It is written in the book of Psalms, that God will set these fellows opposite against him, as a But to shoot at:1 that he will put them apart, and the strings of his bow shall he make ready against their faces. Be astonished at this, O ye heavens, and tremble, O thou earth. Hear this, O ye cruel Land-lords, unmerciful oppressors, and blood-suckers of the earth. You may well be called blood-suckers: for you suck the blood of many poor men, women, and children: you eat it, you drink it, you have it served in at your sumptuous tables every day,2 you swallow it up, and live by it. And, as Job saith, The wilderness gives you and your children food: that is, you live by robbing and murdering. But woe, woe unto you that ever you were borne. For the blood ⟨p. 209⟩of the oppressed, which ye have eaten and drunken, shall one day cry for speedy vengeance against you; as the blood of Abel cried against Cain. Their blood shall witness against you in the day of judgement: and the tears of many poor starved children, orphans and widows, shall cry out against you.3 Was the Lord revenged of Ahab for his cruel and unjust dealing with poor Naboth, and shall he not be revenged of you? Did the Dogs lap the blood of Ahab, and shall you escape? No, no: you shall not escape. The Lord will be a swift witness against you, as he saith in Malachi. 4Was the Lord angry with the rich of the people for oppressing the poor (so as the cry of the people, and of their wives,5 against their oppressors, was heard of the Almighty) and do you think you shall escape scot-free? Doth not the like cause bring forth the like effect? the like sin, the like punishment? Know therefore for certainty, that the Lord hath costers full of vengeance against you, and one day he will unlock them, and bring them forth into the sight of all men.
Know also that the timber of your houses, and the stones of your walls, which you have built by oppression and blood, shall cry against you in the ⟨p. 210⟩day of the Lords wrath, as the Prophet Habakkuk telleth you.6 The stone (saith he) shall cry out of the wall: and the b•ame out of the timber shall answer it. Where the Prophet telleth you, that the walls of your houses built in blood, shall cry out loud and shrill, and play the Choristers in that behalf, so as they shall answer one another on either side. The one side singeth, Behold blood; the other, Behold murder.
It is written in the booke of Psalmes, that God will set these fellowes opposite against him, as a But to shoot at:1 that hee will put them apart, and the strings of his bow shall hee make ready against their faces. Be astonished at this, O ye heavens, and tremble, O thou earth. Heare this, O ye cruell Land-lords, unmercifull oppressors, and bloud-suckers of the earth. You may well be called bloud-suckers: for you sucke the bloud of many poore men, women, and children: you eat it, you drink it, you have it served in at your sumptuous tables every day,2 you swallow it up, and live by it. And, as Job saith, The wildernesse gives you and your children food: that is, you live by robbing and murdering. But woe, woe unto you that ever you were borne. For the bloud ⟨p. 209⟩of the oppressed, which ye have eaten and drunken, shall one day cry for speedy vengeance against you; as the bloud of Abel cryed against Cain. Their bloud shall witnesse against you in the day of judgement: and the teares of many poore starved children, orphans and widowes, shall cry out against you.3 Was the Lord revenged of Ahab for his cruell and unjust dealing with poore Naboth, and shall hee not be revenged of you? Did the Dogs lap the bloud of Ahab, and shall you escape? No, no: you shall not escape. The Lord will be a swift witnesse against you, as he saith in Malachie. 4Was the Lord angry with the rich of the people for oppressing the poore (so as the cry of the people, and of their wives,5 against their oppressours, was heard of the Almighty) and do you thinke you shall escape scot-free? Doth not the like cause bring forth the like effect? the like sin, the like punishment? Know therefore for certainty, that the Lord hath costers full of vengeance against you, and one day he will unlocke them, and bring them forth into the sight of all men.
Know also that the timber of your houses, and the stones of your walls, which you have built by oppression and bloud, shall cry against you in the ⟨p. 210⟩day of the Lords wrath, as the Prophet Habakkuk telleth you.6
- 1Psal. 21.12.
- 2Job. 24.5.
- 31 Kin. 21.
- 4Mal. 3.
- 5Neh. 5.
- 6Hab. 2.
