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英文原文
The prophecy of this chapter bears date some time before those prophecies in the chapters next foregoing, for they are not placed in the exact order of time in which they were delivered. This is dated in the first year of Nebuchadrezzar, that remarkable year when the sword of the Lord began to be drawn and furbished. Here is, I. A review of the prophecies that had been delivered to Judah and Jerusalem for many years past, by Jeremiah himself and other prophets, with the little regard given to them and the little success of them, Jer 25:1-7. II. A very express threatening of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, by the king of Babylon, for their contempt of God, and their continuance in sin (Jer 25:8-11), to which is annexed a promise of their deliverance out of their captivity in Babylon, after 70 years, Jer 25:12-14. III. A prediction of the devastation of divers other nations about, by Nebuchadrezzar, represented by a "cup of fury" put into their hands (Jer 25:15-28), by a sword sent among them (Jer 25:29-33), and a desolation made among the shepherds and their flocks and pastures (Jer 25:34-38); so that we have here judgment beginning at the house of God, but not ending there.
1-7
God's Remonstrances with the People (607 BC)
神对百姓的抗议（主前607年）
¹ 约西亚的儿子犹大王约雅敬第四年，就是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒的元年，耶利米所得论犹大一切百姓的话。
² 先知耶利米将这些话对犹大众人和耶路撒冷的一切居民说，说：
³ 「从犹大王亚们的儿子约西亚第十三年，直到今日，这二十三年之内，耶和华的话常临到我；我也从早起来警戒你们，只是你们不听从。
⁴ 耶和华也从早起来，差遣他的仆人众先知到你们这里来；只是你们不听从，也不侧耳而听。
⁵ 他们说：『你们各人当回头离开自己的恶道，离开恶行，便可住在耶和华所赐给你们和你们列祖之地，直到永远；
⁶ 不可随从别神去事奉敬拜，以你们手所作的惹我发怒；这样我就不加害与你们。』
⁷ 然而你们没有听从我。这是耶和华说的；以致你们以手所作的惹我发怒，自招祸患。」
我们在此有一段 神对犹大众人所说的话（耶25:1），是耶利米奉他的名向犹大众人传讲的（耶25:2）。注意，凡关乎众人的，当为众人所共知。关乎一切百姓的 神之道——尤其是福音之道——当向众人普遍传扬，并尽可能个别向各人宣讲。耶利米曾被差遣往「王家」（耶22:1），他也鼓起勇气向他们传讲他的信息，大概是在他们一同上耶路撒冷守一个庄严节期之时；那时他有机会一同讲论，也可以指望，那时他们若真有受教的心，就该乐意听劝、领受教训。
这预言注明于约雅敬第四年、尼布甲尼撒元年。约雅敬第三年末，尼布甲尼撒开始独立作王（先前一度与其父共同执政），如但1:1所示。但约雅敬第四年已经开始，尼布甲尼撒第一年尚未完结。如今这位活跃、敢为、好战的君王开始自称世界之主， 神借他的先知宣告他是自己的仆人，并暗示要派他作何工，使他日益增长的伟大——这叫列国惊惧的——不被误解为对 神在治理世界上之权能与护理的任何非议。尼布甲尼撒虽向普世君主（不如说普世暴政）之势发展， 神仍有自己的旨意借他成就；在这些旨意的执行中，世界要看见 神为何容许并安排这一件似乎如此非议其主权与恩慈之事的意义。
在这信息中，我们可以看出为领百姓悔改所费的大心力；他们在此被提醒这事，作为他们罪的加重，并使 神向他们所行的得着公义的辩护。
一、耶利米自己在他中间作了二十三年的常设传道者；他始于约西亚十三年，约西亚作王三十一年，所以他在约西亚年间说预言约十八九年，其后约哈斯年间，如今约雅敬第四年。注意，我们不论记账不记账， 神都记账，记我们享受恩典之器多久；我们享受得越久，若没有加以善用，我们的账就越重。「这三年」（这二十三年）「我来，在这无花果树上找果子」（路13:7）。这么长久以来，1. 神一直按时差遣信息给他们：「从那时『直到今日』，『耶和华的话常临到我』，是为你们的缘故。」虽然警告的实质已在摩西的书中传给他们，但因那些未受适当的重视和应用， 神又差遣来加以强调并使之更具体，使他们无可推诿。这样， 神的灵与他们相争，正如与古时世界相争（创6:3）。2. 耶利米在传达这些信息上忠实而殷勤。关于这一点，他可以向他们，也可以向 神和他自己的良心申诉：「我『从早起来警戒你们』。」他已经把「 神全部的旨意」宣告给他们（徒20:27）；他为尽自己的职任，费了许多心思和心力，以最可能赢得他们、感动他们的方式去行。人所切切关心的事，他们清早起来便去办。这暗示他的头脑满了这事的心思，他的心切切要行善，以致睡不能安，使他早早起来筹划当采何法最可能对他们有益。他清早起来，既为不丢失光阴，也为把握并善用最合宜的时机在他们身上动工——那时若真有，他们便是清醒安定的。基督「清早」到殿里讲道，百姓也清早去听（路21:38）。早晨的讲章有其长处。「耶和华啊，早晨你必听我的声音」（诗5:3）。
二、除他之外， 神还差遣别的先知，奉同样的使命（耶25:4）。写作的先知中，弥迦、那鸿、哈巴谷略早于他，西番雅与他同时。但除了这些之外，还有许多别的「 神的仆人众先知」，传了警醒的讲章，从未印行。此处 神自己也说「从早起来差遣他们」，暗示他的心也何等放在这事上——这百姓「转回而存活」，不「前行而死亡」（结33:11）。
三、所送给他们的一切信息都切中要害，大意相同（耶25:5-6）。1. 它们都指出他们的过犯，「他们的恶道」，并「恶行」。那些奉承他们、似乎他们中间一无不对的，不是出于 神所差。2. 它们都特别责备他们的拜偶像，因为这是特别惹动 神怒气的罪，他们「随从别神，去事奉敬拜他们」，这些神是「他们手所作的」。3. 它们都呼召他们为罪悔改、改革生活。这是每篇信息的要旨：「你们各人当回头离开自己的恶道。」注意，个别的归正必须被坚持为全国得救的必要：「各人」当转离「自己」的「恶道」。街上不会干净，除非人人扫自家门前。4. 它们都向他们保证，他们若如此行，他们的太平必「得以延长」。他们所享受的怜悯必仍归他们：「『你们便可以住在那地』，住在安逸中，住在平安中，住在这美地上，『就是耶和华赐给你们和你们列祖之地』。除了罪之外，没有什么能把你们赶出，而罪若你们转离，就不能。」他们所怕的审判必被阻止：「不可惹我发怒，我就不加害与你们。」注意，我们若不以罪的恶惹动 神，便永不会受刑罚的恶。 神待我们公平，从不无故责打他的儿女，也不叫我们忧伤，除非我们得罪了他。
四、然而这一切都归于无效。他们没有受感，采那惟一正确的方法去转离 神的怒气。耶利米是个非常活泼而动情的传道者，他们却「不听从」他（耶25:3）。别的先知忠实地对待他们，他们也不「听从他们」，不「侧耳而听」（耶25:4）。他们被告知，在他们一切的罪中，那特别得罪 神、使他们落在 神公义之下的，正是拜偶像；他们却故意持守：「你们以手所作的惹我发怒，自招祸患。」注意，凡惹动 神的，至终必成为我们自己的损害，我们必须担当其责。「以色列啊，你自取败坏」（何13:9）。
英文原文
God's Remonstrances with the People (607 BC)
¹ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
² The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
³ From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
⁴ And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
⁵ They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
⁶ And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
⁷ Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
We have here a message from God concerning all the people of Judah (Jer 25:1), which Jeremiah delivered, in his name, unto all the people of Judah, Jer 25:2. Note, That which is of universal concern ought to be of universal cognizance. It is fit that the word which concerns all the people, as the word of God does, the word of the gospel particularly, should be divulged to all in general, and, as far as may be, addressed to each in particular. Jeremiah had been sent to the house of the king (Jer 22:1), and he took courage to deliver his message to them, probably when they had all come up to Jerusalem to worship at one of the solemn feasts; then he had them together, and it was to be hoped then, if ever, they would be well disposed to hear counsel and receive instruction.
