Imatges de pàgina
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why shouldest thou be now, as a stranger, that passes through the land, and lodges there a night, and away? XIV. 10 They have not refrained their feet. They have not abstained from any evil way.

XIV. 21 Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory.

Do not utterly disgrace and cast off that kingdom, wherein thou hast hitherto ruled and reigned, and wherein thou hast so manifested the glory of thy power.

XIV. 22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain: or can the heavens give showers?

And now, O ye

fond Jews, are there any of those vain idols of the Gentiles, which ye have worshipped, that can cause the rain to descend upon this your droughty earth?

XV. 1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

The time was, when Moses and Samuel, in their several seasons, interceded with me, for the ancestors of this people, and prevailed; but now, if they were both together upon earth, and should sue to me for this their posterity, they could not prevail with me, to draw my affections to them, or to divert my judg ments from them.

XV. 4 Because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

Because of that horrible idolatry and wickedness, that was committed in Jerusalem, under the reign of Manasseh; whose impiety is so much more aggravated, in that he was the son of good Hezekiah.

XV. 6 I am weary with repenting.

I have so oft suspended those judgments, which I threatened against thee, and so long forborne thee, as that now I can endure thee no longer.,

XV. 7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land. I will toss and scatter them in all the defenced cities of the land, as corn is shaken and dispersed in the winnowing.

XV. 8 I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.

I have brought up against the mother city Jerusalem a young and courageous victor, which shall spoil it, even the Chaldean, who shall make open havoc of it: I have set him upon it, in my justice; and have brought these terrors and desolations upon it.

XV. 9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day.

Even the strong and vigorous woman, that hath been the mother of many children, now languisheth, and gives up the ghost: her life is untimely ended.

XV. 10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither

lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

Woe is me, that ever my mother bare me to be thus vexed, with the contention and opposition of all men! Yet, I have done, I have deserved nothing, that might procure me this heart-burning and spite amongst them: I only followed my calling, close, and intermeddled not with the affairs of the world; I have neither given nor taken use; and yet every one is ready to revile me.

XV. 12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?

If thy strength, O Judea, be as iron, canst thou think thine iron so strong, as that it can break the iron and steel of the Chaldeans. XV. 15 Take me not away in thy long suffering.

Lest, while thy longsuffering, and patience, bears with them, I, in the mean time, be murdered by them.

XV. 16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

So soon as thy words were delivered to me, I did receive them with a ready and willing heart; yea, thy word was my greatest joy and honour: for I am called by thy name, O Lord; even the prophet of the Lord of Hosts.

XV. 17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indig

nation.

I sat mourning and solitary, in sad and thoughtful dumps, because of the sins of thy people, and because of thy judgments: for, upon both these, my heart was full of sorrow; and that sorrow was increased, by the envy and indignation, which this prophecy, committed unto me, hath brought upon me.

XV. 18 Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

O Lord, thou hast promised to deliver and free me; and wilt thou be as one, that breaks his word; and as some land-waters, that make a great shew, after a shower, but sink away, and disappoint the passenger?

XV. 19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. If thou bethink thyself of this thine impatience, and of thy too much regard to this murmuring and disobedient people, I will so confirm thee, that they shall be forced to acknowledge thee my faithful servant; and, if thou do wisely make difference betwixt erroneous doctrine and the truth, and betwixt the godly and profane persons, then will I admit thee to be my mouth unto my people do not thou yield way unto them in their lewd courses, but let them, if it may be, come in to thee.

XV. 20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: &c. See chap. i. verse 18.

XVI. 6 Neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

There shall be no body left in the land, to make any passionate expressions of their mourning for them, being dead: so as to cut their flesh, or to shave their hair; either to wound or deforin themselves, for their sakes.

XVI. 7 Neither shall any (as in the margin) break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

Neither shall there be any left, to make funeral feasts for them, to comfort them in their mournings for the dead; neither shall they, as the manner is in those feasts, give them the cup of consolation, to drink down their sorrow for the deceased.

XVI. 14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

The days come, wherein God shall not so much be celebrated, by the memory of his deliverance of his people out of Egypt, which was long since done;

XVI. 15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them.

As by the fresh remembrance of the great mercy, that he hath wrought for his people the Jews, in bringing them back from their captivity in Babylon, and all those lands whither they were driven.

