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Selected Verse: Ezekiel 16:53 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Eze 16:53	Strong Concordance	When I shall bring again [07725] their captivity [07622] [07622], the captivity [07622] [07622] of Sodom [05467] and her daughters [01323], and the captivity [07622] [07622] of Samaria [08111] and her daughters [01323], then will I bring again the captivity [07622] [07622] of thy captives [07622] in the midst [08432] of them:
	King James	When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Here follows a promise of restoration. Even the sore chastisements coming on Judah would fail to reform its people; God's returning goodness alone would effect this, to show how entirely of grace was to be their restoration. The restoration of her erring sisters is mentioned before hers, even as their punishment preceded her punishment; so all self-boasting is excluded [FAIRBAIRN]. "Ye shall, indeed, at some time or other return, but Moab and Ammon shall return with you, and some of the ten tribes" [GROTIUS]. bring again . . . captivity--that is, change the affliction into prosperity (so Job 42:10). Sodom itself was not so restored (Jer 20:16), but Ammon and Moab (her representatives, as sprung from Lot who dwelt in Sodom) were (Jer 48:47; Jer 49:6); probably most of the ten tribes and the adjoining nations, Ammon and Moab, &c., were in part restored under Cyrus; but the full realization of the restoration is yet future; the heathen nations to be brought to Christ being typified by "Sodom," whose sins they now reproduce (Deu 32:32). captivity of thy captives--literally, "of thy captivities." However, the gracious promise rather begins with the "nevertheless" (Eze 16:60), not here; for Eze 16:59 is a threat, not a promise. The sense here thus is, Thou shalt be restored when Sodom and Samaria are, but not till then (Eze 16:55), that is, never. This applies to the guilty who should be utterly destroyed (Eze 16:41-42); but it does not contradict the subsequent promise of restoration to their posterity (Num 14:29-33), and to the elect remnant of grace [CALVIN].

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Here follows a promise of restoration. Even the sore chastisements coming on Judah would fail to reform its people; God's returning goodness alone would effect this, to show how entirely of grace was to be their restoration. The restoration of her erring sisters is mentioned before hers, even as their punishment preceded her punishment; so all self-boasting is excluded [FAIRBAIRN]. "Ye shall, indeed, at some time or other return, but Moab and Ammon shall return with you, and some of the ten tribes" [GROTIUS].

bring again . . . captivity--that is, change the affliction into prosperity (so Job 42:10). Sodom itself was not so restored (Jer 20:16), but Ammon and Moab (her representatives, as sprung from Lot who dwelt in Sodom) were (Jer 48:47; Jer 49:6); probably most of the ten tribes and the adjoining nations, Ammon and Moab, &c., were in part restored under Cyrus; but the full realization of the restoration is yet future; the heathen nations to be brought to Christ being typified by "Sodom," whose sins they now reproduce (Deu 32:32).

captivity of thy captives--literally, "of thy captivities." However, the gracious promise rather begins with the "nevertheless" (Eze 16:60), not here; for Eze 16:59 is a threat, not a promise. The sense here thus is, Thou shalt be restored when Sodom and Samaria are, but not till then (Eze 16:55), that is, never. This applies to the guilty who should be utterly destroyed (Eze 16:41-42); but it does not contradict the subsequent promise of restoration to their posterity (Num 14:29-33), and to the elect remnant of grace [CALVIN].