This prophecy is dated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim and the first of Nebuchadrezzar. It was in the latter end of Jehoiakim's third year that Nebuchadrezzar began to reign by himself alone (having reigned some time before in conjunction with his father), as appears, Da 1:1. But Jehoiakim's fourth year was begun before Nebuchadrezzar's first was completed. Now that that active, daring, martial prince began to set up for the world's master, God, by his prophet, gives notice that he is his servant, and intimates what work he intends to employ him in, that his growing greatness, which was so formidable to the nations, might not be construed as any reflection upon the power and providence of God in the government of the world. Nebuchadrezzar should not bid so fair for universal monarchy (I should have said universal tyranny) but that God had purposes of his own to serve by him, in the execution of which the world shall see the meaning of God's permitting and ordering a thing that seemed such a reflection on his sovereignty and goodness.
Now in this message we may observe the great pains that had been taken with the people to bring them to repentance, which they are here put in mind of, as an aggravation of their sin and a justification of God in his proceedings against them.
I. Jeremiah, for his part, had been a constant preacher among them twenty-three years; he began in the thirteenth year of Josiah, who reigned thirty-one years, so that he prophesied about eighteen or nineteen years in his reign, then in the reign of Jehoahaz, and now four years of Jehoiakim's reign. Note, God keeps an account, whether we do or no, how long we have enjoyed the means of grace; and the longer we have enjoyed them the heavier will our account be if we have not improved them. These three years (these three and twenty years) have I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree. All this while, 1. God had been constant in sending messages to them, as there was occasion for them: "From that time to this very day the word of the Lord has come into me, for your use." Though they had the substance of the warning sent them already in the books of Moses, yet, because those were not duly regarded and applied, God sent to enforce them and make them more particular, that they might be without excuse. Thus God's Spirit was striving with them, as with the old world, Ge 6:3. 2. Jeremiah had been faithful and industrious in delivering those messages. He could appeal to themselves, as well as to God and his own conscience, concerning this: I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking. He had declared to them the whole counsel of God; he had taken a great deal of care and pains to discharge his thrust in such a manner as might be most likely to win and work upon them. What men are solicitous about and intent upon they rise up early to prosecute. It intimates that his head was so full of thoughts about it, and his heart so intent upon doing good, that it broke his sleep, and made him get up betimes to project which way he might take that would be most likely to do them good. He rose early, both because he would lose no time and because he would lay hold on and improve the best time to work upon them, when, if ever, they were sober and sedate. Christ came early in the morning to preach in the temple, and the people as early to hear him, Lu 21:38. Morning lectures have their advantages. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning.
II. Besides him, God had sent them other prophets, on the same errand, Jer 25:4. Of the writing prophets Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, were a little before him, and Zephaniah contemporary with him. But, besides those, there were many other of God's servants the prophets who preached awakening sermons, which were never published. And here God himself is said to rise early and send them, intimating how much his heart also was upon it, that this people should turn and live, and not go on and die, Eze 33:11.
III. All the messages sent them were to the purpose, and much to the same purport, Jer 25:5,6. 1. They all told them of their faults, their evil way, and the evil of their doings. Those were not of God's sending who flattered them as if there were nothing amiss among them. 2. They all reproved them particularly for their idolatry, as a sin that was in a special manner provoking to God, their going after other gods, to serve them and to worship them, gods that were the work of their own hands. 3. They all called on them to repent of their sins and to reform their lives. This was the burden of every song, Turn you now every one from his evil way. Note, Personal and particular reformation must be insisted on as necessary to a national deliverance: every one must turn from his own evil way. The street will not be clean unless every one sweep before his own door. 4. They all assured them that, if they did so, it would certainly be the lengthening out of their tranquillity. The mercies they enjoyed should be continued to them: "You shall dwell in the land, dwell at ease, dwell in peace, in this good land, which the Lord has given you and your fathers. Nothing but sin will turn you out of it, and that shall not if you turn from it." The judgments they feared should be prevented: Provoke me not, and I will do you no hurt. Note, We should never receive from God the evil punishment if we did not provoke him by the evil of sin. God deals fairly with us, never corrects his children without cause, nor causes grief to us unless we give offence to him.
IV. Yet all was to no purpose. They were not wrought upon to take the right and only method to turn away the wrath of God. Jeremiah was a very lively affectionate preacher, yet they hearkened not to him, Jer 25:3. The other prophets dealt faithfully with them, but neither did they hearken to them, nor incline their ear, Jer 25:4. That very particular sin which they were told, of all others, was most offensive to God, and made them obnoxious to his justice, they wilfully persisted in: You provoke me with the works of your hands to your own hurt. Note, What is a provocation to God will prove, in the end, hurt to ourselves, and we must bear the blame of it. O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself.
