mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 14.xml

<div2 id="Deu.xv" n="xv" next="Deu.xvi" prev="Deu.xiv" progress="88.03%" title="Chapter XIV">
<h2 id="Deu.xv-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.xv-p0.2">CHAP. XIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.xv-p1">Moses in this chapter teaches them, I. To
distinguish themselves from their neighbours by a singularity, 1.
In their mourning, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.1-Deut.14.2" parsed="|Deut|14|1|14|2" passage="De 14:1,2">ver. 1,
2</scripRef>. 2. In their meat, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.3-Deut.14.21" parsed="|Deut|14|3|14|21" passage="De 14:3-21">ver.
3-21</scripRef>. II. To devote themselves unto God, and, in token
of that, to give him his dues out of their estates, the yearly
tithe, and that every third year, for the maintenance of their
religious feasts, the Levites, and the poor, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.22-Deut.14.29" parsed="|Deut|14|22|14|29" passage="De 14:22-29">ver. 22</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.xv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14" parsed="|Deut|14|0|0|0" passage="De 14" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.1-Deut.14.21" parsed="|Deut|14|1|14|21" passage="De 14:1-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.14.1-Deut.14.21">
<h4 id="Deu.xv-p1.6">What Might Be Eaten, and What
Not. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p1.7">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xv-p2">1 Ye <i>are</i> the children of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p2.1">Lord</span> your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor
make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.   2 For thou
<i>art</i> a holy people unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p2.2">Lord</span> thy God, and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p2.3">Lord</span> hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people
unto himself, above all the nations that <i>are</i> upon the earth.
  3 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.   4 These
<i>are</i> the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and
the goat,   5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer,
and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the
chamois.   6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and
cleaveth the cleft into two claws, <i>and</i> cheweth the cud among
the beasts, that ye shall eat.   7 Nevertheless these ye shall
not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the
cloven hoof; <i>as</i> the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for
they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; <i>therefore</i> they
<i>are</i> unclean unto you.   8 And the swine, because it
divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it <i>is</i> unclean
unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead
carcase.   9 These ye shall eat of all that <i>are</i> in the
waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:   10 And
whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it <i>is</i>
unclean unto you.   11 <i>Of</i> all clean birds ye shall eat.
  12 But these <i>are they</i> of which ye shall not eat: the
eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,   13 And the glede,
and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,   14 And every
raven after his kind,   15 And the owl, and the night hawk,
and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,   16 The little
owl, and the great owl, and the swan,   17 And the pelican,
and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,   18 And the stork, and
the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.   19
And every creeping thing that flieth <i>is</i> unclean unto you:
they shall not be eaten.   20 <i>But of</i> all clean fowls ye
may eat.   21 Ye shall not eat <i>of</i> any thing that dieth
of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that <i>is</i> in
thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an
alien: for thou <i>art</i> a holy people unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p2.4">Lord</span> thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his
mother's milk.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p3">Moses here tells the people of Israel,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p4">I. How God had dignified them, as a
peculiar people, with three distinguishing privileges, which were
their honour, and figures of those spiritual blessings in heavenly
things with which God has in Christ blessed us. 1. Here is
election: <i>The Lord hath chosen thee,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.2" parsed="|Deut|14|2|0|0" passage="De 14:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Not for their own merit, nor for
any good works foreseen, but because he would magnify the riches of
his power and grace among them. He did not choose them because they
were by their own dedication and subjection a peculiar people to
him above other nations, but he chose them that they might be so by
his grace; and thus were believers chosen, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.1.4" parsed="|Eph|1|4|0|0" passage="Eph 1:4">Eph. i. 4</scripRef>. 2. Here is adoption (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.1" parsed="|Deut|14|1|0|0" passage="De 14:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>You are the children
of the Lord your God,</i> formed by him into a people, owned by him
as his people, nay, his family, <i>a people near unto him,</i>
nearer than any other." <i>Israel is my son, my first-born;</i> not
because he needed children, but because they were orphans, and
needed a father. Every Israelite is indeed a child of God, a
partaker of his nature and favour, his love and blessing <i>Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us!</i> 3. Here is
sanctification (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.2" parsed="|Deut|14|2|0|0" passage="De 14:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): "<i>Thou art a holy people,</i> separated and set
apart for God, devoted to his service, designed for his praise,
governed by a holy law, graced by a holy tabernacle, and the holy
ordinances relating to it." God's people are under the strongest
obligations to be holy, and, if they are holy, are indebted to the
grace of God that makes them so. The Lord has set them apart for
himself, and qualified them for his service and the enjoyment of
him, and so has made them holy to himself.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p5">II. How they ought to distinguish
themselves by a sober singularity from all the nations that were
about them. And, God having thus advanced them, let not them debase
themselves by admitting the superstitious customs of idolaters,
and, by making themselves like them, put themselves upon the level
with them. <i>Be you the children of the Lord your God;</i> so the
Seventy read it, as a command, that is, "Carry yourselves as
becomes the children of God, and do nothing to disgrace the honour
and forfeit the privileges of the relation." In two things
particularly they must distinguish themselves:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p6">1. In their mourning: <i>You shall not cut
yourselves,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.1" parsed="|Deut|14|1|0|0" passage="De 14:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
This forbids (as some think), not only their cutting themselves at
their funerals, either to express their grief or with their own
blood to appease the infernal deities, but their wounding and
mangling themselves in the worship of their gods, as Baal's
prophets did (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.28" parsed="|1Kgs|18|28|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:28">1 Kings xviii.
