Jeremiah 16

1 A message from the Lord that came to me, saying,

And you shall not take a wife, says the Lord God of Israel:

2 Don't marry or have children here.

and there shall be no son born to you, nor daughter in this place.

3 This is what the Lord says about children born here, and about their mothers and fathers—their parents here in this country:

For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that have born them, and concerning their fathers that have begotten them in this land;

4 They will die from fatal diseases. No one will mourn for them. Their bodies won't be buried, but will lie on the ground like manure. They will be destroyed by war and famine, and their bodies will be food for birds of prey and wild animals.

They shall die of grievous death; they shall not be lamented, nor buried; they shall be for an example on the face of the earth; and they shall be for the wild beasts of the land, and for the birds of the sky: they shall fall by the sword, and shall be consumed with famine.

5 This is what the Lord says: Don't enter a home where people are having a funeral meal. Don't visit them to mourn or to offer condolences, for I have taken away my peace, my trustworthy love, and my mercy from these people, declares the Lord.

Thus says the Lord, Enter not into their mourning feast, and go not to lament, and mourn not for them: for I have removed my peace from this people.

6 Everyone, from the most important to the least, will die in this country. They will not be buried or mourned; there will be no rites for the dead such as cutting oneself or shaving of heads.

They shall not bewail them, nor make cuttings for them, and they shall not shave themselves [for them]:

7 No funeral receptions will be held to comfort those who mourn—not even a comforting drink is to be offered at the loss of a father or mother.

and there shall be no bread broken in mourning for them for consolation over the dead: they shall not give one to drink a cup for consolation over his father or his mother.

8 Don't go into a house where people are celebrating and sit down with them to eat and drink.

You shall not enter into the banquet-house, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

9 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am going to put a stop right here, while you watch, to any sounds of celebration and joy, the happy voices of the groom and bride.

For thus says the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I [will] make to cease out of this place before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

10 When you explain all this to them they'll ask you, “Why has the Lord ordered that such a terrible disaster should happen to us? What did we do wrong? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?”

And it shall come to pass, when you shall report to this people all these words, and they shall say to you, Therefore has the Lord pronounced against us all these evils? what is our unrighteousness? and what is our sin which we have sinned before the Lord our God?

11 Answer them: It's because your forefathers deserted me, declares the Lord. They went and followed other gods, serving them and worshiping them. They abandoned me and didn't keep my laws.

Then you shall say to them, Because your fathers forsook me, says the Lord, and went after strange gods and served them, and worshipped them, and forsook me, and kept not my law;

12 You however have done even more evil than your forefathers. Look at how all of you followed your own stubborn evil thinking instead of obeying me.

(and you sinned worse than your fathers; for, behold, you walk every one after the lusts of your own evil heart, so as not to listen to me);

13 So I'm going to throw you out of this country and exile you in a country unfamiliar to you and your forefathers. There you'll serve other gods day and night, because I won't help you at all.

therefore I will cast you off from this good land into a land which neither you nor your fathers have known; and you shall serve their other gods, who shall have no mercy upon you.

14 But listen! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when people won't any longer make vows, saying. “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when they shall no more say, The Lord lives, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

15 Instead they'll say, “On the Lord's life, who led the Israelites back from the northern country and all the other countries where he had exiled them.” I'm going to bring them back to the country I gave their forefathers.

but, The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Israel from the land of the north, and from all countries whither they were thrust out: and I will restore them to their own land, which I gave to their fathers.

16 But for the moment I'm going to send for many fishermen and they'll catch them, declares the Lord. Then I'm going to send for many hunters, and they'll hunt them down on every mountain and hill, even from their hiding places in the rocks.

Behold, I [will] send many fishers, says the Lord, and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them upon every mountain, and upon every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

17 I see everything they're doing. They can't hide from me, and their sins aren't hidden from me either.

For mine eyes are upon all their ways; and their iniquities have not been hidden from mine eyes.

18 First I'm going to pay them back double for their wickedness and sin, because they have made my land unclean with the lifeless bodies of their disgusting idols, filling my special country with their offensive pagan images.

And I will recompense their mischiefs doubly, and their sins, whereby they have profaned my land with the carcases of their abominations, and with their iniquities, whereby they have trespassed against mine inheritance.

19 Lord, you are my strength and my fortress, my safe place in the time of trouble. Nations will come to you from all over the earth, and they will say, “The religion of our forefathers was a total lie! The idols they worshiped were useless—no good at all.

O Lord, you are my strength, and mine help, and my refuge in days of evil: to you the Gentiles shall come from the end of the earth, and shall say, How vain [were the] idols [which] our fathers procured to themselves, and there is no help in them.

20 How can people make gods for themselves? These aren't gods!”

Will a man make gods for himself, whereas these are no gods?

21 Now they'll see! I'll show them, and then they'll recognize my power and strength. Then they'll know that I am the Lord!

Therefore, behold, I will at this time manifest my hand to them, and will make known to them my power; and they shall know that my name is the Lord.