8-14
Desolation Predicted (607 BC)
荒凉的预言（公元前607年）
⁸ 所以万军之耶和华如此说：因为你们没有听从我的话， ⁹ 看哪，我必差遣人去召北方的众族，这是耶和华说的；也必召巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒我的仆人，带他们攻击这地和这地的居民，并攻击四围这一切的国民；我必全然毁灭他们，使他们成为令人惊骇、令人嗤笑的对象，又成为永远荒凉之地。 ¹⁰ 我又要从他们中间除掉欢喜和快乐的声音、新郎和新妇的声音、推磨的声音和灯的亮光。 ¹¹ 这全地必成为荒凉、令人惊骇之地；这些国民要服事巴比伦王七十年。 ¹² 七十年满了以后，我必刑罚巴比伦王和那国民，并迦勒底人之地，因他们的罪孽，使那地永远荒凉，这是耶和华说的。 ¹³ 我也必使我所说攻击那地的一切话临到那地，就是耶利米所预言攻击一切国民、记在这书上的一切话。 ¹⁴ 因为有许多大国和诸大君王必使迦勒底人也作他们的奴仆；我也必照他们的行为，按他们手所做的报应他们。
这里是基于前述控诉所下的判决：『因为你们没有听从我的话，我必须另寻良策对付你们』（耶25:8）。注意，当人不肯留心神口中的审判，便可指望感受他手中的审判；既不听道，便要听杖；因为罪人若不离弃自己的罪，便必在其中灭亡。无可挽救的忿怒只临到那些不肯悔改的罪人身上。毁坏人的，与其说是人的偏行己路，不如说是人的不肯回头。
I. 这里命定犹大地要被巴比伦王的军队所毁（耶25:9）。神差遣『他的仆人众先知』到他们那里，他们不加理会；所以神必召『他的仆人巴比伦王』来——他们不能像对待他的仆人众先知那样嘲弄、藐视、逼迫他。注意，神的怒气的使者必被差遣到那些不肯接纳他怜悯之使者的人身上。神总要人留心他，总要使人知道『他是耶和华』——或这样或那样。尼布甲尼撒虽不认识以色列的真神，更是他的仇敌，日后又与他争竞，然而当他下到这地之时，仍是『神的仆人』——成就了他的旨意，被他使用，作他手中管教他百姓的器皿。他以为自己是在成就自己的目的，其实正是在事奉神的计谋。所以神在此公义地自称『万军之耶和华』（耶25:8）；因为这里正是他主权统治的实例——不仅管辖这地的居民，也管辖这地的军队，他随己意使用他们。他们都在他的命令之下。最有权势、最专制的君王也是他的仆人。尼布甲尼撒作为他怒气的器皿，与那作他怜悯器皿的居鲁士，同样是他的仆人。犹大地既定为荒凉，神在此召集那要使之荒凉的军队，招聚他们，集合『北方的众族』（若有需要），作他们的元帅率领他们，『带他们攻击这地』，使他们得胜——不仅胜过犹大和耶路撒冷，也胜过『四围一切的国民』，好叫他们不能作为盟友或援军来依赖那威胁的力量。这里描述了这地和一切邻邦的全然毁灭（耶25:9-11）。这毁灭必是全面的：『全地必成为荒凉』——不仅荒凉，更要成为荒凉本身；城乡都要成为废墟，其中一切财富都成为掠物。这毁灭必是长久的——『永远荒凉之地』；他们要在废墟中如此之久，经过长久等待仍毫无援救的迹象，以致人人称之为永远。这荒凉也要使他们邻邦中名誉扫地；这要把他们的尊荣埋葬于尘土之中——『使他们成为令人惊骇、令人嗤笑的对象』；人人都要为他们惊奇，又以公义的羞辱把他们『嗤下』行动的舞台——因为他们离弃了那本可保护他们的神，转从那些必使他们灭亡的骗子。这也必是他们彼此之间一切安慰的断绝；他们一切欢乐必告终：『我要除掉他们欢喜快乐的声音』——把他们的琴挂在柳树上，使他们失去歌唱的兴致。『我要除掉他们欢喜快乐的声音』；他们既无因由，也无心情。他们不肯听神口中的道，所以他们中间必不再听见欢乐的声音。他们必被夺去粮食：『推磨的声音也必不再听见』；因为敌人既夺去他们的存粮，磨面之声自然低微（传12:4）。一切营业必告终；『灯的亮光』也不得见，因为没有值得掌灯去做的工作。最后，他们必被夺去自由：『这些国民要服事巴比伦王七十年。』被掳时期长短的确定，大有作用——不仅当这事（在人智绝无可能预见之时）恰好应验预言之时，能证实这预言，又能在百姓的灾难中作他们的安慰，并激励他们的信心和祷告。但以理自己是先知，便留意到这事（但9:2）。不，神自己也留意到这事（代下36:22）；因此他『激动居鲁士的心』，为要使借耶利米口中所说的话得以成就。『从创世以来，神一切的工作都为他所知道』——这一点从此可见：他看为合宜之时，便把其中一些事启示给他的仆人众先知，又借他们启示给他的教会。
II. 巴比伦最终的灭亡在此也被预言，正如以赛亚很久以前所预言的（耶25:12-14）。毁灭人的必自己被毁灭；管教的杖在管教之工完成之时，必被丢入火中。这事要在『七十年满了以后』成就；因为巴比伦的毁灭必为被掳之人的释放开路。这七十年从何算起，大有疑问：有人从约雅敬第四年——即尼布甲尼撒元年——的被掳算起；有人从八年后的约雅斤被掳算起。我倾向于前者，因为那时这些国民便开始『服事巴比伦王』；又因为神通常从最早的日子起计算怜悯应许的成就——这一点从计算在埃及为奴四百年之事便可看出。若是如此，那么在这七十年中，已有十八或十九年在西底家十一年圣殿和耶路撒冷彻底被毁之前便已过去。无论如何，当那恩待锡安的『所定的日期』来到，巴比伦王必受察罚，他一切暴虐都要算账；那时那国必因『他们的罪孽』受罚，正如其他国民因他们的罪孽受罚一样。那地那时必成为『永远荒凉之地』，正如他们使别地荒凉一样；因为『全地的审判者』既『行公义』，又『报应冤屈』——既是万国之王，也是圣徒之王。愿骄傲的征服者和压迫者在使用自己的权势和成功上有所节制，因为终必轮到他们自己受苦；他们跌倒的日子必来到。在这场由玛代人和波斯人所成就的巴比伦毁灭中，要参考：1. 神所说的话：『我必使我所说攻击那地的一切话临到那地』；因为巴比伦的一切财富和尊荣都必献为神圣预言之真理的祭物，它的一切权势都必被打碎，免得神的话语一撇一画落空。预言列国必被迦勒底人所灭的同一位耶利米，也预言了迦勒底人自己必被灭亡；这事必临到他们（耶25:13）。正是针对这事，神说：『我必坚定我仆人的话，成就我使者的谋略』（赛44:26）。2. 他们所行的事（耶25:14）：『我必照他们的行为报应他们』——他们正是借这些行为干犯神的律法，即便在被用来成就他旨意之时也是如此。他们曾使许多国民服事他们，又以最不可想象的傲慢践踏他们；但如今他们罪孽之杯既满，与波斯王居鲁士结盟、前来相助他的『许多大国和诸大君王』，也必使他们服事自己——必占据他们的国土，以他们的掠物自富，又使他们作登上普世王权宝座的踏脚石。他们必使他们作奴仆，作兵丁。『叫人被掳的，必被掳去』。
英文原文
Desolation Predicted (607 BC)
⁸ Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
⁹ Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
¹⁰ Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, 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 candle.
¹¹ And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
¹² And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
¹³ And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
¹⁴ For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
Here is the sentence grounded upon the foregoing charge: "Because you have not heard my words, I must take another course with you," Jer 25:8. Note, When men will not regard the judgments of God's mouth they may expect to feel the judgments of his hands, to hear the rod, since they would not hear the word; for the sinner must either be parted from his sin or perish in it. Wrath comes without remedy against those only that sin without repentance. It is not so much men's turning aside that ruins them as their not returning.
