Jeremiah 16
1 The word of Jehovah came also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters, in
this place.
3 For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that
are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and
concerning their fathers that begat them in this land:
4 They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they
be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground; and they shall be
consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for
the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
5 For thus saith Jehovah, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to
lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people,
saith Jehovah, even lovingkindness and tender mercies.
6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither
shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for
them;
7 neither shall men break [bread] for them in mourning, to comfort them for the
dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their
father or for their mother.
8 And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and
to drink.
9 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to
cease out of 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 it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this people all these words,
and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath Jehovah pronounced all this great
evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have
committed against Jehovah our God?
11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith
Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have
worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
12 and ye have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one
after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto me:
13 therefore will I cast you forth out of this land into the land that ye have
not known, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day
and night; for I will show you no favor.
14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be
said, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land
of Egypt;
15 but, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land
of the north, and from all the countries whither he had driven them. And I will
bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them
up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from
every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, neither
is their iniquity concealed from mine eyes.
18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they
have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have
filled mine inheritance with their abominations.
19 O Jehovah, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of
affliction, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and
shall say, Our fathers have inherited nought but lies, [even] vanity and things
wherein there is no profit.
20 Shall a man make unto himself gods, which yet are no gods?
21 Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to
know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Jehovah.