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Jeremiah

Warnings about Jerusalem's destruction due to unfaithfulness, with promises of a new covenant.

Chapter 16

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1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,

*The LORD spoke to me too, saying,

2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.

*You must not marry a woman, and you shall not have children here.

3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;

*This is what God says about the children, boys and girls, born here, and their moms who gave birth to them, and their dads who had kids here in this land.

4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

*They will suffer greatly and die. No one will mourn them or bury them. They will be like garbage on the ground. They will be killed by swords and hunger. Birds and animals will eat their dead bodies.

5 For thus saith the LORD, 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.

*So, the Lord says, "Don't enter a house of sadness or join in crying for those who are sad. I have taken away my peace from these people," says the Lord, "and removed kindness and mercy."

6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

*In this land, whether you're important or not, everyone will die. They won't be buried with honors, and people won't mourn or hurt themselves to show their grief for them.

7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

*People won't mourn deeply for them or offer comfort for their loss of a parent or parent. They also won't be given a "cup of consolation" to drink in honor of their parents.

8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.

*Do not enter the party house to join them in eating and drinking.

9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in 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.

*So says the Lord, the God of Israel, "I will stop the sounds of joy and celebration, the bridegroom's and bride's voices, in your time and sight.

10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

*Then, when you show them all these words and they ask you, "Why has the Lord said such terrible things will happen to us?" or "What did we do wrong?" or "What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?"

11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

*Then you should tell them, "Your ancestors left me behind, God says. They followed other gods, served them, worshiped them, and forgot about me while not following my rules."

12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

*You have done more wrong than your ancestors. Each person follows their own wicked thoughts instead of listening to me.

13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

*So, I will remove you from this land to an unfamiliar one, where neither you nor your ancestors have been before. There, you'll worship other gods all the time, and I won't be kind to you.

14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

*So, the time will come when God says that people won't say, "The Lord lives, the one who took the children of Israel from Egypt."

15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

*But truly, God is alive - the one who rescued Israel from the northern land and other places He sent them to. And I will return them to the land I gave to their ancestors.

16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

*Look, the Lord says He will call many fishermen to catch fish, and then He will call many hunters to hunt them down from every mountain, every hill, and from the hiding places in the rocks.

17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

*I watch everything they do; I can see what they're doing and know when they do something wrong.

18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

*First, I will punish their wrongdoings and sins twice as much. They polluted my land and filled what belongs to me with disgusting and hateful things.

19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

*O GOD, my power, my protection, and my shelter when I'm in trouble, people from all over the world will seek you during difficult times. They will say, "Our ancestors believed in falsehoods, empty things, and things that don't truly benefit us."

20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

*Should a person create gods for themselves, when these are not actually gods?

21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

*So, see, I'll show them one time what I can do and how powerful I am. They'll realize that my name is The LORD.

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* work in progress, there will be mistakes

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