XVI. 16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

But, in the mean time, their desolation shall be grievous and universal: I will call for the Chaldeans, which shall be as so many fishers, to drag them out of their good land; and as so many hunters, to chase them from their homes, and to drive them from all their refuges.

XVI. 18 Because they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

They have pestered and defiled this land, which I chose for my inheritance, with the carcases of their abominable sacrifices, which they have made to their idols; and with those very shameful idols, to which they have sacrificed.

XVI. 19 And shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein is no profit.

The Gentiles shall come, and say, Surely our forefathers have been miserably misled, and trained up in gross idolatry and false superstition.

XVI. 20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

He, that is man and not God, shall he be able to make gods? shall

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that power, which is finite and weak, take upon him to make that which is infinite?

XVI. 21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know my hand and my might; &c.

Therefore, I will, with this one judgment, convince them of my might and omnipotence; and they shall know, that there is no Lord, no God beside me.

XVII. 1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with a point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

The state of Judah is desperate: their sin is not slightly sprinkled upon their skins, but is deeply engraven in their hearts; even with a pen of iron, with a point of a diamond, so as it may not be denied, and cannot be amended: and, if they would smother their secret inclinations, yet their idolatries are publicly written, upon the horns of their altars, that all the world may see them;

XVII. 2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

So as their children and posterity, seeing these monuments of their altars and groves, cannot but call to mind, and into practice also, the superstitions of their forefathers.

XVII. 3 0 my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and the high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

O thou, my chosen and defenced mountain, in which my people do so vainly trust, thou shalt be as unable to guard them from the fury of the enemy, as if thou wert but a plain field: all thy riches and treasures shall be a spoil to the Chaldean; and the high places, wherein thou hast sinned, shall be wasted alike throughout all thy borders.

XVII. 4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

And thou, O my people, the Jews, shalt be taken away from this thy native land of inheritance, which I gave thee, &c. ye have stirred up such mine anger and indignation against you, as will not be again appeased for ever.

XVII. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh.

That man shall be like the heath in a dry wilderness, that shall not partake of the sweet showers when they fall.

XVII. 11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

The wicked and deceitful man shall be disappointed of his hopes of gain as the partridge sits on those eggs, which she never laid, and can never hatch and bring forth to perfection; so he, that fraudulently and unjustly gathers wealth, shall not enjoy it,

but shall leave it, in the midst of his days, and, in the end, shall find that he hath been a fool.

XVII. 12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

God hath highly honoured Judea above all the nations of the world, in that he hath erected in her the place of his Sanctuary; which is that high and glorious throne, wherein God, from the beginning, ordained and decreed to seat himself.

XVII. 13 And they that depart from me shall be written in the earth.

They, that take part against me, however they boast themselves to be the holy and noble offspring of faithful Abraham, and God's peculiar people, yet their memory shall be either base or forgotten; their names shall be written in the dust of the earth.

XVII. 15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

Behold, this obstinate and incredulous people is ready to say, Where is this word of the Lord, which we hear so much talk of? We have been told of grievous things; of plagues, and famines, and the sword; but where are they? Why do they not come, as it is foretold us?

XVII. 16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

As for me, O Lord, it is thou, that hast called me; and I have not dared to be averse from following thee, in that charge, which thou hast laid upon me; neither have I been ambitious and desirous of this sad and busy task, as thou well knowest, and that, which I have spoken, is thy true message, and no other.

XVII. 21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

As ye Jews have shamefully broken all my other commandments, so also this of my sabbath; but now, recollect yourselves, and reform this abuse: see that you do no servile work on that day; bear no burden on that day of the Lord, in or out at the gates of Jerusalem. So verse 22.

XVII. 23 But made their neck stiff.

But wilfully hardened their hearts, and resolved to persist in their obstinacy.

XVII. 25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, &c.

Then shall your kings and princes be established in this throne of David, and shall rule over you, and maintain that royal magnificence, which is meet for them, amongst you, &c.

XVIII. 12 There is no hope: &c. See chap. ii. verse 25. XVIII. 13 Ask ye now among the heathen, &c. See chap. ii.

verse 10 and 11..

XVIII. 14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh

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