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Jeremiah’s Celibacy and Message

16 The word of the Lord came to me: You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who beget them in this land: They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall become like dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth.

For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament, or bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, my steadfast love and mercy. Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them; there shall be no gashing, no shaving of the head for them. No one shall break bread[a] for the mourner, to offer comfort for the dead; nor shall anyone give them the cup of consolation to drink for their fathers or their mothers. You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to banish from this place, in your days and before your eyes, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

10 And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 then you shall say to them: It is because your ancestors have forsaken me, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshipped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law; 12 and because you have behaved worse than your ancestors, for here you are, every one of you, following your stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favour.

God Will Restore Israel

14 Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt’, 15 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.

16 I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight. 18 And[b] I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.

19 O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
    my refuge on the day of trouble,
to you shall the nations come
    from the ends of the earth and say:
Our ancestors have inherited nothing but lies,
    worthless things in which there is no profit.
20 Can mortals make for themselves gods?
    Such are no gods!

21 ‘Therefore I am surely going to teach them, this time I am going to teach them my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.’

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 16:7 Two Mss Gk: MT break for them
  2. Jeremiah 16:18 Gk: Heb And first

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.