Jeremiah 16
The full text of Jeremiah 16 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
2 "You must not take a wife; you must not have sons or daughters in this place.
3 For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this place, and about the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land:
4 They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
5 For this is what the LORD says: "Do not enter a house where there is mourning; do not go to lament or grieve for them, for I have withdrawn my peace from this people — my steadfast love and my compassion, declares the LORD.
6 Great and small alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for them.
7 No one will offer bread to the mourner to console him for the dead; no one will give him a cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother.
8 "And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down with them to eat and drink.
9 For this is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days, I will bring an end to the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 "When you tell this people all these things and they ask you, 'Why has the LORD decreed all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin we have committed against the LORD our God?'
11 then say to them: It is because your ancestors forsook me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods and served and worshiped them; they forsook me and did not keep my law.
12 But you have acted more wickedly than your ancestors. See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me.
13 So I will hurl you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.
14 "But the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives, who brought Israel up out of Egypt,'
15 but rather, 'As the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up from the land of the north and from all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will bring them back to their own land, which I gave to their ancestors.
16 "But now I will send for many fishermen, declares the LORD, and they will fish for them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.
17 For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my face, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.
18 I will repay them double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols and have filled my inheritance with their abominations."
19 O LORD, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say:
"Our ancestors inherited nothing but lies,
worthless idols that did them no good."
20 Can a man make gods for himself?
They are not gods!
21 "Therefore I am about to make them know —
this time I will make them know
my power and my might,
and they will know that my name is the LORD."
Translation notes (13)
- Jeremiah 16:2a The Hebrew prohibition formula lōʾ-tiqqaḥ lᵉkā 'iššāh, meaning 'you shall not take a wife for yourself,' is a symbolic sign-act where celibacy serves as an enacted prophecy of coming desolation.
- Jeremiah 16:4a The Hebrew phrase tᵉmûtôt taḥaluʾîm means 'deaths of illnesses or diseases,' using a plural of intensity to emphasize the severity. The absence of burial signifies ultimate shame.
- Jeremiah 16:5a The Hebrew words šālôm, ḥesed, and raḥamîm — meaning peace, covenant-love, and compassion — represent the three pillars of a covenant relationship, all of which are simultaneously withdrawn here.
- Jeremiah 16:6a Heb. lōʾ-yissāp̄dû — no funeral lamentation; lacerations and head-shaving were mourning customs (cf. Deut 14:1, though prohibited for Israel, they were practiced).
- Jeremiah 16:7a The Hebrew phrase lōʾ-yiprᵉsû lāhem leḥem refers to the absence of breaking bread for mourners, which was a customary consolation meal. Its absence here signals total social dissolution.
- Jeremiah 16:9a Heb. qôl šāśôn wᵉqôl simḥāh, qôl ḥātān wᵉqôl kallāh — the four sounds of wedding celebration; their silencing marks total desolation (cf. 7:34; 25:10; Rev 18:23).
- Jeremiah 16:12a The Hebrew phrase šᵉrîrût libbô hārāʿ means 'stubbornness or hardness of his evil heart,' a phrase characteristic of Jeremiah for self-willed disobedience, as seen in Jeremiah 3:17, 7:24, and 11:8.
- Jeremiah 16:13a The Hebrew phrase wᵉšāmartî lākem wᵉlōʾ 'eḥān means 'I will not grant you favor'; the word hinnēn could be read as 'grace or favor.' This refers to exile as an enforced idolatry, an ironic consequence of their actions.
- Jeremiah 16:15a The new exodus from 'the north' — Babylon — supersedes the Egyptian exodus as the defining act of salvation. Compare Isa 43:18-19.
- Jeremiah 16:16a Fishermen and hunters are described as agents of divine judgment, bringing back exiles whether they want to come or not. Some interpretations read both as agents of judgment and capture for exile.
- Jeremiah 16:18a Heb. mišneh — 'double'; not twice the punishment but full measure (cf. Isa 40:2). Land defilement through idol-carcasses = pollution of sacred space.
- Jeremiah 16:19a The Hebrew phrase 'uzzî ûmāʿuzzî ûmᵉnûsî is an alliterative series of descriptive titles for God, emphasizing His divine strength. This expresses a universal vision of nations abandoning their idols.
- Jeremiah 16:21a The Hebrew hinnᵉnî môdîʿām... 'et-yādî wᵉ'et-gᵉbûrātî means 'my hand and my might,' using an emphatic double expression to mean 'they will surely know.' This refers to God revealing Himself through His judgment.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Jeremiah, is free to read here on the web.
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