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II. 2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. And the Spirit of God entered into me, and put courage into my heart, together with the outward sound of his word; and raised me up from my grovelling, and set me on my feet.

II. 5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

And they, whether they will hear, or will not hear (as they are more like; for they are a stubborn people,) shall yet be convinced of their rebellion by thy prophecy; and shall, by the event, feel and find, that they have had a prophet amongst them, whereby their sins are either reformed, or shall be more deeply punished.

II. 6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, &c. Though this people shall be to thee as briers and thorns, which shall prick and wound thy soul; and thou must dwell among scorpions, which shall sting thee unto death; yet be not afraid, &c. II. 8 Open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.

Open thy mouth, and, in signification and assurance that thou dost obediently receive these messages which I deliver unto thee, and wilt be ready to utter them to my people, eat that which I shall give unto thee.

III. 1, 2 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

Moreover he said unto me, in this vision of mine, Son of man, eat that which I now offer thee. See chap. ii. verse 8.

III. 3 Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for

sweetness.

Then, methought, I did eat up that roll; and, though it were written within and without with lamentations, yet, in my mouth, as I was chewing it, it seemed to be sweet as honey; so pleasing a contentment there is, in a holy obedience to the commands of God.

III. 8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

Behold, I have given thee boldness and courage, to bear up against their strong oppositions; so as thou shalt not be daunted with their outfacings.

III. 9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead.

Yea, I have put an invincible courage into thee, so as no force of theirs shall be able to prevail against thee.

III. 12 Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. Blessed be the name, and praised be the glory of the Son of God, who sits upon this throne of Majesty.

III. 13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.

And I heard the noise. of the wings of those Angels, which I saw, and the noise of those wheels, which were moved by them, in an applause or acclamation to that praise and celebration of the name of Christ, as that wherein all creatures conspire.

III. 14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

So the Spirit of God lifted me up from the ground, on which I lay; and removed me from that place, separating me also, for the time, from the common society of men: and I went away very heavy and pensive, and much troubled in my spirit, for the sad purport of this vision; but the power of God's Spirit was forcible and prevalent with me, so as I was not too much dejected, either with that fearful apparition or that grievous errand.

III. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: &c.

Again, when a man, that carries himself as righteous and is in his whole course inoffensive, doth turn away from that his holy profession and give himself over to a trade of wickedness, and I meet with him in that sinful course and surprise him with my judgments, he shall die, &c. Those good actions, which he hath formerly done, and his forepast holy carriage, shall not be so respected, as to keep him from just condemnation; &c.

III. 23 And, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar.

And, behold, there it pleased God to give me a representation of his glorious presence, as before when I was by the river Chebar.

III. 24 Then the spirit entered into me, &c. See verse 14.

III. 25 They shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with

them.

Their wickedness shall tie up thy tongue, and cause thee to keep close from them.

III. 26 And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover.

I will impose silence upon thee for a judgment to them, so as thou shalt not reprove their misdeeds any more.

III. 27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear.

But when I renew my commission to thee and bid thee to speak, I will then give thee a freedom of speech unto them, and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord: whether they hear thee or hear thee not, it is all one to thee; do thou thy duty, and it sufficeth.

IV. Take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.

Make thee upon a tile, a model or draught or the city Jerusalem. IV. 2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and

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cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.

And then make the model of a siege laid against that so-pourtrayed city; in all the representations of those hostile actions, that are wont to be done against a city that is beleaguered.

IV. 3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

And, to signify the strength and invincibleness of that siege, set a pot of iron between thee and that city; and then do thou set thy face against it, as if thou wert the besieger of it: and this shall be a sign to all the people of Israel, what they shall really expect to be performed against them.

IV. 4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.

Lie thou also upon thy left side, and, by thy quiet and still lying thereon, represent unto the house of Israel, the Ten Tribes, how long I have lain patiently under the many provocations, which I have had from those rebellious Israelites: according to the number of the days, wherein thou shalt, in vision, lie upon that side, thou shalt represent my patience under the iniquity of the house of

Israel.

