“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.(A) “Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or(B) shave his head for them.[b] Food won’t be provided for the mourner(C) to comfort him because of the dead. A consoling drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother.

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Footnotes

  1. 16:5 Lit house of mourning
  2. 16:6 This custom demonstrated pagan mourning rituals.

Judah’s Coming Punishment

This is what the Lord says: “Do not go to funerals to mourn and show sympathy for these people, for I have removed my protection and peace from them. I have taken away my unfailing love and my mercy. Both the great and the lowly will die in this land. No one will bury them or mourn for them. Their friends will not cut themselves in sorrow or shave their heads in sadness. No one will offer a meal to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even at the death of a mother or father. No one will send a cup of wine to console them.

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