11 [As] the partridge sitteth on [eggs] it hath not laid, [so] is he that getteth riches and not by right: in the midst of his days shall he leave them, and at his end shall be a fool.
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt; or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he have begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go away again as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind?
Shall not all these take up a proverb about him, and a taunting riddle against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? -- and to him that loadeth himself with pledges! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and they awake up that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the rest of the peoples shall plunder thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence [done] to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein. Woe to him that getteth iniquitous gain to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the grasp of evil! Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thine own soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by unrighteousness!
Your gold and silver is eaten away, and their canker shall be for a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have heaped up treasure in [the] last days. Behold, the wages of your labourers, who have harvested your fields, wrongfully kept back by you, cry, and the cries of those that have reaped are entered into the ears of [the] Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived luxuriously on the earth and indulged yourselves; ye have nourished your hearts [as] in a day of slaughter;
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away; and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth presents, and hunteth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, and the cause of the widow cometh not unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.
As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and have enriched themselves. They are become fat, they shine, yea, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not adjudge.
In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast overreached thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah. And behold, I have smitten mine hand at thine overreaching which thou hast done, and at thy bloodshed which hath been in the midst of thee.
[He is] a merchant, balances of deceit are in his hand; he loveth to oppress. And Ephraim saith, Nevertheless I am become rich, I have found me out substance; in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
Hear this, ye that pant after the needy, even to cause to fail the poor of the land, saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances for deceit: that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.
And these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its possessors.
Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure [which is] abominable? Shall I be pure with the unjust balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew loving-kindness and mercies one to another, and oppress not the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the afflicted; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear. And they made their heart [as] an adamant, that they should not hear the law, and the words that Jehovah of hosts sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets: therefore was there great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. And it came to pass, like as he called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 17
Commentary on Jeremiah 17 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Judah's sin is ineffaceably stamped upon the hearts of the people and on their altars. These four verses are closely connected with the preceding, and show why it is necessary that Judah be cast forth amidst the heathen, by reason of its being perfectly stepped in idolatry. Jeremiah 17:1. "The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with the point of a diamond graven on the table of their hearts and on the horns of your altars. Jeremiah 17:2 . As they remember their children, so do they their altars and their Astartes by the green tree upon the high hills. Jeremiah 17:3 . My mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures give I for a prey, thy high places for sin in all thy borders. Jeremiah 17:4 . And thou shalt discontinue, and that of thine own self, from thine inheritance that I gave thee, and I cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in mine anger, for ever it burneth."