Verse 1

I will stand upon my a watch, and seat myself upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

(a) I will renounce my own judgment, and only depend on God to be instructed what I will answer those that abuse my preaching, and to be armed against all temptations.

Verse 2

And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make [it] plain upon tablets, that he may run b that readeth it.

(b) Write it in great letters, that he that runneth may read it.

Verse 3

For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time, but at the c end it shall speak, and not lie: though it may tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

(c) Which contained the destruction of the enemy, and the comfort of the Church. And even though God does not execute this according to man's hasty affections, yet the issue of both is certain at his appointed time.

Verse 4

Behold, d his soul [which] is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

(d) To trust in himself, or in any worldly thing, is never to be at peace: for the only rest is to trust in God by faith; (Romans 1:17) ; (Galatians 3:11) ; (Hebrews 10:38).

Verse 5

Yea also, because e he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth to him all nations, and heapeth to him all people:

(e) He compares the proud and covetous man to a drunkard that is without reason and sense, whom God will punish and make a laughing stock to all the world: and this he speaks for the comfort of the godly, and against the Chaldeans.

Verse 6

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth [that which is] not his! f how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

(f) Signifying that all the world will wish the destruction of tyrants, and that by their oppression and covetousness, they heap but upon themselves more heavy burdens: for the more they get, the more are they troubled.

Verse 7

Shall g they not rise suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall oppress thee, and thou shalt be for booty to them?

(g) That is, the Medes and persians, that would destroy the Babylonians?

Verse 10

Thou h gavest shameful counsel to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned [against] thy soul.

(h) Signifying that the covetous man is the ruin of his own house, when he thinks to enrich it be cruelty and oppression.

Verse 11

For the i stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

(i) The stones of the house will cry, and say that they are built from blood, and the wood will answer and say the same of itself.

Verse 13

Behold, [is it] not from the k LORD of hosts that the people shall labour [only] for fire, and the nations shall weary themselves for nothing?

(k) Meaning, that God will not defer his vengeance long, but will come and destroy all their labours, as though they were consumed with fire.

Verse 14

For the earth shall l be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

(l) In the destruction of the Babylonians his glory will appear through all the world.

Verse 15

Woe to him that giveth his neighbour m drink, that puttest thy bottle to [him], and makest [him] drunk also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

(m) He reproaches by this the king of Babylon, who as he was drunken with covetousness and cruelty, so he provoked others to the same, and inflamed them by his madness, and so in the end brought them to shame.

Verse 16

Thou art filled with shame n for glory: drink thou also, and let thy shame come upon thee: the cup of the LORD'S right hand shall be turned to thee, and utter shame [shall be] on thy glory.

(n) Whereas you thought to have the glory of these your doings, they will turn to your shame: for you will drink of the same cup with others in your turn.

Verse 17

For the o violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, [which] made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell in it.

(o) Because the Babylonians were cruel not only against other nations, but also against the people of God, which is meant by Lebanon and the beast in it, he shows that the same cruelly will be executed against them.

Verse 18

What profiteth the graven p image that its maker hath engraved it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth in it, to make dumb idols?

(p) He shows that the Babylonian gods could not help them at all, for they were but blocks or stones. {See (Jeremiah 10:8) }

Verse 19

Woe to him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! q Behold, it [is] laid over with gold and silver, and [there is] no breath at all within it.

(q) If you will consider what it is, and how it has neither breath nor life, but is a dead thing.