Jeremiah 16

Famine, Sword, and Death

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 "You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For 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 j They shall die of deadly diseases. k They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. l They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. m They shall perish by the sword and by famine, n and 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: o Do 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. 6 Both great and small shall die in this land. k They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or p cut himself q or make himself bald for them. 7 No one shall r break 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. 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: s Behold, 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, t 'Why 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?' 11 then you shall say to them: u 'Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and v have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12 and because w you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, x every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore y I will hurl you out of this land into z a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, a and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'

The Lord Will Restore Israel

14 b "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, c 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 15 but c 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel d out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For e I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

16 "Behold, f I 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 g of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For h my eyes are on all their ways. i They are not hidden from me, i nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18 But first j I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and k have filled my inheritance with their abominations."

19 l O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
m my refuge in the day of trouble,
n to you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
"Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,
o worthless things in which there is no profit.
 20 Can man make for himself p gods?
Such are not gods!"

21 "Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that q my name is the Lord."

  1. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:2
    And when they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord : "'Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:18 - 19
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah, my brother!' or 'Ah, sister!' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah, lord!' or 'Ah, his majesty!
    Jeremiah 25:33
    And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
  3. Cross References
    Jeremiah 8:2
    And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground.
  4. Cross References
    Jeremiah 14:12
    Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
  5. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:33
    And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.
  6. Cross References
    Ezekiel 24:16 - 23
    Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down.
  7. Cross References
    Jeremiah 16:4
    They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
  8. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:28
    You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
    Deuteronomy 14:1
    You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.
  9. Cross References
    Job 1:20
    Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
    Isaiah 3:24
    Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 58:7
    Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
    Ezekiel 24:17
    Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
    Deuteronomy 26:14
    I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.
    Hosea 9:4
    They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord, and their sacrifices shall not please him. It shall be like mourners' bread to them; all who eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread shall be for their hunger only; it shall not come to the house of the Lord.
  11. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:34
    And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:19
    And when your people say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'
  13. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:19
    And when your people say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.
    Jeremiah 22:9
    And they will answer, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them."'
    Deuteronomy 29:25 - 26
    Then people will say, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
    2 Kings 22:17
    Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.
    2 Chronicles 34:25
    Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.
  14. Cross References
    Jeremiah 13:10
    This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.
  15. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:26
    Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:17
    At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.
  17. Cross References
    Jeremiah 10:18
    For thus says the Lord : "Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, that they may feel it.
    Jeremiah 22:26
    I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.
    Isaiah 22:17 - 18
    Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you
    Deuteronomy 4:26 - 28
    I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
    Deuteronomy 28:64 - 65
    And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:14
    I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:36
    The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone.
    Deuteronomy 28:64
    And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
  20. Cross References
    Jeremiah 16:14 - 15
    "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'
    Jeremiah 23:7 - 8
    "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'
  21. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:2
    And if you swear, 'As the Lord lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
  22. Cross References
    Jeremiah 16:14
    "Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:5 - 6
    Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.
    Jeremiah 3:18
    In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
  24. Cross References
    Jeremiah 24:6
    I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them.
    Jeremiah 30:3
    For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.
    Jeremiah 32:37
    Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety.
  25. Cross References
    Ezekiel 12:13
    And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.
    Amos 4:2
    The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that, behold, the days are coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks.
    Habakkuk 1:15
    He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad.
  26. Cross References
    Jeremiah 13:4
    "Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock."
  27. Cross References
    Jeremiah 32:19
    Great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
    2 Chronicles 16:9
    For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.
    Job 34:21
    For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.
    Proverbs 5:21
    For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths.
  28. Cross References
    Psalms 51:9
    Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
    Psalms 90:8
    You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
  29. Cross References
    Psalms 51:9
    Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
    Psalms 90:8
    You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
  30. Cross References
    Jeremiah 17:18
    Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed; bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction!
    Isaiah 40:2
    Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord 's hand double for all her sins.
  31. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:4
    Who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels.
    Ezekiel 43:7 - 9
    And he said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places.
  32. Cross References
    2 Samuel 22:33
    This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless.
    Psalms 28:7
    The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
    Psalms 31:3 - 4
    For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me.
    Isaiah 25:4
    For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall.
  33. Cross References
    Jeremiah 17:17
    Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
  34. Cross References
    Isaiah 9:2
    The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.
    Isaiah 49:6
    He says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
    Isaiah 49:22 - 23
    Thus says the Lord God : "Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
  35. Cross References
    Jeremiah 18:15
    But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway.
  36. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 8:4
    Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one.
    Jeremiah 2:11
    Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
  37. Cross References
    Jeremiah 33:2
    Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it - the Lord is his name:
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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