x 1 Pet. i. 6, 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and A.C. 457. will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear 7 them I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. ZECHARIAH XIV 31. 1 The destroyers of Jerusalem destroyed. 4 The coming of Christ, and the graces of his kingdom. 12 The plague of Jerusalem's enemies. 16 The remnant shall turn to the Lord, 20 and their spoils shall be holy. 1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4¶ And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. : y mountains. Or, my Or, when he valley of the the place he shall touch the mountains to separated. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; +for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: + yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. 6 And it shall come to pass in that day, ‡ that the light shall not be clear, nor || dark : 7 But it shall be one day a which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. с b ie. it shall not be clear in some places, and dark in other places of Heb. pre the world. cious. *Or, the day 8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall ness go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the + former shall be one. sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer a Matt. xxiv. and in winter shall it be. z Rev. xxii. 5. 36. b Is. lx. 19. 9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that Rev. xxi. 23. day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. c Ezek. xlvii. 1. Joel iii. 18. Rev. xxii. 1. + Or, eastern, 31 In this chapter is represented the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Joel ii. 20. under Vespasian (Ver. 1, 2,) the subsequent discomfiture of its enemies (ver. 3.) The final and triumphant establishment of Christ's righteous kingdom is then foretold, ver. 8, and following verse. And the prophet describes these particulars with a clearness which indicated the near approach of the events of which he speaks.-Dr. Gray in loc. Or, thou also, O Judah, shalt. || Or, against. Heb. upon whom there is not. + Or, sin + Or, bridles. ds. xxxv. 8. Joel iii. 17. Rev. xxi. 27. & xxii. 15. 10 All the land shall be * turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem and it shall be lifted up, and + inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. 11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem I shall be safely inhabited. 12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. 14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the 'wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 16¶ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the + punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses," HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts. d SECTION VII. Mordecai discovers the Conspiracy against Artaxerxes 3. ESTHER 11, 21, TO THE END. 21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, * Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept + the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. 22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name. 23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. SECTION VIII. Plot of Haman and its Defeat. ESTHER III. 1 Haman, advanced by the king, and despised by Mordecai, seeketh revenge upon all the Jews. 7 He casteth lots. 8 He obtaineth by calumniation a decree of the king to put the Jews to death. 1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. 2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. 3 Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? 4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. 6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. 32 The discovery, by Mordecai, of the plot against the life of Artaxerxes, is supposed by Prideaux to have taken place about this year. A.C. 457. or, BigthaHeh, the + Heb. threshold. 453. A.C. 453. 7¶ In the first month, that is, the Month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar. 8 ¶ And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's Heb. meet, laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them. or, equal. + Heb. to destroy them. 9 If it please the king, let it be written + that they may Heb. weigh. be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries. 10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Or, oppres- Jews' § enemy. sor, ch. vii, 6. || Or, secreta. ries. 11 And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee." 12 Then were the king's || scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. 13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces 33, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. 33 The extent of the danger to which the Jews were exposed by the malice of Haman may be better understood from considering that the plot was laid against the whole nation, who were all to be found at this time within the boundaries of the Persian empire. Judea itself was only one of the provinces of Persia. In the subsequent persecutions of the Jews, on being harassed by one monarch or government, they were always able to take refuge in the territories of another: but at this period of their history it was impossible for thein to escape from the universal power of the Persians, (compare chap. iii. 13, 14; vii. 9,) if the design of Haman, therefore, had not been frustrated by the overruling providence of God, no human means could have saved the visible Church from destruction. 14 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be A. C. 453. given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. 15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed. ESTHER IV. 1 The great mourning of Mordecai and the Jews. 4 Esther, understanding it, sendeth to Mordecai, who sheweth the cause, and adviseth her to undertake the suit. 10 She excusing herself is threatened by Mordecai. 15 She appointing a fast undertaketh the suit. 1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; 2 And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Heb. sack cloth and ashes were laid under many, Is. 4 So Esther's maids and her † chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and viii. 5. Dan. she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away sackcloth from him: but he received it not. his 5 Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was. 6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate. 7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. 8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. 9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; ix. 3. Heb. whom fore her. he had set be |