28</scripRef>), or their marking themselves by incisions in their
flesh for such and such deities, which in them, above any, would be
an inexcusable crime, who in the sign of circumcision bore about
with them in their bodies the marks of the Lord Jehovah. So that,
(1.) They are forbidden to deform or hurt their own bodies upon any
account. Methinks this is like a parent's change to his little
children, that are foolish, careless, and wilful, and are apt to
play with knives: <i>Children, you shall not cut yourselves.</i>
This is the intention of those commands which oblige us to deny
ourselves; the true meaning of them, if we understood them aright,
would appear to be, <i>Do yourselves no harm.</i> And this also is
the design of those providences which most cross us, to remove from
us those things by which we are in danger of doing ourselves harm.
Knives are taken from us, lest we should cut ourselves. Those that
are dedicated to God as a holy people must do nothing to disfigure
themselves; the body is for the Lord, and is to be used
accordingly. (2.) They are forbidden to disturb and afflict their
own minds with inordinate grief for the loss of near and dear
relations: "You shall not express or exasperate your sorrow, even
upon the most mournful occasions, by cutting yourselves, and making
baldness between your eyes, like men enraged, or resolvedly
hardened in sorrow for the dead, as those that have no hope,"
<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.4.13" parsed="|1Thess|4|13|0|0" passage="1Th 4:13">1 Thess. iv. 13</scripRef>. It is an
excellent passage which Mr. Ainsworth here quotes from one of the
Jewish writers, who understands this as a law against immoderate
grief for the death of our relations. <i>If your father</i> (for
instance) <i>die, you shall not cut yourselves,</i> that is, <i>you
shall not sorrow more than is meet, for you are not fatherless, you
have a Father, who is great, living, and permanent, even the holy
blessed God,</i> whose children you are, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.1" parsed="|Deut|14|1|0|0" passage="De 14:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. <i>But an infidel</i> (says he),
<i>when his father dies, hath no father that can help him in time
of need; for he hath said to a stock, Thou art my father, and to a
stone, Thou hast brought me forth</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.27" parsed="|Jer|2|27|0|0" passage="Jer 2:27">Jer. ii. 27</scripRef>); <i>therefore he weeps, cuts
himself, and makes himself bald.</i> We that have a God to hope in,
and a heaven to hope for, must bear up ourselves with that hope
under every burden of this kind.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p7">2. They must be singular in their meat.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p8">(1.) Many sorts of flesh which were
wholesome enough, and which other people did commonly eat, they
must religiously abstain from as unclean. This law we had before
<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.11.2" parsed="|Lev|11|2|0|0" passage="Le 11:2">Lev. xi. 2</scripRef>, where it was
largely opened. It seems plainly, by the connection here, to be
intended as a mark of peculiarity; for their observance of it would
cause them to be taken notice of in all mixed companies as a
separate people, and would preserve them from mingling themselves
with, and conforming themselves to, their idolatrous neighbours.
[1.] Concerning beasts, here is a more particular enumeration of
those which they were allowed to eat then was in Leviticus, to show
that they had no reason to complain of their being restrained from
eating swines' flesh, and hares, and rabbits (which were all that
were then forbidden, but are now commonly used), when they were
allowed so great a variety, not only of that which we call
butcher's meat (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.4" parsed="|Deut|14|4|0|0" passage="De 14:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), which alone was offered in sacrifice, but of
venison, which they had great plenty of in Canaan, <i>the hart, and
the roe-buck, and the fallow deer</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.5" parsed="|Deut|14|5|0|0" passage="De 14:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), which, though never brought to
God's altar, was allowed them at their own table. See <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.12.22" parsed="|Deut|12|22|0|0" passage="De 12:22"><i>ch.</i> xii. 22</scripRef>. When of all these
(as Adam of <i>every tree of the garden</i>) they might freely eat,
those were inexcusable who, to gratify a perverse appetite, or (as
should seem) in honour of their idols, and in participation of
their idolatrous sacrifices, <i>ate swines' flesh, and had broth of
abominable things</i> (made so by this law) <i>in their
vessels,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.65.4" parsed="|Isa|65|4|0|0" passage="Isa 65:4">Isa. lxv. 4</scripRef>.