I. The ruin of the land of Judah by the king of Babylon's armies is here decreed, Jer 25:9. God sent to them his servants the prophets, and they were not heeded, and therefore God will send for his servant the king of Babylon, whom they cannot mock, and despise, and persecute, as they did his servants the prophets. Note, The messengers of God's wrath will be sent against those that would not receive the messengers of his mercy. One way or other God will be heeded, and will make men know that he is the Lord. Nebuchadrezzar, though a stranger to the true God, the God of Israel, nay, an enemy to him and afterwards a rival with him, was yet, in the descent he made upon his country. God's servant, accomplished his purpose, was employed by him, and was an instrument in his hand for the correction of his people. He was really serving God's designs when he thought he was serving his own ends. Justly therefore does God here call himself The Lord of hosts (Jer 25:8), for here is an instance of his sovereign dominion, not only over the inhabitants, but over the armies of this earth, of which he makes what use he pleases. He has them all at his command. The most potent and absolute monarchs are his servants. Nebuchadrezzar, who is an instrument of his wrath, is as truly his servant as Cyrus, who is an instrument of his mercy. The land of Judah being to be made desolate, God here musters his army that is to make it so, gathers it together, takes all the families of the north, if there be occasion for them, leads them on as their commander-in-chief, brings them against this land, gives them success, not only against Judah and Jerusalem, but against all the nations round about, that there might be no dependence upon them as allies or assistants against that threatening force. The utter destruction of this and all the neighbouring lands is here described, Jer 25:9-11. It shall be total: The whole land shall be a desolation, not only desolate, but a desolation itself; both city and country shall be laid waste, and all the wealth of both be made a prey of. It shall be lasting, even perpetual desolations; they shall continue so long in ruins, and after long waiting there shall appear so little prospect of relief, that every one shall call it perpetual. This desolation shall be the ruin of their credit among their neighbours; it shall bury their honour in the dust, shall make them an astonishment and a hissing; every one will be amazed at them, and hiss them off the stage of action with just disgrace for deserting a God who would have been their protection for impostors who would certainly be their destruction. It will likewise be the ruin of all their comfort among themselves; it shall be a final period of all their joy: I will take from them the voice of mirth, hang their harps on the willow-trees, and put them out of tune for songs. I will take from them the voice of mirth; they shall neither have cause for it nor hearts for it. They would not hear the voice of God's word and therefore the voice of mirth shall no more be heard among them. They shall be deprived of food: The sound of the mill-stones shall not be heard; for, when the enemy has seized their stores, the sound of the grinding must needs be low, Ec 12:4. An end shall be put to all business; there shall not be seen the light of a candle, for there shall be no work to be done worth candle-light. And, lastly, they shall be deprived of their liberty: Those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. The fixing of time during which the captivity should last would be of great use, not only for the confirmation of the prophecy, when the event (which in this particular could by no human sagacity be foreseen) should exactly answer the prediction, but for the comfort of the people of God in their calamity and the encouragement of faith and prayer. Daniel, who was himself a prophet, had an eye to it, Da 9:2. Nay, God himself had an eye to it (2Ch 36:22); for therefore he stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, that the word spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world, which appears by this, that, when he has thought fit, some of them have been made known to his servants the prophets and by them to his church.
II. The ruin of Babylon, at last, is here likewise foretold, as it had been, long before, by Isaiah, Jer 25:12-14. The destroyers must themselves be destroyed, and the rod thrown into the fire, when the correcting work is done with it. This shall be done when seventy years are accomplished; for the destruction of Babylon must make way for the deliverance of the captives. It is a great doubt when these seventy years commence; some date them from the captivity in the fourth year of Jehoiakim and first of Nebuchadrezzar, others from the captivity of Jehoiachin eight years after. I rather incline to the former, because then these nations began to serve the king of Babylon, and because usually God has taken the earliest time from which to reckon the accomplishment of a promise of mercy, as will appear in computing the 400 years' servitude in Egypt. And, if so, eighteen or nineteen years of the seventy had run out before Jerusalem and the temple were quite destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah. However that be, when the time, the set time, to favour Zion, has come, the king of Babylon must be visited, and all the instances of his tyranny reckoned for; then that nation shall be punished for their iniquity, as the other nations have been punished for theirs. That land must then be a perpetual desolation, such as they had made other lands; for the Judge of all the earth will both do right and avenge wrong, as King of nations and King of saints. Let proud conquerors and oppressors be moderate in the use of their power and success, for it will come at last to their own turn to suffer; their day will come to fall. In this destruction of Babylon, which was to be brought about by the Medes and Persians, reference shall be had, 1. To what God had said: I will bring upon that land all my words; for all the wealth and honour of Babylon shall be sacrificed to the truth of the divine predictions, and all its power broken, rather than one iota or tittle of God's word shall fall to the ground. The same Jeremiah that prophesied the destruction of other nations by the Chaldeans foretold also the destruction of the Chaldeans themselves; and this must be brought upon them, Jer 25:13. It is with reference to this very event that God says, I will confirm the word of my servant, and perform the counsel of my messengers, Isa 44:26. 2. Two what they had done (Jer 25:14): I will recompense them according to their deeds, by which they transgressed the law of God, even then when they were made to serve his purposes. They had made many nations to serve them, and trampled upon them with the greatest insolence imaginable; but not that the measure of their iniquity is full many nations and great kings, that are in alliance with and come in to the assistance of Cyrus king of Persia, shall serve themselves of them also, shall make themselves masters of their country, enrich themselves with their spoils, and make them the footstool by which to mount the throne of universal monarchy. They shall make use of them for servants and soldiers. He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity.
