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hands labour while their strength lasts, and my shoulders be ready and patient under every burthen: let my mind be ever looking out through the windows of my body, to see and learn, while the day-light is with me. Let the daughters of music be employed in the praises of God, before they are brought low: let my diet be that of sobriety and temperance, that the doors may not be shut in the streets before the time; and when my sleep shall be less, let my meditation be more on God, and my latter end, and the things of eternity. As the outward man decayeth, let the inward man be renewed day by day; that when my spirit shall depart, it may return with joy to God that gave it, and I may at last find an habitation, which shall be subject to no decay, when this mortal shall put on immortality. Amen.

THE QUESTIONS.

Q. What does the preacher mean by the evil days? A. The time of old age.

Q. How does he describe the infirmities of old age?

A. Under terms which are like those of a proverb or riddle.

Q. What is meant by the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars?

A. The failing of the understanding, judgment, and

memory.

Q. What are the keepers of the house?

A. The arms and hands, which guard and defend the body.

Q. What are the strong men?

A. The shoulders, in which our chief strength lies.

Q. Who are they that look out of the windows? A. The eyes.

Q. Which are the grinders?

A. The teeth which grind our food.

Q. Who are the daughters of music?

A. The voice which sings, and the ears that hear, and the spirits which are moved with music.

Q. What agrees to the almond tree, which blossoms in winter?

A. The hairs of the head, which turn white in old age.

Q. What is meant by the grasshopper?

A. The legs, which are light and active in youth, but become a burthen to themselves in old age.

Q. What means the breaking of the pitcher at the fountain, and the wheel at the cistern?

A. The stopping of the circulation at the heart, and the ceasing of the motion in the lungs.

Q. Where goes the body?

A. To the dust out of which it was taken.
Q. Where goes the spirit?

A. To God that gave it.

Q. What is the duty to be learned from all these considerations?

A. To remember my Creator in the days of my youth.

THE TEXT.

See Ecclesiastes, Chap. xii. ver. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

END OF PART II.

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ADVERTISEMENT.

If the Reader uses this little work, so as to implant the matter of it in his mind, he must not spare the labour of turning to ALL the texts, referred to as authorities, for the interpretation of the several words. This is the way to learn the Language of Prophesy; and when some skill is acquired, other texts may be found, to confirm these that are here set down. The marginal notes, in some good editions of the Bible, will give farther light, and ought to be consulted.

A

KEY

TO THE

LANGUAGE OF PROPHESY.

THE HEAVENS AND ELEMENTS.

HEAVENS or Firmament. The Divine Power ruling over the World. Dan. iv. 26. Psalm cl. 1.

The Sun.

1 John i. 5.

The Lord God.

Psalm lxxxiv. 11.

The Light of the World. Christ. John viii. 12.
The Sun of Righteousness. Christ. Mal. iv. 2.
Air, Wind, or Breath. The Holy Ghost, the Giver
of Life. John xx. 22. John iii. 8. Acts ii. 2.
Burning Fire. The Divine Wrath. Deut. ii. 24.

Ezek. xxii. 31. Heb. xii. 29.
Sun and Moon. The Powers of Government in the
World. Psalm lxxxix. 36. Joel ii. 10. Acts ii.

20.

Moon.

Cant. vi. 10. Col. ii. 16.

The Church. Cant. vi. 10.

Stars. The Rulers and Lights of the Church. Rev. The glorified Saints. 1 Cor. xv. 41.

i. 20. Wandering Stars, or Comets. Wicked Apostates that go from Light into outer Darkness. Jude 13. Scorching Heat. Trouble and Persecution. Matth. xiii. 6. 21.

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