Part 543 (2/2)
16:7. I caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field: and thou didst increase and grow great, and advancedst, and camest to woman's ornament: thy b.r.e.a.s.t.s were fas.h.i.+oned, and thy hair grew: and thou was naked, and full of confusion.
16:8. And I pa.s.sed by thee, and saw thee: and behold thy time was the time of lovers: and I spread my garment over thee, and covered thy ignominy and I swore to thee, and I entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord G.o.d: and thou becamest mine.
16:9. And I washed thee with water, and cleansed away thy blood from thee: and I anointed thee with oil.
16:10. And I clothed thee with embroidery, and shod thee with violet coloured shoes: and I girded thee about with fine linen, and clothed thee with fine garments.
16:11. I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets on thy hands, and a chain about thy neck.
I decked thee also with ornaments, etc... That is, with spiritual benefits, giving you a law with sacrifices, sacraments, and other holy rites.
16:12. And I put a jewel upon thy forehead and earrings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.
16:13. And thou wast adorned with gold, and silver, and wast clothed with fine linen, and embroidered work, and many colours: thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil, and wast made exceeding beautiful: and wast advanced to be a queen.
16:14. And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty: for thou wast perfect through my beauty, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord G.o.d.
16:15. But trusting in thy beauty, thou playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and thou hast prost.i.tuted thyself to every pa.s.senger, to be his.
16:16. And taking of thy garments thou hast made thee high places sewed together on each side: and hast played the harlot upon them, as hath not been done before, nor shall be hereafter.
16:17. And thou tookest thy beautiful vessels, of my gold, and my silver, which I gave thee, and thou madest thee images of men, and hast committed fornication with them.
16:18. And thou tookest thy garments of divers colours, and coveredst them: and settest my oil and my sweet incense before them.
16:19. And my bread which I gave thee, the fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast set before them for a sweet odour; and it was done, saith the Lord G.o.d.
16:20. And thou hast taken thy sons, and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me: and hast sacrificed the same to them to be devoured. Is thy fornication small?
16:21. Thou hast sacrificed and given my children to them, consecrating them by fire.
Thou hast sacrificed, etc... As there is nothing more base and abominable than the crimes mentioned throughout this chapter; so the infidelities of the Israelites in forsaking G.o.d, and sacrificing even their children to idols, are strongly figured by these allegories.
16:22. And after all thy abominations, and fornications, thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked, and full of confusion, trodden under foot in thy own blood.
16:23. And it came to pa.s.s after all thy wickedness (woe, woe to thee, saith the Lord G.o.d)
16:24. That thou didst also build thee a common stew, and madest thee a brothel house in every street.
16:25. At every head of the way thou hast set up a sign of thy prost.i.tution: and hast made thy beauty to be abominable: and hast prost.i.tuted thyself to every one that pa.s.sed by, and hast multiplied thy fornications.
16:26. And thou hast committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, men of large bodies, and hast multiplied thy fornications to provoke me.
16:27. Behold, I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will take away thy justification: and I will deliver thee up to the will of the daughters of the Philistines that hate thee, that are ashamed of thy wicked way.
16:28. Thou hast also committed fornication with the a.s.syrians, because thou wast not yet satisfied: and after thou hadst played the harlot with them, even so thou wast not contented.
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