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CHAPTER XXVII.

THE SINGULAR AFFLICTION AND PA

1....

TIENCE OF JOB.

A. M. about 2473.

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HERE was a man in the land of Uz, whofe name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one who feared God, and fhunned to do wickedness. And there was born unto him seven lone and three daughters. His fubftance alfo was leven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred fhe-affes, and a very great household. So that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

2.....And his fons went and feafted in their houses, every one his day; and fent and called for their three fifters, to eat and to drink with them. And there was a day, when his fons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house.

3....And there came a messenger unto Job, and faid, The oxen were plowing, and the affes feeding befide them; and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have flain the fervants with the edge of the fword; and I only am efcaped alone to tell thee.

4....While he was yet fpeaking, there came alfo another, and faid, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burnt up the fheep, and the fervants, and contumed them; and I only am efcaped alone to tell thee.

5....While he was yet fpeaking, there came alfo another, and faid, The Chaldeans made out three bands; and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away; yea, and flain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am elcaped alone to tell thee.

6....While he was yet fpeaking, there came also an other, and faid, Thy fons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's houfe: and, behold, there came a great wind from the wildernefs, and fmote the four corners of the houfe, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am efcaped alone to tell thee.

7....Then Job arofe, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and tell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and faid, Naked was I born into the world, and naked fhall I return unto the earth; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; bleifed be the name of the Lord.

REMARKS.

The book of Job was probably penned before the emigration of the children of Ifrael from the land of E gypt; as it no where contains any allufion to that event, or to any of the aftonishing circumstances which attended it. It is faid to have been the general opinion of the Jewish Rabbins, that Mofes was the writer of this book; and that it was written by him while he lived in the land of Midian.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE STORY OF JONAH.

Now,

A. M. about 3200.

OW, the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the fon of Amittai, faying, Arife, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rofe up to flee unto Tarthith from the prefence of the Lord, and went down

to Joppa; and he found a fhip going to Tarfhifh: So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarfhifh from the prefence of the Lord.

2....But the Lord fent out a great wind into the fea, and there was a mighty tempeft in the sea, so that the fhip was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried, every man unto his God, and caft forth the wares that were in the fhip into the fea, to lighten it; but Jonah was gone down into the fides of the fhip; and he lie, and was faft afleep.

3....So the fhipmafter came to him, and faid unto him, What meaneft thou, O fleeper? Arife, call upon thy God, if to be that God will think upon us that we perifh not. And they faid, every man to his fellow, Come, and let us caft lots, that we may know for whose caufe this evil is upon us. So they caft lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

4....Then faid they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whofe caufe this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And whence comeft thou? What is thy country? And of what people art thou? And he faid unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who hath made the fea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and faid unto him, Why hast thou done this? (for the men knew that he had fled from the prefence of the Lord, because he had told them.)

5....Then faid they unto him, what fhall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? (for the fea wrought and was tempeftuous.) And he faid unto them, Take me up, and caft me forth into the fea; fo fhall the fea be calm unto you: for I know that for my fake this great tempeft is upon you. Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not : for the fea wrought and was tempeftuous against them.

6....Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and faid, We befeech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. So they took up Jonah, and caft him forth into the fea; and the fea ceafed from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a facrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

7....Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fifh three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the belly of the filh. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

8....And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the fecond time, faying, Arile, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arofe, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. (Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.)*

*"The ancient manner of reckoning was to compute twenty miles for a day's journey; which makes Nineveh to have been fixty miles in circumference. This nearly agrees with the account of Diodorus, an ancient Pagan writer; according to whom, Nineveh was about twenty miles long,about twelve miles broad, and a little more than fixty miles in circumference. According to the fame author, Nineveh had walls an hundred feet high, and which were Jo broad, that three chariots could go abreaft upon them; and on the walls, at proper diftances, were fifteen hundred towers, each measuring two hundred feet in height." This famous city was founded by Afhur, fon of Shem, and grandfon to Noah,

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And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and faid, Yet forty days, and Nineveh fhall be overthrown.

9....So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a faft, and put on fackcloth, from the great. eft of them even to the leaft of them. For word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arofe from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with fackcloth, and fat in alhes.

10....And he caufed it to be proclaimed through Nineveh, faying, Let neither man nor beast, heid nor flock, tafte any thing: but let all be covered with fackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

it not.

11.... And God faw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had faid that he would do unto them; and he did And fo, (because they repented of their wick edness,) God fpared Nineveh, that great city, wherein were more than fix (core thousand perfons (little children who could not difcern between their right hand and their left hand..

CHAPTER XXIX.

THREE YOUNG MEN CAST INTO A FIE, RY FURNACE

NEB

A. M. 3433

1.... EBUCHADNEZZAR the king made an image of gold, whofe height was threefcore cubits,

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