The Holy Bible

Part 53 out of 74




7:2. The holy man is perished out of the earth, and there is none
upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood, every one hunteth
his brother to death.

7:3. The evil of their hands they call good: the prince requireth, and
the judge is for giving: and the great man hath uttered the desire of
his soul, and they have troubled it.

7:4. He that is best among them, is as a brier, and he that is
righteous, as the thorn of the hedge. The day of thy inspection, thy
visitation cometh: now shall be their destruction.

7:5. Believe not a friend, and trust not in a prince: keep the doors of
thy mouth from her that sleepeth in thy bosom.

7:6. For the son dishonoureth the father, and the daughter riseth up
against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law: and
a man's enemies are they of his own household.

7:7. But I will look towards the Lord, I will wait for God, my saviour:
my God will hear me.

7:8. Rejoice not, thou my enemy, over me, because I am fallen: I shall
arise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light.

7:9. I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against
him: until he judge my cause, and execute judgement for me: he will
bring me forth into the light, I shall behold his justice.

7:10. And my enemy shall behold, and she shall be covered with shame,
who saith to me: Where is the Lord thy God? my eyes shall look down
upon her: now shall she be trodden under foot as the mire of the
streets.

She shall be covered, etc. . .Viz., Babylon my enemy.

7:11. The day shall come, that thy walls may be built up: in that day
shall the law be far removed.

The law. . .Viz., of thy enemies, who have tyrannized over thee.

7:12. In that day they shall come even from Assyria to thee, and to the
fortified cities: and from the fortified cities even to the river, and
from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.

7:13. And the land shall be made desolate because of the inhabitants
thereof, and for the fruit of their devices.

The land, etc. . .Viz., of Babylon.

7:14. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy inheritance, them
that dwell alone in the forest, in the midst of Carmel: they shall feed
in Basan and Galaad, according to the days of old.

7:15. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, I
will shew him wonders.

7:16. The nations shall see, and shall be confounded at all their
strength: they shall put the hand upon the mouth, their ears shall be
deaf.

7:17. They shall lick the dust like serpents, as the creeping things of
the earth, they shall be disturbed in their houses: they shall dread
the Lord, our God, and shall fear thee.

7:18. Who is a God like to thee, who takest away iniquity, and passest
by the sin of the remnant of thy inheritance? he will send his fury in
no more, because he delighteth in mercy.

7:19. He will turn again, and have mercy on us: he will put away our
iniquities: and he will cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea.

7:20. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, the mercy to Abraham: which
thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.




THE PROPHECY OF NAHUM



NAHUM, whose name signifies A COMFORTER, was a native of Elcese, or
Elcesai, supposed to be a little town in Galilee. He prophesied, after
the ten tribes were carried into captivity, and foretold the utter
destruction of Ninive, by the Babylonians and Medes: which happened in
the reign of JOSIAS.



Nahum Chapter 1


The majesty of God, his goodness to his people, and severity to his
enemies.

1:1. The burden of Ninive. The book of the vision of Nahum, the
Elcesite.

1:2. The Lord is a jealous God, and a revenger: the Lord is a revenger,
and hath wrath: the Lord taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he is
angry with his enemies.

1:3. The Lord is patient, and great in power, and will not cleanse and
acquit the guilty. The Lord's ways are in a tempest, and a whirlwind,
and clouds are the dust of his feet.

1:4. He rebuketh the sea and drieth it up: and bringeth all the rivers
to be a desert. Basan languisheth and Carmel: and the flower of Libanus
fadeth away.

1:5. The mountains tremble at him, and the hills are made desolate: and
the earth hath quaked at his presence, and the world, and all that
dwell therein.

1:6. Who can stand before the face of his indignation? and who shall
resist in the fierceness of his anger? his indignation is poured out
like fire: and the rocks are melted by him.

1:7. The Lord is good, and giveth strength in the day of trouble: and
knoweth them that hope in him.

1:8. But with a flood that passeth by, he will make an utter end of the
place thereof: and darkness shall pursue his enemies.

Of the place thereof. . .Viz., of Ninive.

1:9. What do ye devise against the Lord? he will make an utter end:
there shall not rise a double affliction.

1:10. For as thorns embrace one another: so while they are feasting and
drinking together, they shall be consumed as stubble that is fully dry.

1:11. Out of thee shall come forth one that imagineth evil against the
Lord, contriving treachery in his mind.

Shall come forth one, etc. . .Some understand this of Sennacherib. But
as his attempt against the people seems to have been prior to the
prophecy of Nahum, we may better understand it of Holofernes.

1:12. Thus saith the Lord: Though they were perfect: and many of them
so, yet thus shall they be cut off, and he shall pass: I have afflicted
thee, and I will afflict thee no more.

Though they were perfect, etc. . .That is, however strong or numerous
their forces may be, they shall be cut off; and their prince or leader
shall pass away and disappear.

1:13. And now I will break in pieces his rod with which he struck thy
back, and I will burst thy bonds asunder.

1:14. And the Lord will give a commandment concerning thee, that no
more of thy name shall be sown: I will destroy the graven and molten
thing out of the house of thy God, I will make it thy grave, for thou
art disgraced.

Will give a commandment. . .That is, a decree, concerning thee, O king
of Ninive, thy seed shall fail, etc.

1:15. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings, and that preacheth peace: O Juda, keep thy festivals, and pay
thy vows: for Belial shall no more pass through thee again, he is
utterly cut off.

Belial. . .The wicked one, viz., the Assyrian.



Nahum Chapter 2


God sends his armies against Ninive to destroy it.

2:1. He is come up that shall destroy before thy face, that shall keep
the siege: watch the way, fortify thy loins, strengthen thy power
exceedingly.

2:2. For the Lord hath rendered the pride of Jacob, as the pride of
Israel: because the spoilers have laid them waste, and have marred
their vine branches.

Hath rendered the pride of Jacob, etc. . .He hath punished Jacob for his
pride; and therefore Ninive must not expect to escape. Or else,
rendering the pride of Jacob means rewarding, that is, punishing Ninive
for the pride they exercised against Jacob.

2:3. The shield of his mighty men is like fire, the men of the army are
clad in scarlet, the reins of the chariot are flaming in the day of his
preparation, and the drivers are stupefied.

Of his mighty men, etc. . .He speaks of the Chaldeans and Medes sent to
destroy Ninive.--Ibid. Stupefied. . .consopiti. That is, they drive on
furiously like men intoxicated with wine.

2:4. They are in confusion in the ways, the chariots jostle one against
another in the streets: their looks are like torches, like lightning
running to and fro.

2:5. He will muster up his valiant men, they shall stumble in their
march: they shall quickly get upon the walls thereof: and a covering
shall be prepared.

Stumble in their march. . .By running hastily on.

2:6. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the temple is thrown down
to the ground.

2:7. And the soldier is led away captive: and her bondwomen were led
away mourning as doves, murmuring in their hearts.

2:8. And as for Ninive, her waters are like a great pool: but the men
flee away. They cry: Stand, stand, but there is none that will return
back.

2:9. Take ye the spoil of the silver, take the spoil of the gold: for
there is no end of the riches of all the precious furniture.

2:10. She is destroyed, and rent, and torn: the heart melteth, and the
knees fail, and all the loins lose their strength: and the faces of
them all are as the blackness of a kettle.

2:11. Where is now the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of
the young lions, to which the lion went, to enter in thither, the young
lion, and there was none to make them afraid?

2:12. The lion caught enough for his whelps, and killed for his
lionesses: and he filled his holes with prey, and his den with rapine.

2:13. Behold I come against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will
burn thy chariots even to smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young
lions: and I will cut off thy prey out of the land, and the voice of
thy messengers shall be heard no more.



Nahum Chapter 3


The miserable destruction of Ninive.

3:1. Woe to thee, O city of blood, all full of lies and violence:
rapine shall not depart from thee.

