Jeremiah 16

Famine, Sword, and Death

1 The word of the Lord came to me:2 "You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land:4 They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

5 "For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the Lord.6 Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them.7 No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother.8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before 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 when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, 'Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?'11 then you shall say to them: 'Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law,12 and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'

The Lord Will Restore Israel

14 "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'15 but 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

16 "Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.17 For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.18 But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations."

19  O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of trouble,
to you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
"Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,
worthless things in which there is no profit.
20  Can man make for himself gods?
Such are not gods!"

21 "Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord."

Jeremiah 16

Jeremiah Forbidden to Marry, to Mourn, or to Feast

1 The Lord said to me,2 “Do not get married and do not have children here in this land.3 For I, the Lord, tell you what will happen tot the children who are born here in this land and to the men and women who are their mothers and fathers.t

4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. They will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals.
5 “Moreover I, the Lord, tell you:t ‘Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor,t my love, and my compassion. I, the Lord, so affirm it!t6 Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them.s

7 No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.
8 “‘Do not go to a house where people are feasting and sit down to eat and drink with them either.

9 For I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, tell you what will happen.ts I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in this land. You and the rest of the people will live to see this happen.’”t

The Lord Promises Exile (But Also Restoration)

10 “When you tell these people about all this,ts they will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?’11 Then tell them that the Lord says,t ‘It is because your ancestorst rejected me and paid allegiance tot other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law.t12 And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me.s

13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.’”
14 Yett I, the Lord, say:t “A new time will certainly come.t People now affirm their oaths with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.’

15 But in that time they will affirm them with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.”t
16 But for now I, the Lord, say:t “I will send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains, all the hills, and the crevices in the rocks.ts17 For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it.t

18 Before I restore themt I will punish them in fullt for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my ownts with their detestable idols.”t

19 Then I said,ts
“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.
You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble.t
Nations from all over the earth
will come to you and say,
‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods –
worthless idols that could not help them at all.ts

20 Can people make their own gods?
No, what they make are not gods at all.”t

21 The Lord said,t
“So I will now let this wicked people know –
I will let them know my mighty power in judgment.
Then they will know that my name is the Lord.”tt