Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. I will most gladly do what thou commandest, O my Saviour; but, that I may perform it accordingly, be thou, which art according to thy bodily presence in the highest heavens, ever present with me by the spirit, and hasten thy glorious coming to my full redemption. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He shall be a rock of sure defence, to those that fear him; but a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to those, that distrust and disobey him, even of both the houses of Judah and Ephraim; and for a snare, to those, that are godless and rebellious, even in Jerusalem itself. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Give full assurance to my people of the certainty of this prophecy, and seal it up as a law that shall not be reversed. And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. For my part, however others entertain these words of God, I will make account of their assured performance; and depend upon the good providence of that just God, who deservedly withdraws his favour from the rebellious house of Jacob. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. Behold, I, and those faithful disciples, whom the Lord hath by my means converted unto him, are made a gazing stock and wonderment to the children of Israel; and this is a judgment, that is justly come upon them from the Lord of Hosts, which hath, with so small effect, graciously manifested himself in his temple on mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? VOL. III. Y What a madness is it in you, not to cleave fast unto the Lord, your true and only God? For if the profane heathen shall think they have reason to persuade you to depend upon magicians and wizards, that use devilish enchantments, is it not a shame, that you should not find cause to seek and cleave unto your only true God? Should we be so foolish, as to seek in the case of the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. No; far be that from us: let us have recourse to the law and to the testimony: that is it, which God hath given us for our infallible direction; and if any man speak either without or against this word, it is because he hath not the true light of grace or understanding in him. And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And whereas they hoped to have been fixed in this good land for ever, they shall now only pass through it as fugitives, being hardly bestead and pinched with hunger; and then, they shall fret and gall themselves with late and vain indignation, and shall curse their idol and their king, whose confidence hath misled them; and when they are thus thoroughly distressed, they shall begin to look upward, to the hand of that God, by whom they are punished.