Part 7
punishment of God. We know that one sin is punished by another,
according as it is spoken in diverse Texts of scripture: and as we see
it specially avowed in the first Chapter to the Romans, "That they
which served not God in giving themselves wholly to cleanness of
life, shall be shaken off and given over to all manner of shameful
lusts, and have no more understanding to discern between evil and
good, than brute beasts, but shall run into all manner of infamy."
Hereby Saint Paul does very well declare that when GOD gives us
head to be plunged in the depth of our iniquities, it is for that we
should be the more guilty before him. They therefore which worship
Idols, notwithstanding that they are compelled thereto, and do sigh
and would fain be at liberty: yet cease they not to offend God: and
thereby they should understand the better, how heinous their sins
be, seeing that they must receive such correction for them. As how?
Whereas I should glorify my God, I must offend him, he is fain to
cast me off, because I am not worthy to serve him, and he must
deprive me of the liberty and mean to dedicate myself wholly to his
obedience. Let all them therefore that be in the captivity of Popery
and mingled amongst the superstitious, understand that the
vengeance of GOD lies upon them, and that they shall be more and
more guilty for their serving of Idols. It is a poor reply for them to
say, we do it not willingly, we wish that it might please God that the
right and pure Religion were over all: but for all this, our Lord does
not exempt them from condemnation. And he is the competent
Judge. Let us therefore rest upon his word: and seek no more
starting holes, but let them that endure such a state, understand that
it is now time or never, to turn to God, forasmuch as they be as good
as drowned therein, and have a token of his wrath against them, in
that he is gone far away from them. Therefore let them think
thereupon, and be moved therewith to the quick: according as the
meaning of GOD is in this Text, and as we have touched it heretofore.
Now Moses says: That this people shall be a gazing stock, and an
example, and a byword, and a scoffing stock unto the nations, among
whom they shall be dispersed. Here our Lord shows that as his
goodness should be known in the people of Israel, and every man
should rejoice in the seed of Abraham, so should the very same
people be abhorred and detested. The promise was thus: "All Nations
shall be blessed in thy seed." The truth is that we must resort to our
Lord Jesus Christ, which is the very bond of the seed of Abraham; or
else this blessing has no place, nor ground to stand upon. Yet
notwithstanding, they which were descended of the race of Abraham,
should have been blessed of God, so as they might have been an
example, that every one desiring grace might have said, O God take
pity upon me, as upon the children of Abraham, whom he has chosen
and adopted. Such was the promise. See here the threatening that
was laid against it, that seeing God did smite so rigorously upon the
people whom he had chosen, men might be astonished at it and think
thus with themselves: Is it possible that they whom God has chosen,
should now be cast off, and be persecuted and thrown underfoot with
all manner of reproach? And hereupon men may say: O God keep me
that I fall not to such case as this people is in, or else when they
intend to curse, they might say, GOD do unto thee as he has done to
these vile Jews. This much is to be understood of this place.
Now let us mark that whereas the holy ghost spoke thus by the
mouth of Moses, it was not his meaning that this doctrine should
serve only for two thousand years or thereabouts, which time the law
lasted until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: but that we at this
day must apply the same to our own use: that insomuch as God is
come nigh us, we must walk in his fear in despite of Satan, so as his
goodness may shine in us, and be perceived to remain upon us: and
contrariwise that when we be unthankful, and our God is as it were
mocked of us, it behooves us then to think thus: Well may we shrink
back, but we shall gain nothing by all our shifts: for in the end we
shall not fail to come to shame. Verily we see how it is said that the
name of God shall be blasphemed among the misbelievers, because
that they which were counted faithful before, be so cast down, as
GOD may seem to have falsified his promise and to have deluded
them, so far forth must the vengeance of GOD extend. Now seeing it
is so, let us learn to submit ourselves to our Lord while he allures us
unto him with gentleness, and so to hold us under his obedience, as
we may not become a byword and a jesting stock to all the wicked,
which seek nothing but to blaspheme GOD and to make a mock of
us. Let us (I say) look well to that.
Moreover, where Moses says, That GOD will thus disperse his
people: it serves still to confirm his matter, to the end that the Jews,
should not think that they were carried away by a storm, as it were by
haphazard; but that they should understand that it is the hand of
GOD that is upon them: and that for as much as this threatening
prevailed not with them, therefore the thing that is happened unto
them should stand us in some stead. For look what vengeance we
hear GOD speak of in this place; the same we see executed before our
eyes. Is it not a horrible thing that the Jews be abhorred at this day
throughout the whole world? Yet were they the people whom GOD
had sanctified for himself, they were his heritage, they were the royal
priesthood, according as they be termed in Exodus, and they were
the blessed Generation, and yet for all this, they be rejected of all
men, insomuch that men do as it were shudder to behold them as
though they ought to be cut off from mankind. If it be said, O this
may very well happen to the faithful, and the like befell even to the
holy Patriarchs; it did so indeed, howbeit after another sort. For the
faithful may well be put in fear, according as it is said in the prophet
Isaiah, that folk shall point at them with the finger, and shun them
afar off: and that is because GOD is not known, and his grace is
despised. But whereas we speak of the Jews at this day, it is very well
seen that God is against them: for they be as rotten members, and
their body is torn in pieces, and there remains not any token of this
blessing which God had bestowed on them. Therefore when we
behold such a looking glass, let us learn to make our commodity
thereof, and let the example of them serve to seal this doctrine and to
ratify it, that we tempt not GOD, and that we continue not
hardhearted so long till he be fain to wrap us up in reproach with all
the rest of the nations of the world. After this, Moses returns to that
which he had touched afore: which is, That the people having tilled
their grounds and their possessions, shall not drink of the wine of
their grapes, nor eat of the corn of their harvest, nor enjoy the fruits
of their trees. This has been spoken afore: but there is here a certain
difference to be noted. For therefore God had showed, that when the
Jews had labored for corn and wine, the enemies should come and
take all away, and that all the same should be made a prey: but now
he says, that without any force of man, and without any troubles of
war, they should nevertheless not fail to be famished, and to be
destitute of all things that might do them good. Why so? Because
that worms, beasts, Caterpillars, locusts, and all other things shall eat
up the fruit of the earth. Lo what armies God stirs up against the
wretched. Again, on the other side, there shall come blasting and
singeing, so that all must needs perish: albeit that men touch not the
Jews, but let them alone in rest, yet shall they understand that GOD
has other means to punish them, and that he is always armed infinite
ways. That is the thing which GOD meant to declare. And therefore
let us take warning by this Text, that when we have escaped one
plague, GOD will find out another for us: and if we step aside to the
left hand, & he nevertheless is armed against us, and before we have
gone three paces, he stops us of our way. Lo how men prevail, when
they seek lurking holes; according as we see how the Prophet Isaiah
mocks them that think by their subtlety to escape the hand of God.
