g[See ver. 4 above]
v[See ver. 14 above]
bm[See ver. 11 above]
bs[See ver. 10 above]
bt[See ver. 10 above]
bu[See ver. 14 above]
bw[See ver. 10 above]
bx[See ver. 14 above]
by[See ver. 11 above]
ce[See ver. 19 above]

Jeremiah 16

Famine, Sword, and Death

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4 aThey shall die of deadly diseases. bThey shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. cThey shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. dThey shall perish by the sword and by famine, eand their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

5“For thus says the Lord: fDo not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the Lord. 6Both great and small shall die in this land. gThey shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or hcut himself ior make himself bald for them. 7No one shall jbreak bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. 8You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: kBehold, I will silence in 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“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, lWhy has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11then you shall say to them: mBecause your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and nhave gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12and because oyou have done worse than your fathers, for behold, pevery one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13Therefore qI will hurl you out of this land into ra land that neither you nor your fathers have known, sand there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

14 tTherefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, u‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15but v‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel wout of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For xI will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

16Behold, yI am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out zof the clefts of the rocks. 17For aamy eyes are on all their ways. abThey are not hidden from me, acnor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18But first adI will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and aehave filled my inheritance with their abominations.”

19 afO Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
agmy refuge in the day of trouble,
ahto you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,
aiworthless things in which there is no profit.
20Can man make for himself ajgods?
Such are not gods!”
21Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that akmy name is the Lord.”

Jeremiah 27

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

1In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah
Or Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
2Thus the Lord said to me: amMake yourself straps and anyoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3Send word
Hebrew  Send them
to the king of apEdom, the king of aqMoab, the king of the sons of arAmmon, the king of asTyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
4Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5“It is I who atby my great power and my outstretched arm auhave made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, avand I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 awNow I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, axmy servant, ayand I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 azAll the nations shall serve him and bahis son and bbhis grandson, bcuntil the time of his own land comes. bdThen many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

8“‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, beand put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation bfwith the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9So bgdo not listen to your bhprophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your bifortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 bjFor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 bkBut any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.”’”

12To blZedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: bmBring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and bnserve him and his people and live. 13 boWhy will you and your people die bpby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, bqas the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 brDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ bsfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but btthey are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

16Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: buDo not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, bvBehold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ bwfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17 bxDo not listen to them; byserve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city bzbecome a desolation? 18If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then calet them intercede with the Lord of hosts, cbthat the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 ccFor thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, cdwhen he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem 21thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ceconcerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 cfThey shall be carried to Babylon cgand remain there chuntil the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. ciThen I will bring them back cjand restore them to this place.”

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