15-29
The Cup of Wrath; General Desolation (607 BC)
忿怒之杯；普世的荒凉（主前607年）
¹⁵ 以色列的神耶和华对我如此说：『你从我手中接这忿怒的酒杯，使我所差遣你去到的列国都喝。 ¹⁶ 他们喝了就东倒西歪，又发狂乱，因我使他们中间有刀剑。』 ¹⁷ 我就从耶和华手中接了杯，给耶和华所差遣我去到的列国都喝， ¹⁸ 就是耶路撒冷和犹大的城邑，并其中的君王、首领，使他们荒凉、令人惊骇、被人嗤笑、受咒诅，正如今日一样； ¹⁹ 又有埃及王法老和他的臣仆、首领，以及他的众民， ²⁰ 并一切杂族的人，乌斯地的诸王，和非利士地的诸王，以及亚实基伦、迦萨、以革伦、亚实突的余民， ²¹ 还有以东、摩押、亚扪人， ²² 推罗的诸王、西顿的诸王，以及海那边海岛上的诸王， ²³ 底但、提玛、布斯，并一切剃周围头发的， ²⁴ 阿拉伯的诸王，和住在旷野杂族人的诸王， ²⁵ 心利的诸王、以拦的诸王、玛代的诸王， ²⁶ 北方远近的诸王，一个一个地，以及地面上天下一切的国；示沙克的王也要在他们之后喝。』 ²⁷ 所以你要对他们说：『万军之耶和华以色列的神如此说：你们要喝，且要喝醉，要吐，要跌倒，不再起来，因为我使刀剑在你们中间。』 ²⁸ 他们若不肯从你手中接杯来喝，你就要对他们说：『万军之耶和华如此说：你们一定要喝。 ²⁹ 因为我必开始降祸于那称为我名下的城；你们难道全然不受刑罚么？你们必不受刑罚：因为我必呼召刀剑攻击地上一切的居民，这是万军之耶和华说的。』
此处以巡回递杯、众人都必饮之的比喻，描述如今即将临到那部分地区之普世荒凉——方才开始掌权行事、作为工具的尼布甲尼撒将造就此事，这事至终也要反噬到他自己本国。异象中的杯，在其成就时便是刀剑：如此处解释（耶25:16）。是『我使他们中间有刀剑』，就是战争的刀剑，要势不可挡地强大、不留情地残酷。
一、论到这审判的情形，请看，
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这毁灭之刀从何而来——『从神的手中』。这是『耶和华的刀』（耶47:6），『在天上喝醉』（赛34:5）。恶人被用作他的刀（诗17:13）。这是『他忿怒的酒杯』。是神公义的怒气差遣这审判。列国因罪惹动了他，必落在他的震怒之下。这些震怒被比作一种叫人醉倒的饮料，他们要被迫喝下，如同从前定罪的死囚有时被强迫饮毒而死。恶人被称为『喝全能者的忿怒』（伯21:20，启14:10）。他们在世所分得的苦难，被比作调酒的纯红之杯的渣滓（诗75:8）。参见诗11:6。神在今世的忿怒如杯，比之来世满溢的洪流，不过是杯而已。
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借谁的手送到他们那里——借耶利米的手，作为『立 在列国之上』（耶1:10）的审判者宣告判决；又借尼布甲尼撒的手，作为执行者。那么这贫穷的先知与那权势的君王相比，按他们与神的关系，先知所作的岂不远比君王更宏伟！虽然在世人眼中恰恰相反！耶利米要『从神手中接杯』，强逼列国『喝下』。他向他们预言的损害，无非是神所定意要他预言的；而以神的权柄所预言的，必以神的大能成就。
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临到谁——临到以色列所认识、所通问的范围内一切的国。耶利米接了杯，叫『一切的国都喝』，即他对这里所提的每一国预言，他们都要有分于这即将到来的大荒凉。『耶路撒冷和犹大的城邑』被列在首位（耶25:18）；因为『审判要从神的家起首』（彼前4:17），从圣所起首（结9:6）。尼布甲尼撒这次出征是否主要着眼于耶路撒冷和犹大，不得而知；或许如此；因为他们与此处所提的列国一样可观。无论如何，神的眼目主要在他们身上。这部分预言此时已经开始应验；这一点以那段可悲的插语（『正如今日一样』）表明，因为在约雅敬第四年，事态已变得极糟，根基尽都倾覆。『埃及王法老』紧随其后，因为犹太人倚靠那折断的芦苇（耶25:19）；其余的人逃往埃及，耶利米便在那里特别预言那国的灭亡（耶43:10、11）。一切其他与迦南接壤的列国，都要在这苦杯、这令人战兢的杯上与耶路撒冷同饮。『杂族的人』指阿拉伯人（有人如此），或指靠劫掠为生的各国流浪者（另有人如此）；『乌斯地的诸王』，与以东人的地相连。非利士人素来扰乱以色列，如今他们的城邑和首领却成为这大征服者的猎物。以东、摩押、亚扪、推罗、西顿都是与以色列接壤的著名之地；『海那边的海岛』推测是腓尼基和叙利亚沿地中海海岸一带。底但及其他所提之国（耶25:23、24）似乎位于以东和阿拉伯旷野的边界。以拦人就是波斯人，他们与玛代人相连，如今被视为无足轻重，后来却能向巴比伦为自己和一切邻舍报复。北方的诸王，离巴比伦较近的，以及相距甚远的，都必被尼布甲尼撒得胜的刀剑所擒拿、所掳掠。不，他要以如此不可思议的怒气和得胜推进胜功，使当时所知天下一切的国都成为他野心的祭物。如此，据说亚历山大征服了『全世界』，罗马帝国被称为『天下』（路2:1）。或可视为宣读『天下万国』的厄运：或早或迟，他们都必感受战争的可怖后果。世界一向是、也将继续是一个大斗鸡场，因为人的私欲在他们肢体中交战（雅4:1）。但为使征服者与被征服者同见自己的命运，结尾说：『示沙克的王也要在他们之后喝』，即巴比伦王自己——他给邻舍带来这一切麻烦和苦楚——至终要这报应归到自己头上。示沙克即指巴比伦，从耶51:41 可清楚看出；但究竟这是同一名城的别名、还是同国另一城之名，则不确。巴比伦的灭亡先前已预言（耶25:12、13）。鉴于这城造成列国灭亡的预言，此处极合宜地再重复一遍。
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这事的后果如何。刀剑在这些国中所造成的荒凉，以酗酒的后果来描绘（耶25:16）：『他们喝了就东倒西歪，又发狂乱。他们要喝醉，要吐，要跌倒，不再起来』（耶25:27）。如今这可以用来，（1）使我们厌恶醉酒之罪，因为其后果被用来描绘一种极其凄惨可悲的境地。醉酒暂时剥夺人理性的运用，使人发狂。它也夺去人仅次于理性的最大福分，就是健康；它使人生病，危及生命和骨头。醉酒之人常『跌倒，不再起来』；这罪本身就是它的刑罚。那些任凭自己一时醉酒、尤其因屡犯其罪而被酒或烈酒所迷醉的人，何等可悲！（2）使我们畏惧战争的审判。当神差遣刀剑临到一国，授权使之荒凉时，那国不久便如醉酒之人，因战争的警报充满混乱、陷入忙乱；其谋士『发狂』，束手无策，所采一切措施、所行一切举动都踉跄不稳，因持续烦恼而心里作呕，把他们贪婪『吞下』的财富『吐出来』（伯20:15），在仇敌面前『跌倒』，又不能再起来，或无力自助，如『死醉之人』一般（哈2:16）。
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这事的确定无疑及其理由（耶25:28、29）。他们要『不肯从你手中接杯』；他们不仅不愿审判临到，更不愿相信它会临到；他们不信耶利米这样一个可鄙之人的预言。但他要告诉他们，这是『万军之耶和华的话』，他已经说了；他们与全能者相争是徒然的：『你们一定要喝。』他要给他们这个理由：这是察访之时，是算账之日，而耶路撒冷已被传唤交账：『我必开始降祸于那称为我名下的城』；它与我的关系不能使它免刑，『你们难道全然不受刑罚么？』不；『这事若在青翠的树上作，在枯干的树上还要怎样呢？』那些心中有几分善的人，尚且因其中所发现的恶而受重罚，那些只有更恶、无善可寻的人，能指望逃脱吗？耶路撒冷因从列国学了拜偶像而受罚，列国岂不也当受罚么？他们必受罚无疑：『我必呼召刀剑攻击地上一切的居民』，因为他们也有分于使耶路撒冷的居民堕落。
二、从全局来看，我们可见，1. 有一位神在地上施行审判，天下万国都要向他交账，并要受他判断的约束。2. 神能轻易毁灭最大的国——人数最多、势力最强、最为安逸之国。3. 那些素来扰乱、加害神百姓的人，至终必为此受清算。这些国中有许多曾先后扰乱以色列，如今毁灭却临到他们。救赎之年必到，就是『为锡安争辩的报应之年』。4. 『耶和华话语的负担』至终要成为他审判的负担。以赛亚早己对这里的多数国家说预言（赛13:1-27 等），如今他一切预言终必完全应验。5. 那些贪求权势和统治的人，通常成为地上的扰乱者和他们那一代的瘟疫。尼布甲尼撒以己力为傲，毫无正义之感。这些人颠倒天下，却仍期望被人景仰敬拜。亚历山大当别人看他不过是海盗头子时，自以为是大君王。6. 今世最大的浮华和权势都极不稳定。尼布甲尼撒更强的兵力面前，连君王自己也要屈服、成为俘虏。
英文原文
The Cup of Wrath; General Desolation (607 BC)
¹⁵ For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
¹⁶ And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
¹⁷ Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
¹⁸ To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
¹⁹ Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
²⁰ And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
²¹ Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
²² And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
²³ Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
²⁴ And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
²⁵ And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
²⁶ And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
²⁷ Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
²⁸ And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
²⁹ For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Under the similitude of a cup going round, which all the company must drink of, is here represented the universal desolation that was now coming upon that part of the world which Nebuchadrezzar, who just now began to reign and act, was to be the instrument of, and which should at length recoil upon his own country. The cup in the vision is to be a sword in the accomplishment of it: so it is explained, Jer 25:16. It is the sword that I will send among them, the sword of war, that should be irresistibly strong and implacably cruel.
I. As to the circumstances of this judgment, observe,
1. Whence this destroying sword should come—from the hand of God. It is the sword of the Lord (Jer 47:6), bathed in heaven, Isa 34:5. Wicked men are made use of as his sword, Ps 17:13. It is the wine-cup of his fury. It is the just anger of God that sends this judgment. The nations have provoked him by their sins, and they must fall under the tokens of his wrath. These are compared to some intoxicating liquor, which they shall be forced to drink of, as, formerly, condemned malefactors were sometimes executed by being compelled to drink poison. The wicked are said to drink the wrath of the Almighty, Job 21:20, Re 14:10. Their share of troubles in his world is represented by the dregs of a cup of red wine full of mixture, Ps 75:8. See Ps 11:6. The wrath of God in this world is but as a cup, in comparison of the full streams of it in the other world.
