Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

And now all these threatened judgments, being accordingly executed, upon Judah and Jerusalem, insomuch as the king of Babylon had now carried away Jeconiah king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and their artificers, unto Babylon; yet so as that some of the people remained still in the land, under Zedekiah king of Judah, who exalted himself against Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon; God, willing to shew the estate of both those sorts of people, those which yielded to go into the captivity, and those that resolved to stand out and stay at home, shewed me two baskets of figs, as the emblem and figure of them both.

XXIV. 5. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place, &c.

Thus saith the Lord; That basket of good figs represents those Jews, which are carried away into the captivity of Babylon; who, as they are humbled and bettered by their affliction, so shall be dealt with by me accordingly.

XXIV. 6. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land.

For I will take special care of them, both to preserve them there, and to bring them back again.

XXIV. 8. And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: &c.

The other basket of ill figs, which cannot be eaten, represents those Jews, that stay still stubbornly behind, and will needs follow Zedekiah, to rebel against the king of Babylon, and those that seek harbour in Egypt; and these shall speed accordingly, for I will give them up into the hands of the Chaldees: &c.

XXV. 9. Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my

servant.

Behold, I will bring against thee the Chaldeans and those other their northern associates, with Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, whom I shall employ for my executioner in this

service.

XXV. 10. And the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

I will take from you all mirth and gladness; yea, all commodities for the use and convenience of living; so as your life shall be doleful and miserable.

XXV. 14. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also.

For those proud and imperious Chaldees, which held my people in servitude for seventy years, will I give to be a prey to other great kings and nations, and they shall share their dominions amongst them.

XXV. 15. Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I have sent thee, to drink it. See Isa. li. 17.

And do thou denounce all these judgments unto all those several nations, to which I send thee; and assure them, that they shall all drink of this bitter cup, in their due seasons.

XXV. 16. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

They shall not be able to avoid those fearful judgments, which thou threatenest from me; but shall so undergo them, as that they shall be astonished therewith, and grow madly impatient, because of the destruction that I will send amongst them.

XXV. 17. Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me.

Then I took the cup at the Lord's hand, and gave it to be pledged of all those nations, to whom the Lord had sent me.

XXV. 20. And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, &c.

To all those mingled people of several nations, which are hereafter mentioned.

XXV. 22. And the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea. And the kings of those countries which are beyond the sea, whether isles or continent.

XXV. 27. Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

Take ye deep of this cup of fury and vengeance: do not think that a taste or small draught will serve the turn; no, an easy revenge will not content me, saith God: ye shall be so punished and plagued by my just hand, as that ye shall not be yourselves; but, in an amazed distractedness, ye shall fall and perish.

XXV. 28. Ye shall certainly drink. See verse 16.

XXV. 30. 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.

The Lord shall declare from heaven his great fury and indignation against the wicked: he shall roar like a fierce lion, and shout out aloud, and call up the Babylonians to their task of slaughter, as they, that tread the grapes, do, by their loud cries, encourage each other to the work.

XXV. 34. And ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.

As an earthen vessel that is curiously wrought while it holds sound is well esteemed, but if it once fall and break is worth nothing and is only fit to be cast upon the dunghill, so shall ye

be unto me.

XXV. 38. He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion; for their land is desolate.

He hath forsaken his temple, as a lion forsakes his den: while he abode in that temple of his, he was as a strong lion to defend his people; but now, he hath given them up to desolation and spoil.

XXVI. 6. Then will I make this house like Shiloh. See chap. vii. verse 12.

XXVI. 10. And sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.

And sat down in that new gate of the temple which king Jotham had built, to appease the tumult, and to hear the cause of Jeremiah.

XXVI. 13. The LORD will repent him, &c. See Genesis vi. 7. XXVI. 24. Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shapham was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

But though there was vehement importunity used for the putting of Jeremiah to death, both by the priests and people, yet Ahikam the son of Shapham wrought so for him, that he was delivered out of their hands.

XXXVII. 1. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, when all things were quiet and successful, this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, to be executed afterwards, in the reign of Zedekiah.

XXVII. 3. And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah.

The kings of Edom and of Moab, and the king of the Ammonites and of Tyrus and Zidon, will send ambassadors to Zedekiah, to treat of a confederacy against the king of Babylon; do thou therefore send unto them these fetters and yokes, to let them know, that they shall all come under the yoke and bondage of the king of Babylon.

XXVII. 6. The king of Babylon, my servant.

verse 9.

See chap. XXV.

XXVII. 7. Until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.

Until the time be expired, which God hath prefixed for the period of that monarchy; and then many nations and great kings shall come, and divide it amongst them, as a common prey. XXVII. 12. Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

If ye submit yourselves to the Babylonians, ye shall both be preserved, and, in due time, restored.

XXVII. 22. And there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

And there they shall be, until the time of their restoration and restitution by Cyrus, whom I will stir up to be gracious unto my people.

XXVIII. 2. I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

I will deliver and free my people, from the captivity and bondage of the king of Babylon;

XXVIII. 3. Within two full years.

Within the space of two full

years.

XXVIII. 13. Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.

Thou, O Hananiah, hast broken the yokes of wood; but I am commanded, from the Lord, to make them yokes of iron; to signify that this bondage which thou saidst should be, within two years, utterly freed and discharged, shall be continued in a more grievous and cruel manner than before, and that without all possibility of escaping or mitigation; until the prefixed time of seventy years be expired.

XXIX. 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

I know what I have decreed concerning you; even favour and deliverance in my appointed time, and not extirpation and destruction; so as ye shall, at the last, have that happy issue, which ye desire and expect.

XXIX. 17. And I will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. See chap. xxiv. verse 8.

XXIX. 26. For every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet.

For every one, that, in a frantic humour, takes upon him to be a prophet, and delivers his own distracted fancies for visions from God.

XXX. 3. For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD; that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, &c.

Howsoever God will not so suddenly free his people from their captivity as is falsely foretold by some flattering prophets, yet surely he hath set the time, wherein he will most certainly accomplish it.

XXX. 6. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

It is not for a man, we know, to travail with child; how then is it, that the men hold their hands on their loins, and move their bodies in a woeful complaint of pain, as if they were women in the very throes of their delivery; and all faces, by the paleness thereof, bewray fear and astonishment?

XXX. 7. It is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

It is the time of the most grievous trouble and calamity to the posterity of Jacob; but, at last, it shall end well, and they shall be delivered from it.

XXX. 9. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

They shall serve the Lord their God, and Christ his Son, the successor of David, in his spiritual government, whom I will in due time send into the world.

XXX. 12. For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, &c.

Thine affliction, in regard to any human help, is utterly remediless.

XXX. 13. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up thou hast no healing medicines.

There is none, so much as to solicit for thy cure and redress; nor any means left, whereby it may be, in man's reason, effected.

XXX. 14. All thy lovers have forgotten thee: they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, &c.

All those confederate nations that professed friendship to thee, have quite forgotten thee; for I have deeply afflicted thee, by the cruel hand of the Chaldeans.

XXX. 17. Because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

Because they have insulted upon thy misery, and despised thee, as an outcast and forlorn people, saying; This is that goodly hill of Zion; once the pride, now the scorn of the world.

XXXI. 2. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went

to cause him to rest.

The people, which were left of the sword in the siege and sacking of Jerusalem, found favour in the land of their captivity; even the remainder of the Jews; when I took order for their settling, for the time, in the land of Chaldea.

XXXI. 4. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, Ovirgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.