Dream on, dream on your fill (saith he) yet shall the curse always
overtake you. And in like case, although we have no enemies to
trouble us, & to rise up against us to spoil our substance: yet let us
understand that God has other means, which we know not, for to
bereave us of that which he has put into our hands, and that we shall
be abashed, to think how we have wherewith to satisfy us, and yet
that the bread shall be plucked out of our mouths: and that when we
think to drink, we shall be dry. And whereof comes that? Even of
this, that it is our Lord which gives increase to the corn when it is
sown in the ground: It is he that sends the Grapes; It is he also that
causes all things to prosper for our nourishment. We be taught by
this text, first of all, that when we till the fields, sow them & reap
them, we must make prayers always unto God to bless the earth, that
we may be fed through his grace; and we must hold it for a certainty,
that it is his peculiar office to feed us like as a father does his little
children. Thus much concerning that point. Whereof because I have
treated more at large heretofore, it suffices as now to touch it in one
word.
Now furthermore let us mark, that whereas God speaks here of
Locusts, worms, Caterpillars, & other beasts, & whereas he speaks of
blasting & of burning which comes thereof, he shows that he has men
of war of a strange sort, when he vouchsafes not to do men good: &
this also serves to pull down the pride of men. For if we be spoiled by
the enemies: very well (will men say) this was done by violence and
plain force. As for example when war is, the whole country is spoiled,
the richest folk become beggars: and all this is wited upon the war,
man is not blamed for it. But when it comes to pass by other
accidents, so as men wot not by what mean their substance is wasted,
though they see it melt away before their eyes, one year by hail,
another year by frost, and one while one way & another while
another, so as all things consume between their hands; God by this
means makes it more manifest unto men, that he means to confound
them utterly. And indeed if we mark the course that he kept with the
Egyptians, we shall perceive it much better. For we discern God's
judgments better in other men than in ourselves. If God had stirred
up a great army against the Egyptians, in stead of the lice and
vermin: they would still have continued in their pride and
presumption: and albeit that they had been a hundred times
discomfited, yet would they not have failed to have been stiff-necked
still. When they were persecuted with lice, and that there were such
Soldiers in Egypt; they should have been ashamed. Therefore let us
well note, that God by sending men such chastisements as be set
down here does warn them to think on their frailty. If Herod had
been slain with a thunderbolt from heaven; it had not been so fit a
punishment for the blasphemy which he committed in suffering
himself to be called a God, and not a man, as when God caused him
to be eaten and consumed with vermin, till he was as rotten as could
be, insomuch as he was compelled by that disease to say (as he that
lived at the time and was his familiar bears witness:*) Oh see here a
goodly God, which is so rotten that he is enforced to feel that the
hand of God does persecute him for his pride. Let us therefore mark
well, that God, after he had threatened the Jews to send them
enemies, which by violence and force of arms should spoil the
country of all manner of food: now he adds moreover that although
they were not vexed nor troubled at all by man's hand, nor anything
were attempted by man against their possessions and lands; yet
notwithstanding they should not boot themselves by their labors, nor
by the well tilling of their grounds. And why? Because the vermin
shall waste all. And he says again expressly, Thou shalt sow much
and gather nothing, whereby he shows that when men make never so
good provision beforehand, thinking undoubtedly that all shall go as
they would wish, yet shall they be never the better for it. And it
serves to this end that we should not fall asleep when we see fair
likelihoods, according as we be commonly wont to despise God: as
who should say, that if there be a good seedtime, we are past danger,
and God had no more to deal with the things that be upon the earth,
or if we have reaped and laid up the Corn in our barns, it should
make us to be the more proud, because we see no likelihood of any
more danger. But in stead of this, we should evermore have an eye to
Godward, saying, Lord, behold, the earth waits for rain as though it
were a thirst, and when thou givest it, it is to make it to bring forth
sustenance for our nourishment. Again, such storms might fall from
heaven as would wash away all from us, and one war would be
enough to bereave us of all that we have. Thus is all in thy hand O
Lord, and we must depend upon thy mercy, and be all our life long in
thy custody; or else we must perish, and all the provisions that we
have shall profit us nothing. Thus then must we call upon God with
diligence, and walk in his fear, seeing he is so gracious as to be our
foster-father, and vouchsafes to stoop so low unto us. Therefore has
Moses very well declared in this text, that we must not be beguiled by
the goodly likelihoods & fair provisions which we are able to have. As
for example, when we see the corn to be fair upon the ground, we
must not be too lusty as though all were won, no not even when the
corn is gathered in. For God will be then called upon, according as
we are bound to make our daily suit unto him, saying, Give us our
daily bread O Lord, that day by day he may feed us. For albeit we
have never so much to day, yet tomorrow we may starve. For when it
pleases God, he is able not only to destroy the corn and wine in the
fields; but also he can make them to be worth nothing, even when we
have them in our garners and Cellers. Nay, we hear the threatenings
that he makes, saying, You shall carry corn to the mill by measure,
and the bread to the oven by weight, and yet for all that, you shall be
still empty and hungry, when you have eaten never so much, there
shall be no virtue at all in the meat, neither shall you be sufficed
therewith. Seeing our Lord tells us that he has so many ways to
famish us, let us not be hard-hearted: but let it rather waken us, that
we may altogether depend upon him, and walk in his fear, and be his
children, if we intend that he shall still continue to do the office of a
father toward us. That is the effect of the things which we have to
remember. Here again Moses repeats these threatenings, whereof he
had spoken afore, saying: That the Jews and their lineage shall be
carried away into captivity. Now certainly there can nothing more
bitter happen unto men, than to see their children taken away by
force, eaten, and devoured by the enemies, and cruelly dealt withal:
they had rather to have buried them a hundred times. Now then let
us mark in few words that God meant to declare in this text, that
although he have been never so bountiful towards us, and filled us
with his blessings, so as we be fenced in on all sides: yet he can very
well bereave us of them all again, and that plague shall be much
more grievous unto us, than if we had never known, what his
goodness means. Wherefore the larger that God bestows his
blessings upon us, yea even those blessings that concern this
transitory life, let us look that we be always so much the more
provoked to honor him and to serve him. For he for his part, will not
cease to do us good, so we turn not tail, & give him over. But seeing
he allures us so gently, if we be willing to come unto him; let us
assure ourselves that his hand shall evermore be stretched forth to
augment the gifts and blessings that we have received of him.
