A paraphrase on the Book of Job As likewise on the Songs of Moses, Deborah, David: On Four Select Psalms: Some Chapters of Isaiah, and the Third Chapter of Habakkuk. By Sir Richard Blackmore |
 |
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. |
| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXII. |
| XXXIII. |
| XXXIV. |
| XXXV. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
|
|
| LIII. |
Ch. LIII.
|
 |
Ch. LIII.
A paraphrase on the Book of Job |  |
Ch. LIII.
When the Messiah by his Love inclin'd
And tender Mercy mov'd to lost Mankind,
From his Immortal Throne on high descends
To compass all his great and glorious Ends,
Who in the blest Redeemer will believe?
Who'll the Divine Commissioner receive,
Or to his Heav'nly Message Credit give?
He'll not advance in Pomp and regal State,
No shouting Crowds shall on his Chariot wait.
No Harbengers or Heralds shall proclaim
His coming down, and spread abroad his Fame.
He shall no Guards, no long Retinue take
Like earthly Kings that Publick Entrys make.
He'll not as Lords and mighty Conq'rours do,
Vast Armys head the Nations to subdue,
And found an Empire for th' ambitious Jew.
Mean and obscure shall be my Servants Birth,
As that of Plants in dry and barren Earth.
Expecting some great Gen'ral should arise
The Jews his Poor Extraction shall despise.
They will his Sacred Person too condemn,
And the great Pow'r and Word of God blaspheme.
As his Condition and his Birth are low,
Mean and despis'd, his Person too is so.
They'll in his Face no Air of Greatness see,
Nor in his Mien the marks of Majesty.
He'll by uncommon Beauty ne'er be known
Distinguish'd by Calamity alone.
His Presence will not cause or Love, or Aw,
But great Contempt from all Spectators draw.
Hence Men will my Commissioner neglect,
And all his gracious Overtures reject.
His Life shall be but one continu'd Chain
Of Labour, Sorrow, and consuming Pain.
He dayly shall converse with Grief and Woe,
And with Affliction shall familiar grow.
Unmeasured Suff'rings, exquisite Distress,
And pondrous Trouble shall his Soul oppress.
These sad Companions shall around him stay,
Consume his Flesh and on his Vitals prey.
And tender Mercy mov'd to lost Mankind,
From his Immortal Throne on high descends
To compass all his great and glorious Ends,
Who in the blest Redeemer will believe?
Who'll the Divine Commissioner receive,
Or to his Heav'nly Message Credit give?
He'll not advance in Pomp and regal State,
No shouting Crowds shall on his Chariot wait.
No Harbengers or Heralds shall proclaim
His coming down, and spread abroad his Fame.
He shall no Guards, no long Retinue take
Like earthly Kings that Publick Entrys make.
He'll not as Lords and mighty Conq'rours do,
Vast Armys head the Nations to subdue,
And found an Empire for th' ambitious Jew.
279
As that of Plants in dry and barren Earth.
Expecting some great Gen'ral should arise
The Jews his Poor Extraction shall despise.
They will his Sacred Person too condemn,
And the great Pow'r and Word of God blaspheme.
As his Condition and his Birth are low,
Mean and despis'd, his Person too is so.
They'll in his Face no Air of Greatness see,
Nor in his Mien the marks of Majesty.
He'll by uncommon Beauty ne'er be known
Distinguish'd by Calamity alone.
His Presence will not cause or Love, or Aw,
But great Contempt from all Spectators draw.
Hence Men will my Commissioner neglect,
And all his gracious Overtures reject.
His Life shall be but one continu'd Chain
Of Labour, Sorrow, and consuming Pain.
He dayly shall converse with Grief and Woe,
And with Affliction shall familiar grow.
Unmeasured Suff'rings, exquisite Distress,
And pondrous Trouble shall his Soul oppress.
These sad Companions shall around him stay,
Consume his Flesh and on his Vitals prey.
Th' obdurate Jews my Servant will defame,
And of his low Estate express their Shame.
The guiltless, just and wondrous Man shall bear
Such heavy Grief and Torments so severe
Th' Almighty's high displeasure to atone
For other Mens Transgressions, not his own.
He shall the whole Collected Guilt assume
Of lost Mankind, and suffer in their room;
Yet will the spiteful Jew blaspheme, and say
That God did all this Vengeance on him lay
To punish his enormous Crimes, who ne'er
Was known from Virtue's strictest Rule to err.
No, our Offences all his Pains procure,
For our Transgressions he'll his Wounds endure.
