Jeremiæ 16

1 et factum est verbum Domini ad me dicens

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 non accipies uxorem et non erunt tibi filii et filiae in loco isto

“You shall not take a wife, and there shall be no sons or daughters for you in this place.

3 quia haec dicit Dominus super filios et filias qui generantur in loco isto et super matres eorum quae genuerunt eos et super patres eorum de quorum stirpe sunt nati in terra hac

For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are conceived in this place, and concerning their mothers who give birth to them, and concerning their fathers, from whose stock they have been born in this land:

4 mortibus aegrotationum morientur non plangentur et non sepelientur in sterquilinium super faciem terrae erunt et gladio et fame consumentur et erit cadaver eorum in escam volatilibus caeli et bestiis terrae

They will die from grievous mortal illnesses. They will not be mourned, and they will not be buried. They will be like manure on the face of the earth. And they will be consumed by sword and by famine. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the land.”

5 haec enim dicit Dominus ne ingrediaris domum convivii neque vadas ad plangendum neque consoleris eos quia abstuli pacem meam a populo isto dicit Dominus misericordiam et miserationes

For thus says the Lord: “You shall not enter the house of feasting, and you shall not go to mourn or to console them. For I have taken away from this people, says the Lord, my peace, my mercy, and my pity.

6 et morientur grandes et parvi in terra ista non sepelientur neque plangentur et non se incident neque calvitium fiet pro eis

Both the great and the small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and they will not be mourned. And no one will cut themselves or make themselves bald on their behalf.

7 et non frangent inter eos lugenti panem ad consolandum super mortuo et non dabunt eis potum calicis ad consolandum super patre suo et matre

And they will not break bread among themselves for the sake of him who mourns, so as to console him over the dead. And they will not give them a chalice to drink, so as to console them over their father and mother.

8 et domum convivii non ingredieris ut sedeas cum eis et comedas et bibas

And so, you shall not enter the house of feasting, so as to sit with them, and to eat and drink.”

9 quia haec dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israhel ecce ego auferam de loco isto in oculis vestris et in diebus vestris vocem gaudii et vocem laetitiae vocem sponsi et vocem sponsae

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will take away from this place, in your sight and in your days, the voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.

10 et cum adnuntiaveris populo huic omnia verba haec et dixerint tibi quare locutus est Dominus super nos omne malum grande istud quae iniquitas nostra et quod peccatum nostrum quod peccavimus Domino Deo nostro

And when you announce all these words to this people, they will say to you: ‘Why would the Lord pronounce all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity and what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’

11 dices ad eos quia dereliquerunt patres vestri me ait Dominus et abierunt post deos alienos et servierunt eis et adoraverunt eos et me dereliquerunt et legem meam non custodierunt

And you shall say to them: It is because your fathers abandoned me, says the Lord. And they went after strange gods, and they served them and adored them. And they abandoned me, and they did not keep my law.

12 sed et vos peius operati estis quam patres vestri ecce enim ambulat unusquisque post pravitatem cordis sui mali ut me non audiat

But you have acted even worse than your fathers. For behold, each one walks after the depravity of his own evil heart, so that he does not listen to me.

13 et eiciam vos de terra hac in terram quam ignoratis vos et patres vestri et servietis ibi diis alienis die ac nocte qui non dabunt vobis requiem

And so, I will cast you out of this land, into a land that you do not know, and that your fathers did not know. And in that place, you will serve, day and night, strange gods who will not give you rest.

14 propterea ecce dies veniunt dicit Dominus et non dicetur ultra vivit Dominus qui eduxit filios Israhel de terra Aegypti

Therefore, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of Egypt,’

15 sed vivit Dominus qui eduxit filios Israhel de terra aquilonis et de universis terris ad quas eieci eos et reducam eos in terram suam quam dedi patribus eorum

but instead, ‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of the north,’ and from all the lands to which I have cast them out. And I will lead them back into their own land, which I gave to their fathers.

16 ecce ego mittam piscatores multos dicit Dominus et piscabuntur eos et post haec mittam eis multos venatores et venabuntur eos de omni monte et de omni colle et de cavernis petrarum

Behold, I will send many fishermen, says the Lord, and they will fish for them. And after this, I will send many hunters to them, and they will hunt for them on every mountain, and on every hilltop, and in the caverns of the rocks.

17 quia oculi mei super omnes vias eorum non sunt absconditae a facie mea et non fuit occulta iniquitas eorum ab oculis meis

For my eyes are upon all their ways. They have not been hidden from my face, and their iniquity has not been concealed from my eyes.

18 et reddam primum duplices iniquitates et peccata eorum quia contaminaverunt terram meam in morticinis idolorum suorum et abominationibus suis impleverunt hereditatem meam

But first, I will repay their double iniquities and their sins. For they have defiled my land with the dead bodies of their idols, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”

19 Domine fortitudo mea et robur meum et refugium meum in die tribulationis ad te gentes venient ab extremis terrae et dicent vere mendacium possederunt patres nostri vanitatem quae eis non profuit

“O Lord, my strength, and my health, and my refuge in the day of tribulation: the Gentiles will approach you from the ends of the earth, and they will say: ‘Truly, our fathers possessed a lie, an emptiness that has not benefited them.’

20 numquid faciet sibi homo deos et ipsi non sunt dii

How can man make gods for himself, though these are not gods?”

21 idcirco ecce ego ostendam eis per vicem hanc ostendam eis manum meam et virtutem meam et scient quia nomen mihi Dominus

“Concerning this, behold: I will make it clear to them, in this turn. I will reveal to them my hand and my virtue. And they will know that the Lord is my name.”