In the end, he returneth to the matter which we saw heretofore. All
these curses shall come upon thee, they shall seize upon thee, & thou
shalt be caught and besieged by them on all sides, until that God
hath quite consumed thee: even because thou hast not hearkened to
his voice, to obey his statutes and commandments, which he hath
given thee. I have told you heretofore how that Moses hath
oftentimes showed to the Jews, that no evil or adversity came upon
them but by the hand of God. But it behooves us also to know the
cause. True it is that sometime God doth visit us, and we cannot
perceive the cause thereof: for he doeth it not for our sins, not for
that he might not do it, but for that he spareth us. Yet is this always
to be looked unto, that when we sustain any afflictions, we must
think on our sins, & enter into examination of them to condemn
ourselves before God: yea & we must not tarry so long: but we must
benefit ourselves by all manner of calamities which we see
throughout the world, knowing that God punishes men's sins by such
means: and thereupon bridling ourselves from the like. The matter
then whereunto Moses doth now return, is, that having showed us
how it is the Lord that withdraws all manner of blessings from us, it
is he that curses our possessions, and the fruits of the earth, it is he
that sends vermin, storms and tempests, to destroy all: it is he that
gives power to our enemies: he shows wherefore all this is done: to
wit, because we have rebelled against him, because we have despised
his law. That is the very cause why these plagues of vengeance do so
pursue us. Now then, let us bear in mind the doctrine which has been
sufficiently set forth above: which is, that when God doth afflict us,
we must shut our mouths from replying or entering into plea: for we
shall win nothing by standing in contention with him. Nay rather we
must condemn ourselves, confessing that he deals justly. Although it
be his will to prove our patience, and to try us to the uttermost; yet
notwithstanding we must yield ourselves as guilty before him, &
understand that our sins deserve to be thus roughly handled at his
hands. Here is wherewith to cause all the blasphemies, murmurings
and complaints to cease which are daily heard in the world. When
there happens any adversity or any other affliction, it is to the end we
should think on the sins that we have committed. Mark that for one
point. And whereas mention is made of the commandments and
statutes which God has ordained, the same expressly and purposely
concerns us. For albeit that the Papists have the law, yet is it buried
in them: the Jews (as says Saint Paul) have a veil before their eyes, so
as they understand nothing. The Turks walk in their own ignorance,
so do all the rest of the heathen. Now our Lord does enlighten us,
and show us the way. There is therefore a more villainous rebellion
in us, when we do not according as we be taught, and also we deserve
that God should use greater rigor toward us, and pour upon us the
plagues of vengeance which are here contained. Therefore let us
benefit ourselves by the things that are said here, concerning the
commandments & statutes that God has ordained. And seeing it is so
that he speaks daily unto us, declaring unto us his will so familiarly:
let every of us submit himself obediently thereto. And whereas Moses
says further, That these curses shall catch hold upon us, and that we
shall be hemmed in round about by them, until they have consumed
us: it is a warning to us that we should not be self-willed against God:
for well may we seek starting holes: but it shall nothing boot us, (as
has been said heretofore) for the end shall be ever unhappy for us.
And therefore let us remember the complaint that God makes by his
Prophet Isaiah.* He says in that text (as we heard yesterday) that
from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, God must needs
smite hard upon all them that have rebelled. And having spoken so
by his Prophet Isaiah, he says: What may I do more? I have not
ceased to chastise my children: insomuch that from the crown of the
head to the sole of the foot, I have so beaten them, that there is no
whole nor sound place, and yet they continue hard-hearted still. Alas,
what shall I do? I must crush them and break them all to pieces.
Then let us be afraid to stand so wilful froward against our God, and
let us prevent the condemnation here pronounced. And so soon as
God begins to correct us, let us bestir us to return unto him, yea and
let us not tarry so long neither, but being admonished by his word,
let us fall to bewail our sins, and to be sorry for them, and moreover
let us ask forgiveness of them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now let us fall down before the majesty of our good God, with
acknowledgment of our sins: beseeching him not to suffer us to be so
blinded in this mortal life, as not to know that all the miseries &
wretchedness which we suffer, be warnings given unto us, to make us
to think upon ourselves & upon our lives: & also to move us to
repentance. And therefore that if we be afflicted at his hand, it may
not make us to blaspheme his holy name, nor move us to impatience:
but rather tame us, so as we may fare the better by all his corrections,
and turn again unto him. And that forasmuch as we see the wretched
world at this day to be so full of wretchedness and miseries, as is
horrible, and also do behold the wrath of God for the sins that reign
therein: it may be a mean to hold us in awe, praying God not to use
any such rigor toward us: but rather that we fleeing for refuge to his
mercy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, may be touched with
true repentance: & increase and prosper more and more therein,
until that, being delivered from all our imperfections and sins, our
God do clothe us with his righteousness unto the which we be daily
called. That it may please him to grant this grace, not only to us but
also to all people and nations of the earth, &c.
On Wednesday the 25th of March, 1556.
The 160th Sermon
which is the eighth upon the twenty-eighth Chapter.
46 And these things shall be for tokens and wonders to thee and
to thy seed for ever,
47 Because thou hast not served the Lord thy God with joy, and
with a good heart, for the abundance of all manner of things.
48 And thou shalt serve thine Enemy, whom the Lord thy God
will send against thee: I say thou shalt serve him in hunger and
thirst, in nakedness and in all manner of want. And he will lay a
yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have rooted thee out.
49 The Lord will bring a people upon thee from afar, and from
the end of the earth, which shall fly as the Eagle: a people whose
language thou shalt not understand.
50 A people of a shameless countenance, which will not
reverence the person of the aged, nor take pity upon the young.
