47 the land, ruler againft ruler." Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land fhall be confounded, and all her flain fhall fall in the midft of her. 48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that [is] therein, fhall fing for Babylon: for the fpoilers fhall come 49 unto her from the north, faith the LORD. As Baby

lon [hath caufed] the flain of Ifrael to fall, fo at Baby50 lon fhall fall the flain of all the earth. Ye that have efcaped the fword, go away, ftand not ftill: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerufalem come into your mind; think not of Babylon, but return to Jerufalem. 51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: fhame hath covered our faces: for ftrangers are come into the fanctuaries of the LORD's houfe; it is a reproach to us that the fanctuary fhould continue waste, when 52 we may go and rebuild it. Wherefore, behold, the days come faith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the 53 wounded fhall groan. Though Babylon fhould mount up to heaven, and though the fhould fortify the height of her ftrength, [yet] from me fhall spoilers come unto 54 her, faith the LORD. A found of a cry [cometh] from

Babylon, and great deftruction from the land of the 55 Chaldeans: Because the LORD hath fpoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noife of their voice is 56 uttered: Because the spoiler is come upon her, [even]

upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of 57 recompenfes fhall furely requite. And I will make drunk her princes, and her wife [men,] her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they fhall fleep a perpetual fleep, and not wake, faith the King, 58 whofe name [is] the LORD of hosts. Thus faith the LORD of hofts; The broad walls of Babylon fhall be utterly broken, and her high gates fhall be burned with

fire,

When war began in the country, in the first year Belfhazzar's army was beaten, in the fecond year the city was besieged, and in the third year it was taken.

59

fire, tho' the walls are fifty feet broad, and three hundred feet high, full of towers and strong brazen gates; and the people fhall labour in vain to fave themjelves, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the fon of Neriah, the fon of Maafeiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And [this] Seraiah [was] a quiet prince; or rather, the chief chamberlain, who was charged with fome prefent or tribute to the king of 60 Babylon. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that

fhould come upon Babylon, [even] all these words 61 [that are] written against Babylon. And Jeremiah faid to Seraiah, When thou comeft to Babylon, and fhalt fee, and fhalt read all these words to the captive 62 jews Then fhalt thou fay, O LORD, thou haft spoken againft this place, to cut it off, that none fhall remain in it, neither man nor beaft, but that it fhall be defolate 63 for ever. And it shall be, when thou haft made an end

of reading this book, [that] thou fhalt bind a ftone to 64 it, and caft it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou fhalt fay, Thus fhall Babylon fink, and fhall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they fhall be weary; they shall not fucceed, whatever attempts they may make for their fafety. Thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah.

REFLECTION S.

OD's wonderful appearances for a people ought to be acknowledged in the publick affembly, V. IO. Those benefits in which many fhare, ought to be owned with united hearts and tongues, especially the bleffings of peace and national profperity.

2. It becomes us to concern ourselves in the interests of the church; to have Jerufalem in our mind, tho' at a distance from it. Whether in profperity, or in trouble, ftill the concerns of the church fhould affect our hearts ; and we should feek the things of Jefus Chrift.

3. When we are hearing the declarations of God's word,

we

we ought to acknowledge the truth and juftice of them, v. 62. Babylon was now flourishing, its strength and populousness made it unlikely that it fhould be taken and deftroyed; but Seraiah is directed to own, after reading the predictions against it, that they were God's declarations, and would certainly be fulfilled; and thus fhould we acknowledge, O Lord, thy words are true, thy judgments are right.

4.

The accomplishment of this prophecy should confirm our faith in the downfall of myftical Babylon,, the church of Rome; which is defcribed in images like thefe; the mother of harlots, the feat of idolatry and perfecution. Many paffages in the Revelations are taken from this chapter; particularly the angel taking a milftone and cafting it into the fea, is an allufion to the prophet's cafting the book into Euphrates; and we may reft affured that it fhall be fulfilled in its feafon. Let us pray for its accomplishment; and in the mean time, as God hath granted us deliverance from Babylon, let us declare in Zion the works of the Lord.

CHA P. LII.

This historical chapter was added by fome other hand, probably by Ezra, after Jeremiah's time, to throw light upon the prophecies of this book, and to illuftrate the Lamentations, which follow. It contains an account of Zedekiah's rebellion; of the Siege and taking of Jerufalem; of Zedekiah's fons being killed, and his own eyes put out; and of the city being spoiled and burned.

I

EDEKIAH [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned elever years in Jerufalem. And his mother's name [was 2 Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, And he did [that which was] evil in the eyes of the LORD, 3 according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the LORD it came to pafs in Jerufalem an Judah, till he had cast them out from his prefence, the prefence of his providence in the land, and of his grace in the

temples

4

temple, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

And it came to pafs in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, [that] Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerufalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about, to prevent relief 5 and to batter the city. So the city was befieged unto the 6 eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And in the fourth month, in the ninth [day] of the month, the famine was fore in the city, fo that there was no bread for the people of the land, many having fled out of the country 7 into it. Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which [was] by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans [were] by the city round about :) and they went by the way of the plain.

But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; 9 and all his army was fcattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave ro judgment upon him as a rebel. And the king of Babylon flew the fons, the young children, of Zedekiah before his eyes: he flew alfo all the princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prifon till the day of his death.

12

Now in the fifth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, which [was] the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar adan, captain of the guard, [which] ferved the king of Babylon, into 13 Jerufalem, And burned the houfe of the LORD, and the king's houfe; and all the houfes of Jerufalem, and all the houses of the great [men,] burned he with fire; the temple having been spared when the city was taken, a

cruel

* We have a dreadful defcription of this in the book of the Lamentations.

cruel refolution was formed a month afterwards to destroy 14 both it and the city: And all the army of the Chaldeans, that [were] with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerufalem round about, that it might 15 make no further refiftance. Then Nebuzar adan the captain of the guard carried away captive [certain] of the poor of the people, and the refidue of the people that remained in the city, and thofe that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the reft of the multitude. 16 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left [certain] of the poor of the land for vine dreffers and for

17

husbandmen.

Alfo the pillars of brass that [were] in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brazen fea that [was] in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and 18 carried all the brafs of them to Babylon. The cal

drons alfo, and the fhovels, and the fnuffers, and the bowls, and the fpoons, and all the veffels of brafs 19 wherewith they miniftered, took they away. And the bafons, and the fire pans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the fpoons, and the cups; [that] which [was] of gold [in] gold, and [that] which [was] of filver [in] filver, took the cap20 tain of the guard away. The two pillars, one fea, and twelve brazen bulls that [were] under the bafes, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the 21 brass of all these vessels was without weight. And [concerning] the pillars, the height of one pillar [was] eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compafs it; and the thickness thereof [was] four fingers: 22 [it was] hollow. And a chapiter of brafs [was] upon it; and the height of one chapiter [was] five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all [of] brafs. The fecond pillar alfo and 23 the pomegranates [were] like unto thefe. And there were ninety and fix pomegranates on a fide; [and] all the pomegranates upon the network [were] an hundred round about.

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And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief prieft,