18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou

art the LORD our God.

23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the mul

CHAP. III.

[to repentance,

titude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

1

24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God. (C)

CHAP. IV.

F thou wilt return, O Israel, saith

the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not

remove.

2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

3 For thus saith the LORD to the

(C) Judah's sin, and God's mercy exciting to repentance.-The first five verses of this chapter belong to the preceding, and contain exhortations to repentance, with gracious promises of pardon, notwithstanding the aggravations of their guilt. Blayney considers this prophecy as delivered soon after Jeremiah received his commission.

The second section of prophecy, beginning at the sixth verse, is continued to the end of the sixth chapter. It begins with a complaint against Judah, for having exceeded in guilt her sister Israel, already cast off for her idolatry, but not for ever. For to this same Israel, whose place of captivity (Assyria) lay to the north of Judea, pardon is promised on her repentance, together

with a restoration to the church of God, along with the Gentiles, in the latter days. The charge of hypocrisy against Judah in the 10th verse, seems to fix the date of this prophecy subsequent to the 18th year of king Josiah. It is also hinted, (ver. 18,) that Judah, copying the sins of Israel, after sharing the same fate, should, upon their repentance, receive the same mercy.

Israel renewing their repentings, (ver, 21,) God again renews his gracious promises; and they again humbly confess their sins, especially their idolatry. In this confession, their not deigning to name the idol Baal, the source of their calamities, but calling him in the abstract, shame, or a thing of shame, is a touch of the poetic pencil, extremely beautiful and natural.

Ver. 19. A pleasant land-Heb. "A land of desire."A goodly heritage. Heb. "The heritage of glory of," &c. See Ezek. xx. 6.—From meHeb. "From (tollowing) after me.”.

Ver. 20. As a wife treacherously-Blayney, "As a wicked woman," &c. - Husband-Heb. "Friend," but meaning the same.

Ver. 24. Shame-Blayney, "That thing of shame," Boothroyd, "That shameful idee chap. xi. 13; Hos. ix. 10.

CHAP. IV. Ver. 3. Break up, &c. — Hoa, x. 12. Sow not among thorns.-Compare Matt, xiii. 7. Ver. 4. Circumcise yourselves.-The moral design of this rite is explained by St. Paul, Rom. ii. 25-29.

Ver. 6. Retire-That is, into the fortress of Zion. Ver. 7. The lion is come up-Doubtless Nebuchadrezzar.Gentiles-Blayney," Nations."

Ver. 10. Surely thou hast greatly deceived-Heb. "Deceiving thou hast deceived."

and warnings of]

men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorus.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.

6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan nor to cleanse ;

12 Even a full wind from those

[divine judgments.

places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.

18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it

Ver. 16. Watchers.-By" Watchers," derstands "Besiegers;" i. e. the adv the enemy, placing patrols round the Ver. 19. At my very heart-Heb. walls of my heart."

Ver. 24. Moved lightly-Blayney, ` Rev. vi, 14.

was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.}

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet I will I not make a full end.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen ; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks; every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein, 30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou

CHAP. IV.

[of the nation,

clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers. (D)

(D) Exhortations to repentance, and warnings of divine judgments. The first two verses of this chapter are a repetition of the exhortations and promises addressed to Israel, in the preceding chapter, of which they ought to make a part. The Prophet then addresses the people of Judah and Jerusalem; exhorting them to repentance and reformation, in order to prevent, if possible, the dreadful visitation that approached them. He then (ver. 5) sounds the alarm of war. Nebuchadnezzar is seen, like a fierce lion on his march, and the disastrous issue is announced.