Because things are so greatly confused in this world, that it is hard to
discern who they are whom God means to punish for their sins or to
whom he means to show his love: Moses says expressly, that God will
send such apparent tokens upon them that are stubborn against him,
as shall be wonderful to them: Insomuch as they shall be compelled
to understand, that the same comes to pass neither by fortune, nor
by common means; but that they are extraordinary things, and that
God shows forth his power therein. It is true (as we have said
heretofore) that at the first sight it cannot be well discerned, who
they be whom God loves, and who they be whom he mislikes:
because that (as Solomon says) both the good and the evil is common
unto all. He that serves God does sometimes prosper;* and
oftentimes he is afflicted: And so is a despiser of God also. This is the
cause says he that men become hardhearted, for it seems unto them
that they win nothing by serving of God: or rather that it is but lost
labor. Moreover it is often seen that the children of God are
sometimes more hardly handled than the most wicked in the world,
and therefore it is to be gathered after carnal capacity, that it is much
better to despise God.* David confessed, that he staggered as upon
the Ice, when he beheld the course of things to be such as that the
good, and they that endeavored to walk in all manner of integrity,
must be constrained to drink the water of troubles, to eat the bread
of heaviness, and to moisten themselves with tears: and in the
meanwhile the wicked, which cease not to do evil, to live at their ease
and in pleasure: whereby it should seem that God loves them. And
what a dealing were that? But our Lord declares in this place, that in
the end he will make it apparent to them that are corrected at his
hand, that their sins are the cause why they suffer smart, howbeit
that it be not so quickly perceived. We have seen heretofore among
other curses which Moses denounced,* that they who cast off the
word of God are constrained to borrow, and to be ever in need: and
that the others who should borrow of them, have wherewith to help
themselves. But we see how all the children of God fall into necessity,
and find not any that will comfort them: they make many turns
before they meet with a man that will use gentleness toward them:
and this seems clean contrary to the other. But yet does God exercise
his people after that manner: and in that respect it is that I said, that
when we are afflicted, whether it be with poverty, or with sickness, or
any other way, we must not fail to enter into account with God, that
is, to examine our life, and to see whether we have not committed
many faults or no: and then shall every one of us find himself faulty.
Again on the other side, if we perceive not the cause why that God is
moved to use rigor towards us: let us content ourselves, that he
knows the same to be profitable for us: and that if we had not already
offended him, yet were we in way to do it: and he has prevented it:
and that all these corrections are to bring us low, to the end that we
should walk under him in fear, and that our flesh should not be over
lusty, as it is thereunto inclined: for God does sometimes foresee the
pride of a man, and then he takes away the occasions and the objects.
Besides this, he knows that a man will be too jolly in his pomps and
delights; and therefore he cuts off the occasion beforehand, whereby
the party is let, so as he cannot do as he would. Seeing that our Lord
provides beforehand for our welfare after such manner, let us think
on the faults which we have first committed. Moreover if there were
no further meaning in it, than to exhort us to repentance; even that
were much: but we have always to consider, how God cannot too
much provoke us to come unto him: for every straw is enough to stay
us in this world, and in the meanwhile we have no mind of the
heavenly life; or if we think thereon, it is so coldly, that our travelling
towards it is not with so earnest affection as it ought to be; and
therefore God is fain to deal with us by many afflictions. After this
manner ought every of us to behave himself toward him. As touching
others, we may not at the first dash condemn them whom God does
punish: but we must remember that which is said in the Psalm;
Blessed is the man that deems wisely of the afflicted in the day of his
trouble.* But we be wonderfully hasty in that point. As soon as we
see a poor man in misery and wretchedness, O say we, God plagues
him, and he has deserved it: we be in that case very rash Judges. If
God smite us; after that he has bestowed many stripes upon us, we
will hardly remember that we have sinned: but as concerning others,
our tongues be very quick to condemn them. But we should much
rather incline to gentleness: as for example, when we see the faithful
to suffer, we should think thus: Behold how God deals with his
children, instructing us thereby, that there is no rest in this world,
and that our happiness is in heaven, and it is thither that we ought to
lift up our hearts.* And again, if this happen to the green trees, what
shall become of the dry wood? If God spares not them which have
endeavored to follow his word,* as appears unto us, what shall
become of the scorners thereof, as says the Prophet? If judgment
begin at the house of God: miserable then shall they be which have
hardened themselves against him. Saint Peter also does admonish us
to put the same in use.* And so you see how we ought to deal in this
matter. Moreover, if we have patience, and meekness and be apt to
be taught, it is certain that we shall evermore feel a taste of the
goodness of God in the midst of the afflictions which he sends us.
True it is that oftentimes we shall be put in fear by them. There will
be a kind of unquietness in us which will so vex us that we shall think
ourselves utterly forlorn unless GOD withdraw his hand very quickly.
If he prolong our afflictions; then we be altogether blank, our
courage fails us: so that if we be not held in with the fear of God, and
with patience, to be altogether quiet under his hand: we be evermore
wandering. But if we hold us still there, then shall we understand
that he chastises us in his mercy and goodness: according as it is said
in the Prophet Habakkuk,* That the faithful after they have been in
heaviness, do indeed understand, that God does nevertheless uphold
them, and forgets them not but does always temper & mitigate their
afflictions, so as they feel his fatherly goodness towards them, and
therewithal do comfort themselves, and can well say with David,
Lord if thou wilt be angry, it is but for a little while:* but thy
goodness endures all our life long. Behold (I say) here we may always
have matter wherewith to cheer ourselves, and to rejoice in the midst
of our afflictions: so as we may perceive indeed that our Lord will not
fail to be merciful unto us, notwithstanding that he uses some rigor
toward us, to try our patience, and to quicken us up to come unto
him, and to labor to the celestial life. But we must evermore have an
eye to the end, according as David says. And therefore in the psalm
37.* he exhorts us not to be grieved at the prosperity of the wicked:
for he knows that our eyes be as it were dazzled. When we see a
wicked body to be at ease and to have all wishes, we straightway
conclude that God has regard to deal with men according as they be
worthy: by means whereof we stagger and are in such perplexity as
we wot not what shall become of us. Now David says, that in thinking
so, he played the beast, and was out of his wits, and he confesses that
he was in that point, berest of reason and judgment, affirming that
he did wrong to all the generation of God's children,* until he had
looked into the Sanctuary. It is true, that in the thirty and seventh
Psalm which I alleged here before, he says, I passed by and saw the
wicked flourish and grow high like a Cedar tree of Lebanon: and after
that I had turned me about, he was cut down as a tree that had no
more left but the dry stock upon the earth: so as there remained no
sign of him at all. Such changes do we see in this world; but put the
case we saw none: yet must we enter into the Sanctuary of God,* as it
is said in the threescore and thirteenth Psalm. And there we must
wait patiently till God make it apparent unto us that all afflictions be
profitable for his children: and that he sends them as medicines for
their health: and contrariwise, that the prosperity which he permits
to the contemners of his law and justice, shall be converted to their
great confusion. We must therefore learn to hold our wits and senses
in awe, that we wander not in the afflictions which God does send us.