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
A denunciation of hopeless ruin. When Sodom shall be rebuilt and shall flourish, when Samaria shall be again a mighty people, then, but not until then, shall Jerusalem be restored.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
But this disgrace will not be the conclusion. Because of the covenant which the Lord concluded with Israel, Jerusalem will not continue in misery, but will attain to the glory promised to the people of God; - and that in such a way that all boasting will be excluded, and Judah, with the deepest shame, will attain to a knowledge of the true compassion of God. - Yet, in order that all false confidence in the gracious promises of God may be prevented, and the sinful nation be thoroughly humbled, this last section of our word of God announces the restoration of Sodom and Samaria as well as that of Jerusalem, so that all boasting on the part of Israel is precluded. - Eze 16:53. And I will turn their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captivity in the midst of them: Eze 16:54. That thou mayest bear thy shame, and be ashamed of all that thou hast done, in comforting them. Eze 16:55. And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will return to their first estate; and Samaria and her daughters will return to their first estate; and thou and thy daughters will return to your first estate. Eze 16:56. And Sodom thy sister was not a discourse in thy mouth in the day of thy haughtinesses, Eze 16:57. Before thy wickedness was disclosed, as at the time of the disgrace of the daughters of Aram and all its surroundings, the daughters of the Philistines, who despised thee round about. Eze 16:58. Thy wrong-doing and all thy abominations, thou bearest them, is the saying of Jehovah. Eze 16:59. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, And I do with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised oath to break covenant. Eze 16:60. And I shall remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and shall establish an everlasting covenant with thee. Eze 16:61. And thou wilt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou receivest thy sisters, those greater than thou to those smaller than thou; and I give them to thee for daughters, although they are not of thy covenant. Eze 16:62. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou wilt perceive that I am Jehovah; Eze 16:63. That thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and there may no longer remain to thee an opening of the mouth because of thy disgrace, when I forgive thee all that thou hast done, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - The promise commences with an announcement of the restoration, not of Jerusalem, but of Sodom and Samaria. The two kingdoms, or peoples, upon which judgment first fell, shall also be the first to receive mercy; and it will not be till after then that Jerusalem, with the other cities of Judah, will also be restored to favour, in order that she may bear her disgrace, and be ashamed of her sins (Eze 16:54); that is to say, not because Sodom and Samaria have borne their punishment for a longer time, but to the deeper shaming, the more complete humiliation of Jerusalem. שׁוּב שׁבוּת, to turn the captivity, not "to bring back the captives" (see the comm. on Deu 30:3), is here used in a figurative sense for restitutio in statum integritatis, according to the explanation given of the expression in Eze 16:55. No carrying away, or captivity, took place in the case of Sodom. The form שׁבית, which the Chetib has adopted several times here, has just the same meaning as שׁבוּת. שׁבית שׁביתיך does not mean the captives of thy captivity, since the same word cannot be used first as a concrete and then as an abstract noun; nor does the combination serve to give greater emphasis, in the sense of a superlative - viz. "the captivity of thy captivities, equivalent to thy severest or most fearful captivity," - as Stark and Hvernick suppose. The genitive must be taken as explanatory, as already proposed by Hengstenberg and Kliefoth: "captivity, which is thy captivity;" and the pleonastic mode of expression is chosen to give greater prominence to the thought, "thine own captivity," than would have been given to it by a suffix attached to the simple noun. בּתוכהנה, in their midst, does not imply, that just as Judah was situated now in the very midst between Sodom and Samaria, so its captives would return home occupying the centre between those two (Hitzig); the reference is rather to fellowship in captivity, to the fact that Jerusalem would share the same fate, and endure the same punishment, as Samaria and Sodom (Hengst., Klief.). The concluding words of Eze 16:54, "in that thou comfortest them," do not refer to the sins already committed by Israel (as Kliefoth, who adopts the rendering, "didst comfort them," imagines), but to the bearing of such disgrace as makes Jerusalem ashamed of its sins. By bearing disgrace, i.e., by its endurance of well-merited and disgraceful punishment, Jerusalem consoles her sisters Samaria and Sodom; and that not merely by fellowship in misfortune, - solamen miseris etc. , (Calvin, Hitzig, etc.), - but by the fact that from the punishment endured by Jerusalem, both Samaria and Sodom can discern the righteousness of the ways of God, and find therein a foundation for their hope, that the righteous God will bring to an end the merited punishment as soon as its object has been attained (see the comm. on Eze 14:22-23). The turning of the captivity, according to Eze 16:55, will consist in the fact that Sodom, Samaria, and Jerusalem return לקדמתן, to their original state. קדמה does not mean the former or earlier state, but the original state, as in Isa 23:7. Kliefoth is wrong, however, in explaining this as meaning: "as they were, when they came in Adam from the creative hand of God." The original state is the status integritatis, not as a state of sinlessness or original righteousness and holiness, - for neither Jerusalem on the one hand, nor Samaria and Sodom on the other, had ever been in such a state as this, - but as an original state of glory, in which they were before they had fallen and sunk into ungodly ways. But how could a restoration of Sodom and her daughters (Gomorrah, etc.) be predicted, when the destruction of these cities was accompanied by the sweeping away of all their inhabitants from off the face of the earth? Many of the commentators have attempted to remove the difficulty by assuming that Sodom here stands for the Moabites and Ammonites, who were descendants of Lot, who escaped from Sodom. But the untenableness of such an explanation is obvious, from the simple fact that the Ammonites and Moabites were no more Sodomites than Lot himself. And the view expressed by Origen and Jerome, and lately revived by Hvernick, that Sodom is a typical name denoting heathenism generally, is also unsatisfactory. The way in which Sodom is classed with Samaria and Jerusalem, and the special reference to the judgment that fell upon Sodom (Eze 16:49, Eze 16:50), point undeniably to the real Sodom. The heathen world comes into consideration only so far as this, that the pardon of a heathen city, so deeply degraded as Sodom, carries with it the assurance that mercy will be extended to all heathen nations. We must therefore take the words as referring to the literal Sodom. Yet we certainly cannot for a moment think of any earthly restoration of Sodom. For even if we could conceive of a restoration of the cities that were destroyed by fire, and sunk into the depths of the Dead Sea, it is impossible to form any conception of an earthly and corporeal restoration of the inhabitants of those cities, who ere destroyed at the same time; and in this connection it is chiefly to them that the words refer. This does not by any means prove that the thing itself is impossible, but simply that the realization of the prophecy must be sought for beyond the present order of things, in one that extends into the life everlasting. As Eze 16:55 elucidates the contents of Eze 16:53, so the thought of Eze 16:54 is explained and still further expanded in Eze 16:56 and Eze 16:57. The meaning of Eze 16:56 is a subject of dispute; but so much is indisputable, that the attempt to Kliefoth to explain Eze 16:56 and Eze 16:57 as referring to the future, and signifying that in the coming day of its glory Israel will no longer carry Sodom as a legend in its mouth as it does now, does violence to the grammar, and is quite a mistake. It is no more allowable to take ולא היתה as a future, in the sense of "and will not be," than to render כּמו עת חרפּת redner ot naht " (Eze 16:57), "it will be like the time of scorn." Moreover, the application of בּיום גּאוניך to the day of future glory is precluded by the fact that in Eze 16:49 the word גּאון is used to denote the pride which was the chief sin of Sodom; and the reference to this verse very naturally suggests itself. The meaning of Eze 16:56 depends upon the rendering to be given to לשׁמוּעה. The explanation given by Rosenmller and Maurer, after Jerome, - viz. non erat in auditione, i.e., non audiebatur, thou didst not think at all of Sodom, didst not take its name into thy mouth, - is by no means satisfactory. שׁמוּעה means proclamation, discourse, and also report. If we adopt the last, we must take the sentence as interrogatory (לוא for הלוא), as Hengstenberg and Hitzig have done. Although this is certainly admissible, there are no clear indexes here to warrant our assumption of an interrogation, which is only hinted at by the tone. We therefore prefer the meaning "discourse:" thy sister Sodom was not a discourse in thy mouth in the day of thy haughtinesses, that thou didst talk of the fate of Sodom and lay it to heart when thou wast in prosperity. The plural גּאוניך is more emphatic than the singular. The day of the haughtinesses is defined in Eze 16:57 as the period before the wickedness of Judah had been disclosed. This was effected by means of the judgment, which burst upon Jerusalem on the part of Babylon. Through this judgment Jerusalem is said to have been covered with disgrace, as at the time when the daughters of Aram, i.e., the cities of Syria, and those of the Philistines (Aram on the east, and the Philistines on the west, Isa 9; 11), scorned and maltreated it round about. This refers primarily to the times of Ahaz, when the Syrians and Philistines pressed hard upon Judah (Kg2 15:37; Kg2 16:6; and Ch2 28:18-19). It must not be restricted to this, however; but was repeated in the reign of Jehoiachin, when Jehovah sent troops of the Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, Ammonites, and Moabites against him, to destroy Judah (Kg2 24:2). It is true, the Philistines are not mentioned here; but from the threat in Eze 25:15, we may infer that they also attempted at the same time to bring disgrace upon Judah. שׁאט = שׁוּט, according to Aramaean usage, to treat contemptuously, or with repudiation (cf. Eze 28:24, Eze 28:26). Jerusalem will have to atone for this pride, and to bear its wrong-doing and its abominations (Eze 16:58). For zimmâh, see the comm. on Eze 16:43. The perfect נשׂאתים indicates that the certainty of the punishment is just as great as if it had already commenced. The reason assigned for this thought in Eze 16:59 forms a transition to the further expansion of the promise in Eze 16:60. ועשׂית (Eze 16:59) has been correctly pointed by the Masoretes as the 1st person. The ו is copulative, and shows that what follows forms the concluding summary of all that precedes. אותך for אתּך, as in Eze 16:60, etc., to deal with any one. The construction of עשׂה, with an accusative of the person, to treat any one, cannot be sustained either from Eze 17:17 and Eze 23:25, or from Jer 33:9; and Gesenius is wrong in assuming that we meet with it in Isa 42:16. Despising the oath (אלה) points back to Deu 29:11-12, where the renewal of the covenant concluded at Sinai is described as an entrance into the covenant and oath which the Lord then made with His people. - But even if Israel has faithlessly broken the covenant, and must bear the consequence punishment, the unfaithfulness of man can never alter the faithfulness of God. This is the link of connection between the resumption and further expansion of the promise in Eze 16:60 and the closing words of Eze 16:59. The remembrance of His covenant ins mentioned in Lev 26:42 and Lev 26:45 as the only motive that will induce God to restore Israel to favour again, when the humiliation effected by the endurance of punishment has brought it to a confession of its sins. The covenant which God concluded with Israel in the day of its youth, i.e., when He led it out of Egypt, He will establish as an everlasting covenant. Consequently it is not an entirely new covenant, but simply the perfecting of the old one for everlasting duration. For the fact itself, compare Isa 55:3, where the making of the everlasting covenant is described as granting the stedfast mercies of David, i.e., as the fulfilment of the promise given to David (2 Sam 7). This promise is called by David himself an everlasting covenant which God had made with him (Sa2 23:5). And the assurance of its everlasting duration was to be found in the fact that this covenant did not rest upon the fulfilment of the law, but simply upon the forgiving grace of God (compare Eze 16:63 with Jer 31:31-34). - The bestowal of this grace will put Israel in remembrance of its ways, and fill it with shame. In this sense, וזכרתּ (and thou shalt remember), in Eze 16:61, is placed side by side with זכרתּי (I will remember) in Eze 16:60. This shame will seize upon Israel when the establishment of an everlasting covenant is followed by the greater and smaller nations being associated with it in glory, and incorporated into it as children, though they are not of its covenant. The greater and smaller sisters are the greater and smaller nations, as members of the universal family of man, who are to be exalted to the glory of one large family of God. The restoration, which is promised in Eze 16:53 and Eze 16:55 to Sodom and Samaria alone, is expanded here into a prophecy of the reception of all the greater and smaller nations into fellowship in the glory of the people of God. We may see from this that Sodom and Samaria represent the heathen nations generally, as standing outside the Old Testament dispensation: Sodom representing those that were sunk in the deepest moral degradation, and Samaria those that had fallen from the state of grace. The attitude in which these nations stand towards Israel in the everlasting covenant of grace, is defined as the relation of daughters to a mother. If, therefore, Israel, which has been thrust out among the heathen on account of its deep fall, is not to return to its first estate till after the return of Sodom, which has been destroyed, and Samaria, which has been condemned, the election of Israel before all the nations of the earth to be the first-born son of Jehovah will continue unchanged, and Israel will form the stem of the new kingdom of God, into which the heathen nations will be incorporated. The words, "and not of thy covenant," have been taken by most of the commentators in the sense of, "not because thou hast kept the covenant;" but this is certainly incorrect. For even if "thy covenant" really formed an antithesis to "my covenant" (Eze 16:60 and Eze 16:62), "thy covenant" could not possibly signify the fulfilment of thy covenant obligations. The words belong to bânōth (daughters), who are thereby designated as extra-testamental - i.e., as not included in the covenant which God made with Israel, and consequently as having no claim by virtue of that covenant to participate in the glory of the everlasting covenant which is hereafter to be established. - When this covenant has been established, Israel will know that God is Jehovah, the unchangeably true (for the meaning of the name Jehovah, see the commentary on Gen 2:4); that it may call to mind, sc. both its sinful abominations and the compassionate grace of God, and be so filled with shame and penitence that it will no more venture to open its mouth, either for the purpose of finding excuses for its previous fall, or to murmur against God and His judgments, - namely, when the Lord forgives all its sins by establishing the everlasting covenant, the kernel and essence of which consists in the forgiveness of sins (cf. Jer 31:34). Thus will the experience of forgiving grace complete what judgment has already begun, viz., the transformation of proud and haughty sinners into meek and humble children of God, for whom the kingdom has been prepared from the beginning. This thought brings the entire prophecy to a close, - a prophecy which embraces the whole of the world's history and the New Testament, the parallel to which is contained in the apostle's words, "God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all" (Rom 11:32). - As the punishment threatened to the adulteress, i.e., to the nation of Israel that had despised its God and King, had been fulfilled upon Jerusalem and the Jews, and is in process of fulfilment still, so has the promise also been already fulfilled, so far as its commencement is concerned, though the complete and ultimate fulfilment is only to be expected in time to come. The turning of the captivity, both of Jerusalem and her daughters, and of Samaria and her daughters, commenced with the establishment of the everlasting covenant, i.e., of the covenant made through Christ, and with the reception of the believing portion of Israel in Judaea, Samaria, and Galilee (Act 8:5., Act 8:25, Act 9:31). And the turning of the captivity of Sodom commenced with the spread of the gospel among the heathen, and their entrance into the kingdom of Christ, inasmuch as Sodom with her daughters represents the morally degraded heathen world. Their reception into the kingdom of heaven, founded by Christ on earth, forms the commencement of the return of the forgiven to their first estate on the "restitution of all things," i.e., the restoration of all moral relations to their original normal constitution (compare Act 3:21 and Meyer's comm. thereon with Mat 17:11), which will attain its perfection in the παλιγγενεσία, the general restoration of the world to its original glory (compare Mat 19:28 with Rom 8:18. and Pe2 3:13). The prophecy before us in Eze 16:55 clearly points to this final goal. It is true that one might understand the return of Jerusalem and Samaria to their original state, which is predicted here as simply relating to the pardon of the covenant nation, whose apostasy had led to the rejection of both its parts; and this pardon might be sought in its reception into the kingdom of Christ and its restoration as the people of God. In that case the complete fulfilment of our prophecy would take place during the present aeon in the spread of the gospel among all nations, and the conversion of that portion of Israel which still remained hardened after the entrance of the full number of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God. But this limitation would be out of harmony with the equality of position assigned to Sodom and her daughters on the one hand, and Samaria and Jerusalem on the other. Though Sodom is not merely a type of the heathen world, the restoration of Sodom and her daughters cannot consist in the reception of the descendants of the cities on which the judgment fell into the kingdom of God or the Christian Church, since the peculiar manner in which those cities were destroyed prevented the possibility of any of the inhabitants remaining alive whose descendants could be converted to Christ and blessed in Him during the present period of the world. On the other hand, the opinion expressed by C. a Lapide, that the restoration of Sodom is to be referred and restricted to the conversion of the descendants of the inhabitants of Zoar, which was spared for Lot's sake, when the other cities of the plain were destroyed, is too much at variance with the words of the passage to allow of our accepting such a solution as this. The turning of the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, i.e., the forgiveness of the inhabitants of Sodom and the other cities of the plain, points beyond the present aeon, and the realization can only take place on the great day of the resurrection of the dead in the persons of the former inhabitants of Sodom and the neighbouring cities. And in the same way the restoration of Samaria and Jerusalem will not be completely fulfilled till after the perfecting of the kingdom of Christ in glory at the last day. Consequently the prophecy before us goes beyond Rom 11:25., inasmuch as it presents, not to the covenant nation only, but, in Samaria and Sodom, to all the larger and smaller heathen nations also, the prospect of being eventually received into the everlasting kingdom of God; although, in accordance with the main purpose of this prophetic word, namely, to bring the pride of Israel completely down, this is simply hinted at, and no precise intimation is given of the manner in which the predicted apokatastasis will occur. But notwithstanding this indefiniteness, we must not explain away the fact itself by arbitrary expositions, since it is placed beyond all possible doubt by other passages of Scriptures. The words of our Lord in Mat 10:15 and Mat 11:24, to the effect that it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom than for Capernaum and every other city that shall have rejected the preaching of the gospel, teach most indisputably that the way of mercy stands open still even for Sodom itself, and that the judgment which has fallen upon it does not carry with it the final decision with regard to its inhabitants. For Sodom did not put away the perfect revelation of mercy and salvation. If the mighty works which were done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom, it would have stood to the present day (Mat 11:23). And from this it clearly follows that all the judgments which fell before the time of Christ, instead of carrying with them the final decision, and involving eternal damnation, leave the possibility of eventual pardon open still. The last judgment, which is decisive for eternity, does not take place till after the full revelation of grace and truth in Christ. Not only will the gospel be preached to all nations before the end comes (Mat 24:14), but even to the dead; to the spirits in prison, who did not believe at the time of Noah, it has been already preached, at the time when Christ went to them in spirit, in order that, although judged according to man's way in the flesh, they might live according to God's way in the spirit (Pe1 3:19; Pe1 4:6). What the apostle teaches in the first of these passages concerning the unbelievers before the flood, and affirms in the second concerning the dead in general, is equally applicable according to our prophecy to the Sodomites who were judged after man's way in the flesh, and indeed generally to all heathen nations who either lived before Christ or departed from this earthly life without having heard the gospel preached. - It is according to these distinct utterances of the New Testament that the prophecy before us respecting the apokatastasis of Sodom, Samaria, and Jerusalem is to be interpreted; and this is not to be confounded with the heretical doctrine of the restoration, i.e., the ultimate salvation of all the ungodly, and even of the devil himself. If the preaching of the gospel precedes the last judgment, the final sentence in the judgment will be regulated by the attitude assumed towards the gospel by both the living and the dead. All souls that obstinately reject it and harden themselves in unbelief, will be given up to everlasting damnation. The reason why the conversion of Sodom and Samaria is not expressly mentioned, is to be found in the general tendency of the promise, in which the simple fact is announced without the intermediate circumstances, for the purpose of humbling Jerusalem. The conversion of Jerusalem also is not definitely stated to be the condition of pardon, but this is assumed as well known from the words of Lev 26, and is simply implied in the repeated assertion that Jerusalem will be seized with the deepest shame on account of the pardon which she receives.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