By his most free and merciful Consent
He'll undergo the mighty Punishment
Due to the Sins of Men, and so remove
Th' Almighty's Wrath, and make our Peace above.
He on his Guiltless self our Guilt shall take,
And by his Suff'rings full attonement make.
By his sharp Stripes he'll Ease to us procure,
And by his Death Eternal Life ensure.
And of his low Estate express their Shame.
The guiltless, just and wondrous Man shall bear
Such heavy Grief and Torments so severe
280
For other Mens Transgressions, not his own.
He shall the whole Collected Guilt assume
Of lost Mankind, and suffer in their room;
Yet will the spiteful Jew blaspheme, and say
That God did all this Vengeance on him lay
To punish his enormous Crimes, who ne'er
Was known from Virtue's strictest Rule to err.
No, our Offences all his Pains procure,
For our Transgressions he'll his Wounds endure.
By his most free and merciful Consent
He'll undergo the mighty Punishment
Due to the Sins of Men, and so remove
Th' Almighty's Wrath, and make our Peace above.
He on his Guiltless self our Guilt shall take,
And by his Suff'rings full attonement make.
By his sharp Stripes he'll Ease to us procure,
And by his Death Eternal Life ensure.
Since Adam fell, all his degenerate Kind
The Heav'nly Paths of Virtue have declin'd:
Fond of their own pernicious, sinful way
They're lost like straggling Sheep and gone astray.
All-gracious God has on his Servant laid
The Sins of all, for all have disobey'd.
All the black Streams of Guilt do hither flow
As all the Rivers to the Ocean go.
He that so vast a load would not decline,
Must sure be conscious of a Strength Divine.
Justice incens'd did Punishment demand,
Exacting Payment at th' offenders Hand:
And since we could not pay so great a Sum,
The blest Messiah Surety did become.
He did himself the mighty Debt discharge
Due to offended Heav'n and Man enlarge.
When God's Right-Hand with Vengeance arm'd, design'd
To execute his Wrath on Humane Kind,
He interposing, on his Guiltless Head
Receiv'd the Blow, and suffer'd in our Stead.
For as the harmless Sheep beneath the Shears
Is Dumb, and all his Suff'rings meekly bears,
Dos ev'n without Resistance, Noise or Strife
When to the Slaughter led, lay down his Life:
With like Submission does the Lamb of God,
Bear furious Persecution's Iron Rod.
In prosecution of his blest design
His Pains he'll undergo, his Life resign
Serene as Heav'n, and mild as Love Divine.
The Heav'nly Paths of Virtue have declin'd:
Fond of their own pernicious, sinful way
They're lost like straggling Sheep and gone astray.
All-gracious God has on his Servant laid
The Sins of all, for all have disobey'd.
All the black Streams of Guilt do hither flow
As all the Rivers to the Ocean go.
He that so vast a load would not decline,
Must sure be conscious of a Strength Divine.
281
Exacting Payment at th' offenders Hand:
And since we could not pay so great a Sum,
The blest Messiah Surety did become.
He did himself the mighty Debt discharge
Due to offended Heav'n and Man enlarge.
When God's Right-Hand with Vengeance arm'd, design'd
To execute his Wrath on Humane Kind,
He interposing, on his Guiltless Head
Receiv'd the Blow, and suffer'd in our Stead.
For as the harmless Sheep beneath the Shears
Is Dumb, and all his Suff'rings meekly bears,
Dos ev'n without Resistance, Noise or Strife
When to the Slaughter led, lay down his Life:
With like Submission does the Lamb of God,
Bear furious Persecution's Iron Rod.
In prosecution of his blest design
His Pains he'll undergo, his Life resign
Serene as Heav'n, and mild as Love Divine.
'Tis true, at last he shall surmount his Woes,
Break all the Pow'rs, that his high Aims oppose,
And Triumph o'er the Malice of his Foes.
He'll from the Iron Prisons of the Dead,
And from the Dust raise his Victorious Head.
He shall with brighter Glory to the Skys
After a red and bloody Seting rise.
The Conq'rour shall ascend in Royal State,
And Death it self in Chains shall on him wait.
When thus Exalted he shall live to see
A numberless believing Progeny.
Of his Adopted Sons the Godlike Race
Exceed the Stars that Heav'n's high Arches grace.
A willing Victim he resign'd his Breath
In all the Tortures of a ling'ring Death.
To suffer as a Criminal convey'd.
The Grave his Bed he with the Wicked made.
Tho' so much Pain and Shame he underwent,
Yet was he Righteous, Pure and Innocent.
He all his Ignominious Torments bore,
Man to his Maker's Favour to restore.