But to return to the purpose of Moses: let us note well how he says
that the punishments which God sends upon them that have rebelled
against him to the utmost, and would not be corrected: shall be as
tokens and wonders to them and to their posterity: that is to say, he
will punish them after a strange fashion, and as has not been wonted
amongst men: so as they shall be compelled in spite of their teeth to
say: This is the very hand of God. And indeed can there be a more
beastly contempt of God found, than that which was in Pharaoh? He
was a man not only drunken with pride, but altogether senseless: he
was a man that despised the majesty of God, and a man so rebellious,
as was not in any wise to be dealt withal. When he heard Moses and
Aaron speak, he laughed them to scorn: his feeling of the first strokes
could not make him to yield. And in the end he needed not a Prophet
to admonish him: for he himself could say,* Surely this is the finger
of God. We see therefore how God does oftentimes express his power
in such wise, that even the most fierce are constrained to perceive
and to think that there is some majesty in heaven, which afore that
time they had not accounted of, and thereupon to enter into
consideration of their sins and to confess them, and to be the more
lively touched therewith. That is it which Moses means here
concerning signs and wonders.
This matter is worthy to be marked. For (as I have said) if God begin
to punish men, it is evermore said to be fortune, this is agreeable to
our state, (say they:) we know that man's life is subject to much
wretchedness, and in the meanwhile the hand of God is not regarded.
And though he double it, yet do men continue dull, & seem as though
they could evermore hide them, & escape away, because they enter
not into their consciences to search out the sins that be there, but are
loath to know them, as if a man should go hide himself in a dark
corner of set purpose to shun the brightness of the sun at noon days.
Even so do we in all the chastisements which God doth send us to
warn us of our sins and to draw us to repentance. But in the end God
doth augment his punishments in such sort, as they become
miracles: that is to say, they exceed the common measure, order and
course of nature, so as we might be ravished with astonishment, and
thereby perceive that God doth then show himself, as though his
hand appeared unto us from heaven. And that is the thing which he
declares more fully in the xxvi. Chapter of Levi. For after he hath
pronounced the sentence upon them that reject the doctrine of
salvation, he saith, I will send upon you seven times as much,* if I
perceive that nothing do prevail with you: If my punishing of you
amend you not, I will add there to seven times as much. And he
repeats this sentence again in the end; & saith, If you will walk at all
adventure against men, I will walk also at all adventure against you.
Now this word, Adventure, hath relation to the blockishness that is
in us, which we have touched here before. For we see very well the
adversities that do befall us in this world, & wading yet further we
confess that it is God that punishes us: but to think thereon in good
earnest; and to judge every man himself by calling our sins to
remembrance so often as God gives any inckling of them; it is the
furthest part of our thought. Let every man look to himself: How
many afflictions have we in the year which should be testimonies
unto us of the wrath of God, & as it were summons of appearance
before him, warning us to sue to him for pardon, and to have pity
upon us? Scarcely does any one day pass, but that a man is warned
five or six times as if God should say unto him; Wretched creature,
why hast thou no mind of thy soul? Why hast thou no care to beseech
me to receive thee to mercy? But scarcely once in a month will a man
enter into examination of his life to condemn himself; and if we do it,
it is but coldly. But we ought to be so ashamed and so vexed at the
feeling of God's wrath as though we saw hell lie open before eyes. But
we see that very few do think thereon: for every of us forgets himself.
That is the thing which God means by this word of walking at all
adventures against us. Yet do we follow on our course still, as though
no harm had touched us, we swallow up our afflictions. They do
indeed trouble us, when they pinch us, and yet do we nothing but
shake our ears (as they say) and follow still our own way. Then go we
at all adventures, yea even with excessive overweening, when we
acknowledge not the hand of God, nor perceive that he is a judge, to
the end that we might mislike of our sins, and every man labor and
endeavor to withdraw himself therefrom. Our Lord therefore says, I
will come against you at all adventures, as if he should say, I will
cross you and thwart you, & think not to gain anything either by your
hardening of your hearts, and by your kicking against me, or by your
dulness in that you perceive not how it is my hand that must bring
you again: No no, (says he) I will be as stout and headstrong as you,
yea and more stout and headstrong too. For I will come at all
adventures, I will let my plagues run out at random, so as I will break
your necks, and beat you both back and belly, and that without pity.
Now we see how much this word ought to weigh with us, where
Moses says: That the plagues shall be for tokens and wonders, to all
scorners: insomuch that when they have bleared out their tongues at
the threatenings of God, and have nodded their head against the first
corrections which he sends them, & have bitten on the bridle: he
proceeds on still & ceases not to wring them, but drives them in the
end to come to a reckoning do the worst they can, & to say openly, It
is the hand of God that presses us; these are the miracles, they be no
ordinary things nor according to the course of nature.
Now therefore, let us learn not to provoke God's wrath so far against
us; but let us suffer ourselves to be tamed by him; and let us yield
ourselves conformable & gentle so soon as he has summoned us, let
us yield ourselves guilty without using any starting holes: for we shall
win nothing thereby. There is nothing better than to enter into pure
and free confession, saying, "Lord what wilt thou do to these frail &
wretched creatures? It is true that we have a hundredfold deserved to
be sunken: but yet for all that, we flee unto thy mercy: wherefore
have pity upon us." When we have thus condemned ourselves, it is a
means to pacify the anger of God, which thing will not be done by
hardening of our hearts. For then he will ever more proceed farther,
until he have brought us to these signs and wonders, that be here
mentioned. Again God must needs do the like also in respect of
men's slothfulness & negligence, or rather utter senselessness. If we
could be subdued at the first blow: God would take no pleasure in
laying plague upon plague. But when he sees that there is such a kind
of stoutness, and such a presumption in us, that we will not stoop
nor bow our necks: he must needs hold on until he makes us to feel
in very deed & after a strange manner, that it is he before whom we
must yield our account. Let us therefore mark well how the obstinate
malice of the world is the cause why God sends such strange
corrections to put us in fear. And if we considered well the state of
the world at this day, it would make the hairs of our head to stand
upright. Certainly they do all sigh at the feeling of the stripes, and
they complain, howbeit not to any amendment, but rather they bite
on the bridle: Insomuch that when those who be not altogether
blockish do make comparison of the present state, with that which
we have seen before the wrath of God was on this wise provoked;
they see it as it were a sea gulf: & that ought to make us afraid. And
so let us come back again to that which Moses declares, to wit, that
God must needs have found the world very rebellious & hard-hearted
when he augments his punishments in such sort: for it should never
come to that pass, were it not that men were otherwise un-
reformable. Let us not accuse God of cruelty, when we see his rigor to
exceed in punishing us: but let us acknowledge that our
stubbornness is so great, that our Lord must needs handle us after
that fashion: for otherwise he should never overmaster us.
