Loves Revenge. VVHEREIN IS. BRIEFLY SHEWED FROM THE HISTORIE OF the holy Scripture, the rising, grouth, and finall fall of the Man of Sinne; with the long and continuall strife betwixt the two Seeds, how they have, from time to time, sought to disinherite each other: and how that Christ, by his righteous life, and long sufferings, in the end shall get the victory, and justly revenge himself upon his adversarie.
Omnia vincit amor, &c.
By Ios. Speed.
HABAK. 1.5. ACT. 13.41.
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and vanish away: for I work a work in your daies, a work which ye shall not believe, if a man should declare it you.
At AMSTERDAM Printed by Richard Raven. 1631.
The Preface.
WHen darknesse is supprest by light,
That nights black shadows shun the day;
True faith doth give the soul clear sight,
To see and finde the living way.
Then must proud Death give place to Life,
In vain it is his strength to try;
For Hope will end that deadly strife
And swallow Death in victory.
And Errour must acknowledge Truth,
For all his fierce and cruell rage;
For Loue hath threatned him in youth,
And will not spare him in his age.
When Faith hath light for to discerne,
And Hope can hold in storm and rain:
If Love be there to guid the stern,
The wished shore they shall attain:
No travell can unfruitfull prove,
When Faith, & Hope, do work by Love.
When unbelief is beaten down,
And Faith hath got the upper hand;
Then light doth shew true faith her crown,
Which she shall have, if she do stand.
And then despair of force must flie,
In vain it is if she contend:
For life will give Hope victory,
If she continue to the end.
And hatred must of force depart,
And give true Love free place to dwell:
For truth will give Love true desert,
And hatred due reward in hell.
Light is the glance of Faiths clear sight,
Life is the crown which Hope requires:
Truth is the guide which leads both right,
Through Love to finish their desires:
Where Light, and Life, and Truth agree,
Faith, Hope, and Love make unitie.
To the Reader.
LEt prejudice be laid aside,
Christian Reader, in thy reading:
Let love unfained be thy guide,
Thy thoughts to equall judgement leading.
The labour and the charge is mine,
I wish the profit may be thine.
To think that I should all men please,
All men would think such thoughts were vain,
Esteeming it a fools disease,
Arising from an idle brain:
That labour which I here bestow,
Is but to pay the debt I owe,
Ʋnto my Countrey, and my Friends,
And all which do professe Christs name;
In him our faith begins, and ends,
By him we hope to purchase fame:
If then our love be like to his,
We all shall see him as he is.
If any thing displeaseth thee,
When thou my Faith and hope dost prove:
Yet fasten malice to that tree,
On which she once did murder love:
And break in twain that Serpents head,
For love shall reigne, when hate is dead.
I seek to trouble no mans minde,
Nor yet to give offence to any:
Yet dare not hide, nor leave behind,
That good which may redound to many.
Whereat if any kick or hinch,
Were he not gauld, he should not winch.
The mark whereat I chiefly aim,
Is to unfould the fraud of sinne:
What rightes and titles he doth claim.
The evill daies that we live in:
Our present danger, his desire,
To bring us to eternall fire.
If then by chance I hit the mark,
At which my bow is holy bent:
Or if I misse this subtle Clark,
Tis but one headlesse arow spent:
Yet hit, or misse, thus much I know,
The blinde by chance may kill a Crow.
The Authors Faith.
I Do believe in God alone,
Whose love doth passe all breadth & length:
And do relie on other none,
To make the arm of flesh my strength:
My faith is such, not to remove,
Such is my Hope, such is my Love.
He is the onely Lord of lords,
A King of mighty strength and fame,
His Majesty with truth accords,
And great Iehovah is his name:
The first, the last, the totall summe,
Which is, which was, which is to come.
He is the God of Israel.
Their root and generation:
The vanquisher of Death, and Hell,
The horn of our salvation:
Before whole throne all flesh shall come,
The wicked to their finall doom.
Then why should I fear mortall man,
Whose breath within his nostrills lies?
His life for length is but a span,
Although his malice never dies:
My body he may keep in thrall,
But cannot hurt my soul at all.
Let cursed Cain then fret and rage,
And wicked Lamech boast his fill:
Let scoffing Ham come on the stage,
Let bloudy Nimrod work his will:
Let Babels Tow'r, through Satans pride,
Be once again re-edifi'd.
Let pharaoh with his hoast pursue,
Let Amaleck stand in the way:
Let Og and Sihons hatefull crue,
Their bloudy banners still display:
Let proud Goliah's hellish cry,
The God of Israel defie.
Let Balaam lay a stumbling block,
Let Rabshecah come railing down:
Let dogged Doeg accuse Christs flock,
Let Shemey curse, let Nabal frown:
Let Philistines their battells pitch,
Let Saul ask counsell of a Witch,
Let the ten tribes of Israel,
Give care to Ieraboam's call,
Let Ahab marry Iesabel,
And build an altar unto Baal:
Let Baals Priests cry till heare doth break,
Their God can neither hear nor speak.
Let Nebuchadnezar pour out
His thundring threats, rage, and revile,
Let Baltazar his drunken rout,
The vessells of the Lord defile.
Let haughtie Hamans pride bewray
His hatefull thoughts to Mordekay.
Antiochus, that wicked root,
Let him run on his wretched race:
To waste and trample under foot,
Gods Temple, and his dwelling place.
Let Holofernes rule and sway,
Till Iudith take his head away.
Let Samballat the Horonite,
With all his cursed crue accord,
To race, to sack, to vanquish quite
The walls and building of the Lord.
Let men conspire with malice fraught,
Yet shall their counsells come to nought.
Let cruell Herod still assail,
The tender infants for to stay,
Let Scribes and Pharisees prevail,
Give Iudas money to betray.
My faith is fixt on him above,
So is my hope, so is my love.
His waies are right, his judgements just,
His mercy alwaies firm and sure,
To such as on his goodnesse trust,
And stedfast to the end endure.
He giveth all men life and breath,
And grieveth at the sinners death.
He did admonish wretched Cain,
To leave his wicked enterprise:
Suffer (said he) not sinne to reigne.
Least Abels bloud for vengeance cries.
Abandon wrath, ther's grace in store,
If not, lo sinne is at thy door.
And when he saw, and well perceiv'd.
All flesh corrupting of their waies,
His spirit strove, his soul was griev'd,
Contain'd his wrath yet many daies:
Had true repentance there been found.
The world had sur'ly not been drown'd.
When Sodom and Gomorahs cries,
Ascended up unto his throne,
Yet was there mercy in his eyes,
He would have saved them each one:
Could he have found some godly men.
He would have spar'd them all for ten,
But Cain, which was through malice led,
Quite to renounce his chiefest good,
Did in his wicked collar shed,
His brother Abels guiltlesse bloud:
And wrath, commixt with deadly hate.
Brought Cain to be a Runagate.
And boasting Lamech could not scape,
Which in his heart a man would slaie,
The wicked world for filthy rape,
Was drown'd, and taken all away.
And Ham, which in the Ark was nurst,
Was after for his sinne accurst.
And Nimrod was not quite forgot,
Which hunted sonnes of Shem away.
The wicked ones which vexed Lot,
The Lord at length did them repay,
They suffer for their foul desire,
The vengeance of eternall fire.
And Pharaoh with his hoast was drown'd.
The waters ouerwhelm'd them all,
When Israel did finde drie ground,
And passed through both great and small.
Thus can the Lord, from Satans rage,
Preserve his own from age to age.
For Amalech was rooted out,
And Sihon was cast headlong down.
And mighty Og in battell stout.
Was dispossessed of his Crown.
And proud Goliah, wicked bred,
Returned back without his head.
When Balaam came at Balacks call,
To bring his wickednesse to passe,
To work the means of Isr'els fall,
He was rebuked by his Asse.
And Ashurs king could not prevail,
Though Rabshecah ceas't not to rail,
Doeg, Shemey, Nabal, and the rest,
Vilde instruments of Satans rage,
Whose mindes with malice be possest.
Quite to supplant Gods heritage,
With Dives shall in flaming fire.
Receive their due deserved hire.
And Israels anointed King
Saul, did himself of grace deprive,
Sinne struck him with a mortall sting,
For sparing Amalec alive.
His heart and hand was wholly bent,
To persecute the innocent.
And Ieroboam could not stand,
Because he was a wicked man,
God struck him with a with'red hand,
When he did sacrifice at Dan.
For money he wrought many evills,
Made Priests, which sacrific'd to Devills.
And Ahab wicked imp of hell,
Which built an altar unto Ball,
Was rooted out with Iesabel,
None left to pisse against a wall.
For in that place where Naboth stood,
The dogs lick't up the Tyrants bloud.
And Nebuchadnezar for pride,
Was metamorpos'd to a beast.
And Baltazar, whom lust did guide,
Received judgement at his feast,
A hand prescribing on the wall,
His overthrow before them all.
And haughty Hamans sudden fall,
Whose thoughts all good men did deride,
May be a president to all,
Whose mindes be puffed up with pride,
That Gallows did his malice slay,
Which he set up for Mordecay,
Antiochus, that wicked root,
Which did Ierusalem deface,
And trode Gods Temple under foot,
And set an idoll in the place;
God did him strange diseases send,
And brought him to a fearfull end.
And Sanballat must taste wraths cup,
For his proclaiming up and down.
That such as build Gods Temple up,
Be rebells to their King, and Crown;
And Holofernes on his bed,
Must pay his ransome with his head.
And cruell Herod was accurst,
That he the tender Infants smote;
And Iudas for his trason burst,
Which never more shall be forgot.
And Christs dear bloud still vengeance cries,
Vpon the Scribes and Pharisees.
Behold and see what hath been past,
How sinne hath raged from his birth;
Such was the first, such is the last,
There is no new thing on the earth.
Yet can no storm nor tempest move,
True Faith, firm Hope, and constant Love.
Ioshuah Speed.
Loves Revenge. Wherein is briefly shewed from the history of the Holy Scripture, the rising, growth, and finall fall of the man of sinne; with the long and continuall strife betwixt the two Seeds.
THe Serpent which did first begin
The powers of mans soul to draw,
To separate himself through sinne
From God, by breaking of his law;
Having by craft our Parents slain,
Did Tyrant-like begin to reigne.
For man did lose his first renown,
The world through justice to maintain:
Sinne swaies his scepter, wears his crown,
And by injustice now doth reigne,
And will do still both far and near,
Vntill the righteous Iudge appear.
For man could now no man acquit,
Which was a breaker of Gods law;
Not any man condemne by right,
And not himself to judgement draw:
For man by sinne once overthrown,
Then judging sin, condemnes his own.
This was the Serpents subtle bait,
Which did unto mans crown aspire,
To draw the woman by deceit,
To win her man to his desire;
That he might in his first-born Cain,
Begin and end his wicked reigne.
This Viper bred in Paradice,
No sooner born, but instantly
Drew Adam unto sinne and vice,
By changing truth into a lye:
And Adam caught in Satans gyn,
Became a bondslave under sinne.
By hearing, Evah was deceiv'd,
By seeing, Evah was beguilde,
By tasting, Evah hath conceiv'd
This man of sinne, that cursed childe:
By taking in the Serpents breath,
Lust brought forth sin, sin brought forth death.
Eare, eye, foot, hand, lips, tongue and all,
Did band themselves against Gods law,
To work mans ruine by his fall,
And man through sin to judgement draw:
Thus was man brought in Satans thrall,
Eare, eye, foot, hand, lips, tongue & all.
But God, whose love doth far exceed
The fraud and malice of the Devill,
Did then make known his truth decreed,
To raise man out this lake of evill,
To quicken him which then lay dead,
And break in twain the Serpents head.
But Adam, which could not discerne
Twixt good and evill but through sinne,
Must now another lesson learne,
By grace to seek, by faith to win
That crown of glory, joy, and blisse,
Which he had lost for him and his.
For he, which once was lord of all,
Had sole command, did rule and sway,
Must now attend an others call,
Another rule, and he obey:
For he once lending sinne his eare,
Must now for sin, sins burthen beare,
And with a sad and heavy heart,
No vows nor prayers might avail,
Out of the Paradice depart,
His sinfull act there to bewail,
His mother Earth to plow and furrow,
And sweating eat the bread of sorrow.
And with his poore distressed wife,
Our mother Evah (first misled)
Excluded from the tree of life,
whereof before they might have fed:
Their first neglect of Gods free grace,
Lost them the freedome of that place.
For now the way was full of fear,
No entring in but by the sword;
The Cherubims stood Centre there,
That none might passe without the Word;
Which word is Christ, who on the Crosse
Must pay mans debt, redeem his losse.
Then Adam having known his wife,
In time brought forth her first-born Cain.
Next Abel, whose unspotted life,
Did shew his life which must be slain;
And by his death and bloud then spild,
Declare his death which since was kild.
But Cain, who in the flower of youth,
The supream power did obtain,
To judge with equitie and truth,
And by true justice for to reigne;
And by the vertue of his birth,
To be sole ruler of the earth.
In time true justice did pervert,
And was to wickednesse inclinde;
The Serpent did possesse his heart,
And made his eyes, through malice, blinde:
He which by sinne gave Adam sight,
By sinne extinguish't Cains true light.
When he by offering did finde
That God no persons did respect,
But look't unto an humble minde,
A contrite heart, the proud reject,
Then was his countenance cast down,
And on his brother gan to frown.
For then the Serpent did beget
Strong jealousie within his brest,
A fire which made him rage and fret,
That he could have no peace nor rest,
No love could his desires further,
But foul revenge, and cruell murther.
And thus distracted, trembling fear
Benumb'd his senses, made him doubt.
