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Jeremiah 45:3 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

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3 Thou didst say, Woe unto me! for Jehovah hath added grief to my sorrow; I am weary with my sighing, and I find no rest.

Cross Reference

Hebrews 12:3-5 DARBY

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For consider well him who endured so great contradiction from sinners against himself, that ye be not weary, fainting in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, wrestling against sin. And ye have quite forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, despise not [the] chastening of [the] Lord, nor faint [when] reproved by him;

Lamentations 3:1-19 DARBY

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I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Me hath he led, and brought into darkness, and not into light. Surely against me hath he turned again and again his hand all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he wasted away, he hath broken my bones. He hath built against me, and encompassed [me] with gall and toil. He hath made me to dwell in dark places as those that have been long dead. He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Even when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. He is unto me [as] a bear lying in wait, a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. I am become a derision to all my people; their song all the day. He hath sated me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, My strength is perished, and my hope in Jehovah. Remember thou mine affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall.

Jeremiah 20:7-18 DARBY

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Jehovah, thou hast enticed me, and I was enticed; thou hast laid hold of me, and hast prevailed; I am become a derision the whole day: every one mocketh me. For as oft as I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and spoil; for the word of Jehovah is become unto me a reproach and a derision all the day. And I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name: but it was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I became wearied with holding in, and I could not. For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side: Report, and we will report it. All my familiars are watching for my stumbling: Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him; and we shall take our revenge on him. But Jehovah is with me as a mighty terrible one; therefore my persecutors shall stumble and shall not prevail; they shall be greatly ashamed, for they have not prospered: it shall be an everlasting confusion that shall not be forgotten. And thou, Jehovah of hosts, who triest the righteous, who seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause. Sing ye unto Jehovah, praise Jehovah, for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers. Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad! And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear a cry in the morning, and a shouting at noonday, because he slew me not from the womb. Or would that my mother had been my grave, and her womb always great [with me]! Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?

Jeremiah 15:10-21 DARBY

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Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land! I have not lent on usury, nor have they lent to me on usury; [yet] every one of them doth curse me. Jehovah said, Verily I will set thee free for [thy] good; verily I will cause the enemy to meet thee kindly in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. Will iron break? iron from the north? and bronze? Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, and in all thy borders; and I will make [them] to pass with thine enemies into a land that thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger; it shall burn upon you. Jehovah, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; in thy long-suffering take me not away: know that for thy sake I bear reproach. Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy words were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor exulted: I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable? It refuseth to be healed. Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a treacherous [spring], [as] waters that fail? Therefore thus saith Jehovah: If thou return, then will I bring thee again, thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth. Let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a strong brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, to save thee and to deliver thee, saith Jehovah; yea, I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

Genesis 37:34-35 DARBY

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And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and said, For I will go down to my son into Sheol mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

Psalms 77:3-4 DARBY

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I remembered God, and I moaned; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Thou holdest open mine eyelids; I am full of disquiet and cannot speak.

Job 16:11-13 DARBY

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ùGod hath delivered me over to the iniquitous man, and hurled me into the hands of the wicked. I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. His arrows encompass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.

Joshua 7:7-9 DARBY

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And Joshua said, Alas, Lord Jehovah, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over the Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh that we had been content and had remained beyond the Jordan! Ah Lord! what shall I say after Israel have turned their backs before their enemies? When the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear [of it], they will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. And what wilt thou do unto thy great name?

Numbers 11:11-15 DARBY

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And Moses said to Jehovah, Why hast thou done evil to thy servant, and why have I not found favour in thine eyes, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people, have I brought them forth, that thou sayest to me, Carry them in thy bosom, as the nursing-father beareth the suckling, unto the land which thou didst swear unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat! I am not able to bear all this people alone, for it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, slay me, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, that I may not behold my wretchedness.

Genesis 42:36-38 DARBY

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And Jacob their father said to them, Ye have bereaved me of children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin! All these things are against me. And Reuben spoke to his father, saying, Slay my two sons if I bring him not back to thee: give him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left; and if mischief should befall him by the way in which ye go, then would ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 45

Commentary on Jeremiah 45 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill   Keil & Delitzsch   Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible  

Chapter 45

The prophecy we have in this chapter concerns Baruch only, yet is intended for the support and encouragement of all the Lord's people that serve him faithfully and keep closely to him in difficult trying times. It is placed here after the story of the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, but was delivered long before, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as was the prophecy in the next chapter, and probably those that follow. We here find,

  • I. How Baruch was terrified when he was brought into trouble for writing and reading Jeremiah's roll (v. 1-3).
  • II. How his fears were checked with a reproof for his great expectations and silenced with a promise of special preservation (v. 4, 5).

Though Baruch was only Jeremiah's scribe, yet this notice is taken of his frights, and this provision made for his comfort; for God despises not any of his servants, but graciously concerns himself for the meanest and weakest, for Baruch the scribe as well as for Jeremiah the prophet.

