Jeremiah 16
16
Jeremiah Forbidden to Marry
1The Lord gave me another message. He said, 2“Do not get married or have children in this place. 3For this is what the Lord says about the children born here in this city and about their mothers and fathers: 4They will die from terrible diseases. No one will mourn for them or bury them, and they will lie scattered on the ground like manure. They will die from war and famine, and their bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals.”
Judah’s Coming Punishment
5This 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. 6Both 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. 7No 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.
8“And do not go to their feasts and parties. Do not eat and drink with them at all. 9For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: In your own lifetime, before your very eyes, I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in this land. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard.
10“When you tell the people all these things, they will ask, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such terrible things against us? What have we done to deserve such treatment? What is our sin against the Lord our God?’
11“Then you will give them the Lord’s reply: ‘It is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me and did not obey my word. 12And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me. 13So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been. There you can worship idols day and night—and I will grant you no favors!’
Hope despite the Disaster
14“But the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when people who are taking an oath will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.’ 15Instead, they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.’ For I will bring them back to this land that I gave their ancestors.
16“But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,” says the Lord. “I am sending for hunters who will hunt them down in the mountains, hills, and caves. 17I am watching them closely, and I see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me. 18I will double their punishment for all their sins, because they have defiled my land with lifeless images of their detestable gods and have filled my territory with their evil deeds.”
Jeremiah’s Prayer of Confidence
19 Lord, you are my strength and fortress,
my refuge in the day of trouble!
Nations from around the world
will come to you and say,
“Our ancestors left us a foolish heritage,
for they worshiped worthless idols.
20Can people make their own gods?
These are not real gods at all!”
21The Lord says,
“Now I will show them my power;
now I will show them my might.
At last they will know and understand
that I am the Lord.
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Jeremiah 16: NLT
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Jeremiah 16
16
The Day of Disaster
1The Lord’s message came to me: 2“Jeremiah, you must not get married. You must not have sons or daughters in this place.”
3This is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters who are born in the land of Judah and about their mothers and fathers: 4“They will die from terrible disease. And no one will cry for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie on the ground like dung. Or they will die in war or starve to death. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth.”
5So the Lord says, “Jeremiah, don’t go into a house where people are eating a funeral meal. Don’t go there to cry for the dead or to show your sorrow. Don’t do these things, because I have taken back my blessing. I will not be kind to the people of Judah. I will not feel sorry for them.” This message is from the Lord.
6“Important people and common people will die in the land of Judah. No one will bury them or cry for them. No one will cut himself or shave his head to show sorrow for them. 7No one will bring food to those who are crying for the dead. No one will comfort those whose mother or father has died. No one will offer a drink to comfort those who are crying for the dead.
8“Jeremiah, don’t go into a house where the people are having a party. Don’t go into that house and sit down to eat and drink. 9This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel says: I will soon stop the sounds of people having fun. I will stop the happy sounds of people enjoying a wedding party. This will happen during your lifetime. I will do these things very soon.
10“Jeremiah, you will tell the people of Judah these things, and the people will ask you, ‘Why has the Lord said these terrible things to us? What have we done wrong? What sin have we done against the Lord our God?’ 11You must tell them: ‘Terrible things will happen to you because your ancestors stopped following me.’ This message is from the Lord. ‘They stopped following me and began to follow and serve other gods. They worshiped those other gods. Your ancestors left me and stopped obeying my law. 12But you people have sinned more than your ancestors. You are very stubborn, and you are doing only what you want to do. You are not obeying me. Because you do only what you want to do, 13I will throw you out of this country. I will force you to go to a foreign land. You will go to a land that you and your ancestors never knew. There you can serve false gods all you want to. I will not help you or show you any favors.’
14“People make promises and say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives—the Lord who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt ….’ But the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not say that. 15They will say something new. They will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives—the Lord who brought the Israelites out of the northern land, who brought them out of all the countries where he had sent them ….’ Why will they say that? Because I will bring the Israelites back to the land that I gave to their ancestors.
16“I will soon send for many fishermen to come to this land.” This message is from the Lord. “They will catch the people of Judah. After that happens, I will send for many hunters#16:16 fishermen … hunters This means the enemy soldiers from Babylon. to come to this land. They will hunt the people of Judah on every mountain and hill and in the cracks of the rocks. 17I see everything they do. The people of Judah cannot hide the things they do. Their sin is not hidden from me. 18I will pay the people of Judah back for the evil things they did—I will punish them two times for every sin. I will do this because they have made my land ‘dirty.’ They made my land ‘dirty’ with their terrible idols. I hate those idols, but they have filled my country with their idols.”
19Lord, you are my strength and my protection.
You are a safe place to run to in time of trouble.
The nations will come to you from all around the world.
They will say, “Our fathers had false gods.
They worshiped those worthless idols,
but the idols did not help them.
20Can people make real gods for themselves?
No, they can only make statues that are not really gods.”
21“So I will teach those who make idols.
Right now I will teach them about my power and my strength.
Then they will know that I am God.
They will know that I am the Lord.
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