13 And healfo rebelled againſt king Nebuchadnez- Zar, who had made him ſwear by God, g: but he ſtif- fened his neck, and hardened bis heart þ from turning unto the LORD God of Iſrael:
g W © had required and forced him to ſwear Fealty and conſtant Obedierice ro him by the True God. whom he had ſerved. and
there wer no f remedy », bea';ng
xhom he called upon to be a Witneſs againſt him if ke broke his Oath. So h:s Rebellion was aggravated with Perjury, and horrid Contempt of God. Compare Ezek. 17. 18- þj, e. He added Ob- ſtinacy and Incorrigibleneſs to his Sins,
14 Moreover, all the chief of the prieſts, and the peopie tranſgreſſed very much z, after all the abomi- nations of the heathen, and polluted the houſe of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jeruſalem,
5 They were univerſally corrupt; and therefore God juſtly brought vp-n them a general Deſtruction.
15 * Arid the LORD God of their fathers ſent to+ Jers 25. them T by his meſſengers, rxingup || betimes, and fſend- ;/,.& z5. ing k; becauſe he had compallion on his people, and 15. on his dwelling place : bon i k i. e. Sending them early and diligent'y, as a careful Houſe. *** © © holder who riſerk berimes abour his Paſineks, and purſues it till his wefene Night come. God ſent them many Prophers and Meſfages, ſome ar $7 $ the very beginning of their Apoſtacy, and others afterwards, as they lr S - ur proceed=d in thei: Impierty,untill the very day of their Captivity» Ke. / 16 But they mocked the meſſengers of God 1, and Gl” diſpiſed his words, and miſuſed his prophets », until © the wrath of the LORD aroſe againſt his people, till + xzep
$-T-Y 1 Of
hap. 1. and Perſecuting them as they did Jeremy. Or, ſeduced : his Prophets, i. e By their Prophecies, which they perverted or mil-
conſtrued.
and Exckiel That he ſhould not ſee Bablyen, Exek. 12. I; * , Rinos Becauſe the People would not repent, and God would not par-
25, i3&c, don theine
the Caldees, who ſlew their young men with the ſword, in the houſe of their ſanctuary e, and had no compal- ſion upon young man or maiden, old man,or him that ſtooped for age: he gave zhem all into his hand. |
o Either in Jeruſalem, wiich was: he. dwelling place of God s San- ctuary: Or, in the houſe which was their Sanitary ; Euphrates, Gen: 15: 18: is the River which is Euphrates, It 1s pro- bab'e they killed them in the very Courts and houſe of God, to whic1 ſome of them fled for Refuge, ſuch places being eſteemed Sacred and Inviolable by the Heathens themſclves.
18 And all the veilels of the houſe of God, great and ſmall, and the treaſures of the houſe of the LORD, and the treaſures of rhe king, and of his princes: all theſe he brought to Babylon.
i9 And they burnt the houſe of God, and brake down. the wall of Jeruſalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and deſtroyed all the goodly veſle]s
E Z R A.
1 Of which fee Inſtances, Ezek. 11. 4, & 20. 49. » Impriſoning themſelves by
An Enineart Inſtance we ' have in this, That becauſe Foremy propheſied that Zedekiah ſhould be led to Bablyon, Jer. 32: 5:
Therefore they believed neither, as the Hebrew Writers relate: z
17 * Therefore he brought upon them the king of
as the River of |
20 And Þ them that had eſcap2d from the ſword, f Heb. ;j,
Carried he away to Babylon: where the were ſer. 7 ainde vants to him and his ſons, untill the reign & the king- from bs
dom of Perſja.
21: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of * Jeremiah, untill the land * |] had enjoyed her jab- * Jer. x5, baths p : for as long as ſhe lay difolate ſhe kejr {aþ. 7,'* &
bath, to fulfill threeſcore and ten years 9. qui
Þ 1. e. Had reſted from the labour of the Husbandmen in plow. * Ley 26 ing and Ha:rrowing it,Oc, the People that ſhouid have managed it, 34,3: ... being defroyed. Of rhe Pharſe ſee the Notes on Levis. 25. 2+9 || Or, ac. That ſo the 70 years Captivity propheſied of by Jeremy, might be ceped accompliſhed.
22 * Now in the firſt year of Cyrus king of Perſia r, *Ezr. ,, ( that the word of the LORD ſpoken by the mouth of * * Jeremiah might be accompliſhed ) the LORD ſtirred up the ſpirit of Cyrus king of Perſia, that he made a | Proclamation throughout all his kingdoms, and put jt + ths a alſo in writing, ſaying, 12. why ; + Tis, and ths next verſe, are repeated in the beginning of the 294 19; next Book, where they will be more fitly explained.
| 23 Thus faith Cyrus king of Perſia, All the king- 'doms ef the earth hach the LORD God of heaven ' given me, and He hath charged me to build him an | houſe in Jeruſalem, which #s .in Judah; who 5s rhere {among you of all his people? the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
Ceo
thereof.
Hat this Book of Ezra is part of the Canon!
Chriſt or hs Apoſtles _with breach of tha: Truſt 3, and partl» by the un was the Writer of this Buok i; alſn, and ever
uality; for he was che Sn, or Grand=5on (| : 6. 6 14. andhe was a ready Scribe in the Law of Moſes, Ezra
nicl, and N 1:m1ah, and Mordecai, and Z ro» ether Holy and Learned Men did review he Canonical Boo Borbr,and digeſted them into that Order in witch now we Piety, and ſacred Fun#ion of th:ſe Perſ-ns, and to the preſent Eſtate Fo be feared that many of them were ignwrant or corrupt tn the Principles farther calam tie- and 4iſperſions ; which alſo might be Goa hath ever ujed for the guidance of his Chur,h, acce
C HjA P. I
Cyrus's Proclams tion to I|rael for building the Lord's Temple at Jeruſas lem, i - ---— 4. The chiet of the People prepare for their return, 5» 6. Cyrus reſtores the V.jſ" ls of the Templs to Shejboazzar Prince of Fudah,
7. 8. Toeir number, 9 —— 11.
N OW in the firſt year of Cyrus king of Per-
ſia #, ( that the word of the LORD * by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled )
the LORD ſtirred up the ſpiric of Cyrus b king of Per- ſia, that he 4 made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and pu: it allo in writing, faying,
2 To wit, Of tis Empire or Reign in Babylon : For he had now been Kirg of Perſia for many Years, 62. e, Put into him a Mind and Will to this Work
2 Thus ſaith Cyrus king of Perſia, the LORD God
of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth c, and he hath * charged me « to build him an houſe ac
Jeruſaiem which 5s in Judah.