them? Doft thou know the wondrous Works of him which is perfect in Knowledge? a Who hath measured the Waters in the hollow of his Hand, and meted out Heaven with the Span, and comprehended the Duft of the Earth in a Measure, and weighed the Mountains in Scales, and the Hills in a Balance? b The Hoft of Heaven cannot be numbred, neither the Sand of the Sea measured. c Lo! These are parts of his Ways; but how little a portion is heard of him? As thou knoweft not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the Bones do Womb of her that is with Child; knoweft not the Works of God, all. grow in the even fo thou who maketh CHAP. III. Concerning the NATURE and CONDITION of MAN. The Original FORMATION and STATE of MAN. 'G OD created Man in his own Image, after his Likenefs: In the Likeness of God made he him. b He made him a little lower than the Angels and crowned him with Glory and Ho nour. And the Lord God formed Man, of the Duft of the Ground; and breathed into his Noftrils the Breath of Life; And Man became a living Soul. He was fearfully and wonderfully made; and his Subftance curiously wrought, in fecret. And because, It was not, good that the Man fhould be alone, the Lord made a Woman, to be an help meet for him: and he was taken out of Man. e The Man is not of the Woman, but the Woman of the Man: neither was the Man created for the Woman, but the Woman for the Man. For, the Man is the Image and Glory of God, but the Woman is the Glory of the Man. * Gen. 1. 27, 26. Gen. 5. I. Gen. 2. 7. Pf. 139. 14, 15. ¡ Cor. 11. 8, 9, 7. Pf. 8. 5. Gen. 2. 18, 22, 23. D 3 a There a There is a Spirit in Man, and the Infpiration of the Almighty giveth them Underftanding. b God, our Maker, teacheth us more than the Beafts of the Earth; and maketh us wiser than the Fowls of Heaven. The Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lard. d God made Man upright. e The Lord made him to have Dominion over the Works of his Hands: he put all things under his Feet. All Sheep, and Oxen, yea and the Beafts of the Field; the Fowl of the Air, and the Fish of the Sea, and whatsoever paffeth through the Paths of the Seas. f And the Lord planted a Garden in Eden and out of the Ground he made to grow every Tree that is pleasant to the fight, and good for Food; the Tree of Life alfo, in the midft of the Garden; and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: And he put the Man whom he had formed into the Garden, to dress it, and to keep it. 8 And the Lord commanded the Man, faying, of every Tree of the Garden thou mayeft freely Eat; but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, thou shalt not Eat of it: For, In the Day that thou Eateft thereof, thou shalt furely Dye. And Adam gave Names to all Cattel, and to the Fowl of the Air, and to every Beast of the Field. And they were both naked, the Man and his Wife, and were not ashamed. The FALL of MAN. Now the Serpent having beguiled Eve through his Subtlety, he took of the Fruit of the Tree, of which God hath faid unto the Man and the Woman, ye shall not eat of it, neither fhall ye touch it left ye dye; and he did eat, and gave also unto her Husband with her, and he did eat. And the Eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and therefore they fewed Fig-leaves together, and made themfelves Aprons. e And when they heard the Voice of the Lord calling unto them, they were afraid, and hid themselves from the Prefence of the Lord God. And when the Lord asked them whether they had eaten of the Tree whereof he commanded them that they should not eat; the Man, to excuse himself, faid, the Woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, fhe gave me of the Tree, and I did eat: And the Woman, to cover her Guilt, faid, the Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. because thou haft done this, thou art curfed above all Cattel, and above every Beast of the Field: Upon thy Belly halt thou go, and Duft fhalt thou eat all the Days of thy Life: And I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy Seed and her Seed; it fhall bruife thy Head, and thou shalt bruise his Heel. a Unto the Woman he faid, I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow, and thy Conception: In Sorrow thou shalt bring forth Children, and thy defire fhall be to thy Hufband, and he shall rule over thee. b And unto Adam he said, Because thou haft hearkned unto the Voice of thy Wife, and haft eaten of the Tree of which I commanded thee, faying, Thou shalt not eat of it: Curfed is the Ground for thy fake; In Sorrow fhalt thou eat of it all the Days of thy Life; Thorns alfo and Thistles fhall it bring forth to thee; and in the Sweat of thy Face fhalt thou eat Bread, till thou return unto the Ground. c Unto Adam alfo, and unto his Wife, did the Lord God make Coats of Skins, and cloathed them. d And the Lord God faid, Behold the Man is become as one of us, to know Good and Evil: and therefore, left he fhould put forth his Hand, and take alfo of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live for ever, the Lord drove him out from the Garden of Eden, to till the Ground from whence he was taken. |