13 They have sown wheat, and they reap thorns; they have put themselves to pain, [and] do not profit. Be ye therefore ashamed of your revenues, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall devour it.
Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and new wine, but shalt not drink wine.
I also will do this unto you -- I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and fever, which shall cause the eyes to fail, and the soul to waste away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
and the peaceable enclosures shall be desolated, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah. He hath forsaken his covert as a young lion; for their land is a desolation because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, who take counsel, but not of me, and who make leagues, but not by my Spirit, that they may heap sin upon sin; who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked of my mouth, -- to take refuge under the protection of Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt! For to you the protection of Pharaoh shall be a shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt a confusion. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people [that] did not profit them, nor were a help or profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. -- The burden of the beasts of the south: Through a land of trouble and anguish, whence come the lioness and lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to the people that shall not profit [them].
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and depend on horses, and confide in chariots because [they are] many, and in horsemen because they are very strong; and who look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah! But he also is wise, and he bringeth evil, and recalleth not his words; and he will arise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of workers of iniquity. And the Egyptians are men, and not ùGod, and their horses flesh, and not spirit; and Jehovah shall stretch forth his hand, and he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they all shall perish together.
Truly in vain [is salvation looked for] from the hills, [and] the multitude of mountains; truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel. But shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God.
-- before those [days] were, when one came to a heap of twenty [measures], there were but ten; when one came to the vat to draw out fifty press-measures, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the work of your hands; and ye [turned] not to me, saith Jehovah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 12
Commentary on Jeremiah 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
In this chapter we have,
Jer 12:1-6
The prophet doubts not but it would be of use to others to know what had passed between God and his soul, what temptations he had been assaulted with and how he had got over them; and therefore he here tells us,
Jer 12:7-13
The people of the Jews are here marked for ruin.
Jer 12:14-17
The prophets sometimes, in God's name, delivered messages both of judgment and mercy to the nations that bordered on the land of Israel: but here is a message to all those in general who had in their turns been one way or other injurious to God's people, had either oppressed them or triumphed in their being oppressed. Observe,