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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: |
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| 2 thus saith Jehovah, Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them. |
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| 3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. |
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| 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. |
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| 5 They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. |
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| 6 There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. |
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| 7 Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee. |
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| 8 But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock. |
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| 9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skilful men. |
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| 10 But Jehovah is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation. |
At his wrath – The word of the Lord to the nations assembled before him for judgment. D12
The earth – The present organization of society. C229; D46; A323
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| 11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens. |
The gods – Mighty ones; a general name, often and properly applied to our Heavenly Father, as well as to Jesus, angels and men. R338:2, R421:3
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| 12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens: |
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| 13 when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries. |
Uttereth his voice – God makes use of different agencies to do his service. These are sometimes animate, sometimes inanimate. R5385:3
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| 14 Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. |
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| 15 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. |
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| 16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name. |
Is the rod – A symbol of authority. R4058:4
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| 17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou that abidest in the siege. |
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| 18 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it. |
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| 19 Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it. |
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| 20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are not: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. |
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| 21 For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of Jehovah: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered. |
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| 22 The voice of tidings, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals. |
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| 23 O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. |
Not in himself – It is not in the power of man to direct his own steps, but the child of God has learned where to seek counsel. R1753:1
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| 24 O Jehovah, correct me, but in measure; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. |
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| 25 Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name; for they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation. |
Eaten up Jacob – Natural Israel. A300
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