escaped ... sword - namely, of the Medes. So great will be the slaughter that even some of God’s people shall be involved in it, as they had deserved.
afar off - though ye are banished far off from where ye used formerly to worship God.
let Jerusalem come into your mind - While in exile remember your temple and city, so as to prefer them to all the rest of the world wherever ye may be (Isa 62:6).