18 Say to the king and the queen mother , " Take a lowly seat , For your beautiful crown Has come down from your head ." 19 The cities of the Negev have been locked up, And there is no one to open them; All Judah has been carried into exile , Wholly carried into exile . 20 "Lift up your eyes and see Those coming from the north . Where is the flock that was given you, Your beautiful sheep ? 21 "What will you say when He appoints over you- And you yourself had taught them- Former companions to be head over you? Will not pangs take hold of you Like a woman in childbirth ?
22 "If you say in your heart , ' Why have these things happened to me?' Because of the magnitude of your iniquity Your skirts have been removed And your heels have been exposed . 23 " Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots ? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil . 24 "Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw To the desert wind . 25 "This is your lot , the portion measured to you From Me," declares the Lord , "Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood . 26 "So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face , That your shame may be seen . 27 "As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings , The lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the field , I have seen your abominations . Woe to you, O Jerusalem ! How long e e will you remain unclean e ?"
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 13:18-27
Commentary on Jeremiah 13:18-27
(Read Jeremiah 13:18-27)
Here is a message sent to king Jehoiakim, and his queen. Their sorrows would be great indeed. Do they ask, Wherefore come these things upon us? Let them know, it is for their obstinacy in sin. We cannot alter the natural colour of the skin; and so is it morally impossible to reclaim and reform these people. Sin is the blackness of the soul; it is the discolouring of it; we were shapen in it, so that we cannot get clear of it by any power of our own. But Almighty grace is able to change the Ethiopian's skin. Neither natural depravity, nor strong habits of sin, form an obstacle to the working of God, the new-creating Spirit. The Lord asks of Jerusalem, whether she is determined not be made clean. If any poor slave of sin feels that he could as soon change his nature as master his headstrong lusts, let him not despair; for things impossible to men are possible with God. Let us then seek help from Him who is mighty to save.