third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me ; all idolaters do so, whatever they pretend; I know it, and will punish them for it: and these judgments shall affect their children to the third and fourth generation, if they continue in the sins of their 6 fathers: And showing mercy unto thousands of generations 7 of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain ; shalt not swear by it falsely, nor use it irreverently; thou shalt not trifle with it in worship, nor in common discourse; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain; whatever men do, however magistrates may overlook it, be assured that God will punish it. It is impossible that men should always discover perjury, or fraud, or hypocrisy ; but I 8 know it, and will severely punish it. Remember* the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Remember it, consider it well, lay it to heart, and so order all thy affairs, as not to hinder the observation of it. Remember it, to keep it holy; by careful abstinence from servile works, and worldly businesses, and by diligently employing it in holy thoughts, words, and works; in the worship of God, both public and private, and in furthering your own 9 and others' sanctification and salvation. Six days shalt thou 11 labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God, is set apart by him from the beginning, and is consecrated to his service and honour; [in it] thou shalt not do any work, any common worldly business, or take unnecessary journeys, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates, the Gentiles that 11 sojourn with thee: For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is,] and rested the seventh day, from works of creation, though not of providence and grace: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day,† and hallowed it: He blessed it, that is, made it a day of blessing, when men should enjoy his favour, reflect on his goodness, and have the means of the highest happiness: he separated it from the rest of the days, and from all common employments, and con12 secrated it to his own holy service, and to man's holy use.‡ Honour thy father and thy mother, honour them in thy heart; reverence, fear, and love them; honour them in thy actions, by obedience to their instructions; supplying their wants, covering The word remember, shows that the sabbath was instituted before this time; it is the reviving of an old law. + Not the seventh day from the creation, but the day of religious rest, whether the Jewish or christian sabbath; and the change thereof seems to be hereby intimated. These commands relate to God and his worship; what follow, relate to our neighbour; and they are called the second table. See Orton's Religious Exercises Recommented: or, Discourses on Secret and Family Worship, and the Religious Observation of the Lord's Day. With two Discourses on the Heavenly State, considered under the Idea of a Sabbath. The second edition, price 31. A book, says an eminent divine of the Church of England, which well deserves the frequent and attentive perusal of every serious christian. their infirmities, and showing all respect and duty to them :* that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy 13 God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt forbear all revengeful, angry thoughts (Mat. v. 21, 22. 1 John iii. 15.) and do all thou canst to preserve thy own life, and the lives of 14 others. Thou shalt not commit adultery;† thou shalt shun all means, occasions, and appearances of uncleanness; and exercise chastity in thought, affection, words, attire, and gesture. 15 Thou shalt not steal, not take away another man's goods by deceit or violence, or without his knowledge and consent: nor use any fraudulent dealing, (1 Thess. iv. 6.) but give every one his 16 due. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, 17 nor speak an untruth upon any occasion whatsoever. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's; not give way to the inward motions of thy heart toward that which is evil, (Rom. vii. 7.) particularly not to an inordinate desire of that which is thy neighbour's; but be fully content with thy own condition, Heb. xiii. 5.‡ 18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw [it,] they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear but let not God speak with us, lest we die. The terror of the sound overwhelmed them, and they feared lest the fire, out 20 of which the voice came, should consume them. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, no karm shall come unto you: for God is come to prove you, to see whether this appearance will influence your minds, and impress you with a sense of his majesty, as the best foundation of obedience; and that his fear 21 may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses, full of faith and confidence in God, drew near unto the thick darkness where God [was.] 22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven; ye have heard my voice, but ye have seen no 23 shape or appearance of me; therefore, Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of 24 gold, to worship me by, or together with me. An altar of earth It refers primarily to our parents, and includes all superiors in authority, whether in the family, the church, or the state, and all superiors in age, in gifts, or grace. This is the first command with a promise, which was peculiarly suited to the Jews, and directed their views toward Canaan. + Only one species of uncleanness is mentioned, because that was peculiarly abominable, but it includes all others. This is a key to open the meaning of all the other commands, and shows that God regards the temper of mind, as well as the outward action. It will be proper to read here, our Lord's sermon on the mount, to observe how he illustrates and explains these precepts, and by what arguments he enforces them; for he came not to destroy this law, but to fulf and establish it. thou shalt make unto me; no high altar or pyramid, with en-” gravings and hieroglyphics, but a low, humble altar of earth shalt thou make, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen in all places where I record my name, and fix my solemn worship, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee, give thee the testimo25 ny of my approbation and acceptance. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if 26 thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. 1. L' REFLECTIONS. ET us pray that God would write all these laws on our hearts; teach us our duty to him, to ourselves, and to others; teach us to do well, and lead us in the way in which we should go, in the way of peace and holiness. The law is holy, and the commandment holy, just and good: but we need his aid to help us to observe them, and his mercy, to pardon our many breaches of them; for we have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Let the law be a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ; who by his spirit can so renew and sanctify our minds, that obedience will be a delight. Then shall we, not from a principle of terror, but from a principle of love, obey all the commandments from our heart. 2. Let us be thankful that the gospel, that better dispensation, is given in so gentle a manner; not amidst thunder and lightning, tempest and fire; but by the Son of God, the great mediator, arrayed in human flesh, who hath spoken to us with all gentleness and compassion. His terrors do not fall on us, neither doth his dread make us afraid. The apostle introduces this thought in a most beautiful manner, Heb. xii. 18-25. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake :) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh in such a gentle manner; for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. CHAP. XXI. In the former chapter, we had God's moral law, which is of eternal obligation, delivered with awful majesty; and are now entering on those political laws, by which God, as their king, governed the Jewish nation. 1 2 * TOW these [are] the judgments, or judicial laws, which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing; except the year of jubilee come between, and then he shall go out free, though he hath served but one year. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by him self if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master have given him a wife, a heathen bond woman (for such only with their children might be left in servitude, Lev. xxv. 44.) and she have borne him sons or daughters ; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. This was designed to discourage the murriage of the Israelites with strangers. 5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my 6 wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges, or governors ;† he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post: and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, to denote his perpetual obligation to abide in that house, and there to hear and obey his master's commands; and he shall serve him for ever, till the year of jubilee, Lev. xxv. 40. 7 And if a man through extreme poverty, (as was the case on their return from Babylon, Neh. v. 5.) sell his daughter to be a maid servant, in expectation of her marrying her master, or his son, she shall not go out as the men servants do, but upon 8 better terms. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, (or rather, so that he doth not betroth her to himself,) then shall he let her be redeemed, by any relation or friend that is so disposed to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. This might be done when he sold himself for poverty, Deut. xv. 12. Lev. xxv. 39. when he was sold by the magistrate for thett, ch. xxii. 3. or in case of debt, a Kings iv. 1. Matt. xviii. 25. Perpetual servitude was too important a matter for a private bargain: it must be done before the magistrate, as a proof that the man was willing. 9 And if he hath betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters, by giving her a dowry, (chap. 10 xxii. 16, 17,) and all the other privileges of a free woman. If he take him another [wife ;] her food, her raiment, and her 11 duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. And if he do not these three unto her, then she shall go out free without money for her redemption. 12 He that smiteth a man willfully, so that he die, shall be 13 surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver [him] into his hand by some special, unexpected providence; then I will appoint thee a place whither he 14 shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously, purposedly, and maliciously, upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die; for 15 God will not have his altar to be a refuge for murderers. And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death, though he kill them not. 16 17 18 And he that stealeth a man, an Israelite, (Deut. xxiv. 7.) and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. And he that curseth his father, or his mother, that wishes any mischief may befal them, or uses any kind of malicious, reviling speeches, which argue a contempt of his parents, shall surely be put to death. And if men strive together, and one smite another, with a stone, or with [his] fist, and he die not, but keepeth [his] bed: 19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote [him,] be quit: only he shall pay [for] the loss of his time, and shall cause [him] to be thoroughly healed. 20 And if a man smite his servant, his slave, or his maid, with a rod, any instrument fit for correction, and he die under his 21 hand; he shall be surely punished by the magistrates. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished for he [is] his money, his property, and he had a right to correct him in a proper manner. 22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, who interposes in the quarrel, so that her fruit depart [from her,] and yet no other mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay 23 as the judges [determine.] And if [any] other mischief fol24 low, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for 25 tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound 26 for wound, stripe for stripe. This was the law of retaliation, which might be put into execution, if the person doing the injury did not make satisfaction. And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's 27 sake. And if he smite out his man servant's tooth, or his |