1 T he Word of the Lord came to me, saying,

The word of the Lord also came to me, saying,

2 “ Do not get married or have sons or daughters in this place.”

“You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.”

3 F or this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land, and about their mothers who give birth to them, and their fathers who gave them life in this land:

For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land:

4 “ They will die of bad diseases. No one will cry for them or bury them. They will be as animal waste on the ground, destroyed by sword and hunger. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the earth.”

“They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.”

5 F or the Lord says, “Do not go into a house where the people have lost a loved one. Do not go to cry or to comfort them. For I have taken My peace, My loving-kindness and My pity from these people,” says the Lord.

For thus says the Lord: “Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people,” says the Lord, “lovingkindness and mercies.

6 “ Both great men and small will die in this land. They will not be buried. No one will cry for them. And no one will cut himself or cut off his hair for them.

Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.

7 N o one will give food to comfort those who sorrow for the dead. And no one will give them the cup of comfort to drink even for the death of their father or mother.

Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or their mother.

8 D o not go into a house where they are eating much and sit with them to eat and drink.”

Also you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.”

9 F or the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “Before your eyes and in your time, I am going to bring an end to the voice of joy, the voice of happiness, the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride in this place.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

10 “ When you tell these people all these words, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord said all these bad things will happen to us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done against the Lord our God?’

“And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’

11 T hen you tell them, ‘It is because your fathers before you have turned away from Me,’ says the Lord. ‘They have followed other gods and served them and worshiped them. But they have left Me and have not kept My Law.

then you shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law.

12 A nd you have sinned even more than your fathers before you. For see, each one of you is following the strong-will of his own sinful heart instead of listening to Me.

And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.

13 S o I will throw you out of this land into a land which you and your fathers have not known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’ God Will Bring Israel Back

Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’ God Will Restore Israel

14 “ So the days are coming,” says 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 behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’

15 B ut it will be said, ‘As the Lord lives, Who brought the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had sent them.’ For I will return them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. The Punishment That Is Coming

but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.

16 “ See, I am going to send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they will fish for them. After this I will send for many men who hunt. And they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes in the rocks.

“Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

17 F or I see all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their sin is not hidden from My eyes.

For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.

18 A nd I will pay them back twice as much for their wrong-doing and their sin, because they have made My land unclean. They have filled My land with the bodies of their hated false gods and with sinful things offered to them.” Jeremiah’s Prayer

And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.”

19 O Lord, my strength and my strong-place, my safe place in the day of trouble, nations will come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have received nothing but lies, only things that have no worth and do not help them.”

O Lord, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction, The Gentiles shall come to You From the ends of the earth and say, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, Worthlessness and unprofitable things. ”

20 C an man make his own gods? What man makes is not gods!

Will a man make gods for himself, Which are not gods?

21 “ So I am going to make them know. This time I will make them know My power and My strength. And they will know that My name is the Lord.”

“Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know My hand and My might; And they shall know that My name is the Lord.