2. By whose hand it should be sent to them—by the hand of Jeremiah as the judge set over the nations (Jer 1:10), to pass his sentence upon them, and by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar as the executioner. What a much greater figure then does the poor prophet make than what the potent prince makes, if we look upon their relation to God, though in the eye of the world it was the reverse of it! Jeremiah must take the cup at God's hand, and compel the nations to drink it. He foretels no hurt to them but what God appoints him to foretel; and what is foretold by a divine authority will certainly be fulfilled by a divine power.
3. On whom it should be sent—on all the nations within the verge of Israel's acquaintance and the lines of their communication. Jeremiah took the cup, and made all the nations to drink of it, that is, he prophesied concerning each of the nations here mentioned that they should share in this great desolation that was coming. Jerusalem and the cities of Judah are put first (Jer 25:18); for judgment begins at the house of God (1Pe 4:17), at the sanctuary, Eze 9:6. Whether Nebuchadrezzar had his eye principally upon Jerusalem and Judah in this expedition or no does not appear; probably he had; for it was as considerable as any of the nations here mentioned. However God had his eye principally to them. And this part of the prophecy was already begun to be accomplished; this is denoted by that melancholy parenthesis (as it is this day), for in the fourth year of Jehoiakim things had come into a very bad posture, and all the foundations were out of course. Pharaoh king of Egypt comes next, because the Jews trusted to that broken reed (Jer 25:19); the remains of them fled to Egypt, and there Jeremiah particularly foretold the destruction of that country, Jer 43:10,11. All the other nations that bordered upon Canaan must pledge Jerusalem in this bitter cup, this cup of trembling. The mingled people, the Arabians (so some), some rovers of divers nations that lived by rapine (so others); the kings of the land of Uz, joined to the country of the Edomites. The Philistines had been vexatious to Israel, but now their cities and their lords become a prey to this mighty conqueror. Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Zidon, are places well known to border upon Israel; the Isles beyond, or beside, the sea, are supposed to be those parts of Phœnicia and Syria that lay upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Dedan and the other countries mentioned (Jer 25:23,24) seem to have lain upon the confines of Idumea and Arabia the desert. Those of Elam are the Persians, with whom the Medes are joined, now looked upon as inconsiderable and yet afterwards able to make reprisals upon Babylon for themselves and all their neighbours. The kings of the north, that lay nearer to Babylon, and others that lay at some distance, will be sure to be seized on and made a prey of by the victorious sword of Nebuchadrezzar. Nay, he shall push on his victories with such incredible fury and success that all the kingdoms of the world that were then and there known should become sacrifices to his ambition. Thus Alexander is said to have conquered the world, and the Roman empire is called the world, Lu 2:1. Or it may be taken as reading the doom of all the kingdoms of the earth; one time or other, they shall feel the dreadful effects of war. The world has been, and will be, a great cockpit, while men's lusts war as they do in their members, Jam 4:1. But, that the conquerors may see their fate with the conquered, it concludes, The king of Sheshach shall drink after them, that is, the king of Babylon himself, who has given his neighbours all this trouble and vexation, shall at length have it return upon his own head. That by Sheshach is meant Babylon is plain from Jer 51:41; but whether it was another name of the same city or the name of another city of the same kingdom is uncertain. Babylon's ruin was foretold, Jer 25:12,13. Upon this prophecy of its being the author of the ruin of so many nations it is very fitly repeated here again.
4. What should be the effect of it. The desolations which the sword should make in all these kingdoms are represented by the consequences of excessive drinking (Jer 25:16): They shall drink, and be moved, and be mad. They shall be drunken, and spue, and fall and rise no more, Jer 25:27. Now this may serve, (1.) To make us loathe the sin of drunkenness, that the consequences of it are made use of to set forth a most woeful and miserable condition. Drunkenness deprives men, for the present, of the use of their reason, makes them mad. It takes from them likewise that which, next to reason, is the most valuable blessing, and that is health; it makes them sick, and endangers the bones and the life. Men in drink often fall and rise no more; it is a sin that is its own punishment. How wretchedly are those intoxicated and besotted that suffer themselves at any time to be intoxicated, especially to be by the frequent commission of the sin besotted with wine or strong drink! (2.) To make us dread the judgments of war. When God sends the sword upon a nation, with warrant to make it desolate, it soon becomes like a drunken man, filled with confusion at the alarms of war, put into a hurry; its counsellors mad, and at their wits' end, staggering in all the measures they take, all the motions they make, sick at heart with continual vexation, vomiting up the riches they have greedily swallowed down (Job 20:15), falling down before the enemy, and as unable to get up again, or do any thing to help themselves, as a man dead drunk is, Hab 2:16.
5. The undoubted certainty of it, with the reason given for it, Jer 25:28,29. They will refuse to take the cup at thy hand; not only they will be loth that the judgment should come, but they will be loth to believe that ever it will come; they will not give credit to the prediction of so despicable a man as Jeremiah. But he must tell them that it is the word of the Lord of hosts, he hath said it; and it is in vain for them to struggle with Omnipotence: You shall certainly drink. And he must give them this reason, It is a time of visitation, it is a reckoning day, and Jerusalem has been called to an account already: I begin to bring evil on the city that is called by my name; its relation to me will not exempt it from punishment, and should you be utterly unpunished? No; If this be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? If those who have some good in them smart so severely for the evil that is found in them, can those expect to escape who have worse evils, and no good, found among them? If Jerusalem be punished for learning idolatry of the nations, shall not the nations be punished, of whom they learned it? No doubt they shall: I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, for they have helped to debauch the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
II. Upon this whole matter we may observe, 1. That there is a God that judges in the earth, to whom all the nations of the earth are accountable, and by whose judgment they must abide. 2. That God can easily bring to ruin the greatest nations, the most numerous and powerful, and such as have been most secure. 3. That those who have been vexatious and mischievous to the people of God will be reckoned with for it at last. Many of these nations had in their turns given disturbance to Israel, but now comes destruction on them. The year of the redeemer will come, even the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. 4. That the burden of the word of the Lord will at last become the burden of his judgments. Isaiah had prophesied long since against most of these nations (Jer 13:1-27, etc.) and now at length all his prophecies will have their complete fulfilling. 5. That those who are ambitious of power and dominion commonly become the troublers of the earth and the plagues of their generation. Nebuchadrezzar was so proud of his might that he had no sense of right. These are the men that turn the world upside down, and yet expect to be admired and adored. Alexander thought himself a great prince when others thought him no better than a great pirate. 6. That the greatest pomp and power in this world are of very uncertain continuance. Before Nebuchadrezzar's greater force kings themselves must yield and become captives.
