21:2a Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; it
may be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his
wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
(a) Not that the king was touched with repentance of his
sins and so sought God, as did Hezekiah when he sent
for Isaiah, (2Ki 19:1, Isa 37:2) but because the
prophet might pray to God to take this present plague
away, as Pharaoh sought Moses (Ex 9:28).
21:4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will b turn
back the weapons of war that [are] in your hands, with
which ye fight against the king of Babylon, and [against]
the Chaldeans, who besiege you outside the walls, and I
will assemble them into the midst of this city.
(b) That is, from your enemies to destroy yourselves.
21:8 And to this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I set before you the c way of life, and the way
of d death.
(c) By yielding yourselves to Nebuchadnezzar.
(d) By resisting him.
21:9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by
the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out,
and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall
live, and his life shall be to him for a e prize.
21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment
f in the morning, and deliver [him that is] made
desolate out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go
out like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because
of the evil of your doings.
(f) Be diligent to do justice.
21:13 Behold, I [am] against thee, g O inhabitant of the
valley, [and] rock of the plain, saith the LORD; who say,
Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into
our habitations?
(g) Meaning, Jerusalem which was built part on the hill
and part in the valley and was compassed about with
mountains.
21:14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your
doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire h in
its forest, and it shall devour all things around it.
(h) That is, in the houses of it, which stood as thick as
trees in the forest.
