O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
O generation - The Hebrew collocation is, O, the generation, ye - i:e., 'O ye who now live.' The generation needed only to be named, to call its degeneracy to view, so palpable was it.
Wilderness - in which all the necessaries of life are wanting. On the contrary, Yahweh was a never-failing source of supply for all Israel's wants in the wilderness, and afterward in Canaan.
Darkness - literally, darkness of Yahweh, the strongest Hebrew term for darkness; the densest darkness: cf. "land of the shadow of death" (Jeremiah 2:6.)
We are lords. - i:e., We are our own masters - [radnuw] from х raadaah (H7287), to rule, to lord it]. We will worship what gods we like. But it is better to translate from a different Hebrew root [namely, ruwd (H7300), to wander or ramble]: 'we ramble at large,' without restraint pursuing our idolatrous lusts.