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holiness: such a fast as this is, is not that, which shall win any favour or acceptation to you, or to your devotions.

LVIII. 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou be blessed, with a happy renewing of all comforts upon thee; thy prosperity shall be suddenly restored: then shall all beholders acknowledge thee for just and righteous; and whereas now, thy shame is too apparent, then, the glory of the Lord shall encompass and deck thee.

LVIII. 9 If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity ;

If thou shalt take off thy hand from oppressing thy poor brethren, and abstain from all injurious actions which may be to their prejudice, and shalt refrain thy tongue from speaking vainly or lewdly;

LVIII. 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.

If, in a feeling compassion of the miseries of the needy, thou shalt enlarge thy bounty and relief to him, and shalt yield comfort to the afflicted soul, God shall turn thy sorrow and calamity into joy and happiness.

LVIII. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; &c, And those, that shall be of thee, shall build again the old neglected walls of the city and temple of Jerusalem; and raise up those foundations, which shall continue for many ages after, &c. LVIII. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, &c. If thou shalt refrain thy foot from walking, far or servilely, on the sabbath; and refrain thyself from doing thy own works, or taking thy own carnal pleasures, on my holy day; and shalt, contrarily, take delight in a conscionable sanctifying of that day of the Lord, as that, which is by thee accounted a day of consecration to thy God, and worthy of great reverence and honour, &c:

LVIII. 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Then shalt thou find unspeakable comfort in the Lord: then I will cause thee to possess and rule over that highly situated and fruitful land of Judea, and will maintain thee with that inheritance, which thou hast now from thy forefathers.

LIX. 5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

All their projects and actions are either vain or wicked; full of

deadly poison, to the envenoming of all that deal with them: whosoever, therefore, meddleth with them cannot be free from the danger of infection and death.

LIX. 6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

Their works and designs, which are least harmful, are yet utterly vain and unprofitable: however they may undertake much, their labours come to nothing, either for the benefit of others, or their own safeguard, &c.

LIX. 8 Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Whosoever walketh in them shall never have and enjoy true peace in his soul; nor expect to be blessed and prospered from above.

LIX. 9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we rwalk in darkness.

Therefore hath God withdrawn the hand of his merciful protection and gracious administration from us; and we are yielded up to be a prey of rapine and injustice: we wait for comfort and prosperity, but we find nothing but sorrow and misery.

LIX. 10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

All the light of our former comfort is taken from us; and we are so affected with the judgments of God, as that we know not how to guide ourselves in our present condition: we cast about for helps and directions in vain, and miscarry in the use of them: we are carried captive into desolate places, out of the society of men; as if we were dead carcases, cast aside for the grave.

LIX. 11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves. We do, in all fashions of sorrow, bemoan ourselves: either roar. ing out in the extremity of our grief, as bears in a forest; or more silently murmuring our complaints, as doves on the house top.

LIX. 15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.

Yea, truth, and honest sincerity, is failed amongst men; and he, that will not run with men into the same excess of riot, but maketh conscience of their evil ways, is exposed to the scorn and spoil of the world.

LIX. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness it sustained him.

And he saw that there was no man, that would interpose himself, and labour for the reforming of these foul corruptions; and wondered to see so general a barrenness of grace, as that there was not one man to stand out for his Church, either to sue for it, or to endeavour the redress of it: therefore God resolved, since there was no help or hope in human means, to take the cause into his own hand; and to work mightily the deliverance and salvation of his people, by his own power and justice.

LIX. 17 For he put on righteousness as a breast plate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

To which purpose, the Almighty hath completely armed himself, with righteousness, and salvation, and zeal, and means of vengeance upon his enemies; that his people may well see, how both forward and powerful he is, to rescue them, and to plague their oppressors.

LIX. 19 When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

When the enemy shall come furiously upon them, like a raging and impetuous flood, the Almighty shall wage war with him, and join battle accordingly against him to his destruction.

LIX. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

The Redeemer of the World shall, in his due time, be revealed, and shall personally come to mount Zion; and shall save all penitent sinners, in his whole Church upon earth.

