and manhood

As touching the true Godhead and manhood of our Lord The godhead Jesu Christ, and that he should be born at Bethleem in of Christ. the land of Jewry, of a pure virgin and maid out of the kindred of David, the prophets testify after this manner. Esay in the seventh chapter saith: "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emanuel, that is to say, God with us." Micheas saith in the fifth chapter: "Though thou, Bethleem Ephrata, art too small to be reckoned among the principal cities of Juda, yet out of thee there shall come one unto me, which shall be ruler in Israel, whose forthgoing is from everlasting." In the ninth chapter of Esay it is written: "Unto us is a child born, and to us is given a son, upon whose shoulders the kingdom shall lie, and he shall be called after his own name, even the wonderful counsel-giver, the mighty one of Israel, the eternal Father, the Prince of peace: his kingdom shall increase, and of his peace there shall be no end, and he shall reign upon the seat of David his father." In the twenty-third of Hieremie it is written thus: "Behold the time cometh, saith the The righteous Lord, that I will raise up the righteous blossom of David: he shall be king, and reign, and prosper; judgment and righteousness shall he execute upon earth. In his time shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell without fear; and this is the name wherewith he shall be named, even God our Righteousness."

Concerning the coming of John the Baptist, which was the forerunner of our Lord Christ, and prepared the people for him, hath Malachi written in the third chapter after this

blossom.

manner: Behold, I will send my messenger, which shall John Baptist. prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye long for, shall shortly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye would have. Behold, he cometh, saith the Lord Zabaoth." And afterward: "Behold, I will send Helias the prophet afore the coming of the great and fearful day of the Lord."

Of Christ's preaching, of the grace of God, of the forgiving of sins, of the wonders also and tokens of the Lord, speaketh Esay in the sixty-first chapter after this manner : "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, and therefore hath The office of the Lord anointed me, to preach the gospel to the meekhearted hath he sent me, to heal the broken-hearted, to

Christ.

Christ is

called David.

preach deliverance to the captive, to open the prison of such as are in bonds, to proclaim the year of God's gracious will, and to bring consolation to all them that are in heaviness." In the thirty-fourth chapter of Ezechiel it is written thus: "Over my sheep will I raise up one only shepherd, which shall feed them, even David my servant, which shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. I the Lord also will be their God, and David shall be their prince even I the Lord have spoken it." In the thirtyfifth chapter of Esay it is written thus: "Say unto them that are of a feeble heart, Be strong, and fear not; behold, our God cometh to take vengeance and reward; God cometh himself, and will deliver you. Then shall the The miracles eyes of the blind be opened, &c. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall give praise."

of Christ.

Of the kingdom of Christ, in the which he himself alone is king, all the world being subject unto him, declaring his dominion and royal majesty, writeth Esay thus in the second chapter: "And it shall come to pass in the last time, that the hill of the house of the Lord shall be exalted upon. the height of mountains above all little hills, and all nations shall come together unto him: the people shall go to him, and say, Come, let us go up to the mount of the Lord, even to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may shew us his way, and we will walk in his paths. For the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of God from Hierusalem." In the seventh of Daniel it is written thus: " I saw a vision in the night, and behold there came one in the clouds of heaven like the Son of man, which came to the old aged, and they The kingdom brought him before his presence. And he gave him power,

of Christ.

glory, and the kingdom; and all people, nations, and tongues must serve him; his power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken from him, and his kingdom shall not perish." Esay saith in the sixty-second chapter: "And the heathen shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thine honour, and he shall call thee by a new name, O Sion, and the mouth of God shall give the name. And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal crown of the kingdom in the hand of thy God." And soon after it followeth: "Make ready, make ready the way,

gather up the stones out of the street, and hang out the banner unto the people; behold, the Lord hath caused it to be proclaimed unto the end of the world. Tell the daughter Sion, Behold, the Saviour cometh; lo, his treasure and his reward bringeth he with him, and his deeds go before him. And they that are redeemed of the Lord shall be called the holy people." Zachary saith in the ninth chapter: "Rejoice, O daughter Sion; be glad, O daughter Hierusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee, even the righteous and Saviour; meek and simple is he, he rideth upon an ass, and upon a young colt of the she-ass. He shall preach peace unto the heathen; his kingdom also shall reach from the one sea to the other, and from the river unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Christ.

