Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
Ver. 18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries,] i.e., Thy kingly palaces, where thou art looked upon and honoured as a god, but a wretched one, and which for stateliness may vie with my sanctuary. Add hereto, that as none might come into the temple but priests only; so none might come into the palace but confiding persons. The Turks at this day suffer no stranger to come into the presence of their emperor, but first they clasp him by the arms, under colour of doing him honour, but indeed to bereave him of the use of his hands, lest he should offer him any violence. a
Therefore will I bring forth a fire in the midst of thee.] Thou shalt perish by thine own sins, as a house is burnt by fire kindled within itself.
And I will bring thee to ashes.] Which shall remain as a lasting monument of the divine displeasure; as did the ashes and cinders of Sodom; and Herodotus saith the same of the ashes of Troy.
a Turkish History, 715.