IV. 5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

So many days as thou shalt, in the appointment of this vision, lie upon that left side, for this purpose; so many have been the years, that I have quietly forborne to revenge the iniquities of Israel, that is, three hundred and ninety years, answerable to so many days, since their defection under Jeroboam.

IV. 6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

And when thou hast done this, in a figure of what I have done for Israel, then lie another while, upon thy right side, to represent my bearing with the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days are, in thy vision, appointed for this posture, in figure of forty years, that I have been provoked by the sins of Judah.

IV. 7 Thine arm shall be uncovered.

Thine arm shall be uncovered; to signify the vehemence and readiness of execution, which shall be in the besiegers of Jerusalem.

IV. 8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of Why siege.

And, to shew the immutable certainty of that my decree for the besieging of Jerusalem, I will lay bands upon thee, in this vision, that thou mayest not change sides, till the days of that fore-appointed siege be fulfilled.

IV. 9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou cat thereof.

And, as thou shalt thus represent the siege, so also, in the sequel, thou shalt represent the famine, which shall fall upon Jerusalem; take thee, therefore, all kinds of grain, wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and fitches, and put them all together, and make bread of this mesline, and eat thereof for the space of three hundred and ninety days; to signify, that, in that strait siege, there shall be such scarcity, as that they shall be glad of the

coarsest sustenance.

IV. 10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou cat it.

And thy meat, which thou shalt eat, shall be stinted unto thee, according to five ounces, the day.

IV. 11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

Neither shalt thou have full scope to drink how much water thou pleasest, but shalt have it allowed thee by measure, about a pint a day; and so shalt continue.

IV. 12, 13 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight, &c.

And thou shalt make it up in the form of barley cakes, and shalt bake it, instead of coals, with man's dung, in the sight of the people; to signify that extreme pollution, whereto God will give over his people, among the Gentiles.

IV. 14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.

Then said I, Ah Lord God, behold, as I have been consecrated to thy service in the priesthood, so I have carefully kept myself from all legal pollutions from my youth: I have not eaten ought, that is forbidden by thy law, but have avoided all those offensive meats, of what kind soever; and now, thou knowest that this excrementitious fire, which thou enjoinest, is, besides the loathsomeness, unclean by thy law.

IV. 16 I will break the staff of bread. See Leviticus xxvi.

verse 26.

V. 1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. To fore-signify that variety of miserable desolation which shall come upon Jerusalem, take thee a sharp knife, even a barber's razor, and therewith cause all the hair of thy head and beard to be shaven off the hairs of thy head and beard represent the numerous inhabitants of Jerusalem: all they shall be cut, by several

ways of destruction; and therefore take thy balances, and weigh thy hair into three equal parts.

V. 2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. One third part, shalt thou burn with fire; to shew the extremity of that calamity, which a third part of the inhabitants shall endure, in pestilence and famine, in the siege: another third part, thou shalt smite about with a knife; to shew, that a third part of them shall fall by the sword: and one other third part of it, thou shalt scatter in the wind; to signify their dispersion in the captivity, which shall be attended also with much cruelty afterwards. See verse 12.

V. 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

But thou shalt take up a few of those hairs out of this division, and shalt bind them in thy skirts; to signify that there shall be a small remnant yet reserved of my people.

V. 4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

Then, afterward, take of them again, which thou hadst reserved in thy skirts, and cast them into the midst of the fire; to signify, that those remainders shall put themselves into miserable affliction, and at last shall bring an utter destruction to all the house of Israel.

V. 16 I will send upon them the evil arrows of famine.

I will send a grievous famine upon them, which, like unto deadly arrows, shall pierce through their souls.

VI. 3 Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord &c. The men of Israel will not hear; hear therefore, O ye mountains of Israel, which are less deaf than they, hear ye the judgments, that God hath denounced against the sinful remainders of Israel.

VI. 9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols.

And those, that escape of you, shall remember me among the nations, &c. and bethink themselves how I have been over-provoked by their wicked idolatries; in that they have departed from me, and have abandoned themselves to their shameful and abominable idols.

VI. 11 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas &c.

Be thou vehement and passionate, in expressing thy sorrow and indignation for the sins and judgments of thy people; and therefore smite thine hands together, and stamp with thy feet, and say,

Alas &c.

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