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英文原文
Jeremiah the prophet, since he cannot persuade people to submit to God's precept, and so to prevent the destruction of their country by the king of Babylon, is here persuading them to submit to God's providence, by yielding tamely to the king of Babylon, and becoming tributaries to him, which was the wisest course they could now take, and would be a mitigation of the calamity, and prevent the laying of their country waste by fire and sword; the sacrificing of their liberties would be the saving of their lives. I. He gives this counsel, in God's name, to the kings of the neighbouring nations, that they might make the best of bad, assuring them that there was no remedy, but they must serve the king of Babylon; and yet in time there should be relief, for his dominion should last but 70 years, Jer 27:1-11. II. He gives this counsel to Zedekiah king of Judah particularly (Jer 27:12-15) and to the priests and people, assuring them that the king of Babylon should still proceed against them till things were brought to the last extremity, and a patient submission would be the only way to mitigate the calamity and make it easy, Jer 27:16-22. Thus the prophet, if they would but have hearkened to him, would have directed them in the paths of true policy as well as of true piety.
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Nebuchadnezzar's Victories Predicted (597 BC)
预言尼布甲尼撒的胜利（主前597年）
¹ 犹大王约西亚的儿子约雅敬登基之初，耶利米从耶和华那里得来的话，说：
² 「耶和华对我如此说：你当造绳索与轭，套在自己的颈项上；
³ 借那些来到耶路撒冷见犹大王西底家的使臣之手，把绳索与轭送到以东王、摩押王、亚扪人王、推罗王、西顿王那里；
⁴ 又吩咐他们对自己的主上说：『万军之耶和华—以色列的 神如此说，你们当对自己的主上这样说：
⁵ 我以大能和伸出来的膀臂创造大地，和地上的人畜；我凭我的旨意把地赐给谁，便赐给谁。
⁶ 现在我将这些地都交在我仆人巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒手中；田野的走兽我也赐给他服事他。
⁷ 列国都要服事他，和他的儿子，并他的孙子，直到他本国遭报的时辰来到；那时许多国家和大王要使他作他们的奴仆。
⁸ 哪一邦哪一国不肯服事这巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒，不肯把颈项放在巴比伦王的轭下，我必用刀剑、饥荒、瘟疫刑罚那国，直到我将他们交在他手中尽行毁灭。这是耶和华说的。
⁹ 所以你们不可听从你们的先知、占卜的、解梦的、术士、行邪术的，他们对你们说：『你们必不致服事巴比伦王』；
¹⁰ 因为他们向你们说假预言，为要使你们远离本地；我将你们赶出去，你们便灭亡。
¹¹ 但哪一邦肯把颈项放在巴比伦王的轭下服事他，我必使那邦仍留在本地，得以耕种居住。这是耶和华说的。」
这预言在年代上有些难解之处。这话说是「约雅敬登基之初」临到耶利米（耶27:1），然而他要向之交付奴役记号的使臣（耶27:3），却是来到「犹大王西底家」那里的——西底家直到约雅敬登基后十一年才作王。有人认为是抄本之误，以为当读作「西底家登基之初」，某疏忽的文士眼见前章的标题，便误写为「约雅敬」。若说何处可容有误，便是此处，因为西底家在下文（耶27:12）又再被提到，且下一段预言同一年所记，说是「西底家登基之初」（耶28:1）。莱特富特博士如此解释：在约雅敬登基之初，耶利米要制造这些绳索与轭，套在自己颈项上，作为犹大当服事巴比伦王——这事始于那时——的记号；但他要等到西底家作王之时才将这些送给邻近诸王；关于他接续约雅敬，以及使臣奉差到他那里，此处是以预言的方式提及。
