Jeremiah 16
New King James Version
Jeremiah’s Lifestyle and Message
16 The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land: 4 “They shall die (A)gruesome deaths; they shall not be (B)lamented nor shall they be (C)buried, but they shall be (D)like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their (E)corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.”
5 For thus says the Lord: (F)“Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people,” says the Lord, “lovingkindness and mercies. 6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; (G)neither shall men lament for them, (H)cut themselves, nor (I)make themselves bald for them. 7 Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to (J)drink for their father or their mother. 8 Also you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.”
9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, (K)I will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of [a]mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 “And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, (L)‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 then you shall say to them, (M)‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. 12 And you have done (N)worse than your fathers, for behold, (O)each one [b]follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. 13 (P)Therefore I will cast you out of this land (Q)into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’
God Will Restore Israel(R)
14 “Therefore behold, the (S)days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the (T)north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For (U)I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold, I will send for many (V)fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. 17 For My (W)eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes. 18 And first I will repay (X)double for their iniquity and their sin, because (Y)they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.”
19 O Lord, (Z)my strength and my fortress,
(AA)My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and (AB)unprofitable things.”
20 Will a man make gods for himself,
(AC)Which are not gods?
21 “Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know,
I will cause them to know
My hand and My might;
And they shall know that (AD)My name is the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 16:9 rejoicing
- Jeremiah 16:12 walks after the stubbornness or imagination
Jeremiah 16
English Standard Version
Famine, Sword, and Death
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For 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: 4 (A)They shall die of deadly diseases. (B)They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. (C)They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. (D)They shall perish by the sword and by famine, (E)and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
5 “For thus says the Lord: (F)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. 6 Both great and small shall die in this land. (G)They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or (H)cut himself (I)or make himself bald for them. 7 No one shall (J)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. 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (K)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.
10 “And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, (L)‘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?’ 11 then you shall say to them: (M)‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and (N)have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12 and because (O)you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, (P)every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore (Q)I will hurl you out of this land into (R)a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, (S)and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
The Lord Will Restore Israel
14 (T)“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, (U)‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but (V)‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel (W)out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For (X)I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold, (Y)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 (Z)of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For (AA)my eyes are on all their ways. (AB)They are not hidden from me, (AC)nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18 But first (AD)I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and (AE)have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
19 (AF)O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
(AG)my refuge in the day of trouble,
(AH)to you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,
(AI)worthless things in which there is no profit.
20 Can man make for himself (AJ)gods?
Such are not gods!”
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 (AK)my name is the Lord.”
Jeremiah 16
New American Standard Bible
Distresses Foretold
16 The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, 2 “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the Lord says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their (A)mothers who give birth to them, and their (B)fathers who father them in this land: 4 “They will (C)die of deadly diseases, they (D)will not be mourned or buried; they will be like (E)dung on the surface of the ground. And they will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the (F)birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.”
5 For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house of (G)mourning, or go to mourn or to console them; for I have (H)withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the Lord, “and My (I)favor and compassion. 6 Both (J)great people and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, people will not mourn for them, nor will anyone (K)make cuts on himself or have his head (L)shaved for them. 7 People will not (M)break bread in mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother. 8 Moreover, you shall (N)not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.” 9 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to (O)eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.
10 “Now it will happen that, when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘(P)For what reason has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us? And what is our wrongdoing, or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 Then you are to say to them, ‘It is (Q)because your forefathers have abandoned Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed (R)other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law. 12 You too have done evil, even (S)more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the (T)stubbornness of his own (U)evil heart, without listening to Me. 13 So I will (V)hurl you off this land to the (W)land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will (X)serve other gods day and night, because I will show you no compassion.’
God Will Restore Them
14 “(Y)Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who (Z)brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the (AA)land of the north and from all the lands where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold, I am going to send for many (AB)fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will (AC)hunt them (AD)from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 17 (AE)For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, (AF)nor is their wrongdoing concealed from My eyes. 18 I will first repay them (AG)double for their wrongdoing and their sin, because they have (AH)defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their (AI)detestable idols and their abominations.”
19 Lord, my (AJ)strength and my stronghold,
And my (AK)refuge in the day of distress,
To You the (AL)nations will come
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but (AM)falsehood,
Futility, and [a](AN)things of no benefit.”
20 Can a person make gods for himself?
But they are (AO)not gods!
21 “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—
This time I will (AP)make them know
My [b]power and My might;
And they will (AQ)know that My name is the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 16:19 Lit there is nothing profitable in them
- Jeremiah 16:21 Lit hand
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