3:2. The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of the
wheels, and of the neighing horse; and of the running chariot, and of
the horsemen coming up,

3:3. And of the shining sword, and of the glittering spear, and of a
multitude slain, and of a grievous destruction: and there is no end of
carcasses, and they shall fall down on their dead bodies.

3:4. Because of the multitude of the fornications of the harlot that
was beautiful and agreeable, and that made use of witchcraft, that sold
nations through her fornications, and families through her witchcrafts.

3:5. Behold I come against thee, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will
discover thy shame to thy face, and will shew thy nakedness to the
nations, and thy shame to kingdoms.

3:6. And I will cast abominations upon thee, and will disgrace thee,
and will make an example of thee.

3:7. And it shall come to pass that every one that shall see thee,
shall flee from thee, and shall say: Ninive is laid waste: who shall
bemoan thee? whence shall I seek a comforter for thee?

3:8. Art thou better than the populous Alexandria, that dwelleth among
the rivers? waters are round about it: the sea is its riches: the
waters are its walls.

Populous Alexandria. . .No-Ammon. A populous city of Egypt destroyed by
the Chaldeans, and afterwards rebuilt by Alexander, and called
Alexandria. Others suppose No-Ammon to be the same as Diospolis.

3:9. Ethiopia and Egypt were the strength thereof, and there is no end:
Africa and the Libyans were thy helpers.

3:10. Yet she also was removed and carried into captivity: her young
children were dashed in pieces at the top of every street, and they
cast lots upon her nobles, and all her great men were bound in fetters.

3:11. Therefore thou also shalt be made drunk, and shalt be despised:
and thou shalt seek help from the enemies.

3:12. All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with their green
figs: if they be shaken, they shall fall into the mouth of the eater.

3:13. Behold thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of
thy land shall be set wide open to thy enemies, the fire shall devour
thy bars.

3:14. Draw thee water for the siege, build up thy bulwarks: go into the
clay, and tread, work it and make brick.

3:15. There shall the fire devour thee: thou shalt perish by the sword,
it shall devour thee like the bruchus: assemble together like the
bruchus, make thyself many like the locust.

3:16. Thou hast multiplied thy merchandises above the stars of heaven:
the bruchus hath spread himself and flown away.

3:17. Thy guards are like the locusts: and thy little ones like the
locusts of locusts which swarm on the hedges in the day of cold: the
sun arose, and they flew away, and their place was not known where they
were.

Locusts of locusts. . .The young locusts.

3:18. Thy shepherds have slumbered, O king of Assyria, thy princes
shall be buried: thy people are hid in the mountains, and there is none
to gather them.

3:19. Thy destruction is not hidden, thy wound is grievous: all that
have heard the fame of thee, have clapped their hands over thee: for
upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?




THE PROPHECY OF HABACUC



HABACUC was a native of Bezocher, and prophesied in JUDA, some time
before the invasion of the CHALDEANS, which he foretold. He lived to
see this prophecy fulfilled, and for many years after, according to the
general opinion, which supposes him to be the same that was brought by
the ANGEL to DANIEL in BABYLON, Dan. 14.



Habacuc Chapter 1


The prophet complains of the wickedness of the people: God reveals to
him the vengeance he is going to take of them by the Chaldeans.

1:1. The burden that Habacuc the prophet saw.

Burden. . .Such prophecies more especially are called burdens, as
threaten grievous evils and punishments.

1:2. How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? shall I cry
out to thee suffering violence, and thou wilt not save?

1:3. Why hast thou shewn me iniquity and grievance, to see rapine and
injustice before me? and there is a judgment, but opposition is more
powerful.

1:4. Therefore the law is torn in pieces, and judgment cometh not to
the end: because the wicked prevaileth against the just, therefore
wrong judgment goeth forth.

1:5. Behold ye among the nations, and see: wonder, and be astonished:
for a work is done in your days, which no man will believe when it
shall be told.

1:6. For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift
nation, marching upon the breadth of the earth, to possess the dwelling
places that are not their own.

1:7. They are dreadful, and terrible: from themselves shall their
judgment, and their burden proceed.

1:8. Their horses are lighter than leopards, and swifter than evening
wolves; and their horsemen shall be spread abroad: for their horsemen
shall come from afar, they shall fly as an eagle that maketh haste to
eat.

1:9. They shall all come to the prey, their face is like a burning
wind: and they shall gather together captives as the sand.

1:10. And their prince shall triumph over kings, and princes shall be
his laughingstock: and he shall laugh at every strong hold, and shall
cast up a mount, and shall take it.

1:11. Then shall his spirit be changed, and he shall pass, and fall:
this is his strength of his god.

Then shall his spirit, etc. . .Viz., the spirit of the king of Babylon.
It alludes to the judgment of God upon Nabuchodonosor, recorded Dan.
4., and to the speedy fall of the Chaldean empire.

1:12. Wast thou not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, and
we shall not die? Lord, thou hast appointed him for judgment: and made
him strong for correction.

1:13. Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on
iniquity. Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things, and holdest
thy peace when the wicked devoureth the man that is more just than
himself?

1:14. And thou wilt make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the
creeping things that have no ruler.

1:15. He lifted up all them with his hook, he drew them in his drag,
and gathered them into his net: for this he will be glad and rejoice.

1:16. Therefore will he offer victims to his drag, and he will
sacrifice to his net: because through them his portion is made fat, and
his meat dainty.

1:17. For this cause therefore he spreadeth his net, and will not spare
continually to slay the nations.



Habacuc Chapter 2


The prophet is admonished to wait with faith. The enemies of God's
people shall assuredly be punished.

2:1. I will stand upon my watch, and fix my foot upon the tower: and I
will watch, to see what will be said to me, and what I may answer to
him that reproveth me.

Will stand, etc. . .Waiting to see what the Lord will answer to my
complaint, viz., that the Chaldeans, who are worse than the Jews, and
who attribute all their success to their own strength, or to their
idols, should nevertheless prevail over the people of the Lord. The
Lord's answer is, that the prophet must wait with patience and faith:
that all should be set right in due time; and the enemies of God and
his people punished according to their deserts.

2:2. And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and make it
plain upon tables: that he that readeth it may run over it.

2:3. For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear at the end,
and shall not lie: if it make any delay, wait for it: for it shall
surely come, and it shall not be slack.

2:4. Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in
himself: but the just shall live in his faith.

2:5. And as wine deceiveth him that drinketh it: so shall the proud man
be, and he shall not be honoured: who hath enlarged his desire like
hell: and is himself like death, and he is never satisfied: but will
gather together unto him all nations, and heap together unto him all
people.

As wine deceiveth, etc. . .Viz., by affording only a short passing
pleasure; followed by the evils and disgrace that are the usual
consequences of drunkenness; so shall it be with the proud enemies of
the people of God; whose success affordeth them only a momentary
pleasure, followed by innumerable and everlasting evils.

2:6. Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a dark
speech concerning him: and it shall be said: Woe to him that heapeth
together that which is not his own? how long also doth he load himself
with thick clay?

Thick clay. . .Ill-gotten goods, that, like mire, both burden and defile
the soul.

2:7. Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee: and they be
stirred up that shall tear thee, and thou shalt be a spoil to them?

2:8. Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all that shall be left of
the people shall spoil thee: because of men's blood, and for the
iniquity of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

2:9. Woe to him that gathereth together an evil covetousness to his
house, that his nest may be on high, and thinketh he may be delivered
out of the hand of evil.

2:10. Thou hast devised confusion to thy house, thou hast cut off many
people, and thy soul hath sinned.

2:11. For the stone shall cry out of the wall: and the timber that is
between the joints of the building, shall answer.

2:12. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and prepareth a city
by iniquity.

2:13. Are not these things from the Lord of hosts? for the people shall
labour in a great fire: and the nations in vain, and they shall faint.

