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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. |
O virgin – Said in derision of her claim to purity. D42
Daughter of Babylon – The ecclesiastical powers of Christendom. D42
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| 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. |
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| 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will not accept man. |
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| 4 Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. |
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| 5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called The mistress of kingdoms. |
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| 6 I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. |
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| 7 And thou saidst, I shall be mistress for ever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof. |
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| 8 Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: |
Not sit as a widow – "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." (Rev. 18:7) D43
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| 9 but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments. |
And widowhood – "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day; death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire." (Rev. 18:8) D43
In their perfection – In full measure. D43
For the multitude – Despite the multitude. D43
For the great – Despite the great. D43
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| 10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. |
Thy wickedness – With the word "evil" in verse 11, illustrating the two kinds of evil-sin and calamity-in the same connection and in contrast. R1226:2
Thy wisdom – Thy worldly wisdom. D43
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| 11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know the dawning thereof: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not. |
Evil come upon thee – Calamity. R1226:2
Thou shalt not know – Thou shalt not previously know. D43
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| 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. |
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| 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee. |
Prognosticators – False prophets. Q776:2
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| 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver their soul from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before. |
The fire – The time of trouble. Q776:2
To warm at – No source of comfort for the false prophets or prognosticators of verse 13. Q776:2
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| 15 Thus shall the things be unto thee wherein thou hast labored: they that have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander every one to his quarter; there shall be none to save thee. |
To his quarter – His own interest, own denomination. R4324:4
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