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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 22
Jerusalem shall be attacked and scourged—Her people shall be carried
captive—Messiah shall hold the key of the house of David, inherit glory,
and be fastened as a nail in a sure place.
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1 THE aburden
of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up
to the housetops?
2 Thou that art full of astirs, a
tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the
sword, nor dead in battle.
3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.
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4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will
aweep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the
spoiling of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.
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6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
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8 ¶ And he adiscovered the
covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the
bhouse of the forest.
9 Ye have seen also the abreaches of
the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of
the lower bpool.
10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
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11 Ye made also a aditch between
the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the
bmaker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts
acall to bweeping, and to mourning, and
to cbaldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
13 And behold ajoy and gladness,
slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us
beat and drink; for cto morrow we shall
die.
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14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts,
Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye
diea, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
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14a Surely this iniquity shall not be
purged from you till ye die The tradgedy of destruction and war is
that people die. As Alma explained to Amulek the righteous may die as a
witness against the wicked, but they themselves die unto the Lord. And often
men decry that God is a vengful God on a grand scale such as the destruction
of the people during the flood of Noah, of the Jaredites unto a like complete
destruction, of the Kingdom of Israel and then of Judah, and then also of
the Nephite nation. And one asks in what purpose does the Lord have in so
destorying the wicked that the no longer have opportunity to repent in this
life? But when man, a people, are ripen in iniquity to the point that there is
no longer room for repentance in this mortality, it is actually a mercy of God
that they are brought unto death that they sin no more. For they are of such
a wicked state that only after death can their sins be purged from then after
a period of separation form the body of the natural man. And as the purpose
of God is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man and not
unto the living in sin in mortality, then once that point of ripening is
passed the most merciful thing God can do is to bring to their death such as
have so evolved in their wickedness that they are beyond repentance in this
life and can only be purged and so redeemed after death in the life to come.
For all do come unto a degree of salvation excepting the Sons of Perdition
who remain outside of the reaches of salvation not only in this life but also
by their continued rebellion against God they are beyond reach even in the
life to come.
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15 ¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get
thee unto this treasurer, even unto aShebna, which
is over the house, and say,
16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
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17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee
like a ball into a large acountry: there shalt thou
die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy
lord's house.
19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.
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20 ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that
I will call my servant aEliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and
strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy
agovernment into his hand: and he shall be a father to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22 And the akey of the house of
David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut;
and he shall shut, and none shall open.
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23 And I will fasten him as a
anail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious
throne to his father's house.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.
25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
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