Jeremiah 16

Wycliffe Bible

16 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

² Thou shalt not take a wife, and sons and daughters shall not be to thee in this place.

³ For the Lord saith these things on sons and daughters, that be engendered in this place, and on the mothers of them, that engendered them, and on the fathers of them, of whose generation they be born in this land. (For the Lord saith these things about the sons and daughters, who be begotten in this place, and about their mothers, who begat them, and about their fathers, from whose generation they be born in this land.)

⁴ They shall die by deaths of sicknesses, they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be buried; they shall be into a dunghill on the face of [the] earth, and they shall be wasted by sword and hunger; and the carrion of them shall be into meat to the volatiles of heaven, and to [the] beasts of the earth. (They shall die by the death of sicknesses, but they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be buried; they shall be like a mound of dung upon the face of the earth, and they shall be wasted by the sword and by hunger; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens, or of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.)

⁵ For the Lord saith these things, Enter thou not into an house of feast, neither go thou to bewail, neither comfort thou them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, and (my) mercy and merciful doings.

⁶ And great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall be bewailed; and they shall not cut themselves, neither baldness shall be made for them.

⁷ And they shall not break bread among them to him that mourneth, to comfort on a dead man, and they shall not give to them drink of a cup, to comfort on their father and mother. (And they shall not break bread among themselves with him who mourneth, to comfort him over the dead, and they shall not give a drink from a cup to anyone, to comfort them over the loss of even their father or their mother.)

⁸ And thou shalt not enter into the house of (the) feast, that thou sit with them, and eat, and drink.

⁹ For why the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall take away from this place, before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness (and the voice of happiness), the voice of the spouse, and the voice of spousess.

¹⁰ And when thou shalt tell all these words to this people, and they shall say to thee, Why spake the Lord all this great evil on us? what is our wickedness, either what is our sin which we sinned to our Lord God? (And when thou shalt tell all these things to this people, and they shall say to thee, Why spoke the Lord all this great evil against us? what is our wickedness, or what is our sin which we sinned against the Lord our God?)

¹¹ thou shalt say to them, For your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord, and went after alien gods, and served them, and worshipped them, and they forsook me, and kept not my law. (thou shalt say to them, For your forefathers deserted me, saith the Lord, and went after strange, or foreign, gods, and served them, and worshipped them, yea, they deserted me, and did not keep, or obey, my law.)

¹² But also ye wrought worse than your fathers; for lo! each man goeth after the shrewdness of his evil heart, that he hear not me. (And ye have wrought worse than your forefathers; for lo! each person goeth after the depravity of his own evil heart, so that they do not listen to, or obey, me.)

¹³ And I shall cast you out of this land, into the land which ye and your fathers know not; and ye shall serve there to alien gods day and night, which shall not give rest to you. (And I shall throw you out of this land, into the land which ye and your forefathers know not; and there ye shall serve strange, or foreign, gods day and night, and I shall not show you any mercy/and I shall not show you any favour.)

¹⁴ Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; (And so lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said, As the Lord liveth, who led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt;)

¹⁵ but, The Lord liveth, that led [out] the sons of Israel from the land of the north, and from all lands to which I casted them out; and I shall lead them again into their land which I gave to the fathers of them. (but, As the Lord liveth, who led out the Israelites from the land of the north, and from all the lands to which I threw them out; and I shall lead them again into their land which I gave to their forefathers.)

¹⁶ Lo! I shall send many fishers to them, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after these things I shall send many hunters to them, and they shall hunt them from each mountain, and from each little hill, and from the caves of stones.

¹⁷ For mine eyes be on all the ways of them; those ways be not hid from my face, and the wickedness of them was not privy from mine eyes.

¹⁸ And I shall yield first the double wickednesses and [the] sins of them, for they defouled my land in the slain beasts of their idols, and filled mine heritage with their abominations. (And first I shall make them yield double for their wickednesses and their sins, for they defiled my land with the slain beasts for their idols, and filled my inheritance with their abominations.)

¹⁹ Lord, my strength, and my stalworthness, and my refuge in the day of tribulation, heathen men shall come to thee from the farthest places of (the) earth, and shall say, Verily our fathers held a leasing in possession, vanity that profited not to them. (Lord, my strength, and my stalwartness, and my refuge in the day of trouble, the heathen shall come to thee from the farthest places of the earth, and shall say, Truly our forefathers inherited only lies, yea, vain, or useless, idols that profited them nothing.)

²⁰ Whether a man shall make gods to himself? (Can a man make gods for himself?) and those be no gods.

²¹ Therefore lo! I shall show to them by this while, I shall show to them mine hand, and my strength; and they shall know, that the name to me is [the] Lord (and they shall know, that my name is the Lord).