Of the death and passion of Christ speaketh Daniel in The death of the ninth chapter after this manner: And after two and sixty weeks shall Christ be slain and put to death; and yet shall they have no true testimony that he is guilty of death." Esay in the fiftieth chapter saith thus: "The Lord God opened mine ear, and I refused it not, neither went I backward; I gave my body to the smiters, and my cheeks to the nippers, and my face have I not turned from their shameful entreating and spitting upon me. The Lord God also shall help

me; therefore shall I not be confounded. And therefore have I hardened my face like a flint-stone, and am sure that I shall not be confounded." In the fifty-third chapter there is written of Christ after this manner: "He shall have neither beauty nor fairness; we shall look upon him, but we shall have no desire unto him. He is despised and contemned of men, a man of trouble, and one that hath had experience of infirmity. He is so despised, that we shall hide our faces from him, and have him in no estimation. And yet hath he borne our unperfectnesses, and felt our sorrows. We also thought, that he should be wounded, smitten, and punished of God. But he was wounded for our sins, and slain for our wickedness' sake. And the punishment whereby we have peace, is laid upon him, and through his wounds are we made whole. All we have gone astray, like sheep, every one of us hath had respect unto his own way, and the Lord hath laid all our sins upon him. Violence and wrong was done unto him; he hath been evil entreated, and yet opened he not 5

[COVERDALE.]

of Christ.

his mouth. He shall be led as a beast to be slain, and as a sheep dumb before the shearers, so shall he not open his mouth," &c. The whole chapter describeth all the cause of Christ so clearly, that holy Hierom said not in vain: "Esay is not only a prophet, but also an evangelist'." Zachary The sacrifice describeth the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ, and testifieth, that with the same only oblation he hath obtained grace for all sins; and therefore seven, that is to say, all eyes shall have respect unto him, and shall seek peace and rest of their consciences in him, and shall find it: "Hear now, O Josue, thou high priest, thou and thy companions that sit before thee, seeing ye are men of ensamples. For lo, I will bring my servant, even the blossom. For behold, the stone which I have laid before Josue will I bring to the same only stone shall seven eyes look. Behold, I will dig it up and disclose it, saith the Lord Zabaoth, and the sin of the earth will I take away in one day. And in that day shall every man call his neighbour under his vine and fig-tree.”

Zech. ii.

The burial and resurrec

The burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ tion of Christ. hath the prophet Jonas figured very excellently. For thus saith our Lord Christ himself: "Like as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

The ascension.

Of the ascension of Jesu Christ, and sending of the Holy Ghost, hath Joel also written in the second chapter; The vocation and it is alleged of St Peter, Acts ii. Of the calling and gathering together the heathen, and of every thing pertaining to the holy church, doth Esay write in the forty-ninth chapter, and so forth to the end of his prophecy.

of the

heathen.

[ The passage which the author had in view, is found in the Prooemium in Esaiam Prophetam ad Eustochium virginem: "Si enim juxta Apostolum Paulum CHRISTUS Dei virtus est Deique Sapientia, et qui nescit scripturas nescit Dei virtutem ejusque sapientiam, ignoratio scripturarum ignoratio Christi est. Unde orationum tuarum fultus auxilio, quæ diebus ac noctibus in Dei lege meditaris, et templum es Spiritus sancti, imitabor patrem-familias, qui de thesauro suo promit nova et vetera, et sponsam dicentem in Cantico Canticorum, nova et vetera, fratrualis meus, servavi tibi; sicque exponam Esaiam, ut ILLUM NON SOLUM PROPHETAM, SED EVANGELISTAM et APOSTOLUM doceam." Hieronym. Opera, vol. iv. Ed. Par. 1643.]

sought salva

Thus hast thou, that the prophets also in their time did preach Jesus Christ, and pointed not the people to trust unto the works of the law and their own deserving, but unto Christ, of whom they prophesied every thing that followed after. Therefore did Peter speak right, 1 Pet. i., saying: "Ye shall receive the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. After which salvation have the The prophets prophets inquired and searched, which prophesied of the tion in Christ. grace that should come unto you; searching when or what time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, should signify; which Spirit testified before the passions that should happen unto Christ, and the glory that should follow after. Unto the which prophets it was also declared, that not unto themselves only, but unto us they should minister the things which are now shewed unto you by them which have preached unto you the gospel through the Holy Ghost that was sent them from heaven," &c. In the which testimony the holy apostle Peter had a special respect to the prophecy of Daniel, which did not only record the passion and glory of Christ, but also pointed to the time in which Christ should come. For like as God in the greatest perils, dangers, and alterations, hath alway renewed and more clearly expressed his promise concerning the blessed Seed; as in the time of Noe, when the world was destroyed; in the time of Abraham, when God would prepare himself a new people; in the time of Moses, when God received his people and carried them out of Egypt, to bring them into the land of Canaan; in the time of David, when all things stood so well, and it must needs be avoided, lest any man should think David were the blessed Seed; before the captivity of Babylon also, and in the time of the prophets, which, as it is said afore, preached and wrote, that no man should doubt in God's promise, as who say they were given up and cast away, though the temple were broken, the city burnt, and though the people, of whom Christ should be born, were led away into captivity even so now also in the captivity, when the faithful might almost have thought, that the promise of God concerning the Messia were clean gone, even then did God shew his servant Daniel a more clear vision of Christ, after this manner: "The people shall be let go again out of cap- A prophecy tivity, and shall come home to Hierusalem, build the temple Daniel.

told unto