The Serpent rounds him in the eare,
Thy brother seeks to root thee out,
To get thy throne, and sit on hie,
Cain cannot live, lest Abel die.
Though thou by birth art first in place,
God hath elected him to reigne;
Thou art already in disgrace,
Tis Abel now, no longer Cain:
Though Cain by birth the crown inherite,
The crown depends on Abels merit.
While jealousie and ill surmise,
False witnesse-bearers thus complain'd,
Disdainfull wrath call'd an Assise,
Poore Abel must be now araign'd,
Revenge is judge, bloud, bloud Cain cries,
Till murther clos'd up Abels eies.
Thus wicked Cain through malice led,
The Serpents instruments to use,
To strike the nail upon the head,
His guiltlesse brother to accuse,
Who judging him throuh hate to die,
Condemn'd himselfe eternally.
But Abel though unjustly did
Receive sinnes just reward from Cain;
Yet doth his life in Christ lie hid,
And shall with Christ appeare again,
Cains foul injustice to relate,
And justly punish Cain for hate.
Now sounds an eccho in mine eares,
Rebounding from sad Adams cries;
Me thinks I see a floud of teares,
Run gushing out from Evahs eies:
She mourns for Abel, he for Cain,
Each one wails one, both weep for twain.
What stony heart would not relent,
To think on this distressed pair;
Whose teares, whose groans at this event,
Did dew the earth, did pierce the aire:
Yet helplesse still, all was in vain,
One sonne was curst, the other slain.
Oh, Cain (quoth he) renowned fair,
My first-born Cain, and onely might.
No, no, (quoth she) tis vertues heir,
Abel my sonne, and souls delight:
For Cain doth live, 'twas Abel bled;
Nay, Abel lives, but Cain is dead.
Doth Abel live, quoth mournfull Eve,
Yes, Abel lives, weep not in vain;
Do thou no more for Abel grieve,
But let us both lament for Cain;
For he though dead still lives to dye,
yet living dead eternally.
Wher's Abel then my onely joy?
And doth he still possesse the light?
Oh, let me see that lovely Boy,
Hide him no longer from my sight.
Doth Abel live? Ile cease to crie;
Is Abel dead? let Evah die.
Peace foolish woman, weep no more
For Abels losse; thy sonne is blest:
And is arived at the shore
Of perfect joy, eternall rest.
To mourn for Abel is in vain,
For Abels losse is Evahs gain.
But Cain, Oh Cain, my first-born Cain,
Beginning of my royall Race;
Oh, let mine eies gush out amain,
To think on thy distressed case:
E're while a Lord, a Prince of state,
And now a vagrant Runagate.
That Viper which Eve once did bear,
And made me father him unknown,
Which with sinnes dart and bloudy spear,
Did stricke me dead to get my crown,
Hath Cain by sinnes allurements won,
My first-born Cain, his first-born sonne.
Where shall I seek relief for Cain?
His fact can no way be excus'd:
If of the Lord, it is in vain,
His loving counsell he refus'd.
Nor dares he come before his face
Himselfe, to seek, or sue for grace.
Oh, where shall Cain finde rest or peace?
Anguish and fear do him pursue?
The earth denies him her encrease,
The heav'ns refuse to give him dew.
Guilt and despair ring murders knell,
Wrath and revenge drive Cain to hell.
His brothers bloud is not yet drie,
If on the earth he fix his eies:
If then his thoughts ascend on hie,
There Abels bloud for vengeance cries.
Thus did Cain Gods displeasure win,
And thus tormented live for sinne.
Thus Adam spent his daies in grief,
And Evahs sorrows were not done,
Till God did send them both relief,
And gave to Eve another sonne,
In place of Abel which was slain,
And separated him from Cain.
His name was Sheth, which Evah bare,
To be a holy nation,
Gods truth and justice to declare,
Gods sonne by imputation,
By Abels bloud from death set free,
As Adam was, even so was he.
And unto Sheth was Enoch born,
Succeeding in that godly race;
Gods holy temple to adorn,
And beautifie his holy place:
For to set forth his worthy fame,
And magnifie his holy name.
But Cain then destitute of grace,
Excluded from the face of God,
Must seek another dwelling place;
Who went into the land of Nod,
To spend his daies, and weary life,
And there did Cain first know his wife.
Who unto Cain a sonne did beare,
Henoch by name, so was he call'd:
Then did he soone erect and reare
A Citie strong and well bewall'd:
For his defence he built the same,
And call'd it by his first bornes name.
Then when the Lord had separated
The good from bad, the wheat from tares;
And had the Serpents strength abated,
And freed his Church from Tyrants fears:
He led her by his Holy Spirit,
By faith to win, by love to merit.
He took her to his wedded wife,
He freed her from that wicked Elf;
In Abel he laid down his life,
To purchase her unto himself:
That none could part with wicked hands
What God had knit through wedlocks bands.
Then did the Serpent change his hue,
New mischief on her head to heap,
Another poyson'd drink to brue,
To cast her in a deadly sleep:
Where love doth beare the greatest venter,
There murder hath no place to enter.
For now he doth begin afresh,
And labours with all might and main,
To change the spirit into flesh,
And bring her under sinne again;
Defiling of the lawfull bed,
To rend the body from the head.
For he which led Cain unto wrath,
And laid his honour in the dust,
Brought her into the sinfull path
Of fond desire, and fleshly lust,
wherein she walked without fear,
Till she was catch't in beauties snare.
He set mens daughters fore their eies,
Inticing beauty made them paires;
By his inchanting sorceries,
Gods sonnes became the Devils heyres:
Christs spouse made drunk with harlots wine,
Became the Serpents Concubine,
Then he which first accused Cain
Of cruell murder, pleaded right;
Did call for justice once again,
Gainst wedlocks breach through sins delight.
This Quean (quoth he) is void of grace,
She plaies the Harlot fore thy face.
Why dost thou suffer her so long?
Shall justice now no more have place?
This is a plain and open wrong,
This is a great and foul disgrace,
Who so commits adultery,
Is by the law condemn'd to die.
Take vengeace then and do not stay,
Let justice be no longer slack't;
Much danger lurketh in delay,
Reprove the sinne, condemne the fact;
Reward her for her fleshly lust,
So shall I know that God is just,
She hath defil'd her lawfull bed,
The band is broke, the knot unknit,
The body parted from the head,
And fall'n into the stinking pit
Of fleshly lust, and foul desite,
Where she lies wallowing in the mire.
No man may part what God doth joyne,
Without transgressing of his law:
What God doth part none may combine,
And not himself to judgement draw:
Yet hath she rent what God had joyn'd,
What God did part, she hath combin'd.
Dost thou not yet begin to frown?
She hath conceived Gyants seed:
Her children seek for worlds renown,
Such monsters doth this Harlot breed;
Thy lowly gesture they disdain,
For vertue dies, and sinne doth reigne.
Thus ceast he not for to complain,
But calls for justice now afresh:
Then, quoth the Lord, I strive in vain
With mortall man, he is but flesh:
Yet will I crosse his wicked waies,
By shortning of his sinfull daies.
Oh, now I see mans heart and minde,
And all his thoughts to mischief bent:
Oh, love can be no longer blinde;
My soul doth grieve, I do repent
That I made man upon the earth,
His waies are evill from his birth.
Oh, now I see they do disdain
My loving counsell to embrace;
My bloud, I see, is spent in vain,
For they be destitute of grace:
They are by sinnes allurements led,
As seeing, blinde; and living, dead.
Now wrath is seated in my breast,
I will with man no longer strive,
But will destroy both man and beast,
Ile leave no fowl, nor worm alive:
What on the earth doth creep and move,
Shall now my wrath & vengeance prove.
All are corrupted in their waies,
The earth is full of cruelty;
Therefore I will cut off their daies,
All what doth live and breathe, shall die:
One onely Noe, just and upright,
Hath grace and favour in my sight.
He and his family shall live,
Eight souls in number will I save:
But to the rest strong vengeance give;
Sinne calls for justice: sinne shall have
Sinnes just reward, sinne to confound,
When all the world, for sin, is drown'd.
And thus the Serpent which had slain
Mankinde through sinne, even at the first;
Who when he saw them live again,
Through faith in Christ, and he was curst,
Was then to further malice bent,
That he Gods grace could not prevent.
For now he laid his plot more sure,
To strike the nail upon the head,
Man first from grace for to allure,
And there through sin to strike him dead;
Then hold him snared in this gyn,
Till justice had rewarded sinne.
And thus he wrought his vile intent,
Mans nature being weak and frail,
To hould him back for to repent,
Lest grace and mercy should prevail,
And keep him in sinnes fetters bound,
Till all the world for sin was drown'd.
Yet still he had a futher mark,
Man was not from his malice freed;
By stealth he crept into the Ark,
There to preserve his wicked seed:
Who comming forth was curst by name,
For laughing at his fathers shame.
The world again grown to his flower,
The people one, all had one speech,
Did soon devise to build a tower,
Whose top unto the heav'ns should reach,
To keep them from the waters rage,
Which had destroy'd the former age.
The Lord awaking at this sound,
To crosse them in their proud intent,
Their language did forthwith confound;
One knew not what another meant:
And scattred them both far and near
Vpon the earth, as doth appear.
Then from Shems race he did make choise
Of Abram, to inherite all;
Who did give eare unto his voice,
And did attend upon his call:
His wife was Sarah, meek and milde,
But she was barren, had no childe.
His kindred, and his fathers house
He did forsake, and God obey:
And with his dear and loving Spouse,
His countrey leave, and took his way,
Vnto a land to seek his chance,
Where he had no inheritance.
With him God made a covenant,
Which Devill, death, nor hell could sever:
The Serpents malice to adant,
He gave by covenant for ever,
To him, and to his seed alone,
That land where sin had plac't his throne.
When he was come at Gods command,
And did behold before his face,
A pleasant and a fruitfull land,
Which God had giv'n unto his race:
God did his promise then renue,
And he believe that God was true.
The Serpent then was full of grief,
For then he knew, and did not doubt,
Gods promise, Abrahams belief,
Did both conspire to root him out;
Therefore did ponder in his minde,
Some other issue for to finde.
To strive (quoth he) is all in vain,
No power can withstand Gods might:
To go to God and there complain,
Will not avail, I have no right.
What God hath spoken will ensue,
Abram is just, and God is true.
My land is gone, my crown is lost,
And I almost driv'n to despair:
I will go haunt the womans ghost,
And be her sonne, and Abrams heir:
So shall it stand what God decreed,
And I still reigne in Abrams seed.
Have I not Evah once deceiv'd,
Before her Adam she had known,
Which brought forth sin, through lust conceiv'd,
And Adam took him for his own:
Why then not Sarah be beguilde,
By mothering of Hagars childe.
Ile once again put on sinnes mask,
Wherein Gods handmaid I misled;
And Abrams wife Ile take to task,
And her unto my fancy wed:
Thus like a stout and bold-fac't woer,
This wily Serpent went unto her.
Sarah (quoth he) prince Abrams wife,
Beauties prime flower, lovely dame,
Whose vertues, whose unspotted life,
Have merited eternall fame,
Shall beauty, vertue, chastitie,
In Sarah live, with Sarah die?
Thy man, a Prince of high renown,
Who with his bow, his sword, and spear,
Four Kings at once threw headlong down,
And holds the world in servile fear,
Shall vertue, valour, honours right?
Obscured lie in darksome night.
Thy wealth and substance hath no end
Of corn and cattle thou hast store:
No servants wanting to attend,
Yet God doth still increase the more:
And yet, alas, this princely paire,
Live destitute still of an heire.
This pleasant land, and fertile ground,
Which thou dost see before thy face,
With milk and hony to abound,
Which God hath giv'n to Abrams race,
Must stay with Chams posterity,
If blessed Abram seedlesse die.
Be thou no longer then misled
By Abrams faith, all is in vain,
Abram is old, thy wombe is dead,
What hope is there a childe to gain?
Reason doth shew without dispute,
A barren womb can yeeld no fruit.
Then be not slack, do not refuse,
Let not Gods promise be in vain;
For God doth give, but man must use
The means whereby for to attain;
Take counsell then and be not nice,
Be ruled once by my advice.
For thou art old, thy womb decai'd,
And hast been barren all thy life:
Take Hagar thy Aegyptian maid,
Give her to Abram for a wife,
For she is young and fit to breed,
By her may Abram have a seed.
These words did sound well in her cares,
And she forthwith to end this strife,
And to avoid all further fears,
Gave Abram Hagar to a wife:
And herein Sarah was beguilde,
Thus coveting to have a childe.
For Abram did obey her voice,
Went in to Hager, she conceive:
He was content with Sarahs choise,
For he did stedfastly believe.
God would not fail in time of need,
To raise him up a holy seed.
When Hager found her self with childe,
She presently gan to disdain
Sarah her Mistrisse, meek and milde,
Who unto Abram did complain;
I put my handmaid in my place,
And now she holds me in disgrace.
Quoth Abram then, to end this strife,
Peace loving Sarah, I am thine:
Thou art my spouse, and lawfull wife,
And Hagar but my concubine:
Thy maid is bound, but thou art free,
Do with thy maid what pleaseth thee.
Then Sarah did rebuke her maid,
for her disdain and haughtinesse;
And Hagar being sore afraid,
Did flie into the wildernesse:
Where sitting by a fountain fair,
An Angel found her in despair.
Hagar (quoth he) what makes thee cry?
How art thou come into this place?
My Dames displeasure made me flie,
(Quoth she) I dare not see her face.
Return (quoth he) remove this blame,
Submit thy self unto thy Dame.
