Jeremiah 16-20
Holman Christian Standard Bible
No Marriage for Jeremiah
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You must not marry or have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land: 4 They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the face of the earth.(A) They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.(B)
5 “For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place.[a] Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“as well as My faithful love and compassion.(C) 6 Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or(D) shave his head for them.[b] 7 Food won’t be provided for the mourner(E) to comfort him because of the dead. A cup of consolation won’t be given him because of the loss of his father or mother. 8 You must not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink. 9 For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.(F)
Abandoning the Lord and His Law
10 “When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us?(G) What is our guilt? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 Then you will answer them: Because your fathers abandoned Me”(H)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and followed other gods, served them, and worshiped them.(I) Indeed, they abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction. 12 You did more evil than your fathers.(J) Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying Me. 13 So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your fathers are not familiar with.(K) There you will worship other gods(L) both day and night, for I will not grant you grace.[c]
14 “However, take note! The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’(M) 15 but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north(N) and from all the other lands where He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.(O)
Punishment of Exile
16 “I am about to send for many fishermen”(P)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, 17 for My gaze takes in all their ways.(Q) They are not concealed from Me, and their guilt is not hidden from My sight. 18 I will first repay them double for their guilt(R) and sin because they have polluted My land. They have filled My inheritance with the lifelessness of their detestable and abhorrent idols.”
19 Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in a time of distress,(S)
the nations will come to You
from the ends of the earth, and they will say,
“Our fathers inherited only lies,
worthless idols(T) of no benefit at all.”
20 Can one make gods for himself?
But they are not gods.(U)
21 “Therefore, I am about to inform them,
and this time I will make them know
My power and My might;
then they will know that My name is Yahweh.”(V)
The Persistent Sin of Judah
17 The sin of Judah is written
with an iron stylus.(W)
With a diamond point
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts(X)
and on the horns of their[d] altars,
2 while their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles, by the green trees
on the high hills—
3 My mountains in the countryside.
I will give up your wealth
and all your treasures as plunder
because of the sin of your high places[e]
in all your borders.(Y)
4 You will, on your own, relinquish your inheritance
that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know,(Z)
for you have set My anger on fire;(AA)
it will burn forever.
Curse and Blessing
5 This is what the Lord says:
The man who trusts in mankind,(AB)
who makes human flesh his strength(AC)
and turns his heart from the Lord is cursed.
6 He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;(AD)
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives.(AE)
7 The man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.(AF)
8 He will be like a tree planted by water:(AG)
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.
The Deceitful Heart
9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else,
and incurable—who can understand it?(AH)
10 I, Yahweh, examine the mind,
I test the heart[f](AI)
to give to each according to his way,
according to what his actions deserve.(AJ)
11 He who makes a fortune unjustly
is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.
In the middle of his days
his riches will abandon him,
so in the end he will be a fool.(AK)
12 A throne of glory(AL)
on high(AM) from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.(AN)
13 Lord, the hope of Israel,(AO)
all who abandon You
will be put to shame.
All who turn away from Me
will be written in the dirt,
for they have abandoned
the Lord, the fountain of living water.(AP)
Jeremiah’s Plea
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for You are my praise.(AQ)
15 Hear how they keep challenging me,(AR)
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16 But I have not run away from being Your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the fatal day.
You know my words were spoken in Your presence.
17 Don’t become a terror to me.
You are my refuge(AS) in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,(AT)
but don’t let me be put to shame.
Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.
Bring on them the day of disaster;(AU)
shatter them with total[g] destruction.
Observing the Sabbath
19 This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem. 20 Announce to them: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.(AV) 22 You must not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work,(AW) but you must consecrate the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors.(AX) 23 They wouldn’t listen or pay attention but became obstinate,(AY) not listening or accepting discipline.
24 “However, if you listen to Me, says the Lord, and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day and consecrate the Sabbath day and do no work on it, 25 kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses(AZ) with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever. 26 Then people will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev(BA) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifice, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 If you do not listen to Me to consecrate the Sabbath day by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates,(BB) and it will consume the citadels(BC) of Jerusalem(BD) and not be extinguished.”(BE)
Parable of the Potter
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house;(BF) there I will reveal My words to you.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.[h] 4 But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.(BG)
5 The word of the Lord came to me: 6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel.(BH) 7 At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.(BI) 8 However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.(BJ) 9 At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom.(BK) 10 However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.(BL) 11 So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.(BM) 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.(BN) We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
Deluded Israel
13 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
Ask among the nations,
Who has heard things like these?
Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.(BO)
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags?
Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail?
15 Yet My people have forgotten Me.(BP)
They burn incense to false idols
that make them stumble in their ways
on the ancient roads(BQ)
and walk on new paths, not the highway.