LIX. 21 My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Amongst and above all other testimonies of my favour to thee, my Church, this shall be most remarkable; that I will give thee my word and my Spirit, for instruction, for sanctification: the one shall not depart out of thy heart, nor the other out of thy mouth; but shall perpetually continue to thee, and to thy seed after thee, unto the end of the world.

LX. 1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

Arise out of the dust and sorrow, O thou my afflicted Church, and be thou glorious; for the time is come, wherein God is purposed to comfort and to honour thee, before the eyes of the world.

LX. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover thearth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

For, behold, the darkness, both of ignorance and calamity, shall be upon the rest of the earth; but, as it was with thee in Goshen, so it shall be now again, the Lord shall cause the light, both of knowledge and comfort, to arise upon thee.

LX. 5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Thou shalt assemble cheerfully together, and thy heart shall be full of astonishment and wonder and thankfulness; because the store of those foreign nations, which by divers seas are severed from thee, shall be converted unto thee, my Evangelical Church:

all the forces and excellent graces of the Gentiles shall be added unto thee.

LX. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

The multitudes of several nations shall come, and send in unto thee, according to their sundry commodities and means of conveyance, all manner of rich and precious presents; whereby they shall testify their homage, and joy in that God, which hath ho noured them with the high calling of the children of his Church.

LX 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

So cheerful and so frequent and universal shall be the sacrifices, which shall be offered unto God, in joy and thanksgiving, as that all the Arabian flocks shall be gladly consecrated to this service, and shall ascend up, in a holy smoke, to the God of Heaven; and I will exceedingly glorify my Church, wherein I am honoured.

LX. 8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

Then shall my Church, wondering at so frequent a confluence, say, Who are these, that come flying, as thick as clouds, and as swiftly as the doves to their windows?

LX. 9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD.

Surely the foreign nation shall be called into the Church, even from beyond the seas: the ships shall be employed, therefore, to bring in both their persons and their treasures, to be dedicated to

the service of God.

LX. 10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee.

And, in a type of the restoration of my Church, behold, the sons of strangers shall help to re-edify the walls of Jerusalem; and their kings shall give bountiful gifts, towards the repairing of the edifices thereof.

LX. 11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.

The doors of the Church, under the Gospel, shall be always open : they shall not be shut, either by night or day, upon any man; but shall be wide opened, to receive all comers; that the riches of the Gentiles, and their kings and governors, may have a clear and free ingress thereinto.

LX. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

As there neither is nor can be any salvation out of Christ, or out

of the Church; surely that person, or that nation and kingdom, that cometh not in, and submitteth not to the government of Christ in his Church, cannot chuse but perish.

IX. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

All the tall cedars of Lebanon, and all those other varieties of trees, both for building and sculpture, shall gladly be employed to the re-edifying of the material temple; and all persons, both honourable and mean, shall joyfully be employed to be the pieces of my spiritual Church and Sanctuary; so as the place, where I shall fix my foot, and dwell for ever, shall be beautiful and glo

rious.

LX. 14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; &c.

The posterity of those, that persecuted thee, O my Church, shall come in, and with all reverence submit themselves unto thee; &c. LX. 16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings.

The Gentiles and their kings, which heretofore have been hostilely bent against thee, shall now lay to nourish and sustain thee, even as the mother doth her child, with the milk of their breasts; and shall yield thee their best succour and assistance.

LX. 17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.

I know you will much lament the ruins of the glorious temple; but, be of good cheer: it shall be better built than before: instead of the former brass, it shall now be enriched with gold; and, in all the whole fabric, the change shall be to the better: and, whereas you have served under a hard bondage of the Babylonians, now, instead of those tyrannous officers, you shall have peace; and, instead of exactors, justice.

LX. 18 But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

The safeguard of God shall be instead of walls unto thee, and thy gates shall be full of the praise of thy God.

LX. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

There shall be a certain stability and fixedness of the happy estate, wherein thou art: thou shalt not be subject to any more interchanges of light and darkness, or depend upon those outward means of comfort, which are wont to convey it to the world; but the Lord himself, who is ever one and unchangeable, shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. So verse 20.

LX. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

Those, that are the true and lively members of the Church,

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