Jer 16 | EE | STEP |

Jeremiah 16

The LORD tells Jeremiah about great troubles that he will cause for his people.

1 ^{▼▼This verse is empty because in this translation its contents have been moved to form part of verse Jer 16:2.} ^{▼▼In this translation, this verse contains text which in some other translations appears in verses Jer 16:1-Jer 16:2.}2 The LORD said to me, ‘You must not marry and you must not have sons or daughters here. 3 Sons and daughters who are born in this country will die from bad illnesses. Their mothers and fathers will die, too. 4 Their bodies will lie on the ground. And nobody will be sad and nobody will bury them. Nobody will give any honour to them. Soldiers will kill them. Or they will die because they do not have any food. Birds and wild animals will eat the dead bodies.’

5 ‘Do not go into a house where they are eating a meal to remember a dead person. You may be sorry that the person is dead. But do not show them that you are sorry. Do that because I have taken my love and my blessings away from them’, says the LORD. 6 ‘Nobody will bury dead persons. Nobody will bury them, whether they are rich or poor. Nobody will be sad. Nobody will show other people how sad they are. They will not cut themselves, or remove the hair from their heads. 7 Nobody will give food to families when someone has died. They will not even give food to them if their mother or father has died. And nobody will give a drink to them to try to make them happy.

8 And do not go into a house where they are having a party. Do not sit down with them to eat and to drink.’

9 And the LORD of power, the God of Israel, said to me, ‘That is because I will stop their happy songs and marriage parties in this place. I will do that while you are still alive. And you will see it.

10 You must tell to the people everything that I have said. Then they will ask questions. “Why has the LORD said all these bad things about us? What wrong things have we done? What sin have we done against the LORD, our God?” 11 Then you must speak to them. “It is because your ancestors went away from me”, says the LORD. “They worshipped other gods and they became their servants. They turned away from me and they did not obey my law. 12 But you have done worse things than your ancestors. Each of you does what he wants. You know that. You do it even when it is wrong. You do not obey me. 13 So I will throw you out of this country into a country that you and your ancestors have not known. There you will be servants to other gods, day and night, because I will not help you.”’ ^{▼▼16:13 Verses 1-13 Jeremiah’s life would be like a message.}

14 ‘But a better time will come’, says the LORD. ‘Men will not talk about the time when I, the living God, took them out of Egypt. 15 I will bring them back to the country that I gave to their ancestors. So, instead they will say, “The LORD brought the people out from the country in the north. He brought them out from all the countries that he had sent them to. Certainly the LORD lives.”’ ^{▼▼16:15 Verses 14-15 The LORD talks about a better time that will come.}

16 ‘But now I will make them like fish. I will send for many men to fish for them’, says the LORD. ‘And these men will catch them. Then I will send hunters to run after them like wild animals. The hunters will find them in the mountains and hills and in holes in the rocks. 17 I am watching them all the time. They cannot hide from me. And they cannot hide the wrong things that they do. 18 I will punish them twice as much for their sin and for the bad things that they have done. That is because they have made my country like a place full of dirt. They have filled it with their idols that do not have any life. They have made the country that I gave to you full of their disgusting idols.’ ^{▼▼16:18 Verses 16-18 The people cannot hide from God.}

19 LORD, you are the person who makes me strong.

You are like a city with strong walls – a city that I can hide in.

I can hide in you when troubles happen to me.

People will come to you from countries all over the earth.

They will say, ‘Our ancestors had only false gods.

They did not have any power and they did not help us.

20 Men make “gods”, but they are not really gods.’

21 ‘So I will teach them.

This time I will teach them

how strong and powerful I am.

Then they will know that the LORD is my name.’ ^{▼▼16:21 Verses 19-20 Jeremiah says how the LORD made him strong.}