(Verse 10) And I will destroy from among them the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness; the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; the sound of the millstone, and the light of the lamp. And the whole land shall be desolation and astonishment, and these things are proven today in the assembly of the wicked; so that their teachers do not teach the word of God, but hiss like a serpent. And the voice of joy and the voice of gladness perish in them, so that they never hear the words of the Apostle: Rejoice, again I say, rejoice (Philippians 4:4). The voice also of the bride, of the Ecclesiastical faith; and the voice of the bridegroom, of the Lord Savior: For he who has a bride, is the bridegroom (John III, 29). The voice of the mill, so that the grains are not crushed in it, and are given to the peoples for nourishment: and the light of the lamp, namely the teaching and knowledge (or, rather, the teaching and knowledge) of the Prophets. Finally, it is also said about John the Baptist: He was a shining lamp (John V, 35). And another Prophet: Your word, Lord, is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths (Psalm CXVIII, 105). All, he said, the land of heretics will be as a wasteland and in astonishment, when its final folly has been revealed.
25:11-13
(Verse 11 and following) And these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. And when seventy years have been completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, says the Lord, for their iniquities, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it an eternal wasteland. And I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. Just as Jerusalem, after seventy years, received back its former inhabitants and, having completed its punishments because it obeyed the command of God, now enjoys its former happiness; so the king of Babylon, who was lifted up in pride and trusted in his own strength, because he reigned among the nations and not according to the will of the Lord, will be destroyed when the Medes and Persians come. Ultimately, only the remains of the city of Babylon exist to this day. And the Lord placed her in everlasting solitude, and fulfilled all the words that are contained in the volume of this very prophet. For in the following, the sermon of Jeremiah describes the evils that Babylon is to suffer.
25:14
(Verse 14) Because many nations and great kings have served them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their hands. This is not found in the Septuagint. However, it signifies that Jeremiah prophesied not only against Babylon, but against the other nations that were in the Babylonian army and fought against the people of the Lord. Finally, it is said in the following verses against Egypt, and the Philistines, and Moab, and Ammon, and Edom, and Damascus, and Kedar, and the kingdoms of Hazor and Elam, and finally against Babylon and the land of Chaldea.
25:15-17
(Verse 15 and following) For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me (Vulgate adds 'of hosts, and is silent to me'): take the cup of wine of fury (or strong drink) from my hand, and give it to all the nations to which I send you, and they shall drink it, and become intoxicated (Vulgate says 'disorderly') (or vomit); and they shall become mad because of the sword that I will send among them. And I took the cup from the hand of the Lord, and gave it to all the nations to which the Lord sent me. The drinking of the cup, and the cup of wine, whether unmixed or mixed, which is called ἀκράτου in Greek, is an indication of the Lord's furious wrath, so that all nations who have waged war against God's people may drink from the cup of the Lord's fury, about which Isaiah writes against Jerusalem: 'You have drunk the cup of fury, the chalice of ruin, and have drained it out, therefore arise' (Isa. 51:17). This cup, however, is drunk by all nations so that they may vomit and become insane. That which a certain corrupt interpreter takes in a good sense: so that, like a cathartic potion, it compels whatever bile and phlegm and harmful humor is in the chest to exit and restores its original health. It also takes the Savior for Jeremiah, in that he offered himself to all nations to which he was sent, so that they would abandon idolatry and devote themselves to the worship of God. The following will show that this is contrary to Holy Scripture. For they are offered not for remedy, as he wishes, but for punishment, deservedly served in a bitter cup.
25:18
(Verse 18) Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day. 'I thought,' he says, 'that I would give this only to the nations, and therefore I gladly offered myself to this ministry; but among all the nations, indeed before all others, I have given it to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as is proven by the present example.' And as it is said above: You have seduced me, O Lord, and I have been seduced; you have been strong and have prevailed.
25:19
(Verse 19.) To Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people, and everyone in general. After Jerusalem, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his companions drank: the princes and all the people drank, as did everyone who is not Egyptian, but who dwells in his territories: whom the Seventy translated as 'συμμίκτους', that is, mixed, the common people not of the land of Egypt, but foreign and alien.
And all the kings of the land of Uz, which is called Us in Hebrew, from which the history also narrates that Job was: There was a certain man in the region of Uz, named Job (Job 1). And yet it should be known that this verse is not found in the Septuagint, and Theodotion interpreted it as an island.
25:20
(v. 20) And to all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and to Ascalon, Gaza, Accaron, and the rest of Azotus. He generally placed the Philistines, that is, the land of the Palestinians, and specifically their cities Ascalon, Gaza, Accaron, and Azotus; he only remained silent about Gath, which is included in the rest. For this is what is written: And the rest of Azotus: for it is near and adjacent to Azotus, which in Hebrew is called Esdod, the region of the city of Gath. But Isaiah writes that the Palestinians were captured and devastated by the Babylonians.
25:21
(Verse 21.) Idumea, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon. Idumea, where the mountains of Seir are, and which is called Edom in Hebrew (): Moab and Ammon, they are the sons of Lot, close to the Dead Sea. Tyre and Sidon are the chief cities on the coast of Phoenicia, which themselves were conquered by the Babylonians when they came, among which Carthage is a colony. Hence the Phoenicians are also called the Phoenicians, their language being for the most part closely related to the Hebrew language.
25:22
(Verse 22.) And to the kings of the islands across the sea. He crossed over to Cyprus, and Rhodes, and the islands called the Cyclades. And these were indeed occupied by the Babylonians.
25:23
(Verse 23.) And Dedan, and Teman, and Buz, and all who have their hair cut short. These are the nations that live in solitude, near and mixed with the regions of the Ishmaelites, whom they now call Saracens, and of whom it is said: those who have their hair cut short.
25:24
(Verse 24) And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the West, who dwell in the desert. This is not found in the Septuagint. After Dedan, therefore, and Teman, and Buz, and the Ishmaelites, follows the order of the regions.
And all the kings of Zamri. This is also not found in the Septuagint.
25:25
(Verse 25.) And all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes. From this, since Zamri follows Elam and the kings of the Medes, we conclude that Zamri is the region of Persia, unless perhaps because Arabia came before, and these kings should be understood as the kings of the wilderness. Elam, however, is a region of Persia beyond Babylon, from which also the Elamites. Likewise, the Medes and the Persians, by whom Babylon was captured and destroyed. And they themselves were able to drink from the mixed cup, with Alexander, the king of the Macedonians, offering it.