Jeremiah 16

1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

The word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

2 “Do not take a wife for yourself, and do not have sons or daughters for yourself in this place.

Take thee not a wife; Have no sons or daughters in this place!

3 For Yahweh says this to the sons and daughters who are born in this place, to the mothers who bear them, and to the fathers who caused them to be born in this land,

For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and 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 diseased deaths. They will not be mourned or buried. They will be like dung on the ground. For they will come to an end by sword and famine, and their corpses will be food for the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth.'

By deadly diseases shall they die; They shall not be lamented nor buried; They shall become dung upon the face of the earth; By the sword also and by famine shall they be consumed, And their carcasses shall be food for the birds of heaven And the beasts of the earth.

5 For the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 'Do not enter a house where there is mourning. Do not go to mourn or to show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people—this is Yahweh's declaration—and my steadfast love and mercy.

For thus saith Jehovah: Enter not into the house of wailing; Go not to lament; Comfort them not! For I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jehovah, My kindness and mercy.

6 Both the great and the small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and no one will mourn for them or cut themselves or shave their heads for them.

The great and the small in this land shall die; They shall not be buried nor lamented; No one shall cut himself for them, Nor shall any one make himself bald for them.

7 No one must share any food in mourning to comfort them because of the deaths, and none must give a comforting cup to his father or his mother in order to comfort them.

Men shall not break bread for them in their grief, To comfort them for the dead, Nor give them the cup of consolation to drink, On account of a lost father or mother.

8 You must not go to a banquet house to sit with them in order to eat or drink.'

Neither enter thou into the house of feasting, To sit down with them to eat and to drink!

9 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, 'See, before your eyes, in your days and in this place, I am about to put an end to the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride.'

For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am about to cause to cease from this place, Before your eyes, in your days, The voice of joy and the voice of mirth, The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

10 Then it will happen that you will report all these words to this people, and they will say to you, 'Why has Yahweh decreed all this great disaster against us? What is our iniquity and sin that we sinned against Yahweh our God?'

And when thou shalt have declared to this people all these things, and they shall say to thee, “Why hath Jehovah pronounced against us all this great evil? What is our iniquity, and what our sin, which we have committed against Jehovah our God?”

11 So say to them, 'Because your ancestors abandoned me—this is Yahweh's declaration—and they went after other gods and worshiped and bowed down to them. They abandoned me and have not kept my law.

Then shalt thou say to them: Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah, And have walked after strange gods, And have served them and worshipped them, And have forsaken me, and not kept my law.

12 But you yourselves have brought about more wickedness than your ancestors, for see, each person is walking by the stubbornness of his wicked heart; there is no one who listens to me.

And ye yourselves have done worse than your fathers; For, behold, ye walk every one after the perverseness of his evil heart, And do not hearken to me.

13 So I will throw you from this land to a land that you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors, and you will worship other gods there by day and night, for I will not give any favor to you.'

Therefore will I cast you forth from this land Into a land unknown to you and to your fathers; And there shall ye serve strange gods day and night; For I will show you no favor.

14 Therefore, behold, the days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when it will no longer be said, 'As Yahweh lives, the one who brought up the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.'

Yet behold the days shall come, saith Jehovah, When men shall no more say, “As Jehovah liveth Who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,”

15 but, 'As Yahweh lives, the one who brought up the people of Israel from the land of the north and from the lands where he had scattered them.' For I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their 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 own land, Which I gave to their fathers.

16 Behold! I will send for many fishermen—this is Yahweh's declaration—so they will fish the people out. After this I will send for many hunters so they will hunt for them among all the mountains and hills, and in rock crevices.

Behold, I will send many fishers, saith Jehovah, who shall fish them, And then will I send many hunters who shall hunt them From every mountain, and from every hill, and from the holes of the rocks.

17 For my eye is on all their ways; they cannot be hidden from before me. Their iniquity cannot be concealed from before my eyes.

For mine eyes are upon all their ways; They are not concealed from my view, Nor is their iniquity hidden from mine eyes.

18 I will first pay back double for their iniquity and sin for their polluting of my land with their disgusting idol figures, and for their filling my inheritance with their disgusting idols.”

And I will requite their former and their repeated iniquities and sins, Because they have polluted my land with carcasses offered to their idols, And filled my inheritance with their abominable things.

19 Yahweh, you are my stronghold and my refuge, my place of safety in the day of distress. The nations will go to you from the ends of the earth and say, “Surely our ancestors inherited deceit. They are empty; there is no profit in them.

O Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of distress! To thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, And shall say, “Truly our fathers inherited delusion, Vain and unprofitable things.

20 Do people make gods for themselves? But they are not gods.”

Shall one make for himself gods Which are no gods?”

21 Therefore see! I will cause them to know in this time, I will cause them to know my hand and my power, so they will know that Yahweh is my name.

Therefore, behold, I will this time cause them to feel, I will cause them to feel my hand and my might, And they shall know that my name is Jehovah.