hall come
forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the torrent of thorns.

A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, etc... Viz., the
fountain of grace in the church militant, and of glory in the church
triumphant: which shall water the torrent or valley of thorns, that is,
the souls that before, like barren ground brought forth nothing but
thorns; or that were afflicted with the thorns of crosses and
tribulations.

3:19. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a wilderness destroyed:
because they have done unjustly against the children of Juda, and have
shed innocent blood in their land.

3:20. And Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to generation
and generation.

Judea--and Jerusalem... That is, the spiritual Jerusalem, viz., the
church of Christ.

3:21. And I will cleanse their blood, which I had not cleansed: and the
Lord will dwell in Sion.

THE PROPHECY OF AMOS

AMOS prophesied in Israel about the same time as Osee: and was called
from following the cattle to denounce GOD'S judgments to the people of
Israel, and the neighbouring nations, for their repeated crimes, in
which they continued without repentance.

Amos Chapter 1

The prophet threatens Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon with the
judgments of God, for their obstinacy in sin.

1:1. The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Thecua: which he
saw concerning Israel in the days of Ozias king of Juda, and in the days
of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel two years before the
earthquake.

The earthquake... Many understand this of a great earthquake, which they
say was felt at the time that king Ozias attempted to offer incense in
the temple. But the best chronologists prove that the earthquake here
spoken of must have been before that time: because Jeroboam the second,
under whom Amos prophesied, was dead long before that attempt of Ozias.

1:2. And he said: The Lord will roar from Sion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem: and the beautiful places of the shepherds have mourned, and
the top of Carmel is withered.

1:3. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four I
will not convert it: because they have thrashed Galaad with iron wains.

For three crimes-and for four... That is, for their many unrepented of
crimes.-Ibid. I will not convert it... That is, I will not spare them,
nor turn away the punishments I design to inflict upon them.

1:4. And I will send a fire into