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of the Turkish Empire may have way and opportunity for their at mies against the West.

XVI. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

And I saw a resolute conspiracy and combination of Satan, and his two powerful instruments, the secular and spiritual powers; who agreed to send forth their most forcible agents, for the making of a strong party on their behalf.

XVI. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. For they are the emissaries of Satan; and, for the effecting of their purpose, do and pretend strange miracles; stirring up the kings of the earth, to arm all their powers, and to bring them forth to that great battle, wherein Almighty God hath determined to give that notorious foil unto the enemies of his Church.

XVI. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his

shame.

Behold, this, which I intend to do, I will do it suddenly and unexpectedly. Blessed is he, that abideth in prayer and watching, keeping about him the garments of true righteousness and inno cence; lest, being stripped thereof, he be put to just shame and

confusion.

XVI. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

And these people were gathered together by the Providence of the Almighty, through the instigation of their emissaries, into a place designed by God for their destruction; as Sisera and his army were brought into the valley of Megiddo for their overthrow.

XVI. 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

And the Seventh Angel poured out his last and most universal plague, into the very Air, wherein the enemies of his Church do breathe; and there came a great voice out of the heavenly Tem ple, even from the throne of the Almighty, saying, The overthrow of mine enemies is now come to a very speedy execution. XVI. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And, in a kind of heavenly applause to this sentence and decree of the Almighty, and as an effect of those plagues which were poured out of the seventh vial for the confusion of the enemies of God, there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, and strange commotions, and alterations of the states of the world; such as were never formerly seen, or known.

and

XVI. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remem.

REVELATIONS.

brance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

And the great city, which was the Empress of the World, by the force of that commotion was divided into three parts: while some adhered unto their old superstitions and errors, others professed dislike and detestation of them: and a third sort carried them in a neutrality betwixt both; and the cities of the Paganish, Jewish, Mahometan profession fell off from their wonted mis-religion: and that great city, the Mystical Babylon, came in remembrance, for her speedy revenge, before God; who now was ready to pour upon her the fierceness of his wrath and indignation.

XVI. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

And every island fell off and revolted from her; and those firm stays, which she thought to be most assured, were no more found to stand out for her maintenance.

XVI. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

And, as it was in the days of Joshua, that God fought against his enemies from heaven, by casting down great and weighty hailstones upon their heads; so shall he confound his Antichristian enemies, at the last: and men, in the bitterness of their anguished souls, shall be ready to blaspheme the Name of God, which sendeth this judgment upon them.

XVII. 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that site:h upon many waters:

And there came one of those Seven Angels, which had the charge of the Seven Last Plagues to be poured upon the world, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, and I will shew thee the judgment of that Great City, who is infamous for her spiritual fornications, and who ruleth over many nations :

XVII. 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed for nication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

By whom the kings of the earth have been drawn into abominable idolatries; and the inhabitants of the earth have been deceived and bewitched, with the pleasing doctrine and practice of her superstitions.

XVII. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

So he ravished me away, in a holy ecstasy of spirit, into the wilderness and there, for the more free and full contemplation of these matters, by the opportunity of the solitariness of the place, he represented unto me the Antichristian State, in the form of a Woman sitting upon that great and glorious seat of the empire;

which was distained with horrible and great blasphemies, being situated upon seven hills and having the command of ten kings. XVII. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

And the Woman was very gorgeously set forth, in all manner of rich ornaments, that the earth or sea could afford and she had in her hand a golden cup, specious in shew, but full of error and abomination; which was that poisonous and intoxicating doctrine of heresy and idolatry, wherewith she hath seduced the people of the earth:

XVII. 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYS TERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And, in the open shew and carriage of her, any indifferent man might read thus much; This is that Mystical Babylon, the Great City of the World, the most Infamous Author and Pattern of all both Spiritual and Bodily Fornications, and all Outrageous Wickedness.

XVII. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I sa her, I wondered with great admiration.

And I saw the cruelty of this state and government such, as that it was even overlaid with the excess of that innocent blood of God's Saints and holy Martyrs, which it had causelessly shed: and when I saw this sight, I stood marvelling, with great astonishment and admiration.

XVII. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that

carrieth her.