To raise laps'd Adam's Race from Death and Hell
To the most happy State from whence they fell.
Break all the Pow'rs, that his high Aims oppose,
And Triumph o'er the Malice of his Foes.
He'll from the Iron Prisons of the Dead,
And from the Dust raise his Victorious Head.
He shall with brighter Glory to the Skys
After a red and bloody Seting rise.
The Conq'rour shall ascend in Royal State,
And Death it self in Chains shall on him wait.
282
A numberless believing Progeny.
Of his Adopted Sons the Godlike Race
Exceed the Stars that Heav'n's high Arches grace.
A willing Victim he resign'd his Breath
In all the Tortures of a ling'ring Death.
To suffer as a Criminal convey'd.
The Grave his Bed he with the Wicked made.
Tho' so much Pain and Shame he underwent,
Yet was he Righteous, Pure and Innocent.
He all his Ignominious Torments bore,
Man to his Maker's Favour to restore.
To raise laps'd Adam's Race from Death and Hell
To the most happy State from whence they fell.
Tho' he was just and spotless, yet his God
Was pleas'd to bruise and wound him with his Rod.
When that a Ransom may for Man be paid
He of his Life an Off'ring shall have made,
He from the Grave shall as a Conq'rour come,
And next his Father's Throne his former Seat resume.
Where he shall dwell secure from Death and Pain,
And endless, as his Life, shall be his Reign.
A numerous Seed a pure and Godlike Line
Breathing Repentance, and Belief Divine,
Quicken'd by his Prolific Death shall crown
His Suff'rings past, and him their Father own.
His work compleated he'll with great content
Review the Torments which he underwent.
He shall enjoy the Travel of his Soul;
Pleas'd to have drank th' Almighty's wrathful Bowl.
The Glory of his Father he'll regard
And Man's Redemption as a ful reward.
For by his Knowledge and Celestial Grace
He'll many save of Adam's sinful Race.
He of their Guilt shall the vast Burden bear,
Shall all their Debt by Sin contracted clear,
And at th' Almighty's Bar their Advocate appear.
Was pleas'd to bruise and wound him with his Rod.
When that a Ransom may for Man be paid
He of his Life an Off'ring shall have made,
He from the Grave shall as a Conq'rour come,
And next his Father's Throne his former Seat resume.
Where he shall dwell secure from Death and Pain,
And endless, as his Life, shall be his Reign.
A numerous Seed a pure and Godlike Line
Breathing Repentance, and Belief Divine,
Quicken'd by his Prolific Death shall crown
His Suff'rings past, and him their Father own.
His work compleated he'll with great content
Review the Torments which he underwent.
283
Pleas'd to have drank th' Almighty's wrathful Bowl.
The Glory of his Father he'll regard
And Man's Redemption as a ful reward.
For by his Knowledge and Celestial Grace
He'll many save of Adam's sinful Race.
He of their Guilt shall the vast Burden bear,
Shall all their Debt by Sin contracted clear,
And at th' Almighty's Bar their Advocate appear.
Therefore th' Eternal said, above the Skys
My righteous Servant shall in Triumph rise.
He with the Mighty and the Great shall share
Renown, Applauses, and the Spoils of War.
Wide as the World shall be his regal Sway,
And subject Monarchs shall his Laws obey.
He all triumphant Conq'rours shall excel,
Rich with the spoils of Death, the Grave and Hell.
His Chariot-Wheels shall drag along the ground
Destruction ruin'd with a deadly Wound.
Captivity expos'd to publick scorn,
A fetter'd Slave his triumph shall adorn.
These Honours on my Servant I'll confer,
Because he chose the Pains of Death to bear,
From Man impending Vengeance to avert,
And of the ruin'd Race a chosen part
To save from Death and Hell, their due desert.
My righteous Servant shall in Triumph rise.
He with the Mighty and the Great shall share
Renown, Applauses, and the Spoils of War.
Wide as the World shall be his regal Sway,
And subject Monarchs shall his Laws obey.
He all triumphant Conq'rours shall excel,
Rich with the spoils of Death, the Grave and Hell.
His Chariot-Wheels shall drag along the ground
Destruction ruin'd with a deadly Wound.
Captivity expos'd to publick scorn,
A fetter'd Slave his triumph shall adorn.
These Honours on my Servant I'll confer,
Because he chose the Pains of Death to bear,
From Man impending Vengeance to avert,
And of the ruin'd Race a chosen part
To save from Death and Hell, their due desert.
|
Ch. LIII.
A paraphrase on the Book of Job | |