IA LAMENTATION FOR THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL
Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say, "What was thy mother?
"A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the{345}young lions she nourished her whelps. And she brought up one of her whelps; he became a young lion: and he learned to catch the prey, he devoured men. The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit: and they brought him with hooks unto the land of Egypt. Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion: and he learned to catch the prey, he devoured men. And he knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, because of the noise of his roaring. Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces: and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit. And they put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strong holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
"Thy mother was like a vine, in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches. But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them. And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. And fire is gone out of the rods of her branches, it hath{346}devoured her fruit, so that there is in her no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."
IITHE DOOM OF TYRE
(The description of Tyre is particularly valuable, because it gives such a vivid picture of the commercial activity of a great city in ancient times.)
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, 'Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste:' therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and she shall become a spoil to the nations. And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord." For thus saith the Lord God: "Behold, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the{347}field: and he shall make forts against thee, and cast up a mount against thee, and raise up the buckler against thee. And he shall set his battering engines against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people with the sword, and the pillars of thy strength shall go down to the ground. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the waters. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee a bare rock: thou shalt be a place for the spreading of nets; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God."
Thus saith the Lord God to Tyre: "Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at thee. And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, 'How art thou{348}destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which caused their terror to be on all that haunt it!' Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at thy departure."
For thus saith the Lord God: "When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee; then will I bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make thee to dwell in the nether parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living: I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again," saith the Lord God.
(The prophet here draws a striking picture of Eastern commerce. He pictures Tyre as a ship, trading in the commodities of all the nations of the world, but wrecked at last and destroyed by the storm.)
The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, And thou, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre; and say unto Tyre, O thou that dwellest at the entry of the sea, which art the merchant of the peoples unto many isles, thus saith the Lord God: Thou, O Tyre, hast said, "I am perfect in beauty."
Thy borders are in the heart of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy planks of fir trees from Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make a mast for thee.
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Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim.
Of fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thy sail, that it might be to thee for an ensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning.
The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy rowers: thy wise men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots.
The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war: they hung the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy towers: they hung their shields upon thy walls round about; they have perfected thy beauty.
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin and lead, they traded for thy wares.
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise.
They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with horses and war-horses and mules.
The men of Dedan were thy traffickers: many isles were the mart of thine hand: they brought thee in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.
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Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of thy handiworks: they traded for thy wares with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.
Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy traffickers: they traded for thy merchandise wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
[Footnote: Pannag--Perhaps a kind of confection.]
Damascus was thy merchant for the multitude of thy handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for thy wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among thy merchandise.
Dedan was thy trafficker in precious cloths for riding. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of thy hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they thy merchants.
The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy traffickers: they traded for thy wares with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were thy traffickers. These were thy traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
The ships of Tarshish were thy caravans for thy merchandise: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.
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Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas.
Thy riches, and thy wares, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, with all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
At the sound of the cry of thy pilots the suburbs shall shake. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land, and shall cause their voice to be heard over thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: and they shall make themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, "Who is there like Tyre, like her that is brought to silence in the midst of the sea?" When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
In the time that thou wast broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company did fall in the midst of thee.
All the inhabitants of the isles are astonished at thee, and their kings are horribly afraid, they are troubled in their countenance.
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The merchants among the peoples hiss at thee; thou art become a terror, and thou shalt never be any more.
IIITHE VALLEY OF DRY BONES
(This is a strong picture of the reviving power of God's spirit in a repentant nation.)
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones; and he caused me to pass by them round about: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.
And he said unto me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest."
Again he said unto me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, 'O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'"
Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones: "Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord."
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold an earthquake, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And I beheld, and lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above: but there was no breath in{353}them. Then said he unto me, "Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, 'Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.'"
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Then he said unto me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.'
"Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, 'Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people. And I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.'"
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AMOS
(Amos, one of the earliest of the prophets, was a poor herdsman of the village of Tekoa, which was about twelve miles southeast of Jerusalem, on the edge of the great wilderness or pasture land, which stretches from the crest of the hills to the Dead Sea. The call of God came to him to leave his herds and speak against the immorality, the oppression of the poor, the injustice of the people in the northern kingdom of Israel. He appeared at one of the great feasts and spoke his message boldly. The priest of Bethel, where the feast was held, was very angry with him, and tried to frighten him by sending to the king the report that he was a traitor. This is)
ITHE MESSAGE OF AMOS AT THE FEAST
This the Lord Jehovah caused me to see: behold, he formed locusts at the beginning of the coming up of the spring crops, and behold, it was after the king's mowings. It came to pass when they had made an end of devouring the verdure of the earth, that I said,
"O Lord Jehovah, pardon, I pray Thee! How shall Jacob rise again? He is so small!"
