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Chapter 16

Jeremiah’s Life a Warning. This word came to me from the Lord: Do not take a wife and do not have sons and daughters in this place, for thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, the mothers who give them birth, the fathers who beget them in this land: Of deadly disease they shall die. Unlamented and unburied they will lie like dung on the ground. Sword and famine will make an end of them, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.(A)

Thus says the Lord: Do not go into a house of mourning; do not go there to lament or grieve for them. For I have withdrawn my peace from this people—oracle of the Lord—my love and my compassion.(B) They shall die, the great and the lowly, in this land, unburied and unlamented.[a] No one will gash themselves or shave their heads for them.(C) They will not break bread with the bereaved to offer consolation for the dead; they will not give them the cup of consolation to drink over the death of father or mother.(D)

Do not enter a house of feasting to sit eating and drinking with them. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Before your eyes and in your lifetime, I will silence in this place the song of joy and the song of gladness, the song of the bridegroom and the song of the bride.(E)

10 When you proclaim all these words to this people and they ask you: “Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our crime? What sin have we committed against the Lord, our God?”—(F) 11 (G)you shall answer them: It is because your ancestors have forsaken me—oracle of the Lord—and followed other gods that they served and worshiped; but me they have forsaken, and my law they did not keep. 12 And you have done worse than your ancestors. Here you are, every one of you, walking in the stubbornness of your evil heart instead of listening to me.(H) 13 I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known; there you can serve other gods day and night because I will not show you mercy.

Return from Exile. 14 Therefore, days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when it will no longer be said, “As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of Egypt”;(I) 15 but rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of the north and out of all the countries to which he had banished them.” I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.(J)

Double Punishment. 16 Look!—oracle of the Lord—I will send many fishermen to catch them. After that, I will send many hunters to hunt them out from every mountain and hill and rocky crevice.(K) 17 For my eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor does their guilt escape my sight.(L) 18 I will at once repay them double for their crime and their sin because they profaned my land with the corpses of their detestable idols, and filled my heritage with their abominations.(M)

Conversion of the Nations

19 Lord, my strength, my fortress,
    my refuge in the day of distress!
To you nations will come
    from the ends of the earth, and say,
“Our ancestors inherited mere frauds,
    empty, worthless.”(N)
20 Can human beings make for themselves gods?
    But these are not gods at all!(O)
21 Therefore, I will indeed give them knowledge;
    this time I will make them acknowledge
My strength and my power:
    they shall know that my name is Lord.(P)

Footnotes

  1. 16:6–7 These verses refer to popular mourning practices in the land; cf. Dt 14:1–2.

Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: “You must not marry(A) and have sons or daughters in this place.” For 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:(B) “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried(C) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(D) They will perish by sword and famine,(E) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”(F)

For 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(G) from this people,” declares the Lord. “Both high and low will die in this land.(H) They will not be buried or mourned,(I) and no one will cut(J) themselves or shave(K) their head for the dead. No one will offer food(L) to comfort those who mourn(M) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console(N) them.

“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.(O) For 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(P) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride(Q) and bridegroom in this place.(R)

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?’(S) 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped(T) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.(U) 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.(V) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts(W) instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land(X) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,(Y) and there you will serve other gods(Z) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’(AA)

14 “However, the days are coming,”(AB) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’(AC) 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north(AD) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’(AE) For I will restore(AF) them to the land I gave their ancestors.(AG)

16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.(AH) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt(AI) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.(AJ) 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden(AK) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.(AL) 18 I will repay(AM) them double(AN) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land(AO) with the lifeless forms of their vile images(AP) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.(AQ)(AR)

19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
    my refuge(AS) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come(AT)
    from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,(AU)
    worthless idols(AV) that did them no good.(AW)
20 Do people make their own gods?
    Yes, but they are not gods!”(AX)

21 “Therefore I will teach them—
    this time I will teach them
    my power and might.
Then they will know
    that my name(AY) is the Lord.