Are not these things, etc. . .That is, shall not these punishments that
are here recorded, come from the Lord upon him that is guilty of such
crimes.--Ibid. The people shall labour, etc. . .Viz., the enemies of
God's people.

2:14. For the earth shall be filled, that men may know the glory of the
Lord, as waters covering the sea.

2:15. Woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth his
gall, and maketh him drunk, that he may behold his nakedness.

2:16. Thou art filled with shame instead of glory: drink thou also, and
fall fast asleep: the cup of the right hand of the Lord shall compass
thee, and shameful vomiting shall be on thy glory.

2:17. For the iniquity of Libanus shall cover thee, and the ravaging of
beasts shall terrify them because of the blood of men, and the iniquity
of the land, and of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

The iniquity of Libanus. . .That is, the iniquity committed by the
Chaldeans against the temple of God, signified here by the name of
Libanus.

2:18. What doth the graven thing avail, because the maker thereof hath
graven it, a molten, and a false image? because the forger thereof hath
trusted in a thing of his own forging, to make dumb idols.

2:19. Woe to him that saith to wood: Awake: to the dumb stone: Arise:
can it teach? Behold, it is laid over with gold, and silver, and there
is no spirit in the bowels thereof.

2:20. But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep
silence before him.



Habacuc Chapter 3


3:1. A PRAYER OF HABACUC THE PROPHET FOR IGNORANCES.

For ignorances. . .That is, for the sins of his people. In the Hebrew,
it is Sigionoth: which some take to signify a musical instrument, or
tune; with which this sublime prayer and canticle was to be sung.

3:2. O Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid. O Lord, thy
work, in the midst of the years bring it to life: In the midst of the
years thou shalt make it known: when thou art angry, thou wilt remember
mercy.

Thy hearing, etc. . .That is, thy oracles, the great and wonderful
things thou hast revealed to me; and I was struck with a reverential
fear and awe.--Ibid. Thy work. . .The great work of the redemption of
man, which thou wilt bring to life and light in the midst of the years,
when our calamities and miseries shall be at their height.

3:3. God will come from the south, and the holy one from mount Pharan:
His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.

God will come from the south, etc. . .God himself will come to give us
his law, and to conduct us into the true land of promise: as heretofore
he came from the South (in the Hebrew Theman) and from mount Pharan to
give his law to his people in the desert. See Deut. 33.2.

3:4. His brightness shall be as the light: horns are in his hands:
There is his strength hid:

Horns, etc. . .That is, strength and power, which, by a Hebrew phrase,
are called horns. Or beams of light, which come forth from his hands.
Or it may allude to the cross, in the horns of which the hands of
Christ were fastened, where his strength was hidden, by which he
overcame the world, and drove out death and the devil.

3:5. Death shall go before his face. And the devil shall go forth
before his feet.

Death shall go before his face, etc. . .Both death and the devil shall
be the executioners of his justice against his enemies: as they were
heretofore against the Egyptians and Chanaanites.

3:6. He stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and melted the
nations: and the ancient mountains were crushed to pieces. The hills of
the world were bowed down by the journeys of his eternity.

He beheld, etc. . .One look of his eye is enough to melt all the
nations, and to reduce them to nothing. For all heaven and earth
disappear when they come before his light. Apoc. 20.11. Ibid. The
ancient mountains, etc. . .By the mountains and hills are signified the
great ones of the world, that persecute the church, whose power was
quickly crushed by the Almighty.

3:7. I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity, the curtains of
the land of Madian shall be troubled.

Ethiopia. . .the land of the Blacks, and Madian, are here taken for the
enemies of God and his people: who shall perish for their iniquity.

3:8. Wast thou angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or was thy wrath upon
the rivers? or thy indignation in the sea? Who will ride upon thy
horses: and thy chariots are salvation.

With the rivers, etc. . .He alludes to the wonders wrought heretofore by
the Lord in favour of his people Israel, when the waters of the rivers,
viz., of Arnon and Jordan, and of the Red Sea, retired before their
face: when he came as it were with his horses and chariots to save them
when he took up his bow for their defence, in consequence of the oath
he had made to their tribes: when the mountains trembled, and the deep
stood with its waves raised up in a heap, as with hands lifted up to
heaven: when the sun and the moon stood still at his command, etc., to
comply with his anger, not against the rivers and sea, but against the
enemies of his people. How much more will he do in favour of his Son:
and against the enemies of his church?

3:9. Thou wilt surely take up thy bow: according to the oaths which
thou hast spoken to the tribes. Thou wilt divide the rivers of the
earth.

3:10. The mountains saw thee, and were grieved: the great body of
waters passed away. The deep put forth its voice: the deep lifted up
its hands.

3:11. The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation, in the
light of thy arrows, they shall go in the brightness of thy glittering
spear.

3:12. In thy anger thou wilt tread the earth under foot: in thy wrath
thou wilt astonish the nations.

3:13. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: for salvation
with thy Christ. Thou struckest the head of the house of the wicked:
thou hast laid bare his foundation even to the neck.

The head of the house of the wicked. . .Such was Pharao heretofore: such
shall Antichrist be hereafter.

3:14. Thou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them
that came out as a whirlwind to scatter me. Their joy was like that of
him that devoureth the poor man in secret.

3:15. Thou madest a way in the sea for thy horses, in the mud of many
waters.

Thou madest a way in the sea, etc. . .To deliver thy people from the
Egyptian bondage: and thou shalt work the like wonders in the spiritual
way, to rescue the children of the church from their enemies.

3:16. I have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the
voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I
may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that
are girded.

I have heard, etc. . .Viz., the evils that are now coming upon the
Israelites for their sins; and that shall come hereafter upon all
impenitent sinners; and the foresight that I have of these miseries
makes me willing to die, that I may be at rest, before this general
tribulation comes, in which all good things shall be withdrawn from the
wicked.--Ibid. That I may go up to our people, etc. . .That I may join
the happy company in the bosom of Abraham, that are girded, that is,
prepared for their journey, by which they shall attend their Lord, when
he shall ascend into heaven. To which high and happy place, my Jesus,
that is, my Saviour, the great conqueror of death and hell, shall one
day conduct me rejoicing and singing psalms of praise, ver. 18 and 19.

3:17. For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring
in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields
shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and
there shall be no herd in the stalls.

3:18. But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.

3:19. The Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the
feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places
singing psalms.




THE PROPHECY OF SOPHONIAS



SOPHONIAS, whose name, saith St. Jerome, signifies The Watchman of the
Lord, or The hidden of the Lord, prophesied in the beginning of the
reign of Josias. He was a native of Sarabatha, and of the tribe of
Simeon, according to the more general opinion. He prophesied the
punishments of the Jews, for their idolatry and other crimes; also the
punishments that were to come on divers nations; the coming of Christ,
the conversion of the Gentiles, the blindness of the Jews, and their
conversion towards the end of the world.



Sophonias Chapter 1


For divers enormous sins, the kingdom of Juda is threatened with severe
judgment.

1:1. The word of the Lord that came to Sophonias the son of Chusi, the
son of Godolias, the son of Amarias, the son of Ezechias, in the days
of Josias, the son of Amon king of Juda.

1:2. Gathering, I will gather together all things from off the face of
the land, saith the Lord:

Gathering, I will gather, etc. . .That is, I will assuredly take away,
and wholly consume, either by captivity, or death, both men and beasts
out of this land.

1:3. I will gather man, and beast, I will gather the birds of the air,
and the fishes of the sea: and the ungodly shall meet with ruin: and I
will destroy men from off the face of the land, saith the Lord.

1:4. And I will stretch out my hand upon Juda, and upon all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem: and I will destroy out of this place the
remnant of Baal, and the names of the wardens of the temples with the
priests:

The wardens, etc. . .Viz., of the temples of the idols. AEdituos, in
Hebrew, the Chemarims, that is, such as kindle the fires, or burn
incense.