[2.] Concerning fish there is only one general rule given, that
whatsoever had not fins and scales (as shell-fish and eels, besides
leeches and other animals in the water that are not proper food)
was <i>unclean and forbidden,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.9-Deut.14.10" parsed="|Deut|14|9|14|10" passage="De 14:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>. [3.] No general rule is
given concerning fowl, but those are particularly mentioned that
were to be unclean to them, and there are few or none of them which
are here forbidden that are now commonly eaten; and whatsoever is
not expressly forbidden is allowed, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.11-Deut.14.20" parsed="|Deut|14|11|14|20" passage="De 14:11-20"><i>v.</i> 11-20</scripRef>. <i>Of all clean fowls you
may eat.</i> [4.] They are further forbidden, <i>First,</i> To eat
the flesh of any creature that died of itself, because the blood
was not separated from it, and, besides the ceremonial uncleanness
which it lay under (from <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Lev.11.39" parsed="|Lev|11|39|0|0" passage="Le 11:39">Lev. xi.
39</scripRef>), it is not wholesome food, nor ordinarily used among
us, except by the poor. <i>Secondly,</i> To <i>seethe a kid in its
mother's milk,</i> either to gratify their own luxury, supposing it
a dainty bit, or in conformity to some superstitious custom of the
heathen. The Chaldee paraphrasts read it, <i>Thou shalt not eat
flesh—meats and milk—meats together;</i> and so it would forbid
the use of butter as sauce to any flesh.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p9">(2.) Now as to all these precepts
concerning their food, [1.] It is plain in the law itself that they
belonged only to the Jews, and were not moral, nor of perpetual
use, because not of universal obligation; for what they might not
eat themselves they might give to a stranger, a proselyte of the
gate, that had renounced idolatry, and therefore was permitted to
live among them, though not circumcised; or they might sell it to
an alien, a mere Gentile, that came into their country for trade,
but might not settle it, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.21" parsed="|Deut|14|21|0|0" passage="De 14:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>. They might feed upon that which an Israelite might
not touch, which is a plain instance of their peculiarity, and
their being a holy people. [2.] It is plain in the gospel that they
are now antiquated and repealed. For <i>every creature of God is
good, and nothing now to be refused,</i> or <i>called common and
unclean,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.4.4" parsed="|1Tim|4|4|0|0" passage="1Ti 4:4">1 Tim. iv.
4</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.22-Deut.14.29" parsed="|Deut|14|22|14|29" passage="De 14:22-29" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.14.22-Deut.14.29">
<h4 id="Deu.xv-p9.4">Tithes for Feasting and
Charity. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p9.5">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xv-p10">22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of
thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.   23 And
thou shalt eat before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p10.1">Lord</span> thy
God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there,
the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the
firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn
to fear the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p10.2">Lord</span> thy God always.
  24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not
able to carry it; <i>or</i> if the place be too far from thee,
which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p10.3">Lord</span> thy God shall choose
to set his name there, when the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p10.4">Lord</span>
thy God hath blessed thee:   25 Then shalt thou turn <i>it</i>
into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto
the place which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p10.5">Lord</span> thy God
shall choose:   26 And thou shalt bestow that money for
whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for
wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and
thou shalt eat there before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p10.6">Lord</span>
thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,  
27 And the Levite that <i>is</i> within thy gates; thou shalt not
forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.  