Jer 45:1-5

How Baruch was employed in writing Jeremiah's prophecies, and reading them, we had an account ch. 36, and how he was threatened for it by the king, warrants being out for him and he forced to abscond, and how narrowly he escaped under a divine protection, to which story this chapter should have been subjoined, but that, having reference to a private person, it is here thrown into the latter end of the book, as St. Paul's epistle to Philemon is put after his other epistles. Observe,

  • I. The consternation that poor Baruch was in when he was sought for by the king's messengers and obliged to hide his head, and the notice which God took of it. He cried out, Woe is me now! v. 3. he was a young man setting out in the world; he was well affected to the things of God, and was willing to serve God and his prophet; but, when it came to suffering, he was desirous to be excused. Being an ingenious man, and a scholar, he stood fair for preferment, and now to be driven into a corner, and in danger of a prison, or worse, was a great disappointment to him. When he read the roll publicly he hoped to gain reputation by it, that it would make him to be taken notice of and employed; but when he found that, instead of that, it exposed him to contempt, and brought him into disgrace, he cried out, "I am undone; I shall fall into the pursuers' hands, and be imprisoned, and put to death, or banished: The Lord has added grief to my sorrow, has loaded me with one trouble after another. After the grief of writing and reading the prophecies of my country's ruin, I have the sorrow of being treated as a criminal; for so doing; and, though another might make nothing of this, yet for my part I cannot bear it; it is a burden too heavy for me. I fainted in my sighing (or I am faint with my sighing; it just kills me) and I find no rest, no satisfaction in my own mind. I cannot compose myself as I should and would to bear it, not have I any prospect of relief or comfort.' Baruch was a good man, but, we must say, this was his infirmity. Note,
    • 1. Young beginners in religion, like fresh-water soldiers, are apt to be discouraged with the little difficulties which they commonly meet with at first in the service of God. They do but run with the footmen, and it wearies them; they faint upon the very dawning of the day of adversity, and it is an evidence that their strength is small (Prov. 24:10), that their faith is weak, and that they are yet but babes, who cry for every hurt and every fright.
    • 2. Some of the best and dearest of God's saints and servants, when they have seen storms rising, have been in frights, and apt to make the worst of things, and to disquiet themselves with melancholy apprehensions more than there was cause for.
    • 3. God takes notice of the frets and discontents of his people and is displeased with them. Baruch should have rejoiced that he was counted worthy to suffer in such a good cause and with such good company, but, instead of that, he is vexed at it, and blames his lot, nay, and reflects upon his God, as if he had dealt hardly with him; what he said was spoken in a heat and passion, but God was offended, as he was with Moses, who paid dearly for it, when, his spirit being provoked, he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. Thou didst say so and so, and it was not well said. God keeps account what we say, even when we speak in haste.
  • II. The reproof that God gave him for talking at this rate. Jeremiah was troubled to see him in such an agitation, and knew not well what to say to him. He was loth to chide him, and yet thought he deserved it, was willing to comfort him, and yet knew not which way to go about it; but God tells him what he shall say to him, v. 4. Jeremiah could not be certain what was at the bottom of these complaints and fear, but God sees it. They came from his corruptions. That the hurt might therefore not be healed slightly, he searches the wound, and shows him that he had raised his expectations too high in this world and had promised himself too much from it, and that made the distress and trouble he was in so very grievous to him and so hard to be borne. Note, The frowns of the world would not disquiet us as they do if we did not foolishly flatter ourselves with the hopes of its smiles and court and covet them too much. It is our over-fondness for the good things of this present time that makes us impatient under its evil things. Now God shows him that it was his fault and folly, at this time of day especially, either to desire or to look for an abundance of the wealth and honour of this world. For,
    • 1. The ship was sinking. Ruin was coming upon the Jewish nation, an utter and universal ruin: "That which I have built, to be a house for myself, I am breaking down, and that which I have planted, to be a vineyard for myself, I am plucking up, even this whole land, the Jewish church and state; and dost thou now seek great things for thyself? Dost thou expect to be rich and honourable and to make a figure now? No.'
    • 2. "It is absurd for thee to be now painting thy own cabin. Canst thou expect to be high when all are brought low, to be full when all about thee are empty?' To seek ourselves more than the public welfare, especially to seek great things to ourselves when the public is in danger, is very unbecoming Israelites. We may apply it to this world, and our state in it; God in his providence is breaking down and pulling up; every thing is uncertain and perishing; we cannot expect any continuing city here. What folly is it then to seek great things for ourselves here, where every thing is little and nothing certain!
  • III. The encouragement that God gave him to hope that though he should not be great, yet he should be safe: "I will bring evil upon all flesh, all nations of men, all orders and degrees of men, but thy life will I give to thee for a prey' (thy soul, so the word is) "in all places whither thou goest. Thou must expect to be hurried from place to place, and, wherever thou goest, to be in danger, but thou shalt escape, though often very narrowly, shalt have thy life, but it shall be as a prey, which is got with much difficulty and danger; thou shalt be saved as by fire.' Note, The preservation and continuance of life are very great mercies, and we are bound to account them such, as they are the prolonging of our opportunity to glorify God in this world and to get ready for a better; and at some times, especially when the arrows of death fly thickly about us, life is a signal favour, and what we ought to be very thankful for, and while we have it must not complain though we be disappointed of the great things we expected. Is not the life more than meat?