But this disgrace will not be the conclusion. Because of the covenant which the Lord concluded with Israel, Jerusalem will not continue in misery, but will attain to the glory promised to the people of God; - and that in such a way that all boasting will be excluded, and Judah, with the deepest shame, will attain to a knowledge of the true compassion of God. - Yet, in order that all false confidence in the gracious promises of God may be prevented, and the sinful nation be thoroughly humbled, this last section of our word of God announces the restoration of Sodom and Samaria as well as that of Jerusalem, so that all boasting on the part of Israel is precluded. - Eze 16:53. And I will turn their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captivity in the midst of them: Eze 16:54. That thou mayest bear thy shame, and be ashamed of all that thou hast done, in comforting them. Eze 16:55. And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will return to their first estate; and Samaria and her daughters will return to their first estate; and thou and thy daughters will return to your first estate. Eze 16:56. And Sodom thy sister was not a discourse in thy mouth in the day of thy haughtinesses, Eze 16:57. Before thy wickedness was disclosed, as at the time of the disgrace of the daughters of Aram and all its surroundings, the daughters of the Philistines, who despised thee round about. Eze 16:58. Thy wrong-doing and all thy abominations, thou bearest them, is the saying of Jehovah. Eze 16:59. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, And I do with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised oath to break covenant. Eze 16:60. And I shall remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and shall establish an everlasting covenant with thee. Eze 16:61. And thou wilt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou receivest thy sisters, those greater than thou to those smaller than thou; and I give them to thee for daughters, although they are not of thy covenant. Eze 16:62. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou wilt perceive that I am Jehovah; Eze 16:63. That thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and there may no longer remain to thee an opening of the mouth because of thy disgrace, when I forgive thee all that thou hast done, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - The promise commences with an announcement of the restoration, not of Jerusalem, but of Sodom and Samaria. The two kingdoms, or peoples, upon which judgment first fell, shall also be the first to receive mercy; and it will not be till after then that Jerusalem, with the other cities of Judah, will also be restored to favour, in order that she may bear her disgrace, and be ashamed of her sins (Eze 16:54); that is to say, not because Sodom and Samaria have borne their punishment for a longer time, but to the deeper shaming, the more complete humiliation of Jerusalem. שׁוּב שׁבוּת, to turn the captivity, not "to bring back the captives" (see the comm. on Deu 30:3), is here used in a figurative sense for restitutio in statum integritatis, according to the explanation given of the expression in Eze 16:55. No carrying away, or captivity, took place in the case of Sodom. The form שׁבית, which the Chetib has adopted several times here, has just the same meaning as שׁבוּת. שׁבית שׁביתיך does not mean the captives of thy captivity, since the same word cannot be used first as a concrete and then as an abstract noun; nor does the combination serve to give greater emphasis, in the sense of a superlative - viz. "the captivity of thy captivities, equivalent to thy severest or most fearful captivity," - as Stark and Hvernick suppose. The genitive must be taken as explanatory, as already proposed by Hengstenberg and Kliefoth: "captivity, which is thy captivity;" and the pleonastic mode of expression is chosen to give greater prominence to the thought, "thine own captivity," than would have been given to it by a suffix attached to the simple noun. בּתוכהנה, in their midst, does not imply, that just as Judah was situated now in the very midst between Sodom and Samaria, so its captives would return home occupying the centre between those two (Hitzig); the reference is rather to fellowship in captivity, to the fact that Jerusalem would share the same fate, and endure the same punishment, as Samaria and Sodom (Hengst., Klief.). The concluding words of Eze 16:54, "in that thou comfortest them," do not refer to the sins already committed by Israel (as Kliefoth, who adopts the rendering, "didst comfort them," imagines), but to the bearing of such disgrace as makes Jerusalem ashamed of its sins. By bearing disgrace, i.e., by its endurance of well-merited and disgraceful punishment, Jerusalem consoles her sisters Samaria and Sodom; and that not merely by fellowship in misfortune, - solamen miseris etc. , (Calvin, Hitzig, etc.), - but by the fact that from the punishment endured by Jerusalem, both Samaria and Sodom can discern the righteousness of the ways of God, and find therein a foundation for their hope, that the righteous God will bring to an end the merited punishment as soon as its object has been attained (see the comm. on Eze 14:22-23). The turning of the captivity, according to Eze 16:55, will consist in the fact that Sodom, Samaria, and Jerusalem return לקדמתן, to their original state. קדמה does not mean the former or earlier state, but the original state, as in Isa 23:7. Kliefoth is wrong, however, in explaining this as meaning: "as they were, when they came in Adam from the creative hand of God." The original state is the status integritatis, not as a state of sinlessness or original righteousness and holiness, - for neither Jerusalem on the one hand, nor Samaria and Sodom on the other, had ever been in such a state as this, - but as an original state of glory, in which they were before they had fallen and sunk into ungodly ways.

