Jeremiah 16–24

NO MARRIAGE FOR JEREMIAH

16The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Do not marry or have sons or daughters in this place. ³For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land: ⁴They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the soil’s surface.^m They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.ⁿ

⁵“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place.^A Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed my peace from these people as well as my faithful love and compassion.” This is the Lord’s declaration.^{o 6}“Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or^p shave his head for them.^{B 7}Food won’t be provided for the mourner^q to comfort him because of the dead. A consoling drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother. ⁸Do not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink. ⁹For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.^r

ABANDONING THE LORD AND HIS LAW

¹⁰“When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord declared all this terrible disaster against us?^s What is our iniquity? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ¹¹Then you will answer them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me^t—this is the Lord’s declaration—and followed other gods, served them, and bowed in worship to them.^a Indeed, they abandoned me and did not keep my instruction. ¹²You did more evil than your ancestors.^b Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying me. ¹³So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your ancestors have not known.^c There you will worship other gods^d both day and night, for I will not grant you grace.’^C

¹⁴“However, look, the days are coming”^e—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’^{f 15}but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north^g and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.^h

PUNISHMENT OF EXILE

¹⁶“I am about to send for many fishermen”ⁱ—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, ¹⁷for my gaze takes in all their ways.^j They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight. ¹⁸I will first repay them double for their iniquity^k and sin because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their abhorrent and detestable idols.”

¹⁹Lord, my strength and my stronghold,

my refuge in a time of distress,^l

the nations will come to you

from the ends of the earth, and they will say,

“Our ancestors inherited only lies,

worthless idols^m of no benefit at all.”

²⁰Can one make gods for himself?

But they are not gods.ⁿ

²¹“Therefore, I am about to inform them,

and this time I will make them know

my power and my might;

then they will know that my name is the Lord.”^o

THE PERSISTENT SIN OF JUDAH

17The sin of Judah is inscribed

with an iron stylus.^p

With a diamond point

it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts^q

and on the horns of their^A altars,

²while their children remember their altars

and their Asherah poles, by the green trees

on the high hills^r—

³my mountains in the countryside.

I will give up your wealth

and all your treasures as plunder^s

because of the sin of your high places^B

in all your borders.^t

⁴You will, on your own, relinquish your inheritance

that I gave you.

I will make you serve your enemies

in a land you do not know,^u

for you have set my anger on fire;^v

it will burn forever.

CURSE AND BLESSING

⁵This is what the Lord says:

Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind.^w

He makes human flesh his strength,^x

and his heart turns from the Lord.

⁶He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;^y

he cannot see when good comes

but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,

in a salt land where no one lives.^z

⁷The person who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.^aa

⁸He will be like a tree planted by water:^ab

it sends its roots out toward a stream,

it doesn’t fear when heat comes,

and its foliage remains green.

It will not worry in a year of drought

or cease producing fruit.

THE DECEITFUL HEART

⁹The heart is more deceitful than anything else,^ac

and incurable—who can understand it?^ad

¹⁰I, the Lord, examine the mind,

I test the heart^Aae

to give to each according to his way,

according to what his actions deserve.^a

¹¹He who makes a fortune unjustly

is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.

In the middle of his life

his riches will abandon him,

so in the end he will be a fool.^b

¹²A glorious throne^c

on high^d from the beginning

is the place of our sanctuary.^e

¹³Lord, the hope of Israel,^f

all who abandon you

will be put to shame.

All who turn away from me

will be written in the dirt,

for they have abandoned

the Lord, the fountain of living water.^g

JEREMIAH’S PLEA

¹⁴Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;

save me, and I will be saved,

for you are my praise.^h

¹⁵Hear how they keep challenging me,ⁱ

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come!”

¹⁶But I have not run away from being your shepherd,

and I have not longed for the fatal day.^j

You know my words were spoken in your presence.

¹⁷Don’t become a terror to me.

You are my refuge^k in the day of disaster.

¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame,^l

but don’t let me be put to shame.

Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.

Bring on them the day of disaster;^m

shatter them with total^B destruction.

OBSERVING THE SABBATH

¹⁹This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem. ²⁰Announce to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. ²¹This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day.^{n 22}Do not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work,^o but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your ancestors.^{p 23}They wouldn’t listen or pay attention but became obstinate,^q not listening or accepting discipline.

²⁴“ ‘However, if you listen to me—this is the Lord’s declaration—and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, ²⁵kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David;^r they will ride in chariots and on horses^s with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever. ²⁶Then people will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev^t bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and thanksgiving sacrifices to the house of the Lord. ²⁷But if you do not listen to me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates,^u and it will consume the citadels^v of Jerusalem^w and not be extinguished.’ ”^x

PARABLE OF THE POTTER

18This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Go down at once to the potter’s house;^y there I will reveal my words to you.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.^{A 4}But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.^z

⁵The word of the Lord came to me: ⁶“House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.^{aa 7}At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.^{ab 8}However, if that nation about which I have made the announcement turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.^{ac 9}At another time I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it.^{a 10}However, if it does what is evil in my sight by not listening to me, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.^{b 11}So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.’^{c 12}But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.^d We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ”

DELUDED ISRAEL

¹³Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Ask among the nations,

who has heard things like these?

Virgin Israel has done a most horrible thing.^e

¹⁴Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags?

Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail?

¹⁵Yet my people have forgotten me.^f

They burn incense to worthless idols

that make them stumble in their ways^g

on the ancient roads,^h

and make them walk on new paths, not the highway.

¹⁶They have made their land a horror,ⁱ

a perpetual object of scorn;^Aj

all who pass by it will be…