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Jeremiah is Commanded Not to Marry

16 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,[a] “You shall not take for yourself a wife, there shall not be for you sons and daughters in this place.” For thus says Yahweh concerning the sons and concerning the daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who gave birth to them, and concerning their fathers who fathered them in this land: “They will die by diseases, they will not be mourned, and they will not be buried. They will be as dung on the face of the earth. And they will perish by the sword and they will perish by the famine. And their dead bodies[b] will become food for the birds[c] of the air, and for the wild animals[d] of the earth.”

For thus says Yahweh, “You must not enter the house of the funeral meal, and you must not go to lament, and you must not show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people,” declares[e] Yahweh, “the loyal love and the compassion. Both the great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried, and they will not mourn for them, and no one will cut himself with a blade, and no one will shave himself for them. And they will not break bread for the mourning ceremony for them, to comfort him because of the dead. And they will not give drink to them, the cup of desolation, for their fathers,[f] or for their mothers.[g] And you shall not enter the house of the banquet, to sit with them, to eat and drink.”

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Look, I am about to cause to disappear from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of jubilation, and the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. 10 And then[h] when you tell this people all these words and they ask you, ‘Why[i] has Yahweh pronounced against us all this great evil, and what is our iniquity, and what is our sin that we have sinned against Yahweh our God?’ 11 Then you shall say to them, ‘Because[j] your ancestors[k] have forsaken me,’ declares[l] Yahweh, ‘and they have gone after other gods, and they have served them, and they have bowed down in worship to them, and they have forsaken me, and they have not kept my laws. 12 And you have behaved badly[m] more than your ancestors,[n] and look, you are going each one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, without listening to me. 13 So I will throw you from this land to the land that you have not known, you or your ancestors,[o] and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will not show you favor.

The Nation’s Return to the Land

14 Therefore[p] look, days are coming,’ declares[q] Yahweh, ‘and it will no longer be said, “As Yahweh lives,[r] who led up the Israelites[s] from the land of Egypt,” 15 but only[t]As Yahweh lives,[u] who led up the Israelites[v] from the land of the north, and from all the lands where he had driven them,” for I will bring them back to their ground that I gave to their ancestors.[w] 16 Look, I am sending for many fishermen,’ declares[x] Yahweh, ‘and they will fish them out, and afterward[y] I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the clefts of the cliffs. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways, they are not hidden from before me,[z] and their iniquity is not concealed from before my eyes. 18 And I will first doubly repay[aa] their iniquity and their sin because of their profaning my land with the dead bodies[ab] of their abhorrences, and with their abominations they have filled up my inheritance.’”

19 O Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold,
    and my refuge in the day of distress,
to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth,
    and they will say, “Our ancestors[ac] have inherited only lies,[ad]
    vanity, and there is no profit in them.
20 Can a human make for himself gods?
    Yet they are not gods!”
21 Therefore[ae] look, I am about to let them know,
    this time I am going to let them know
my power[af] and my might,
    and they will know that my name is Yahweh.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 16:1 Literally “to say”
  2. Jeremiah 16:4 Hebrew “dead body”
  3. Jeremiah 16:4 Hebrew “bird”
  4. Jeremiah 16:4 Hebrew “wild animal”
  5. Jeremiah 16:5 Literally “a declaration of”
  6. Jeremiah 16:7 Hebrew “father”
  7. Jeremiah 16:7 Hebrew “mother”
  8. Jeremiah 16:10 Literally “And it will happen”
  9. Jeremiah 16:10 Literally “On what”
  10. Jeremiah 16:11 Literally “On that”
  11. Jeremiah 16:11 Or “fathers”
  12. Jeremiah 16:11 Literally “a declaration of”
  13. Jeremiah 16:12 Literally “you have done evil to do”
  14. Jeremiah 16:12 Or “fathers”
  15. Jeremiah 16:13 Or “fathers”
  16. Jeremiah 16:14 Literally “To thus”
  17. Jeremiah 16:14 Literally “a declaration of”
  18. Jeremiah 16:14 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
  19. Jeremiah 16:14 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  20. Jeremiah 16:15 Literally “but if”
  21. Jeremiah 16:15 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
  22. Jeremiah 16:15 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  23. Jeremiah 16:15 Or “fathers”
  24. Jeremiah 16:16 Literally “a declaration of”
  25. Jeremiah 16:16 Literally “after thus”
  26. Jeremiah 16:17 Literally “from to the face of me”
  27. Jeremiah 16:18 Literally “I will reward first second”
  28. Jeremiah 16:18 Hebrew “dead body”
  29. Jeremiah 16:19 Or “fathers”
  30. Jeremiah 16:19 Hebrew “lie”
  31. Jeremiah 16:21 Literally “To thus”
  32. Jeremiah 16:21 Literally “hand”

Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: “You must not marry(A) and have sons or daughters in this place.” For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:(B) “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried(C) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(D) They will perish by sword and famine,(E) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”(F)

For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity(G) from this people,” declares the Lord. “Both high and low will die in this land.(H) They will not be buried or mourned,(I) and no one will cut(J) themselves or shave(K) their head for the dead. No one will offer food(L) to comfort those who mourn(M) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console(N) them.

“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.(O) For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds(P) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride(Q) and bridegroom in this place.(R)

10 “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’(S) 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped(T) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.(U) 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.(V) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts(W) instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land(X) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,(Y) and there you will serve other gods(Z) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’(AA)

14 “However, the days are coming,”(AB) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’(AC) 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north(AD) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’(AE) For I will restore(AF) them to the land I gave their ancestors.(AG)

16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.(AH) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt(AI) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.(AJ) 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden(AK) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.(AL) 18 I will repay(AM) them double(AN) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land(AO) with the lifeless forms of their vile images(AP) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.(AQ)(AR)

19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
    my refuge(AS) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come(AT)
    from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,(AU)
    worthless idols(AV) that did them no good.(AW)
20 Do people make their own gods?
    Yes, but they are not gods!”(AX)

21 “Therefore I will teach them—
    this time I will teach them
    my power and might.
Then they will know
    that my name(AY) is the Lord.