Jeremiah 16:1-17:18
Christian Standard Bible
No Marriage for Jeremiah
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Do 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 soil’s surface.(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 as well as my faithful love and compassion.” This is the Lord’s declaration.(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 consoling drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother. 8 Do 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 Armies, 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 terrible disaster against us?(G) What is our iniquity? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 Then you will answer them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me(H)—this is the Lord’s declaration—and followed other gods, served them, and bowed in worship to them.(I) Indeed, they abandoned me and did not keep my instruction. 12 You did more evil than your ancestors.(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 ancestors have not known.(K) There you will worship other gods(L) both day and night, for I will not grant you grace.’[c]
14 “However, look, the days are coming”(M)—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’(N) 15 but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north(O) 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.(P)
Punishment of Exile
16 “I am about to send for many fishermen”(Q)—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.(R) They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight. 18 I will first repay them double for their iniquity(S) and sin because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their abhorrent and detestable idols.”
19 Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in a time of distress,(T)
the nations will come to you
from the ends of the earth, and they will say,
“Our ancestors inherited only lies,
worthless idols(U) of no benefit at all.”
20 Can one make gods for himself?
But they are not gods.(V)
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 the Lord.”(W)
The Persistent Sin of Judah
17 The sin of Judah is inscribed
with an iron stylus.(X)
With a diamond point
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts(Y)
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(Z)—
3 my mountains in the countryside.
I will give up your wealth
and all your treasures as plunder(AA)
because of the sin of your high places[e]
in all your borders.(AB)
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,(AC)
for you have set my anger on fire;(AD)
it will burn forever.
Curse and Blessing
5 This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind.(AE)
He makes human flesh his strength,(AF)
and his heart turns from the Lord.
6 He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;(AG)
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives.(AH)
7 The person who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.(AI)
8 He will be like a tree planted by water:(AJ)
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
10 I, the Lord, examine the mind,
I test the heart[f](AM)
to give to each according to his way,
according to what his actions deserve.(AN)
11 He who makes a fortune unjustly
is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.
In the middle of his life
his riches will abandon him,
so in the end he will be a fool.(AO)
12 A glorious throne(AP)
on high(AQ) from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.(AR)
13 Lord, the hope of Israel,(AS)
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.(AT)
Jeremiah’s Plea
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for you are my praise.(AU)
15 Hear how they keep challenging me,(AV)
“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.(AW)
You know my words were spoken in your presence.
17 Don’t become a terror to me.
You are my refuge(AX) in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,(AY)
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;(AZ)
shatter them with total[g] destruction.
Psalm 5
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 5
The Refuge of the Righteous
For the choir director: with the flutes. A psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, Lord;
consider my sighing.(A)
2 Pay attention to the sound of my cry,(B)
my King and my God,(C)
for I pray to you.
3 In the morning,(D) Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you(E) and watch expectantly.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot dwell with you.(F)
5 The boastful cannot stand in your sight;(G)
you hate all evildoers.(H)
6 You destroy those who tell lies;(I)
the Lord abhors violent and treacherous people.(J)
7 But I enter your house
by the abundance of your faithful love;(K)
I bow down toward your holy temple
in reverential awe of you.(L)
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness(M)
because of my adversaries;
make your way straight before me.(N)
Proverbs 17:13-14
Christian Standard Bible
14 To start a conflict is to release a flood;
stop the dispute before it breaks out.(C)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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