Jerome : (Verse 12-14) And the Lord God of hosts shall call in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth. And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. And it was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts. In the present captivity and siege of Jerusalem, when the city was being pressed by sword, famine, and thirst, Jeremiah called the people to repentance (Jeremiah 34). On the other hand, kings, princes, and the miserable populace, in their desperate state, devoted themselves to feasting. However, nothing offends God more than a neck raised after sins, and being despised out of desperation. This is also spoken by Amos: I will not turn away from him for three or four transgressions; because he has thought and done them and has not repented, moreover he has taught evil. Wherefore now it is said: If this iniquity remain unpunished to you, until ye die. (Amos I, 4). Allegorical interpreters say it is about the passion of Christ, that God has called even after the crucifixion of the Lord and Saviour an unfaithful people to repentance, and nevertheless that people has delivered itself to despair and pleasure. The beginning of this vision, where it says: Full of outcry, a populous city, a joyful town, refers to that time when the people, instigated by the Pharisees, echoed with the same voice against Jesus: Crucify, crucify such a one: we have no king but Caesar. (John XIX, 6, 7). The Apostle also made use of this testimony, writing to the Corinthians about the resurrection: If the dead do not rise again, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die (I Cor. XV, 32). — Commentary on Isaiah Jerome : (Verse 12 and following) And on that day the Lord God of hosts will call for weeping and mourning, for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth; and behold, joy and gladness, killing calves and slaughtering rams, eating meat and drinking wine: 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.' And it was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts: 'Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,' says the Lord God of hosts. Every day the Lord God of hosts invites heretics to repentance, who, despising the water of the old pool between two walls, dig a pit for themselves and gather the water of the lower pool, which does not have water from heaven but from the earth; and He calls them to weeping; Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:5). And to lamentation, lest they hear afterwards: We have mourned to you, and you have not lamented (Matthew 11:17). And for baldness, so that they may shave off all the works of death and rid their bodies of anything that does not live in the body. And for the belt of the robe, so that they may not be bound with a rope around their waist near Jerusalem. But on the contrary, for weeping and lamentation, baldness and sackcloth, they had joy and gladness, and as if everything were ending in death, they slaughtered calves and lambs, so that they could eat meat and drink wine, and they spoke words of blasphemy. While we are in the present age, we abound in delights. For tomorrow, which is the future time, will be without meaning. When they were saying these things, the Lord heard words of blasphemy and threatened that He would not let go of this wickedness until they either die and perish in sin and vices, or drag themselves down to the underworld with their own faults. And this can be understood not only of heretics, but of every sinner who, neglecting his sins, becomes worse through despair; and ensnared by pleasures, combines blasphemy with sin, thinking that all sense of living things ends in death, saying that statement of Epicurus: 'After death, there is nothing, and death itself is nothing.' — Commentary on Isaiah