yard shall yield only one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield only an ephah. Then shall lambs feed on their pasture, and on the waste places of those, who were well fed, shall goats feed."

The second woe: The Drink Sin.-Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink, that continue late in the night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, and the tabret, and the flute, and wine are in their feasts: but they regard not the working of the Lord, nor see the work of His hands. Therefore, my people go into captivity, because they have no sense. Their honoured men are famished, and their common people are dried up with thirst! The grave hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure. Their glory, and their pomp, and their rejoicing descend unto her ! The common man shall be brought down, and the great man also shall be humbled, and the eyes of the proud shall be humbled! But the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in justice, and God, the Holy One, shall be honoured in righteousness.

The third woe: Indifference.-Woe unto them that are drawing punishment upon themselves with cords of unrighteousness, and sin as with a cart rope,—who are saying: "Let Him make speed, and let Him hasten His working that we may see it! Let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh, and come that we may know what it is!"

The fourth woe: Moral Perversity.-Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil! That put darkness for light, and light for darkness! That put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

The fifth woe: Conceit.-Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

The sixth woe: Corruption.-Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mix strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and condemn the righteous!

The seventh woe: Oppression.-Woe unto them that pass wrong laws, and place oppressive measures on the statute book-for the purpose of doing the needy out of justice, and of depriving the poor of my people of his right -making widows their prey, and the fatherless their plunder ! (Ch. v. 8-12, 20-23; X. I, 2.)

A Series of Six Judgments.

First judgment: Blighted Crops.-As the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their roots shall be rotten, and their blossoms shall disappear as dust, because they have cast away the teaching of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people! He hath stretched forth His hand against them, and hath smitten them. And the hills did tremble, and their bodies were torn in the country! For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still! (Ch. v. 24, 25.)

Second judgment: Punishment of the Ten Tribes.-The Lord hath sent His word against Jacob, and it has fallen upon Israel. And all the people shall know it, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who are saying in the pride and obstinacy of their hearts :— "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones! The sycamores are cut down, but we will use cedars instead!" Therefore the Lord hath raised up the princes of Rezin against them, and hath gathered their enemies together: even the Syrians before them, and the Philistines behind

them, and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still! (Ch. ix. 8-12.)

Third judgment: National Disturbance. The people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts! Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel the head and the tail, branch and rush in one day, even the elder, and the honoured, who is the head, and the false prophet, who is the tail. For the leaders of this people lead them wrong; and those who are led are destroyed. The Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows. For every one is a hypocrite, and an evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly! For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still!

(Ch. ix. 13-17.) See, wickedness is

Fourth judgment: Internecine Strife. burning like a fire! It is devouring the briers and thorns, and is setting fire to the thickets in the forest! It is rising like the rising up of smoke! Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts the land is darkened: and the people are as fuel for the fire; no man spareth his brother. One seizeth his neighbour on the right, and is hungry; another eateth on the left hand, and is not satisfied. They eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh devours Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh. They are together against Judah! For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still! (Ch. ix. 18-21.)

Fifth judgment: Defeat and Disaster.—Oh, what will ye do in the day of judgment? And in the desolation that is coming upon you from afar? To whom will ye flee for help? And where will ye entrust your glory? Ye shall

only bow down among the prisoners, and fall among the slain. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still! (Ch. x. 3, 4.)

Sixth judgment: A Foreign Invasion. He is lifting up a signal to a distant nation, and is summoning those who are at the end of the world. And see! they are coming with speed quickly! None of them shall be weary, nor stumble: none of them shall slumber, nor sleep! The girdle of their loins shall not be loosed, and the latchet of their shoes shall not be untied. Their arrows are sharp,

Their roar

and all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs are counted as flint, and their chariots like a whirlwind. shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions. Verily, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. In that day they shall roar over them like the roaring of the sea. And if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow, and the light of the heavens is darkened. (Ch. v. 26-30.)

A Promise of Better Days.

In that day shall the planting of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be good and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. Then it shall come to pass, that whosoever is left in Zion, and remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even every one that is counted among those that live in Jerusalem: for the Lord shall have washed away the uncleanness of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every dwellingplace of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.

For over the whole, the Shekinah glory shall be a canopy. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from the storm and rain. (Ch. iv. 2-6.)

The Lord's Vineyard.

Now will I sing for my well-beloved, a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.

"My well-beloved hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He hath fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, He planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower In the midst of it; He also made a wine-press therein. Then He looked that it should bring forth grapes,

But it brought forth wild grapes."

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah! judge I pray you betwixt Me and My vineyard. What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now, go to. I will tell you what I will do unto My vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up. I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds, that they rain not one drop of rain upon it. For ;

The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant that He has chosen. He looked for right, but behold might! for justice, but behold oppression ! (Ch. v. 1-7.)