Jeremiah 16

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

The word of the LORD came also to me, saying,

2 Don't marry or have children here.

Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons nor daughters 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 saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bore them, and concerning their fathers that begat 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 by grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; [but] they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcasses shall be food for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

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.

For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, [even] loving-kindness and mercies.

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.

Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall [men] lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald 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.

Neither shall [men] tear [themselves] for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall [men] give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

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

Also thou shalt not go into the house of feasting, 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 saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, 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 thou shalt show this people all these words, and they shall say to thee, Why hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what [is] our iniquity? or what [is] our sin that we have committed against 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 shalt thou say to them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept 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 ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken 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 will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, [neither] ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not show you favor.

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, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought 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 liveth, that brought the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that 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 for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and afterwards will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from 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 my eyes [are] upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from my 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 first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.

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, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come to thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and [things] in which [there is] no profit.

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

Shall a man make gods to himself, and they [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 this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name [is] JEHOVAH.