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whence another prophet takes occafion. " to ask God, whether he is angry at the river and the feas.

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In the tumultuous obedience, where the frighted waters, one would imagine, fhould have fwept away every thing in their courfe, an invifible hand governed them with as much eafe as a mother governs and handles a child fhe had firft fwath'd, and afterwards put in his cradle. It is under thefe images God reprefents to us what he did at that time. Who fhut up the Jea with doors, when it brake forth as if it had iffued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a fwadling band for it; and brake up for it my decreed place, and fet bars and doors, and faid hitherto shall thou come but no farther and here fhall thy proud waves be ftayed? There is no occafion to raise the beauty of thefe laft words, for who is not affected with them? God marked out bounds to the fea, and it did not dare to tranfgrefs them: That which was written on its fhores prevented it from going beyond them; and that element which appears the moft ungovernable, was equally obedient both in its Alight and in its ftay. This obedience has continued the fame for many ages; and how tumultuous foever the waves may appear, the inftant they come near the fhore, God's prohibition keeps them in awe and ftops ⚫ their progress.

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HI. The beauty of the Scripture does not arise from the Swords, but the things.

It is well known, that the most excellent Greek or Latin authors, lose most of their graces when tranflated literally, because a great part of their beauty confifts in the expreffion: But as that of the fcriptures confifts more in the things than the words, we find that it fubfifts and ftrikes in the moft verbal tranflation. This will plainly appear from every part of the fcripture. I fhall content myself with transcribing only two or three paffages from it.

I Wo unto them that join house to houfe, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth. In mine ears faid the Lord of Hofts, of a truth many houfes fhall be defolate, even great and fair without inhabitant.

There is nothing in all the eloquence of the heathens, comparable to the vivacity of the reproach, which the prophet here makes to the wife men of his time, who, neglecting the law of God, which had affign'd to every man in particular, a proportion of the promifed land, with a prohibition to alienate it for ever; fwallowed up in their vaft parks, the vineyard, the field, and the house of those who were fo unhappy as to live near them.

But the reflection which the prophet adds, feems to me no less eloquent, notwithstanding its great fimplicity; In mine ears faid the Lord of Hofts. I hear the Lord; his voice is at my ear. Whilft the whole world attends to nothing but their pleasures, and that no one hears the law of God, I already hear his thun

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In auribus meis * Dominus exercituum: Nifi domus multæ defertæ fuerint grandes & pulchræ abfque habitatore. Ifai. v. 8, 9.

b Væ qui conjungitis domum ad domum, & agrum agro copulatis ufque ad terminum loci. [Heb. Donec deficiat locus.] Numquid habitabitis vos foli in medio terræ ? *Thus the Hebrew verfion had it; but the Latin verfion afcribes these words to God, not to the prophet. In auribus meis funt, hac: dicit Do

minus exercituum.

der roaring against thofe ambitious rich men, who think of nothing but building and establishing their abode upon the earth. God echoes in mine ear a perpertual threat against their vain enterprizes, and a kind of oath more dreadful than the threat itself, because it proves the latter ready to break forth, and irrevocable: Of a truth many houses shall be 2. The fame prophet defcribes the of the Meffiah in a wonderful manner. child is born, unto us a fon is given, and the government fhall be upon his fhoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace.

defert, &c. characteristics For unto us a

I fhall confider only the following expreffion, and the government shall be upon his fhoulder; this includes a wonderful image, and has a peculiar energy when confidered with due attention.