Thou art with childe, and from this birth
I will encrease and multiply
Thy seed to overspread the earth,
Like as the stars do fill the skie
For multitude so infinite,
That none shall number them aright.
To Abram thou a sonne shalt beare
Amongst his brethren he shall dwell:
He shall be wilde and full of haire,
He shall be called Ishmael:
The course and tenor of his life,
Shall be to live in hate and strife.
When Hagar brought forth Abrams sonne,
The Serpent did begin to vaunt,
The day is got, the field is won,
(Quoth he) this is Gods covenant:
Though Cham may here no longer dwell,
Yet I shall reigne in Ishmael.
But Abram being full of yeares,
They were in number ninety nine,
The Lord again to him appears,
I am the God of thee and thine:
(Quoth he) thou art my sole delight,
Walk thou before me, be upright.
With thee Ile make a covenant,
VVith thee, I say, with thee alone,
Thy seed shall be inheritant,
VVithin this land, and other none:
Yea, thou shalt many nations breed,
And kings shall from thy loyns proceed.
Thou shalt be called Abraham,
And Sarah be thy Spouses name,
Which shall bring forth that blessed Lamb,
At least, the shadow of the same.
For Sarah hath the blessing won,
She shall conceive and beare a sonne.
Then Abraham fell on his face,
And laughing said within his heart,
I have almost run out my race,
Am almost ready to depart.
An hundred years have spent in care,
My wife ten lesse, shall she now beare?
Quoth Abraham then at the length,
Let Ishmael live in thy sight,
He is the first-born of my strength,
Let him not lose his lawfull right:
He is as yet my onely sonne,
I say no more, thy will be done.
Then quoth the Lord, I heare thy cry,
Concerning Ishmaels first birth;
I will increase and multiply,
And make him fruitfull on the earth:
Do thou not languish, faint, nor fret,
Twelve Princes shall thy sonne beget.
But will establish my decree,
My covenant shall firmely stand,
Which I before did make with thee,
When thou didst leave thy native land.
In Isaac will I plant my fear,
Which Sarah shall to Abram beare.
The Serpent then found little chance,
For now he plain and clearly saw
That Canaans inheritance,
Was giv'n by promise, not by law:
And neither craft, nor birth, nor merit,
Could make the handmaids son inherite.
Wherefore he grew much discontent,
Yet knew not where first to assault;
But like a Hound which lost the sent,
Run back again to finde the fault:
He did no time nor travell spare,
Thinking at length to kill the hare.
And while the game was yet afoot,
His first exploit that would not addle;
Now laies the axe unto the root,
To win the horse or lose the saddle.
He now did think to make all sure,
To get this crown, and sit secure.
For Isaac grown to yeares and strength,
And Abraham through yeares decai'd;
He took to him a wife at length,
A vertuous, a godly maid,
Rebekah she was cal'd by name,
A comely, sweet, and lovely dame.
But she was barren, could not breed,
VVhich caused her to mourn and grieve;
But Isaac praid to God for seed,
VVho soon was heard; she did conceive,
Now, quoth the Serpent, Ile entombe
My self within Rebekahs wombe.
I now have found that onely pair,
Though Hagars son could have no chance;
Rebekahs sonne, and Isaac's heire,
Must have the sole inheritance:
Then though Rebekahs womb should burst,
Yet will I strive to be the first.
VVhen as Rebekah felt this strife
VVithin her wombe; she gan to muse,
And almost weary of her life,
VVent to the Lord to know this news,
VVhat hath (quoth she) my wombe possest,
That thus deprives me of my rest?
Within thy wombe two nations
Are bred (quoth he) be not derided:
Two sundry generations,
Shall out thy bowels be devided:
The greater shall for honour hunger,
Yet shall the elder serve the yonger.
VVhen she came to deliverance,
Twins did appear, she had a pair;
The first, born to inheritance,
VVas ragged, red, and rough with hair;
The yongest white, and smooth to feell,
VVho held his brother by the heel.
The Serpent now did nothing want,
He was no longer under awe,
For he was in the Covenant,
By birth, by promise, and by law:
By birth, by law, the land possessing,
By promise to obtain the blessing.
He which rebuked was at first,
That he our father had undone:
Then by the sonne in Cain accurst,
For hatefull murdring of the sonne.
In Ham a treble curse did merit.
For vexing of Gods holy Spirit.
Yet now he thought the field was won,
He from the curse should now be freed,
For he was Isaac's lawfull sonne,
And one of blessed Abrams seed:
The former curse was all in vain,
He which did curse, had blest again.
But now the story to relate,
What time in time did bring to passe,
These boyes grew up to mans estate,
Esau a cunning Hunter was:
And in the field much time he spent;
Plain Iacob dwelling in a tent.
Esau was Isaac's onely boy,
He brought his father pleasant meat:
But Jacob was Rebekaes joy,
His mothers love to him was great:
In him she had her whole delight,
And kept him alwaies in her sight.
Vpon a time it came to passe,
That Esau weary, almost spent,
In great distresse through hunger was;
Who comming to his brothers tent,
Give me (quoth he) some broth & bread,
For I am faint, and almost dead.
Then Jacob thought he would requite
His brother for his former wrong,
That he by strength had got his right,
When he was weak, and Esau strong.
Ile strive quoth he yet once again,
Though he be rough, and I be plain.
I faint, I languish, I despaire;
Shut not thine eares unto my cry,
Quoth Esau then, shall Jsaac's heire,
Through hunger perish, fainting die?
What shall our father Jsaac say,
If Jacob do his first-born slay.
I do not seek to have thy life,
Nor shorten any of thy dayes,
I am not bent to hate nor strife,
Quoth Iacob then, tis hunger slayes
Isaac's first born; so Esau die,
Thou shouldst provide so well as I.
That man doth kill, that will not save
A man from death, if in his power;
For God, I say, will mercy have,
Not cruelty for to devoure:
Quoth Esau then, let mercy move,
And do not break the band of love.
Sell me thy birth-right then, quoth he,
And I will lave thy hungry soul;
But thou shalt sweare twixt thee and me,
That it shall stand without controul:
Which being done, I then will save
Thy fainting body from the grave.
Then Esau, with himself at strife,
Began to reason in his minde;
Should I through hunger lose my life,
VVhat comfort should I therein finde?
To sell my birth-right were a shame,
An endlesse blemish to my name.
Should I refuse for to consent,
And yeeld unto my brothers will,
And perish so through discontent?
The law which saies, Thou shalt not kill,
Would soon reprove this evill fact,
And judge it for a murdrous act.
Should I unto my brother give
My birth-right for a messe of broth,
I were unworthy for to live;
I should exclude my self by oath
From Canaan, the worlds delight,
Mine heritage by law and right.
Should Esau, Jsaac's first-born die
VVithout his blessing? he would grieve:
Should he, through hungers cruelty,
Perish unblest? who should relieve
His dying soul in this distresse,
And bring him unto happinesse?
Two evills hold my soul in thrall,
I must choose one; Ile choose the least:
Lose life, I lose my land and all;
And more then that, shall die unblest:
To live is bad, to die is worse,
To lose a crown, and win a curse.
Should I not shun sharp hungers blow,
And seek my self for to defend,
How should my father Isaac know,
VVho brought his first-born to his end?
Ile sell my land, and hold my blisse,
For live, or die, the land is his.
And yet to live in this disgrace,
Is worse then languishing to die:
For where shall Esau finde a place
For him, and his posterity?
When Jacob is by oath possest,
For Esau's seed there is no rest.
Better had Esau been unborn,
And never to have seen the light,
Then thus to be with hunger torn,
And live or die to lose his right:
Oh, Jacob, heare thy brothers cry,
Give me some broath, I faint, I die.
Sell me thy birth-right, thou shalt have
Both bread and broth to save thy life;
But thou must yeeld to what I crave,
And by an oath must end this strife.
What hopes can Esaus birthright give,
If Esau die, and Jacob live?
Thus Esau was at length compel'd,
When he was weak, could hardly stand,
Through cruell hunger for to yeeld
Vnto his brothers full demand;
To sell, renounce, and binde by oath,
His birthright for a messe of broth.
But yet, alas, this was not all,
A greater wo was yet to come,
This but an entry to his fall,
A passage to his finall dome;
For now he lost laws right alone,
The promise lost, then all was gone.
As he grew up in yeres and strength,
So did he grow in worlds delights,
And took to him two wives at length,
Both daughters of the Cananites;
Whereat Rebekah mourn'd and pin'd,
They were a grief to Isaac's minde.
But Isaac waxing old and blinde,
His glasse then being almost run,
His first-born came into his minde,
He called for his eldest sonne:
Let Esau come, let him appear.
Father (quoth he) thy sonne is here.
My sonne, quoth Jsaac, I am old,
And almost ready to depart;
My first-born Esau is enrold
Within the bowells of my heart:
Make haste, my sonne, and be not slow,
Take thou thy quiver and thy bow;
And get thee gone into the field,
Provide for me some pleasant meat,
Such as the woods and forrests yeeld,
Such as thy father loves to eate,
That I may feed, thou standing by,
My soul may blesse thee fore I die.
Rebekah hearing what had past,
When Esau to the field was gone,
She called then in all the haste,
For Iacob, her beloved sonne;
Who letting other matters fall,
Attended on his mothers call.
Thy father hath sent Esau out,
With all his instruments, to hunt;
My sonne, quoth she, be bold and stout,
Thou must yet stand another brunt;
And I will be thy instrument,
Thy brothers blessings to prevent.
He that our mother Eye misled,
And did beget that wicked seed,
VVhich stroke our father Adam dead,
And made our brother Abel bleed,
And held mankinde in fetters bound,
Till God the world in justice dround.
Then did deride his fathers shame,
Almost brought Sarah to despair,
That vertuous and godly dame,
Distrusting how to have an heir:
And in my wombe did make such strife,
That I was weary of my life.
Shall he which was accurst in Cham,
In Hagars sonne was made a slave,
Be blest again in Abraham,
And in Isaac the promise have?
Then will he still himself advance,
In Iacobs true inheritance.
VVhile Esau Venison doth kill,
Bring thou two kids out of the fold:
It shall misse of a womans will,
If he which then his birth-right sold,
Lose not his blessing now again,
And Jacob unto both attain.
I will provide thee dainty meat,
And thou shalt bring it unto him,
Such as his soul desires to eate,
He cannot see, his eies be dim:
Stand thou but by while he doth feed,
Thou shalt be blest in Esau's stead.
Then Iacob to his mother said,
My brother Esau he is rough,
And I am smooth, therefore afraid,
With Esau's Heifer for to plough:
Though he be blinde, I stand in doubt,
That he will feel, and finde it out.
Thus doing, I may him provoke
Sharply to punish this offence;
And bring me under Esau's yoak,
A just reward and recompence
For such a fact; Nay, that is worse,
My blessing may turn to a curse.
My sonne (quoth she) be not afraid,
But hearken to thy mothers voice,
Thou onely do what I have said,
Out of the goats take thou the choise:
Bring me two kids, fat and well fed,
Then let the curse light on my head.
In all the haste then Iacob went,
And did his mothers minde fulfill,
His brother Esau to prevent:
He brought two kids and did them kill;
Rebekah, she made pleasant meat,
Even such as he did love to eate.
And to attain to her desire,
All other things then being done,
She took her eldest sonnes attire,
And put it on her yongest sonne;
The yong goats skins she then did take,
His neck and hands rough for to make.
Then she did put into his hand,
That pleasant meat which she had drest;
Go thou (quoth she) at my command,
And bring it him, thou shalt be blest.
When he came to his father near,
He said, My father, I am here.
(Quoth Isaac then) but who art thou?
Thy first-born Esau, then (quoth he)
I bring thee pleasant meat even now,
I have done as thou baddest me.
Arise and eate, father, tis I,
Give me thy blessing fore thou die.
Then Jsaac rising from his bed,
Began again for to demand,
How is my sonne so quickly sped?
And who hath brought it to thy hand?
The Lord which thou dost serve, quoth he;
And I have brought it unto thee.
Then half amazed, at the length,
His former doubt he did renue,
Art thou the first-born of my strength?
Come, let me prove if it be true:
My first-born Esau he is rough,
Let me but feell, it is enough.
As Iacob by his father stands,
He felt his sonne, but found no choise:
These are my first-born Esau's hands,
Quoth Isaac then, but Jacob's voice;
My first-born hath the blessing won,
My blessing light on thee my sonne.
He scarce had uttered this speech,
His tongue and lips did hardly rest:
But fear had made another breach,
More doubts arose within his breast:
And pondring said within his minde,
Isaac is feeble, old, and blinde;
And therefore prone and apt to fail;
My sonne doth for his blessing call,
Tis Iacob's vo ce, should he prevail,
My first born were dismist of all.
But Esau's hands be rough with hair,
Then why should Isaac thus despair.
Jacob my sonne no hunter is,
Nor knew that I his brother sent
For Venison; and more then this,
He hath no hunting instrument;
No bow nor quiver he doth bear,
To shoot and kill the fallow Deer.
He knows not what my meaning is,
Nor that his father doth intend,
To give his honour and his blisse,
Vnto his first-born fore his end:
Who should him then have hither sent,
His brother Esau to prevent?
Now sonne, come give thy father meat.
But art thou Esau? Yes, quoth he,
Then let thy aged father eat,
That he may blesse and honour thee.
He brought him bread, and flesh, & wine.
Wherewith his father then did dine.
Then kissing of his sonne, did smell
Esau's field-garments in his nose;
This strife was ended, all was well,
Another witnesse then arose,
Though Isaac's eare, did Iacob dread,
Yet nose, and hand, for Esau plead.
