Jeremiah 16:1-9

1The word of Adonai came to me, saying:

2“You will not take a wife for yourself or have sons or daughters in this place.”

3For thus says Adonai about the sons and daughters born in this place, and about their mothers who give birth to them and about their fathers who father them in this land:

4They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be lamented or buried, but will be like dung on the surface of the ground. They will be consumed by the sword and famine, and their carcasses will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

5For thus says Adonai: “Do not enter a house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them. For I have taken away My shalom from this people”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“as well as My mercy and compassion.

6Both great and small will die in this land; they will not be buried; neither will anyone lament for them, or cut themselves or shave his head for them.

7No one will break bread for them in mourning, to give comfort for the dead. Nor will anyone offer a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or for his mother.

8“You must not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink”

9For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I am about to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.