But how could a restoration of Sodom and her daughters (Gomorrah, etc.) be predicted, when the destruction of these cities was accompanied by the sweeping away of all their inhabitants from off the face of the earth? Many of the commentators have attempted to remove the difficulty by assuming that Sodom here stands for the Moabites and Ammonites, who were descendants of Lot, who escaped from Sodom. But the untenableness of such an explanation is obvious, from the simple fact that the Ammonites and Moabites were no more Sodomites than Lot himself. And the view expressed by Origen and Jerome, and lately revived by Hvernick, that Sodom is a typical name denoting heathenism generally, is also unsatisfactory. The way in which Sodom is classed with Samaria and Jerusalem, and the special reference to the judgment that fell upon Sodom (Eze 16:49, Eze 16:50), point undeniably to the real Sodom. The heathen world comes into consideration only so far as this, that the pardon of a heathen city, so deeply degraded as Sodom, carries with it the assurance that mercy will be extended to all heathen nations. We must therefore take the words as referring to the literal Sodom. Yet we certainly cannot for a moment think of any earthly restoration of Sodom. For even if we could conceive of a restoration of the cities that were destroyed by fire, and sunk into the depths of the Dead Sea, it is impossible to form any conception of an earthly and corporeal restoration of the inhabitants of those cities, who ere destroyed at the same time; and in this connection it is chiefly to them that the words refer. This does not by any means prove that the thing itself is impossible, but simply that the realization of the prophecy must be sought for beyond the present order of things, in one that extends into the life everlasting.

