7 So the Lord of armies has said, See, I will make them soft in the fire and put them to the test; this I will do because of their evil-doing.
And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;
I have made you a tester among my people, so that you may have knowledge of their way and put it to the test.
See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.
And I will make the third part go through the fire, cleaning them as silver is made clean, and testing them as gold is tested: and they will make their prayer to me and I will give them an answer: I will say, It is my people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.
How may I give you up, O Ephraim? how may I be your saviour, O Israel? how may I make you like Admah? how may I do to you as I did to Zeboim? My heart is turned in me, it is soft with pity. I will not put into effect the heat of my wrath; I will not again send destruction on Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One among you; I will not put an end to you.
So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
Dear brothers, do not be surprised, as if it was something strange, if your faith is tested as by fire:
Son of man, the children of Israel have become like the poorest sort of waste metal to me: they are all silver and brass and tin and iron and lead mixed with waste. For this cause the Lord has said: Because you have all become waste metal, see, I will get you together inside Jerusalem. As they put silver and brass and iron and lead and tin together inside the oven, heating up the fire on it to make it soft; so will I get you together in my wrath and in my passion, and, heating the fire with my breath, will make you soft. Yes, I will take you, breathing on you the fire of my wrath, and you will become soft in it. As silver becomes soft in the oven, so you will become soft in it; and you will be certain that I the Lord have let loose my passion on you.
And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them by his servants, sending early and frequently, because he had pity on his people and on his living-place;
Your streets will be stamped down by the feet of his horses: he will put your people to the sword, and will send down the pillars of your strength to the earth. They will take by force all your wealth and go off with the goods with which you do trade: they will have your walls broken down and all the houses of your desire given up to destruction: they will put your stones and your wood and your dust deep in the water.
O Ephraim, what am I to do to you? O Judah, what am I to do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew which goes early away. So I have had it cut in stones; I gave them teaching by the words of my mouth;
And the angel who was talking to me said to me, Let your voice be loud and say, These are the words of the Lord of armies: I am greatly moved about the fate of Jerusalem and of Zion. And I am very angry with the nations who are living untroubled: for when I was only a little angry, they made the evil worse. So this is what the Lord has said: I have come back to Jerusalem with mercies; my house is to be put up in her, says the Lord of armies, and a line is to be stretched out over Jerusalem.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 9
Commentary on Jeremiah 9 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Jeremiah 9:1. "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfarers! then would I leave my people, and go away from them. For they be all adulterers, a crew of faithless ones. Jeremiah 9:2. They bend their tongue like their bow with lying; and not according to faithfulness do they manage in the land, but go on from evil to evil, and me they know not, saith Jahve. Jeremiah 9:3. Beware each of his neighbour, and trust not in any brother; for every brother supplanteth, and every friend goeth slandering. Jeremiah 9:4. And one overreaCheth the other, and truth they speak not; they teach their tongue to speak lies, to deal perversely they weary themselves. Jeremiah 9:5. Thy dwelling is in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jahveh. Jeremiah 9:6. Therefore thus hath spoken Jahveh of hosts: Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how should I deal in regard to the daughter of my people? Jeremiah 9:7. A deadly arrow is their tongue; they speak deceit; with his mouth one speaketh peace with his neighbour, and inwardly within him he layeth ambush. Jeremiah 9:8. Shall I not visit this upon them? saith Jahveh; or on such a people as this shall not my soul take vengeance?"