According to that saying of the prophet, Isa. xxviii. 4. concerning the destruction or judgment of God upon Jerusalem; the words are these, And thou shalt be brought down and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.'

As if the prophet should say, seeing you have refused to harken to the voice of the prophets, which hath declared the mind of the God of Israel openly with a loud voice; you have heard them speak plain words with your ears, but you have not believed they spoke truth unto you; therefore you have rejected the word of the Lord by his prophets, and have persecuted and slain some of them as false prophets, because they spake unto you in the name of the Lord as it was revealed by the spirit of revelation in them.

They spake plain words unto you, as might be heard to the outward ear by the standers by; they were visible men that spake unto you, so that you need not to enquire after any that hath a familiar spirit, who speaketh so softly and so low, that no standers by can hear this familiar spirit speak, but he or she that hath it.

But as for plain words openly declared by the Prophets, and publicly heard by the outward ear, these you have rejected, dispised, persecuted, and counted them liars, deceivers, false prophets, and such like: therefore God hath given you over to strong delusions, to enquire of a witch, who makes you believe that spirits may be raised out of the ground, and that spirits do come out of the dust, and whisper to the witch with a low voice, that none can hear but herself. So that those that enquire do believe as king Saul did, that a familiar spirit can enter into the dust or ground, and bring up another man's spirit that is dead without its body, and

so their two spirits whisper so low together, that none can hear that stands by, nor tell what this spirit that is raised did say, nor whether the spirit so raised is gone into the body again, or into the ground from whence the witch said it was raised; which spirit that is said to be raised, or said to speak out of the ground, I say it was raised out of the witches own body, and no where else; and those low voices and whisperings were both within her and not without her.

CHAP. VIII.

Now how may a man be said to be be brought down and shall speak out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust: the meaning is, when a particular man or woman, or a people or nation, be in the same distress and condition as king Saul was; that is, in danger of losing his crown and kingdom, his natural life; and not only so, but his soul is tormented with the fear of eternal death; this maketh the heart of man to melt in him; it makes his speech to grow weak and feeble, so that his speech can hardly be heard; it is even as if a man did speak out of death, or out of the ground.

A man with the extremity of outward and inward trouble, he becomes speechless, yet he speaks in his thoughts, but so low, that none that stands by can hear or tell what he saith. This many can experience, that have seen their friend or relation in this condition; this is like speaking out of the ground, and low out of the dust. And the voice of every such troubled soul, who hath the plagues of this life, and the horror of conscience as to the life to come, as king Saul had, the voice such people have, is as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground, and their speech shall be as if one did whisper out of the dust.

This place of Scripture hath the same meaning as the place beforementioned, Isa. viii. 19. where such as king Saul was, are bade to seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards, that peep and mutter, that is whisper out of the ground; for whisper, peep, and mutter signifies all one thing.

These things did Manassah, 2 Kings xxi. 6. He dealt with familiar spirits, and did great abominations; he made his sons to pass through the fire, in offering them up a sacrifice to an unknown devil which he thought was God; and this he did by the whisperings of the familiar spirit within him, and being acquainted with others who were known to have familiar spirits also. And so did several other kings of Israel deal with familiar spirits, and had those low whispering voices in themselves, as if spirits had risen out of the ground, or from the dust to speak unto them; and this they did attain unto by industry, in that they forsook the words. of the prophets and would not harken unto them, but gave themselves up to follow the imaginations of their own hearts; imagining they might as well know God, and what worship would please God as well as the prophets; therefore why should we, being kings harken unto such mean inferior men as these? may not we by our familiar spirit as well know God, and what worship will please him by our familiar spirit; as the prophets do by the spirit of prophecy; why should we be in such bondage, that we can do nothing but what they say, the Lord commands us to do? So the imagination saith, come we will not be tied up thus; we will see what our familiar spirit begotten in us will do; we will erect and build altars in several places, and sacrifice bullocks and lambs to an unknown God; and so by this means they procure in themselves low motional voices, which whisper in themselves, which becomes in them a familiar spírit, is produced in themselves: and there is a more increase of low motional voices, which doth whisper in the mind, moving them to a further degree of knowledge, and endeavour after more voices, so that to attain to this diabolical wisdom in a more high measure. They are moved by this low voice within them to offer up their own children in sacrifices to their imaginary God, which they believe is an invisible Spirit without a body, which reveals these things

unto them, and whispers and speak those voices unto them.

They count nothing too dear for this their imaginary God, no not their own sons and daughters, as Manassah and others did, that made their sons and daughters pass through the fire as a sacrifice to their imaginary God, that had spoke so many voices to them, and had whispered to them.

But all these whisperings and low voices, and peeping of spirits out of the ground, as they thought, I say they were all within them; for when they came in any trouble, their familiar spirit departs from them, and will not comfort them any more, let it be either in poor or rich, nay, kings that have dealt with familiar spirits when they have been in trouble, all their comfort hath been lost, as the poorest witch that is, as may be seen by Manassah and other kings spoken of in Scripture.

Now observe, when God doth bring upon a people, nation, or a particular person, some great judgment and destruction, let it be either outward or inward in the mind, when it comes upon a people, nation, or particular person for their sins and wickedness they have committed, in forsaking the Lord's prophets, and dealing with witches and familiar spirits; as Saul forsook the Lord and went to a witch, and Manassah, and several other kings of Israel, who ought only to have obeyed the prophets of the Lord; but they forsook him, and enquired of witches and wizards, and dealt with familiar spirits themselves, and caused the people to worship the devil, (whom they imagined to be God,) instead of the true God, whom the prophets would have had them to worship.