1Then the word of the Lord came to me:2‘You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.’3For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:4‘They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.’5For this is what the Lord says: ‘Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people,’ declares the Lord.6‘Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no-one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead.7No-one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead – not even for a father or a mother – nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.8‘And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.9For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.10‘When you tell these people all this and they ask you, “Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?”11then say to them, “It is because your ancestors forsook me,” declares the Lord, “and followed other gods and served and worshipped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.12But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me.13So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favour.”14‘However, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when it will no longer be said, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,”15but it will be said, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.” For I will restore them to the land I gave to their ancestors.16‘But now I will send for many fishermen,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.17My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.18I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.’19Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, ‘Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good.20Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!’21‘Therefore I will teach them – this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.
Jeremiah 16
English Standard Version
Famine, Sword, and Death
1The word of the Lord came to me:2“You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.3For 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:4They 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. (Jer 7:33; Jer 8:2; Jer 14:12; Jer 15:2; Jer 22:18; Jer 25:33)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. (Eze 24:16)6Both 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. (Le 19:28; De 14:1; Job 1:20; Isa 3:24; Jer 16:4)7No 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. (De 26:14; Isa 58:7; Eze 24:17; Ho 9:4)8You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.9For 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. (Jer 7:34)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?’ (Jer 5:19)11then 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, (De 29:25; 2Ki 22:17; 2Ch 34:25; Jer 5:19; Jer 13:10; Jer 22:9)12and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. (Jer 3:17; Jer 7:26)13Therefore 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.’ (De 4:26; De 28:36; De 28:64; Isa 22:17; Jer 10:18; Jer 15:14; Jer 22:26)
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,’ (Jer 4:2; Jer 23:7)15but ‘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. (Isa 43:5; Jer 3:18; Jer 16:14; Jer 24:6; Jer 30:3; Jer 32:37)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. (Jer 13:4; Eze 12:13; Am 4:2; Hab 1:15)17For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. (2Ch 16:9; Job 34:21; Ps 51:9; Ps 90:8; Pr 5:21; Jer 32:19)18But 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.” (Isa 40:2; Isa 65:4; Jer 17:18; Eze 43:7)19O 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. (2Sa 22:33; Ps 28:7; Ps 31:3; Isa 9:2; Isa 25:4; Isa 49:6; Isa 49:22; Jer 17:17; Jer 18:15)20Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!” (Jer 2:11; 1Co 8:4)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.” (Jer 33:2)