Jeremiah 16:1–9

¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: ²Thou dost not take to thee a wife, Nor hast thou sons and daughters in this place. ³For thus said Jehovah, Of the sons and of the daughters who are born in this place, And of their mothers—those bearing them, And of their fathers—those begetting them in this land: ⁴Of painful deaths they die, They are not lamented, nor are they buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are, And by sword and by famine are consumed, And their carcase hath been for food To the fowl of the heavens, And to the beast of the earth. ⁵For thus said Jehovah: Do not enter the house of a mourning-feast, Nor go to lament nor bemoan for them, For I have removed My peace from this people, An affirmation of Jehovah, The kindness and the mercies. ⁶And died have great and small in this land, They are not buried, and none lament for them, Nor doth any cut himself, nor become bald for them. ⁷Nor do they deal out to them for mourning, To comfort him concerning the dead, Nor cause them to drink a cup of consolations For his father and for his mother. ⁸A house of banqueting thou dost not enter, To sit with them, to eat and to drink, ⁹For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am causing to cease from this place, Before your eyes, and in your days, The voice of joy, and the voice of rejoicing, The voice of bridegroom and voice of bride.