Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest [with] the daughter of Babylon.
Ver. 7. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon] q.d. Is Babylon a fit place for thee to abide in? what comfort canst thou take in such lewd company? Save thyself from this untoward generation, Acts 2:40 "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense," Jeremiah 51:6,7. Shortly after this exhortation to the sons of Zion Babylon revolted from the Persians, and was taken and sacked by Darius in the fourth year of his reign (that is, two years after this prophecy was uttered) by the help of his friend Zopyrus. Two things should prevail with the people of God to shun the society of the ungodly. 1. Infection of sin, which is more contagious and catching than the plague. Though Lot learned not the evil manners of Sodom, yet his daughters did. 2. Infliction of punishment, Zechariah 9:2; Zechariah 9:4. Hamath lay so nigh Damascus in places that she fared the worse for her neighbourhood. See for both these, Revelation 18:4, and say, if at any time forced to be in bad company, "Oh that I had wings of a dove: for then would I flee away, and be at rest," Psalms 55:6. Or, if this "Oh" will not set thee at liberty, take up that "Woe" to express thy misery, "Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech."