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XXXI.

JER. XXX. 3. For lo, the days come, faith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Ifrael and Judah (faith the Lord) and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their 10 fathers, and they fhall poffefs it.Therefore fear thou not, O my fervant Jacob, faith the Lord, neither be difmayed, O Ifrael: for lo, I will fave thee from afar, and thy feed from the land of their captivity, and Jacob fhall return, and shall be in reft II and quiet, and none fhall make him afraid. For I am with thee, faith the Lord, to fave thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have fcatered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not 18 leave thee altogether unpunished.Thus faith the Lord, behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy upon his dwelling places and the city fhall be built on her own heap, and the palace fhall remain after the manner 19 thereof *. And out of them fhall proceed thanksgiving, and the voice of them that make merry : and I will multiply them, and they fhall not be a few; I will alfo glorify them, and they shall not be 20 fmall. Their children alfo fhall be as aforetime, and their congregation fhall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

XXXII.

JER. xxxi. 4. Again I will build thee, and thou fhalt be built, O virgin of Ifracl, thou shalt be a

* In Tindale's tranflation, "And the houfes fhall have their right foundations."

gain adorned with thy tabrets, and fhalt go forth in 5 the dances of them that make merry. Thou shalt

yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria, the the planters fhall plant, and shall eat them as cóm6 mon things. For there fhall be a day that the watch

men upon the Mount Ephraim fhall cry, Arife, ye, and 7 let us go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God. For thus faith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chiefs of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and fay, O Lord, fave thy people, 8 the remnant of Ifrael. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coafts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her that travaileth with child together, a great company fhall 9 return thither. They fhall come with weeping, and with fupplications will I lead them*: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a ftrait way wherein they fhall not ftumble: for I am a father to Ifrael, and Ephraim is my firft-born. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and de

clare it in the ifles afar off, and fay, He that feattered Ifrael will gather him, and keep him as a 11 fhepherd does his flock. For the Lord hath redeem

ed Jacob, and ranfomed him from the hand of him 12 that was ftronger than he. Therefore they shall come and fing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and of the herd and their foul fhall be as a watered garden, and they fhall not forrow any more at all.

* How much better is Tindale's tranflation!" They de"parted from hence in heaviness, but with joy will I bring them hither again."

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All

All these Prophecies of Jeremiah do plainly relate to a future Restoration, for the following reafons: 1. Because they speak of both Ephraim and Judab; by the former of which, is always meant the ten tribes; and fometimes of these alone, as diftinguished from Judab; but these have never yet been restored as a nation, although fome few of them might, perhaps, return along with the Jews from Babylon. 2. Because it is faid, chap. xxiii. 4. they shall fear no more, nor be difmayed; and xxx. 10. Jacob shall return, and shall be in reft and peace, and none shall make him afraid; and xxxi. 12. And they shall not forrow any more. All which Prophefies are not true, if applied to the return from Babylon, even of Judah ; less so of Ephraim, who never returned at all, as I above obferved.

XXXIII.

JER. XXXI. 35. Thus faith the Lord, which giveth the fun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon, and of the ftars, for a light by night, which divideth the fea when the waves 36 thereof roar; the Lord of Hofts is his name. If thofe ordinances depart from before me, faith the Lord, then the feed of Ifrael fhall alfo cease 37 from being a nation before me for ever. Thus faith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth fearched out beneath, I will also caft of all the feed of Ifrael, for all that they 38 have done, faith the Lord. Behold, the days come, faith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord, from the tower of Hananeel, unto the gate,

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39 of the corner.

And the measuring line fhall yet go forth over against it, upon the hill Gareb, and 40 fhall compafs about to Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the afhes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kedron, unto the corner of the horsegate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord, it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.

Nothing can be more exprefs than the 36th and 37th verfes, against the feed of Ifrael's being caft off for all that they have done, or ceafing to be a nation for ever. And the laft words of the 40th verfe render it very evident, that this Prophecy is not yet fulfilled; nor can relate to the re-building, at the return from Babylon,

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XXXIV.

JER. xxxiii. 7. I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Ifrael to return, and will build them as at the first -And it fhall be to

me a name of joy, a praise, and an honour before all nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they fhall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the profpeThus faith the Lord,

10 rity that I procure unto it.

Again there fhall be heard in this place, (which ye fay fhall be defolate without man and without beaft, even in the cities of Judah, and in the ftreets of Jerufalem, that are defolate without man, and II without inhabitant, and without beaft) The voice of joy, and the voice of gladnefs, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall fay, Praise the Lord of hofts, for

the

the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth for ever, and of them that fhall bring the facrifice of praise into the house of the Lord; for I will caufe to return the captivity of the land, as at the firft, faith the Lord.

Though many parts of this Prophecy may be applied to the return from Babylon, yet the 7th verfe fhews it to be spoken both of Judah and Ifrael; and the 9th proves it to relate to a future Restoration, the Jews not having yet been a praise and bonour before all nations.

XXXV.

JER. XXXiii. 23. Moreover the word of the Lord 24 came to Jeremiah, faying, Confidereft thou not what this people have spoken, faying, The two families which the Lord hath chofen, he hath even caft them off! Thus have they defpifed my people, that they fhould be no more a nation before 25 them. Thus faith the Lord, If my covenant be not

with day and night, and if I have not appointed the 26 ordinances of heaven and earth: Then will I caft

away the feed of Jacob, and David my fervant, fo that I will not take any of his feed to be rulers over the feed of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob: for I will caufe their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

XXXVI.

JER. xlvi. 27. But fear not thou, O my fervant Jacob, and be not difmayed, O Ifrael; for behold, I will fave thee from afar off, and thy feed from the land of their captivity, and Jacob fhall return, and

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