Jefus Chrift fhall be born an infant, but then he fhall not wait either for years or experience before he reigns. He fhall not ftand in need of being acknowledged by his fubjects, nor of being affifted by his armies, in order to fubdue rebels; for he himself will be his ftrength, his power, his royalty. He fhall differ infinitely from other Kings, who cannot be fuch unless they are acknowledged by fome state; and who fall into the condition of private men, if their fubjects refufe to obey them. Their authority is not their own, nor from themselves, nor can they give it duration. But the child who fhall be born, even when he fhall appear to be in want of all things, and to be incapable of commanding, fhall bear all the weight of divine majesty and royalty. He fhall fupport every thing by his efficacy and power; and his fovereign authority

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fhall refide fully and wholly in himself, and the government shall be upon his fhoulder. Nothing fhall prove this better than the manner itself in which he fhall chufe to reign. He muft have from himself, and independent of all exterior means, a fovereign power, in order to make himself be worshipped by mankind, notwithstanding the ignominy of the crofs, which he fhall vouchfafe to take upon himself; and to change the inftrument of his punishment into the inftrument of his victory, and the moft fplendid mark of his fovereignty; the government shall be upon his fhoulder.

Those who study the Scripture attentively, find that the beauty of it confifts in the strength and greatnefs of the thoughts.

IV. DESCRIPTION.

1. Cyrus was the greatest conqueror, and the moft accomplished Prince mention'd in history, the reason of which the fcripture gives us, viz. that God himself had taken a pleasure in forming him, for the accomplishment of his intended mercy to his people. He calls him by his name two hundred years before his birth, and declares, that he himfelf will fet the crown on his head, and put a fword in his hand, in order to make him the deliverer of his people.

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Thus faith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whofe right hand I have holden, to fubdue nations before him: and I will lofe the loins of kings to open before him the two leaved gates, and the gates fball not be fout. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places ftraight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in funder the bars of iron I am the Lord, and there is none elfe, there is no God befides me: Igirded thee, thou haft not known me.

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Hæc dicit Dominus Chrifto meo Cyro, cujus apprehendi dexteram, ut fubj ciam ante faciem e jus gentes, & dorfa regum vertam, & aperiam coram eo januas,& portæ non claudentur. Ego ante te ibo,

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& gloriofos terræ humiliabo: por-
tas æreas conteram, & vectes ferre-
os confringam Ego Dominus,
& non eft ampliùs: extra me non
eft Deus. Accinxite: & non cog-
novisti me.
Ifa. xlv. 1. 2. n.5.
In

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- In another place, he commands Cyrus King of the Perfians, then called Elamites, to fet out with the Medes; he orders the fiege to be made, and the walls to fall down. f March, Elam; Mede, do thou befiege. In fine, Babylon will no longer make others figh. Let him come now at my command; let him join with the Medes; let him befiege a city which is an enemy to my worship and to my people; let him obey me without knowing me; let him follow me with his eyes fhut; let him execute my commands without being either of my counsel, or in my confidence; and let him teach all Princes, and even all men, how I am sovereign over empires, events, and even, wills; fince I make myself be equally obeyed by Kings, and by eve. ry private foldier in the armies, without having any occafion either to reveal myself, or to exhort, or employ any other means than my will, which is also my power. & That they may know from the rifing of the fun, and from the west, that there is none befides me, I am the Lord, and there is none else.

How majestic are these few words! Go up, Elam; Prince of the Perfians, fet out. Befiege, Mede: and you, Prince of the Medes, form the fiege. I have made all their groans to cease: Babylon is taken and plundered: it has no power; its tyranny is at end.

2. The fcriptures have painted in the ftrongest colours, how greatly fenfible God is to the oppreffion of the poor and t he weak, as well as to the injuftice of the judges and the mighty of the earth.

Ifaiah reprefents truth feeble and trembling, imploring, but in vain, the affiftance of the judges, and representing herself to no purpose before every tribunal. Accefs is denied her every where; fhe is in all

f Afcende, Elam, obfide, Mede: omnem gemitum ejus ceffare feci. Ifa. xxi. 2.

Ifaiah xlv. 6.

Converfum eft retrorfum judicium, & juftitia longè ftetit: quia corruit in platea veritas, & æquitas non potuit ingredi. Et

facta eft veritas in oblivionem: & qui receffit à malo, prædæ patuit : & vidit Dominus, & malum apparuit in oculis ejus, quia non eft judicium. Et vidit quia non eft vir: & aporiatus eft, quia non eft qui occurrat. Ifa. lix. 14, 15, 16,

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