L]

HOSEA'S SONG OF THE FORGIVEN WIFE.

65

For she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns,

And make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them;

And she shall seek them, but shall not find them :

Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband;

For then was it better with me than now.

For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and
multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof,
and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool
and my flax given to cover her.

And now will I discover her folly* in the sight of her lovers,
And none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast-days, her new
moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

And I will destroy her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said,
These are my rewards that my lovers have given me :

And I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim,† wherein she burned

incense to them, and she decked herself with her ear-rings and
her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith
the LORD.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilder-
ness, and speak comfortably unto her.

And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of
Achor for a door of hope:

And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the
day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies.

I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness:

And thou shalt know the LORD.

And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD,
I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth.

And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and

* Marginal.

+ VOL. III.

+ Many gods.

F

without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

LESSON LI.t

JOEL'S SONG OF THE LOCUSTS.

JOEL i. and ii. (abridged.)

B.C. 810.-At the same time with Hosea lived the prophet Joel, who is thought to have been a prophet of Judah, as Hosea was of Israel. He does not date his book, but the time of it is gathered from the certainty that he was before Amos, who exactly notes the time of his first prophecy. It is at first sight a description of the terrible ravages of the locust.

Tell ye your children of it,

And let your children tell their children,

And their children another generation.

That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten ;

And that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten ;
And that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar

eaten.

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep;

And howl, all ye drinkers of wine,

Because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

For a nation is come up upon my land,

Strong, and without number,

Whose teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion.

He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig-tree:

He hath made it clean bare, and cast it away;

The branches thereof are made white.

Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

The meat-offering and the drink-offering is cut off from the house of the LORD;

The priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.

The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted;
The new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen;

Howl, O ye vine-dressers,

Idolatrous emblems, like Rachel's or Michal's. + Not for the younger ones.

LI.]

JOEL'S SONG OF THE LOCUSTS.

67

For the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is

perished.

The vine is dried up, 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 :

Because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

*

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 nothing shall escape them.

The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses;

And as horsemen, so shall they run.

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap,

Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble,

As a strong people set in battle array.

Before their face the people shall be much pained:

All faces shall gather blackness.

They shall run like mighty men ;

They shall climb the wall like men of war;

And they shall march every one on his ways,

And they shall not break their ranks :

Neither shall one thrust another;

They shall walk every one in his path:

And when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

They shall run to and fro in the city;

They shall run upon the wall,

They shall climb up upon the houses;

They shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD,

Turn ye even to me with all your heart,

And with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning :

And rend your heart, and not your garments,

And turn unto the LORD your God:

For he is gracious and merciful,

Slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Who knoweth if he will return and repent,

And leave a blessing behind him ;

*

Even a meat-offering and a drink-offering unto the LORD your

God?

Blow the trumpet in Zion,

Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,

Assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the

breasts :

* Change His purpose.

F 2

Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar,

And let them say, Spare Thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach,

That the heathen should rule over them :

Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people : Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people,

Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith:

And I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen :

But I will remove far off from you the northern army,

And will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face

And his hinder part toward the utmost sea; t

And his stink shall come up,

And his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. Fear not, O land;

Be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field :

For the pastures of the wilderness do spring,

For the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength.

Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: For he hath given you the former rain moderately,

And he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

And the floors shall be full of wheat,

And the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten,

The canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm,

My great army which I sent among you.

And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied,

And praise the name of the LORD your God,

That hath dealt wondrously with you:

And my people shall never be ashamed.

And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the LORD your God, and none else:
And my people shall never be ashamed.

*The Dead Sea.

+ The Mediterranean.

↑ Wine vats.

LII.]

JOEL'S SONG OF JUDGMENT.

69

LESSON LIL*

JOEL'S SONG OF JUDGMENT.

B.C. 801.-JOEL ii. and iii. (abridged).

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered :

For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,

As the LORD hath said,

And in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, † and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles;

Prepare war, wake up the mighty men,

Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
Beat your plow-shares into swords,

And your pruning-hooks into spears:

Let the weak say, I am strong.

Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen,

And gather yourselves together round about:

Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:

For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe :

Come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats + overflow;

For their wickedness is great.

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision :

For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

The sun and the moon shall be darkened,

And the stars shall withdraw their shining.

*Not for the younger ones.

Vats-vessels to receive the

+ Judgment of God. grape-juice.