1:5. And them that worship the host of heaven upon the tops of houses,
and them that adore, and swear by the Lord, and swear by Melchom.

Melchom. . .The idol of the Ammonites.

1:6. And them that turn away from following after the Lord, and that
have not sought the Lord, nor searched after him.

1:7. Be silent before the face of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord
is near, for the Lord hath prepared a victim, he hath sanctified his
guests.

1:8. And it shall come to pass in the day of the victim of the Lord,
that I will visit upon the princes, and upon the king's sons, and upon
all such as are clothed with strange apparel:

1:9. And I will visit in that day upon every one that entereth
arrogantly over the threshold: them that fill the house of the Lord
their God with iniquity and deceit.

1:10. And there shall be in that day, saith the Lord, the noise of a
cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the Second, and a great
destruction from the hills.

The Second. . .A part of the city so called.

1:11. Howl, ye inhabitants of the Morter. All the people of Chanaan is
hush, all are cut off that were wrapped up in silver.

The Morter. . .Maktesh. A valley in or near Jerusalem. Ibid. The
people of Chanaan. . .So he calls the Jews, from their following the
wicked ways of the Chanaanites.

1:12. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search
Jerusalem with lamps, and will visit upon the men that are settled on
their lees: that say in their hearts: The Lord will not do good, nor
will he do evil.

Settled on their lees. . .That is, the wealthy, and such as live at
their ease, resting upon their riches, like wine upon the lees.

1:13. And their strength shall become a booty, and their houses as a
desert: and they shall build houses, and shall not dwell in them: and
they shall plant vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them.

1:14. The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and exceeding
swift: the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, the mighty man shall
there meet with tribulation.

1:15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a
day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of
clouds and whirlwinds,

1:16. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and
against the high bulwarks.

1:17. And I will distress men, and they shall walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be
poured out as earth, and their bodies as dung.

1:18. Neither shall their silver and their gold be able to deliver them
in the day of the wrath of the Lord: all the land shall be devoured by
the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy destruction
of all them that dwell in the land.



Sophonias Chapter 2


An exhortation to repentance. The judgment of the Philistines, of the
Moabites, and the Ammonites; of the Ethiopians and the Assyrians.

2:1.Assemble yourselves together, be gathered together, O nation not
worthy to be loved:

2:2. Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing away, before
the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the
Lord's indignation come upon you.

2:3. Seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, you that have wrought his
judgment: seek the just, seek the meek: if by any means you may be hid
in the day of the Lord's indignation.

2:4. For Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be a desert, they
shall cast out Azotus at noonday, and Accaron shall be rooted up.

2:5. Woe to you that inhabit the sea coast, O nation of reprobates: the
word of the Lord upon you, O Chanaan, the land of the Philistines, and
I will destroy thee, so that there shall not be an inhabitant.

2:6. And the sea coast shall be the resting place of shepherds, and
folds for cattle:

2:7. And it shall be the portion of him that shall remain of the house
of Juda, there they shall feed: in the houses of Ascalon they shall
rest in the evening: because the Lord their God will visit them, and
bring back their captivity.

2:8. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the blasphemies of the
children of Ammon, with which they reproached my people, and have
magnified themselves upon their borders.

2:9. Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel,
Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrha, the
dryness of thorns, and heaps of salt, and a desert even for ever: the
remnant of my people shall make a spoil of them, and the residue of my
nation shall possess them.

2:10. This shall befall them for their pride: because they have
blasphemed, and have been magnified against the people of the Lord of
hosts.

2:11. The Lord shall be terrible upon them, and shall consume all the
gods of the earth: and they shall adore him every man from his own
place, all the islands of the Gentiles.

2:12. You Ethiopians, also shall be slain with my sword.

2:13. And he will stretch out his hand upon the north, and will destroy
Assyria: and he will make the beautiful city a wilderness, and as a
place not passable, and as a desert.

The beautiful city, viz. . .Ninive, which was destroyed soon after this,
viz., in the sixteenth year of the reign of Josias.

2:14. And flocks shall lie down in the midst thereof, all the beasts of
the nations: and the bittern and the urchin shall lodge in the
threshold thereof: the voice of the singing bird in the window, the
raven on the upper post, for I will consume her strength.

2:15. This is the glorious city that dwelt in security: that said in
her heart: I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a
desert, a place for beasts to lie down in? every one that passeth by
her shall hiss, and wag his hand.



Sophonias Chapter 3


A woe to Jerusalem for her sins. A prophecy of the conversion of the
Gentiles, and of the poor of Israel: God shall be with them. The Jews
shall be converted at last.

3:1. Woe to the provoking and redeemed city, the dove.

3:2. She hath not hearkened to the voice, neither hath she received
discipline: she hath not trusted in the Lord, she drew not near to her
God.

3:3. Her princes are in the midst of her as roaring lions: her judges
are evening wolves, they left nothing for the morning.

3:4. Her prophets are senseless, men without faith: her priests have
polluted the sanctuary, they have acted unjustly against the law.

3:5. The just Lord is in the midst thereof, he will not do iniquity: in
the morning, in the morning he will bring his judgment to light, and it
shall not be hid: but the wicked man hath not known shame.

3:6. I have destroyed the nations, and their towers are beaten down: I
have made their ways desert, so that there is none that passeth by:
their cities are desolate, there is not a man remaining, nor any
inhabitant.

3:7. I said: Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive correction:
and her dwelling shall not perish, for all things wherein I have
visited her: but they rose early, and corrupted all their thoughts.

3:8. Wherefore expect me, saith the Lord, in the day of my resurrection
that is to come, for my judgment is to assemble the Gentiles, and to
gather the kingdoms: and to pour upon them my indignation, all my
fierce anger: for with the fire of my jealousy shall all the earth be
devoured.

3:9. Because then I will restore to the people a chosen lip, that all
may call upon the name of the Lord, and may serve him with one
shoulder.

3:10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, shall my suppliants, the
children of my dispersed people, bring me an offering.

3:11. In that day thou shalt not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein
thou hast transgressed against me for then I will take away out of the
midst of thee thy proud boasters, and thou shalt no more be lifted up
because of my holy mountain.

3:12. And I will leave in the midst of thee a poor and needy people:
and they shall hope in the name of the Lord.

3:13. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, nor
shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed,
and shall lie down, and there shall be none to make them afraid.

3:14. Give praise, O daughter of Sion: shout, O Israel: be glad, and
rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

3:15. The Lord hath taken away thy judgment, he hath turned away thy
enemies: the king of Israel, the Lord, is in the midst of thee, thou
shalt fear evil no more.

3:16. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not: to Sion:
Let not thy hands be weakened.

3:17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save: he
will rejoice over thee with gladness, he will be silent in his love, he
will be joyful over thee in praise.

3:18. The triflers that were departed from the law, I will gather
together, because they were of thee: that thou mayest no more suffer
reproach for them.

3:19. Behold I will cut off all that have afflicted thee at that time:
and I will save her that halteth, and will gather her that was cast
out: and I will get them praise, and a name, in all the land where they
had been put to confusion.

3:20. At that time, when I will bring you: and at the time that I will
gather you: for I will give you a name, and praise among all the people
of the earth, when I shall have brought back your captivity before your
eyes, saith the Lord.




THE PROPHECY OF AGGEUS



AGGEUS was one of those that returned from the captivity of Babylon, in
the first year of the reign of king Cyrus. He was sent by the Lord, in
the second year of the reign of king Darius, the son of Hystaspes, to
exhort Zorobabel the prince of Juda, and Jesus the high priest, to the
building of the temple; which they had begun, but left off again
through the opposition of the Samaritans. In consequence of this
exhortation they proceeded in the building and finished the temple. And
the prophet was commissioned by the Lord to assure them that this
second temple should be more glorious than the former, because the
Messiah should honour it with his presence: signifying withal how much
the church of the New Testament should excel that of the Old Testament.