一、耶利米要预备一个记号，表明这些国家普遍都要臣服于巴比伦王（耶27:2）：「你当造绳索与轭」，就是有绳索系牢的轭，使牲畜不能从轭中脱出颈项。先知要把自己的颈项套在其中，作为先知性表征引人注目；因为人人都要问：耶利米的轭是什么意思？我们看见他带着一个轭（耶28:10）。借此他暗示，他所劝他们行的，正是他自己决心要行的；因为他不是那种「把难担的担子放在别人肩上，自己连一根指头也不肯动」的人。仆人当这样把自己所传讲的重量和义务，先放在自己身上。
二、他要把这个记号连同附上的一篇信息送给一切邻近的君王；这里提到的（耶27:3）都是紧邻迦南地的。看来犹大王与这一切别的王之间正有结盟之议。耶路撒冷被指定为议政之地。他们都派了全权使臣到那里；议定要彼此结为攻守同盟，相互持守，对抗巴比伦王日益增长的威胁性的伟大，以遏制他越分的权势。他们对这样联合的力量大有信心，自命为高尚同盟；但当使臣们带着这盟约的批准各自回本国之时，耶利米给每一位使臣一个轭，要他带回去给他的主上，向他的主上表明：他必须或出于同意、或出于被迫，作巴比伦王的仆人，任他选择。在这记号上所作的讲论中，1. 神宣告自己对列国有无可争辩的权利，可随意处置他们（耶27:5）。他是创造万物之主；他起初「创造大地」，建立了它，它至今存立；虽然「一代过去，一代又来」，地却仍是一样。他仍以持续的创造，造出「地上的人和牲畜」，是借他的「大能」和「伸出来的膀臂」。他的膀臂虽有伸出，仍有无穷的力量。基于此，他可随自己的喜悦，将产权和统治权赐给他所愿意的人。他既然已经恩慈地「将地赐给世人」（诗115:16），他也分给各人自己的份，或多或少。注意，无论人在这世界的财物上有什么所得，都是 神看为合适所赐的；所以我们自己即使所得极少也当知足，并不嫉妒别人所得的份，纵然他们所得极多。2. 他向众人宣布，把这些国家都赐给尼布甲尼撒。「请知照各方。「Sciant præsentes et futuri——当让今人和后人知道。」「特此通知一切相关之人：我已将『这一切地』，连同其中一切的财富，都交在『巴比伦王的手中』；连『田野的走兽』，无论是驯是野，『我也赐给了他』；园囿和草场都属他所有。」尼布甲尼撒是个骄傲的恶人，是拜偶像的；然而 神在他护理中给他这样广大的统治，这样辽阔的产业。注意，这世界的事物并不是最好的事物，因为 神常把其中最大的份赐给恶人——那些与他争雄、背叛他的人。他是个恶人，然而他所有的，乃是出于 神的赐予。注意，统治权并不建立在恩典之上。那些对永福没有任何像样凭据的人，仍可能对今世美好的事物有正当的凭据。尼布甲尼撒是个极坏的人，然而 神称他为「我的仆人」，因为他雇用他作护理的工具，为要惩治列国，特别是他自己的百姓；为着他在其中事奉， 神如此丰厚地报答他。 神所使用的人，不会因他而受损；何况他更要显出自己是那一切甘心、真诚事奉他之人的丰厚赏赐者。3. 他向他们保证，他们必都难免在一段时间内臣服于巴比伦王（耶27:7）：「『万国』」——这一切国家和许多别的——「『都要服事他，和他的儿子，并他的孙子』。」他的儿子是以未米罗达，他的孙子是伯沙撒，在他身上国度便终止：那时「他本国遭报的时辰来到」，局面翻转，「许多国家和大王」——编入玛代波斯帝国之中——「要使他作他们的奴仆」，如前文（耶25:14）。照样亚多尼比色自己也被人践踏，如同他曾践踏别的王（士1:7）。4. 他向那些顽抗不肯服巴比伦王的人，以军事执行相威胁（耶27:8）：那不肯「把颈项放在他轭下」的国家，我必用「刀剑、饥荒、瘟疫」刑罚，一样接一样的审判，直到他「交在他手中尽行毁灭」。尼布甲尼撒如此侵犯邻国的权利和自由、强使他们臣服，十分不义而残暴；然而 神容许他如此行，有公义而圣洁的目的，要刑罚这些国家的拜偶像和严重的不道德。那些不肯事奉造他们之 神的人，公义上被交给那要毁灭他们的仇敌去事奉。5. 他指出他们用以自慰、以为自己可保自由的指望，全属虚妄（耶27:9-10）。这些国家也有他们的先知，装作借星象、借梦、借法术预言将来的事；他们为讨好他们的恩主，也因自己也愿意如此，奉承他们，保证他们「必不致服事巴比伦王」。他们这样设计要激励他们奋力抵抗；虽然毫无根据，他们仍希望借此为他们效劳。但他告诉他们，这必成为他们的毁灭；因为他们抵抗，必惹动征服者严厉待他们，「迁移他们」，「驱逐他们」进入悲惨的被掳，在其中他们全都要丧亡被埋没于遗忘。这些邻接以色列的各国，此处笼统预言其灭亡，其个别的预言——我们后文要遇见（耶48:1-49:39；结25:1-17）——与此处有同样的应验。注意，「 神施行审判，必将之克服。」6. 他为他们指明一条以平静顺服免去毁灭的稳妥之路（耶27:11）。肯甘心「服事巴比伦王」、向他进贡七十年的国家（十个学徒期），「我必使那邦仍留在本地」。肯弯曲的，必不被折断。巴比伦王的统治对他们的压迫，也许并不比他们本国君王的统治更重。把自由置于性命之上，常常更多是面子问题，而非真智慧。以萨迦见「安静为佳」，见「地甚美」，为要安然享用，便「屈肩负重」，「作了服苦的仆人」（创49:14-15），圣经并不以此羞辱他，正如这些人被劝勉要如此行：「服事巴比伦王，你们就可以耕种那地，并居住其中。」有人会以此斥为卑鄙之心的表现，但先知推荐它，说它是柔顺之心的表现——顺服必要，并以安静的顺服，在护理最难的转变中尽力善处；这样行胜于挣扎而使情况更糟。
许多人本可借着在使人自卑的护理之下自卑，而免去那毁灭人的护理。在我们的路上背起较轻的十字架，胜过把更重的拉到自己头上。
英文原文
Nebuchadnezzar's Victories Predicted (597 BC)
¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
² Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
³ And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
⁴ And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