28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe
of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay <i>it</i> up within
thy gates:   29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor
inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and
the widow, which <i>are</i> within thy gates, shall come, and shall
eat and be satisfied; that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xv-p10.7">Lord</span>
thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou
doest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p11">We have here a part of the statute
concerning tithes. The productions of the ground were twice tithed,
so that, putting both together, a fifth part was devoted to God out
of their increase, and only four parts of five were for their own
common use; and they could not but own they paid an easy rent,
especially since God's part was disposed of to their own benefit
and advantage. The first tithe was for the maintenance of their
Levites, who taught them the good knowledge of God, and ministered
to them in holy things; this is supposed as anciently due, and is
entailed upon the Levites as an inheritance, by that law, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.18.24" parsed="|Num|18|24|0|0" passage="Nu 18:24">Num. xviii. 24</scripRef>, &amp;c. But it is the
second tithe that is here spoken of, which was to be taken out of
the remainder when the Levites had had theirs.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p12">I. They are here charged to separate it,
and set it apart for God: <i>Thou shalt truly tithe all the
increase of they seed,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.22" parsed="|Deut|14|22|0|0" passage="De 14:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. The Levites took care of their own, but the
separating of this was left to the owners themselves, the law
encouraging them to be honest by reposing a confidence in them, and
so trying their fear of God. They are commanded to tithe
<i>truly,</i> that is, to be sure to do it, and to do it faithfully
and carefully, that God's part might not be diminished either with
design or by oversight. Note, We must be sure to give God his full
dues out of our estates; for, being but stewards of them, it is
required that we be faithful, as those that must give account.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p13">II. They are here directed how to dispose
of it when they had separated it. Let every man lay by as God
prospers him and gives him success, and then let him lay out in
pious uses as God gives him opportunity; and it will be the easier
to lay out, and the proportion will be more satisfying, when first
we have laid by. This second tithe may be disposed of,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p14">1. In works of piety, for the first two
years after the year of release. They must bring it up, either in
kind or in the full value of it, to the place of the sanctuary, and
there must spend it in holy feasting before the Lord. If they could
do it with any convenience, they must bring it in kind (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.23" parsed="|Deut|14|23|0|0" passage="De 14:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>); but, if not, they
might turn it into money (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.24-Deut.14.25" parsed="|Deut|14|24|14|25" passage="De 14:24,25"><i>v.</i>
24, 25</scripRef>), and that money must be laid out in something to
feast upon before the Lord. The comfortable cheerful using of what
God has given us, with temperance and sobriety, is really the
honouring of God with it. Contentment, holy joy, and thankfulness,
make every meal a religious feast. The end of this law we have
(<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.23" parsed="|Deut|14|23|0|0" passage="De 14:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>That
thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always;</i> it was to
keep them right and firm to their religion, (1.) By acquainting
them with the sanctuary, the holy things, and the solemn services
that were there performed. What they read the appointment of their
Bibles, it would do them good to see the observance of in the
tabernacle; it would make a deeper impression upon them, which
would keep them out of the snares of the idolatrous customs. Note,
It will have a good influence upon our constancy in religion
<i>never to forsake the assembling of ourselves together,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.10.25" parsed="|Heb|10|25|0|0" passage="Heb 10:25">Heb. x. 25</scripRef>. By the comfort
of the communion of saints, we may be kept to our communion with
God. (2.) By using them to the most pleasant and delightful
services of religion. Let them <i>rejoice before the Lord, that
they may learn to fear him always.</i> The more pleasure we find in
the ways of religion the more likely we shall be to persevere in
those ways. One thing they must remember in their pious
entertainments—to bid their Levites welcome to them. Thou shalt
not <i>forsake the Levites</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.27" parsed="|Deut|14|27|0|0" passage="De 14:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): "Let him never be a stranger
to thy table, especially when thou eatest before the Lord."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xv-p15">2. Every third year this tithe must be
disposed of at home in works of charity (<scripRef id="Deu.xv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.28-Deut.14.29" parsed="|Deut|14|28|14|29" passage="De 14:28,29"><i>v.</i> 28, 29</scripRef>): <i>Lay it up within
they own gates,</i> and let it be given to the poor, who, knowing
the provision this law had made for them, no doubt would come to
seek it; and, that they might make the poor familiar to them and
not disdain their company, they are here directed to welcome them
to their houses. "Thither let them come, and eat and be satisfied."
In this charitable distribution of the second tithe they must have
an eye to the poor ministers and add to their encouragement by
entertaining them, then to poor strangers (not only for the supply
of their necessities, but to put a respect upon them, and so to
invite them to turn proselytes), and then to the fatherless and
widow, who, though perhaps they might have a competent maintenance
left them, yet could not be supposed to live so plentifully and
comfortably as they had done in months past, and therefore they
were to countenance them, and help to make them easy by inviting
them to this entertainment. God has a particular care for widows
and fatherless, and he requires that we should have the same. It is
his honour, and will be ours, to help the helpless. And if we thus
serve God, and do good with what we have, it is promised here that
the Lord our God will <i>bless us in all the work of our hand.</i>
Note, (1.) The blessing of God is all in all to our outward
prosperity, and, without that blessing, the work of our hands which
we do will bring nothing to pass. (2.) The way to obtain that
blessing is to be diligent and charitable. The blessing descends
upon the working hand: "Except not that God should bless thee in
thy idleness and love of ease, but in all the work of thy hand."
It is the hand of the diligent, with the blessing of God upon it,
that makes rich, <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.10.4 Bible:Prov.10.22" parsed="|Prov|10|4|0|0;|Prov|10|22|0|0" passage="Pr 10:4,22">Prov. x. 4,
22</scripRef>. And it descends upon the giving hand; he that thus
scatters certainly increases, and the liberal soul will be made
fat. It is an undoubted truth, though little believed, that to be
charitable to the poor, and to be free and generous in the support
of religion and any good work, is the surest and safest way of
thriving. What is lent to the Lord will be repaid with abundant
interest. See <scripRef id="Deu.xv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.30" parsed="|Ezek|44|30|0|0" passage="Eze 44:30">Ezek. xliv.
30</scripRef>.</p>
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