not hearken unto me, they have cherished and encouraged 13 thofe lufts which lead them from God: Therefore will I caft you out of this land into a land that ye know not, [neither] ye nor your fathers; and there fhall ye ferve other gods day and night; where I will not show you favour; ye fhall be tempted to do it, and fome fhall comply; but they shall not gain the favour of the Chaldeans thereby; accordingly those were most esteemed who had the courage to oppofe thefe things. Then follows the promise of mercy in the midst of judgment.

14

Therefore, or nevertheless, behold, the days come, faith the LORD, that it fhall no more be faid, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Ifrael 15 out of the land of Egypt; But, the LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Ifrael from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers; tho' this deliverance be not fo great and miraculous as the other, yet they fhall be more impreffed with it, as brought about by the immediate influence of God upon Cyrus. But at prefent,

16

Behold, I will fend for many fifhers, faith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I fend for many hunters, and they fhall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the 17 rocks. For mine eyes [are] upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes; I will fend armies against you, which you fhall be no more able to refift, than fifbes and beasts can 18 refift fifbers and hunters. And first, before that happy time comes, I will recompenfe their iniquity and their fin double, that is, largely, or double to my ufual feverity; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcafes of their deteftable and abominable things, with wounded beafts offered to heathen deities, fuch as fivine and mice; perhaps human facrifices may be referred to.-Then, in order to aggravate the ftupidity of Ifrael, the prophet reflects with pleasure on 19 the time when the heathen fhall be converted; O Lord, my ftrength, and my fortrefs, and my refuge in the

day

day of affliction, the gentiles fhall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and fhall fay, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and [things] wherein [there is] no profit; they shall be ashamed of the gods of their fathers, turn to Jehovah, and be obedient to him. 20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they [are] no 21 gods? what can be more abfurd than this? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will caufe them to know mine hand and my might, in bringing them back and thereby awakening the heathen; and they fhall know that my name [is] The LORD; the effect of their captivity fhall be to cure them of their idolatry. Accordingly they have never fince relapsed into it.

I.

HR

REFLECTION S.

OW wretched is the cafe of those from whom God takes away his peace! It is often the cafe of nations and of particular perfons. Nations lose their profperity and quiet, and have little comfort in any of their enjoyments; and particular perfons lofe, not only external bleffings, their substance, health, and friends, but the composure of their minds. Their hearts meditate terror, and that oftentimes when there is no ground for it. May we be thankful for our peace while it is continued, and be careful to keep ourselves in the love God; for without that we can have no true peace. Then, tho' we walk for a while in darkness, light and gladness will quickly fuc ceed.

2. Let us often reflect on God's perfect knowledge of our ways and hearts; our conduct and principles, and our iniquities, v. 17. Many forget him; their eyes are never toward the Lord; they think him fuch an one as themfelves; but he fees all things; our fecret fins are in the light of his countenance. All are obferved and remembered by him; and for all these things he will bring us into judgment.

3. We are taught not to undervalue the favours and mercies shown to us, because they are not in some respects equal to those of our fathers, v. 14, 15. We fee how much the Ifraelites were affected with their deliverances,

Gg 4

tho'

tho' it was not fo miraculous as the deliverance of their fathers. The former and later appearances of providence. are to be kept in remembrance, and gratefully acknowledged. Let us give God glory for the mercies fhown to our fathers, for we reap the benefit of them; nor say, the former days were better than these. Tho' our deliverances and favours on fome accounts are lefs wonderful, yet they may be equally important; and therefore God fhould be devoutly praised for them.

4. Let the disappointments and vexations which others have found in the ways of fin, engage us to depart from them, v. 19. We are not to do any thing because they did it, but to confider whether it be right and good. If wrong, let no veneration for antiquity and cuftom influence our minds, more especially in matters of evident duty. Sin is attended with forrow, fhame, and mifery. Inftances of this we ourselves may have feen. Let us therefore from it, and turn unto the Lord, for his fervice is reasonable. Those that wait on him fhall never be ashamed; and in keeping his commandments there is great reward.

CHA P. XVII.

The former part of the chapter, v. 1-18, fhows the fatal confequences of idolatry, the happiness of the man that trufts in God, and the vanity of riches, which often disappoint the owner; the prophet appeals to God for his fincerity, and prays that the evil intended by his enemies may revert on their own heads; the remainder relates to the due obfervance of the fabbath.

