9 behold , I will send and take all the families of the north ,' declares the Lord , 'and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , My servant , and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about ; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing , and an everlasting desolation . 10 'Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness , the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride , the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp . 11 ' This whole land will be a desolation and a horror , and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years . 12 'Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation ,' declares the Lord , 'for their iniquity , and the land of the Chaldeans ; and I will make it an everlasting desolation .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 25:9-12
Commentary on Jeremiah 25:8-14
(Read Jeremiah 25:8-14)
The fixing of the time during which the Jewish captivity should last, would not only confirm the prophecy, but also comfort the people of God, and encourage faith and prayer. The ruin of Babylon is foretold: the rod will be thrown into the fire when the correcting work is done. When the set time to favour Zion is come, Babylon shall be punished for their iniquity, as other nations have been punished for their sins. Every threatening of the Scripture will certainly be accomplished.