John Wesley

He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not!

“'Tis plural, bloods; both the blood of the innocent which he murdered, and his own blood which thereby he forfeited; the blood of his own soul and life: that is the whole blame of his misery in time and eternity, shall lie upon himself.”

and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.

“Mother - The land of Judea, and Jerusalem, the chief city of it, the royal family of David. Lioness - Tho' chosen of God to execute justice; yet they soon degenerated into the fierce and ravening nature of the lioness.”

She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men.

“Brought up - Advanced, caused him to take the throne after the slaughter of Josiah. One - Jehoahaz the second son of Josiah. Became - Soon shewed his fierce, cruel, and bloody disposition.”

He prowled among the lions, and became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men.

“Went up - He continued eleven years on the throne; whereas Jehoahaz was taken as soon as he first ventured out. The lions - Heathen kings, with whom he entered into leagues.”

Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

“She - A few of the branches of the last pruning. In the wilderness - Tho' Babylon was in a very fruitful place, yet the cruelty of the Babylonians, made it to the Jews as terrible as a wilderness.”

Fire has gone out from its main branch and devoured its fruit; on it no strong branch remains fit for a ruler’s scepter.’

“Fire - The fire of rebellion, kindled by Zedekiah, who is of the blood-royal. No strong rod - The regal dignity is ceased.”

Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live…

“In the wilderness - Where they most needed my care and favour; where the preserving their life from destruction by the noxious creatures, and from famine by the barrenness of the wilderness, was a continued miracle.”

I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.

“Wherefore - Because they rejected my good laws and judgments. I gave them - Not by enjoining, but by permitting them to make such for themselves. Not good - That were pernicious to the users.”

For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land.

“Of the height - Sion, tho' lower than many other hills, yet was above them all for God's peculiar presence. In the land - Their own land.”

and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the…

“The righteous - It is no unusual thing, that in publick calamities, those who are indeed righteous should be involved with others.”

it is sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son? The sword despises every such stick.

“Of my son - To whom God saith, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Psalm ii, 9. This sword is that rod of iron, which despiseth every tree, and will bear it down.”

“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land.

“Appoint - Paint, or describe them on a tile. One land - That is, Babylon. Chuse - Pitch on some convenient place, where thou mayest place Nebuchadnezzar's army, consulting where this one way divides into two, which was on the edge of the desert of…”

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds—because you…

“Your transgressions - Against God, and against the king of Babylon. Discovered - To all in court, city, and country. With the hand - As birds, or beasts in the net, are taken with the hands, so shall you, and be carried into Babylon.”

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted.

“The diadem - The royal attire of the head, which the king daily wore. Shall not be the same - The kingdom shall never be what it hath been. Him that is low - Jeconiah.”

A ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin! And it will not be restored until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs, to whom I have assigned…

“Shall be no more - Never recover its former glory, 'till the scepter be quite taken away from Judah, and way be made for the Messiah. He hath an incontestable right to the dominion both in the church and in the world.”

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of…

“Dross - Utterly degenerate, and base metal. The furnace - The afflictions I have laid upon them have not bettered them. The dross - While they loved mercy, did justly, walked humbly with their God, they were as silver; now they are but dross.”

“Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’

“Her - The land of Israel. Not cleansed - Though God's judgments have been as violent floods; and as hottest fires. Nor rained upon - Yet neither thy filth hath been carried away, nor thy dross melted out of thee.”

The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey.

“A conspiracy - A contrivance, to speak all alike, smooth words, and give out promises of peace and safety. The treasure - As a reward of their lies.”

Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean…

“My holy things - Sacrifices, and oblations. Put no difference - Neither have they in their practice, differenced holy and profane, nor in their teaching acquainted the people with the difference, nor in the exercise of their authority, separated the profane from the holy, either…”

The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters.

“Aholibah - That is, my tabernacle in her: the two tribes had the temple of God with them. Mine - By solemn marriage-covenant.”

They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and put her to the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgment against her.

“Discovered - Stript her naked, and exposed her to shame. Took her sons - Captives. Slew her - The kingdom of Israel, under Hoshea, was by Salmanesar utterly destroyed.”

the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them—all desirable young men, governors and commanders, officers and men of renown…

“Pekod - Pekod is the province between Tigris, and Lycus; in this was old Nineveh. Shoa - Either Sia in Armenia, or the Sohia, among which were the Adiabeni, and this contained the middle part of the kingdom of Babylon.”

They will come against you with a host of peoples, with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will array themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet.

“I will set - Give them a power in right of conquest over their rebels, as well as mine, and I will give them a spirit of judgment to discern the greatness of this people's sins. Judge - Condemn, and execute sentence upon thee.”

Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece—thigh and shoulder—fill it with choice bones.

“Fill it - With those pieces that are biggest, fullest of marrow, and which are divided according to the bones; these are the principal members of the state, the king, princes, priests, magistrates, and the most wealthy citizens.”

Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’

“The bones - Not of the pieces to be boiled, but of the many innocents murdered in Jerusalem; for their blood crieth for vengeance, and their bones scattered on the face of the earth, will both make and maintain this fire.”