Wherefore shall Isaac now delay?
Two witnesses of force must stand:
Most voices carry it away;
Though eare accuse, yet nose, and hand,
Each one apart, and both as one,
Give witnesse to my eldest sonne.
Behold, my sonne, thy pleasant sent
Is like the savour of a field,
Which God hath blest, the firmament
Shall give thee dew; the earth shall yeeld
The firtill fatnesse of the ground,
With corn & wine thou shalt abound.
Let pleople then thy servants be,
Nations bow under thy hand;
Thy mothers children honour thee,
Thy brethren be at thy command:
Who thee doth blesse, shall blessed be,
And cursed, who so curseth thee.
This was no sooner finished,
And Jacob scarce gone out the place,
But Isaac's first-born, rough, and red,
Which was returned from the chase,
And had his Venison well drest,
Came to his father to be blest.
Who coming in, lift up his voice,
Father, quoth he, arise and eate,
For I have brought thee worthy choice
Of Venison, most dainty meat:
Tis pleasant, sweet, and savoury,
Oh blesse thy sonne before thou die.
But who art thou which dost appear,
Quoth Isaac then, now all is done?
Esau, thy first-born; father dear,
Rise, eate, and blesse thy eldest sonne.
I have fulfilled thy command,
And wait a blessing at thy hand.
Then Isaac half-amazed stood,
His sudden fear was wondrous great;
Wher's he which first came from the wood,
Quoth Isaac then, and brought me meat?
Which hath his father thus possest,
I blessed him, he shall be blest.
When Esau heard his father speak,
And that his blessing thus was gone:
He wept as if his heart would break,
Shed bitter tears, did wail and mone;
And in his grief and agony,
Blesse me, Oh father, he did cry.
Thou art deceiv'd so well as I,
My sonne, quoth he, what shall I say?
Thy brother came with subtilty,
And hath thy blessing now away:
Thy brother Iacob he hath won
The blessing from my eldest sonne.
Oh, cruell Iacob, thou didst get,
And mad'st me yeeld to thee by oath,
When I was catch't in hungers net,
My birth-right for a messe of broth.
And now hast by this subtle feat,
My blessing for a piece of meat.
Thus twise he hath deceived me,
Quoth Esau then, he is the same,
For cruelty and subtilty,
Iacob may justly be his name.
Oh father, hast thou now no more?
No blessing left for me in store?
What blessing shall I thee afford?
Thou art in bondage, he is free;
I have made Iacob Esau's lord,
His bretheren his servants be.
With wheat and wine he shall abound,
And have the fatnesse of the ground.
Thus were the Serpents projects spoil'd,
A passage to his finall fall;
And was at his own weapons foil'd,
At craft, at cruelty, and all:
And alwaies got, as truth doth show,
Still thrust for thrust, & blow for blow.
But now the Serpent at a stand,
To mighty discontent did grow;
He now did fear a further brand,
He now did dread a greater blow:
This shade (quoth he) which here I finde,
Doth shew what substance is behinde.
For now I see that God doth bend
Himself to throw me headlong down;
And will effect it in the end,
He doth already gin to frown:
It is that seed which truth hath bred,
Which is ordain'd to break my head.
After that I was curst in Cham,
Ishm'el no promise could attain;
Then he was blest in Abraham,
In Isaac did the promise gain.
And then in Jacob was possest,
When Esau went away unblest.
These shadows do declare his right,
VVhich thus do strive for victory;
For who hath seen two shadows fight,
The substances not being by?
The shadow hath no substance made,
The substance doth beget the shade.
By craft I got the upper hand,
Man being blinde, could not prevent,
Nor could he any longer stand,
The woman was my instrument;
Then did I cruelly proceed,
Till I made guiltlesse Abel bleed.
Now he hath got the upper hand,
My birth-right's lost by cruelty;
How should I any longer stand?
My blessing he got craftily:
Man being blinde could not prevent,
The wife was now his instrument.
A hungry minde did make me strive,
And put the woman unto pain;
But hunger would not let me thrive,
For hunger thrust me out again:
By craft I brought her womb in thrall,
Her craft hath shut me out of all.
In Abraham I cannot stand,
No promise can in Isaac have,
For Jacob shall possesse my land,
And Esau shall be Jacob's slave;
And I excluded for a drone,
Birth-right and blessing, all is gone.
One project I have yet in store,
Which if it work unto my minde;
I once again shall get before,
Though now I be so far behinde;
Malice and hate do call and cry,
To act another tragedy.
Wrath and revenge do me provoke,
For murder I was curst in Cain:
Why should I not by murders stroak,
Be blest in Esau now again?
Why should I for a blessing pine?
Were Iacob dead, then all were mine.
But yet I will delay the time,
Till aged Isaac he be dead;
Then will I act this bloudy crime,
And strike the nail upon the head,
And thrust my self into the throne,
For Esau then shall be alone.
What God hath promised in troth,
To Abrahams posterity,
And hath confirmed by an oath,
That cannot fail, God cannot lie:
Then Isaac dead, and Jacob slain,
No seed but Esau is to reigne.
Should I do this, and Jsaac live,
In vain my labour would be spent:
God would him strength and courage give,
My wicked purpose to prevent;
And raise him seed in Iacob's stead,
Although Rebekahs wombe were dead.
Have I not once before been crost,
When I did think my self most sure?
Then Ishmael his birth-right lost,
God did old Abraham procure
Another seed, which then was bred,
In Sarahs wombe, decaid and dead.
Revenge applauded this for good,
But hatred overcome with rage,
Could not contein her angry mood.
Nor could her passions asswage:
Her soul was ready to depart,
Vntill her tongue had eas'd her heart.
Thus was his project overthrown,
By trusting of his secret friend:
This rumour soon abroad was blown,
What mischief Esau did intend:
Which comming to Rebekahs eare,
The losse of both her sonnes did fear.
Wherefore she then without delay,
Call'd Iacob in, her youngest sonne,
Sent him to Haran, there to stay,
Vntill his brothers rage were done:
And Iacob, willing to obey,
Receiv'd his charge, and went his way.
As darknesse doth pursue the light,
And constantly his course doth run,
So doth the day expell the night,
At the arising of the Sunne:
Each one doth chase, each one doth flie,
Till light, at length, gets victory.
Darknesse did claim the highest right,
Because he was the first in place:
But God did soon beget true light,
Proud darknesse from the earth to chase;
And that the day might bring to light,
What darknes had wrought in the night.
Darknesse betrothed was to lust,
Which did conceive beguiling sinne,
Who being born, mans soul with rust,
Was cankred, foul, and eaten in.
Man scarcely had received breath,
But man was subject unto death.
But light took faith to be his wife,
Which did conceive unfained love:
Who being born, abandon'd strife,
Did darknesse daunt, and sinne reprove,
Bondage renounce, and death affright,
And brought eternall life to light.
The Serpents craft his crown did gain:
By craft he made the woman fall:
The woman by her craft again,
Did thrust the Serpent out of all:
By craft he won, by craft he lost,
Thus craft by craft was ever crost.
The Serpents seed by cruelty,
Did seek his crown for to maintain:
The womans seed, as cruelly,
In time shall thrust him out again:
When bloud doth flow up to the brink,
Then bloud for bloud shall be his drink.
But once again for to return,
The Serpents malice to relate,
Who did through rage and fury burn,
To execute his deadly hate;
And did the shadow hunt and chase,
Vntill the substance came in place.
At him it was that he did aim,
At him which should his seed advance;
At him which did by promise claim,
True Canaans inheritance;
Could he bring him unto his fall,
The Serpent then was lord of all.
In time the substance did appear;
This Isaac was Gods onely sonne,
Which came to shed his bloud most dear,
To lose the works which sinne had done:
His life, eternall life did win,
His death, destroy and vanquish sinne.
The Wisemen from the East did spring,
When they did see his starre appear,
For to be hold this blessed King,
And worship him in love and fear:
And did enquire of the Iews,
To know where they should finde this news.
But Herod, taking it in scorn,
Perceiving it for to be true:
The star did shew, a King was born,
He called all the learned crue:
This King which shall subdue the earth,
(Quoth he) where shall he have his birth?
At Beth-lehem, they did reply,
In Davids house he must arise,
According to the prophesie.
This hearing, he did call the wise,
And sent them there to seek about,
Vntill that they had found him out.
When you have found him, come and tell
Me where he is, that I may go
And worship him; I know it well
This King is borne, it must be so;
His star will go before your face,
Vntill you come unto the place.
These men they went, as Herod told,
They found the babe, and did him greet;
They did present incense, and gold,
And did fall down before his feet:
But being warned of this thing,
They went not back unto the king:
But did return another way,
Vnto the place where they did dwell:
Which Herod hearing, left delay,
And calling murder out of hell,
This cruell bloudy Edomite,
Did seek to cut off David's right.
David (quoth he) did Ioab send,
To trample Edom under foot;
And slay his males ev'n to the end,
And leave him neither branch, nor root:
He thought he would not leave him one
For to uphold his fathers throne.
But Hadad, being then a childe,
Escaped David's tyranny:
And Ioab also was beguild,
For Hadad did to Aegypt flie;
Where he did finde a dwelling place,
For to preserve our kingly race.
This Hadad did escape alone,
Of all the kings posterity:
But Herod will leave David none,
He now shall prove my tyranny;
Ile lay his males all at my foot,
And leave him neither branch, nor root.
With that he sent his Horsemen out,
To execute his full command;
At Beth-lehem, and there about,
All males to murder out of hand;
Even all, from two years old, and under,
Must feel the rage of Herod's thunder.
But Ioseph, warned in the night,
This Persecutor then beguil'd;
And into Aegypt took his flight,
With Mary, and this tender Childe:
There to preserve this Infants breath,
Vntill this cruell Tyrants death.
This Childe escap't the Tyrants rage,
For he was manifest to none,
Till he was thirty years of age;
And then baptized was of Iohn,
For John was sent to make him known,
Though not received of his own.
When he out of the water went,
Then presently, faith, hope, and love,
Which God from heav'n unto him sent,
Came down upon him like a Dove:
This Spirit kept him from all evill,
When he was tempted of the Devill.
Twise twenty daies and nights arow,
He then did fast, no more nor lesse;
And did to extream hunger grow,
Who being in the wildernesse,
A desolate and barren place,
Began to wail his wofull case.
And to his father he did cry,
Oh, help me out of this distresse,
And suffer not thy sonne to dye
For hunger in this wildernesse:
Let not my soul be overthrown,
Father, thou know'st I am thine own.
When Ishmael did heare this cry,
As he was shooting in that place,
He did imagine presently,
This sure is he, for whose disgrace,
I, and my mother heretofore,
Were both of us thrust out of dore.
I was deprived of my right,
And brought into this wildernesse,
Where hunger did my soul affright,
And I did lie in great distresse;
Which did augment my mothers grief,
Till God from heav'n did send relief.
Now he is come into my case,
Hunger doth make him now complain:
Now will I mock him to his face,
And get my birth-right once again:
With meat I will delude his eye,
But keep him fasting till he dye.
The Serpent thought, here is no fence,
This man he is with hunger crost;
Distrusting of Gods providence,
Sharp hunger, Esau's birth-right lost:
Could I but bring him to despaire,
His case were mine, and I the heir.
While Isaac then, through hunger great,
Vnto his father loud did cry;
Came Ishmael, and shew'd him meat,
And did present it fore his eye;
But did intend to give him none,
But mock him till his breath was gone.
He seeing food, for food did cry:
Restore my birth-right then, quoth he.
No, Ishmael, Ile rather die,
Then sell my birth-right unto thee.
Though hunger doth my soul affright,
Yet will I not resigne my right.
If thou refuse the means to live,
It sheweth but a stubborn will;
For man must take, when God doth give,
The law doth say, Thou shall not kill:
If thou wilt live, lay hold in time,
For murther is a deadly crime.
What cruelty was that in Saul,
On his own sword to fall, and die?
Ahitophel's sinne was not small,
Which hang'd himself as wickedly.
Wilt thou be strangled with sins coard,
Or run thy self on hungers sword?
Or, canst thou change these stones to bread,
Thy hungry body to sustein?
Or dost thou think for to be fed,
With Manna here yet once again?
What hope hast thou to finde red resse,
Within this desert wildernesse?
When Abraham returned faint,
From that great slaughter of the kings,
His hungry soul did make complaint;
Melchisedech him succour brings:
And he, his life for to defend,
Did take such food as God did send.
What need I reason any more?
Or why dost thou contend in vain?
What measure thou didst mete before,
Ile measure now to thee again:
For if thou live, thou must resigne;
Or if thou die, the right is mine.
Though thou have bread, and I have none,
Though thou be strong, and I be weak,
Yet man lives not by bread alone,
But by each word which God doth speak:
Vpon each word I will relye,
Although I should for hunger dye.
When God did Abraham command,
To offer up his onely sonne,
The knife was ready in his hand,
He said, Oh Lord, thy will be done:
He knew Gods promise was not vain,
His might could raise him up again,
To leave the means which God doth give,
Is God to tempt, death may ensue;
To sell my birth-right for to live,
Is to distrust that God is true:
As if Gods justice, truth, and might,
Could not give life to maintain right.
The law which saies, Thou shalt not kill,
It doth reprove all other evill;
And teacheth to obey Gods will,
And not submit unto the Devill:
If I through hunger faint and pine,
That is Gods sword, and none of min
Saul spent his daies and time in hate,
Neglected truth and equity,
Therefore his end was desperate,
Did hopelesse live, and hopelesse die;
His life nor death resemble mine,
But life, and death, and all is thine.
Ahithophel grew to despair,
Because his counsell might not stand;
And hung himself up in the aire,
The Tempter being at his hand:
Therefore I do no counsell crave,
From such as wicked counsell have.
Melchisedech to Abraham
Did bring a blessing with his meat:
But this doth come from cursed Cham,
And brings a curse, if I do eat:
Ile rather fast, and dying win;
Then eat to live, and die for sinne.
Dost thou to me what thou dost crave,
That I to thee should do again?
Then justice thou shalt surely have,
Thy labour is not spent in vain.
I hunger; thou dost keep thy store,
But thou shalt hunger evermore.
Though I can change no stones to bread,
Nor God from heav'n no Manna rain;
The Spirit which me hither led,
Will surely bring me hence again:
No subtle plot, nor hungers lust,
Shall make me in my God distrust.
This arrow being spent in vain,
He did provide another shaft,
Ile shoot (quoth he) yet once again,
Experience hath taught me craft:
Trust and distrust did both conspire,
And Esau's crown laid in the mire,
When he by birth was plac't on high,
And seated on the highest Tower,
Gods providence was alwaies nigh,
His Angels watching day and hower,
Vain confidence did work his fall,
Neglecting means, neglected all.
The Hart and Hinde were Esau's game,
And fish and fowl, both small and great,
With other beasts both wilde and tame;
And Venison was Esau's meat:
He daily hunting, daily found,
Which made him daily to abound.
And therefore laid up none in store,
Nor did for any want provide:
But vainly trusting to have more,
Did tempt the Lord, set means aside;
And once dismissed of his game,
He lost his birth-right, and his name.
But now I see that hungers sword,
Cannot bring this man to despaire,
But still he feeds upon Gods word;
Ile take him up into the aire,
And set him on a Tower hie,
There prove if he will live, or die.
His faith is firm; I now will prove,
And trie him if his hope be sure;
If so, Ile tempt him in his love,
And prove if I can him allure:
If he can stand out all these three.
Then I shall know that this is he.
The Serpent then did thus begin,
Quoth he, I am not void of pitie;
Thou seest that I have brought thee in
The compasse of this holy Citie,
And freed thee from the wildernesse,
VVhere thou didst lie in great distresse.
And now I cleare and plainly see,
That fire, water, famine, sword,
No beasts nor fishes cruelty,
Can make thee to forsake Gods word;
That is thy buckler, sword, and shield,
Wherewith thou dost maintain the field.
And sure it is that God is just,
And true, for he did never fail
Those to preserve which in him trust,
His eye is alwaies in the sail:
No hight nor depth can fright or scare,
That man which liveth in his fear.
I call to minde, how God did save
Daniel, in the Lions den:
The fishes wombe was Ionah's grave,
Yet God did bring him out agen.
Three holy men walk't in the fire,
Which had no pow'r to sienge their tire.
Eliah was by Ravens fed,
VVhen as the famine first begun;
One handfull meal gave daily bread
To him, the widow, and her sonne;
That little oyl and meal did last,
Vntill that famine great was past.
And God did David still preserve,
From cruel Saul's pursuing sword:
Such men, I say, which do not swerve,
But still do feed upon Gods word,
Gods love to them cannot be cold,
They cannot perish though they would.
Now thou art freed from hungers power,
Her's food enough within this town.
But how shall I come from this Tower?
Leap off from hence, cast thy self down.
No danger can lay thee on board,
While thou dost feed upon Gods word.
His Angels have charge over thee,
If that thou be his Holy-one;
Thou canst not fall by his decree,
Nor dash thy foot against a stone:
This is the writing of Gods hand,
What God hath written, that must stand.
But it is written then again,
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God:
Then labour thou no more in vain,
For I will settle mine abode
Here in this place, to void offence,
Till God send means to bring me hence.
If thou wilt not leap from this Tower,
Tell me wherein thy hope then lies?
Pale hunger will thy soul devoure,
VVhile plenty stands before thine eies:
Thy misery and great distresse,
Is worse then in the wildernesse.
If I should bend unto thy will,
My self cast down, and falling, die:
The law which saies, Thou shalt not kill,
VVould tell me, I had gone awrie:
I will not like a blinde man grope,
But live in faith, or die in hope.
Those men which walked in the fire,
In hope did live, by faith did win:
But those which wrought the kings desire,
Did hopelesse die, to cast them in;
And Jonas in his jeopardye,
Did cast hopes ankor in the sea.
VVhen hopelesse Saul began to frown,
Then hopefull David he must flie;
Yet David's hope did win Saul's crown,
And hopelesse Saul must hopelesse die:
Eliah's hope was not in vain,
VVhen he did pray, and hope for rain.
The Prophet in the Lyons den,
By faith did live, through hope endure;
And hope did bring him out agen,
His cause was just, his life was pure:
But his accusers, they must try
The Lyons force, and hopelesse die.
That God which shut the Lyons jawes,
To shew his false accusers spite,
And bound their strong and cruell claws,
That they could neither scrach nor bite:
And by his mighty hand did keep
The Prophet Ionas in the deep.
That God which did bring Ioseph out
That desolate devouring pit:
Where envy, hate, and malice stout
Had thrown him in, there for to sit
In deep despair, and fainting, dye,
VVhere no man should heare Ioseph cry.
That God, which by his mighty hand,
Did once devide the raging sea;
And made the foming waves to stand
Like walls, to shew his strong decree:
And close again at his command,
To swallow up proud Pharaoh's band.
That God which in the wildernesse,
So many thousand souls did feed,
And succour them in their distresse,
And made their enemies to bleed:
And by his strong and mighty hand,
Possesse them in that holy land.
That God which Ieremy did call,
For to accomplish his desire,
Out of that dungeon of thrall,
VVhere he lay strugling in the mire:
And with one handfull meal did save
Eliah's body from the grave.
That God which alwaies did defend
His servant David in his thrall;
And did him means and comfort send,
VVhen he pursued was by Saul.
That God which on proud Saul did frown,
Brought lowly David to his crown.
That God which doth restrain the force
Of burning and consuming fire;
And make the waters change their course,
To part, or close, at his desire:
Gives Lyons power to save, or kill,
And makes the Whale attend his will.
That God which hath from age to age,
Been alwaies mercifull and just;
And hath preserv'd from tyrants rage,
His servants which did in him trust;
What should he now when all is done,
Forsake his own and onely Sonne?
Though thou do now my soul pursue,
And think I am forsaken quite;
Yet I do know that God is true,
And will not cast me from his sight:
In him alone is all my trust,
For he is mercifull and just.
The Serpent being at a stoun,
Amazed, thus to hear him speak,
Thought, should I cast him headlong down,
His faith is strong, though he be weak:
And faith will win, hope being by,
Will swallow death in victory.
But what is faith? or what is hope?
If love be wanting, all is vain:
For want of love doth make men grope,
And blindlings seek for to attain,
And catch at any thing they finde,
When want of love hath made them blinde.
With that he took him up again,
And set him on a mighty mount,
Where he did lay a subtle train,
To call him to his last account;
There he must either lose, or win,
And thus the Serpent did begin;
I found thee in the wildernesse,
A desolate and barren field,
Where thou didst lie in great distresse,
And almost ready for to yeeld
Thy vitall breath, and there to die,
In extream grief and misery.
Hunger had compast thee about,
No means there was food to attain,
Nor any way for to come out,
Not one to whom thou might'st complain:
Such was the place, such was thy state,
Forsaken, waste, and desolate.
There I did come and bring thee meat,
Requiring thee but for to yeeld,
But thou refusing for to eate,
did'st put on faith to be thy shield,
And like a Captain bould and stout,
did'st fight and stand that combate out.
But then to prosecute this ditie,
Thy faith yet further for to try,
I brought thee to the holy Citie,
And set thee on a Tower high,
Where plenty was of bread and wine,
Though thou refuse to eat of mine.
There thinking for to prove thy faith,
If that thou would'st leap down and eat;
But then it was (the Scripture saith)
Thou shalt not tempt thy God for meat:
Then hope did bear the greatest sway,
To come down thence some other way.
But now thou art left destitute,
Of faith or hope for to attain,
For now I see that thou art mute,
Thy faith, thy hope, and all is vain,
This is thy last extremity,
Then either yeeld to live, or dye.
Iust Abraham denide his wife,
When he in Gerar went to dwell:
And all was to preserve his life,
Least beauty should ring murders knell.
Of him that promis'd Isaac came,
And art thou more then Abraham?
When famine was in Canaan,
And Isaac in much perill stood,
He did forsake his land, and ran
Vnto Abimelech for food:
And more then that, to save his life,
He did deny his lawfull wife.
And Iacob, to prolong his daies,
When hunger would have strok him dead,
Did call his sonnes, and left delaies,
And sent to Aegypt to fetch bread:
Three holymen in one agree,
And art thou more then all these three?
Then yeeld, or else for hunger sterve,
Think not the widows meal, or oyl,
Or Ravens shall thy life preserve,
Give up thy right, and end this broyl:
For life and death stand equall nigh.
Then eat and live, or fast and die.
For thou art bound in hungers bands,
No hope thou hast for to get free:
What God can pluck thee out my hands?
What power can deliver thee?
Thy faith must fail, for all thy trust,
Doth now lie bleeding in the dust,
Though I be ready for to sterve,
And see no means how to get free;
Yet know, the God which I do serve,
Is able to deliver me:
And though he do forsake me still,
Yet will I not yeeld to thy will.
With that the Serpent did transform
Himself: his glory did appear,
And said, All this is but a storm,
A calm will follow, do not fear,
Nor fall thou not into despair,
I will make thee my onely heir.
Nothing, I see, will make thee yeeld,
Thou shalt be now my sole delight,
If thou wilt not forsake the field,
But wilt maintain my lawfull right:
All what I have, all what is mine,
Do thou but crave, it shall be thine.
And now behold before thine eies,
The royall kingdomes of the earth:
For all that is under the skies,
Is mine inheritance by birth:
All glory, majesty divine,
Honour, and power, all is mine.
Nebuchadnezar wore my crown,
And did my royall scepter sway,
He did maintain my high renown,
All men must his command obey;
Now will I give all this to thee,
If thou wilt bowe and worship me.
Satan, avoid, I am forbod,
And must obey if I will live,
To worship any other God,
Then him which doth the power give:
All honour, majesty divine,
Belongs to him, tis none of thine.
Nebuchadnezar did not love
The God of heaven, whom I adore,
Nor knew his power came from above,
But was his own; my God therefore
Did his ambition deride,
Even in the height of all his pride.
And made him like another beast,
Seven winters long in frost and snow,
Among the oxen for to feast,
That he at length might come to know;
And in this time might justly prove,
All power comming from above.
The Serpent then thought in his minde,
This must be sure that blessed Lambe,
For in my tempting I do finde,
That he is more then Abraham,
Then Isaac, Iacob, more is he;
Nay, he is more then all these three.
For Abrams faith was weak and frail,
When God did promise him a seed;
And Isaac's hope began to fail,
When he lay ready for to bleed:
And Iacob's love, that was not great,
When he refus'd his brother meat.
Yet Abraham, when hope was past,
By faith did blessed Isaac gain;
Isaac also while hope did last,
Praid for a sonne, God gave him twain;
But Jacob's love did win the crown,
When faith & hope were both put down.
This man he is but one alone,
Yet with them all he doth agree,
So that I now see three in one,
And yet this one more then these three;
They were like shadows on a wall,
And this the substance of them all.
Moses and Aaron, both did fail,
They were not perfect in Gods sight,
And Ioshuah could not prevail,
For he was put unto the flight,
And could not win nor conquer aie,
Till Achans sinne was put away.
What need I any more repeat,
All men have failed in their time:
Yea, all have sinned, small and great,
This man alone is void of crime:
His faith, his hope, his love will draw,
Sinnes strength & power from the law.
Oh, this is he which was foretold,
That of a Virgin should be born:
For thirty pence he should be sold,
And made a curse, and open scorn:
Yet when his guiltlesse bloud is shed,
The curse will light upon my head.
This is that Abel which was slain,
Whose bloud was poured on the ground;
And yet in Sheth did rise again,
Deaths fetters could not hold him bound:
This is that Henoch, other none,
VVhich God did take up to his throne.
When all men fell, this man did stand,
His faith alone did mercy crave;
He built an Ark at Gods command,
Him and his family to save:
Which being done, he entred in,
And did condemn the world for sinne.
This is that blessed Abraham,
VVhich did not spare his onely sonne,
But went to offer up that lambe,
And said, Oh Lord, thy will be done:
This is that Isaac now, I say,
Which was as ready to obey.
This is that Iacob which did flie,
His brothers malice to prevent:
And went to Haran speedily,
There where his father had him sent,
VVithin his mothers house to finde,
A wife unto his fathers minde.
This is that Iudah, born to reign,
Levi, to offer sacrifice:
That Ioseph, which did gather grain,
Against a famine should arise,
His hatefull bretheren to feed,
When they did stand in extream need.
This is that Moses, which did smite
The proud Aegyptian to ground,
Seeing him with an Hebrew fight,
He gave him there a deadly wound:
He thought they would on him depend,
As one that should their right defend.
Coming again the other day,
He found two Hebrews at debate:
My bretheren, then he did say,
VVhy do yee one another hate?
Love teacheth men to suffer long,
And not to do his brother wrong.
The wrongfull would not understand,
But in his heart began to grudge,
Thrust Moses from him with his hand,
Saying, Who hath made thee a judge?
Or, art thou come my bloud to spill,
As thou didst the Aegyptian kill?
This Moses fled; but came again,
For to release them from their bands;
But then his coming was not vain,
He pluck't them out of Pharaoh's hands,
And by a strong and mighty hand,
He brought them out of Aegypt land.