⁵ I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
⁶ And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
⁷ And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
⁸ And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
⁹ Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
¹⁰ For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
¹¹ But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
Some difficulty occurs in the date of this prophecy. This word is said to come to Jeremiah in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (Jer 27:1), and yet the messengers, to whom he is to deliver the badges of servitude, are said (Jer 27:3) to come to Zedekiah king of Judah, who reigned not till eleven years after the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. Some make it an error of the copy, and think that it should be read (Jer 27:1), In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, for which some negligent scribe, having his eye on the title of the foregoing chapter, wrote Jehoiakim. And, if one would admit a mistake any where, it should be here, for Zedekiah is mentioned again (Jer 27:12), and the next prophecy is dated the same year, and said to be in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, Jer 28:1. Dr. Lightfoot solves it thus: In the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign Jeremiah is to make these bonds and yokes, and to put them upon his own neck, in token of Judah's subjection to the king of Babylon, which began at that time; but he is to send them to the neighbouring kings afterwards in the reign of Zedekiah, of whose succession to Jehoiakim, and the ambassadors sent to him, mention is made by way of prediction.
I. Jeremiah is to prepare a sign of the general reduction of all these countries into subjection to the king of Babylon (Jer 27:2): Make thee bonds and yokes, yokes with bonds to fasten them, that the beast may not slip his neck out of the yoke. Into these the prophet must put his own neck to make them taken notice of as a prophetic representation; for every one would enquire, What is the meaning of Jeremiah's yokes? We find him with one on, Jer 28:10. Hereby he intimated that he advised them to nothing but what he was resolved to do himself; for he was not one of those that bind heavy burdens on others, which they themselves will not touch with one of their fingers. Ministers must thus lay themselves under the weight and obligation of what they preach to others.