30-38
General Desolation; Jeremiah's Faithful Preaching (607 BC)
普遍的荒凉；耶利米忠心的传讲（公元前607年）
³⁰ "所以你要向他们预言这一切话，对他们说：『耶和华必从高天吼叫，从圣所发声；他必向自己的羊群大声吼叫，向地上一切居民呐喊，像踹葡萄的人一样。
³¹ 喧嚷的声音必传到地极；因为耶和华与列国相争，凡有血气的他必审问；恶人他必交刀剑。这是耶和华说的。』"
³² 万军之耶和华如此说："看哪，必有灾祸从这国发到那国，必有大暴风从地极刮起。"
³³ "到那日，从地这边直到地那边，必有被耶和华所杀的；他们不得哀哭，不得收殓，不得埋葬，必在地上成为粪土。
³⁴ 牧人哪，你们当哀号、呼喊；羊群的官长啊，你们当在灰中打滚；因为你们被杀戮分散的日子已经满足；你们要像宝贵的器皿一样跌碎。
³⁵ 牧人无路可逃，羊群的官长也不能逃脱。"
³⁶ 必听见牧人哀号的声音和羊群官长呼喊的声音，因为耶和华使他们草场荒凉。
³⁷ 因耶和华猛烈的怒气，平安的居所被砍伐。
³⁸ 他离了隐蔽处像狮子一样，因为他们的地因压迫者的暴烈和耶和华猛烈的怒气成为荒场。"
在这些经文中，我们进一步看见巴比伦王和他的军队要在耶路撒冷周围各国各族中所造成的可怕荒凉的描述。在耶路撒冷神已建立了他的殿；那里有他的神谕和典章，邻邦本该留意，本可由此得益；他们本当到那里寻求关于神和他们本分的知识，那样他们就有理由因靠近耶路撒冷而称颂神；但他们非但不如此，反倒利用一切机会或败坏或搅扰那圣城；当神来与耶路撒冷算账——因为它学了太多"列国的道"——他也与列国算账，因为他们太少学耶路撒冷的道。
他们很快就要察觉尼布甲尼撒向他们开战；但先知在此受指示要告诉他们，是神亲自向他们开战，而这位神是无可抗争的。
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此处宣告开战（耶25:30）："耶和华必从高天吼叫"——不是"从锡安山、耶路撒冷"（如珥3:16；摩1:2），而是从"天上"，从他"那里的圣所"；因为如今耶路撒冷也成了他吼叫的对象之一。"他必向自己在地上的居所大声吼叫"——从天上发出。他长久静默，似乎不留意列国的恶行；这无知的时代神"并不监察"；但如今"他要呐喊"，像攻城者上阵呐喊一样，"向地上一切居民"呐喊——对他们而言那是惊吓的呐喊，在天上却是喜乐的呐喊，如同"踹葡萄的人"一样；因为当神在人中间与他国度的骄傲仇敌算账时，"天上听见有大声音说：哈利路亚"（启19:1）。他"吼叫如狮子"（摩3:4、8），像一只"离了隐蔽处"的狮子（耶25:38），出来寻猎物，并对其吼叫，好更容易地攫取它。
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此处发表宣战书，说明神宣告这场战争的原因与理由（耶25:31）："耶和华与列国相争"——他与之相争有正当的理由，并要采取与他们辩论的方式来对待他们。他与他们的争端，一言以蔽之，就是因他们的恶行，因他们对他的藐视——对他管辖他们的权柄和向他们所施恩慈的藐视。"他必把恶人交给刀剑。"他们惹动神发怒，一切毁灭由此而来；这一切"是因耶和华猛烈的怒气"（耶25:37-38），"因压迫者的暴烈"——或（更好的读法是）"因压迫之刀的暴烈"（因为这字是阴性）——"是因他猛烈的怒气"；我们确知他发怒无不有因；但"谁能晓得他怒气的权能？"
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此处发出警报，也被听见："喧嚷的声音必传到地极"——他吼叫如此洪亮，传得如此之远（耶25:31）。这警报不是用吹角或击鼓发出的，而是用"旋风、大旋风、暴风、狂飙"，从地的极处、从"远方的海岸"刮起（耶25:32）。迦勒底军队必像北方兴起的大旋风，带着难以置信的猛烈与迅速推进，横扫一切挡在前面。它如同神从中回答约伯的那旋风，极其可怕（伯37:1，38:1）。当神的烈怒这样如狮子从天上吼叫，地上回应以尖叫，也不足为奇；因为当神如此在不悦之中说话，谁能不战兢呢？见何11:10。如今"牧人必哀号呼喊"——地上的君王、首领和大人，就是"羊群的官长"。他们素来最为勇敢、最有把握，如今他们的心必消化；他们"必在灰中打滚"（耶25:34）。既见自己完全无力抵御敌人，又见他们有责任关切、心中关切的国家必遭无可挽回的倾覆，他们就必自暴自弃于忧伤。"必听见牧人哀号的声音，和羊群官长呼喊的声音"（耶25:36）。能叫大人物如此惊恐、使他们陷入这般惊惶的，实在是极大的灾祸。"耶和华使他们草场荒凉"——他们本在那里牧放羊群，自己也从中得食；那草场被毁，才使他们如此呼喊。或许这里延续狮子吼叫的比喻，是暗指牧人听见狮子吼叫向他们的羊群扑来时所陷入的大惊恐，发觉自己"无路可逃"（耶25:35）以保全自己，连他们"羊群中的官长也不能逃脱"。敌人必如此众多、如此凶猛、如此勤勉，他们军队的幅员如此辽阔，要避免落入他们手中必是不可能的。请留意：我们既无法用面目吓退，也无法用奔跑逃脱神的审判。这正是"牧人哀号呼喊"的原因。
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此处描述这场战争的推进（耶25:32）："看哪，必有灾祸从这国发到那国"；如同杯盘传阅，每一国都要有份，并当从别国的灾祸中得着警戒而悔改改革。不但如此，这仿佛是末日普遍审判的一个小小缩影，要"从地这边直到地那边"（耶25:33）。报仇之日在他心中，如今"他的手要寻出他一切的仇敌"，无论他们在哪里（诗21:8）。请留意：邻舍的房子着火，正是我们为自己的房子担忧的时候。当一个国家成为战场，每一个邻国都当听见，都当惧怕，并与神和好。
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此处预言这场战争的可悲后果："杀戮和分散的日子已经满足"，即已经完全来到（耶25:34）——在神的旨意中所定的杀戮一部分人、分散其余人的日子，这将使列国彻底荒凉。必有无数的人倒在残忍的迦勒底人的刀下，以致"被耶和华所杀的"随处可见：他们是奉他的命被杀，是献为他的公义之祭。因罪被杀的就是"耶和华所杀的"。为使他们被杀的苦楚达到极点，他们"不得哀哭"——因为哀哭的事太普遍了。不但如此，他们"不得收殓，也不得埋葬"，因为他们已经没有朋友留下来埋葬他们，仇敌又毫无人性肯去行这事；于是他们必"在地上成为粪土"，如此卑贱可憎：若这粪土能肥沃土地使其结果，正如这些作为神圣公义记念的可怖景象，能成为唤醒地上居民"学习公义"的手段，那就好了。这场战争的结果将是作为战场的"全地荒凉"（耶25:38），一国接着一国。但这里还有两个说法，似乎使这光景格外凄惨。（一）"你们要像宝贵的器皿一样跌碎"（耶25:34）。他们中间最令人羡慕的人——最自视甚高、最被人看重的人，那些被视为"贵重的器皿"的人——必倒在刀下。你们要像威尼斯玻璃杯或瓷盘一样跌碎，顷刻间碎成片。连温柔娇嫩的人也必共受此灾；刀剑吞灭此人也吞灭彼人。（二）连"平安的居所也被砍伐"。那些素来安静、不受侵扰的居所，你们在其中长久安居的居所，如今不再是那样的居所，而被战争"砍伐"。或者说，那些素来安静、不扰邻舍的人，那些生活太平、轻松度日、不向任何人挑衅的人，连他们也必不能逃脱。这正是战争的可怕后果之一：连那些最为无害、与世无争的人也要受苦。愿颂赞归给神，"平安的居所"在天上为一切平安之子预备好了，那是刀剑与烈火所不能及之处。
英文原文
General Desolation; Jeremiah's Faithful Preaching (607 BC)
³⁰ Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
³¹ A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
³² Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
³³ And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
³⁴ Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
³⁵ And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
³⁶ A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
³⁷ And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
³⁸ He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
We have, in these verses, a further description of those terrible desolations which the king of Babylon with his armies should make in all the countries and nations round about Jerusalem. In Jerusalem God had erected his temple; there were his oracles and ordinances, which the neighbouring nations should have attended to and might have received benefit by; thither they should have applied for the knowledge of God and their duty, and then they might have had reason to bless God for their neighbourhood to Jerusalem; but they, instead of that, taking all opportunities either to debauch or to disturb that holy city, when God came to reckon with Jerusalem because it learned so much of the way of the nations, he reckoned with the nations because they learned so little of the way of Jerusalem.
