Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations - Volume 2

1The sin of Judah is written With a pen of iron, with the point of adamant, It is graven on the tablet of their hearts, And on the horns of your altars:

2For their children remember Their altars and their groves, Under the shady tree, on high hills.

3Dweller on mountains! in the field will I give for spoil Thy wealth andall thy treasures, Because of thy high places, Because of thy sin in all thy borders:

4And dismissed shalt thou be, even thyself, From thine inheritance which I gave thee; And I will make thee to serve thine enemies In a land which thou knowest not; For ye have kindled a fire in my wrath, Perpetually shall it burn. (2:342)

5Thus saith Jehovah, — Cursed isthe man who trusts in man, And makes flesh his arm, And whose heart turns away from Jehovah:

6And he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, And shall dwell in dryness in the desert, In the land of salt and not inhabited.

7Blessed isthe man who trusts in Jehovah, And whose hope Jehovah is:

8And he shall be like a tree, That isplanted near waters, And nigh the stream sends its roots, And shall not see when heat comes; And green shall be its leaf, And in the year of drought it shall not fear, Nor cease from bringing forth fruit. (2:347)

9Insidious is the heart above all things, And vicious, — who can know it?

10I Jehovah, who search the heart And try the reins, to give to every one, According to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. (2:354)

11A partridge, which gathers and produces not, Ishe who gains riches, and not by right; In the midst of his days he leaves them, And at his end he is nothing.

12A high throne of glory, from the beginning, Is the place of our sanctuary.

13The hope of Israel art thou,Jehovah; All who thee forsake shall be ashamed: They who turn aside shall on the earth be written; For they have forsaken The fountain of living waters, even Jehovah.

14Heal me, O Jehovah, And I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For my praise art thou.

15Behold they say to me, — “Where is the word of Jehovah? let it now come.”

16But I hastened not to be a pastor following thee, And the day of grief I desired not, thou knowest: What went forth from my lips, Before thy face has it been.

17Be not to me a terror; My protector artthou in the day of evil.

18Ashamed let them be who persecute me, And let not me be ashamed; Terrified let them be, And let not me be terrified: Bring upon them the day of evil, And with a double breach break them.

19Thus said Jehovah to me, — Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah enter, and through which they go

20out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; and say to them, — Hear the words of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter in through these

21gates, Thus saith Jehovah, — Take heed to yourselves, And bring not a burden on the Sabbath-day, Yea, bring it not through the gates of Jerusalem;

22Nor bring a burden from your houses On the Sabbath-day, nor do any work, But sanctify the Sabbath-day, As I commanded your fathers;

23Though they heard not nor inclined their ear, But hardened their neck, So as not to hear nor receive correction:

24And it shall be, if by hearing Ye will hear me, saith Jehovah, So as not to bring a burden Through the gates of the city on the Sabbath-day, And if ye sanctify the Sabbath-day By doing on it no work;

25Then shall enter through the gates of this city Kings and princes, sitting on David’s throne, Riding in chariots and on horses, They and their princes, the men of Judah And the inhabitants of Jerusalem, And inhabited shall be this city perpetually:

26And come shall they from the cities of Judah, And from the circuits of Jerusalem, And from the land of Benjamin, And from the plain, and the mountain, and the south, Bringing burnt-offering and sacrifice, And oblation and incense, And bringing praise, to the house of Jehovah. (2:388)

27But if ye will not hearken to me, So as to sanctify the Sabbath-day, And not to bring a burden, nor enter Through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day; Then will I kindle a fire in its gates, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, And it shall not be extinguished.