Jehovah repented for this. "It shall not be," saith Jehovah.
This the Lord Jehovah caused me to see: and behold, the Lord Jehovah was calling fire into the contest; and it devoured the Great Deep, yea, it was about to devour the land.
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"O Lord Jehovah, pardon, I pray thee! How shall Jacob rise again? He is so small!"
Jehovah repented for this. "It also shall not come to pass," saith the Lord Jehovah.
This he showed me, and behold the Lord has taken his station upon a city wall, a wall built with a plumbline.
And Jehovah said to me, "What art thou seeing?" And I said, "A plumbline." And the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass them over. The high places of Israel shall be desolate and the sanctuaries of Isaac laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
IIAMOS DEFIES THE PRIEST
("As Savonarola at the Duomo in Florence, as Luther at the Diet of Worms, as our Lord Himself at the feast in Jerusalem, so was Amos at the feast in Bethel."--Smith.)
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to hold his words." For thus hath Amos said, "By the sword shall Jeroboam die, and Israel going shall go into captivity from off his own land."
And Amaziah Said unto Amos, "Visionary, be gone! Get thee off to the land of Judah; and eat thy bread there, and there play the prophet. But at Bethel thou shalt not{356}again prophesy. The king's sanctuary it is, and the house of the kingdom."
But Amos answered and said unto Amaziah, "No prophet I, nor prophet's son. But a herdsman I, and a dresser of sycamores; and Jehovah took me from behind the flock and Jehovah said unto me, 'Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.'
"Now therefore hearken to the word of Jehovah, thou that sayest, prophesy not against Israel, nor let drop thy words against the house of Israel; therefore thus saith Jehovah. Thy wife in the city shall become an outcast; and thy sons and thy daughters by the sword--shall fall; and thy land--by the measuring rope shall be divided; and thou in an unclean land shalt die. And Israel shall be driven from his land into captivity."
IIITHE DOOM OF A CORRUPT CIVILIZATION
Hear this word which Jehovah hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities." Can two walk together except they have an appointment? Doth a lion roar in the jungle and have no prey? Doth a young lion let forth his voice from his den if he hath taken nothing?
Doth a little bird fall on the snare earthwards and there be no noose about her? Doth the snare itself rise up from the ground, except it be capturing something?
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CONVENT OF MAR-SARBA IN THE HILL COUNTRY OF JUDEA.
It is on the edge of this "wilderness of Judea" that the towns of Bethlehem, and Tekoa, the home of Amos, are situated, and in this region both David and Amos pastured their sheep.
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Is the alarm trumpet blown in a city and do the people not tremble? Shall calamity happen in a city and Jehovah not have done it? Yea, the Lord Jehovah doeth nothing but he has revealed his purpose to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared, who shall not fear? Jehovah hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Make proclamation over the palaces in Ashdod, and over the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, "Gather upon the Mount of Samaria and see! Confusions manifold in the midst of her; violence to her very core!" Yea they know not how to do uprightness, saith Jehovah, who store up wrong and violence in their palaces. Therefore saith the Lord, "Siege and investment of the land! And they shall bring down thy fortresses and plundered shall be thy palaces." Thus saith Jehovah: "As the shepherd saveth from the mouth of the lion, a pair of shin bones or a bit of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be saved--they who sit in Samaria in the corner of the divan and on a Damascus couch."
"Hear ye, and testify against the house of Jacob"--saith the Lord God of Hosts. "For on the days when I visit the crimes of Israel upon him, I shall there make visitation upon the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house, and the summer house, and the ivory houses shall perish, yea, swept away shall be houses many"-- oracle of Jehovah.
Hear this word, women of Israel, kine of Bashan that are in the mount of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say to their lords, "Bring, and let us{360}drink." Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by his holiness, lo! days are coming when there shall be a taking away of you with hooks, and of the last of you with fish-hooks. Yea, by the breaches (in the wall of the stormed city) shall ye go out, everyone headlong, and ye shall fling yourselves out on the mountains as a refuge.
IVFALSE WORSHIP. THE CHASTISEMENT OF THE LORD
Come away to Bethel and transgress!
At Gilgal exaggerate your transgressions!
And bring every morning your sacrifices.
Every three days your tithes!
And send up the savour of leavened bread as a thank-offering.
And call out your charities--make them to be heard!
For so ye loved to do, a children of Israel--saith the Lord.
But I on my side withheld from you the winter rain, while it was still three months to the harvest, and I let it rain repeatedly on one city, and upon one city I did not let it rain: one piece was rained upon, and the piece that was not rained upon withered: and two or three cities kept struggling to one city for water, and were not satisfied--yet ye did not return to me--saith the Lord.
