Jeremiah 16

Jeremiah 16:3

And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.

Never brag of thy descent from Abraham: no; thou hast so utterly degenerated from the faith and obedience of that holy patriarch, that thou hast justly forfeited all thy claim of him: rather thy birth and thy nativity may and must be derived from those Canaanites, into whose corrupt manners thou art declined; and so art thou incorporated into their wicked corruptions, as if thy father were an Amorite, thy mother a Hittite, neither of them of the chosen and holy seed.

Jeremiah 16:4

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

And in how miserable a condition I found thee, all the world knoweth; even utterly languishing under the Egyptian servitude: so as thy case was no less desperate than that of a new-born child, whose navel is not cut, and to whom the midwife performeth not these offices, which are necessary for the first entrance and entertainment in the world.

Jeremiah 16:5

None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

No eye pitied thee, or was inclined to shew thee any mercy, or do thee any favour at all; yea rather thou wert hated and despised by thy hosts and neighbours of Egypt; and wert left forlorn to the cruelty, and scorn, and intolerable oppression of those thy tyrannical persecutors.

Jeremiah 16:6

Neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

There shall be nobody left in the land, to make any passionate expressions of their mourning for them, being dead: so as to cut their flesh, or to shave their hair; either to wound or deform themselves, for their sakes.

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.

And when, looking down from heaven, I saw thee in this woeful and loathsome plight, given up by the world as lost, I then took compassion on thee, and even then, in thine utmost extremity, determined thy preservation, and said, Yet Israel shall live.

Jeremiah 16:7

Neither shall any (as in the margin) break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

Neither shall there be any left, to make funeral feasts for them, to comfort them in their mournings for the dead; neither shall they, as the manner is in those feasts, give them the cup of consolation, to drink down their sorrow for the deceased.

And thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

I have so blessed thee, that thou not only enjoyest life, but, withal, art plentifully stored with those favours and benefits, which serve for pleasure and ornament; and thou art now grown to a great perfection of knowledge and profession, whereas before thou wert utterly destitute of all good things.

Jeremiah 16:8

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, the time was the time of love: and I spread my skirt over thee, &c.

And now, when thou wert thus beautified by my graces and favours, I began to cast my affection upon thee, as that Church, whom I would espouse to myself; and, immediately, professed myself to be thy Spiritual Husband; contracting myself unto thee by a firm covenant, mutually passed betwixt us; and thou becamest my peculiar people.

Jeremiah 16:9

Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

Then I sanctified thee from thy natural corruptions, and cleansed thee from thy sins, and gave thee the anointing of my Spirit.

Jeremiah 16:10

I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger’s skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered, &c.

And decked thee with all those varieties of graces and virtues, which I plentifully communicated unto thee. So also verse 11, 12, and part of 13.

Jeremiah 16:13

Thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

I did not only make outward provisions for thee, but I fed

Jeremiah 16:14

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

The days come, wherein God shall not so much be celebrated, by the memory of his deliverance of his people out of Egypt, which was long since done;

Jeremiah 16:15

But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them.

As by the fresh remembrance of the great mercy, that he hath wrought for his people the Jews, in bringing them back from their captivity in Babylon, and all those lands whither they were driven.

Jeremiah 16:16

Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

But, in the meantime, their desolation shall be grievous and universal: I will call for the Chaldeans, which shall be as so many fishers, to drag them out of their good land; and as so many hunters, to chase them from their homes, and to drive them from all their refuges.

Jeremiah 16:18

Because they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.

They have pestered and defiled this land, which I chose for my inheritance, with the carcasses of their abominable sacrifices, which they have made to their idols; and with those very shameful idols, to which they have sacrificed.

Jeremiah 16:20

Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

He, that is man and not God, shall he be able to make gods? shall that power, which is finite and weak, take upon him to make that which is infinite?

Jeremiah 16:21

Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know my hand and my might; &c.

Therefore, I will, with this one judgment, convince them of my might and omnipotence; and they shall know, that there is no Lord, no God beside me.