Chapter LVII: Epilogue (3)

"Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, 'Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.' But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.

"Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining; in that ye provoke me unto anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to sojourn; that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness {328} of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

"They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah. And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed; in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

"'For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: so that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return save such as shall escape.'"

Then all the men which knew that their wives burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great assembly, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, "As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But {329} we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our husbands?"

Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, "The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and came it not into his mind? so that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as it is this day."

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Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, "Bear the word of the Lord, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt: thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: 'Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.'

"Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord God liveth. Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs.

"'And this shall be the sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil': thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.'"

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The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch: 'Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the Lord hath added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest. Thus shalt thou say unto him, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land.

"'And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.'"

VII

THE LAST PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH

(The last prophecies of Jeremiah in which he predicts the doom of Babylon.)

The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

_The Doom of Babylon_

The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

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"Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.'

"'For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and beast. In those days, and in that time,' saith the Lord, 'the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek the Lord their God. They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come ye, and join yourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten.

"'My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.

"'Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks. For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: {333} their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied,' saith the Lord.

"'Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye that plunder mine heritage, because ye are wanton as an heifer that treadeth out the corn, and neigh as strong horses; your mother shall be sore ashamed; she that bare you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: everyone that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the Lord. Shout against her round about; she hath submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord; take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land.'

"Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. {334} And I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. In those days, and in that time,' saith the Lord, 'the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.

"'Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them,' saith the Lord, 'and do according to all that I have commanded thee. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.'

"The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.

"Call together the archers against Babylon, all them {335} that bend the bow; camp against her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel. 'Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day,' saith he Lord. "Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one,' saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts: 'for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.'

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts: 'The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together: and all that took them captives hold them fast; they refuse to let them go. Their redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword is upon the Chaldeans,' saith the Lord, 'and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

"'A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her, and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed.

"'A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be {336} dried up: for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad upon idols. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.'

"'As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof,' saith the Lord; 'so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. Behold, a people cometh from the north; and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses; every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon hath heard the fame of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of Jordan against the strong habitation: but I will suddenly make them run away from her; and whoso is chosen, him will I appoint over her: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that will stand before me?'

"Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate {337} with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembleth, and the cry is heard among the nations.

"Thus saith the Lord: 'Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind. And I will send unto Babylon strangers, that shall fan her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. Let not the archer bend his bow, and let him not lift himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.'

"For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of the Lord of hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; be not cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

"The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God. Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: {338} the Lord hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his device is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, 'Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the cankerworm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.'

"He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens: when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries. Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.

"'Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; and with thee will I break {339} in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; and with thee will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces governors and deputies. And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,' saith the Lord.

"'Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain,' saith the Lord, 'which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever,' saith the Lord.

"'Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough cankerworm. Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of his dominion. And the land trembleth and is in pain: for the purposes of the Lord against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, {340} without inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strong holds; their might hath failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken. One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter: and the passages are surprised, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

"For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his maw with my delicates; he hath cast me out.'

"The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord: 'Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and an hissing, without inhabitant. They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' whelps. When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,' saith the Lord.

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"'I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. And I will do judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.'

"My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of the Lord. And let not your heart faint, neither fear ye for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; for a rumour shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

"'Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon, and her whole land shall be ashamed; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north,' saith the Lord.

"As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land. Ye that have escaped the sword, go ye, stand not still; {342} remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. We are ashamed, because we have heard reproach; confusion hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's house.

"'Wherefore, behold, the days come,' saith the Lord, 'that I will do judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her,' saith the Lord.

"The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! for the Lord spoileth Babylon, and destroyeth out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters, the noise of their voice is uttered: for the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces: for the Lord is a God of recompenses, he shall surely requite. 'And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,' saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: 'The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labour for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.'"

The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when {343} he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain. And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When thou comest to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words, and say, 'O Lord, thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.' And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: and thou shalt say, 'Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary.'"

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EZEKIEL

(The book of Ezekiel differs from every other book of prophecy in the fact that none of it was written in Palestine. It was written in Babylonia, whither Ezekiel had been taken captive while still a youth. The captives knew what was going on in Jerusalem. When the city was first taken, at the occasion when Ezekiel was made captive, the Babylonians were content to carry off ten thousand of the best of the people, with great treasure. The writer of Kings says that "none remained, save the poorest of the people of the land." Over this poor remnant of a wrecked state the Babylonian government set up a king. For nine years he remained loyal to Babylon. Then, with the foolish hope that Egypt would help him when war came, he revolted against the power of Babylon. Soon Babylonian armies appeared before Jerusalem, and, two years after, the city fell. More captives were deported, the city was burned, the walls broken down, no king set up, but only a governor, and the kingdom of Israel, over which only one family had ruled since the time of David, nearly five hundred years before, was forever at an end. The fall of Jerusalem was in 586 B. C.

With every device of vision and picture and pleading Ezekiel tried to keep the captives true to their country and their God. It is good to know that he succeeded in his attempt. The Jews in Babylonia kept their faith, and, in later years, it was from them that these prophetic books went, together with a strong influence for religious reform, back to Palestine.)

I

A 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."

II

THE 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.

III

THE 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)

I

THE 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."

II

AMOS 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."

III

THE 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.
[End illustration]

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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.

IV

FALSE 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.

V

THE 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.