That is the thing which we have to bear in mind. However, that is not
all: for we must always fear that which is to come. And since we saw
that God has thus increased his punishments not upon one man
only, but upon the whole world: let us bethink us to call ourselves
home again before he fall to striking of us with main blows to our
confusion and utter undoing, without giving us any more respite to
come to the acknowledgment of our sins. For it is the sorest point of
God's wrath, when sinners be taken after such a sort out of this
world, that they cannot have remembrance of their sins, nor take
breath to resort unto God, or to ask him forgiveness. Let us beware
lest God's vengeance proceed so far. And forasmuch as we see that
the adversities of these days be very great, let us acknowledge that we
have provoked God very much, and that it is not for us to abuse his
patience any longer. Thus ye see in effect what we have to bear away:
specially when we see that sin doth overflow, so as all the world is
infected with corruption. Although a man do good, yet nevertheless
forasmuch as it is evermore mixed with sin, he shall be chastised,
however, not at the first dash: for as I have said before, God does
spare the wicked and tarry for them, and in the meanwhile punishes
the good that seek to walk aright: but yet in the end he always
plagues the despisers of his law & majesty. And as touching the good,
he will make them to feel his grace to their joy, so that although he
exercise them with many chastisements & adversities: yet
notwithstanding, they shall not fail to know him to be their God &
father still, & to rest upon him. As for the wicked they be not
disposed to taste or to feel the love & goodness of God: but are rather
wroth against him. But when iniquity is become as a main sea, & all
men are corrupted: then the vengeance of God must also overflow, so
as none may be free from it. We have seen already the threatening
that was made here before, namely that the people should be led into
captivity with their king. When this came to pass, were none carried
away into captivity but the wicked, and such as strove against the
Prophets, and such as despised the good doctrine, and such also as
were headstrong against God like wild beasts?
Yes, there was Jeremiah himself who had called upon the people fifty
years together and never ceased to cry: "What do ye, ye wretched
people?" Yet notwithstanding we see that while others sported, he
wept and wailed: and not contented with that, said; "Who can turn
my head into tears,* so as my brain may be as a fountain gushing out
continually, that I may bewail the sins and calamities of my people?"
See how the holy Prophet, (after that he had labored in the service of
God, and fought against all the wicked, and made war against all
manner of iniquity and stubbornness:) is fain to be led away captive
as well as the rest, and to be put to reproach, not of being carried to
Babylon, for that had been the best that could have been wished at
that time: but God gave him not the favor to be brought thither, but
he was fain to be harried into Egypt:* yet had he said, "Cursed be
they that go into Egypt: go ye into Babylon [20] and serve the king of
Babylon; be quiet and obedient there," and bear patiently this
punishment of God, and in the end he will take pity on you. The holy
Prophet had not the same liberty. So then we see, that when
calamities come for the general corruption of all men, the good are
wrapped up amongst the evil. And why is that? Because it is almost
not possible to walk amongst such infections, and not to be
somewhat spotted therewith. Albeit that Jeremiah resisted the evil as
much as he could: yet savored he of the public corruptions of the
people, and therefore behooved him to be punished with the rest;
however, God did not execute such vengeance upon him, as he did
upon the despisers of his law, no not by a great deal. For Jeremiah
had always a good testimony, that God did guide him; and when he
was in Egypt, he was by a special privilege free from the curse that he
had pronounced upon all them that would go into Egypt: for they
drew him thither by force. Ye see therefore how God wraps up his
people amongst the rebels, but yet he saves them after a marvelous
manner, which gives them continual cause of comfort in him. As
much is to be said of Daniel. Daniel is set forth unto us as a mirror of
integrity. Ezekiel speaking of him, puts him for the third of the most
holy that could be chosen;* yet was he carried to Babylon; and was it
for the sins of others? He was no hypocrite and had lied unto God, if
it had not been for his own sins. For he says expressly in the ninth
chapter,* "I have made confession as well of mine own sins as of the
sins of my people." He says even at the first, "Lord we have offended
thee, & been disobedient, we have rebelled against thee, both we and
our fathers, our Kings and Rulers," which words of his are spoken
generally: It may be said, that he put himself in the number with the
others. But, to the end that nothing should be replied thereunto, he
goes further and says,* "I have confessed my sins and the sins of my
people." Whereby we see that Daniel, whatever integrity and
perfection was in him, was nevertheless stained with the common
vices, and therefore deserved to feel his part and portion of the
punishments that God sent upon all the people. Hereby we are also
the better warned, to stand in fear and to walk in the more wariness
when we see the world so corrupted; assuring ourselves, that in the
end we must feel by experience, that God has spoken in good earnest,
where he says, that he will come stubbornly against us, if we
continue in going stubbornly against him. This is in effect all that we
have to remember in this Text, where Moses speaks of Signs and
miracles. Wherefore let us open our eyes in this case, and let us not
linger until GOD compels us to come to him by force, and stretch out
his mighty arm against us: but let us receive his word, and let it serve
us for Spectacles to behold his judgments afar off, and let us not tarry
the executing of his extreme rigor.
Now he addeth therewith, Because thou hast not served thy God with
a good will, and cheerfully when thou haddest abundance of all
manner of things. Here does he reprove the Jews, for that they could
not abide that God should entreat them gently. And it is not all only
to them that he speaks, but also unto us. We have therefore a general
doctrine to be gathered of this speech; namely, that God of his own
nature, is inclined to allure us unto him by gentle and loving means,
like as a father goes about to win his children, by being merry with
them, and by giving them all that they desire. If a father could always
laugh with his children, and fulfill their desires, all his delight should
surely be in them: such a one does God show himself to be toward us.