II. He is to send this, with a sermon annexed to it, to all the neighbouring princes; those are mentioned (Jer 27:3) that lay next to the land of Canaan. It should seem, there was a treaty of alliance on foot between the king of Judah and all those other kings. Jerusalem was the place appointed for the treaty. Thither they all sent their plenipotentiaries; and it was agreed that they should bind themselves in a league offensive and defensive, to stand by one another, in opposition to the growing threatening greatness of the king of Babylon, and to reduce his exorbitant power. They had great confidence in their strength thus united, and were ready to call themselves the high allies; but, when the envoys were returning to their respective masters with the ratification of this treaty, Jeremiah gives each of them a yoke to carry to his master, to signify to him that he must either by consent or by compulsion become a servant to the king of Babylon, let him choose which he will. In the sermon upon this sign, 1. God asserts his own indisputable right to dispose of kingdoms as he pleases, Jer 27:5. He is the Creator of all things; he made the earth at first, established it, and it abides: it is still the same, though one generation passes away and another comes. He still by a continued creation produces man and beast upon the ground, and it is by his great power and outstretched arm. His arm has infinite strength, though it be stretched out. Upon this account he may give and convey a property and dominion to whomsoever he pleases. As he hath graciously given the earth to the children of men in general (Ps 115:16), so he give to each his share of it, be it more or less. Note, Whatever any have of the good things of this world, it is what God sees fit to give them; we ourselves should therefore be content, though we have ever so little, and not envy any their share, though they have ever so much. 2. He publishes a grant of all these countries to Nebuchadnezzar. Know all men by these presents. Sciant præsentes et futuri—Let those of the present and those of the future age know. "This is to certify to all whom it may concern that I have given all these lands, with all the wealth of them, into the hands of the king of Babylon; even the beasts of the field, whether tame or wild, have I given to him, parks and pastures; they are all his own." Nebuchadnezzar was a proud wicked man, an idolater; and yet God, in his providence, gives him this large dominion, these vast possessions. Note, The things of this world are not the best things, for God often gives the largest share of them to bad men, that are rivals with him and rebels against him. He was a wicked man, and yet what he had he had by divine grant. Note, Dominion is not founded in grace. Those that have not any colourable title to eternal happiness may yet have a justifiable title to their temporal good things. Nebuchadnezzar is a very bad man, and yet God calls him his servant, because he employed him as an instrument of his providence for the chastising of the nations, and particularly his own people; and for his service therein he thus liberally repaid him. Those whom God makes use of shall not lose by him; much more will he be found the bountiful rewarder of all those that designedly and sincerely serve him. 3. He assures them that they should all be unavoidably brought under the dominion of the king of Babylon for a time (Jer 27:7): All nations, all these nations and many others, shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son. His son was Evil-merodach, and his son's son Belshazzar, in whom his kingdom ceased: then the time of reckoning with his land came, when the tables were turned, and many nations and great kings, incorporated into the empire of the Medes and Persians, served themselves of him, as before, Jer 25:14. Thus Adonibezek was trampled upon himself, as he had trampled on other kings. 4. He threatens those with military execution that stood out and would not submit to the king of Babylon (Jer 27:8): That nation that will not put their neck under his yoke I will punish with sword and famine, with one judgment after another, till it is consumed by his hand. Nebuchadnezzar was very unjust and barbarous in invading the rights and liberties of his neighbours thus, and forcing them into a subjection to him; yet God had just and holy ends in permitting him to do so, to punish these nations for their idolatry and gross immoralities. Those that would not serve the God that made them were justly made to serve their enemies that sought to ruin them. 5. He shows them the vanity of all the hopes they fed themselves with, that they should preserve their liberties, Jer 27:9,10. These nations had their prophets too, that pretended to foretell future events by the stars, or by dreams, or enchantments; and they, to please their patrons, and because they would themselves have it so, flattered them with assurances that they should not serve the king of Babylon. Thus they designed to animate them to a vigorous resistance; and, though they had no ground for it, they hoped hereby to do them service. But he tells them that it would prove to their destruction; for by resisting they would provoke the conqueror to deal severely with them, to remove them, and drive them out into a miserable captivity, in which they should all be lost and buried in oblivion. Particular prophecies against these nations that bordered on Israel severally, the ruin of which is here foretold in the general, we shall meet with, Jer 48:1-49:39, Eze 25:1-17, which had the same accomplishment with this here. Note, When God judges he will overcome. 6. He puts them in a fair way to prevent their destruction by a quiet and easy submission, Jer 27:11. The nations that will be content to serve the king of Babylon, and pay him tribute for seventy years (ten apprenticeships), those will I let remain still in their own land. Those that will bend shall not break. Perhaps the dominion of the king of Babylon may bear no harder upon them than that of their own kings had done. It is often more a point of honour than true wisdom to prefer liberty before life. It is not mentioned to the disgrace of Issachar that because he saw rest was good, and the land pleasant, that he might peaceably enjoy it, he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute (Ge 49:14,15), as these are here advised to do: Serve the king of Babylon and you shall till the land and dwell therein. Some would condemn this as the evidence of a mean spirit, but the prophet recommends it as that of a meek spirit, which yields to necessity, and by a quiet submission to the hardest turns of Providence makes the best of bad: it is better to do so than by struggling to make it worse.
Many might have prevented destroying providences by humbling themselves under humbling providences. It is better to take up a lighter cross in our way than to pull a heavier on our own head.