As Eze 16:55 elucidates the contents of Eze 16:53, so the thought of Eze 16:54 is explained and still further expanded in Eze 16:56 and Eze 16:57. The meaning of Eze 16:56 is a subject of dispute; but so much is indisputable, that the attempt to Kliefoth to explain Eze 16:56 and Eze 16:57 as referring to the future, and signifying that in the coming day of its glory Israel will no longer carry Sodom as a legend in its mouth as it does now, does violence to the grammar, and is quite a mistake. It is no more allowable to take ולא היתה as a future, in the sense of "and will not be," than to render כּמו עת חרפּת redner ot naht " (Eze 16:57), "it will be like the time of scorn." Moreover, the application of בּיום גּאוניך to the day of future glory is precluded by the fact that in Eze 16:49 the word גּאון is used to denote the pride which was the chief sin of Sodom; and the reference to this verse very naturally suggests itself. The meaning of Eze 16:56 depends upon the rendering to be given to לשׁמוּעה. The explanation given by Rosenmller and Maurer, after Jerome, - viz. non erat in auditione, i.e., non audiebatur, thou didst not think at all of Sodom, didst not take its name into thy mouth, - is by no means satisfactory. שׁמוּעה means proclamation, discourse, and also report. If we adopt the last, we must take the sentence as interrogatory (לוא for הלוא), as Hengstenberg and Hitzig have done. Although this is certainly admissible, there are no clear indexes here to warrant our assumption of an interrogation, which is only hinted at by the tone. We therefore prefer the meaning "discourse:" thy sister Sodom was not a discourse in thy mouth in the day of thy haughtinesses, that thou didst talk of the fate of Sodom and lay it to heart when thou wast in prosperity. The plural גּאוניך is more emphatic than the singular. The day of the haughtinesses is defined in Eze 16:57 as the period before the wickedness of Judah had been disclosed. This was effected by means of the judgment, which burst upon Jerusalem on the part of Babylon. Through this judgment Jerusalem is said to have been covered with disgrace, as at the time when the daughters of Aram, i.e., the cities of Syria, and those of the Philistines (Aram on the east, and the Philistines on the west, Isa 9; 11), scorned and maltreated it round about. This refers primarily to the times of Ahaz, when the Syrians and Philistines pressed hard upon Judah (Kg2 15:37; Kg2 16:6; and Ch2 28:18-19). It must not be restricted to this, however; but was repeated in the reign of Jehoiachin, when Jehovah sent troops of the Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, Ammonites, and Moabites against him, to destroy Judah (Kg2 24:2). It is true, the Philistines are not mentioned here; but from the threat in Eze 25:15, we may infer that they also attempted at the same time to bring disgrace upon Judah. שׁאט = שׁוּט, according to Aramaean usage, to treat contemptuously, or with repudiation (cf. Eze 28:24, Eze 28:26). Jerusalem will have to atone for this pride, and to bear its wrong-doing and its abominations (Eze 16:58). For zimmâh, see the comm. on Eze 16:43. The perfect נשׂאתים indicates that the certainty of the punishment is just as great as if it had already commenced. The reason assigned for this thought in Eze 16:59 forms a transition to the further expansion of the promise in Eze 16:60. ועשׂית (Eze 16:59) has been correctly pointed by the Masoretes as the 1st person. The ו is copulative, and shows that what follows forms the concluding summary of all that precedes. אותך for אתּך, as in Eze 16:60, etc., to deal with any one. The construction of עשׂה, with an accusative of the person, to treat any one, cannot be sustained either from Eze 17:17 and Eze 23:25, or from Jer 33:9; and Gesenius is wrong in assuming that we meet with it in Isa 42:16.

Despising the oath (אלה) points back to Deu 29:11-12, where the renewal of the covenant concluded at Sinai is described as an entrance into the covenant and oath which the Lord then made with His people. - But even if Israel has faithlessly broken the covenant, and must bear the consequence punishment, the unfaithfulness of man can never alter the faithfulness of God. This is the link of connection between the resumption and further expansion of the promise in Eze 16:60 and the closing words of Eze 16:59. The remembrance of His covenant ins mentioned in Lev 26:42 and Lev 26:45 as the only motive that will induce God to restore Israel to favour again, when the humiliation effected by the endurance of punishment has brought it to a confession of its sins. The covenant which God concluded with Israel in the day of its youth, i.e., when He led it out of Egypt, He will establish as an everlasting covenant. Consequently it is not an entirely new covenant, but simply the perfecting of the old one for everlasting duration. For the fact itself, compare Isa 55:3, where the making of the everlasting covenant is described as granting the stedfast mercies of David, i.e., as the fulfilment of the promise given to David (2 Sam 7). This promise is called by David himself an everlasting covenant which God had made with him (Sa2 23:5). And the assurance of its everlasting duration was to be found in the fact that this covenant did not rest upon the fulfilment of the law, but simply upon the forgiving grace of God (compare Eze 16:63 with Jer 31:31-34). - The bestowal of this grace will put Israel in remembrance of its ways, and fill it with shame. In this sense, וזכרתּ (and thou shalt remember), in Eze 16:61, is placed side by side with זכרתּי (I will remember) in Eze 16:60. This shame will seize upon Israel when the establishment of an everlasting covenant is followed by the greater and smaller nations being associated with it in glory, and incorporated into it as children, though they are not of its covenant. The greater and smaller sisters are the greater and smaller nations, as members of the universal family of man, who are to be exalted to the glory of one large family of God. The restoration, which is promised in Eze 16:53 and Eze 16:55 to Sodom and Samaria alone, is expanded here into a prophecy of the reception of all the greater and smaller nations into fellowship in the glory of the people of God. We may see from this that Sodom and Samaria represent the heathen nations generally, as standing outside the Old Testament dispensation: Sodom representing those that were sunk in the deepest moral degradation, and Samaria those that had fallen from the state of grace. The attitude in which these nations stand towards Israel in the everlasting covenant of grace, is defined as the relation of daughters to a mother. If, therefore, Israel, which has been thrust out among the heathen on account of its deep fall, is not to return to its first estate till after the return of Sodom, which has been destroyed, and Samaria, which has been condemned, the election of Israel before all the nations of the earth to be the first-born son of Jehovah will continue unchanged, and Israel will form the stem of the new kingdom of God, into which the heathen nations will be incorporated. The words, "and not of thy covenant," have been taken by most of the commentators in the sense of, "not because thou hast kept the covenant;" but this is certainly incorrect. For even if "thy covenant" really formed an antithesis to "my covenant" (Eze 16:60 and Eze 16:62), "thy covenant" could not possibly signify the fulfilment of thy covenant obligations. The words belong to bânōth (daughters), who are thereby designated as extra-testamental - i.e., as not included in the covenant which God made with Israel, and consequently as having no claim by virtue of that covenant to participate in the glory of the everlasting covenant which is hereafter to be established. - When this covenant has been established, Israel will know that God is Jehovah, the unchangeably true (for the meaning of the name Jehovah, see the commentary on Gen 2:4); that it may call to mind, sc. both its sinful abominations and the compassionate grace of God, and be so filled with shame and penitence that it will no more venture to open its mouth, either for the purpose of finding excuses for its previous fall, or to murmur against God and His judgments, - namely, when the Lord forgives all its sins by establishing the everlasting covenant, the kernel and essence of which consists in the forgiveness of sins (cf. Jer 31:34). Thus will the experience of forgiving grace complete what judgment has already begun, viz., the transformation of proud and haughty sinners into meek and humble children of God, for whom the kingdom has been prepared from the beginning.

This thought brings the entire prophecy to a close, - a prophecy which embraces the whole of the world's history and the New Testament, the parallel to which is contained in the apostle's words, "God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all" (Rom 11:32). - As the punishment threatened to the adulteress, i.e., to the nation of Israel that had despised its God and King, had been fulfilled upon Jerusalem and the Jews, and is in process of fulfilment still, so has the promise also been already fulfilled, so far as its commencement is concerned, though the complete and ultimate fulfilment is only to be expected in time to come. The turning of the captivity, both of Jerusalem and her daughters, and of Samaria and her daughters, commenced with the establishment of the everlasting covenant, i.e., of the covenant made through Christ, and with the reception of the believing portion of Israel in Judaea, Samaria, and Galilee (Act 8:5., Act 8:25, Act 9:31). And the turning of the captivity of Sodom commenced with the spread of the gospel among the heathen, and their entrance into the kingdom of Christ, inasmuch as Sodom with her daughters represents the morally degraded heathen world. Their reception into the kingdom of heaven, founded by Christ on earth, forms the commencement of the return of the forgiven to their first estate on the "restitution of all things," i.e., the restoration of all moral relations to their original normal constitution (compare Act 3:21 and Meyer's comm. thereon with Mat 17:11), which will attain its perfection in the παλιγγενεσία, the general restoration of the world to its original glory (compare Mat 19:28 with Rom 8:18. and Pe2 3:13). The prophecy before us in Eze 16:55 clearly points to this final goal. It is true that one might understand the return of Jerusalem and Samaria to their original state, which is predicted here as simply relating to the pardon of the covenant nation, whose apostasy had led to the rejection of both its parts; and this pardon might be sought in its reception into the kingdom of Christ and its restoration as the people of God. In that case the complete fulfilment of our prophecy would take place during the present aeon in the spread of the gospel among all nations, and the conversion of that portion of Israel which still remained hardened after the entrance of the full number of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God. But this limitation would be out of harmony with the equality of position assigned to Sodom and her daughters on the one hand, and Samaria and Jerusalem on the other. Though Sodom is not merely a type of the heathen world, the restoration of Sodom and her daughters cannot consist in the reception of the descendants of the cities on which the judgment fell into the kingdom of God or the Christian Church, since the peculiar manner in which those cities were destroyed prevented the possibility of any of the inhabitants remaining alive whose descendants could be converted to Christ and blessed in Him during the present period of the world. On the other hand, the opinion expressed by C. a Lapide, that the restoration of Sodom is to be referred and restricted to the conversion of the descendants of the inhabitants of Zoar, which was spared for Lot's sake, when the other cities of the plain were destroyed, is too much at variance with the words of the passage to allow of our accepting such a solution as this. The turning of the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, i.e., the forgiveness of the inhabitants of Sodom and the other cities of the plain, points beyond the present aeon, and the realization can only take place on the great day of the resurrection of the dead in the persons of the former inhabitants of Sodom and the neighbouring cities. And in the same way the restoration of Samaria and Jerusalem will not be completely fulfilled till after the perfecting of the kingdom of Christ in glory at the last day.