I smote you with blasting and with mildew: many of your gardens and your vineyards and your figs and your olives the locust devoured--yet ye did not return to me--saith the Lord.
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I overturned among you, like God's own overturning of Sodom and Gomorrah, till ye became as a brand plucked from the burning--yet ye did not return to me--saith the Lord.
Therefore, thus shall I do to thee, O Israel: because I am going to do this to thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth to man what his thought is, that maketh the morning, darkness, and marcheth on the high places of the earth, the Lord God of Hosts his name.
VTHE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR
Seek ye Jehovah and live, lest he break forth like fire, O house of Joseph, and it consume and there be none to quench at Bethel. He that made the Pleiades and Orion, that turneth the deep shadow into morning, and day he darkeneth to night, that calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them out on the face of the earth--Jehovah, his name. He it is that flasheth out ruin on strength, and bringeth down destruction on the fortified.
They that turn justice to wormwood, and abase righteousness to the earth! They hate him that reproveth in the gate and him that speaketh sincerely they abhor. Wherefore, because ye trample on the weak, and take from him a present of corn, ye shall have houses built of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them: vineyards for pleasure have ye planted, but ye shall not drink of their wine. For I know how many are your crimes and how forceful your sins--ye that browbeat the righteous, take bribes and{362}turn aside the poor in the gate. Therefore the prudent in such a time is dumb, for an evil time it is.
Seek good and not evil, that ye may live, and Jehovah God of Hosts be with you as ye say he is. Hate evil and love good: and in the gate set justice on her feet again --it may be that Jehovah God of Hosts may have pity on the remnant of Joseph.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, God of Hosts, Lord: On all the open ways, lamentation, and in all streets they shall be saying, "Ah woe! Ah woe!" And in all vineyards, lamentation, and they shall call the ploughman to wailing, and to lamentation them that are skilful in dirges, for I shall pass through their midst, saith Jehovah.
Woe unto you that long for the day of the Lord!
Wherefore would ye have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light. As when a man fleeth from the face of a lion and a bear falls upon him: and he comes unto the house and leans his hand upon the wall and a serpent bites him. Is it not darkness, the day of Jehovah, and not light? storm-darkness, and not a ray of light upon it?
I hate, I loathe your feasts, and I will not smell the savour of your gatherings to sacrifice. Though ye bring to me your burnt-offering, and your meal-offerings, I will not be pleased, or your thank-offerings of fatted calves, I will not look at them. Let cease from me the noise of thy songs: to the playing of thy viols I will not listen. But let justice roll on like water, and righteousness like an unfailing stream.
[Footnote: This translation is in the main that of George Adam Smith in the "Expositor's Bible."]
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HOSEA
(Hosea belonged to the same generation as Amos, and meets the same social sins and oppressions of the poor by the rich. He emphasizes the religious side of the difficulties. Sin is treachery against God, and peculiarly mean treachery; for God loves his people. Hosea's emphasis on the love of God is almost the beginning of the greatest idea about God that man ever conceived. It grew out of a very sad part of his own life. His wife had left him, and yet he could not forget her. He still loved her, and could not cease loving her. This experience showed him what God must be like. God loved Israel. When Israel sinned, God was hurt and saddened. Could God cease to love Israel? Never! If he, a man, still loved his wife, could Jehovah, being God, love less? Must not his love be greater than man's? So it comes about that Hosea gives a very vivid and wonderful picture of the sad and terrible results of sin, and of the tender, compassionate love of God. The book is more disconnected than many of the prophecies. It is a series of independent sections, nearly all of which express, in different language, much the same ideas of Israel's sin and God's love.)
ISOWING THE WIND; REAPING THE WHIRLWIND
When I would heal Israel, then is the iniquity of Ephraim discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood: and the thief entereth in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. And they consider not{364}in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now have their own doings beset them about; they are before my face. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me. Ephraim, he mixeth himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, and he knoweth it not. And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: yet they have not returned unto the Lord their God, nor sought him for all this. And Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding: they call unto Egypt, they go to Assyria. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the birds of the heaven: I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. Woe unto them! for they have wandered from me; destruction unto them! for they have trespassed against me: though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me. And they have not cried unto me with their heart, but they howl upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, they rebel against me. Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet do they devise mischief against me. They return, but not to him that is on high; they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
Set the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle he cometh{365}against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. They shall cry unto me, "My God, we, Israel, know thee." Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God: yea, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
IITHE LONGING OF GOD FOR HIS CHILDREN
Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. And let us follow on to know the Lord; his going forth is sure as the morning: and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. The more the prophet called them, the more they went from them: they sacrificed unto the Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. Yet I{366}taught Ephraim to walk; I took them on my arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? mine heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not come in wrath. They shall walk after the Lord, who shall roar like a lion: for he shall roar, and the children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will make them to dwell in their houses, saith the Lord. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O grave, where is thy destruction? I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
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MICAH
(It is supposed that Micah lived in the time of Isaiah, the prophet. His message resembles that of Amos in its stern denunciation of the wrong-doing of the rich. He himself belonged to the poorer classes and speaks from a full heart when he describes the misery of the poor and the oppression of the rich. Like Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea, he is a social reformer.)
