Page:KJV 1772 Oxford Edition, vol. 2.djvu/51

Apocrypha. the fields thereof shall wax old, and her ways and all her paths shall grow full of thorns, because no man shall travel therethrough.

The virgins shall mourn, having no bridegrooms; the women shall mourn, having no husbands; their daughters shall mourn, having no helpers.

In the wars shall their bridegrooms be destroyed, and their husbands shall perish of famine.

Hear now these things and understand them, ye servants of the Lord.

Behold, the word of the Lord, receive it: believe not the gods of whom the Lord spake.

Behold, the plagues draw nigh, and are not slack.

As when a woman with child in the ninth month bringeth forth her son, with two or three hours of her birth great pains compass her womb, which pains, when the child cometh forth, they slack not a moment:

Even so shall not the plagues be slack to come upon the earth, and the world shall mourn, and sorrows shall come upon it on every side.

O my people, hear my word: make you ready to thy battle, and in those evils be even as pilgrims upon the earth.

He that selleth, let him be as he that fleeth away: and he that buyeth, as one that will lose:

He that occupieth merchandise, as he that hath no profit by it: and he that buildeth, as he that shall not dwell therein:

He that soweth, as if he should not reap: so also he that planteth the vineyard, as he that shall not gather the grapes:

They that marry, as they that shall get no children; and they that marry not, as the widowers.

And therefore they that labour labour in vain:

For strangers shall reap their fruits, and spoil their goods, overthrow their houses, and take their children captives, for in captivity and famine shall they get children.

And they that occupy their merchandise with robbery, the more they deck their cities, their houses, their possessions, and their own persons:

The more will I be angry with them for their sin, saith the Lord.

Like as a whore envieth a right honest and virtuous woman:

So shall righteousness hate iniquity, when she decketh herself, and shall accuse her to her face, when he cometh that shall defend him that diligently searcheth out every sin upon earth.

And therefore be ye not like thereunto, nor to the works thereof.

For yet a little, and iniquity shall be taken away out of the earth, and righteousness shall reign among you.

Let not the sinner say that he hath not sinned: for God shall burn coals of fire upon his head, which saith before the Lord God and his glory, I have not sinned.

Behold, the Lord knoweth all the works of men, their imaginations, their thoughts, and their hearts:

Which spake but the word, Let the earth be made; and it was made: Let the heaven be made; and it was created.

In his word were the stars made, and he knoweth the number of them.

He searcheth the deep, and the treasures thereof; he hath measured the sea, and what it containeth.

He hath shut the sea in the midst of the waters, and with his word hath he hanged the earth upon the waters.

He spreadeth out the heavens like a vault; upon the waters hath he founded it.

In the desert hath he made springs of water, and pools upon the tops of the mountains, that the floods might pour down from the high rocks to water the earth.

He made man, and put his heart in the midst of the body, and gave him breath, life, and understanding.

Yea and the Spirit of Almighty God, which made all things, and searcheth out all hidden things in the secrets of the earth,

Surely he knoweth your inventions, and what ye think in your hearts, even them that sin, and would hide their sin.

Therefore hath the Lord exactly searched out all your works, and he will put you all to shame.

And when your sins are brought forth, ye shall be ashamed before men, and your own sins shall be your accusers in that day.

What will ye do? or how will ye hide your sins before God and his angels?

Behold, God himself is the judge, fear him: leave off from your sins, and forget your iniquities, to meddle no more with them for ever: so shall God lead you forth, and deliver you from all trouble.

For, behold, the burning wrath of a great multitude is kindled over you, and they shall take away certain of you, and feed you, being idle, with things offered unto idols.