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without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitants, and without beast, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, praise Jehovah of Hosts: for Jehovah is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise* into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith Jehovah.

Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again† under the hands of him that telleth them, saith Jehovah.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith he shall be called, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. For thus saith Jehovah; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests, the Levites, want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

Thus saith Jehovah; if ye can break my covenant of the

See this fulfilled. Ezra, iii. 11.

+ That is, for the purpose of paying tribute or custom, and thus denoting the prosperity of a regular government. Burder, O. C. 772.

day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David, my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David, my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, the two families which Jehovah hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? Thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

Thus saith Jehovah; if my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David, my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.*

Notwithstanding the displeasure of Zedekiah, this prophetic denunciation, however, and the pressure of the siege, appear to have produced a transitory effect upon the sovereign and his people; for he made a covenant with them to proclaim liberty unto them;† that every man should let his man servant, and every man his maid servant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his man servant, and every one his maid servant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.‡

Jer. xxxiii. 3-26.

+ Exod. xxi. 2. Deut. xv. 12.

Jer. xxxiv. 8-10.

Pharaoh, king of Egypt, having marched out of his own territories with a large army, in order to relieve Jerusalem; Nebuchadnezzar raised the siege,† and proceeded towards the Egyptians, having first, however, sent all the Jewish captives already taken, to the number of 832, to Babylon.‡

Upon the departure of the Chaldean army, Jeremiah seems to have been set at liberty,§ and Zedekiah, naturally desirous of knowing what would be the result of the expected conflict between the Babylonish and Egyptian monarchs, sent Jehucal and Zephaniah to Jeremiah, saying, pray now unto Jehovah, our God, for us.

To this message the prophet was directed to reply: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me, behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.

Thus saith Jehovah; Deceive not yourselves, saying, the Chaldeans shall surely depart from us, for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but

"Pharaoh Hophra, Apries, or Vaphris, who had succeeded his father Necho." A. CLARKE. It is said of him, that after he had reigned twenty years in great prosperity, he grew so insolent as to say, that it was not in the power of God to dispossess him of his kingdom. Herodot. He also boasted "The river is mine, and I have made it." Ezek. xxix. 9. "Hophra was given up and destroyed on account of his perfidy to Zedekiah, whose cause he had deserted; and left him to be taken by Nebuchadnezzar, after he had induced Zedekiah to enter into a confederacy with him, contrary to his oath to the king of Babylon. So that God revenged the breach of both their oaths upon these two kings." BP. WILSON.

Jer. lii. 29.

† Jer. xxxvii. 5. § Jer. xxxvii. 4.

Jer. xxxvii. 3.

wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.*

So far, however, from believing this report, or seeking to avert it by humiliation, they chose to take it for granted that they should see no more of the Chaldean army, and as if repenting of the apparent and partial contrition they had shewn, they immediately reduced those servants, whom they had set free in the hour of danger, again into subjection, and reclaimed them for servants and handmaids.t

Wherefore, God instantly denounced a still severer message by the same prophet; Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, at the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother, an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: but ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore, thus saith Jehovah; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of

Jer. xxxvii. 7-10. "Strong words! but they shew how fully God was determined to give up this city to fire and sword; and how fully he had instructed his prophet in this point." A. CLARKE. + Jer. xxxiv. 11.

the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes, will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will command, saith Jehovah, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.+

Jeremiah, fully confident of the eventful result, prepared to quit the city, and retire into the land of Benjamin; but as he passed through the gate of that name, he was seized by Irijah, the captain of the ward, as a deserter, and taken before the princes; who, notwithstanding his solemn asseveration of innocence, smote him, and cast him into a dungeon in the house of Jonathan, the scribe.+

"This was the ancient and most solemn way of making a covenant. 1. A calf, as sacrifice, was offered to God to secure his approbation and support. 2. The victim was then exactly divided from the nose to the rump; the spinal marrow being divided longitudinally, in the most careful manner, that the half of it might remain on each side. 3. The divided parts were laid opposite to each other, a passage being left between them. 4. The contracting parties entered this passage at each end, met in the middle, and there took the covenant oath; adjudging themselves to death should they break this covenant. 5. Then they both feasted on the victim." A. Clarke, on Gen. xv. 17. and Jer, xxxiv. 18. Dr. Wall. Burder, O. C. 774. Jer. xxxvii. 11-16.

† Jer. xxxiv. 13-22.

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