I tell you, no: it was not so,

My Promise first must stand:
If men obey what I do say,
I'shall fulfil my Word;

But men did not, judge every lot:
See how they fell from God:

Though Abraham here I mean to clear,

But Isaac he was bound;

And know the Promise I made there,

And see how soon was found

Then Esau strong from him to come-And Esaus all may see;

While Satan's reign I do prolong,

Your murderer he will be:
So Jacobs here let men appear
But know his sons did fall;
I say in sin they did begin-

The Promise stands for all :
I say, at first it there must burst,
As Man so strong is bound;
By Satan's chain they do remain,
Where Promises are found
So great to Man, he cannot stand,
While Satan's power do reign;

CONCERNING DAVID:
And so a David you command.
These Promises see plain;
How man did fall, I tell you all,
Where every Promise stood;
Then how to Adam can you call,
And all to him allude,

When you see plain, ye sons of men,
How all did fall like he?

Then like the Woman now contend,
That I may set you free
From Satan's hand in every land,
And from his artful power;
And then you'll see the REIGN of ME,
When Satan can't devour.

A DAVID here I'll then appear

And bring MY CROWN to Man:
And every promise then I'll clear,
And shew how all shall stand;
When from the first the Promise burst
Unto the Woman made,

Then Satan shall receive his curse,
And men shan't be misled.
Like David here I did appear,

And like his words do cry;

Though he did ne'er receive the spear,
But mark what he did say-

"O Absalom! my son! my son !
"O that I'd died for thee!"
The shadow there that did appear,
The WORD's fulfill'd in ME:
So I did die-I tell thee why:
Because my sons I'll save!
And yet I hear, like Absalom's cry,
My throne they now would have.
The ways are two before thy view;
Some wish ME for to die,

That all their vice they may pursue,
Forgetting hell is nigh,

Where they must go, as he did do→
Such Absaloms are here!

Bring every thing before thy view,
And then thou may'st see clear,
How strong in sin men do go on,
Against my every WORD;

My KINGDOM they would sure unthrone

By mocking of their LORD.

Then now see clear, I tell thee here,

My children are like he

The Absaloms are every where,

That soon cut down will be.

Yet still I grieve that men will live
So much in Satan's power!

For reason here they will not bear,
Men's senses he devours.

13

Now I'll begin from what thou'st seen,
Or what thou said'st this day;
As by thy wisdom thou hast seen
How all my Bible lay.

After part of this Communication was given, that the ponderings of Joanna's heart were answered, Joanna said that the Light of the Lord broke in so strong and clear upon her, that she said she saw the Foundation was laid clear in the Fall; and if men took away that Foundation, it was like taking the foundation of a house: that if you go and dig round a house, and dig away all the foundation that it stands upon, where would your house be? must it not fall to the ground? And is it not likely to fall upon those that digged away the first foundation? Just so, Joanna saith, is the Bible. If you take away the Foundation the Lord laid in the Beginning, and the Promises he made in the Fall, you destroy your Bibles, like the house

"Now, Joanna, thee I'll answer:

Thou dost say the Wisdom's thine;
But I tell thee, Tм thy Master,
And the Wisdom it was mine.

For I'll appear to answer here,

The Parable thou hast made,
They'll find in wisdom is so clear,
That men are all misled.

If they will say another way—
"Our Bible is not so:

Nor the Foundation so don't lay."-
What thou'st compar'd it to,

I tell you plain, you sons of men,
The Parable goes deep,`

And perfect true, you all shall know;

For so the end shall break.

Upon you all the house would fall,
If you go on this way
To undermine the every wall,
Where the foundation lay;
You cannot stand, I say to man,
A house to throw down so,
Because upon you it would fall,
That every soul doth know.
So now to man the same I'll come
My Bible stands the same;

THE OLD PROPHET'S DECEIT.

And the Foundation I have laid,

To free the sons of men.
But if you say another way-
It shall not stand so here:
"This Foundation we'll take away,
"Because we'll baffle her."
Then I'll appear to answer here:
Upon you it must fali;

The guilt of Man I cannot clear,
I now do tell you all.

So I'll end here and say no more,
But thou must ponder on,

Till all the mysteries I shall clear,
For to be given to man."

15

Here ends Sunday night, September 23, 1804.Taken from Joanna Southcott's mouth, by me,

JANE TOWNLEY,

Monday, September 24, 1804.

JOANNA has been reading, since the morning, through the first Book of Kings, and began the second; but could by no means help her feelings being provoked with the perverseness of men, after the great promises the Lord had made them, and the extreme grandeur the Lord had filled the kings with, and the promise he had made them, if they continued in his statutes; and the threatenings pronounced against them, if they departed from them. But with what perverse hearts they did depart, one king after the other, though they were warned by the prophets, what judgments should follow them, if they did depart from them; and yet they continued worse and worse. The more Joanna reads her Bible, the more she is convinced, that nothing will free men from sin and sorrow, and bring them to happiness and union with God, till the Power of the Devil is destroyed, which is the root of all evil. But one thing Joanna was afraid for herself, whether she did not commit sin in her heart, concerning the old prophet's deceiving the young prophet. 1 Kings, xiii. For Joanna could not

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