1 T he word of the Lord also came to me saying,

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

2 “ You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.”

Thou dost not take to thee a wife, Nor hast thou sons and daughters in this place.

3 F or thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and their fathers who beget them in this land:

For thus said Jehovah, Of the sons and of the daughters who are born in this place, And of their mothers -- those bearing them, And of their fathers -- those begetting them in this land:

4 “ They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth.”

Of painful deaths they die, They are not lamented, nor are they buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are, And by sword and by famine are consumed, And their carcase hath been for food To the fowl of the heavens, And to the beast of the earth.

5 F or thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the Lord, “ My lovingkindness and compassion.

For thus said Jehovah: Do not enter the house of a mourning-feast, Nor go to lament nor bemoan for them, For I have removed My peace from this people, An affirmation of Jehovah, The kindness and the mercies.

6 B oth great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them.

And died have great and small in this land, They are not buried, and none lament for them, Nor doth any cut himself, nor become bald for them.

7 M en will not break 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.

Nor do they deal out to them for mourning, To comfort him concerning the dead, Nor cause them to drink a cup of consolations For his father and for his mother.

8 M oreover you shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.”

A house of banqueting thou dost not enter, To sit with them, to eat and to drink,

9 F or thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing to cease from this place, Before your eyes, and in your days, The voice of joy, and the voice of rejoicing, The voice of bridegroom and voice of bride.

10 “ Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘ For what reason has the Lord declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the Lord our God?’

And it hath come to pass when thou declarest to this people all these words, and they have said unto thee, `For what hath Jehovah spoken against us all this great evil? yea, what our iniquity, and what our sin, that we have sinned against Jehovah our God?'

11 T hen you are to say to them, ‘ It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law.

Then thou hast said unto them: Because that your fathers have forsaken Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, And go after other gods, and serve them, And they bow themselves to them, And Me have forsaken, and My law not kept,

12 Y ou too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.

Ye also have done evil above your fathers, And lo, ye are walking each after the stubbornness of his evil heart, So as not to hearken unto Me.

13 S o I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’ God Will Restore Them

And I have cast you from off this land, On to a land that ye have not known, Ye and your fathers, And ye have served there other gods by day and by night, Where I do not give to you grace.

14 “ Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And it is not said any more: `Jehovah liveth, who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'

15 b ut, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

But, `Jehovah liveth, who brought up The sons of Israel out of the land of the north, And out of all the lands whither He drove them,' And I have brought them back to their land, That I gave to their fathers.

16 “ Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks.

Lo, I am sending for many fishers, An affirmation of Jehovah, And they have fished them, And after this I send for many hunters, And they have hunted them from off every mountain, And from off every hill, and from holes of the rocks.

17 F or My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.

For Mine eyes upon all their ways, They have not been hidden from My face, Nor hath their iniquity been concealed from before Mine eyes.

18 I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.”

And I have recompensed a first -- A second time -- their iniquity and their sin, Because of their polluting My land, With the carcase of their detestable things, Yea, their abominable things have filled Mine inheritance.

19 O Lord, 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 say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit.”

O Jehovah, my strength, and my fortress, And my refuge in a day of adversity, Unto Thee nations do come from the ends of earth, And say, Only falsehood did our fathers inherit, Vanity, and none among them is profitable.

20 C an man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods!

Doth man make for himself gods, And they -- no gods?

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

Therefore, lo, I am causing them to know at this time, I cause them to know My hand and My might, And they have known that My name Jehovah!