12-22
Jeremiah's Counsel to Zedekiah; Submission to Nebuchadnezzar Urged (597 BC)
耶利米劝谏西底家；劝人顺服尼布甲尼撒（公元前597年）
¹² 我也照这一切话对犹大王西底家说：『要把你们的颈项放在巴比伦王的轭下服事他和他的百姓，便得存活。 ¹³ 你和你的百姓为何要因刀剑、饥荒、瘟疫而死，正如耶和华论到那不服事巴比伦王的国所说的话呢？ ¹⁴ 所以不要听那些对你们说预言的先知的话，他们说：『你们不至服事巴比伦王』；因为他们向你们说假预言。 ¹⁵ 耶和华说：我并没有打发他们，他们却奉我的名说假预言，好使我赶逐你们，叫你们和向你们说预言的先知一同灭亡。』 ¹⁶ 我又对祭司和这众民说：『耶和华如此说：不要听你们那先知对你们说预言的话，他们说：看哪，耶和华殿中的器皿快快从巴比伦带回来；因为他们向你们说假预言。 ¹⁷ 不可听他们；要服事巴比伦王，便得存活；这城何至变为荒场呢？ ¹⁸ 他们若是先知，耶和华的话若在他们里面，就让他们现在为那留在耶和华殿中、犹大王宫中、耶路撒冷的器皿，向万军之耶和华求情，使这些器皿不至被带到巴比伦去。 ¹⁹ 因为万军之耶和华论到柱子、论到铜海、论到盆座，并论到那留在这城中其余的器皿，如此说—— ²⁰ 就是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒掳掠犹大王约雅敬的儿子耶哥尼雅，从耶路撒冷到巴比伦去之时所未曾取去的；他也掳掠了犹大和耶路撒冷的一切贵胄—— ²¹ 论到那留在耶和华殿中、犹大王宫中、并耶路撒冷的器皿，万军之耶和华——以色列的神如此说： ²² 这些器皿必被带到巴比伦，在那里直到我眷顾他们的日子，这是耶和华说的；那时我必把它们带上来，交还此地。』
那对列国所说的话，此处带着特别的柔情，应用在犹太国身上——耶利米对他们显然关切。如今情形如下：犹大和耶路撒冷屡次与巴比伦王较量，总是败北；他们许多珍贵的人和珍贵的物已经被掳到巴比伦，特别包括『耶和华殿中的器皿』。如今这场争斗将如何了结，便是问题。他们在耶路撒冷中有自称先知的人，劝他们坚持下去，不久他们必能胜过巴比伦王，夺回所失去的一切。如今耶利米奉差遣劝他们屈服低头——否则非但不能夺回所失去的，反而要失去所剩下的一切；劝他们如此行，便是这几节经文的宗旨。
I. 耶利米谦卑地向犹大王进言，劝他向巴比伦王投降。王所行的必是百姓所行的，必决定百姓的方向，所以他向他说话，如同对众人说话一般（耶27:12）：『要把你们的颈项放在巴比伦王的轭下，便得存活。』他们为保全身体性命而甘心负一残暴暴君沉重的铁轭，是智慧吗？那么我们为保全灵魂性命而负我们正当的主和夫子耶稣基督甘美轻易的轭，岂不更是智慧吗？你们当把灵降卑到悔改和信心，这便是把灵升高到天堂和荣耀之道。我们劝诫沉沦的灵魂，比耶利米在此劝诫沉沦的百姓，更有大得多的力量和怜悯：『你们为何要因刀剑和饥荒而死——这些必死无疑的死法，你们却借口避免可悲的生活而自投其中？』神对一切不肯顺服巴比伦王之人所说的一般性的话，他要他们应用到自己身上，并为此惧怕。罪人若照样畏惧那对一切不肯让基督作王掌权之人所宣告的毁灭，如此自省，那该多好：『我们为何要死第二次的死——这死比刀剑和饥荒之死可怕千倍——而我们本可以顺服得活？』
II. 他也向祭司和百姓进言（耶27:16），劝他们『服事巴比伦王』，使他们可以『存活』，并阻止那城的荒凉（耶27:17）：『这城何至变为荒场呢？——若你们硬撑下去，它必荒凉。』祭司素来是耶利米的仇敌，曾寻索他的性命要除灭他；他却显出自己是他们的朋友，寻求他们的性命，要保全护卫他们——这给我们留下榜样，以善报恶。『好流人血的恨恶完全人，惟独义人寻求他的灵魂』，寻求灵魂的福祉（箴29:10）。此处事态已甚严重；他们正处于毁灭的边缘，若肯听从耶利米的劝告，便不至走到这一步；然而他仍继续向他们发出友善的警告，为要挽救最后的赌注，智慧地经营；如今到了末了，在他们只有这一天可以回转之时，使他们明白关乎他们平安的事。
III. 在这两次进言中，他都警告他们不可信从那让他们安于懈怠的假先知——因为他们看出他们喜爱沉睡：『不要听那些先知的话』（耶27:14），『你们的先知』（耶27:16）。他们不是神的先知；他从未差遣他们；他们既不事奉他，也不求讨他喜悦；他们是你们的先知，因为他们只说你们要他们说的话，所图的不过是讨你们喜悦。他们的先知以两件事奉承他们：1. 巴比伦王如今加在他们身上的权势不久必被打破。他们说（耶27:14）：『你们不至服事巴比伦王；你们不必甘心屈服，因为你们也不会被勉强屈服。』他们『奉耶和华的名』说这话（耶27:15），仿佛神差遣他们带着这信息到百姓那里，出于善意，使他们不必因不光彩的投降而自取羞辱。但这事是谎言。他们声称神差遣他们；那是假的；神否认这事：『我并没有打发他们，这是耶和华说的。』他们声称他们永不会被巴比伦王辖制；那也是假的，事实证明了这一点。他们声称坚持到底便是保全自己和自己的城之道；那也是假的，因为结局必是他们被赶出去、灭亡。所以从头到尾都是谎言；以这些谎言欺骗百姓的先知，结局不过欺骗了自己；瞎眼的领路人和瞎眼的跟从者一同落入坑中：『叫你们灭亡——你们和向你们说预言的先知灭亡；他们的预言远不能担保你们的安全，连他们自己也不能保全自己。』注意，那些鼓励罪人继续行恶道的人，结局必与他们一同灭亡。2. 他们预言巴比伦王已经掳去的圣殿器皿，不久必被带回（耶27:16）；他们以这指望喂养祭司，深知这事对他们必十分悦纳——他们爱『殿里的金子』胜过『使金子成圣的殿』。这些器皿是在耶哥尼雅被掳到巴比伦之时被带走的（耶27:20）。这事记在王下24:13,15，代下36:10，是一段令人忧愁的记载。一切的『美好器皿』（即『耶和华殿中一切金器皿』）连同一切宝物，都被掳去为掠物，带到巴比伦。