Of herds and flocks, and numerous servitude;
Not wandering poor, but trusting all his wealth
With God, who call'd him, in a land unknown.
Canaan he now attains; I see his tents
Pitch'd about Sechem, and the neighb'ring plain
Of Moreb; there, by promise, he receives
Gift to his progeny of all that land,
From Hamath northward to the desert south,
Things by their names I call, though yet unnamed,
From Hermon east to the great western sea;
Mount Hermon, yonder sea, each place behold
In prospect, as I point them; on the shore
Mount Carmel; here the double-founted stream,
Jordan, true limit eastward; but his sons
Shall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills.
This ponder; that all nations of the earth
Shall in his seed be blessed; by that seed
Is meant thy great Deliverer, who shall bruise
The serpent's head; whereof to thee anon
Plainlier shall be reveal'd. This patriarch bless'd,
Whom faithful Abraham due time shall call,
A son, and of his son a grandchild leaves,
Like him in faith, in wisdom, and renown:
The grandchild, with twelve sons increased, departs
From Canaan, to a land hereafter call'd
Egypt, divided by the river Nile;

See where it flows, disgorging at seven mouths
Into the sea: to sojourn in that land
He comes, invited by a younger son

In time of dearth; a son, whose worthy deeds
Raise him to be the second in that realm
Of Pharaoh; there he dies, & leaves his race
Growing into a nation; and now grown
Suspected to a sequent king, who seeks
To stop their overgrowth, as inmate guests [slaves,
Too numerous; whence of guests he makes them
Inhospitably, and kills their infant males:
Till by two brethren, those two brethren call
Moses and Aaron, sent from God, to claim
His people from enthralment, they return
With glory & spoil, back to their promised land.
But first the lawless tyrant, who denies
To know their God, or message to regard,
Must be compell'd, by signs & judgments dire;
To blood unshed the rivers must be turn'd;
Frogs lice, and flies, must all his palace fill,
With loathed intrusion, and fill all the land;

His cattle must of rot and murrain die ;
Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss,
And all his people; thunder mix'd with hail,
Hail mix'd with fire, must rend the Egyptian sky,
And wheel on the earth, devouring where it rolls;
What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain,
A darksome cloud of locusts, swarming down,
Must eat, & on the ground leave nothing green :
Darkness must overshadow all his bounds,
Palpable darkness, and blot out three days;
Last, with one midnight stroke, all the first born
Of Egypt must lie dead. Thus, with ten wounds,
The river-dragon tamed, at length submits
To let his sojourners depart, and oft
Humbles his stubborn heart, but still, as ice
More harden'd after thaw; till, in his rage,
Pursuing whom he late dismiss'd, the sea
Swallows him with his host; but them lets pass,
As on dry land, between two crystal walls,
Awed by the rod of Moses so to stand
Divided, till his rescued gain their shore;
Such wondrous power God to his saint will lend,
Though present in his Angel; who shall
go
Before them in a cloud, and pillar of fire,
By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire,
To guide them in their journey, and remove
Behind them, while the obdurate king pursues :
All night he will pursue; but his approach
Darkness defends between, till morning watch:
Then through the fiery pillar and the cloud
God looking forth, will trouble all his host,
And craze their chariot-wheels: when, by command,
Moses once more his potent rod extends
Over the sea; the sea his rod obeys.
On their embattled ranks the waves return,
And overwhelm their war. The race elect,
Safe towards Canaan, from the shore advance,
Through the wild desert; not the readiest way,
Lest entering on the Canaanite alarmed,
War terrify them, inexpert, and fear
Return them back to Egypt, choosing rather
Inglorious life, with servitude; for life,
To noble and ignoble, is more sweet
Untrain'd in arms, where rashness leads not on.
This also shall they gain, by their delay
In the wide wilderness; there they shall found
Their government, & their great senate choose

Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws ordain'd:
God from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top
Shall tremble, he descending, will himself
In thunder, lightning, & loud trumpets' sound,
Ordain them laws; part such as appertain
To civil justice, part religious rites
Of sacrifice, informing them, by types
And shadows, of that destined Seed to bruise
The Serpent; by what means he shall achieve
Mankind's deliverance. But the voice of God
To mortal ear is dreadful: they beseech
That Moses might report to them his will,
And terror cease: he grants what they besought,
Instructed that to God is no access
Without mediator; whose high office now
Moses in figure bears, to introduce
One greater, of whose day he shall foretel,
And all the prophets, in their age, the times
Of great Messiah shall sing. Thus laws & rites,
Establish'd; such delight hath God in men
Obedient to his will, that he vouchsafes
Among them to set up his tabernacle,
The Holy One with mortal men to dwell:
By his prescript, a sanctuary is framed
Of cedar, overlaid with gold; therein
An ark, and in the ark his testimony,
The records of his covenant, over these
A mercy-seat of gold, between the wings
Of two bright Cherubim; before him burn
Seven lamps, as in a zodiac, representing
The heavenly fires; over the tent a cloud
Shall rest. by day, a fiery gleam by night,
Save when they journey; & at length they come,
Conducted by his Angel, to the land
Promised to Abraham & his seed. The rest
Were long to tell; how many battles fought,
How many kings destroy'd, & kingdoms won,
Or how the sun shall, in mid Heaven, stand still
A day entire, & night's due course adjourn,
Man's voice commanding, 'Sun, in Gibeon stand,
And thou moon, in the vale of Ajalon,'
Till Israel overcome: so call the third
From Abraham, son of Isaac, and from him
His whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win."
Here Adam interposed. "O sent from Heaven,
Enlightener of my darkness, gracious things
Thou hast reveal'd; those chiefly which concern

Just Abraham and his seed: now first I find
Mine eyes true opening, & my heart much eased
Erewhile perplex'd with thoughts, what would be-
Of me and all mankind: but now I see [come
His day, in whom all nations shall be bless'd;
Favour unmerited by me, who sought
Forbidden knowledge, by forbidden means.
This yet I apprehend not; why to those,
Among whom God will deign to dwell on earth,
So many and so various laws are given;
So many laws argue so many sins
Among them; how can God with such reside?"

To whom thus Michael. "Doubt not but that sin Will reign among them, as of thee begot; And therefore was law given them, to evince Their natural pravity, by stirring up Sin against law to fight; that when they see Law can discover sin, but not remove, Save by those shadowy expiations weak, The blood of bulls and goats, they may conclude, Some blood more precious must be paid for man, Just for unjust; that in such righteousness, To them by faith imputed, they may find Justification towards God, and peace Of conscience, which the law by ceremonies Cannot appease; nor man the moral part Perform, and, not performing, cannot live. So law appears imperfect, and but given. With purpose to resign them, in full time, Up to a better covenant, disciplined From shadowy types to truth, from flesh to spirit, From imposition of strict laws, to free Acceptance of large grace, from servile fear To filial, works of law to works of faith. And therefore shall not Moses, though of God Highly beloved, being but the minister Of law, his people into Canaan lead; But Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call, His name and office bearing, who shall quell The adversary serpent, and bring back, Through the world's wilderness, long wander'd man, Safe to eternal Paradise of rest.

Meanwhile they, in their earthly Canaan placed, Long time shall dwell, and prosper; but when sins National interrupt their public peace, Provoking God to raise them enemies; From whom as oft he saves them, penitent,

By judges first, then under kings; of whom
The second, both for piety renown'd,
And puissant deeds, a promise shall receive,
Irrevocable, that his regal throne

For ever shall endure; the like shall sing
All prophecy, that of the royal stock
Of David, so I name this king, shall rise
A son, the woman's seed to thee foretold,
Foretold to Abraham, as in whom shall trust
All nations; and to kings foretold, of kings
The last, for of his reign shall be no end.
But first a long succession must ensue;
And his next son, for wealth and wisdom famed,
The clouded ark of God, till then in tents
Wandering, shall in a glorious temple enshrine.
Such follow him as shall be register'd,
Part good, part bad, of bad the longer scroll;
Whose foul idolatries, and other faults,
Heap'd to the popular sum, will so incense
God, as to leave them, and expose their land,
Their city, his temple, and his holy ark,
With all his sacred things, a scorn and prey
To that proud city, whose high walls thou saw'st
Left in confusion, Babylon thence call'd.
There, in captivity, he lets them dwell
The space of seventy years; then brings them back,
Remembering mercy, and his covenant sworn
To David, establish'd as the days of Heaven.
Return'd from Babylon, by leave of kings,
Their lords, whom God disposed, the house of
They first re-edify; and for a while [God
In mean estate live moderate, till, grown
In wealth and multitude, factious they grow:
But first among the priests dissention springs,
Men who attend the altar, and should most
Endeavour peace: their strife pollution brings
Upon the temple itself; at last they seize
The sceptre, and regard not David's sons;
Then lose it to a stranger, that the true
Anointed king Messiah might be born
Barr'd of his right: yet at his birth a star,
Unseen before in Heaven, proclaims him come,
And guides the eastern sages, who enquire
His place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold.
His place of birth a solemn angel tells
To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night;
They gladly thither haste, and, by a quire