Jeremiah 22:5

5 And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn -- an affirmation of Jehovah, That this house is for a desolation.

Jeremiah 22:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 22:5

But if ye will not hear these words
Will give no attention, and yield no obedience to them: I swear by myself, saith the Lord;
and by a greater he cannot swear; and that is the reason why he swears by himself, ( Hebrews 6:13 ) ; and as, when he swears to a promise, it shows the immutability of it, the certainty of its performance, and that it is irreversible, and never repented of, nor revoked; so it is when he swears to a threatening. The Targum is,

``by my word I swear:''

that this house shall become a desolation;
meaning not the temple, nor the city, but the king's palace.

Jeremiah 22:5 In-Context

3 Thus said Jehovah: Do ye judgment and righteousness, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, And sojourner, orphan, and widow, ye do not oppress nor wrong, And innocent blood ye do not shed in this place.

4 For, if ye certainly do this thing, Then come in by the gates of this house Have kings sitting for David on his throne, Riding on chariot, and on horses, He, and his servants, and his people.

5 And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn -- an affirmation of Jehovah, That this house is for a desolation.

6 For thus said Jehovah, Concerning the house of the king of Judah: Gilead [art] thou to Me -- head of Lebanon, If not -- I make thee a wilderness, Cities not inhabited.

7 And I have separated for thee destroyers, Each with his weapons, And they have cut down the choice of thy cedars, And have cast them on the fire.