Aggeus Chapter 1


The people are reproved for neglecting to build the temple. They are
encouraged to set about the work.

1:1. In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the
first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Aggeus
the prophet, to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, governor of Juda, and
to Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, saying:

1:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: This people saith: The time
is not yet come for building the house of the Lord.

1:3. And the word of the Lord came by the hand of Aggeus the prophet,
saying:

1:4. Is it time for you to dwell in ceiled houses, and this house lie
desolate?

1:5. And now thus saith the Lord of hosts: Set your hearts to consider
your ways.

1:6. You have sowed much, and brought in little: you have eaten, but
have not had enough: you have drunk, but have not been filled with
drink: you have clothed yourselves, but have not been warmed: and he
that hath earned wages, put them into a bag with holes.

1:7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Set your hearts upon your ways:

1:8. Go up to the mountain, bring timber, and build the house: and it
shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, saith the Lord.

1:9. You have looked for more, and behold it became less, and you
brought it home, and I blowed it away: why, saith the Lord of hosts?
because my house is desolate, and you make haste every man to his own
house.

1:10. Therefore the heavens over you were stayed from giving dew, and
the earth was hindered from yielding her fruits:

1:11. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains,
and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon all
that the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon beasts, and upon
all the labour of the hands.

1:12. Then Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Jesus the son of Josedec
the high priest, and all the remnant of the people hearkened to the
voice of the Lord their God, and to the words of Aggeus the prophet, as
the Lord their God sent him to them: and the people feared before the
Lord.

1:13. And Aggeus the messenger of the Lord, as one of the messengers of
the Lord, spoke, saying to the people: I am with you, saith the Lord.

1:14. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zorobabel the son of
Salathiel governor of Juda, and the spirit of Jesus the son of Josedec
the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people: and they
went in, and did the work in the house of the Lord of Hosts their God.



Aggeus Chapter 2


Christ by his coming shall make the latter temple more glorious than
the former. The blessing of God shall reward their labour in building.
God's promise to Zorobabel.

2:1. In the four and twentieth day of the month, in the sixth month, in
the second year of Darius the king, they began.

2:2. And in the seventh month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of
Aggeus the prophet, saying:

2:3. Speak to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel the governor of Juda, and
to Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, and to the rest of the
people, saying:

2:4. Who is left among you, that saw this house in its first glory? and
how do you see it now? is it not in comparison to that as nothing in
your eyes?

2:5. Yet now take courage, O Zorobabel, saith the Lord, and take
courage, Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, and take courage,
all ye people of the land, saith the Lord of hosts: and perform (for I
am with you, saith the Lord of hosts)

2:6. The word that I convenanted with you when you came out of the land
of Egypt: and my spirit shall be in the midst of you: fear not.

2:7. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet one little while, and I will
move the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land.

2:8. And I will move all nations: AND THE DESIRED OF ALL NATIONS SHALL
COME: and I will fill this house with glory: saith the Lord of hosts.

2:9. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.

2:10. Great shall be the glory of this last house more than of the
first, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place I will give peace,
saith the Lord of hosts.

2:11. In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second
year of Darius the king, the word of the Lord came to Aggeus the
prophet, saying:

2:12. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests the law, saying:

2:13. If a man carry sanctified flesh in the skirt of his garment, and
touch with his skirt, bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat:
shall it be sanctified? And the priests answered, and said: No.

2:14. And Aggeus said: If one that is unclean by occasion of a soul
touch any of all these things, shall it be defiled? And the priests
answered, and said: It shall be defiled.

By occasion of a soul. . .That is, by having touched the dead; in which
case, according to the prescription of the law, Num. 19.13, 22, a
person not only became unclean himself, but made every thing that he
touched unclean. The prophet applies all this to the people, whose
souls remained unclean by neglecting the temple of God; and therefore
were not sanctified by the flesh they offered in sacrifice: but rather
defiled their sacrifices by approaching to them in the state of
uncleanness.

2:15. And Aggeus answered, and said: So is this people, and so is this
nation before my face, saith the Lord, and so is all the work of their
hands: and all that they have offered there, shall be defiled.

2:16. And now consider in your hearts, from this day and upward, before
there was a stone laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord.

2:17. When you went to a heap of twenty bushels, and they became ten:
and you went into the press, to press out fifty vessels, and they
became twenty.

2:18. I struck you with a blasting wind, and all the works of your hand
with the mildew and with hail, yet there was none among you that
returned to me, saith the Lord.

2:19. Set your hearts from this day, and henceforward, from the four
and twentieth day of the ninth month: from the day that the foundations
of the temple of the Lord were laid, and lay it up in your hearts.

2:20. Is the seed as yet sprung up? or hath the vine, and the fig tree,
and the pomegranate, and the olive tree as yet flourished? from this
day I will bless you.

2:21. And the word of the Lord came a second time to Aggeus in the four
and twentieth day of the month, saying:

2:22. Speak to Zorobabel the governor of Juda, saying: I will move both
heaven and earth.

2:23. And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and will destroy the
strength of the kingdom of the Gentiles: and I will overthrow the
chariot, and him that rideth therein: and the horses and their riders
shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

2:24. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will take thee, O
Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, my servant, saith the Lord, and will
make thee as a signet, for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.

O Zorobabel. . .This promise principally relates to Christ, who was of
the race of Zorobabel.




THE PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS



ZACHARIAS began to prophesy in the same year as Aggeus, and upon the
same occasion. His prophecy is full of mysterious figures and promises
of blessings, partly relating to the synagogue, and partly to the
church of Christ.



Zacharias Chapter 1


The prophet exhorts the people to return to God, and declares his
visions, by which he puts them in hopes of better times.

1:1. In the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word
of the Lord came to Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo,
the prophet, saying:

1:2. The Lord hath been exceeding angry with your fathers.

1:3. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye
to me, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will turn to you, saith the Lord
of hosts.

1:4. Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have cried,
saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye from your evil ways, and
from your wicked thoughts: but they did not give ear, neither did they
hearken to me, saith the Lord.

1:5. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, shall they live
always?

1:6. But yet my words, and my ordinances, which I gave in charge to my
servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers, and they
returned, and said: As the Lord of hosts thought to do to us according
to our ways, and according to our devices, so he hath done to us.

1:7. In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month which is
called Sabath, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came
to Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet,
saying:

1:8. I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he
stood among the myrtle trees, that were in the bottom: and behind him
were horses, red, speckled, and white.

A man. . .An angel in the shape of a man. It was probably Michael, the
guardian angel of the church of God.

1:9. And I said: What are these, my Lord? and the angel that spoke in
me, said to me: I will shew thee what these are:

1:10. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered, and said:
These are they, whom the Lord hath sent to walk through the earth.

These are they, etc. . .The guardian angels of provinces and nations.

1:11. And they answered the angel of the Lord, that stood among the
myrtle trees, and said: We have walked through the earth, and behold
all the earth is inhabited, and is at rest.

1:12. And the angel of the Lord answered, and said: O Lord of hosts,
how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of
Juda, with which thou hast been angry? this is now the seventieth year.

The seventieth year. . .Viz., from the beginning of the seige of
Jerusalem, in the ninth year of king Sedecias, to the second year of
king Darius. These seventy years of the desolation of Jerusalem and the
cities of Juda, are different from the seventy years of captivity
foretold by Jeremias; which began in the fourth year of Joakim, and
ended in the first year of king Cyrus.

1:13. And the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words,
comfortable words.

1:14. And the angel that spoke in me, said to me: Cry thou, saying:
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Jerusalem, and Sion with
a great zeal.

1:15. And I am angry with a great anger with the wealthy nations: for I
was angry a little, but they helped forward the evil.

1:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem in
mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts: and
the building line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

1:17. Cry yet, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities shall
yet flow with good things: and the Lord will yet comfort Sion, and he
will yet choose Jerusalem.

1:18. And I lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four horns.

Four horns. . .The four horns represent the empires, or kingdoms, that
persecute and oppress the kingdom of God.

1:19. And I said to the angel that spoke in me: What are these? And he
said to me: These are the horns that have scattered Juda, and Israel,
and Jerusalem.

1:20. And the Lord shewed me four smiths.

Four smiths. . .The four smiths, or carpenters ( for faber may signify
either) represent those whom God makes his instruments in bringing to
nothing the power of persecutors.

1:21. And I said: What come these to do? and he spoke, saying: These
are the horns which have scattered Juda every man apart, and none of
them lifted up his head: and these are come to fray them, to cast down
the horns of the nations, that have lifted up the horn upon the land of
Juda to scatter it.



Zacharias Chapter 2


Under the name of Jerusalem, he prophesieth the progress of the church
of Christ, by the conversion of some Jews and many Gentiles.

2:1. And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold a man, with a
measuring line in his hand.

2:2. And I said: Whither goest thou? and he said to me: To measure
Jerusalem, and to see how great is the breadth thereof, and how great
the length thereof.

2:3. And behold the angel that spoke in me went forth, and another
angel went out to meet him.

2:4. And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying:
Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude
of men, and of the beasts in the midst thereof.

Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls. . .This must be understood
of the spiritual Jerusalem, the church of Christ.

2:5. And I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about:
and I will be in glory in the midst thereof.

2:6. O, O flee ye out of the land of the north, saith the Lord, for I
have scattered you into the four winds of heaven, saith the Lord.

2:7. O Sion, flee, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon:

2:8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me
to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth
the apple of my eye:

2:9. For behold, I lift up my hand upon them, and they shall be a prey
to those that served them: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts
sent me.

2:10. Sing praise, and rejoice, O daughter of Sion: for behold I come,
and I will dwell in the midst of thee: saith the Lord.

2:11. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and
they shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee: and
thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to thee.

2:12. And the Lord shall possess Juda his portion in the sanctified
land: and he shall yet choose Jerusalem.

2:13. Let all flesh be silent at the presence of the Lord: for he is
risen up out of his holy habitation.



Zacharias Chapter 3


In a vision Satan appeareth accusing the high priest. He is cleansed
from his sins. Christ is promised, and great fruit from his passion.

3:1. And the Lord shewed me Jesus the high priest standing before the
angel of the Lord: and Satan stood on his right hand to be his
adversary.

Jesus. . .Alias, Josue, the son of Josedec, the high priest of that
time.

3:2. And the Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan: and the
Lord that chose Jerusalem rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire?

3:3. And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments: and he stood before
the face of the angel.

With filthy garments. . .Negligences and sins.

3:4. Who answered, and said to them that stood before him, saying: Take
away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him: Behold I have
taken away thy iniquity, and have clothed thee with change of garments.

3:5. And he said: Put a clean mitre upon his head: and they put a clean
mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of
the Lord stood.

3:6. And the angel of the Lord protested to Jesus, saying:

3:7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and
keep my charge, thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my
courts, and I will give thee some of them that are now present here to
walk with thee.

I will give thee, etc. . .Angels to attend and assist thee.

3:8. Hear, O Jesus thou high priest, thou and thy friends that dwell
before thee, for they are portending men: for behold, I WILL BRING MY
SERVANT THE ORIENT.

Portending men. . .That is, men, who by words and actions are to
foreshew wonders that are to come.--Ibid. My servant the
Orient. . .Christ, who according to his humanity is the servant of God,
is called the Orient from his rising like the sun in the east to
enlighten the world.

3:9. For behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: upon one stone
there are seven eyes: behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith
the Lord of hosts: and I will take away the iniquity of that land in
one day.

The stone. . .Another emblem of Christ, the rock, foundation, and corner
stone of his church.--Ibid. Seven eyes. . .The manifold providence of
Christ over his church, or the seven gifts of the spirit of God.--Ibid.
One day. . .Viz., the day of the passion of Christ, the source of all
our good: when this precious stone shall be graved, that is, cut and
pierced, with whips, thorns, nails, and spear.

3:10. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, every man shall call his
friend under the vine and under the fig tree.



Zacharias Chapter 4


The vision of the golden candlestick and seven lamps, and of the two
olive trees.

4:1. And the angel that spoke in me came again: and he waked me, as a
man that is wakened out of his sleep.

4:2. And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I have looked,
and behold a candlestick all of gold, and its lamp upon the top of it:
and the seven lights thereof upon it: and seven funnels for the lights
that were upon the top thereof.

A candlestick, etc. . .The temple of God that was then in building; and
in a more sublime sense, the church of Christ.

4:3. And two olive trees over it: one upon the right side of the lamp,
and the other upon the left side thereof.

4:4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me, saying:
What are these things, my lord?

4:5. And the angel that spoke in me answered, and said to me: Knowest
thou not what these things are? And I said: No, my lord.

4:6. And he answered, and spoke to me, saying: This is the word of the
Lord to Zorobabel, saying: Not with an army, nor by might, but by my
spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

To Zorobabel. . .This vision was in favour of Zorobabel: to assure him
of success in the building of the temple, which he had begun, signified
by the candlestick; the lamp of which, without any other industry, was
supplied with oil, dropping from the two olive trees, and distributed
by the seven funnels or pipes, to maintain the seven lights.

4:7. Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zorobabel? thou shalt
become a plain: and he shall bring out the chief stone, and shall give
equal grace to the grace thereof.

Great mountain. . .So he calls the opposition made by the enemies of
God's people; which nevertheless, without an army or might on their
side, was quashed by divine providence.--Ibid. Shall give equal grace,
etc. . .Shall add grace to grace, or beauty to beauty.

4:8. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

4:9. The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundations of this house,
and his hands shall finish it: and you shall know that the Lord of
hosts hath sent me to you.

4:10. For who hath despised little days? and they shall rejoice, and
shall see the tin plummet in the hand of Zorobabel. These are the seven
eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through the whole earth.

Little days. . .That is, these small and feeble beginnings of the temple
of God.--Ibid. The tin plummet. . .Literally, the stone of tin. He
means the builder's plummet, which Zorobabel shall hold in his hand for
the finishing the building.--Ibid. The seven eyes. . .The providence of
God, that oversees and orders all things.

4:11. And I answered, and said to him: What are these two olive trees
upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof
?

4:12. And I answered again, and said to him: What are the two olive
branches, that are by the two golden beaks, in which are the funnels of
gold?

4:13. And he spoke to me, saying: Knowest thou not what these are? And
I said: No, my lord.

4:14. And he said: These are two sons of oil who stand before the Lord
of the whole earth.

Two sons of oil. . .That is, the two anointed ones of the Lord; viz.,
Jesus the high priest, and Zorobabel the prince.



Zacharias Chapter 5


The vision of the flying volume, and of the woman in the vessel.

5:1. And I turned and lifted up my eyes: and I saw, and behold a volume
flying.

A volume. . .That is, a parchment, according to the form of the ancient
books, which, from being rolled up, were called volumes.

5:2. And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I see a volume
flying: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof
ten cubits.

5:3. And he said to me: This is the curse that goeth forth over the
face of the earth: for every thief shall be judged as is there written:
and every one that sweareth in like manner shall be judged by it.

5:4. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts: and it shall come
to the house of the thief, and to the house of him that sweareth
falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and
shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof.

5:5. And the angel went forth that spoke in me, and he said to me: Lift
up thy eyes, and see what this is, that goeth forth.

5:6. And I said: What is it? And he said: This is a vessel going
forth. And he said: This is their eye in all the earth.

This is their eye. . .This is what they fix their eye upon: or this is a
resemblance and figure of them, viz., of sinners.