Indeed he is not passionate as men are: we may not think that God is
like unto us; but inasmuch as we comprehend not his majesty,
because it is too high, he is fain to humble himself, and to use a kind
of speech fit for our rudeness and for the weakness of our wits.
Nevertheless it is certain that the property of God is to win us gently,
as a father endeavors to win his children. What is it that God
requires? That we should serve him with a frank and free heart, yea
and even with gladness. In what manner? Verily that because he
deals gently with us, and gives us all things that we need, we
therefore ought to be quiet and well contented, if we be not
unthankful. And so let us conclude, that all the calamities, troubles,
wretchedness and miseries, which happen in this world, be the fruits
of our sins, and that we drive God to handle us with such rigor. He is
fain (as you would say) to transform himself, and to forsake his
nature to overmaster us, because he sees that sin is exceeding great
in us, and that we can no skill to turn the good to our benefit, which
he is ready to do us. However (as I have said before) God does not
always tarry till we have offended him: we must needs grant that he
prevents our sins: he sees that we are in danger to fall, and he does
remedy it in due time. Yet notwithstanding, all the corrections which
we endure in this world, proceed of our sins: and the filthiness that is
in us, is the cause why God sends us not abundance of good things
according to our desire. And if there were nothing else, but this, that
men fall asleep, and sap themselves in these earthly pleasures, so as
they be not able to look to the place which David does call them to;*
namely, to satisfy ourselves with the sight of God, and to rejoice in
his presence. Seeing that men cannot attain thereunto, but are ever
wedded to these base things: do not we deserve that God should
withdraw the plenty that he was ready to give us, for that he
perceives that it would burst us: and instead of sustaining us it would
so overload us that it would bear us down to the ground. This is the
cause why our Lord uses not such liberality toward us as we desire.
For he for his part is not drained dry, neither does he fear to be
impoverished, by sending us plenty of all manner of good things. We
know he is a fountain that can never be drawn dry: but when he sees
that we waste and devour his benefits, and be worse than drunken,
and that besides the riotousness which we use, we be also unthankful
as not only to fall into forgetfulness, but also to spurn against his
majesty, and to turn our backs upon him: insomuch that if we have
wherewith to maintain ourselves well, we fall to Gluttony,
pompousness, whoredom, and other looseness, and to be short, the
abuses which we commit in the using of God's blessings, are as an
immeasurable sea-gulf: therefore when he sees such things, he
withdraws his hand and shows not himself so liberal toward us. This
is the Sum of that we have to bear in mind. And therefore, seeing that
God for his part is always ready to multiply us, and to give us plenty
of all good things, were it not that we are not able to brook it: we
must understand that we are as sick folk, which must have a small
pittance allowed unto them, and be constrained to a diet. And why?
Because they are not able to brook their food. Whereupon we ought
well to understand that which Moses speaks to our reproach. For
what a shame is it, that we cannot abide that God should use us
gently and after a fatherly sort? Behold, God offers himself, not only
in words, but also in deeds: and he offers to give us all that we desire.
But what? He sees us not disposed to receive him, we despise him,
and thrust away his grace; must there not be then a horrible
frowardness in men? Let every one of us excuse himself as much as
he will: yet must this saying needs be verified, and when we have
kicked and spurned never so much, yet shall we at the last be
convicted of this maliciousness, that we could not find in our hearts
to suffer GOD to deal gently with us, nor have served him joyfully
and with a merry heart. Therefore let us not wonder though he does
handle us as we deserve, when we are so rebellious against him. For
when he sees that we kick against him, he must needs break us, and
deal with us after such a fashion as we may understand that he is our
master: not that they which are punished, do serve GOD: but for that
they understand that he has the mastery over them, when the
punishments come so far that they are become signs and wonders.
When GOD appears unto them as it were in a visible manner from
heaven; then do they perceive, Alas I cannot flee nor escape the hand
of GOD. Then do they understand that he has the Lordship over
them, not that they willingly yield themselves thereunto, but that
they lie languishing and astonished therein, as men locked up in
prison. The thing then which we have to remember, is that since we
could not be contented, that God should handle us gently by bowing
under his hand, that he might guide us, turn us and return us which
way he listed: we must be forced by trouble and sorrow, to
understand that he has full sovereignty over us, and that his utter
breaking and overthrowing of us, is because we could not abide to be
governed by his hand, when he was ready to guide us. This is the
matter that we have to note in the second place.
We see the very same in all mankind, not only touching the
afflictions of this present life; but also we have this reproach laid
upon us, that we are still as it were, famished for want of spiritual
blessings. For our father Adam was created in such state, that the
world was an earthly Paradise: The whole earth yielded him all good
things to his wish: he endured neither heat nor cold, nor any
grievous want. Thus was our father Adam appointed Lord and
Master over all the world,* all the Elements and all the beasts of the
earth served him quietly, and all fruits served his taste and savor.
What was he in his person? He bore the Image of God, and was of so
great nobleness and worthiness that he was as the Angels of heaven:
and he had dwelled in this world, with all his lineage, as in a place
where he should have had no trouble: but he could not abide to be so
gently entreated. When God had thus enriched him with his benefits,
he must needs mistake himself, he could not serve God with a good
heart nor with joy. What could have grieved him? For God showed
him a sweet and a gracious countenance, and poured out the
treasures of his fatherly love towards him; but Adam could not abide
that, but through his unthankfulness he alienated himself from God.
And in what case are we now? We must serve God in hunger and
thirst, in nakedness and reproach, for the earth is cursed unto us.
When we have tilled it,* it must bring us forth thistles and thorns.
We see the seasons contrary; when we wait for a good year, we see
hail or frost, drought or rain, which serve to pluck the bread out of
our mouths, and to disappoint us of our food. We see the air
troubled, and infections which oftentimes engender diseases. Great
is the toil of men. For when they have gotten food with great distress;
yet want they wherewith to clothe themselves. See there (I say) in
what taking we be. And wherefore? Because we would not serve our
God cheerfully and with a good heart, when he gave us abundance of
all manner of blessings. But this is not the chief matter, (as I have
said heretofore:) for we are destitute of the righteousness of God.
