Jeremiah 16

Distresses Foretold

1The 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.” 3For this is what the Lord says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their 1mothers who give birth to them, and their 2fathers who father them in this land: 4“They will 3die of deadly diseases, they 4will not be mourned or buried; they will be like 5dung on the surface of the ground. And they will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the 6birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.”

5For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house of 7mourning, or go to mourn or to console them; for I have 8withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the Lord, “and My 9favor and compassion. 6Both 10great people and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, people will not mourn for them, nor will anyone 11make cuts on himself or have his head 12shaved for them. 7People will not 13break 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. 8Moreover, you shall 14not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.” 9For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to 15eliminate 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, ‘16For 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?’ 11Then you are to say to them, ‘It is 17because your forefathers have abandoned Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed 18other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law. 12You too have done evil, even 19more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the 20stubbornness of his own 21evil heart, without listening to Me. 13So I will 22hurl you off this land to the 23land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will 24serve other gods day and night, because I will show you no compassion.’

God Will Restore Them

14“25Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who 26brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the 27land 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 28fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will 29hunt them 30from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 1731For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, 32nor is their wrongdoing concealed from My eyes. 18I will first repay them 33double for their wrongdoing and their sin, because they have 34defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their 35detestable idols and their abominations.”

19Lord, my 36strength and my stronghold, And my 37refuge in the day of distress, To You the 38nations will come From the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but 39falsehood, Futility, and 4041things of no benefit.”20Can a person make gods for himself? But they are 42not gods!

21“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know-- This time I will 43make them know My 44power and My might; And they will 45know that My name is the Lord.”