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of, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as [it is] this day; the judgment is already begun in 19 Judea, and some are carried captive; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and 20 his servants, and his princes, and all his people; And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, or Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, a mingled people near the Rea sea, governors of little states, and heads of clans, 21 22 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which [are] beyond the sea, or, regions by the sea side, 25 which lay on the midland sea, what we call the Levant, Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all [that are] in the utmost corners, that have their coast insulated, or their hair polled, that is, the Arabian 24 clans, And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the ming25 led people that dwell in the desert, And all the kings of Zimri, 26 and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, And

all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which [are] upon the face of the earth; the whole empire of Nebuchadnezzar, who had conquered almost all the earth and the king of Sheshach, that is, Babylon, 27 shall drink after them. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send a.nong you; that is, ye shall do so, and be so confounded, that ye shall not be able to do any thing, either by 28 skill or force. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith 29 the LORD of hosts, Ye shall certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts, for learning your idolatry, and therefore certainly 30 upon you who taught them. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread [the grapes.] against all the inhabitants of the earth; that is, he shall make himself known by denouncing and ex31 ecuting dreadful judgments. A noise shall come [even] to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will judge them and set himself against them; he will give them [that are] wicked to the 32 sword, saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great 33 whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

And

the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

34

Howl, ye shepherds, ye princes and magistrates, and cry; and wallow yourselves [in the ashes,] ye principal of the flock, ye great men: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel 35 that is broken, and no longer valued or regarded. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to 36 escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, [shall be heard:] for the LORD hath 37 spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations, or, the habitations of Salem, or Jerusalem, its palaces and houses, are cut 38 down because of the fierce anger of the LORD. He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion, who is come abroad to range for prey for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

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REFLECTIONS.

OD keeps an exact account what religious advantages we have been favoured with, and how long we have enjoyed them, v. 3, 4. He reminds the Jews of this, to shame their ignorance and disobedience. An awful thought: which it becomes us to enter into, that we may consider what improvement we have made of our advantages, and what account we shall give of them, when for all these things God shall bring us into judgment.

2. See what use God makes of the princes of the earth; to execute his purposes, v. 9. Nebuchadnezzar was pursuing his ambitious, covetous ends; but God was fulfilling his own designs by him. Those who are most troublesome to God's people, are but his rod : the tyrants and conquerors of the earth are but fulfilling his pleasure and at length their time shall come to fall, their ambition and cruelty shall be punished. It is not what men do, but the temper and principle from which they do it, that renders them acceptable to God let us therefore judge nothing before the time.

3. See what it is that provokes God to punish, viz. disobedience, v. 6. Let sinners take warning, and return to God and their duty; then they will escape final hurt. Let God's people be careful to behave in an holy, regular manner; then, though he may chasten them for the trial and improvement of their graces, it will be all for their good.

4. If God afflicts his own people, what have not his enemies to fear? v. 29. If Judah, that had some good people among them, suffered so much, surely the idolatrous nations about them would suffer more. If good men are afflicted, what must the wicked expect? For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

war.

5. Let us observe and lament the miseries and desolations of The nations are here described as all drunken and infatuated; which, by the way, shows us what a beastly, detestable vice drunkenness is. God makes use of this emblem to show how they should

stagger in their counsels; be all in perplexity and confusion, and totally incapable of defending themselves; the strongest and greatest men should be thrown into hurry and consternation; the peaceable habitations destroyed; and the quiet in the land suffer, as well as others. This is a case much to be lamented; and the continuance of the divine displeasure on the nations deprecated. But whatever the times are, let the wicked remember, that in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture, and the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

CHAP. XXVI.

This chapter gives an account of the danger which Jeremiah was brought into for delivering his message from the Lord faithfully.

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N the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, probably at one of the solemn feasts, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word, as you may be tempted to do, the message being so likely 3 to provoke them: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. 4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me to walk in my law, which I have set be5 fore you To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending 6 [them,] but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth; when a curse is denounced upon a city, it 7 shall be, God make it like Jerusalem.' So the priests and the false prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD, that is, in one of the courts, which were all called the house, or temple.

8

Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded [him] to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die, because thou hast disturbed the government, and discouraged the people from defend⚫ing their country. Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, and laid an information against him before the princes, in the courts of 10 justice. When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the

LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S 11 [house,] at which gate the court sat, as usual. Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man [is] worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.

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Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard; I have 13 said nothing but what God commanded me. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you; repeating his message very 14 courageously, and adding, As for me, behold, I [am] in your hand do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you; if God see fit to permit you to put me to death, I am satisfied I can15 not die in a better cause. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

16

:

Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man [is] not worthy to die for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God; the princes and 17 people hearing his apology were for sparing him. Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly 18 of the people, saying, Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be ploughed [like] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house, the hill on which the temple stands, as the high places of a forest, overgrown with thorns and briars. 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our 20 souls by destroying Jeremiah. And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against 21 this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into 22 Egypt. And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, [namely,] Elnathan the son of Achbor, and [certain] men with him 23 into Egypt. And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common This story is no where else recorded. Many prophets were injured and destroyed, that we read nothing of in the scripture history. This story was alleged by Jeremiah's ene mies, as a precedent for putting such a person to death; though some think it was recorded by himself, or the historian, to show the goodness of God in preserving him.

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people; being probably descended from some good family, he would not suffer him to be buried with his ancestors, but interred 24 him with common people, or malefactors. Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, a person of great influence, and a minister in Josiah's court, (2 Kings xxii. 12.) was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death; he interposed, and rescued him.

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REFLECTIONS.

OW fit is it for the Lord's ministers to be faithful and

their messages! Jeremiah was

commanded not to diminish a word; not to put bis message into less offensive expressions, than those in which he received it; and God defended him, while Urijah's cowardice cost him his life. Thus must christian ministers act; faithfully and boldly reprove the vices which are found among those whom they address, and declare the whole counsel of God; never diminishing a word, either through fear, favour, or flattery. If they keep close to their instructions, the God whom they serve will bear them out, however men may be offended at them. And their being offended is indeed not much to be regarded, since none will be so, but those who know in their own consciences that they are guilty of the vices reproved.

2. See the influence which God has over the spirits of men, and how easily he can turn them. The people were at first for having Jeremiah put to death; then, when they heard his defence, they were for having him spared. Upon the precedent being quoted for putting him to death (even the case of Urijah) it seems that they altered their sentiments again, but Ahikam saved him. How little dependence is to be had upon popular cries, whether for or against a man! God raised up a friend for Jeremiah. This should engage us to be firm and resolute in the cause of God and religion, since he knows how to deliver the godly out of their tribulations. The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him; but the Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. Psalm xxxvii. 32, 33.

CHAP. XXVII.

Under the type of bonds and yokes, Jeremiah prophesieth the subduing of the neighbouring kings by Nebuchadnezzar.

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IN the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah

king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, 2 saying, Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and

• Some careless transcriber has put, by mistake, Jehoiakim for Zedekiah, as appears from several verses in this chapter, and the beginning of the next. Mistakes of names and dates must often happen in transcribing ancient books; but they no way affect their general credibility, and but seldom their sense.

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