Jeremiah 16

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

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

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

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

3 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:

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,

4 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.”

'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.'

5 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.

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.

6 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.

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.

7 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.

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.

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

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

9 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.

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.'

10 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?’

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?'

11 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.

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.

12 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.

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.

13 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.

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.'

14 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,’

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.'

15 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.

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.

16 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.

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.

17 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.

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

18 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.”

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.”

19 “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.’

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.

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

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

21 “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.”

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.