Consequently the prophecy before us goes beyond Rom 11:25., inasmuch as it presents, not to the covenant nation only, but, in Samaria and Sodom, to all the larger and smaller heathen nations also, the prospect of being eventually received into the everlasting kingdom of God; although, in accordance with the main purpose of this prophetic word, namely, to bring the pride of Israel completely down, this is simply hinted at, and no precise intimation is given of the manner in which the predicted apokatastasis will occur. But notwithstanding this indefiniteness, we must not explain away the fact itself by arbitrary expositions, since it is placed beyond all possible doubt by other passages of Scriptures. The words of our Lord in Mat 10:15 and Mat 11:24, to the effect that it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom than for Capernaum and every other city that shall have rejected the preaching of the gospel, teach most indisputably that the way of mercy stands open still even for Sodom itself, and that the judgment which has fallen upon it does not carry with it the final decision with regard to its inhabitants. For Sodom did not put away the perfect revelation of mercy and salvation. If the mighty works which were done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom, it would have stood to the present day (Mat 11:23). And from this it clearly follows that all the judgments which fell before the time of Christ, instead of carrying with them the final decision, and involving eternal damnation, leave the possibility of eventual pardon open still. The last judgment, which is decisive for eternity, does not take place till after the full revelation of grace and truth in Christ. Not only will the gospel be preached to all nations before the end comes (Mat 24:14), but even to the dead; to the spirits in prison, who did not believe at the time of Noah, it has been already preached, at the time when Christ went to them in spirit, in order that, although judged according to man's way in the flesh, they might live according to God's way in the spirit (Pe1 3:19; Pe1 4:6). What the apostle teaches in the first of these passages concerning the unbelievers before the flood, and affirms in the second concerning the dead in general, is equally applicable according to our prophecy to the Sodomites who were judged after man's way in the flesh, and indeed generally to all heathen nations who either lived before Christ or departed from this earthly life without having heard the gospel preached. - It is according to these distinct utterances of the New Testament that the prophecy before us respecting the apokatastasis of Sodom, Samaria, and Jerusalem is to be interpreted; and this is not to be confounded with the heretical doctrine of the restoration, i.e., the ultimate salvation of all the ungodly, and even of the devil himself. If the preaching of the gospel precedes the last judgment, the final sentence in the judgment will be regulated by the attitude assumed towards the gospel by both the living and the dead. All souls that obstinately reject it and harden themselves in unbelief, will be given up to everlasting damnation. The reason why the conversion of Sodom and Samaria is not expressly mentioned, is to be found in the general tendency of the promise, in which the simple fact is announced without the intermediate circumstances, for the purpose of humbling Jerusalem. The conversion of Jerusalem also is not definitely stated to be the condition of pardon, but this is assumed as well known from the words of Lev 26, and is simply implied in the repeated assertion that Jerusalem will be seized with the deepest shame on account of the pardon which she receives.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
When - Sodom and Samaria never were restored to that state they had been in; nor were the two tribes ever made so rich, mighty, and renowned, though God brought some of them out of Babylon: the words confirm an irrecoverably low, and despised state, of the Jews in their temporals. Then - Then, not before.

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²⁹ Your carcases [06297] shall fall [05307] in this wilderness [04057]; and all that were numbered [06485] of you, according to your whole number [04557], from twenty [06242] years [08141] old [01121] and upward [04605], which have murmured [03885] against me,
³⁰ Doubtless ye shall not [0518] come [0935] into the land [0776], concerning which I sware [03027] [05375] to make you dwell [07931] therein, save Caleb [03612] the son [01121] of Jephunneh [03312], and Joshua [03091] the son [01121] of Nun [05126].
³¹ But your little ones [02945], which ye said [0559] should be a prey [0957], them will I bring in [0935], and they shall know [03045] the land [0776] which ye have despised [03988].
³² But as for you, your carcases [06297], they shall fall [05307] in this wilderness [04057].
³³ And your children [01121] shall wander [07462] in the wilderness [04057] forty [0705] years [08141], and bear [05375] your whoredoms [02184], until your carcases [06297] be wasted [08552] in the wilderness [04057].

⁴¹ And they shall burn [08313] thine houses [01004] with fire [0784], and execute [06213] judgments [08201] upon thee in the sight [05869] of many [07227] women [0802]: and I will cause thee to cease [07673] from playing the harlot [02181], and thou also shalt give [05414] no hire [0868] any more.
⁴² So will I make my fury [02534] toward thee to rest [05117], and my jealousy [07068] shall depart [05493] from thee, and I will be quiet [08252], and will be no more angry [03707].

⁵⁵ When thy sisters [0269], Sodom [05467] and her daughters [01323], shall return [07725] to their former estate [06927], and Samaria [08111] and her daughters [01323] shall return [07725] to their former estate [06927], then thou and thy daughters [01323] shall return [07725] to your former estate [06927].

⁵⁹ For thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; I will even deal [06213] with thee as thou hast done [06213], which hast despised [0959] the oath [0423] in breaking [06565] the covenant [01285].

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember [02142] my covenant [01285] with thee in the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], and I will establish [06965] unto thee an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285].

³² For their vine [01612] is of the vine [01612] of Sodom [05467], and of the fields [07709] of Gomorrah [06017]: their grapes [06025] are grapes [06025] of gall [07219], their clusters [0811] are bitter [04846]:

⁶ And afterward [0310] I will bring again [07725] the captivity [07622] of the children [01121] of Ammon [05983], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

⁴⁷ Yet will I bring again [07725] the captivity [07622] of Moab [04124] in the latter [0319] days [03117], saith [05002] the LORD [03068]. Thus far [02008] is the judgment [04941] of Moab [04124].

¹⁶ And let that man [0376] be as the cities [05892] which the LORD [03068] overthrew [02015], and repented [05162] not: and let him hear [08085] the cry [02201] in the morning [01242], and the shouting [08643] at noontide [06256] [06672];

¹⁰ And the LORD [03068] turned [07725] the captivity [07622] [07622] of Job [0347], when he prayed [06419] for his friends [07453]: also the LORD [03068] gave [03254] Job [0347] twice as much [04932] as he had before.

⁶ For [1063] for [1519] this cause [5124] was the gospel preached [2097] also [2532] to them that are dead [3498], that [2443] they might be judged [2919] [3303] according to [2596] men [444] in the flesh [4561], but [1161] live [2198] according to [2596] God [2316] in the spirit [4151].