16 They have made their land a horror,(BR)
a perpetual object of scorn;[i](BS)
everyone who passes by it will be horrified(BT)
and shake his head.(BU)
17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind.(BV)
I will show them[j] My back and not My face
on the day of their calamity.
Plot against Jeremiah
18 Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah,(BW) for instruction will never be lost from the priest,(BX) or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet.(BY) Come, let’s denounce him[k] and pay no attention to all his words.”
19 Pay attention to me, Lord.
Hear what my opponents are saying!(BZ)
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.(CA)
Remember how I stood before You
to speak good on their behalf,
to turn Your anger from them.
21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine,(CB)
and pour the sword’s power on them.
Let their wives become childless and widowed,
their husbands slain by deadly disease,[l]
their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses
when You suddenly bring raiders against them,
for they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.(CC)
23 But You, Lord, know
all their deadly plots against me.
Do not wipe out their guilt;(CD)
do not blot out their sin before You.
Let them be forced to stumble before You;
deal with them in the time of Your anger.
The Clay Jar
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay(CE) jar. Take[m] some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests(CF) 2 and go out to the Valley of Hinnom(CG) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. 3 Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.(CH) This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder[n](CI) 4 because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.(CJ) 5 They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.[o](CK)
6 “Therefore, take note! The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.(CL) 7 I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who want to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.(CM) 8 I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and scoff because of all its wounds.(CN) 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the siege and distress that their enemies, those who want to take their life, inflict on them.(CO)
10 “Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people traveling with you, 11 and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.(CP) 12 I will do so to this place”—this is the declaration of the Lord—“and to its residents, making this city like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host(CQ) and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”
14 Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple,(CR) and proclaimed to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its dependent villages—all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying My words.’”(CS)
Jeremiah Beaten by Pashhur
20 Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer(CT) and chief official in the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 So Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate in the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib,[p] 4 for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love.(CU) They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword. 5 I will give away all the wealth of this city, all its products(CV) and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon. 6 As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon. There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends that you prophesied falsely(CW) to.’”
Jeremiah Compelled to Preach
7 You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.
You seized me and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all the time;(CX)
everyone ridicules me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!”(CY)
because the word of the Lord has become for me
constant disgrace and derision.
9 If I say, “I won’t mention Him
or speak any longer in His name,”
His message becomes a fire burning in my heart,(CZ)
shut up in my bones.
I become tired of holding it in,
and I cannot prevail.
10 For I have heard the gossip of many people,
“Terror is on every side
Report him; let’s report him!”
Everyone I trusted[r] watches for my fall.(DB)
“Perhaps he will be deceived
so that we might prevail against him
and take our vengeance on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior.(DC)
Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,
an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.
12 Lord of Hosts, testing the righteous
and seeing the heart[s] and mind,
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for I have presented my case to You.(DD)
13 Sing to the Lord!
Praise the Lord,
for He rescues the life of the needy
from the hand of evil people.
Jeremiah’s Lament
14 May the day I was born
be cursed.(DE)
May the day my mother bore me
never be blessed.
15 May the man be cursed
who brought the news to my father, saying,
“A male child is born to you,”
bringing him great joy.
16 Let that man be like the cities
the Lord demolished without compassion.(DF)
Let him hear an outcry in the morning(DG)
and a war cry at noontime
17 because he didn’t kill me in the womb(DH)
so that my mother might have been my grave,
her womb eternally pregnant.
18 Why did I come out of the womb
to see only struggle and sorrow,(DI)
to end my life in shame?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 16:5 Lit house of mourning
- Jeremiah 16:6 This custom demonstrated pagan mourning rituals.
- Jeremiah 16:13 Or compassion
- Jeremiah 17:1 Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read your
- Jeremiah 17:3 Lit plunder, your high places because of sin
- Jeremiah 17:10 Lit kidneys
- Jeremiah 17:18 Lit double
- Jeremiah 18:3 Lit pair of stones
- Jeremiah 18:16 Lit hissing
- Jeremiah 18:17 LXX, Lat, Syr, Tg; MT reads will look at them
- Jeremiah 18:18 Lit let’s strike him with the tongue
- Jeremiah 18:21 Lit by death
- Jeremiah 19:1 Syr, Tg; MT omits Take
- Jeremiah 19:3 Lit shudder their ears; 1Sm 3:11; 2Kg 21:12
- Jeremiah 19:5 Lit mentioned, and it did not arise on My heart
- Jeremiah 20:3 = Terror Is on Every Side; Jr 6:25; 20:10; 46:5
- Jeremiah 20:10 Hb Magor-missabib; Jr 20:3
- Jeremiah 20:10 Lit Every man of my peace
- Jeremiah 20:12 Lit kidneys
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