20 Look up and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was entrusted to you, the sheep of which you boasted?
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
20 "Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?
20 Look, look, Jerusalem! Look at the enemies coming out of the north! What will become of your flocks of people, the beautiful flocks in your care?
20 Lift up your eyes and see Those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, Your beautiful sheep?
20 Open up your eyes and see the armies marching down from the north! Where is your flock- your beautiful flock- that he gave you to care for?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 13:20
Commentary on Jeremiah 13:18-27
(Read Jeremiah 13:18-27)
Here is a message sent to king Jehoiakim, and his queen. Their sorrows would be great indeed. Do they ask, Wherefore come these things upon us? Let them know, it is for their obstinacy in sin. We cannot alter the natural colour of the skin; and so is it morally impossible to reclaim and reform these people. Sin is the blackness of the soul; it is the discolouring of it; we were shapen in it, so that we cannot get clear of it by any power of our own. But Almighty grace is able to change the Ethiopian's skin. Neither natural depravity, nor strong habits of sin, form an obstacle to the working of God, the new-creating Spirit. The Lord asks of Jerusalem, whether she is determined not be made clean. If any poor slave of sin feels that he could as soon change his nature as master his headstrong lusts, let him not despair; for things impossible to men are possible with God. Let us then seek help from Him who is mighty to save.