¹⁹ By [1722] which [3739] also [2532] he went [4198] and preached [2784] unto the spirits [4151] in [1722] prison [5438];

¹⁴ And [2532] this [5124] gospel [2098] of the kingdom [932] shall be preached [2784] in [1722] all [3650] the world [3625] for [1519] a witness [3142] unto all [3956] nations [1484]; and [2532] then [5119] shall the end [5056] come [2240].

²³ And [2532] thou [4771], Capernaum [2584], which [3588] art exalted [5312] unto [2193] heaven [3772], shalt be brought down [2601] to [2193] hell [86]: for [3754] if [1487] the mighty works [1411], which [3588] have been done [1096] in [1722] thee [4671], had been done [1096] in [1722] Sodom [4670], it would have remained [302] [3306] until [3360] this day [4594].

²⁴ But [4133] I say [3004] unto you [5213], That [3754] it shall be [2071] more tolerable [414] for the land [1093] of Sodom [4670] in [1722] the day [2250] of judgment [2920], than [2228] for thee [4671].

¹⁵ Verily [281] I say [3004] unto you [5213], It shall be [2071] more tolerable [414] for the land [1093] of Sodom [4670] and [2532] Gomorrha [1116] in [1722] the day [2250] of judgment [2920], than [2228] for that [1565] city [4172].

²⁵ For [1063] I would [2309] not [3756], brethren [80], that ye [5209] should be ignorant [50] of this [5124] mystery [3466], lest [3363] ye should be [5600] wise [5429] in [3844] your own conceits [1438]; that [3754] blindness [4457] in [575] part [3313] is happened [1096] to Israel [2474], until [891] [3739] the fulness [4138] of the Gentiles [1484] be come in [1525].

¹³ Nevertheless [1161] we [4328], according to [2596] his [846] promise [1862], look for [4328] new [2537] heavens [3772] and [2532] a new [2537] earth [1093], wherein [1722] [3739] dwelleth [2730] righteousness [1343].

¹⁸ For [1063] I reckon [3049] that [3754] the sufferings [3804] of this present [3568] time [2540] are not [3756] worthy [514] to be compared with [4314] the glory [1391] which shall [3195] be revealed [601] in [1519] us [2248].

²⁸ And [1161] Jesus [2424] said [2036] unto them [846], Verily [281] I say [3004] unto you [5213], That [3754] ye [5210] which [3588] have followed [190] me [3427], in [1722] the regeneration [3824] when [3752] the Son [5207] of man [444] shall sit [2523] in [1909] the throne [2362] of his [846] glory [1391], ye [5210] also [2532] shall sit [2523] upon [1909] twelve [1427] thrones [2362], judging [2919] the twelve [1427] tribes [5443] of Israel [2474].

¹¹ And [1161] Jesus [2424] answered [611] and said [2036] unto them [846], Elias [2243] truly [3303] shall first [4412] come [2064], and [2532] restore [600] all things [3956].

²¹ Whom [3739] the heaven [3772] [3303] must [1163] receive [1209] until [891] the times [5550] of restitution [605] of all things [3956], which [3739] God [2316] hath spoken [2980] by [1223] the mouth [4750] of all [3956] his [846] holy [40] prophets [4396] since [575] the world began [165].

³¹ Then [3303] [3767] had [2192] the churches [1577] rest [1515] throughout [2596] all [3650] Judaea [2449] and [2532] Galilee [1056] and [2532] Samaria [4540], and were edified [3618]; and [2532] walking in [4198] the fear [5401] of the Lord [2962], and [2532] in the comfort [3874] of the Holy [40] Ghost [4151], were multiplied [4129].

²⁵ And they, when [3303] [3767] they had testified [1263] and [2532] preached [2980] the word [3056] of the Lord [2962], returned [5290] to [1519] Jerusalem [2419], and [5037] preached the gospel [2097] in many [4183] villages [2968] of the Samaritans [4541].

⁵ Then [1161] Philip [5376] went down [2718] to [1519] the city [4172] of Samaria [4540], and preached [2784] Christ [5547] unto them [846].

³² For [1063] God [2316] hath concluded [4788] them all [3956] in [1519] unbelief [543], that [2443] he might have mercy [1653] upon all [3956].

³⁴ And they shall teach [03925] no more every man [0376] his neighbour [07453], and every man [0376] his brother [0251], saying [0559], Know [03045] the LORD [03068]: for they shall all know [03045] me, from the least [06996] of them unto the greatest [01419] of them, saith [05002] the LORD [03068]: for I will forgive [05545] their iniquity [05771], and I will remember [02142] their sin [02403] no more.

⁴ These [0428] are the generations [08435] of the heavens [08064] and of the earth [0776] when they were created [01254], in the day [03117] that the LORD [03068] God [0430] made [06213] the earth [0776] and the heavens [08064],

⁶² And I will establish [06965] my covenant [01285] with thee; and thou shalt know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068]:

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember [02142] my covenant [01285] with thee in the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], and I will establish [06965] unto thee an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285].

⁵³ When I shall bring again [07725] their captivity [07622] [07622], the captivity [07622] [07622] of Sodom [05467] and her daughters [01323], and the captivity [07622] [07622] of Samaria [08111] and her daughters [01323], then will I bring again the captivity [07622] [07622] of thy captives [07622] in the midst [08432] of them:

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember [02142] my covenant [01285] with thee in the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], and I will establish [06965] unto thee an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285].

⁶¹ Then thou shalt remember [02142] thy ways [01870], and be ashamed [03637], when thou shalt receive [03947] thy sisters [0269], thine elder [01419] and thy younger [06996]: and I will give [05414] them unto thee for daughters [01323], but not by thy covenant [01285].

³¹ Behold, the days [03117] come [0935], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that I will make [03772] a new [02319] covenant [01285] with the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and with the house [01004] of Judah [03063]:
³² Not according to the covenant [01285] that I made [03772] with their fathers [01] in the day [03117] that I took [02388] them by the hand [03027] to bring them out [03318] of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714]; which my covenant [01285] they brake [06565], although I was an husband [01166] unto them, saith [05002] the LORD [03068]:
³³ But this shall be the covenant [01285] that I will make [03772] with the house [01004] of Israel [03478]; After [0310] those days [03117], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], I will put [05414] my law [08451] in their inward parts [07130], and write [03789] it in their hearts [03820]; and will be their God [0430], and they shall be my people [05971].
³⁴ And they shall teach [03925] no more every man [0376] his neighbour [07453], and every man [0376] his brother [0251], saying [0559], Know [03045] the LORD [03068]: for they shall all know [03045] me, from the least [06996] of them unto the greatest [01419] of them, saith [05002] the LORD [03068]: for I will forgive [05545] their iniquity [05771], and I will remember [02142] their sin [02403] no more.

⁶³ That thou mayest remember [02142], and be confounded [0954], and never open [06610] thy mouth [06310] any more because [06440] of thy shame [03639], when I am pacified [03722] toward thee for all that thou hast done [06213], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

⁵ Although my house [01004] be not so with God [0410]; yet he hath made [07760] with me an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285], ordered [06186] in all things, and sure [08104]: for this is all my salvation [03468], and all my desire [02656], although he make it not to grow [06779].

³ Incline [05186] your ear [0241], and come [03212] unto me: hear [08085], and your soul [05315] shall live [02421]; and I will make [03772] an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285] with you, even the sure [0539] mercies [02617] of David [01732].

⁴⁵ But I will for their sakes remember [02142] the covenant [01285] of their ancestors [07223], whom I brought forth [03318] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714] in the sight [05869] of the heathen [01471], that I might be their God [0430]: I am the LORD [03068].

⁴² Then will I remember [02142] my covenant [01285] with Jacob [03290], and also my covenant [01285] with Isaac [03327], and also my covenant [01285] with Abraham [085] will I remember [02142]; and I will remember [02142] the land [0776].

