3 It may be the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, then I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And thou, son of man, prepare thee a captive's baggage, and go captive by day in their sight; and thou shalt go captive from thy place to another place in their sight. It may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.
It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and that they will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people.
and shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy sons, with all thy heart and with all thy soul;
And I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them; and ye shall dwell in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear nor hearkened unto me.
But thou shalt return and hearken to the voice of Jehovah, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If ye return to Jehovah with all your heart, put away the strange gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and apply your hearts unto Jehovah, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
that beholding they may behold and not see, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest it may be, they should be converted and they should be forgiven.
Repent therefore and be converted, for the blotting out of your sins, so that times of refreshing may come from [the] presence of the Lord,
[The] Lord does not delay his promise, as some account of delay, but is longsuffering towards you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
in meekness setting right those who oppose, if God perhaps may sometime give them repentance to acknowledgment of [the] truth, and that they may awake up out of the snare of the devil, [who are] taken by him, for *his* will.
but have, first to those both in Damascus and Jerusalem, and to all the region of Judaea, and to the nations, announced that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness which he hath committed, and doeth judgment and justice, he shall keep his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth from all his transgressions which he hath committed, he shall certainly live, he shall not die.
and if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city that thou hast chosen, and the house that I have built unto thy name; then hear thou in the heavens, the settled place of thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their right; and forgive thy people their sin against thee, and all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against thee, and give them to find compassion with those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them
and if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city that thou hast chosen, and the house that I have built unto thy name; then hear thou from the heavens, from the settled place of thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their right, and forgive thy people their sin against thee.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and healed.
Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
And in the prophets of Jerusalem have I seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in falsehood, and strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none doth return from his wickedness. They are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Have I any pleasure at all in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord Jehovah; is it not in his turning from his way, that he may live?
So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, Wicked [man], thou shalt certainly die; and thou speakest not to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. But if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
And when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die, and he turneth from his sin, and doeth judgment and justice; if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, doing nothing that is wrong; he shall certainly live, he shall not die. None of his sins which he hath committed shall be remembered against him: he hath done judgment and justice; he shall certainly live.
and let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; and let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knoweth but that God will turn and repent, and will turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them, and he did [it] not.
Seek Jehovah, all ye meek of the land, who have performed his ordinance; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger.
But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce therefore fruit worthy of repentance. And do not think to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for [our] father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
He said therefore to the crowds which went out to be baptised by him, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce therefore fruits worthy of repentance; and begin not to say in yourselves, We have Abraham for [our] father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And already also the axe is applied to the root of the trees; every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into [the] fire.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 36
Commentary on Jeremiah 36 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 36
Here is another expedient tried to work upon this heedless and untoward people, but it is tried in vain. A roll of a book is provided, containing an abstract or abridgment of all the sermons that Jeremiah had preached to them, that they might be put in mind of what they had heard and might the better understand it, when they had it all before them at one view. Now here we have,
Jer 36:1-8
In the beginning of Ezekiel's prophecy we meet with a roll written in vision, for discovery of the things therein contained to the prophet himself, who was to receive and digest them, Eze. 2:9, 10; 3:1. Here, in the latter end of Jeremiah's prophecy, we meet with a roll written in fact, for discovery of the things contained therein to the people, who were to hear and give heed to them; for the written word and other good books are of great use both to ministers and people. We have here,
Jer 36:9-19
It should seem that Baruch had been frequently reading out of the book, to all companies that would give him the hearing, before the most solemn reading of it altogether which is here spoken of; for the directions were given about it in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, whereas this was done in the fifth year, v. 9. But some think that the writing of the book fairly over took up so much time that it was another year ere it was perfected; and yet perhaps it might not be past a month or two; he might begin in the latter end of the fourth year and finish it in the beginning of the fifth, for thee ninth month refers to the computation of the year in general, not to the year of that reign. Now observe here,
Jer 36:20-32
We have traced the roll to the people, and to the princes, and here we are to follow it to the king; and we find,