They will soon be aware of Nebuchadrezzar's making war upon them; but the prophet is here directed to tell them that it is God himself that makes war upon them, a God with whom there is no contending. 1. The war is here proclaimed (Jer 25:30): The Lord shall roar from on high; not from Mount Zion and Jerusalem (as Joe 3:16, Am 1:2), but from heaven, from his holy habitation there; for now Jerusalem is one of the places against which he roars. He shall mightily roar upon his habitation on earth from that above. He has been long silent, and seemed not to take notice of the wickedness of the nations; the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now he shall give a shout, as the assailants in battle do, against all the inhabitants of the earth, to whom it shall be a shout of terror, and yet a shout of joy in heaven, as theirs that tread the grapes; for, when God is reckoning with the proud enemies of his kingdom among men, there is a great voice of much people heard in heaven, saying, Hallelujah, Re 19:1. He roars as a lion (Am 3:4,8), as a lion that has forsaken his covert (Jer 25:38), and is going abroad to seek his prey, upon which he roars, that he may the more easily seize it. 2. The manifesto is here published, showing the causes and reasons why God proclaims this war (Jer 25:31): The Lord has a controversy with the nations; he has just cause to contend with them, and he will take this way of pleading with them. His quarrel with them is, in one word, for their wickedness, their contempt of him, and his authority over them and kindness to them. He will give those that are wicked to the sword. They have provoked God to anger, and thence comes all this destruction; it is because of the fierce anger of the Lord (Jer 25:37,38), the fierceness of the oppressor, or (as it might better be read) the fierceness of the oppressing sword (for the word is feminine) is because of his fierce anger; and we are sure that he is never angry without cause; but who knows the power of his anger? 3. The alarm is here given and taken: A noise will come even to the ends of the earth, so loud shall it roar, so far shall it reach, Jer 25:31. The alarm is not given by sound of trumpet, or beat of drum, but by a whirlwind, a great whirlwind, storm, or tempest, which shall be raised up from the coasts, the remote coasts of the earth, Jer 25:32. The Chaldean army shall be like a hurricane raised in the north, but thence carried on with incredible fierceness and swiftness, bearing down all before it. It is like the whirlwind out of which God answered Job, which was exceedingly terrible, Job 37:1,38:1. And, when the wrath of God thus roars like a lion from heaven, no marvel if it be echoed with shrieks from earth; for who can choose but tremble when God thus speaks in displeasure? See Ho 11:10. Now the shepherds shall howl and cry, the kings, and princes, and the great ones of the earth, the principal of the flock. They used to be the most courageous and secure, but now their hearts shall fail them; they shall wallow themselves in the ashes, Jer 25:34. Seeing themselves utterly unable to make head against the enemy, and seeing their country, which they have the charge of and a concern for, inevitably ruined, they shall abandon themselves to sorrow. There shall be a voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock shall be heard, Jer 25:36. Those are great calamities indeed that strike such a terror upon the great men, and put them into this consternation. The Lord hath spoiled their pasture, in which they fed their flock, and out of which they fed themselves; the spoiling of that makes them cry-out thus. Perhaps, carrying on the metaphor of a lion roaring, it alludes to the great fright that shepherds are in when they hear a roaring lion coming towards their flocks, and find they have no way to flee (Jer 25:35) for their own safety, neither can the principal of their flock escape. The enemy will be so numerous, so furious, so sedulous, and the extent of their armies so vast, that it will be impossible to avoid falling into their hands. Note, As we cannot out-face, so we cannot out-run, the judgments of God. This is that for which the shepherds howl and cry. 4. The progress of this war is here described (Jer 25:32): Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation; as the cup goes round, every nation shall have its share and take warning by the calamities of another to repent and reform. Nay, as if this ere to be a little representation of the last and general judgment, it shall reach from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth, Jer 25:33. The day of vengeance is in his heart, and now his hand shall find out all his enemies, wherever they are, Ps 21:8. Note, When our neighbour's house is on fire it is time to be concerned for our own. When one nation is a seat of war every neighbouring nation should hear, and fear, and make its peace with God. 5. The dismal consequences of this war are here foretold: The days of slaughter and dispersions are accomplished, that is, they are fully come (Jer 25:34), the time fixed in the divine counsel for the slaughter of some and the dispersion of the rest, which will make the nations completely desolate. Multitudes shall fall by the sword of the merciless Chaldeans, so that the slain of the Lord shall be every where found: they are slain by commission from him, and are sacrificed to his justice. The slain for sin are the slain of the Lord. To complete the misery of their slaughter, they shall not be lamented in particular, so general shall the matter of lamentation be. Nay, they shall not be gathered up, nor buried, for they shall have no friends left to bury them, and the enemies shall not have so much humanity in them as to do it; and then they shall be as dung upon the earth, so vile and noisome: and it is well if, as dung manures the earth and makes it fruitful, so these horrid spectacles, which lie as monuments of divine justice, might be a means to awaken the inhabitants of the earth to learn righteousness. The effect of this war will be the desolation of the whole land that is the seat of it (Jer 25:38), one land after another. But here are two expressions more that seem to make the case in a particular manner piteous. (1.) You shall fall like a pleasant vessel, Jer 25:34. The most desirable persons among them, who most valued themselves and were most valued, who were looked upon as vessels of honour, shall fall by the sword. You shall fall as a Venice glass or a China dish, which is soon broken all to pieces. Even the tender and delicate shall share in the common calamity; the sword devours one as well as another. (2.) Even the peaceable habitations are cut down. Those that used to be quiet, and not molested, the habitations in which you have long dwelt in peace, shall now be no longer such, but cut down by the war. Or, Those who used to be quiet, and not molesting any of their neighbours, those who lived in peace, easily, and gave no provocation to any, even those shall not escape. This is one of the direful effects of war, that even those who were most harmless and inoffensive suffer hard things. Blessed be God, there is a peaceable habitation above for all the sons of peace, which is out of the reach of fire and sword.
本章预言的成书日期早于前面几章的预言,因为这些预言并未严格按照传讲时间的先后顺序排列。本章注明日期为尼布甲尼撒元年,即耶和华的刀开始出鞘、磨砺的那一非凡之年。内容包括:一、回顾多年来耶利米本人和其他先知向犹大和耶路撒冷所传讲的预言,以及这些预言所受到的轻忽和微小的成效(耶25:1-7)。二、明确警告犹大和耶路撒冷将因他们藐视神、持续犯罪,而被巴比伦王所毁灭(耶25:8-11);与此相连的是应许他们在被掳巴比伦七十年后将得蒙拯救(耶25:12-14)。三、预言尼布甲尼撒将使周围各国遭受浩劫,这以交在他们手中的「忿怒之杯」来表示(耶25:15-28),以在他们中间拔出的刀来表示(耶25:29-33),并以牧人与其羊群、草场所遭的荒凉来表示(耶25:34-38);如此一来,审判虽从神的家起首,却不终于此。