Jeremiah 16
1 Yahweh gave me another message. [He said to me],
And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
2 “Do not get married and have children in this land,
Thou shalt not take thee a wife, and thou shalt not have sons nor daughters in this place.
3 because this is what [I], Yahweh, say about the children who are born in this city, and about their mothers and fathers:
For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bear them, and concerning their fathers that beget them in this land:
4 [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.”
They shall die of painful deaths; they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground, and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine, and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
5 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.
For thus saith Jehovah: Enter not into the house of wailing, neither go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jehovah, the loving-kindness and the tender mercies.
6 [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].
Both great and small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried; and none shall lament for them, or cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.
7 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.
Nor shall they break [bread] for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall they give them the cup of consolations to drink for their father or for their mother.
8 And do not go into the houses where people are feasting. Do not eat or drink anything with them.
And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting, to sit with them, to eat and to drink.
9 [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.’
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 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?’
And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt declare unto this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath Jehovah pronounced all this great evil against us? and what is our iniquity? and what is our sin which we have committed against Jehovah our God?
11 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.
then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah, 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 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.
and you, ye have done still worse than your fathers; and there ye are walking every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, not to hearken unto me:
13 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.’
and I will cast you forth out of this land, into a land that ye know not, ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night: because I will shew you no favour.
14 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.’
Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, [As] Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 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.
but, [As] Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them. For I will bring them again into their land, which I gave unto their fathers.
16 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].
Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, 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 am watching them carefully. I see every sin [that they commit]. They will not [be able to] hide from me [MTY].
For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not concealed from my face, neither is their iniquity hidden from before mine eyes.
18 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.”
But first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have profaned my land with the carcases of their detestable things, and with their abominations have they filled mine inheritance.
19 [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].
Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of distress, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and they shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited falsehood [and] vanity; and in these things there is no profit.
20 No one can [RHQ] make their own gods; the gods that they make are [only idols]; they are not real gods.’”
Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no-gods?
21 [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].”
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.