5:7. And behold a talent of lead was carried, and behold a woman
sitting in the midst of the vessel.

5:8. And he said: This is wickedness. And he cast her into the midst of
the vessel, and cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

5:9. And I lifted up my eyes and looked: and behold there came out two
women, and wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings
of a kite: and they lifted up the vessel between the earth and the
heaven.

5:10. And I said to the angel that spoke in me: Whither do these carry
the vessel?

5:11. And he said to me: That a house may be built for it in the land
of Sennaar, and that it may be established, and set there upon its own
basis.

The land of Sennaar. . .Where Babel or Babylon was built, Gen. 11.,
where note, that Babylon in holy writ is often taken for the city of
the devil: that is, for the whole congregation of the wicked: as
Jerusalem is taken for the city and people of God.



Zacharias Chapter 6


The vision of the four chariots. Crowns are ordered for Jesus the high
priest, as a type of Christ.

6:1. And I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four
chariots came out from the midst of two mountains: and the mountains
were mountains of brass.

Four chariots. . .The four great empires of the Chaldeans, Persians,
Grecians, and Romans. Or perhaps by the fourth chariot are represented
the kings of Egypt and of Asia, the descendants of Ptolemeus and
Seleucus.

6:2. In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot
black horses.

6:3. And in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot
grisled horses, and strong ones.

6:4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me: What are
these, my lord?

6:5. And the angel answered, and said to me: These are the four winds
of the heaven, which go forth to stand before the Lord of all the
earth.

6:6. That in which were the black horses went forth into the land of
the north, and the white went forth after them: and the grisled went
forth to the land the south.

The land of the north. . .So Babylon is called; because it lay to the
north in respect of Jerusalem. The black horses, that is, the Medes and
Persians: and after them Alexander and his Greeks, signified by the
white horses, went thither because they conquered Babylon, executed
upon it the judgments of God, which is signified, ver. 8, by the
expression of quieting his spirit.--Ibid. The land of the
south. . .Egypt, which lay to the south of Jerusalem, and was occupied
first by Ptolemeus, and then by the Romans.

6:7. And they that were most strong, went out, and sought to go, and to
run to and fro through all the earth. And he said: Go, walk throughout
the earth: and they walked throughout the earth.

6:8. And he called me, and spoke to me, saying: Behold they that go
forth into the land of the north, have quieted my spirit in the land of
the north.

6:9. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

6:10. Take of them of the captivity, of Holdai, and of Tobias, and of
Idaias; thou shalt come in that day, a shalt go into the house of
Josias, the son of Sophonias, who came out of Babylon.

6:11. And thou shalt take gold and silver: and shalt make crowns, and
thou shalt set them on the head of Jesus the son of Josedec, the high
priest.

6:12. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord of
hosts, saying: BEHOLD A MAN, THE ORIENT IS HIS NAME: and under him
shall he spring up, a shall build a temple to the Lord.

6:13. Yea, he shall build a temple to the Lord: and he shall bear the
glory, and shall sit, and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a
priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them
both.

Between them both. . .That is, he shall unite in himself the two offices
or dignities of king and priest.

6:14. And the crowns shall be to Helem, and Tobias, and Idaias, and to
Hem, the son of Sophonias, a memorial in the temple of the Lord.

6:15. And they that are far off, shall come and shall build in the
temple of the Lord: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me
to you. But this shall come to pass, if hearing you will hear the voice
of the Lord your God.



Zacharias Chapter 7


The people inquire concerning fasting: they are admonished to fast from
sin.

7:1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the
word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth
month, which is Casleu.

7:2. When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him,
sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:

7:3. To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to
the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I
sanctify myself as I have now done for many years?

The fifth month. . .They fasted on the tenth day of the fifth month;
because on that day the temple was burnt. Therefore they inquire
whether they are to continue the fast, after the temple is rebuilt. See
this query answered in the 19th verse of the following chapter.

7:4. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

7:5. Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying:
When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for
these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?

7:6. And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves,
and drink for yourselves?

7:7. Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the
former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy,
both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants
towards the south, and in the plain?

7:8. And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:

7:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and
shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.

7:10. And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger,
and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his
brother.

7:11. But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to
depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.

7:12. And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should
hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit
by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from
Lord of hosts.

7:13. And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so
shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.

7:14. And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know
not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed
through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a
wilderness.



Zacharias Chapter 8


Joyful promises to Jerusalem: fully verified in the church of Christ.

8:1. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

8:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have been jealous for Sion with a
great jealousy, and with a great indignation have I been jealous for
her.

8:3. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am returned to Sion, and I will
dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city
of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The sanctified
mountain.

8:4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old
women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem: and every man with his staff
in his hand through multitude of days.

8:5. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls,
playing in the streets thereof.

8:6. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If it seem hard in the eyes of the
remnant of this people in those days: shall it be hard in my eyes,
saith the Lord of hosts?

8:7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will save my people from
the land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun.

8:8. And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God in
truth and in justice.

8:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strengthened, you
that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, in
the day that the house of the Lord of hosts was founded, that the
temple might be built.

8:10. For before those days there was no hire for men, neither was
there hire for beasts, neither was there peace to him that came in, nor
to him that went out, because of the tribulation: and I let all men go
every one against his neighbour.

8:11. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people according
to the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.

8:12. But there shall be the seed of peace: the vine shall yield her
fruit, and the earth shall give her increase, and the heavens shall
give their dew: and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess
all these things.

8:13. And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the
Gentiles, O house of Juda, and house of Israel: so will I save you, and
you shall be a blessing: fear not, let your hands be strengthened.

8:14. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: As I purposed io afflict you,
when your fathers had provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord,

8:15. And I had no mercy: so turning again I have thought in these days
to do good to the house of Juda, and Jerusalem: fear not.

8:16. These then are the things, which you shall do: Speak ye truth
every one to his neighbour; judge ye truth and judgment of peace in
your gates.

8:17. And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his
friend: and love not a false oath: for all these are the things that I
hate, saith the Lord.

8:18. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

8:19. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and
the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the
tenth shall be to the house of Juda, joy, and gladness, and great
solemnities: only love ye truth and peace.

The fast of the fourth month, etc. . .They fasted, on the ninth day of
the fourth month, because on that day Nabuchodonosor took Jerusalem,
Jer. 52.6. On the tenth day of the fifth month, because on that day the
temple was burnt, Jer. 52.12. On the third day of the seventh month,
for the murder of Godolias, Jer. 41.2. And on the tenth day of the
tenth month, because on that day the Chaldeans began to besiege
Jerusalem, 4 Kings 25.1. All these fasts, if they will be obedient for
the future, shall be changed, as is here promised, into joyful
solemnities.

8:20. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, until people come and dwell in many
cities,

8:21. And the inhabitants go one to another, saying: Let us go, and
entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Lord of hosts: I also
will go.

8:22. And many peoples, and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord
of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the face of the Lord.

8:23. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: In those days, wherein ten men of
all languages of the Gentiles shall take hold, and shall hold fast the
skirt of one that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you: for we have
heard that God is with you.

Ten men, etc. . .Many of the Gentiles became proselytes to the Jewish
religion before Christ: but many more were converted to Christ by the
apostles and other preachers of the Jewish nation.



Zacharias Chapter 9


God will defend his church, and bring over even her enemies to the
faith. The meek coming of Christ, to bring peace, to deliver the
captives by his blood, and to give us all good things.

9:1. The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and of
Damascus the rest thereof: for the eye of man, and of all the tribes of
Israel is the Lord's.

Hadrach. . .Syria.

9:2. Emath also in the borders thereof, and Tyre, and Sidon: for they
have taken to themselves to be exceeding wise.

9:3. And Tyre hath built herself a strong hold, and heaped together
silver as earth, and gold as the mire of the streets.