这事在他们比任何事更令他们伤痛；因为圣殿是他们的骄傲和倚靠，圣殿被劫，正是真先知告诉他们的话——他们的『神已经离弃他们』——最明显的记号。所以他们的假先知要使他们安心，别无他法，只能告诉他们巴比伦王不久必被迫归还。如今这里：(1.) 耶利米叫他们想借着祷告保全所剩下的器皿，而不是借着预言找回已经失去的（耶27:18）：『他们若是先知』——如他们所假装的——『耶和华的话若与他们同在』——若他们与天有相通、在天有分——就让他们为阻止审判的进展而善用这相通；让他们站在破口之中，拿着香炉站在『活人死人中间』，站在被掳去的和所剩下的中间，使瘟疫止住；让他们向万军之耶和华『求情』，使所剩下的器皿不至跟随其余的而去。[1.] 他们当祷告，不当说预言。注意，先知必须是祷告之人；借着多祷告，他们必须显明自己与天上保持相通。我们不能以为那些作为先知不常借祷告向天上发送信息的人，能从天上听见什么。借着为圣所的平安和兴盛祷告，他们必显明自己作为先知有公众之灵；借着祷告的果效，便显明神恩待他们。[2.] 他们当为保守所剩下的而努力，不当为寻回所失去的挂心；他们若能争取到这一点，便当视为大恩。当神的审判在外之时，我们不可求大事，而当为小事感恩。(2.) 他向他们保证，连这一点也不能争取到；铜器皿必跟随金器皿而去（耶27:19,22）。尼布甲尼撒从前发现了如此好的战利品，必再来，把所能找见的一切都取去——不仅『耶和华殿中』的，连『王宫中』的也要。这一切必被带到巴比伦炫耀，『在那里』存留。但他以一个恩典的应许结束：时候到了，它们必全数归回：『直到我所定眷顾他们的日子』，『那时我必把这些器皿带上来，归还此地』，归到原处。这些器皿若不是在特殊的护理之下，必早已被熔化，转作他用；然而将来必有第二圣殿，是为之保留的。我们特别读到这些器皿归回的记载（拉1:8）。注意，虽然教会兴盛的归回不在我们的时候，我们却不可因此绝望，因为它必在神的时候来到。那些说『耶和华殿中的器皿快快被带回来』的人，虽然说的是假预言（耶27:16），但那说『它们最终必被带回来』的人，说的却是真理。我们易于把我们的钟拨在神的日晷之前，又因两者不相合而争论；但主是审判之神，我们理当等候他。
英文原文
Jeremiah's Counsel to Zedekiah; Submission to Nebuchadnezzar Urged (597 BC)
¹² I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
¹³ Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
¹⁴ Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
¹⁵ For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
¹⁶ Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
¹⁷ Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
¹⁸ But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
¹⁹ For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
²⁰ Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
²¹ Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
²² They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
What was said to all the nations is here with a particular tenderness applied to the nation of the Jews, for whom Jeremiah was sensibly concerned. The case at present stood thus: Judah and Jerusalem had often contested with the king of Babylon, and still were worsted; many both of their valuable persons and their valuable goods were carried to Babylon already, and some of the vessels of the Lord's house particularly. Now how this struggle would issue was the question. They had those among them at Jerusalem who pretended to be prophets, who bade them hold out and they should, in a little time, be too hard for the king of Babylon and recover all that they had lost. Now Jeremiah is sent to bid them yield and knock under, for that, instead of recovering what they had lost, they should otherwise lose all that remained; and to press them to this is the scope of these verses.
