1 God taketh awaie the good, that he shulde not se the horrible plagues to come 3 Of the wicked idolaters, 9 And their vain confidence.
1.The righteous perisheth, and no man considereth it in heart: and merciful men are taken away, & no man understandeth that the righteous is taken away afrom the evil to come.
2.bPeace shal come: they shal rest in their beds, every one that walketh before him.
3.But you cwitche’s children, come hither, the seed of the adulterer and of the whore.
4.On whom have ye jested? upon whom have ye gaped & thrust out your tongue? are not ye rebellious children, & a false seed?
5.Inflamed with idols under every green tree? and sacrificing the dchildren in the valleys under the tops of the rocks?
6.Thy portion is in the smooth stones eof the river . they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering: thou hast offered a sacrifice. Should I delite in fthese?
7.Thou hast made thy gbed upon a very high mountain: thou wentest up thether, even thether wentest thou to offer sacrifice.
8.Behind the hdoors also and posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thy self to another then me, and wentest up and didest ienlarge thy bed, and make a covenant between thee and them, and lovedst their bed in every place where thou sawest it.
9.Thou wentest kto the Kings with oil, and didest increase thine ointments and send thy messengers far off, and didest humble thy self unto hell.
10.Thou weariedst thy self in thy manifold journeys, yet saidest thou not, lThere is no hope: thou mhast found life by thine hand, therefore thou wast not grieved.
11.And whom didest thou reverence or fear, seeing thou hast nlied unto me, and hast not remembered me, neither set thy mind thereon? is it not because I hold my peace, and that of long otime? therefore thou fearest not me.
12.I will declare thy prighteousness and thy works, and they shal not profit thee.
13.When thou cryest, let them that thou hast gathered together deliver thee: but the wind shal qtake them all away: vanity shal pul them away: but he that trusteth in me, shal inherit the land, and shal possess mine holie Mountain.
14.rAnd he shall say, Cast up, cast up: prepare the way: take up the stumbling blocks out of the way of my people.
15.For thus saith he, that is hie and excellent, he that inhabiteth the eternity, whose Name is the Holie one, I dwell in the hie and holie place: with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble, and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart.
16.For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wrath, sfor the spirit should fail before me: and I have made the breath.
17.For his wicked tcovetousnes I am angry with him, and have smitten him: I hid me and was angry, yet he went away, and turned after the way of his own heart.
18.I have seen his ways, and will uheal him: I will lead him also, and restore comfort unto him, and to those that lament him.
19.I create the xfruit of the lips to be peace: peace unto them that are yfar off, and to them that are near, saith the Lord: for I will heal him.
20.But the wicked are like the raging sea, that can znot rest, whose waters cast up myre and dirt.
21.There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
The soul of the righteous shall be in joy and their body shall rest in the grave unto the time of the resurrection, because they walked before the Lord.
He threatens the wicked hypocrites, who under the pretence of the name of God’s people derided God’s word and his promises: boasting openly that they were the children of Abraham, but because they were not faithful & obedient as Abraham was, he calls them bastards, & the children of sorcerers, which forsook God and fled to wicked means for succour.
Instead of setting up the word of God in the open places on the posts and doors to have it in remembrance, Deut. 6.9, and 27.1 you have set up signs and marks of your idolatry in their place.
You did seek the favour of the Assyrians by gifts and presents, to help you against the Egyptians: and when they failed, you sought to the Babylonians and more and more did torment yourself.