24 Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? saith Jehovah.
The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Woe unto them that hide deep, far from Jehovah, their counsel! And their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy countenance.
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to the heavens, thence will I bring them down; and though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them;
Thus saith Jehovah: The heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what is the house that ye will build unto me? and what is the place of my rest?
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy [place], and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
And if I say, Surely darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night; Even darkness hideth not from thee, and the night shineth as the day: the darkness is as the light. For thou hast possessed my reins; thou didst cover me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully, wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well. My bones were not hidden from thee when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in thy book all [my members] were written; [during many] days were they fashioned, when [as yet] there was none of them.
He saith in his heart, ùGod hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see [it].
which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all:
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the army of the heavens, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
And he said unto me, Hast thou seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.
But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, that he is unable to hide himself: his seed is wasted, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.
There are those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer riseth with the light, killeth the afflicted and needy, and in the night is as a thief. And the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me; and he putteth a covering on [his] face. In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in; they know not the light:
But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? And who am I that I should build him a house, except to burn sacrifice before him?
But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 23
Commentary on Jeremiah 23 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 23
In this chapter the prophet, in God's name, is dealing his reproofs and threatenings,
When all have thus corrupted their way they must all expect to be told faithfully of it.
Jer 23:1-8
Jer 23:9-32
Here is a long lesson for the false prophets. As none were more bitter and spiteful against God's true prophets than they, so there were none on whom the true prophets were more severe, and justly. The prophet had complained to God of those false prophets (ch. 14:13), and had often foretold that they should be involved in the common ruin; but here they have woes of their own.
Jer 23:33-40
The profaneness of the people, with that of the priests and prophets, is here reproved in a particular instance, which may seem of small moment in comparison of their greater crimes; but profaneness in common discourse, and the debauching of the language of a nation, being a notorious evidence of the prevalency of wickedness in it, we are not to think it strange that this matter was so largely and warmly insisted upon here. Observe,