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4 like them, as bad as the worst of men. And [as for] thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple [thee;] thou wast not salted 5 at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any

of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, 7 Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: [thy] breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou [wast] naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time [was] the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou 9 becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed 10 thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and

shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with 11 fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain 12 on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear

rings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head; a nuptial crown; referring in all this to the pains which God 13 had taken to fashion Israel into an excellent state. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment [was of] fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil and thou wast exceeding beautiful, 14 and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty, as a fine country: for it [was] perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

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But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, which should not have been done, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was to impose what kind of idolatrous ceremony he 16 pleased upon thee. And of thy garments thou didst take and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon; [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so ;] I will not suffer it any longer, but thou shalt 17 be destroyed. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with 18 them. And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before

19 them. My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, [wherewith] I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour and [thus] it was saith the 20 Lord God. Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. [Is this] of thy 21 whoredoms a small matter, That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through [the fire] 22 for them? And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, [and] wast polluted in thy blood; thou hast forgotten thy low beginnings,and the divine goodness to thee, 23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (wo, wo unto 24 thee! saith the Lord GOD ;) [That] thou hast also built unto

thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in 25 every street. Thou hast built thy high place at every head

of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied 26 thy whoredoms. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger; thou hast entered into idolatrous alliances with all thy neighbours, which has the guilt of adultery, because thou wast in covenant with God, 27 and his by a kind of marriage. Behold, therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary [food,] and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way; thou art worse than they, for they have not 28 forsaken their gods and the religion of their country. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, 29 and yet couldst not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith; thou hast learned 30 idolatry from all thy neighbours far and near. How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these [things,] the work of an imperious whorish woman, who is obstinately bent upon her wicked way, and cannot endure any 31 contradiction therein. In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou 32 scornest hire; [But as] a wife that committeth adultery, 33 [which] taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee, on every side 34 for thy whoredom. And the contrary is in thee from [other] women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms and in that thou givest a reward, and

no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary; thou art more willing to admit the worship of idols, than others are to impose it.

35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: Thus 36 saith the Lord GoD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; 37 Behold, therefore, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all [them] that thou hast loved, with all [them] that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness; the friends of Jerusalem shall mourn its fall, and its enemies shall 38 insult over it. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee 39 blood in fury and jealousy. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee 40 naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords; a reference to the manner of pun41 ishing adultery under the law. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. 42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry; which may refer to their being reformed by the captiv43 ity. Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these [things ;] behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon [thine] head, saith the Lord GoD and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations; or, thou shalt not execute thy wicked device because of all thine abominations,

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Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use [this] proverb against thee, saying, As [is] the mother, [so is] her daughter; they are as bad as the Canaanites, they are alike in 45 their sin and in their punishment. Thou [art] thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou [art] the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother [was] an Hittite, and 46 your father an Amorite. And thine elder sister [is] Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, [is] Sodom 47 and her daughters; thou art like them in guilt. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations:

but, as [if that were] a very little [thing,] thou wast corrupt48 ed more than they in all thy ways. [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters, considering thy religious advantages, and it shall be more tolerable for Sodom 49 than for thee. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the 50 hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me therefore I took them 1 away as I saw [good.] Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done; that is, comparatively justified 52 them: made them appear less guilty. Thou also which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and 53 bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters. When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then [will I bring again] the captivity of thy captives in the 54 midst of them.* That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them; an encouragement to them in 55 their wickedness. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daugh

ters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and 56 thy daughters shall return to your former estate. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride; you forget her ruin, though the dead sea was so near, but now by thy punishment other nations shall learn to 57 despise thee for being as bad as they. Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of [thy] reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all [that are] round about her, the daugh58 ters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the 59 LORD. For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant; as thou hast broken thy covenant with me, in not serving me as my people, so I will not protect and bless thee as thy God.

This seems to denote an irrecoverable captivity; but by Sodom may here be understood the Ammonites and Moabites descended from Lot, who may be called Sodom, an infamons name, as the Israelites were called Canaanites on account of their wickedness; there are several prophecies of their restoration, and probably much about the time that the Jews were restored by Cyrus; but Ep. Neaucome refers the words to the future restor ation of the Jews, rather than to their return from B bylon. Some understand it of wicked Gentiles, nations who shall be converted in the latter days.

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Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an ever61 lasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger and I will give them unto thee for daughters, referring to the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles at last, but not by thy covenant; not by the covenant of peculiarity ; they shall not become Jews, as you expected, but shall enter into 62 the christian church and covenant. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I [am] the 63 LORD: That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD; the remembrance of thy former guilt shall make and keep thee humble.

1. WE

REFLECTIONS.

E see that it is a matter of great importance to show especially idolatry, as that is peculiarly affronting to him, and destructive of every good principle and disposition in the human heart. Men are unwilling to know their sins; love to be deceived, and excuse or palliate them; but without knowing them they will not repent and reform. It is the duty of God's minis ters to be faithful reprovers; and their attempts ought to be kindly received, and their admonitions thankfully complied with.

2. It is our duty to consider the kindness of God to us. The wickedness of Israel was owing to their forgetfulness of the favours which God showed them. Those who have been remarkably favored by Providence, who from low beginnings are advanced to wealth and affluence, should peculiarly guard against pride and ingratitude and the regard God has shown to us all, in rescuing our fallen race from sin and misery, and bringing us into covenant with himself, ought carefully to be recollected, that we may make the most suitable and acceptable returns.

3. Let parents observe how highly God resents the sacrifice of his children. Your children are his, being by baptism devoted to him, and in his covenant. You abhor the inhumanity and cruelty of the Jews in sacrificing their children to Molech; but many christian parents do worse; they sacrifice their children to mammon, to pleasure, ambition, and other idols, and so are guilty of the greatest cruelty to God's children, and offer the most impious affront to him.

4. How detestable was the character of Sodom! Observe what led them to their enormities; pride. fulness of bread, and much idleness. Mr. Baxter observed many years ago, that this was an

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