No Marriage for Jeremiah
1The word of the Lord came to me:
2“Do not marry or have sons or daughters in this place.
3For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:
4They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the soil’s surface.16:4 Jr 8:2; 9:22; 25:33 They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.16:4 Dt 28:26; Is 18:6; Jr 7:33
5“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place.16:5 Lit house of mourning Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed my peace from these people as well as my faithful love and compassion.” This is the Lord’s declaration.16:5 Ps 25:6; 40:11; 69:16
6“Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or16:6 Dt 14:1 shave his head for them.16:6 This custom demonstrated pagan mourning rituals.
7Food won’t be provided for the mourner16:7 Dt 26:14; Ezk 24:17; Hs 9:4 to comfort him because of the dead. A consoling drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother.
8Do not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink.
Abandoning the Lord and His Law
10“When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord declared all this terrible disaster against us?16:10 Jr 5:19 What is our iniquity? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’
11Then you will answer them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me16:11 Dt 29:25; Jr 1:16; 2:13,17,19; 5:19; 17:13; 22:9 — this is the Lord’s declaration — and followed other gods, served them, and bowed in worship to them.16:11 Dt 29:26 Indeed, they abandoned me and did not keep my instruction.
Punishment of Exile
16“I am about to send for many fishermen”16:16 Am 4:2; Hab 1:14–15 — this is the Lord’s declaration — “and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks,
19
Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
the nations will come to you
from the ends of the earth, and they will say,
“Our ancestors inherited only lies,
20Can one make gods for himself?
21“Therefore, I am about to inform them,
and this time I will make them know
my power and my might;
then they will know that my name is the Lord.”16:21 Jr 33:2
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