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 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. O 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 thy 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 ana shall not see when good cometh.

That man shall be like the heath in a dry wilderness, and 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 from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

Will any man be so foolish, as, when he may make use of the pure snow of mount Lebanon, which he may take up from the elean rock of his own field, to seek afar off for some dirty puddle? or, when he may have the cool flowing waters from his own crystal spring, to go lade out of the muddy channel?

XVIII. 17. I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

I will not so much as look at them, in their distress; but turn my back upon them, as they have done upon me.

XVIII. 18. Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet, &c.

Let us lay a plot for Jeremiah: he is a false prophet, doubtless; for, whatsoever he saith, it cannot be, that God should utterly take his law from the priest, or his counsel from the wise, or his word from the prophets; but so he hath done, so he shall do, if this man may be heard. Come; let us raise slanders and accusations against him, &c.

XIX. 4. And have filled this place with the blood of innocents. Have filled this valley, with the blood of those children, which they have offered unto Moloch.

XIX. 6. Therefore, behold, the day is come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.

In this place, wherein you have pleased your idols with innocent blood, shall your blood be abundantly shed; so as, this valley shall change the name, and, instead of Tophet, be called A valley of slaughter.

XIX. 7. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before

their enemies.

I will utterly cross the hopes and conceits of Judah and Jerusalem, concerning this very place; for, whereas they thought to have endeared themselves to me the more, by so zealous oblations of their own children, they shall find how much I hate this their

cruel idolatry by that destruction, which I will bring upon them, by the sword of the enemy.

XIX. 12. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make their city as Tophet.

I will make this whole city of Jerusalem, like unto Tophet, a place of slaughter and burial for the inhabitants.

XX. 1. Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

Now Pashur, the son of Immer the priest, who was next in place to the high priest, as being his vicar or assistant in the government of the temple, heard that Jeremiah, one of his own order, prophesied these things.

XX. 3. The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.

The Lord hath not called thee Pashur, which signifies an enlarging of thy rule, or diffusing of terror and paleness unto others; but he hath now called thee, Magor-missabib, that is, Fear on every side; which shall hereafter possess thee and thine.

XX. 7. O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

O Lord, this people are still crying out that I am deceived in this my prophecy; but if I be deceived, O ye fond countrymen, know that I am deceived by him, that can neither deceive nor be deceived; even by thee, O Lord, the God of Truth: it is thou, that hast put me upon this task: I could not, I durst not withdraw my obedience from thee; and now, I am, for doing my duty, made a scorn and derision to the world.

XX. 8. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

For, since I spake from thee, I am so rated, and reviled, and persecuted on all sides, that I cannot but complain and cry out of their intolerable violences and cruelties; for I do daily suffer reproach and scornful insultations on all hands, for delivering thy message.

XX. 9. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones.

Then was I ready, in my weakness, to give in, and to resolve not to speak any more these unpleasing things, in his name; but I had not the power to hold in that word, which I had received; it was as a burning fire within my bosom, yea, in my very bones. XX. 10. For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it.

For I heard the defaming of many, and especially of him

whom I have justly named Fear on every side, which said, Raise scandals and accusations against him and we will second them.

XX. 13, 14, 15. Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hands of the evil man. Cursed be the day, &c.

I have cause to sing praises unto the Lord, who hath delivered me from the very mouth of the pit; out of that miserable condition, wherein I was overtaken with so weak and sinful an impatience, as to curse the day wherein I was born, &c.

XXI. 4. Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, &c. I will utterly disable all your forces, and your weapons that are in your hands, from hurting or opposing your enemies, or helping yourselves.

XXI. 12. O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor.

O thou King of Judah, the heir of David's throne, do thou stir up thyself zealously and faithfully to do justice in thy place; deliver and right the oppressed.

XXI. 13. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?

Behold, I am against thee, O Jerusalem, who hast vainly trusted hitherto in thy strength and situation: it is not that defenced valley, wherein a great part of thee, towards mount Libanus, is seated, nor the forts of thy plain, that can keep out my power, or the power of that enemy, the Chaldean, which I shall stir up against thee.

XXI. 14. I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

I will kindle a fire in the forest of Libanus; and, by the goodly cedars thereof, will set Jerusalem on a flame, which shall devour it to ashes.

XXII. 4. For if ye do these things, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings, &c. See chap. xvii. 25.

XXII. 6. For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

Thus saith the Lord unto the king's house, which is his ancient court, upon the hill of Zion; As mount Gilead is the prime hill of all those mountains which go under the name of Lebanon, so art thou the most eminent and remarkable place in all Judea; yet surely thou shalt, through my just judgments, become a very wilderness.