Jeremiah 16
Expanded Bible
The Day of Disaster
16 Then the Lord spoke his word to me: 2 “You must not ·get married [L take a wife for yourself] or have sons or daughters in this place.”
3 The Lord says this about the sons and daughters born in this ·land [L place] and their mothers who bear them and fathers who ·father [L beget] them in this land: 4 “They will die of ·terrible diseases [plagues; pestilence], and no one will ·cry for them [mourn] or bury them. Their bodies will lie on the ground like dung. They will ·die [perish] ·in war [L by sword], or ·they will starve to death [L by famine]. ·Their bodies [L They] will be food for the birds of the ·sky [air; heavens] and for the ·wild animals [L beasts of the land].”
5 So this is what the Lord says [C addressed to Jeremiah]: “Do not go into a house where there is a funeral ·meal [feast; C a pagan mourning festival; Amos 6:7]. Do not go there to ·cry for the dead [lament] or to ·show your sorrow for [bemoan] them, because I have taken back my ·blessing [peace; welfare], my ·love [loyalty], and my ·pity [compassion] from these people,” says the Lord. 6 “·Important people and common people [L Great and small] will die in this land [C of Judah]. No one will bury them or ·cry [lament] for them or ·cut [gash] himself or shave his head for them [C pagan rituals of mourning; Lev. 19:27–28; 21:5; Deut. 14:1]. 7 No one will ·bring food [break bread; L break] to comfort those who are crying for the dead. No one will offer a ·drink [L cup] to comfort someone whose mother or father has died.
8 “Do not go into a ·house where the people are having a feast [banquet house; L drinking house] to sit down to eat and drink, 9 because this is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: I will soon stop the sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms in this place. This will happen ·during your lifetime [L in your days and before your eyes].
10 “When you tell this people [C of Judah] these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the Lord said these ·terrible [evil; harmful] things to us? What ·have we done wrong [L is our iniquity]? What sin have we done against the Lord our God?’
11 “Then say to them: ‘This is because your ·ancestors [fathers] ·quit following [abandoned; left; forsook] me,’ says the Lord. ‘And they ·followed [went after] other gods and served and ·worshiped [bowed down to] them. Your ·ancestors [fathers] ·left [abandoned; forsook] me and ·quit obeying [L did not keep/guard] my ·teaching [law; instruction]. 12 But you have done even more ·evil [harm] than your ·ancestors [fathers]. You are ·very stubborn and do only what you want to do [L going after your stubborn heart]; you have not ·obeyed [listened to] me. 13 So I will ·throw [hurl] you out of this ·country [land] and send you into a land that you and your ·ancestors [fathers] never knew. There you can ·serve [worship] other gods day and night, because I will not show you any favors.’
14 “Therefore the ·time [L days] is coming,” says the Lord, when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the ·people [L sons] of Israel out of Egypt.’ 15 They will say instead, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the ·Israelites [L sons of Israel] from the northern land [C Babylon] and from all the countries where he had ·sent [driven] them…’ And I will ·bring them back [restore them] to the land I gave to their ·ancestors [fathers; C a second Exodus; Is. 40:1–11; 52:10; Hos. 2:14–15].
16 “I will soon send for many fishermen,” says the Lord. “And they will catch them [C the people of Judah]. After that, I will send for many hunters. And they will hunt them on every mountain and hill and in the ·cracks [clefts] of the rocks. 17 ·I see everything they do [L My eyes are on all their ways]. They ·cannot hide from me the things they do [L are not hidden from me]; their ·sin [iniquity] is not ·hidden [concealed] from my eyes. 18 I will first pay them back twice for ·every one of their sins [L their iniquities and their sins], because they have made my land unclean [C in a ritual sense] with their lifeless idols. They have filled my ·country [inheritance] with their ·hateful idols [L abominations].”
19 Lord, you are my strength and my ·protection [stronghold],
my ·safe place [refuge] in times of ·trouble [distress].
The nations will come to you from ·all over [L the ends of] the world
and say, “Our ·ancestors [fathers] ·had [L have inherited] only ·false gods [L lies],
·useless [meaningless] idols that didn’t ·help [profit] them.
20 Can people make gods for themselves?
They will not really be gods!”
21 The Lord says, “So I will teach those who make idols.
This time I will teach them
about my ·power [L hand] and my strength.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.
Jeremiah 16
Amplified Bible
Distresses Foretold
16 The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, 2 “You shall not take a wife or have sons and daughters in this place (Jerusalem).” 3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who give birth to them, and the fathers who father them in this land: 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.”
5 For thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, nor go to lament (express grief) or bemoan [the dead], for I have taken My peace away from this people,” says the Lord, “even My lovingkindness and compassion. 6 Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, nor will they be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief in death), nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them [in mourning]. 7 People will not offer food to the mourners, to comfort anyone [as they grieve] for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother. 8 And you [Jeremiah] shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.” 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and the shout of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 “Now when you tell these people all these words and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed all this great tragedy against us? And what is our iniquity, what is the sin which we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your fathers have abandoned (rejected) Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and have walked after other gods and have served them and bowed down to the handmade idols and have abandoned (rejected) Me and have not kept My law, 12 and because you have done worse [things] than your fathers. Just look, every one of you walks in the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you do not listen [obediently] to Me. 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land [of Judah] into the land [of the Babylonians] which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no compassion.’
God Will Restore Them
14 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who 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 land of the north and from all the countries to which He had driven them.’ And I will bring them back to their land which I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold (listen carefully), I will send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their wickedness concealed from My eyes. 18 I will first doubly repay and punish them for their wickedness and their sin [before I return them to their land], because they have profaned My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.”
19
[Then said Jeremiah] “O Lord, my Strength and my Stronghold,
And my Refuge in the day of distress and need,
The nations will come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
‘Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies and illusion,
[Worthless] things in which there is no benefit!’
20
“Can a man make gods for himself?
Such [things] are not gods!
21
“Therefore,” [says the Lord] “behold, I will make them know—
This time I will make them know
My power and My might;
And they will know and recognize [without any doubt] that My Name is the Lord.”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