And the angel, seeing me thus amazed, said unto me, Why wert thou thus astonished at this sight? I will shew thee the true and plain meaning of this vision; and the signification, both of the Woman, and of the Beast that carrieth her.

XVII. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

The Beast, then, which thou sawest, is no other than the Roman Empire; the port and magnificence whereof was very great, in the days both of their former governors, and especially in the reign of their late emperors, Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius: but now, in the following times of Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Domitian, is much abated of the former glory and greatness, and is now void by the death of the late governor but shall be supplied again by much variety of usurpers, as it were out of hell itself; into which place of perdition they shall soon return: and those, that do not belong to the election of God, nor are acquainted with the course of his providence, shall

REVELATION.

wonder at the strange and uncouth alterations of this vast Monarchy; which was once so glorious and powerful, and now is The seven not so great as it was, yet still hath an eminent being amongst men.

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XVII. 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom.

heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

This is the interpretation of this vision, according to true understanding and wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills, whereon that city is built.

XVII. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

And, withal, they signify seven forms of government or rule, which that state hath been and must be swayed by; viz. Kings, Consuls, Dictators, Decemviri, Tribunes, Emperors, Ecclesiastical Princes; whereof the five first are past and gone, and the sixth of them is now in being, and the seventh is not yet come; and, when it doth come, it shall not hold long, before it be wasted, and, for the time, suppressed, by the inundation of barbarous

nations.

XVII. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

And that last form of government, which I said should be for a time suppressed, and yet is not come into being; even that is the eighth, in respect of that spiritual power and jurisdiction, which it shall challenge and usurp; and yet is one of the seven, in respect of this temporal dominion, which it claimeth; and shall in due time be destroyed.

XVII. 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

And the ten horns, which thou sawest, are ten several kings; but such as are not yet in being, nor have their kingdoms as yet erected; but shall be set up afterwards, even at the same time, that the Second Beast shall arise to greatness, out of the ruins of the Empire.

XVII. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

These are all agreed, to give their utmost strength and assistance to that Second Beast, which is the False Prophet; and shall join both their counsels and forces, to that purpose.

XVII. 14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them.

These shall oppose the government and doctrine of Christ; and, at the last, the truth of the Gospel and the power of Christ shall overcome them.

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XVII. 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

And he saith unto me, The waters, which thou sawest, where this Antichristian State beareth rule, do signify people, and mul titudes, and nations, and tongues.

XVII. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

And the ten kingdoms, which thou sawest, represented by the ten horns, shall fall off from that Antichristian State; and shall hate it, and leave it utterly destitute and forsaken, and shall both profess and execute all manner of hostile violence against it.

XVII. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

For God hath so overruled them, by his secret and powerful Providence, as that they have unwittingly done that, which his most wise counsel had determined; in that they yielded up their kingdoms unto that Second Beast, until the time should come, wherein the decree of God should be accomplished.

XVII. 18 And the woman which thou suwest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

And that Woman, which thou sawest sitting as Sovereign in this Antichristian State, is that Great City, which is the mistress of the world, and reigneth over all the kings of the earth.

XVIII. 2 Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

The Mystical Babylon, the great city and state, is fallen and utterly ruined; and is become a desert habitation of devils, a place haunted with unclean spirits, and a desolate wilderness, for screech-owls and other ominous birds to abide in.

XVIII. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed forncation with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

For she hath poisoned all nations, with the infections of her spiritual fornications; and hath, thereupon, drawn them into the partnership of her judgments: and the kings of the earth have been seduced by her, to her palpable idolatrics; and the mer chants of the earth, both spiritual and temporal, are grown rich through the traffic of her voluptuous and curious delicacies.

XVIII. 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

And I heard another voice from heaven, charging all that wish well to their souls, to depart from the superstitions and abomina tions of that city and state; and warning them to avoid the partaking of her sins, upon pain of partaking of her plagues. XVIII. 7 For she saith in her heart, I sit widow, and shall see no sorrow.

queen, and am no

For she saith in the pride of her heart, as that type of her the old Chaldean Babylon did, Isaiah xlvii. 8, I sit as a queen over all the earth: I am not as a solitary widow, but am full of lovers: the great princes of the world are glad to court me, with their

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