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For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house of (G)mourning, or go to mourn or to console them; for I have (H)withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the Lord, “and My (I)favor and compassion. 6 Both (J)great people and small will die in this land; they will not be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
Jeremiah 16
International Standard Version
The Lord’s Instruction to His Prophet
16 This message from the Lord came to me: 2 “You are not to take a wife, nor are you to have sons or daughters in this place.”
3 For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters who are born in this place, about their mothers who give birth to them, and about their fathers who father them in this land: 4 “They’ll die of deadly diseases. People won’t mourn for them, nor will they be buried. They’ll be dung on the surface of the ground, and they’ll come to an end with the sword and with famine. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the land.”
5 For this is what the Lord says: “Don’t go to a house where there is mourning, don’t go to lament, nor to express sorrow to them. For I’ve taken my peace away from this people,” declares the Lord, “as well as gracious love and compassion. 6 Both the most and the least important people[a] will die in this land, and they won’t be buried. People won’t mourn for them. They won’t cut themselves,[b] nor will they shave their heads for them.[c] 7 They won’t break bread[d] for the mourner to be consoled for the dead. They won’t give anyone the cup of consolation to drink for his father or[e] mother. 8 Don’t go to a banquet to sit with people[f] to eat and drink.” 9 For this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “In this place I’m about to bring an end to the sounds of happiness and rejoicing, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride. I’ll do it in front of your eyes and in your time.
10 “When you speak all these words to this people, they’ll say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this disaster against us? What is our iniquity, and what is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 Then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors abandoned me,’ declares the Lord. ‘They followed other gods, served them, worshipped them, abandoned me, and didn’t keep my Law. 12 You have done even more evil than your ancestors, and each one of you is stubbornly following his own evil desires,[g] refusing to listen to me. 13 I’ll throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, and I’ll show you no favor.’
14 “Therefore, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought up the Israelis from the land of Egypt.’ 15 Rather it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelis up from the land of the north and from all the lands to which the Lord[h] had banished them.’ I’ll bring them back to their land, which I gave to their ancestors.
16 “I’m about to send many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they’ll catch them. Afterwards, I’ll send for many hunters and they’ll hunt for them on every mountain and hill and in the crevices of the rocks. 17 For I am watching all their ways; they are not hidden from my sight.[i] Their iniquity is not concealed from my eyes. 18 First I’ll repay them double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the dead bodies of their detestable images, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”[j]
19 Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in a time of difficulty,
to you the nations will come,
and from the ends of the earth they’ll say,
“Surely our ancestors inherited deception,[k]
things that are worthless,
and in which there is no profit.”
20 Can a person make a god for himself?
They are not gods!
21 Therefore, I’m about to make them understand;
this time I’ll make them understand
my power and strength,
so they’ll understand that my name is the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 16:6 Lit. great and small; i.e. adults and children
- Jeremiah 16:6 A Canaanite mourning practice forbidden by Deut. 14:1
- Jeremiah 16:6 A common mourning practice in the ancient world
- Jeremiah 16:7 The Heb. lacks bread
- Jeremiah 16:7 The Heb. lacks father or
- Jeremiah 16:8 Lit. with them
- Jeremiah 16:12 Lit. following the stubbornness of their evil heart
- Jeremiah 16:15 Lit. he
- Jeremiah 16:17 Lit. from before me
- Jeremiah 16:18 Or their abominable idols
- Jeremiah 16:19 I.e. false gods or idols
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