LXXV. THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY.
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made tributary[1]. The ways[2] of Sion mourn, because there are none that come to the solemn feast. O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow[3]. To what shall I compare thee, or to what shall I liken thee? Great as the sea is thy destruction. Who shall heal thee? Convert us[4], O Lord, to Thee, and we shall be converted, renew[5] our days, as from the beginning.”
Jeremias, however, was not without consolation. He knew[6] that Israel would be restored, and that God would make a new
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Fig. 55. Jeremias’ Grotto near Jerusalem. (Phot. Bonfils.)
covenant with His people. “The days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel[7] and
- ↑ Tributary. Subject to Babylon, and forced to pay tribute to her.
- ↑ The ways. The road to Sion, formerly thronged with pilgrims.
- ↑ My sorrow. This is supposed to be spoken by Jerusalem.
- ↑ Convert us. We have sinned, therefore we are punished. We cannot be converted of ourselves: convert us, and then our conversion will be sincere.
- ↑ Renew. Bring back the former happy days.
- ↑ He knew. And foretold that the Jews would return after a captivity of seventy years (chapter LXXX).
- ↑ With the house of Israel. i. e. with the spiritual Israel of the New Testament, and with the house of Juda, i. e. with the disciples of Christ.