I. Jeremiah humbly addresses the king of Judah, to persuade him to surrender to the king of Babylon. His act would be the people's and would determine them, and therefore he speaks to him as to them all (Jer 27:12): Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and live. Is it their wisdom to submit to the heavy iron yoke of a cruel tyrant, that they may secure the lives of their bodies? And is it not much more our wisdom to submit to the sweet and easy yoke of our rightful Lord and Master Jesus Christ, that we may secure the lives of our souls? Bring down your spirits to repentance and faith, and that is the way to bring up your spirits to heaven and glory. And with much more cogency and compassion may we expostulate with perishing souls than Jeremiah here expostulates with a perishing people: "Why will you die by the sword and the famine—miserable deaths, which you inevitably run yourselves upon, under pretence of avoiding miserable lives?" What God had spoken, in general, of all those that would not submit to the king of Babylon, he would have them to apply to themselves and be afraid of. It were well if sinners would, in like manner, be afraid of the destruction threatened against all those that will not have Christ to reign over them, and reason thus with themselves, "Why should we die the second death, which is a thousand times worse than that by sword and famine, when we might submit and live?"
II. He addresses himself likewise to the priests and the people (Jer 27:16), to persuade them to serve the king of Babylon, that they might live, and might prevent the desolation of the city (Jer 27:17): "Wherefore should it be laid waste, as certainly it will be if you stand it out?" The priests had been Jeremiah's enemies, and had sought his life to destroy it, yet he approves himself their friend, and seeks their lives, to preserve and secure them, which is an example to us to render good for evil. When the blood-thirsty hate the upright, yet the just seek his soul, and the welfare of it, Pr 29:10. The matter was far gone here; they were upon the brink of ruin, which they would not have been brought to if they would have taken Jeremiah's counsel; yet he continues his friendly admonitions to them, to save the last stake and manage that wisely, and now at length in this their day to understand the things that belong to their peace, when they had but one day to turn them in.