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember [02142] my covenant [01285] with thee in the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], and I will establish [06965] unto thee an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285].

¹¹ Your little ones [02945], your wives [0802], and thy stranger [01616] that is in [07130] thy camp [04264], from the hewer [02404] of thy wood [06086] unto the drawer [07579] of thy water [04325]:
¹² That thou shouldest enter [05674] into covenant [01285] with the LORD [03068] thy God [0430], and into his oath [0423], which the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] maketh [03772] with thee this day [03117]:

¹⁶ And I will bring [03212] the blind [05787] by a way [01870] that they knew [03045] not; I will lead [01869] them in paths [05410] that they have not known [03045]: I will make [07760] darkness [04285] light [0216] before [06440] them, and crooked things [04625] straight [04334]. These things [01697] will I do [06213] unto them, and not forsake [05800] them.

⁹ And it shall be to me a name [08034] of joy [08342], a praise [08416] and an honour [08597] before all the nations [01471] of the earth [0776], which shall hear [08085] all the good [02896] that I do [06213] unto them: and they shall fear [06342] and tremble [07264] for all the goodness [02896] and for all the prosperity [07965] that I procure [06213] unto it.

²⁵ And I will set [05414] my jealousy [07068] against thee, and they shall deal [06213] furiously [02534] with thee: they shall take away [05493] thy nose [0639] and thine ears [0241]; and thy remnant [0319] shall fall [05307] by the sword [02719]: they shall take [03947] thy sons [01121] and thy daughters [01323]; and thy residue [0319] shall be devoured [0398] by the fire [0784].

¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh [06547] with his mighty [01419] army [02428] and great [07227] company [06951] make [06213] for him in the war [04421], by casting up [08210] mounts [05550], and building [01129] forts [01785], to cut off [03772] many [07227] persons [05315]:

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember [02142] my covenant [01285] with thee in the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], and I will establish [06965] unto thee an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285].

⁴³ Because thou hast not remembered [02142] the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], but hast fretted [07264] me in all these things; behold [01887], therefore I also will recompense [05414] thy way [01870] upon thine head [07218], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]: and thou shalt not commit [06213] this lewdness [02154] above all thine abominations [08441].

⁵⁸ Thou hast borne [05375] thy lewdness [02154] and thine abominations [08441], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

²⁶ And they shall dwell [03427] safely [0983] therein, and shall build [01129] houses [01004], and plant [05193] vineyards [03754]; yea, they shall dwell [03427] with confidence [0983], when I have executed [06213] judgments [08201] upon all those that despise [07590] them round about [05439] them; and they shall know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068] their God [0430].

²⁴ And there shall be no more a pricking [03992] brier [05544] unto the house [01004] of Israel [03478], nor any grieving [03510] thorn [06975] of all that are round about [05439] them, that despised [07590] them; and they shall know [03045] that I am the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

¹⁵ Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; Because the Philistines [06430] have dealt [06213] by revenge [05360], and have taken [05358] vengeance [05359] with a despiteful [07589] heart [05315], to destroy [04889] it for the old [05769] hatred [0342];

² And the LORD [03068] sent [07971] against him bands [01416] of the Chaldees [03778], and bands [01416] of the Syrians [0758], and bands [01416] of the Moabites [04124], and bands [01416] of the children [01121] of Ammon [05983], and sent [07971] them against Judah [03063] to destroy [06] it, according to the word [01697] of the LORD [03068], which he spake [01696] by [03027] his servants [05650] the prophets [05030].

¹⁸ The Philistines [06430] also had invaded [06584] the cities [05892] of the low country [08219], and of the south [05045] of Judah [03063], and had taken [03920] Bethshemesh [01053], and Ajalon [0357], and Gederoth [01450], and Shocho [07755] with the villages [01323] thereof, and Timnah [08553] with the villages [01323] thereof, Gimzo [01579] also and the villages [01323] thereof: and they dwelt [03427] there.
¹⁹ For the LORD [03068] brought [03665] Judah [03063] low [03665] because of Ahaz [0271] king [04428] of Israel [03478]; for he made [06544] Judah [03063] naked [06544], and transgressed [04603] sore [04604] against the LORD [03068].

⁶ At that time [06256] Rezin [07526] king [04428] of Syria [0758] recovered [07725] Elath [0359] to Syria [0758] [0130], and drave [05394] the Jews [03064] from Elath [0359]: and the Syrians [0726] came [0935] to Elath [0359], and dwelt [03427] there unto this day [03117].

³⁷ In those days [03117] the LORD [03068] began [02490] to send [07971] against Judah [03063] Rezin [07526] the king [04428] of Syria [0758], and Pekah [06492] the son [01121] of Remaliah [07425].

⁵⁷ Before thy wickedness [07451] was discovered [01540], as at the time [06256] of thy reproach [02781] of the daughters [01323] of Syria [0758], and all that are round about [05439] her, the daughters [01323] of the Philistines [06430], which despise [07590] thee round about [05439].

⁵⁶ For thy sister [0269] Sodom [05467] was not mentioned [08052] by thy mouth [06310] in the day [03117] of thy pride [01347],

⁴⁹ Behold, this was the iniquity [05771] of thy sister [0269] Sodom [05467], pride [01347], fulness [07653] of bread [03899], and abundance [07962] of idleness [08252] was in her and in her daughters [01323], neither did she strengthen [02388] the hand [03027] of the poor [06041] and needy [034].

⁵⁶ For thy sister [0269] Sodom [05467] was not mentioned [08052] by thy mouth [06310] in the day [03117] of thy pride [01347],

⁵⁴ That thou mayest bear [05375] thine own shame [03639], and mayest be confounded [03637] in all that thou hast done [06213], in that thou art a comfort [05162] unto them.

⁵⁰ And they were haughty [01361], and committed [06213] abomination [08441] before [06440] me: therefore I took them away [05493] as I saw [07200] good.

⁷ Is this your joyous [05947] city, whose antiquity [06927] is of ancient [06924] days [03117]? her own feet [07272] shall carry [02986] her afar off [07350] to sojourn [01481].

²² Yet, behold, therein shall be left [03498] a remnant [06413] that shall be brought forth [03318], both sons [01121] and daughters [01323]: behold, they shall come forth [03318] unto you, and ye shall see [07200] their way [01870] and their doings [05949]: and ye shall be comforted [05162] concerning the evil [07451] that I have brought [0935] upon Jerusalem [03389], even concerning all that I have brought [0935] upon it.
²³ And they shall comfort [05162] you, when ye see [07200] their ways [01870] and their doings [05949]: and ye shall know [03045] that I have not done [06213] without cause [02600] all that I have done [06213] in it, saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

⁵⁴ That thou mayest bear [05375] thine own shame [03639], and mayest be confounded [03637] in all that thou hast done [06213], in that thou art a comfort [05162] unto them.

³ That then the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] will turn [07725] thy captivity [07622], and have compassion [07355] upon thee, and will return [07725] and gather [06908] thee from all the nations [05971], whither the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] hath scattered [06327] thee.

⁵⁴ That thou mayest bear [05375] thine own shame [03639], and mayest be confounded [03637] in all that thou hast done [06213], in that thou art a comfort [05162] unto them.

⁶² And I will establish [06965] my covenant [01285] with thee; and thou shalt know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068]:

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember [02142] my covenant [01285] with thee in the days [03117] of thy youth [05271], and I will establish [06965] unto thee an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285].

⁵⁸ Thou hast borne [05375] thy lewdness [02154] and thine abominations [08441], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

⁵⁶ For thy sister [0269] Sodom [05467] was not mentioned [08052] by thy mouth [06310] in the day [03117] of thy pride [01347],

⁵⁴ That thou mayest bear [05375] thine own shame [03639], and mayest be confounded [03637] in all that thou hast done [06213], in that thou art a comfort [05162] unto them.