Jeremiah 16

1 And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

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

2 Thou shall not take to thee a wife, —Neither shalt thou have sons or daughters, in this place.

You shall not take you a wife, neither shall you have sons or daughters in this place.

3 For, Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are being born in this place, —and concerning their mothers who do bear them, and concerning their fathers who do beget them, in this land,

For thus says 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 Of deaths from diseases, shall they die, They shall not be lamented, Neither shall they be buried, As heaps of dung on the face of the ground, shall they serve, —Yea by sword and by famine, shall they be consumed, And, their dead bodies shall become, food—To the bird of the heavens, and To the beast of the earth.

They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung on the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

5 For, Thus, saith Yahweh—Do not thou enter into the house of crying, Neither do thou go to lament, nor do thou bemoan for them, —For I have withdrawn my blessing from this people, Declareth Yahweh, Both lovingkindness and compassion.

For thus says 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, said the LORD, even loving kindness and mercies.

6 So shall great and small die in this land, They shall not be buried, —Neither shall men lament for them Nor cut themselves, Nor make themselves bald for them;

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 Neither shall they break bread to them in mourning To console one over his dead, —Nor cause them to drink the cup of consolation, Over one’s father Or over one’s 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 And the house of banqueting, shall thou not enter To sit with them, To eat and to drink.

You shall not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

9 For, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Behold me! causing 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,

For thus says 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 And it shall be when thou shalt declare to this people, all these words, —and they shall say unto thee—For what reason, hath Yahweh pronounced against us all this great calamity? Or what is our iniquity, or what our sin, which we have sinned against Yahweh our God?

And it shall come to pass, when you shall show this people all these words, and they shall say to you, Why has 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 Then shalt thou say unto them, —For that your fathers forsook, me, Declareth Yahweh, And walked after other gods, and served them, and bowed down to them, —Whereas me, they forsook And my law, kept they not;

Then shall you say to them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, says the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

12 And, ye, have done more wickedly than your fathers, —for look at you! walking every man after the stubbornness of his wicked heart, so as not to hearken unto me,

And you have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, you walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not listen to me:

13 Therefore will I hurl you forth, from off this land, unto a land which ye have not known, ye, nor your fathers, —and ye can serve there other gods day and night, in that I will grant you no favour.

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that you know not, neither you nor your fathers; and there shall you serve other gods day and night; where I will not show you favor.

14 Therefore lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall be said no more By the life of Yahweh, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but—

Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD lives, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

15 By the life of Yahweh, who hath brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of the North, and out of all the lands whither he had driven them, —So will I bring them back upon their own soil, which I gave to their fathers.

But, The LORD lives, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands where he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

16 Behold me! sending for many fishers Declareth Yahweh, And they shall catch them, —and thereafter will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from off every mountain and from off every hill, and out of the clefts of the crags.

Behold, I will send for many fishers, says the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after 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 For mine own eyes are upon all their ways, they have not been hid from my face—neither hath their iniquity been concealed from being straight before mine eyes.

For my eyes are on all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from my eyes.

18 Thus will I recompense, first, twofold, their iniquity and their sin, because of their profaning my land, —with the carcase of their disgusting and detestable things, have they filled mine inheritance.

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 O Yahweh, my strength, and my refuge, and my place to fly to, in the day of distress, —Unto thee, shall nations come in, out of the ends of the earth, that they may say—Surely! Falsehood, did our fathers inherit, Vanity, among whom is none that can profit:

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

20 Shall a son of earth, make for himself gods, Seeing that, they, are no-gods?

Shall a man make gods to himself, and they are no gods?

21 Therefore behold me! causing them to know, by this stroke, I will cause them to know my hand and my might, —That they may know that my name, is Yahweh!

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 The LORD.