Jeremias 16

¹ The worde of the Lorde came also vnto mee, saying,

² Thou shalt not takeMeaning that the affliction would be so horrible in Jerusalem that a wife and children would only increase his sorrow.thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons nor daughters in this place.

³ For thus sayeth the Lorde concerning the sonnes, and concerning the daughters that are borne in this place, & concerning their mothers that beare them, & concerning their fathers, that beget them in this land,

⁴ They shal die of deathes and diseases: they shal not be lamented, neither shal they be buried, but they shalbe as dung vpon the earth, and they shalbe consumed by the sword, & by famine, and their carkeises shall be meate for the foules of the heauen, and for the beasts of the earth.

⁵ For thus saith the LORD,Signifying that the affliction would be so great that one would not have leisure to comfort another.Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, [even] lovingkindness and mercies.

⁶ Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall [men] lament for them,That is, should not tear their clothes in sign of mourning.nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

⁷ Neither shall [men] tear [themselves] for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall [men] give them theFor in these great extremities all consolation and comfort will be in vain.cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

⁸ Thou shalt not also goe into the house of feasting to sit with them to eate and to drinke.

⁹ For thus sayth the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Beholde, I wil cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, euen in your dayes the voyce of myrth, and the voyce of gladnes, the voyce of the bridegrome and the voyce of the bride.

¹⁰ And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this people all these words, and they shall say to thee, Why hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what [is]Because the wicked are always rebellious and conceal their own sins and murmur against God's judgments, as though he had no just cause to punish them, he shows him what to answer.our iniquity? or what [is] our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

¹¹ Then shalt thou say vnto them, Because your fathers haue forsaken me, sayth the Lord, & haue walked after other gods, and haue serued them, and worshipped them, & haue forsaken me, and haue not kept my Law,

¹² ( And ye haue done worse then your fathers: for beholde, you walke euery one after the stubbernesse of his wicked heart, and will not heare me)

¹³ Therefore will I driue you out of this land into a lande that ye knowe not, neither you, nor your fathers, & there shal ye serue other gods day and night: for I will shew you no grace.

¹⁴ Behold therfore, saith the Lord, the dayes come that it shal no more be sayde, The Lord liueth, which brought vp the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

¹⁵ But, The LORD liveth, that brought the children of Israel from the land of the north, andSignifying that the blessing of their deliverance out of Babylon would be so great that it would abolish the remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt: but he has here chiefly respect to the spiritual deliverance under Christ.from all the lands where he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

¹⁶ Behold, I will send for manyBy the fishers and hunters are meant the Babylonians and Chaldeans who would destroy them in such sort, that if they escaped the one, the other would take them.fishermen, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and afterwards will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.

¹⁷ For mine eyes are vpon al their wayes: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquitie hid from mine eyes.

¹⁸ And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled my inheritance with theThat is, their sons and daughters, who they offered to Molech.carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

¹⁹ O LORD, myHe wonders at the great mercy of God in this deliverance which will not only extend to the Jews but also to the Gentiles.strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come to thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inheritedOur fathers were most vile idolaters therefore it comes only of God's mercy that he performs his promise and has not utterly cast us off.lies, vanity, and [things] in which [there is] no profit.

²⁰ Shall a man make gods vnto himselfe, and they are no gods?

²¹ Therefore, behold, I will this onceThey will once again feel my power and mercy for their deliverance that they may learn to worship me.cause them to know, I will cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name [is] JEHOVAH.