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all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous 28 unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe 29 unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not 30 have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the chil- 31

28 Ye also outwardly appear righteous.] See verse 5. The Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his (Eliab's) countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. 1 Sa. xvi. 7. Behold, thou desireth truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Ps. li. 6. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing. Je. xvii. 9, 10. Ye are they (said Jesus to the Pharisees) which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Lu. xvi. 15. The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked, and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. He. iv. 12, 13.

But within ye are full of hypocrisy.] O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Mat. xii. 34, 35. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Mat. xv. 19, 20. From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from Iwithin, and defile the man. Mar. vii. 21, 22, 23.

29 Ye build the tombs of the prophets.] Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers, for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Lu. xi. 47, 48.

Men and brethren (said Peter on the day of Pentecost), let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Ac. ii. 29.

30 The blood of the prophets.] See verse 34, 35. And the husbandmen took his (the householder which planted a vineyard) servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them likewise. Mat. xxi. 35, 36. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them (the Jews) by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place. 2 Ch. xxxvi. 15. In vain have I smitten your children, they received no correction; your own sword hath devoured your prophets like a destroying lion. Je. ii. 30.

31 Witnesses unto yourselves.] And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Jos. xxiv. 22. Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity (said Eliphaz, reproving Job of impiety), and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I yea, thine own lips testify against thee. Job xv. 5, 6. So they (the wicked) shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves all that see them shall flee away. Ps. Ixiv. 8. Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant (said the nobleman in the parable); thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow; wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury. Lu. xix. 22, 23.

That ye are the children.] Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers, Ac. vii. 51, 52. Ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us : and they please not God, and are contrary to all men. Forbidding us to speak to the

32 dren of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the 33 measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, 34 how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and Scribes: and some

Gentiles, that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway, for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. 1 Th. ii. 15, 16.

32 The measure of your fathers.] In the fourth generation (said the Lord to Abram) "they" ("Abram's seed") shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amonites is not yet full. Ge. xv. 16. Behold, ye are risen up in your father's stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. Nu. xxxii. 14. Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? and he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said, moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar; and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base. Zec. v. 5—11.

33 Serpents.] When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his (John's) baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Mat. iii. 7. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Mat. xii. 34. When the time of the fruit drew near, he (the house holder in the parable) sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Mat. xxi. 34, 35. I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Ge. iii. 15. The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. Ps. lviii. 3, 4, 5. Draw near hither (said the Lord to the idolatrous Jews), ye sons

of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and the whore. Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue ? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood? Is. lvii. 3, 4. O generation of vipers (said the Baptist), who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Lu. iii. 7. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Jelen viii. 44. I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Co. xi. 3. And the dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. Re. xii. 9.

How can ye escape the damnation, &c.] See verse 14. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unta us by them that heard him. He. ii. 3. He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy, under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. He. x. 28, 29. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh; for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. He. xii. 25.

34 I send unto you, &c.] Behold, I send you (his apostles) forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Mat. x. 16. Go ve therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Mat. xxviii. 19, 20. Therefore also, said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute. Lu. xi. 49, Peace be unto you (said Jesus to his disciples); as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 21. Ye shall receive power (said Jesus to his disciples) after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and

John II.

of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Ac. i. 8. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing, by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 1 Co. xii. 3-11. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men; (he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ. Ep. iv. 8—12.

Prophets.] And in those days (while Barnabas was preaching at Antioch) came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. Ac. xi. 27.

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. Ac. xiii. 1. And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. Ac. xv. 32. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over "them" ("the two witnesses lying unburied"), and make merry; and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. Re. xi. 10. And wise men.] The fruit of the righteous is as a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. Pr. xi. 30. Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought. I Co. ii. 6. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how

he buildeth thereupon. 1 Co. iii. 10. (This mystery among the Gentiles is) Christ in you, the hope of glory; whom we preach, warning every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Col. i. 27, 28.

Scribes.] Every Scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. Mat. xiii. 52.

Of them ye shall kill and crucify.] See chap. x. 16, 17. Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them (said Stephen) which shewed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. And (they) cast him (Stephen) out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Ac. vii. 51, 52. 58, 59. And Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men of women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. Ac. ix. 1, 2. And he (Herod, the king) killed James the brother of John with the sword. Ac. xii. 2. And there came thither (to Lystra) certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Ac. xiv. 19. And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed (said Saul to Jesus), I also was standing by and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. 4c. xxii. 20. Ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway; for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. 1 The. ii. 14, 15, 16. They (many of the ancient believers) were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. He. xi. 37.

35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the 36 altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon

35 Upon you may come, &c.] Surely (said God to Noah and his sons) your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made he man. Ge. ix. 5, 6. Ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are ; for blood it defileth the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Nu. xxxv. 33. Our hands (the elders of the city that are next unto the slain man shall say) have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. De. xxi. 7, 8. Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another. 2 Ki. xxi. 16. In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets like a destroying lion. O generation, see ye the word of the Lord; in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. Je. ii. 30. 34. Know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves (said Jeremiah), and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof; for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ear. And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. Je. xxvi. 15. 23. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, they have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. Lam. iv. 12, 13, 14. In “her” (“Babylon") was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Re. xviii. 24.

The blood of righteous Abel.] And Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Ge. iv. 8. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by

which he obtained witness that he was rights eous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. He. xi. 4. Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, &c., but ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. He. xii. 18. 22. 24. This is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him! Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 1 John iii. 11, 12.

Unto the blood of Zacharias.] The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the peo ple, and said unto them, Thus saith God: Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the com mandment of the king, in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son: and when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it. 2 Chr. xxiv. 20, 21, 22. In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son Barachiah, the son of Iddo the prophet. Zec. i. 1. That the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation. Lu. xi. 51.

36 All these things.] Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Matt. xxiv. 34. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are pro longed, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel. But say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision; for there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God. Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man,

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this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the 37 prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often

behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off; therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, There shall none of my words be prolonged any more; but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God. Ez. xii. 21-28. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Mar. xiii. 30, 31. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Lu. xxi. 32, 33.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.] O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? Je. iv. 14. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. Je. vi. 8. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not? Lu. xiii. 34. "Their" dead bodies ("of the two witnesses that shall prophesy") shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom, and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Re. xi. 8.

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Thou that killest the prophets.] See verses 30. 34, 35. Rejoice and be exceeding glad (said Jesus to his disciples), for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Mat. v. 12. And the remnant took his servants (the king's servants who made a marriage for his son), and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. Mat. xxii. 6. Nevertheless "they" ("the Jews") were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee; and they wrought great provocations; therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them; and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven, and according to thy manifold mercies, thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. Ne. ix. 26, 27. And "they" ("the husbandmen in the parable") caught "him" (the "servant" sent to receive of the fruit of the vineyard), and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another;

and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. Mar. xii. 3-6. Again he sent another servant, and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third, and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. Lu. xx. 11-14. And when "they" (" the two witnesses”) shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. Re. xi. 7. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. Re. xvii. 6.

How often would I have gathered, &c.] And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place; but "they" ("the Jews") mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 2 Ch. xxvi. 15, 16. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee, O Israel. If thou wilt hearken unto me, there shall no strange God be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any strange god. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. Ps. lxxxvi. 8-11. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein; also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken. Je. vi. 16, 17. I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early, and protesting, saying, Obey my voice; yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart; therefore will I bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not. Je. xi. 7, 8. The word of the Lord hath come unto me (said Jeremiah), and I have spoken unto.

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