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Their tongue is as an arrow shet out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait.

Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth, and is burned up like a wilderness,that none passeth through?

And the LORD saith, Because they have forsakenmy law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them :

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the Gọn af Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them,

Thus saith the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD, which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Hear ye, and give ear, be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

Give glory to the LORD your GOD, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

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But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep cret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.

Say unto the king, and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.

Then said I, Ah, LORD GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people; cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth: then thou shalt tell them,

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Thus saith the LORD, such as are for death, to death, and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine, and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.

And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay; and the dogs to tear; and the fowls of the heaven and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy; and I will cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

Jehoahaz was not the rightful heir to the crown, for he was not chosen by the LORD, but elected by the people. He soon discovered his propensity to wickedness, and the prophet Jeremiah continued his admonitions.

"In the extract from his writings, which make the principal part of this section, the prophet exhorts his countrymen to amend their lives, without which, he tells them, their confidence in the Temple is vain, and their trust in sacrifices, without obedience, of no avail. GOD's threatenings are then repeated in a variety of terms. An awful message is sent to the royal family in particular; and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in general. The prophet pleading for the people complains of false prophets. To this GOD replies, that no intercession could now divert him from his purpose of pu nishing so wicked a people."

This section should be received as an admonition by all nations, who are in covenant with the LORD; for he is no respecter of persons. It concerns Christians as well as Jews, for, alas! the same vices, if we except open idolatry, prevail amongst the latter, as were practised by the former; though they are not yet arrived at such a pitch of general corruption. This prophecy plainly intimates, that an obstinate perseverance in wickedness

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wickedness will at length exclude, even the most fayoured nations, from divine grace: no intercession can then prevail in their behalf. The day of grace once past, will never return to any nation, so as to preserve it from destruction, when the measure of its iniquity is full,

SECTION XVI.

JEHOAHAZ DEPOSED-JEHOIAKIM

JUDAH.

MADE KING OF

From 2 Kings, Chap. xxiii.-2 Chron. Chap. xxxvi.

AND Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt put down Jehoahaz, when he had reigned three months in Jerusalem, and put him in bands at Riblah, that he might not reign, and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

And Pharoah-Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt and died there.

And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh ; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto PharaohNecho.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

Before Jehoahaz had an opportunity of committing many impious acts, Pharaoh-Necho, having taken Carchemish, a great city belonging to the Babylonians, was returning towards Egypt, when hearing that Jehoahaz was made king of Judah, without his concurrence, and

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probably that he was in arms against him, made him captive, placed his brother on the throne, and rendered the people of Judah tributary to him. This last circumstance was very humiliating, but it was only the beginning of sorrows; greater calamities were yet in store for this rebellious land.

In the third year of Jehoiakim, Nabopolasser, king of Babylon, finding that on Pharaoh-Necho's taking Carchemish, all Syria and Palestine had revolted to him, and being, on account of his age and infirmities, unable to march thither to reduce them, he made Nebuchadnezzar his son his associate in the empire, and sent him with an army into those parts.

SECTION XVII.

THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM
KING OF JUDAH.

From 2 Kings, Chap. xxiii.-2 Chron. Chap. xxxvi.

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JEHOLAKIM was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Stand in the court of the LORD's house and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them ; diminish not a word.

If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them, because of the evil of their doings.

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