Jeremiah 16

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Yahweh gave me another message. [He said to me],

2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have thee sons and daughters in this place.

“Do not get married and have children in this land,

3 For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and daughters, that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bore them: and concerning their fathers, of whom they were born in this land:

because this is what [I], Yahweh, say about the children who are born in this city, and about their mothers and fathers:

4 They shall die by the death of grievous illnesses: they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be buried, they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed with the sword, and with famine: and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.

[Many of] them will die from terrible diseases. And no one will mourn for them. No one will even bury their corpses; the corpses will lie on the ground, [scattered] like manure. [Others] will die in wars or from hunger, and [then] their corpses will become food for vultures and wild animals.”

5 For thus saith the Lord: Enter not into the house of feasting, neither go thou to mourn, nor to comfort them: because I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, my mercy and commiserations.

This is [also] what Yahweh said to me: “Do not go to funerals to mourn or to show [those whose relatives have died] that you feel sorry for them, because I have stopped protecting them, and I have caused that things will not go well for them. I have stopped faithfully loving them and acting mercifully toward them.

6 Both the great and the little shall die in the land: they shall not be buried nor lamented, and men shall not cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.

[Very many people] will die in this land, [including] those who are important and those who are not important. And no one will mourn for them, or [even] bury [their corpses]. No one will cut himself or shave his head [to show that he is very sad].

7 And they shall not break bread among them to him that mourneth, to comfort him for the dead: neither shall they give them to drink of the cup, to comfort them for their father and mother.

No one will bring food to comfort those who are mourning, not even if it is their father or their mother [who has died]. No one will give them a cup [of wine] to cheer them up.

8 And do not thou go into the house of feasting, to sit with them, and to eat and drink.

And do not go into the houses where people are feasting. Do not eat or drink anything with them.

9 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will take away out of this place in your sight, and in your days the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

[I want you to do this] because this is what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, say: ‘While you are still alive and seeing it happen, I will cause there to be no more singing and laughing in this land. There will be no more joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides.’

10 And when thou shalt tell this people all these words, and they shall say to thee: Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced against us all this great evil? what is our iniquity? and what is our sin, that we have sinned against the Lord our God?

When you tell these things to the people, they will ask, ‘Why has Yahweh declared that these terrible things will happen to us? What have we done [for which we deserve to be punished like this]? What sin have we committed against Yahweh our God?’

11 Thou shalt say to them: Because your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord: and went after strange gods, and served them, and adored them: and they forsook me, and kept not my law.

Then this is what you must tell them [that I am replying to them]: ‘It is because your ancestors turned away from me, Yahweh. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me and did not obey my commands.

12 And you also have done worse than your fathers: for behold every one of you walketh after the perverseness of his evil heart, so as not to hearken to me.

But you [who are living now] have done more wicked things than your ancestors did! Each of you stubbornly does the evil things that he desires and refuses to pay attention to what I say.

13 So I will cast you forth out of this land, into a land which you know not, nor you fathers: and there you shall serve strange gods day and night, which shall not give you any rest.

So, I will throw you out of this land, and I will send you to a land that you and your ancestors have never known about. There you will worship other gods day and night. And I will not act mercifully toward you.’

14 Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, when it shall be said no more: The Lord liveth, that brought for the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt:

But there will be a time when people [who are solemnly promising to do something] will no longer say, ‘[I will do this], [just as surely] as Yahweh lives—the one who brought the Israeli people here from Egypt.’

15 But, the Lord liveth, that brought the children of Israel out of the land of the north, and out of all the lands to which I cast them out: and I will bring them again into their land, which I gave to their fathers.

Instead, they will say ‘[I will do this, just as surely] as Yahweh lives—the one who brought [us] Israeli people back to our own land, from the lands to the north and from all the other lands to which he had (exiled us/forced us to go).’ [They will be able to say that] because [some day] I will bring your descendants back to this land that I gave to your ancestors.

16 Behold I will send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them: and after this I will send them many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

But now I am summoning [your enemies who will seize the people of Judah like] [MET] fishermen [catch fish]. I am summoning those who will search for them on every mountain and hill, and in every cave, [like] [MET] hunters [search for animals to kill].

17 For my eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, and their iniquity hath not been hid from my eyes.

I am watching them carefully. I see every sin [that they commit]. They will not [be able to] hide from me [MTY].

18 And I will repay first their double iniquities, and their sins: because they have defiled my land with the carcasses of their idols, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations.

Because of all the wicked things that they have done [DOU], I will punish them twice as much [as I would punish other people. I will do that] because they have caused my land to become unacceptable to me because of their [worshiping] lifeless statues of detestable gods, and [also because they] have done many other evil things throughout my land.”

19 O Lord, my might, and my strength, and my refuge in the day of tribulation: to thee the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth, and shall say: Surely our fathers have possessed lies, a vanity which hath not profited them.

[Then I prayed, saying], “Yahweh, you are the one who strengthens me and protects me [MET]; you are the one to whom I go when I have [troubles]. [Some day people from] nations all over the world will come to you and say, ‘Our ancestors left/gave us only something that was false; [they worshiped idols] that are completely worthless [DOU].

20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and there are no gods?

No one can [RHQ] make their own gods; the gods that they make are [only idols]; they are not real gods.’”

21 Therefore, behold I will this once cause them to know, I will shew them my hand and my power: and they shall know that my name is the Lord.

[Then Yahweh said], “Now I will show my power to [the people of Judah]; I will show them that I am truly very powerful [DOU]. Then, finally, they will know that I, Yahweh, [am the true God].”