Our very true ornament, was that we could have fashioned ourselves
to all manner of right; and now we be spoiled thereof. As then we had
reason and understanding: but now we be become beastly, for the
brightness that should shine in us, is but darkness. Again, we be
covered with reproach: and whereas the Image of God should shine
in us, now we have the marks of sin; so that even our very bare
bodies must give us to understand of the same: insomuch that if a
man be naked, he is ashamed of himself. And why? God does by this
mean show unto us what infection there is in our souls, in that we be
fain to hide ourselves, as not being worthy to be numbered amongst
his creatures. Finally we be like dry earth. Truth it is that we be over
fruitful in evil,* but of goodness, what is found in us? Seeing we be
thus unfurnished of all graces, it is good reason that we should
languish in this frail life, because we could not serve our God with joy
and a good heart, at such time as he had poured out all his riches
most perfectly upon us.
Now since we behold the evil that is in all mankind, let us also apply
the same particularly to ourselves. Therefore when our Lord visits us,
and makes us to feel afflictions that are strange unto us; let us cast
down our heads, and enter into such examination of ourselves as
this: Go to, whereas God has given us wherewith to serve him, how
do we discharge ourselves thereof? If there come an ill year that
brings dearth of Corn or wine, so that famine does threaten us; let us
look how we honored God in the time that he gave us plenty. If we
see there is abundance of wine, then drunkenness has its full scope,
so that men cannot be restrained from breaking out into all manner
of disorder, and (which worse is,) they stick not to blaspheme the
name of God, and to rush out into all disorder, and to take leave to
surfeiting and glutting of themselves out of all measure. In
abundance of Corn we see the like; men are so proud thereof that
they cannot abide either warning or discipline, but they kick against
God, and their pride is moreover matched with cruelty, so as every
man rakes to himself; he that has the most, will if he can play the
Tyrant over his neighbors, in taking no pity upon them that are in
want. At this point are we in the time of plenty. Therefore is our Lord
fain to change his Copie, and to manifest his Majesty unto us, and to
compel us to understand what sovereignty and dominion he has over
us, seeing we cannot find in our hearts to serve him with a cheerful
heart and with a good will, nor to give over ourselves unto him. Are
we in rest? All our endeavor is how to pluck out one another's eyes,
and to torment ourselves like Cats and Dogs. And if we war not with
men, we fight against God, which is far worse. And if we hold on, let
us not be grieved that we be confounded altogether, seeing we set up
ourselves against the Majesty of him, under whom we ought to bow.
Nay, we see that most commonly men make war against God, when
he gives them rest: we shall see both generally and particularly that
they who are at leisure to do evil, do persecute the Church, and
torment the poor faithful ones. As soon as God gives them any
respite, they seek nothing but occasion to do hurt and to exercise
their cruelty. And this is to be seen, not only in the enemies of the
Church, but also in all others: insomuch that both great and small,
when God has left us in rest, and we have made an end of warring
one against another, we fall to despising of God one way or other. Let
us not wonder therefore, if when a war is finished; it begin again
immediately. For it is needful that God should deal with us in such
manner: otherwise he cannot rule us.
And let us mark well how it is said here moreover, That God will
raise up a barbarous people against such as would not be obedient
unto him. Such is God's reigning over us, that he desires to be as a
father unto us, rather than to be a dreadful King or Prince over us. It
is true that we must do him homage as to our sovereign Lord, and
that we must behave ourselves as his people in all subjection and
humility, submitting ourselves under his obedience: but yet
therewithal he does the office of a father towards us, and will be
known to be a father. For he speaks after an amiable manner,
insomuch that although his commandments be hard unto us,
because of our malice and rebellion as concerning the flesh: yet
notwithstanding after he has declared his will unto us, he exhorts us,
he warns us, he rebukes us: and all these things he does with such
mildness, as we must needs show ourselves to want both wit and
reason, if we be not benefited by the goodness he uses. But will we
not hearken to our God when he speaks unto us in so gentle and
gracious a manner? Then will he talk with us with main strokes of
halberds, pikes, and harquebuses. We shall there understand
nothing, the language of them will be very strange unto us. And
wherefore? Because we had no ears to hear when God spoke
graciously unto us, yea and when he stooped so low, as to teach us
like little children, that are taught their A, B, C. Go too then, let us
understand that when we be so deaf against God: he must talk with
us in another language, and he must stir up some barbarous and
brazen-faced people, that have neither reverence, reason, nor equity,
to whom when you shall pray for pity and compassion: it shall be but
in vain, they will give no ear unto you, you shall go that way in spite
of your beards. And what is the remedy of all these evils? Let us
enter, let us enter into our consciences, let us not grind our teeth at
men, as we are wont to do, let us not strive with them. For our
combat is not there. But let us understand that God means to
chastise us by men, because we have been stubborn toward him, and
would not be edified by his word, according as his meaning was. And
therefore let us benefit ourselves by all these warnings, and
corrections which God does send us. And let us not abide till we feel
the knocks; but whenever God does us the favor to teach us at other
men's cost, let us receive profit thereby: and when he spares us, let us
not abuse his patience. And for as much as the means to reconcile us
unto him, is to accept the promise that he offers us in the Gospel; let
us embrace our Lord Jesus Christ, which is our peace,* to the end
that we may be treated after a fatherly sort, at the hands of our God.
Now let us fall down before the Majesty of our good God, with
acknowledgment of our misdeeds, beseeching him to make us to
perceive them yet better; and therewithal to bear with us in such
sort, and that his chastisements and corrections may be so fatherly
and measurable toward us, as we may be reduced to the obedience of
his righteousness, and that he will evermore so comfort us, as we
may have whereof to rejoice in him, and to glorify him, for his
procuring of our salvation by all means. And so let us all say,
Almighty God heavenly father, &c.
On Thursday the 26th of March, 1556.
The 161st Sermon
which is the ninth upon the twenty-eighth Chapter.
50 The Lord will stir up, &c.
51 The same shall eat the fruit of thy Cattle, and the fruit of thy
land, until thou be rooted out, and he shall leave thee neither
Corn, wine, nor Oil, nor any fruit of thy Cattle, nor of the flocks
of thy sheep, until he have brought thee to nought.
52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy Towns, until he have cast
down thy high and strong walls, wherein thou didst put thy trust
throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy
Towns throughout all the land that the Lord thy God hath given
thee.
53 Thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb even the flesh of thy sons
and daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the
siege and distress wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee.
54 In so much that the man which is tender and exceeding