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. The voice of the Lord crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. "Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt store up, but shalt not keep it; and that which thou carriest away will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but shalt not{368}reap: thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine."
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the firstripe fig. The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the mischief of his soul: thus they weave it together. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house. But as for me, I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.
Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
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He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
But in the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it. And many nations shall go and say, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." And he shall judge between many peoples, and shall reprove strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all the peoples will walk everyone in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
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OBADIAH
(This is the shortest of the books of prophecy in the Old Testament. It denounces the evil of the people of Edom, who, when Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, took delight in its distresses and, pursuing the fugitives in the mountains, captured them and returned them to the Babylonian army. Nothing definite is known of the prophet.)
The vision of Obadiah.
Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom: "We have heard tidings from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have made thee small among the nations: thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, 'Who shall bring me down to the ground?' Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thy nest be set among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, would they not steal till they had enough? if grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden treasures sought up! All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way, even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee: there is none understanding in him.
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"THE PROPHETS"From the frieze of "The Prophets," by Sargent, in the Boston Public Library.
The prophets here represented are Micah, Haggai, Malachi, and Zechariah.
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Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter. For the violence done to thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But look not thou on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress. Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. And stand thou not in the mountain passes, to cut off those of his that escape; and deliver not up those of his that remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine own head. But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall burn among them, and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.
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JOEL
(At some time, we are not told just when, a terrible plague of locusts came upon the land. A prophet, whose name was Joel, took this occasion to tell the people of their sins, and of the judgments which God would bring upon them.)
Hear this, ye old men,And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.Hath this been in your days,Or in the days of your fathers?Tell ye your children of it,And let your children tell their children,And their children another generation.That which the palmerworm hath leftHath the cankerworm eaten;And that which the cankerworm hath leftHath the caterpillar eaten.Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen,Howl, O ye vinedressers,For the wheat, and for the barley;For the harvest of the field is perished.The vine is withered,{375}And the fig tree languisheth;The pomegranate tree,The palm tree also, and the apple tree,Even all the trees of the field are withered:For joy is withered away from the sons of men.Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,Gather the old menAnd all the inhabitants of the landUnto the house of the Lord your God,And cry unto the Lord.Alas for the day!For the day of the Lord is at hand.And as the destruction from the Almighty shall it come.Is not the food cut off before our eyes,Yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?The seeds rot under their clods:The garners are laid desolate,The barns are broken down;For the corn is withered.How do the beasts groan.The herds of cattle are perplexed,Because they have no pasture;Yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.O Lord, to thee do I cry:For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wildernessAnd the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee:{376}For the water brooks are dried up,And the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion,And sound an alarm in my holy mountain;Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble.For the Day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;A day of darkness and gloom,A day of clouds and thick darkness,As the dawn spread upon the mountains;A great people and a strong.There hath not ever been the like,Neither shall there be any more after them,Even to the years of many generations.A fire devoureth before them;And behind them a flame burneth:The land is as the garden of Eden before them,And behind them a desolate wilderness;Yea, and none hath escaped them.The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses;And as horsemen, so do they run.Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap,Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble;As a strong people set in battle array.At their presence the peoples are in anguish;All faces are waxed pale;{377}They run like mighty men;They climb upon the wall like men of war;And they march everyone on his ways.And they break not their ranks;They march everyone in his path;They burst through the weapons of the enemy;And turn not from their course.They leap upon the city;They run upon the walls;They climb upon the houses;They enter in at the windows like a thief.The earth quaketh before them;The heavens tremble:The sun and the moon are darkened,And the stars withdraw their shining.And the Lord uttereth his voice before his army;For his camp is very great;For he is strong and executeth his word:For the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible;And who can abide it?
IIITHE LORD WILL PARDON
(If the people turn from evil and repent, and worship him in the true spirit, the Lord will not send this terrible army of vengeance upon them.)
Yet even now, saith the Lord,Turn ye unto me with all your heart,And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:{378}Rend your heart and not your garments,And turn unto the Lord your God:For he is gracious and full of compassion,Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy,And repenteth him of the evil.