5 Then the prophet Jeremiah faid unto the prophet Hananiah in the prefence of the priests, and in the prefence of all the people that ftood in the house of the 6 LORD, Even the prophet Jeremiah faid, Amen: the LORD do fo: the LORD perform thy words which thou haft prophefied, to bring again the veffels of the LORD's houfe, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place; tho' I have prophefied evil, I heartily wish the good of my country, and that God would 7 revoke the fentence of ruin which I have pronounced. Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine 8 ears, and in the ears of all the people; The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophefied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of peftilence; yea, many of the jewish prophets foretold the deftruction of their city and country, and it came to pass; therefore I may be a 9 true prophet, tho' I foretell evil. The prophet which prophefieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pafs, [then] fhall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly fent him; the event will prove whether I speak truth or thou.

Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off II the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake in the prefence of all the people, faying, Thus faith the LORD; Even fo will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the fpace of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way, having no directions from the Lord what reply to make.

12

Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah [the prophet,] after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jere13 miah, faying, Go and tell Hananiah, laying, Thus faith the LORD; Thou haft broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron; the more they refift Nebuchadnezzar, the more power he shall have over them; they shall bring more confufion into their affairs, and fuffer more from him. He then renews the former 14 prophecy in ftronger terms. For thus faith the LORD of

hosts,

15

upon

hofts, the God of Ifrael; I have put a yoke of iron. the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they fhall serve him and I have given him the beafts of the field also.

Then faid the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; the LORD hath not fent thee; but thou makeft this people to truft in a lie; thou hast taught the people to disbelieve his word, and rebel 16 against his commandments. Therefore thus faith the

LORD; Behold, I will caft thee from off the face of the earth this year thou fhalt die, because thou hast 17 taught rebellion against the LORD. So Hananiah the prophet died the fame year in the fseventh month, just two months after his prophecy. He had limited the return of feconiah and the veffels to two years, that the people might more readily believe him; Jeremiah confined the evidence of his falsehood to one year; and two months confirmed it.

I.

FA

REFLECTION S.

AITHFUL minifters heartily with the welfare of finners, tho' they denounce evil against them, v. 7. Jeremiah fincerely defired the profperity of his country, and that God would revoke the dreadful meffage fent by him, tho' they had hated and perfecuted him. Thus chriftian minifters, who are faithful to their trust, defire the happiness of the worst of men, tho' they threaten them with the wrath to come; yea, bear them more good will than those who only prophefy fmooth things, and are therefore more agreeable to them. They fay no more than Chrift and his apoftles, and the minifters before them, have faid, concerning the evil of fin, and the wrath of God against it: they do not love to terrify and alarm; it gives them pain to do it. But they are compelled by fidelity to God and love to fouls: and their hearers should always confider their admonitions in this light.

2. Let us obferve and adore the judgment of God upon this infamous liar. What a prefumptuous wretch was

Hananiah,

4

Hananiah, to declare that God had fent him, when he had not; and to teach the people rebellion against God in his name! All liars are abominable to the God of truth; efpecially those who falfify his word, and father their lies upon him. Those who encourage finners in an evil way, who tell them that they fhall have peace, bid them not mind what God's minifters fay, and thus make them trust in a lie, are the worst and vileft of finners. May we avoid and abhor all lying and deceit; efpecially where the fouls of men are concerned; for all liars, and particularly fuch as thefe, fhall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire.

3. How great is the ftupidity and hardness of those finners, who will not be alarmed by the word or the judgments of God. Thefe extraordinary predictions were delivered in the prefence of the priests and all the people; and when they faw Hananiah fo awfully convicted of being a false prophet by his death, one would have expected that fuch a providence would have awakened them to attend to Jeremiah's meffage, and comply with his admonitions. It is ftrange also that the predictions fhould have had no effect on Hananiah himself, who knew in his confcience that he was speaking lies in God's name; yet both he and the people continued obftinate, and Jeremiah's words all came true in their deftruction. So dreadfully doth fin ftupify and befot the human mind. This fhould teach us to pay a ferious regard to God's word; and excite our earneft prayers that he would deliver us from hardness of heart.

CHA P. XXIX.

Contains Feremiah's letter to the captives in Babylon; and the fearful end of Ahab and Zedekiah, two lying prophets. I OW thefe [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet fent from Jerufalem unto the refidue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the false prophets,

'N°

and

and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had car2 ried away captive from Jerufalem to Babylon; (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerufalem, and the carpenters, and the fmiths, were departed from Jeru3 falem;) By the hand of Elafah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the fon of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah fent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to renew his promife of fidelity, and to 4 pay his tribute,) faying, Thus faith the LORD of hosts, the God of Ifrael, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerufalem unto Babylon; a message that implied encouragement, as it was an evidence that God had not caft 5 them off; Build ye houses, and dwell [in them;] and 6 plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget fons and daughters; and take wives for your fons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear fons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished; think not of a Speedy return, but accommodate yourselves to your condition, and make no attempts to shake off the yoke: confider Babylon as your country, and endeavour to be happy there. 7 And feek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, by your loyalty and fubmiffion, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof fhall ye have peace.

8

For thus faith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that [be] in the midst of you, deceive you, for if you expect foon to return you will not take pains to make your fettlements comfortable, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed, encouraging them to foretell thefe things, 9 because ye love to hear them. For they prophefy falfely unto you in my name: 1 have not fent them, faith the LORD.

10. For

It is to be remembered, that these Ifraelites were not abfolute flaves, but were fettled as a colony to cultivate fome particular part of the country; as the ten tribes and other conquered nations were, whom they brought to their land: this was wile policy, to keep them in fubjection.

10

For thus faith the LORD, that after feventy years be accomplished at Babylon, at the very inftant of, or immediately upon, the completion of feventy years, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in cauf11 ing you or your pofterity to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, faith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, tho' I feem to have caft you off, to give you an expected end, such as 12 you look for and defire. Then fhall ye call upon me, and ye fhall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto And ye shall seek me, and find [me,] when ye fhall fearch for me with all your heart; I will stir up a Spirit of prayer among you; ye shall call upon me, and I will answer you, according to the promises of the law, 14 Deut. iv. 29. And I will be found of you, faith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, faith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caufed you to be carried away captive.

13 you. And

15

Because ye have faid, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon, who have foretold different things 16 from what Jeremiah foretold; [Know] that thus faith the LORD of the king that fitteth upon the throne of David, that is, Zedekiah, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, [and] of your brethren that are not gone forth 17 with you into captivity; Thus faith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will fend upon them the fword, the famine, and the peftilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are fo evil; they fhall come to you, and not you to them, and fall perish among you. 18 And I will perfecute them with the fword, with the famine, and with the peftilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an aftonishment, and an hiffing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven 19 them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, faith the LORD, which I fent unto them by my fervants the

z This verfe feems to be tranfpofed, it fhould have come in

after v. 20.