'TH

THE fin of Judah [is] written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of a diamond: [it is] graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars, where the blood of their idolatrous facrifices is poured out, which is a proof of the wickedness of their hearts, plain and legible both to God and man; they are fo confirmed in fin that there is no hope of reclaiming z them; Whilft their children remember their altars and

their groves by the green trees upon the high hills; even their children can fhow the way to their altars, and understand their worship, it is so common and prevalent. 3 O my mountain in the field, that is, Ferufalem, a mountain, or a heap of mountains in a plain, I will give thy fubftance [and] all thy treasures to the fpoil, [and] thy high places for fin, or, on account of thy fin, throughout 4 all thy borders. And thou, even thyfelf, fhalt difcontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to ferve thine enemies in the land which thou knoweft not; a very beautiful allufion to the Seventh year, when the land was to lie untilled and the fervants were to be releafed; for the neglect of this thou shalt be releafed from thy poffeffion, and turned out of thy heritage: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, [which] fhall burn for ever, that is, till you are confumed.

5

J

Thus faith the LORD; Curfed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh, that is, frail, mortal man, his arm, or confidence, and whofe heart departeth from the LORD; referring to their alliance with Egypt 6 and dependance upon it. For he fhall be like the heath in the defert, a very worthless shrub, and fhall not fee when good cometh; but fhall inhabit the parched places in the wildernefs, [in] a falt land and not inhabited; they fhall not enjoy the good and fafety they hoped 7 for, but be expofed to the evils they feared. Bleffed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whofe hope the LORD is, who useth no finful means for his fafety. 8 For he fhall be as a tree planted by the waters, in oppofition to the heath before mentioned, and [that] fpreadeth out her roots by the river, and fhall not fee, or fear, when heat cometh, but her leaf fhall be green; and fhall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall ceafe from yielding fruit, which fhall not be destroyed by drought, but have a conftant fupply of moisture, and be always fruitful.

9

The heart [is] deceitful above all [things,] and defperately wicked: who can know it? A general remark; which feems principally to refer to their foreign alliances, by 10 which they would be deceived. I the LORD fearch the

heart

heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings; I alone know the heart, and can by my pro11 vidence turn and influence it. [As] the partridge, or kore, (a bird which frequents the mountains, 1 Sam. xxvi. 20.) fitteth [on eggs,] and hatcheth [them] not; or fitteth on eggs fhe did not lay, and the brood from which foon run from her and join with birds of their own kind, or are frequently and eafly destroyed; [fo] he that getteth riches, and not by right, fhall leave them in the midft of his days, when he thinks them fecure, and promifes himself pleasure in them, and at his end shall be a fool, because he has laboured for and trufted in what is fo tranfitory.

12

A glorious high throne from the beginning [is] the place of our fanctuary; God made it fo from the beginning, that is, fince David contrived and Solomon built it; and this is an aggravation of our folly in forfaking the Lord 13 and ferving idols, while his temple is among us.

O Lord, the hope of Ifrael, all that forfake thee for other confidences fhall be ashamed, [and] they that depart from me, from thy words delivered by me, fhall be like characters written in the duft of the earth, which are easily blown away, because they have forfaken the LORD, the foun14 tain of living waters. The prophet prays, Heal me, O LORD, and I fhall be healed; relieve and comfort me under perfecutions and afflictions; fave me, and I fhall be faved: for thou [art] the object of my praise.

15

Behold, they say unto me, Where [is] the word of the LORD? let it come now; infidels and libertines doubt 16 the truth of it, and defy its threatenings. As for me, I have not haftened from [being] a paftor to follow thee:" neither have I defired the woeful day; thou knoweft; I have taken no pleasure in denouncing these judgments, I have never wifhed for them, tho' neceffary to accomplish my prophecies; I have kept clofe to my inftructions: that which 17 came out of my lips was [right] before thee. Be not a

terror unto me, while my adverfaries are fo: thou [art] 18 my hope in the day of evil. Let them be confounded,

that

Some read it thus, I have not thrust myself into the pafloral office, nor have I declined it when called to it.