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A.C. 726. plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.

* Or, not many.

722.

11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.

12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.

14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and * feeble.

SECTION III.

The Reformation by Hezekiah supported by the Prophecies of
Micah 38.

MICAH III.

1 The cruelty of the princes. 5 The falsehood of the prophets. 8 The security of them both.

1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and

38 The extent and nature of the apostacy among the people of Judah and Israel may be clearly ascertained from their conduct, when Hezekiah attempted his great reformation. At this time idolatry was so prevalent, and, consequently, the temple service so neglected, that in 2 Chron. xxix. 34. we find there were not a sufficent number of priests to perform the temple service. The temple itself had been so neglected and polluted, that even the inner part of it required to be cleansed. (2 Chron. xxix. 16.) When Hezekiah sent his messengers to invite the people of Israel to keep the passover of the Lord at Jerusalem, many laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 2 Chron. xxx. 10. It is not to be supposed, after such a total and long alienation of the Jews from the worship of the true God, that any real reformation could suddenly take place; therefore we must conclude, that the exertions and edict of Hezekiah were only partial, and temporary in their effects. Jeremiah informs us, chap. xxvi. 18. that Micah prophesied in the reign of Hezekiah: he predicted the captivity of the ten tribes (Micah i. 6.) which took place in the year 721, in the sixth year of Hezekiah; and, in the chapters here inserted, he addresses both the princes of Judah and of Israel, and declares that the fate of the former should be similar to that of the latter. He then predicts the ultimate restoration of the Jews, and the reign, the time, and the birth-place of the Messiah.

From the manner in which the prophet addresses the princes of Israel and Judah (chap. iii. 9.), it is probable that the ten tribes had not yet been carried captive; and that the predictions contained in these chapters were given soon after the decree of Hezekiah, when the first affection to the reformation had

ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know A.C. 722. judgment?

2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

5¶Thus saith the LORD, concerning the prophets that⚫ make my people err, that 'bite with their teeth, and cry, tch. ii. 11. Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him:

a vision.

6 Therefore night shall be unto you, *that ye shall not Heb.from have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, † that ye shall + Heb.from not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

divining.

7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is Heb. upper no answer of God.

8 ¶ But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

lip.

10 They build up Zion with "§ blood, and Jerusalem u Ezek. xxii. with iniquity.

27. Zeph. iii.

3.

Heb. bloods,

Heb. saying.

11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. 12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a x Jer. xxvi. field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

MICAH IV.

X

1 The glory, 3 peace, 8 kingdom, 11 and victory of the church.

18.

1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the y Is. ii. 2, &c. mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in

subsided, and the princes of Israel had again relapsed into the vices of which the prophet complains. These considerations have induced me to place them here, four years after the accession of Hezekiah, and more than one year be fore the captivity of the ten tribes..

A.C.722. the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3¶ And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords z Is. ii. 4. Joel into plowshares, and their spears into *pruninghooks: *Or, scythes. nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

iii. 10.

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4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

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5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;

7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her a Dan. vii. 14. that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for

Luke i. 33.

+ Or, Edar:

21.

ever.

8 ¶ And thou, O tower of + the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

11 ¶ Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon

Zion.

12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate

their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the A.C. 722. LORD of the whole earth.

MICAH V.

1 The birth of Christ. 4 His kingdom. 8 His conquest.

1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

b

John vii. 42.

2 But thou, Beth-le-hem Ephratah, though thou be b Matt. ii. 6. little among the thousands of Judah, yet of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from * everlasting.

* Heb. the

days of eler

3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she nity. which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

4¶And he shall stand and + feed in the strength of the + Or, rule. LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.'

6 And they shall § waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod || in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

+ Heb. princes of men.

Heb. cat up. Or, with her swords.

own naked

8 ¶ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of *sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and Or, goats. teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.

9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots :

11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds :

12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:

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A. C. 722.

* Or, statues.

13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy * standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.

14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of +Or, enemies. thee: so will I destroy thy cities.

+ Or, with.

c Ex. xii. 51. & xiv. 30.

d Num. xxii.

5. & xxiii, 7.

15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

MICAH VI.

1 God's controversy for unkindness, 6 for ignorance, 10 for injustice, 16 and for idolatry.

1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. 2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answere Num. xxv. ed him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.

Josh. v.

e

6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with

◊ Heb. sons of burnt offerings, with calves § of a year old?

a year?

7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstHeb. belly. born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

f Deut. x. 12.

8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love Heb. hum mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

ble thyself to
walk.
+ Or, thy

name shall see
that which is.

Or, Is there

9 The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

10

Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the man an house house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abo

yet unto every

of the wicked,

&c.

Heb. measure of lean

ness.

Or, Shall I

be pure with, &c.

minable?

11 || Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth...

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