17 Thus says the Lord of hosts , "Consider and call for the mourning women , that they may come ; And send for the wailing women , that they may come ! 18 "Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water . 19 "For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion , ' How are we ruined ! We are put to great shame , For we have left the land , Because they have cast down our dwellings .' " 20 Now hear the word of the Lord , O you women , And let your ear receive the word of His mouth ; Teach your daughters wailing , And everyone her neighbor a dirge .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 9:17-20
Commentary on Jeremiah 9:12-22
(Read Jeremiah 9:12-22)
In Zion the voice of joy and praise used to be heard, while the people kept close to God; but sin has altered the sound, it is now the voice of lamentation. Unhumbled hearts lament their calamity, but not their sin, which is the cause of it. Let the doors be shut ever so fast, death steals upon us. It enters the palaces of princes and great men, though stately, strongly built, and guarded. Nor are those more safe that are abroad; death cuts off even the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Hearken to the word of the Lord, and mourn with godly sorrow. This alone can bring true comfort; and it can turn the heaviest afflictions into precious mercies.