As God can neither tempt nor be tempted to evil, (James i. 13, 14,) so, most assuredly, neither can he deceive nor be deceived. But as false prophets spoke in the name of the Lord, and promised the peo

ple peace without reform, the Prophet here, speaking ironically to reprove them, says, "Surely, Lord, thou must have deceived this people, permitting the false prophets to assure them, Ye shall have peace, until the sword penetrateth to the soul." Thus the passage is explained both by Drs. Blayney and Boothroyd: compare our remarks on ch. xx. 7, and on 1 Kings xxii. 20. also Ezek. xiv. 9.) There is not the slightest ground, however, to suppose that any the Lord's real prophets had supported the delusion.

of

After announcing the approach of Nebu chadnezzar, and the destruction which must attend his arrival, the Prophet (ver. 19) breaks out into an agony of distresssees, as in a trance, the whole earth depopu lated-the heavens clothed with mourning, and nature returning to her primitive chaos. (See Gen. i. 2.)

Ver. 30. Rentest thy face--Blayney, "Distendest thy eyes with paint." Compare Note on Isa. iii, 16. Ver 31 Ist wearied-Blayney, "Fainteth."

"Y 1. Find a man - that is, a good

and the awfulness]

to receive correction: they have made their face harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities; every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil

[of God's vengeance.

come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

16 Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your's.

20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not: which have ears, and hear not:

Ver. 4. These are poor-or," These, the poor," are foolish.

Ver. 6. Wolf of the evenings-Marg. “Deserts." Are increased-Heb. " Strengthened." Ver, 7. In the harlots' houses It should seem that this must here be understood literally, though the crimes of whoredom and idolatry were closely connected. The chief recommendation of the latter seems to be, that it gave full toleration to vice.

Ver. 8. As fed horses-that is, high fed stallions.
Ver. 12. They have belied - Blayney, "Denied"

the word of the Lord's true prophets, and treated them as empty air; therefore shati their word be as fire, to consume them.

Ver. 13. Become wind - Blayney, "Be as wir more literally, "to the wind," which we stand as spoken in ridicule: "They shall phets to the wind" having no word from divine oracle.

Ver. 16. Their quiver an open sepulchre tical phrase, meaning, that their arrows we Comp. Ps. v. 9.

The Lord's kindness]

CHAP. II.

MOREOVER the word of the

LORD came to me, saying,

2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of

[to Israel of old.

drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? 7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine hebitage an abomination.

8. The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.

10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.

11 Hath a nation changed their .gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

himself as a child, (ver. 6) and probably was little more, as we find him neither named nor consulted in that King's reforms. (See 2 Kings xxii. 14.) Like Moses of old time, he seems to have had a deep sense of his own inability, which is generally the case with those whom God calls to services of difficulty and importance. But the Lord, in a visible appearance, touched his lips, and put words into his mouth. The high commission given him is thus expressed: "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms;" by which we are not to understand the conferring any authority; but in the prophetic style, God's servants are said to do what they merely predict. His pulling down or pulling up, was merely the delineating of what God was about to do, which was

farther explained to him in two preparatory visions. The "rod," or branch of almond tree," which is said to be the first tree that blossoms, was evidently intended to signify the speedy accomplishment of the judgments he was commissioned to predict; and "the seething (or boiling) pot their great severity; and both being turned from the north, farther intimated the quar ter from which they were to come, namely, Chaldea, which was north of Jerusalem. | The concluding verses at once point out the arduous nature of his work, and assure! him of strength and support to perform it. He shall be an iron pillar, or a brazen wall, whom the Lord supports and fortifies. This first chapter is considered as prose, but the following opens in poetic numbers.

CHAP. II. Ver. 2. I remember thee-Marg. " For thy sake." See Exposition; and Mr. Gataker approves the sense there given.▲ land not sown— that is, uncultivated.

Ver. 10. Pass over the isles-Blayney, "Pass over to the countries," &c. See Note on Isa. xxiii. 1. Ver. 14. Is (or was) Israel a servant he a home born slave? The question seems to imply that

....

Israel did not go down into Egypt in a state of str vitude, but as Joseph's kindred; Egypt, therefore, had no right to enslave them. He was also God's son; "When Israel was a child, then I loved hi and called my son out of Egypt." Has. xi. L Israel were free, the question then is, "Why is he spoiled?" "Why do all the nations round opprest him?"