9:4. Behold the Lord shall possess her, and shall strike her strength
in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire.

9:5. Ascalon shall see, and shall fear, and Gaza, and shall be very
sorrowful: and Accaron, because her hope is confounded: and the king
shall perish from Gaza, and Ascalon shall not be inhabited.

9:6. And the divider shall sit in Azotus, and I will destroy the pride
of the Philistines.

9:7. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his
abominations from between his teeth: and even he shall be left to our
God, and he shall be as a governor in Juda, and Accaron as a Jebusite.

His blood. . .It is spoken of the Philistines, and particularly of
Azotus, (where the temple of Dagon was,) and contains a prophecy of the
conversion of that people from their bloody sacrifices and abominations
to the worship of the true God.

9:8. And I will encompass my house with them that serve me in war,
going and returning, and the oppressor shall no more pass through them:
for now I have seen with my eyes.

That serve me in war. . .Viz., the Machabees.

9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O daughter of
Jerusalem: BEHOLD THY KING will come to thee, the just and saviour: he
is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.

9:10. And I will destroy the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse out
of Jerusalem, and the bow for war shall be broken: and he shall speak
peace to the Gentiles, and his power shall be from sea to sea, and from
the rivers even to the end of the earth.

9:11. Thou also by the blood of thy testament hast sent forth thy
prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.

9:12. Return to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope, I will render
thee double as I declare today.

9:13. Because I have bent Juda for me as a bow, I have filled Ephraim:
and I will raise up thy sons, O Sion, above thy sons, O Greece, and I
will make thee as the sword of the mighty.

Thy sons, O Sion, etc. . .Viz., the apostles, who, in the spiritual way,
conquered the Greeks, and subdued them to Christ.

9:14. And the Lord God shall be seen over them, and his dart shall go
forth as lightning: and the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and go in
the whirlwind of the south.

9:15. The Lord of hosts will protect them: and they shall devour, and
subdue with the stones of the sling: and drinking they shall be
inebriated as it were with wine, and they shall be filled as bowls, and
as the horns of the altar.

9:16. And the Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock
of his people: for holy stones shall be lifted up over his land.

Holy stones. . .The apostles, who shall be as pillars and monuments in
the church.

9:17. For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful
thing, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?

The corn, etc. . .His most excellent gift is the blessed Eucharist,
called here The corn, that is, the bread of the elect, and the wine
springing forth virgins; that is, maketh virgins to bud, or spring
forth, as it were, like flowers among thorns; because it has a
wonderful efficacy to give and preserve purity.



Zacharias Chapter 10


God is to be sought to, and not idols. The victories of his church,
which shall arise originally from the Jewish nation.

10:1. Ask ye of the Lord rain in the latter season, and the Lord will
make snows, and will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in
the field.

10:2. For the idols have spoken what was unprofitable, and the diviners
have seen a lie, and the dreamers have spoken vanity: they comforted in
vain: therefore they were led away as a flock: they shall be afflicted,
because they have no shepherd.

10:3. My wrath is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit upon
the buck goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock, the house
of Juda, and hath made them as the horse of his glory in the battle.

10:4. Out of him shall come forth the corner, out of him the pin, out
of him the bow of battle, out of him ever exacter together.

10:5. And they shall be as mighty men, treading under foot the mire of
the ways in battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with
them, and the riders of horses shall be confounded.

10:6. And I will strengthen the house of Juda, and save the house of
Joseph: and I will bring them back again, because I will have mercy on
them: and they shall be as they were when I had not cast them off, for
I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.

10:7. And they shall be as the valiant men of Ephraim, and their heart
shall rejoice as through wine: and their children shall see, and shall
rejoice, and their heart shall be joyful in the Lord.

10:8. I will whistle for them, and I will gather them together, because
I have redeemed them: and I will multiply them as they were multiplied
before.

10:9. And I will sow them among peoples: and from afar they shall
remember me: and they shall live with their children, and shall return.

10:10. And I will bring them back out of the land of Egypt, and I will
gather them from among the Assyrians: and will bring them to the land
of Galaad, and Libanus, and place shall not be found for them.

10:11. And he shall pass over the strait of the sea, and shall strike
the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the river shall be
confounded, and the pride of Assyria shall be humbled, and the sceptre
of Egypt shall depart.

10:12. I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk in his
name, saith the Lord.



Zacharias Chapter 11


The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. God's dealings with the
Jews, and their reprobation.

11:1. Open thy gates, O Libanus, and let fire devour thy cedars.

O Libanus. . .So Jerusalem, and more particularly the temple, is called
by the prophets, from its height, and from its being built of the
cedars of Libanus.--Ibid. Thy cedars. . .Thy princes and chief men.

11:2. Howl, thou fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, for the mighty are
laid waste: howl, ye oaks of Basan, because the fenced forest is cut
down.

11:3. The voice of the howling of the shepherds, because their glory is
laid waste: the voice of the roaring of the lions, because the pride of
the Jordan is spoiled.

11:4. Thus saith the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter,

11:5. Which they that possessed, slew, and repented not, and they sold
them, saying: Blessed be the Lord, we are become rich: and their
shepherds spared them not.

11:6. And I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, saith the
Lord: behold I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbour's
hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall destroy the land,
and I will not deliver it out of their hand.

Every one into his neighbour's hand, etc. . .This alludes to the last
siege of Jerusalem, in which the different factions of the Jews
destroyed one another; and they that remained fell into the hands of
their king, that is, of the Roman emperor, of whom they had said, John
19.15, we have no king but Caesar.

11:7. And I will feed the flock of slaughter for this, O ye poor of the
flock. And I took unto me two rods, one I called Beauty, and the other
I called a Cord, and I fed the flock.

Two rods. . .Or shepherd's staves, meaning the different ways of God's
dealing with his people; the one, by sweet means, called the rod of
Beauty: the other, by bands and punishments, called the Cord. And where
both these rods are made of no use or effect by the obstinacy of
sinners, the rods are broken, and such sinners are given up to a
reprobate sense, as the Jews were.

11:8. And I cut off three shepherds in one month, and my soul was
straitened in their regard: for their soul also varied in my regard.

Three shepherds in one month. . .That is, in a very short time. By these
three shepherds probably are meant the latter princes and high priests
of the Jews, whose reign was short.

11:9. And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die:
and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour
every one the flesh of his neighbour.

11:10. And I took my rod that was called Beauty, and I cut it asunder
to make void my covenant, which I had made with all people.

11:11. And it was made void in that day: and so the poor of the flock
that keep for me, understood that it is the word of the Lord.

11:12. And I said to them: If it be good in your eyes, bring hither my
wages: and if not, be quiet. And they weighed for my wages thirty
pieces of silver.

11:13. And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the statuary, a handsome
price, that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of
silver, and I cast them into the house of the Lord to the statuary.

The statuary. . .The Hebrew word signifies also a potter.

11:14. And I cut off my second rod that was called a Cord, that I might
break the brotherhood between Juda and Israel.

11:15. And the Lord said to me: Take to thee yet the instruments of a
foolish shepherd.

A foolish shepherd. . .This was to represent the foolish, that is, the
wicked princes and priests that should rule the people, before their
utter desolation.

11:16. For behold I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not
visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is
broken, nor nourish that which standeth, and he shall eat the flesh of
the fat ones, and break their hoofs.

11:17. O shepherd, and idol, that forsaketh the flock: the sword upon
his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quite wither away, and
his right eye shall be utterly darkened.



Zacharias Chapter 12


God shall protect his church against her persecutors. The mourning of
Jerusalem.

12:1. The burden of the word of the Lord upon Israel. Thus saith the
Lord, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of
the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in him:

12:2. Behold I will make Jerusalem a lintel of surfeiting to all the
people round about: and Juda also shall be in the siege against
Jerusalem.

A lintel of surfeiting. . .That is, a door into which they shall seek to


 


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