This is that Ioshuah, whose might,
Possest them in the holy Land;
Slue one and thirty kings in fight,
The Sunne and Moon, both still did stand,
Vntill his enemies did flie,
And he return with victory.
This is that David, which took care,
His fathers sheep from Wolves to hold;
He kild a Lyon and a Bear,
VVhich would have broke into his fold:
And after that Goliah slue,
The proudest Gyant of the crue.
He was a Shepheard, so is this,
Yet chosen king while Saul did reigne,
This must be he, how should it misse?
For Gods anointing is not vain,
The Crown doth hang over his head,
And he shall reigne when I am dead,
Saul's unbelief, despair, and hate,
Deprived him of his renown:
Faith, hope, and love, did David's state
Advance, and brought him to the Crown:
The more I do the Shadow see,
The more I know that this is he.
I must of force now give him scope,
I can by no means him allure,
For Abram 's faith, and Isaac's hope,
Have made his birth-right firm and sure;
And Iacob's love, that perfect band,
Hath bound the blessing in his hand.
And thus he left him, there he stood,
Through hunger fainting, almost dead:
But then the Angels brought him food,
VVherewith his hungry soul was fed:
And then he went from coast, to coast,
To seek the sheep which he had lost.
He brought glad tidings to the poor,
The broken hearted he did binde;
And opened the prison door,
That captives, liberty might finde:
And shew'd them the reward of sinne,
To comfort those which strove to win.
He made the blinde receive their sight,
The Lepers he made whol and clean;
The lame and creple go upright,
The deaf to hear, the dead were seen
To rise again out of their grave,
He did help all that help did crave.
For all diseases he did cure,
He did the Divells dispossesse,
And sought all men for to allure,
To purchase life and happinesse:
Sinnes fetters he did break asunder,
That all men did behold, and wonder.
While that the sunne did shine thus bright,
The Serpent overspread the skie,
With misty clouds, to damp the light,
And make his beams reflect, and flie,
That men could not, by humane sight,
Know night from day, nor day from night
You look for a deliverer,
A King (quoth he) to set you free;
But Joseph's sonne, the Carpenter,
You may be sure is none of he:
Will you on basenesse fix your eies?
And feed your eares with fantasies.
Suppose he were of David's race,
Yet can he be no Nazarite:
For Beth lehem, that is the place,
VVhich claimes the title and the right,
The honour and the high renown,
Of Judah's scepter and his crown.
And Prophet he is surely none;
Be not deceiv'd, open your eyes,
Where have you read of any one,
Out Nazareth that should arise?
And by his Genealogie,
No Priest, nor Levite he can be.
He doth that which Moses forbod,
He will not live under his aw:
Tis good to see hee's not of God,
Because he doth not keep his law.
His statutes he will not obey,
But work upon the Sabbath day.
God spake with Moses in the mount,
For Moses fore the Lord did stand;
And every man must give account,
For all which Moses did command,
If any thing were done amisse:
But no man knows whence this man is.
Tis true, he bears a seeming shew,
His words be pleasing to deceive,
But who doth any Ruler know,
That doth him or his words believe?
Or any learned Pharisees,
No, no, such men be all too wise.
If you will live in godly fear,
And be submissive to Gods word,
Vnto the Priest incline your eare,
He messenger is of the Lord:
Within his heart doth wisedome grow,
And from his lips doth knowledge flow.
But such as do not know the law,
And still remain under the curse,
He may by his allurements draw,
And lead them forth from bad, to worse;
And bring them to their finall end,
While they on his fair words depend.
VVhat though he doth work miracles,
And many people follow him?
Yet know, these are but infidells,
VVhose eies be blinde, whose sight is dim:
They follow him but to be fed,
And have their bellies full of bread.
If you will miracles behold,
And such as have been wrought by God,
You know what Moses did of old,
VVhen he did but cast down his rod,
Before the face of Aegypts king,
That rod a Serpent forth did bring.
He turn'd the waters into bloud,
The dust to vermine did arise,
That all men then amazed stood;
He brought in thousand swarmes of flies,
To fill their houses; and the ground,
VVith multitudes did still abound.
A mighty murren he did bring
On Pharaoh's cattell, speedily;
So that it was told to the king,
All sorts of cattell gan to die:
VVho sent to Goshen, where they found,
The Hebrews cattell all were sound.
He brought a scab, a blistring sore,
VVhich did annoy both man and beast;
And did torment both rich and poor,
The Sorcerers could have no rest:
All the inchanters lost their might,
For none could stand in Moses sight.
And when he could not yet prevail,
Nor Pharaoh yeeld to his desire;
He called for a mighty hail,
Thunder and lightning, mixt with fire,
VVhich tore the trees which fruit did yeeld,
And slue the cattell in the field.
And then again stretch't out his rod,
And with a mightie easterne winde,
And by the power of his God,
He brought a strange and fearfull kinde
Of Grashopers, in such a store,
The like was never seen before.
And when he stretched out his hand,
Which was so powerfull and strong,
Black darknesse did possesse the land,
Which did endure full three daies long,
That no man did enjoy his sight,
And yet the Hebrews had clear light.
When God the first-born all had slain,
In Aegypt land of man and beast;
The Kings own heir which was to reigne,
And so descending to the least:
Then Pharaoh's soul was full of wo,
For then he let Gods people go.
But Pharaoh, vexed at the heart,
And taking it in great disdain,
That Israel should so depart,
He thought to fetch them back again;
And calling all his warlike crew,
He Israel did then pursue.
Then Moses stretched out his Rod,
And did the raging sea divide;
And by the power of his God,
Did Pharaoh and his hoast deride:
And did deliver Aegypts slave,
And made the sea proud Pharaoh's grave,
When Korah, Dathan, and the rest,
Two hundred fifty Captains stout,
This worthy Moses did molest,
The Lord did quickly finde them out:
For Moses sake the ground did rive,
And swallowed them all alive.
What miracles hath this man wrought,
That may be once compar'd to these?
I wonder men should bend one thought,
To listen to such fantasies:
Such dreams make sleeping men to quake
Which vanish when a man doth wake.
For what can he do any more
Then other men, so well as he,
Have done, or could have done before?
Search but the Scripture, you shall see
What other men have done in time.
Yet were no gods, but earth and slime.
He fasted fourty daies and nights,
Eliah did as much as he:
He is one of the greatest lights,
Open your eyes and you shall see,
The heav'ns obeyed his desire,
And at his call did send him fire.
The skies did shut at his request,
And at his prayer ope again:
The Lord he gave not any rest,
Vntill that he had sent him rain:
This man was by the Ravens fed,
And in his time did raise the dead.
The waters he did once divide,
And made the river Iordane stand
Like walls uprighs on either side,
Till he went through upon drie land:
Then with a whirl-winde he did flie,
Here from the earth into the skie.
Elisha also did divide
Iordane: made poyson'd waters sweet:
The children which did him deride,
The Bears devoured them for meat:
And dy his prayer be did gain,
To raise the dead to life again.
He cleansed Naaman's leprousie,
Gainst nature he made iron swim;
His fame throughout the world doth flie,
Such worthy acts were done by him:
And being dead, it is most plain,
His bones did raise the dead again.
This man is like to none of these,
He cometh here but to deceive;
He cannot cure one small disease,
Except a man do first believ:
The Endors Witch, when Saul did crave,
Rais'd Samuel out of his grave.
This is but Aegypts sorcery,
This Serpent was in Aegypt bred;
But Moses Rod will make him flie,
Or else his Serpent bite him dead:
No Sorcerer mongst us may dwell,
No Witch may live in Israel.
You know the Prophets have foretold,
That subtle Foxes should arise,
And thrust themselves into this fold,
To vent their forgeries, and lies:
Such Prophets as God hath not sent,
We must in time lay to prevent.
What doth he bring out of his store?
Men to a godly life to draw?
But such as have been taught before,
They be the doctrines of the law:
Why should our sight then be so dim,
That we should fix our eies on him?
And thus the Serpent by his craft,
The woman once again misled;
That he might shoot another shaft,
To strike the second Adam dead:
He knew where faith could have no venter
There love could have no place to enter,
For as true faith doth work by love,
So unbelief doth work by hate:
The one is one with God above,
The other is the Devills mate:
Vnfained love doth cover sinne,
But hate by murder seeks to win.
But Christ, perceiving his intent,
And knowing he his life must give,
The Devils malice to prevent,
That Adam once again might live,
In Paradice to rule and reigne,
And cast the Serpent out again.
He did not seek to be made known,
But his Desciples daily prove,
To see how far that they were grown,
In stedfast faith. in hope, and love:
And trying them all, one by one,
He pick't out Peter, James, and John.
These three forthwith along he led
With him unto a mountain high;
Where he himself transfigured,
That they might see his majestie,
And in what glory he should reigne,
When he should come on earth again.
Behold (quoth he) and take a glance,
For all what is under the skies,
That is my sole inheritance,
Ev'n all what stands before your eies:
Faith, hope, and love, my crown did gain,
Faith, hope, and love with me shall reigne.
As flesh and bloud cannot attain
True faith, to stand out constantly;
Ev'n so, where flesh and bloud doth reign
Faith, hope, and love of force must die
Therefore he set before their eyes,
What flesh doth hate, and bloud denyes.
Two witnesses he there did call,
That Peter, Iames, and Iohn might see,
It was no shadow on a wall,
No idle dream, nor fantasie:
Then God from heav'n, this being done,
Gave witnesse to his onely Sonne.
This pleased Peter passing well;
Master (quoth he) lot us here make
Three Tabernacles, here to dwell,
That Moses one of them may take,
Eliah one; for making three,
There yet remaineth one for thee.
No Peter, no, here is no place,
The enemie will not permit;
I onely set before thy face,
A marke to aim at, and to hit:
A royall kingdome for to win,
If thou by faith canst enter in.
And Iames can lay hopes ankor fast,
By casting it upon this rock:
Then Iohn shall by his love at last,
Preserve and keep my little flock:
And nourish them by love alone,
When faith is lost, and hope is gone.
For faith and hope were born of man,
And therefore cannot long endure:
They both shall end as they began,
For they were born but to allure,
Eternall love to be mans friend,
That man may live when they do end.
Faith did finde out the holy Land;
Hope led them in the wildernesse:
But love did bear the chief command,
For he our fathers did possesse,
In Canaan, that mighty hoast,
When faith was gone, and hope was lost.
Faith, first doth bring man under awe,
Then hope attends upon Gods will;
But love alone must end the law,
Each royall precept to fulfill:
For Love, he is that onely one,
Which makes a servant prove a sonne.
Moses my servant gave my law,
Eliah did attend my will,
And kept all men in servile aw;
Now I am come for to fulfill
Each royall precept, and to give
True grace, that man by faith may live.
These are my faithfull witnesses,
These men have overcome by love;
These men have seen my holinesse,
On earth beneath, in heaven above;
Their witnesse doth in one agree,
To testifie that I am he.
Faithfull Moses stands me by,
Hopefull Eliah doth the same;
And love from heav'n doth testifie,
That I am he which bears his name:
Faith, hope, and love in one agree,
That you may know that I am he.
Moses was sent for to destroy,
Not sparing either man or beast;
Proud Pharaoh's kingdome to annoy
With sundry plagues, till he releast
His bond-slave, and did let him go,
Moses did daily work his wo.
But I am sent for to preserve,
And call all men unto a feast;
From grace and truth I may not swerve,
Vntill that I have all releast,
Both Iew and Gentile in their kinde,
I may not leave one hoof behinde.
Moses obeyed my command,
And did the Passover ordain:
That Iacobs heritage might stand,
When Aegypts first-born all were slain:
And be preserved by that Lambe,
When the devouring Angell came.
Moses the red sea did divide,
An Angell went before his face,
Which did him through the waters guide,
When Pharaoh did pursue and chase:
A fiery pillar in a cloud,
Did this preserving Angell shrowd.
Now I am come for to fulfill,
I am that Lambe which shall be slain;
I must obey my fathers will,
My coming cannot be in vain:
I am that Angell which shall slay,
The Serpents first-born in one day.
Moses, the Red-sea, and the Cloud,
The fiery Pillar, all am I;
That Angell which the Serpent proud,
Shall overthrow; ev'n when I die,
My bloud shall Aegypts slave defend,
And bring the Serpent to his end.
In flaming fire I once came down,
And did desend upon the mount;
That men might fear when I did frown;
And Moses calling to account:
Both high & low might trembling stand,
For breaking of my least command.
Eliah with consuming fire,
Did prosecute this fiery law,
To execute my wrath and ire,
On such as would not live in aw:
He made both high and low obey,
And in his zeal Ball's prophets slay.
That law which I did once reveal
In fire, unto my servant true:
And after by Eliah's zeal,
With burning fire again renue:
Now love hath found a faithfull friend,
This law in fierie love to end.
All what by Moses was begun,
And never had been taught before,
Shall now by me be all undone,
Shall vanish and appear no more:
And circumcision shall fall,
And end in me, for I am all.
This law is minister of death,
And sheweth the reward of sinne;
It must be ended with my breath,
My guiltlesse bloud the crown must win:
I must by death Gods wrath expell,
And overcome sinne, death, and hell.
This law I gave in flaming fire,
Thunder and lightning made men quake:
The trumpet did blow wrath, and ire,
The burning mount did trembling shake:
Curse upon curse did there begin,
Thunder and fire did threaten sinne.
But now in love I did appear,
No thunder, lightning, smoak, nor fire;
No trumpet blew, the skie was clear,
All men might come which did desire,
Into the mount, to heare what is
Vertues reward, blisse upon blisse.
