5:19-31 Unhumbled hearts are ready to charge God with being unjust in their afflictions. But they may read their sin in their punishment. If men will inquire wherefore the Lord doeth hard things unto them, let them think of their sins. The restless waves obeyed the Divine decree, that they should not pass the sandy shores, which were as much a restraint as lofty mountains; but they burst all restraints of God's law, and were wholly gone into wickedness. Neither did they consider their interest. While the Lord, year after year, reserves to us the appointed weeks of harvest, men live on his bounty; yet they transgress against him. Sin deprives us of God's blessings; it makes the heaven as brass, and the earth as iron. Certainly the things of this world are not the best things; and we are not to think, that, because evil men prosper, God allows their practices. Though sentence against evil works is not executed speedily, it will be executed. Shall I not visit for these things? This speaks the certainty and the necessity of God's judgments. Let those who walk in bad ways consider that an end will come, and there will be bitterness in the latter end.Fatness is admired in the East as a sign of wealth.

They shine - This word is used of the sleekness of the skin, soft and smooth as ivory.

They overpass the deeds of the wicked - literally, "They have overpassed words of wickedness," i. e., they go to excess in wickedness.

Yet they prosper - Or, that they (the orphans) may prosper, enjoy their rights.

29. (Jer 5:9; Mal 3:5). It is expressed as a thing taken for granted, he certainly will. Can I be a God, and wink at such things? It cannot be. See this explained Jeremiah 5:9.

Shall I not visit for these things?.... See Gill on Jeremiah 5:9. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?