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ought to speak and to ask for his necessities, and "the Lord will then grant his request. (25.) A "time to love :-viz. Israel, when the Lord will "remember them in this captivity; as He saith, ‘I "love you, saith the Lord, &c.' (26.) A time to hate: "-viz. Esau, for his violence against his brother Jacob, as it is written; And I hated Esau*.' (27.) A time of war:-When all the nations will

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gather themselves into the pleasant land, as it is "written, I will gather all the nations against "Jerusalem to war.' (28.) And a time of peace:— "When the Lord will go out to war against the na

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tions, and he shall rebuke many people, and they "shall beat their swords into ploughshares.†' And "the Messiah, the son of David, shall be revealed "unto us, and he shall speak peace unto the Gen

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tiles; and his rule shall extend from sea to sea, " and he shall awake for us the time of benevolence, " and the times shall cease which are under the

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moon which have changes, times for good, and "times for evil, according to the days of the moon; "and this is what he saith, And abundance of peace "so long as the moon endureth, he shall have domi"nion also from sea to sea, &c't. And when all the "times shall be completed, in which all the works "of God are typified, then shall the house of Jacob

* Mal. i. 3. and comp. Obadiah, 6.

Psalm lxxii. 7.

+ Isaiah ii. 4.

צה

THE ROOT OF PRAYER.

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"inherit their possession; and upon this it is said, "The strength* of his works he told unto his

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people, to give them the inheritance of the Gen"tiles.' And now we are in the time of love, "when the Lord will verify among us what is

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written, I have loved thee with an everlasting "love, therefore with loving kindness have I "drawn theet.' Verily, I fear, lest sinfulness "should prevail, God forbid, and lest mischief "should befall me in the place of dangerous herds "of beasts. I thought to intreat the face of the "dwellers in the pleasant land, that they should

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pray for me towards our glorious and holy "temple, which is the gate by which prayer "entereth the heavens, and they may ask of the "blessed God, that He would always be with me, "and keep me in every way I shall go, and be a

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helper and supporter unto me every where. "For the root of prayer is in the Holy Land, and "there it is accepted, and is more valued before "God than the prayers of angels.

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834. "And behold, I will reveal a great mystery respecting that. Know, that the angels which sing before God have their voice in their wings; "and thereupon it is written, And I heard the

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*" strength, is here taken again numerically for 28, in allusion to the twenty-eight repetitions of time in Ecclesiastes. + Jer. xxxi. 3.

on, protection and peace, i. e. absit, μn yɛvoɩto, Far be it! God forbid!

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PRAISING WINGS.

צה

"voice of their wings;' and the Holy One (blessed "be He!) made six wings* to each of them, and "with them they praise him all the days of the "week, every day with one wing; and they say one to another, Sing unto the Lord a new song, "for he hath wrought wonderful things; for day

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by day, in the beginning of the creation, were "made new works; and when the Holy Sab"bath Day came which the Lord blessed and "sanctified, and which is a great day before him, the ministering angels said, Lord of the universe, with what shall they praise thee on "the Sabbath-day, as the number of wings is ex"hausted on the sixth day?' And the Holy One (blessed be He!) replieth, From the wings of "the earth have we heard a song, the glory of the righteous; and ye shall praise me with my sons which are in the Holy Land.' Then the angels 66 "go and say together with Israel, The glory of "the Lord shall endure for ever, the Lord shall

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rejoice in His works.' Then the Holy One,

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(blessed be He!) saith, My leanness! my "leanness!' But I have no permission to re"veal more; except that though there be some new song every morning, the greatest of all is the song "of the righteous nation who keep the faith; and

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therefore it is said, ' Great is thy faithfulness!'

*Isaiah vi. 2.

Lam. iii. 23.

+ Is. xxiv. 16.7, i. e. Woe unto me!

צה

ELIAS, THE PHYSICIAN.

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835. "I will not enlarge more at this time: "but know, that from all the good that the Lord "hath dealt out kindly to me, I have done good "unto you, to let you hear news and wonders; and "I will send the writings by the way of Venice,

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by the hands of the faithful man of the name, "Master Elias, the physician, the son-in-law of "Master Calo*, the physician. So shall ye also "write often, and send the writings through his "hand at Venice.

836. "And because that many say vain things, "and make false writings, and tell words which "I did not speak, and which I have not commanded, neither came they into my heart; "therefore I warn you, that ye turn not your heart, except unto the writings which are writ

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ten with mine own hand, and signed with my "name and sealed with my seal; and this will be

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perfectly true judgment, and ye shall not regard

lying words, but only the words of truth, which "I shall let you hear: ye shall stand fast, and

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your hearts will be strengthened, all ye which

hope in the Lord. Blessed be the Lord for ever"more! Amen and Amen!"

*

837. And Solomon would speak unto the

.קאלו

+ Exod. v. 9.

ti. e. Not to attend to any thing but, &c.

190 SOLOMON AND DAVID AT RATISBON.

צה

emperor about the faith, well explained. And he went his way when the emperor was in Ratisbon, and he spake unto him there. And the heart of the emperor was hardened, and he hearkened not unto him for anguish of spirit*. And he commanded, and they put him in prison, and his friend Prince David, and his men; and they remained there several days.

838. Now when the emperor saw, after the Turk returned from him, that there was respitet, he removed from that place. And he returned unto Italy, and brought them bound in waggons unto Mantua, and set a watch‡ over them. Then the emperor spake to the wise men, for so was the imperial manners, and they found him guilty of death; and they said, "Bring him forth, and let him be burned." And it came to pass, one day, that they put a bridle on his jaw-bones**. And they brought him out, and all the city†† was [1] moved about him, and the fire burned before him. And one of the nobles of the emperor said, "Take the bridle from between his teeth, for I

have a message unto him from the king‡‡;" and they did so. And he said unto him,

"The emperor

* Exod. vi. 9. + Exod. viii. 15. [Heb. 11.]
§ Esther i. 13; i. e. the manner of government.

|| Deut. xxi. 22.

Job vii. 12.

¶ Gen. xxxviii. 24.

Judges iii. 19, 20.

** To prevent his speaking to the people. †† Ruth i. 19.

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