That curse which I did then pronounce,
Is due to all men by desert;
Yet I will beare it ev'ry ounce,
No man shall beare with me a part.
All men be guilty, and in thrall,
I guiltlesse, free, must pay for all.
That blessing which I now did give,
Is due to all men which deserve,
For love, which would that all should live,
Gives food of life, that none should sterve:
If men do come again in thrall,
The guilty then must pay for all.
In fiery love I gave this law,
That men might one another love;
And love hereafter might men draw,
To fix their eies on him above,
Who sitting at the righter hand,
Shall have the rule and sole command.
In fiery love I will proceed,
I will not banish, scourge, nor kill;
No tares nor cockles will I weed
Out of my wheat, they shall grow still:
Both shall have place, both shall have room
To grow, untill the harvest come.
And then the wheat which love did sow,
By love shall reaped be again;
Hates cockles shall no longer grow,
For love will then in great disdain,
Burn and consume in wrath and ire,
Hate and his tares in flaming fire.
But now again in brief to shew,
The subtle Serpents cruell spite;
How he did seek to overthrow,
Grace, mercy, justice, truth, and light:
And to maintain and nourish sinne,
That cruell murther still might win.
An eye I must have in the sayle,
(Quoth he) I will not let him rout;
For he beginneth to prevail,
And many men begin to doubt:
His wonders do amazement strike,
Because no man can do the like.
But if he now be come to reigne,
Ile keep him out by open wrong:
Ile put him to reproch and pain,
And make himsing another song:
I, and the woman will combine
To murder him, then all is mine.
But yet the woman shall not know,
VVhat is my purpose and intent,
By striking of this deadly blow,
Although she be my instrument:
She shall accuse, and I will judge,
That I may once revenge my grudge.
Fair Sarahs fancy once I fed,
When she was almost in despair:
She layed Hagar in her bed,
That Abraham might have an heir:
Now will I draw her unto mine,
That she may be my Concubine.
And now I must no longer stay,
It cometh now upon the knip;
Much danger lurketh in delay,
If I occasion let slip:
Ile round the woman in the eare,
And set before her hope and fear.
Sarah (quoth he) Princesse divine,
The wife of heavenly Abraham,
All blisse in heaven and earth is thine,
For thou shalt bear that blessed Lambe,
VVhich shall subdue and conquer all,
And bring the world in servile thrall.
Thou shalt conceive when strength is spent,
And beare this sonne when hope is gone:
Then let not Hagars sonne prevent,
The right of Sarahs lawfull sonne:
You know how Abraham full well,
Did love his first-born Ishmael.
For Abram's love to his first-born,
Made Ishm'el Isaac to disdain:
But Sarah took it in great scorn,
And did to Abraham complain;
Quoth she, to ease my heart of doubt,
The hand-maids sonne must be put out.
If Abraham yet once again,
Hath caused Hagar to conceive:
How should it misse? it is most plain,
So Sarah constantly believe,
Her time of bearing will draw near,
And blessed Isaac shall appear.
This man he is thy hand-maids sonne,
VVho is his father no man knows,
If so this thing by God be done,
It still most plain and clearly shewes.
This is he which did Isaac flout,
And Hagars sonne must be put out.
When Abraham to Gerar went
To dwell: he did deal craftily,
For, fearing of some ill event,
His loving spouse he did deny,
Least that the beauty of his wife,
Should cause the king to take his life.
And in that land was Isaac born,
That sonne of promise, for to reigne;
Whom Jshmael did mock and scorn,
Yet Sarah did his right maintain;
And Ishmael thrust out of door,
Though Abraham did grieve therefore.
But when Abimelech did see,
That God for Abraham did stand:
And Abraham, by Gods decree,
Grew rich and mighty in his land;
And that he had a lawfull heir,
Abimelech did half despair.
And he, with his chief Captain stout,
In hast to Abraham did ride,
Saying, Oh man, I stand in doubt,
(For God, I see, is on thy side)
That thou wilt turn me out of all,
And bring me and my house in thrall.
If thou wilt vow thou wilt refrain,
To injure either me or mine:
Then thou shalt deal with me again,
As I have dealt with thee and thine:
When as a stranger thou didst come
To sojourn here, I gave thee room.
Then Abraham without delay,
To put him out of servile fear,
Did covenant with him that day,
And to Abimelech did swear,
That love with love he would requite,
And not deprive him of his right.
And that Abimelech might see,
He sought not to possesse his land,
He did perceive his constancie,
When God did Abraham command,
To sacrifice that promis'd seed,
He would have made young Isaac bleed.
For Abraham was nothing slack,
He would not fail in any case,
But lai'd the wood on Isaac's back,
To carry it unto the place,
To which his father him then led,
Where he should have been offered.
An altar there he then did make,
While Isaac by amazed stood:
He bound his sonne, and did him take,
And laid him up upon the wood;
Then took the knife into his hand,
To execute the Lords command.
An Angels voice then to him came,
Descending down out of the skie,
Which called unto Abraham,
Who said, My Lord, lo, here am I;
Thy sonne (quoth he) thou shalt not slay,
I see thy love for to obey.
These things do clear and plainly shew,
If Sarah will but ope her eies,
This is the ground where truth doth grow,
From hence the substance must arise;
For Abraham did shew the way,
For thee to walk in, and obey.
If thou the truth hereof wilt finde,
And bring an end unto this strife,
Then say, thou hast thy right resign'd,
And art no longer Abram's wife;
Thou dost not sleep in Abram's bed,
The Emperour is now thy head.
Him now thou must obey and fear,
And bow unto his royall might:
And hold the oath which thou didst swear,
By seeking to maintain his right;
And not to injure him nor his,
Then nothing can be done amisse.
Then apprehend this stumbling stone,
This fellow which makes all this strife,
And bring him unto Cesars throne,
And let him there plead for his life;
Then shalt thou finde, if thou do so.
Whether he be thy King, or no.
Bring him before the judgement seat,
Accuse him of some wickednesse;
That I with rods his back may beat,
Vntill he truly doth confesse,
What things that he hath done amisse,
And tell me true from whence he is.
If he be mocking Ishmael,
Ile mock him with a thorny crown;
That will please Sarah passing well,
For she will lead him out of towne,
And make him there an open scorn,
When back and sides with rods be torn.
For if this fellow should prevail,
And all the people to him cleave,
The Roman forces will assail
Your Towns, and Cities; and not leave,
Till they have thrown all under foot,
And leave you neither branch nor root.
If this be Isaac from above,
Most sure it is he shall not die:
No other way thou hast to prove
The truth, and know the certainty:
By life, or death, thou must it know,
Whether he be thy sonne, or no.
If this be Isaac which shall reigne,
To whom the promises were made,
He shall come from the crosse again,
The substance must be like the shade:
Yea, in the last extremity,
He shall come down, and shall not die.
If that he die upon the crosse,
Thou hast no cause at all to fear:
For Sarah can sustain no losse,
Tis not the sonne which she should bear:
If that he be thy Hand-maids sonne,
Then there is but a mocker gone.
Suppose that he some Prophet were,
One that had done no wickednesse:
It needfull is that one should beare,
The peoples sinnes and trespasses,
Gods favour once again to win.
And to appease his wrath for sinne.
If he be Isaac, understand,
A thing it is must come to passe;
It is the work of Gods own hand,
For Abraham sole actor was:
'Twas he which should have Isaac slain,
'Twas he which brought him back again.
For Abraham, which was Gods friend,
VVhen he should offer up his sonne,
Two servants true took to attend,
To testifie what he had done:
To take an Asse he thought it good,
To help his sonne to bear the wood.
Here is a perfect way to know,
By his two servants which attend,
Who shall be there to strike the blow,
For they must witnesse to the end:
If God be there, it is most plain,
All safely shall return again.
If otherwise it come to passe,
That he and both his servants die,
And none return except the Asse;
These servants then will testifie,
The Devill hath him thither brought,
And there his open shame hath wrought.
These things did please the woman well,
When he had blown them in her eares:
And she forthwith for to expell,
All dangers and ensuing fears:
And being full of wrath and ire,
Did execute his full desire
For when the Passeover drew near,
That she should eat the Paschall Lambe,
Her Passeover did then appear,
To end the work for which he came;
The substance first a curse she made,
Then sought a blessing from the shade.
The Vipar nursed in the Ark,
Which did bewray his fathers shame:
Did then go creeping in the dark,
For to betray his brothers name:
And binde him fast in iron bands,
To bring him in the Serpents hands.
When he was in the Serpents claw,
False witnesses she did procure;
Which when they could not stand by law,
The Priest began him to adjure;
Thinking to catch him in a snare,
That he himself might witnesse bear.
When the High Priest did hear him speak,
It then did blow no little gail:
His clothes he did rend and break,
His countenance appeared pale;
And in his malice he did cry,
Lo, we have heard his hlasphemy.
What shall we do in such a case?
Some said, he worthy is to die;
And some did spit him in his face,
Some buffet him as cruelly;
And othersome did him deride,
And vex him sore on every side.
Then Peter's faith began to fail,
And hope was almost at a losse;
But fervent love did still prevail,
And follow'd him unto the crosse:
Love would not start, love would not flie;
But love would see his Master die.
But Sarah, full of malice fraught,
Did bring him unto Cesars throne,
Like as the Serpent had her taught,
And there she did accuse her sonne:
A fire was kindled in her mood,
Which nought could quench but Isaac's bloud.
While Sarah thought, through cruell bands,
On Ishmael to end her grudge,
She brought her sonne in Hagars hands,
And Ishmael he was the judge:
And Hagars childe, this being done,
Did mock the mother and the sonne.
While she accus'd, it came to passe,
That Ishmael did understand,
That he a Galilean was,
VVhere Edom had the chief command:
Then he sent Jsaac to his sonne,
That he might judge what he had done.
But Herode wore a Foxes skin,
And thought, If I should this man judge,
Then Pilate will again begin,
For to renew his former grudge:
My father once thrust in his hand,
VVhere Pilate hath the chief command.
He sent to Beth-lehem and slew
The Infants where he had no might;
And now, our friendship to renew,
I will surrender him my right;
That Pilate may this man adore,
As Herod would have done before.
VVhen Edom with his warlike train,
Had shewed him his utmost spite;
Then Herod sent him back again,
Drest and araied all in white,
That Ishmael might Isaac slay;
Thus were they made good friends that day.
Sarah, again, to end her grudge,
Her sonne fore Cesars throne did draw:
Quoth Jshmael, let Iacob judge,
Condemne this man by Jacob's law:
Yet knew, that Iacob had no might,
For Ishmael had Jacob's right.
VVhen he had mock't them one by one,
Esau and Iacob, each apart:
Then Hagar did deride her sonne,
Which pleased Sarah at the heart:
For she did clothe him all in red,
And set a crown upon his head
Of pricking thornes, in great disgrace,
Which made the bloud run from his brow:
And some did spit him in his face,
Some other to him kneell and bow;
Then Ishmael did him forth bring,
And said, Oh Iews, behold your King.
But Pilate, he was wholly blinde;
This was the Serpents subtle feat:
And yet by smelling he did finde,
That this was done through malice great;
And fain he would have let him go,
But Sarah would not yeeld thereto.
Quoth Pilate then, you have your choise,
Iesus, or Barrabas must die:
Then Esau did lift up his voice,
Oh crucifie, Oh crucifie,
This malefactor on a tree,
And let just Barrabas go free.
Iustice (quoth Pilate) hath forbod,
A guiltlesse man to crucifie.
He makes himself the sonne of God,
And by our law he ought to die,
Quoth Iacob then, be not dismaid,
But this made Pilate more afraid.
When he so far did understand,
He ask't him much about this thing:
VVhich done, he did the Iews demand,
What he should do unto their King;
Quoth Sarah, thou his life must end,
Else thou art none of Cesars friend.
When he did heare the woman speak,
Her words they did him much affright;
Though Cesars lawes he might not break,
Yet durst he not abridge his right;
And once again did ask this thing,
If he should crucifie their King.
The woman hearing this demand,
Through extream malice did reply,
If thou for Cesars right wilt stand,
This fellow thou must crucifie:
For Cesar is my King alone,
And other king I know of none.
Thus Pilate was constrain'd to yeeld,
For he must stand for Cesars right:
And Hagar she did win the field,
And Sarah lose her lawfull right:
And Jshmael did Isaac flout,
And thrust him and his mother out.
When Sarah saw that Hagars boy,
VVhich she to Abraham had born,
Did flout and mock her onely joy,
And laugh her onely sonne to scorn,
She said, Though Hagars son be thine,
Yet shall he have no share with mine.
Cast out the Bond-maid, with her sonne,
For Hagars sonne shall have no chance;
But he which I by Abram won,
Shall have the sole inheritance:
Which thing was grievous in his sight,
That Ishmael should lose his right.
Then God to Abraham did say,
Thou must obey the womans voice,
Put Hagar and her sonne away,
For I my self have made the choise:
In Isaac I thy seed will call,
For Isaac shall inherite all.
But Abraham possest with grief,
Did early in the morn arise,
And did provide them some relief,
Their hungry bodies to suffice,
Some water and some bread in store,
Vntill the Lord did send them more.
But when the water all was spent,
She laid her sonne under a tree:
And Hagar grieved from him went,
For she would not his anguish see.
Her sonnes distresse did make her cry,
For nature could not see him die.
VVhile she did thus poure out her cries,
The Lord did shew himself most milde,
For he did open Hagars eies,
And she found water for her childe;
And fil'd her bottle to the brink,
And gave her sonne thereof to drink.
