9:20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and {p} teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
(p) He derides the superstition of the women who made an art of mourning, and taught to weep with feigned tears.
9:20 Every one - It denotes how large and universal the mourning shall be.
9:12-22 In Zion the voice of joy and praise used to be heard, while the people kept close to God; but sin has altered the sound, it is now the voice of lamentation. Unhumbled hearts lament their calamity, but not their sin, which is the cause of it. Let the doors be shut ever so fast, death steals upon us. It enters the palaces of princes and great men, though stately, strongly built, and guarded. Nor are those more safe that are abroad; death cuts off even the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Hearken to the word of the Lord, and mourn with godly sorrow. This alone can bring true comfort; and it can turn the heaviest afflictions into precious mercies.