III. In both these addresses he warns them against giving credit to the false prophets that rocked them asleep in their security, because they saw that they loved to slumber: "Hearken not to the words of the prophets (Jer 27:14), your prophets, Jer 27:16. They are not God's prophets; he never sent them; they do not serve him, nor seek to please him; they are yours, for they say what you would have them say, and aim at nothing but to please you." Two things their prophets flattered them into the belief of:—1. That the power which the king of Babylon had gained over them should now shortly be broken. They said (Jer 27:14), "You shall not serve the king of Babylon; you need not submit voluntarily, for you shall not be compelled to submit." This they prophesied in the name of the Lord (Jer 27:15), as if God had sent them to the people on this errand, in kindness to them, that they might not disparage themselves by an inglorious surrender. But it was a lie. They said that God sent them; but that was false; he disowns it: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. They said that they should never be brought into subjection to the king of Babylon; but that was false too, the event proved it so. They said that to hold out to the last would be the way to secure themselves and their city; but that was false, for it would certainly end in their being driven out and perishing. So that it was all a lie, from first to last; and the prophets that deceived the people with these lies did, in the issue, but deceive themselves; the blind leaders and the blind followers fell together into the ditch: That you might perish, you, and the prophets that prophesy unto you, who will be so far from warranting your security that they cannot secure themselves. Note, Those that encourage sinners to go on in their sinful ways will in the end perish with them. 2. They prophesied that the vessels of the temple, which the king of Babylon had already carried away, should now shortly be brought back (Jer 27:16); this they fed the priests with the hopes of, knowing how acceptable it would be to them, who loved the gold of the temple better than the temple that sanctified the gold. These vessels were taken away when Jeconiah was carried captive into Babylon, Jer 27:20. We have the story, and it is a melancholy one, 2Ki 24:13,15, 2Ch 36:10. All the goodly vessels (that is, all the vessels of gold that were in the house of the Lord), with all the treasures, were taken as prey, and brought to Babylon. This was grievous to them above any thing; for the temple was their pride and confidence, and the stripping of that was too plain an indication of that which the true prophet told them, that their God had departed from them. Their false prophets therefore had no other way to make them easy than by telling them that the king of Babylon should be forced to restore them in a little while. Now here, (1.) Jeremiah bids them think of preserving the vessels that remained by their prayers, rather than of bringing back those that were gone by their prophecies (Jer 27:18): If they be prophets, as they pretend, and if the word of the Lord be with them—if they have any intercourse with heaven and any interest there, let them improve it for the stopping of the progress of the judgment; let them step into the gap, and stand with their censer between the living and the dead, between that which is carried away and that which remains, that the plague may be stayed; let them make intercession with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left go not after the rest. [1.] Instead of prophesying, let them pray. Note, Prophets must be praying men; by being much in prayer they must make it to appear that they keep up a correspondence with heaven. We cannot think that those do, as prophets, ever hear thence, who do not frequently by prayer send thither. By praying for the safety and prosperity of the sanctuary they must make it to appear that, as becomes prophets, they are of a public spirit; and by the success of their prayers it will appear that God favours them. [2.] Instead of being concerned for the retrieving of what they had lost, they must bestir themselves for the securing of what was left, and take it as a great favour if they can gain that point. When God's judgments are abroad we must not seek great things, but be thankful for a little. (2.) He assures them that even this point should not be gained, but the brazen vessels should go after the golden ones, Jer 27:19,22. Nebuchadnezzar had found so good a booty once that he would be sure to come again and take all he could find, not only in the house of the Lord, but in the king's house. They shall all be carried to Babylon in triumph, and there shall they be. But he concludes with a gracious promise that the time should come when they should all be returned: Until the day that I visit them in mercy, according to appointment, and then I will bring those vessels up again, and restore them to this place, to their place. Surely they were under the protection of a special Providence, else they would have been melted down and put to some other use; but there was to be a second temple, for which they were to be reserved. We read particularly of the return of them, Ezr 1:8. Note, Though the return of the church's prosperity do not come in our time, we must not therefore despair of it, for it will come in God's time. Though those who said, The vessels of the Lord's house shall shortly be brought again, prophesied a lie (Jer 27:16), yet he that said, They shall at length be brought again, prophesied the truth. We are apt to set our clock before God's dial, and then to quarrel because they do not agree; but the Lord is a God of judgment, and it is fit that we should wait for him.
先知耶利米既不能劝服百姓顺服神的诫命、借此避遭巴比伦王对那地的毁灭,在此便转而劝他们顺服神的护理,即温顺地向巴比伦王屈服、向他进贡。这是他们当下所能采取的最明智之策,能减轻灾难,并避免那地被火与刀剑所蹂躏;牺牲自由,便能保全性命。一、他以神的名将这劝告给周围列国的诸王,叫他们尽力在逆境中自处,并向他们保证别无他法,他们必须事奉巴比伦王;然而将来必有缓解,因为他的统治只持续七十年(耶27:1-11)。二、他将这劝告特别给犹大王西底家(耶27:12-15),也给祭司和百姓,向他们保证巴比伦王仍要继续攻击他们,直到事态被推至极处;而忍耐的顺服将是减轻灾难、使之易于忍受的唯一途径(耶27:16-22)。如此,先知只要他们肯听从,本可指引他们走在真正的敬虔之道上,也走在真正的明智之道上。