But now, when Jshmael did flout
Abram's faith, and Isaac's hope:
And Hagar did cast Isaac out,
The Serpent did provide a rope,
To strangle love; and hatred send,
To bring true love unto his end.
Hate would not wait for a command,
And malice would be nothing slack,
For she did take him by the hand,
And lay a tree upon his back:
And made him bring it to the place,
Where hatred would true love disgrace.
She nailed him fast, hand and foot,
Vnto the tree which he had born;
For to complain it was no boot,
Thus he was made an open skorn;
And gainst all nature, law, and grace,
She mock't her sonne ev'n to his face.
She thought he was the most accurst,
And at his torments she did wink:
When pangs of death did make him thirst,
She gave him Vineger to drink:
VVhich done, he yeeled up his breath,
And dying, he did vanquish death.
Herode and Pilate did consent,
They did agree upon one day,
Isaac and Jacob to prevent,
But guiltlesse Isaac first to slay;
Then scatter Iacob by their might,
To take away his lawfull right.
VVhen Jshmael had Isaac slain,
He thought to lock him in the grave;
But Isaac did come forth again,
And made proud Ishmael deaths slave;
And bound him fast in mortall bands,
Till he be slain by Isaac's hands.
VVhen Herode heard he rose again,
Edom his maliee did renue,
And Jsaac's males he would have slain,
For hopefull James this tyrant slue:
And faithfull Peter kept in bands,
To murder him by cruell hands.
VVhen he escaped Edom's rage,
And that Gods Angell set him free:
Then Jshmael came on the stage,
To act his cruell tragedie,
And faithfull Peter did deride,
For to cut off the Christian guide.
When faith and hope had lost their right,
The Serpent did, through malice move,
These tyrants both with all their might,
To murder, and to vanquish love,
That Ishm'el might for Isaac reigne,
And Esau, Jacobs blessing gain.
Then John they catcht within their claws,
On him their tortures they did prove:
Love pluck't him out the Lyons jaws,
For malice could not murder love:
Love had before his life laid down
For Jsaac's promise, Iacob's crown.
VVhen Isaac shall come down again,
His childeren for to advance;
That they with him might live and reigne,
In Canaans inheritance:
Then Jshmael shall play his part,
That he may have his due desert.
For Pilate then shall work his will,
By his edicts and tyranny,
The Males in Galile to kill,
Or bring them into slavery;
That Jsaac, comming there, may see,
All boued again what he set free.
But then Rebecca shall complain
To Herode of this open wrong:
This is the land where thou dost reigne,
VVhy dost thou suffer him so long?
My Males be slain by Pilate's hand,
Where thou dost rule & bear command.
Herode shall give her good content,
And say, I will thy Males set free,
And Pilate's malice will prevent,
If thou wilt vow and swear to me,
Never to injure me nor mine,
Then will I stand for thee and thine.
And thus Rebecca, to get free,
And be releast from Jshm'els bands,
Shall enter into slaverie,
She and her Males in Edom's hands;
That when as Isaac comes in fight,
They all shall lose their lawfull right.
For when as Isaac shall appeare,
Her love and constancy to try,
She will not then of Isaac heare
But flatly shall her man denye:
Then Bashemath, and Edom stout,
Shall thrust both her, and Iacob out.
When Edom hath by cruellty,
Got Iacobs birthright for to reigne;
He then shall think as subtlely,
His blessing likewise to obtayne:
But when this thing, shall come about
Jsaac will feel, and smell him out.
For though he once deceived was,
And cast his first-born out the nest;
Yet God did bring it so to pas,
He blest him whom God would have blest
Which Jsaac soone did understand,
To be the work of Gods own hand.
When Edom subtlely therefore,
Shall come unto his father first;
Isaac shall turn him out a dore
And curse him whom God will have curst:
The blessing shall on Jacob rest
He blessed him, he must be blest.
But when as Edom bould, and stout,
Hath by a strong and cruell hand,
Thrust Iacob, and Rebecca out,
For to possesse their native land,
Then shall the Iew come in again,
Which hath so long liv'd in disdain,
For then the Lord he will awake,
And unto his remembrance call,
The covenante which he did make
With Abraham; and Sarah shall
Conceive and beare that promis'd seed,
Which on the Serpents head shall tread.
His judgments shall be just and pure,
And he shall reigne from Sea to Sea:
So long as Sun and Moon endure
In glory, strength, and majesty.
The Kings to him shall bring their store
All Kings (I say) shall him adore.
Then Sarahs love shall not be vain,
Though she did offer up that Lambe;
For she shall then come in again,
Her constant love to Abraham,
In all her troubles then shall win
The love of God to bring her in.
If then Rebecca do the same,
VVhen like temptations provoke,
She shall again come out of blame,
And Iacob cast off Esau's yoak,
So he do not his promise break,
Which unto Laban he did make.
VVhen Sarahs time is come to bear,
That she delivered shall be;
Then cruell Pharaoh shall appear,
He shall arise out of the sea,
And come again upon the earth,
To kill this childe ev'n at his birth.
But God attending to her cry,
VVhen she is ready for to bear,
Shall with his power stand her by,
And free her from the Dragon's fear;
And take her sonne up to his thronc,
For he must reigne and rule alone.
For her he shall prepare a way,
Into the wildernesse to flie;
Lest that the Dragon should her slay,
And shew on her his tyranny:
There shall she learn to know his waies,
Thousand, two hundred, threescore daies.
There shall she learn to live in aw,
And from her God no more depart;
For there the Lord will write his law,
Within the tables of her heart:
All shall his holy name confesse,
Ev'n from the greater, to the lesse.
Then shall those witnesses appear,
Which were with Jesus in the mount,
To bring the world in servile fear,
And call them to their last account,
For murder, theft, adultery,
And all their other cruelty.
If any man will do them wrong,
Then fire out of their mouthes shall go:
They shall be powerfull and strong,
To work their adversaries wo:
And Moses Rod, which once did bud,
Shall turn the waters into bloud.
And sundry plagues bring on the earth,
If they their prophesie disdain;
Eliah he shall bring a dearth,
Vpon the world for want of rain:
And so their enemies shall kill,
Till they their prophesie fulfill.
But when their prophesie is done,
Then Ishmael and Edom stout,
Their strength shall both combine in one,
To cast these holy Prophets out:
These witnesses shall then be slain,
And then the world shall laugh again.
But as these witnesses before,
Came down with God, to testifie
That Love which he had kept in store,
His onely Sonne which came to die,
Gods wrath and justice to appease,
And all mankinde from death release.
So then they shall go up again,
When all this wickednesse is done:
And unto God they shall complain,
For they shall witnesse with the Sonne:
And call for justice at Gods hand,
For breach of every command.
The n God in wrath and great disdain,
When he doth hear their plaint and moan,
VVill send his Sonne yet once again,
To overthrow the Serpents throne;
And Jacob's seed for to advance,
In Canaans inheritance.
Then all the soules of holy men,
Which do under the Altar lie;
Even all the Chikens with the Hen,
Which now to God for vengeance cry,
Shall then behold sinnes overthrow,
When the seventh trumpet gins to blow.
The seventh seal shall be then undone,
Then earthly men shall all despair;
The seventh plague then shall light upon
The Prince that ruleth in the aire:
Then Loves revenge shall surely come,
For God will be no longer dome.
The Serpents throne he will divide,
And rend his kingdome into three:
And over throw all tyrants pride,
All Aegypts bands and slaverie;
Sodoms foul sin, and Babels jar,
And make an end of bloudy war.
He shall to Edom come in white,
As he him once to Pilate sent;
And Edom shall condemne by right,
Tis then too late for to repent:
He will him not to Pilate send,
That Pilate should his quarrel end.
For Edom must lay down his life,
For murder done by him before:
Then lying with his fathers wife,
To make his mother play the whore:
Such facts, Gods wrath they do procure,
And justice can them not endure.
From Edom he shall go in red,
As Hagar did him once attire:
And set a crown on Ishm'els head,
Of pricking thornes; then flaming fire,
Shall burn and lay all under foot,
And leave them neither branch nor root
Yet shall his bloud be justly shed,
The law will take away his life:
He did defile his fathers bed,
And made a harlot of his wife:
Injustly then when this was done,
Did crucifie Gods onely sonne.
Then Hagars spite and foul disdain,
Her gould shall then appear but drosse;
He shall reward her for her pain,
Whom she doth still mock on the crosse:
And cast out Hagar and her sonne.
For all the spite that they have done.
The Winepresse he shall tread in red,
And with a massie rod of steel,
Shall break in twain the Serpents head,
Because that he hath bruis'd his heel:
The cup is full up to the brink,
And bloud for bloud shall be his drink.
Proud Egypt shall be drown'd in bloud,
When Israel shall be set free;
They shall not know where Babel stood,
For they shall all in one agree:
And Sodoms sinne and foul desire,
Shall vanquish't be in flaming fire.
Then shall he plant his dwelling place,
Vpon the top of mountains high,
That nations may see his grace,
His glory, and his majesty:
And all may come with one accord,
Vnto the mountain of the Lord.
That they may learn to live in aw,
And be instructed of the Lord;
From Sion shall go forth his law,
And from Jerusalem his word:
For he shall judge in truth and right,
And men shall learn no more to fight.
Their swords and spears they then shall break,
And shall not use them any more,
But shall them sithes and mattocks make,
To dresse the earth, and bring in store;
That men may reap the earths encrease,
And live in perfect joy and peace.
The wolf shall with the lambe then dwell.
The leopard lye with the kid:
The calf feed with the lyon fell,
A little childe shall them forbid:
The bear and cow together eat,
Their young ones lying at their feet.
No Asp, no Cocatrice annoy,
Vpon the mountain of the Lord,
There shall be nothing to destroy,
But all shall then obey his word:
By justice he shall rule and sway,
And with his lips the wicked slay.
For when this trumpet' gins to blow,
Christs kingdome then is at the door,
For he himself on earth shall show,
To save the needy and the poor:
The widow and the fatherlesse,
To succour in their great distresse.
All prophesies be then fulfil'd,
All shadows ended, gone, and vain:
That Lamb which once on earth was kil'd,
Shall then come down on earth to reigne:
He bought his kingdome with his life,
And won it with an endlesse strife.
He dide, that man might ever live,
He strove to bring in endlesse peace,
Because the earth again might give
Her fatnesse, and her full encrease,
Her children all alike to nurse,
When he had tane away the curse.
The poor in heart he will sustein,
The mourners shall be comforted:
The meek with him on earth shall reigne,
The hungry soul it shall be fed:
The mercifull shall mercy gain,
For mercy then they shall obtain.
The pure in heart shall God behold,
Peace-makers shall his children be;
Such as unjustly be control'd,
Shall in his kingdome be made free:
Such as men now do most disdain,
Shall with him in his kingdome reigne.
The rich he will not once respect,
Such as rejoyce shall mourn and cry,
The haughty minde he will reject,
The glutton shall for hunger die:
He which no mercy had in store,
Shall mercilesse be judg'd therefore.
The unclean shall not see his face,
Peace-breakers, peace shall never finde:
Such as do persecute and chase,
Shall be rewarded in their kinde;
And such as do revile and hate,
Shall never come within his gate.
This King is righteous and true,
In all his combates he shall thrive,
And shall his enemy pursue,
Vntill he take the Beast alive,
And apprehend his learned Clark,
Which makes most men receive his mark
Also his image to adore,
And at his greatnesse to admire,
Them will he cast alive therefore,
Into a lake of burning fire:
A sword shall out his mouth proceed,
Which all the rest shall make to bleed.
They shall be justly judg'd to die,
Their sentence shall come from above,
Distrust, despaire, and cruelty,
The breach of faith, of hope, and love,
Shall them to endlesse torments bring,
Then men Hallelu-jah shall sing.
Then the old Serpent which did crave,
When he had slain the worlds pure light,
To have a stone laid on his grave,
That none should take him out by night:
And have him lock't and sealed in,
Before his Sabbath did begin,
Shall then be chained at the last,
And cast into a groundlesse pit;
The door upon him sealed fast,
That he shall not come out of it,
The world to cumber nor molest,
While Christ is taking of his rest.
Then shall there be no more complaints,
No anguish, sorrow, grief, nor pain;
God will give judgement to his Saints,
And they a thousand years shall reigne,
VVith him in perfect joy and peace,
Before the Serpent he release.
When thousand years be come about,
He shall be losed in his gail;
Then the old Serpent shall come out,
And in the world shall much prevail:
And Gog and Magog shall combine,
To execute his last designe.
And like the sand upon the shore,
In multitudes they shall come down,
To make the Saints appear no more;
But God will at their malice frown,
And burning fire from heav'n shall send,
To bring them all unto their end.
The Serpent which did them beget,
And drew them unto his desire,
Shall then be taken in the net,
And cast into the lake of fire,
To be tormented evermore,
With them that were cast in before.
There shall they ever scorch and senge,
In endlesse torments, never die:
And love shall have his full revenge,
On them for all their cruelty:
Then Loves reward shall come to his,
When they shall see him as he is.
For then the judgement shall appear,
And all shall rise both great and small;
Each one shall then his sentence hear,
For they shall then be judged all.
And death and hell which did aspire,
Shall go into the lake of fire.
Then shall come in mans perfect joy,
And sorrows then shall have an end;
None shall be left for to annoy,
Jerusalem shall then descend:
That blessed Bride from God shall come,
Trim'd and adorned for her grome.
He then shall end her dolefull cries,
Release her from all grief and pain;
And wipe all tears off from her eyes,
And death shall then no longer reigne;
For then he will make all things new,
His words be faithfull, just, and true.
FINIS.