Jeremiah 16

1 The worde of the Lord came also vnto mee, saying,

Then again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, nor haue sonnes nor daughters in this place.

You are not to take a wife for yourself or have sons or daughters in this place.

3 For thus sayeth the Lord concerning the sonnes, and concerning the daughters that are borne in this place, and concerning their mothers that beare them, and concerning their fathers, that beget them in this land,

For this is what the Lord has said about the sons and daughters who come to birth in this place, and about their mothers who have given them birth, and about their fathers who have given life to them in this land:

4 They shall die of deathes and diseases: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried, but they shalbe as dung vpon the earth, and they shalbe consumed by the sword, and by famine, and their carkeises shall be meate for the foules of the heauen, and for the beasts of the earth.

Death from evil diseases will overtake them; there will be no weeping for them and their bodies will not be put to rest; they will be like waste on the face of the earth: the sword and need of food will put an end to them; their dead bodies will be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.

5 For thus saith the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither goe to lament, nor be moued for the: for I haue taken my peace, from this people, saith the Lord, euen mercy and compassion.

For this is what the Lord has said: Do not go into the house of sorrow, do not go to make weeping or songs of grief for them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, even mercy and pity.

6 Both the great, and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them nor cut themselues, nor make themselues balde for them.

Death will overtake great as well as small in the land: their bodies will not be put in a resting-place, and no one will be weeping for them or wounding themselves or cutting off their hair for them:

7 They shall not stretch out the hands for the in the mourning to comfort them for the dead, neither shall they giue them the cup of consolation to drinke for their father or for their mother.

No one will make a feast for them in sorrow, to give them comfort for the dead, or put to their lips the cup of comfort on account of their father or their mother.

8 Thou shalt not also goe into the house of feasting to sit with them to eate and to drinke.

And you are not to go into the house of feasting, or be seated with them to take food or drink.

9 For thus sayth the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Beholde, I wil cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, euen in your dayes the voyce of myrth, and the voyce of gladnes, the voyce of the bridegrome and the voyce of the bride.

For the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, See, before your eyes and in your days I will put an end in this place to the laughing voices and the voice of joy; to the voice of the newly-married man and the voice of the bride.

10 And when thou shalt shewe this people all these wordes, and they shall say vnto thee, Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great plague against vs? or what is our iniquitie? and what is our sinne that we haue committed against the Lord our God?

And it will be, that when you say all these words to the people, then they will say to you, Why has the Lord done all this evil against us? what is our wrongdoing and what is our sin which we have done against the Lord our God?

11 Then shalt thou say vnto them, Because your fathers haue forsaken me, sayth the Lord, and haue walked after other gods, and haue serued them, and worshipped them, and haue forsaken me, and haue not kept my Law,

Then you will say to them, Because your fathers have given me up, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and become their servants and their worshippers, and have given me up and have not kept my law;

12 (And ye haue done worse then your fathers: for beholde, you walke euery one after the stubbernesse of his wicked heart, and will not heare me)

And you have done worse evil than your fathers; for see, every one of you is guided by the pride of his evil heart, so as not to give ear to me:

13 Therefore will I driue you out of this land into a lande that ye knowe not, neither you, nor your fathers, and there shall ye serue other gods day and night: for I will shew you no grace.

For this reason I will send you away out of this land into a land which is strange to you, to you and to your fathers; there you will be the servants of other gods day and night, and you will have no mercy from me.

14 Behold therfore, saith the Lord, the dayes come that it shall no more be sayde, The Lord liueth, which brought vp the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

For this cause, see, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it will no longer be said, By the living Lord, who took the children of Israel up out of the land of Egypt.

15 But the Lord liueth, that brought vp the children of Israel from the lande of the North, and from all the landes where hee had scattered them, and I wil bring them againe into their land that I gaue vnto their fathers.

But, By the living Lord, who took the children of Israel up out of the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had sent them: and I will take them back again to their land which I gave to their fathers.

16 Behold, sayth the Lord, I wil send out many fishers, and they shall fish them, and after, will I send out many hunters, and they shall hunt them from euery mountaine and from euery hill, and out of the caues of the rockes.

See, I will send for great numbers of fishermen, says the Lord, and they will take them like fish in a net; and after that, I will send for numbers of bowmen, and they will go after them, driving them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

17 For mine eyes are vpon al their wayes: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquitie hid from mine eyes.

For my eyes are on all their ways: there is no cover for them from my face, and their evil-doing is not kept secret from my eyes.

18 And first I will recompense their iniquitie and their sinne double, because they haue defiled my lande, and haue filled mine inheritance with their filthie carions and their abominations.

And I will give them the reward of their evil-doing and their sin twice over; because they have made my land unclean, and have made my heritage full of the bodies of their unholy and disgusting things.

19 O Lord, thou art my force, and my strength and my refuge in the day of affliction: the Gentiles shall come vnto thee from the ends of the world, and shall say, Surely our fathers haue inherited lies, and vanitie, wherein was no profite.

O Lord, my strength and my strong tower, my safe place in the day of trouble, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and say, The heritage of our fathers is nothing but deceit, even false things in which there is no profit.

20 Shall a man make gods vnto himselfe, and they are no gods?

Will a man make for himself gods which are no gods?

21 Beholde, therefore I will this once teach them: I will shewe them mine hande and my power, and they shall know that my Name is the Lord.

For this reason, truly, I will make them see, this once I will give them knowledge of my hand and my power; and they will be certain that my name is the Lord.