1 The word of the Loʀᴅ also came to me saying, 2 “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For thus says the Loʀᴅ concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their AJer 15:8mothers who bear them, and their BJer 6:21fathers who beget them in this land: 4 “They will AJer 15:2die of deadly diseases, they BJer 25:33will not be lamented or buried; they will be as CPs 83:10; Jer 9:22; 25:33dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the DPs 79:2; Is 18:6; Jer 15:3; 34:20birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth.”

5 For thus says the Loʀᴅ, “Do not enter a house of 1Or banquetingAEzek 24:16-23mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have BJer 12:12; 15:1-4withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the Loʀᴅ, “My CPs 25:6; Is 27:11; Jer 13:14lovingkindness and compassion. 6  “Both A2 Chr 36:17; Ezek 9:6great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone BDeut 14:1; Jer 41:5; 47:5gash himself or CIs 22:12shave his head for them. 7  “Men will not ADeut 26:14; Ezek 24:17; Hos 9:4break bread in mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother. 8  “Moreover you shall AEccl 7:2-4; Is 22:12-14; Jer 15:17; Amos 6:4-6not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.” 9 For thus says the Loʀᴅ of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to 1Lit cause to ceaseAJer 7:34; 25:10; Ezek 26:13; Hos 2:11; Rev 18:23eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.

10 “Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘ADeut 29:24; 1 Kin 9:8; Jer 5:19; 13:22; 22:8For what reason has the Loʀᴅ declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the Loʀᴅ our God?’ 11  “Then you are to say to them, ‘It is ADeut 29:25; 1 Kin 9:9; 2 Chr 7:22; Neh 9:26-29; Jer 22:9because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the Loʀᴅ, ‘and have followed BDeut 29:26; 1 Kin 9:9; Ps 106:35-41; Jer 5:7-9; 8:2; Ezek 11:21; 1 Pet 4:3other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. 12  ‘You too have done evil, even AJer 7:26more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the B1 Sam 15:23; Jer 7:24; 9:14; 13:10stubbornness of his own CEccl 9:3; Mark 7:21evil heart, without listening to Me. 13  ‘So I will ADeut 4:26, 27; 2 Chr 7:20; Jer 15:1hurl you out of this land into the BJer 15:14; 17:4land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will CDeut 4:28; 28:36; Jer 5:19serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’

14 “AIs 43:18; Jer 23:7Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Loʀᴅ, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Loʀᴅ lives, who BEx 20:2; Deut 15:15brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘As the Loʀᴅ lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the APs 106:47; Is 11:11-16; 14:1; Jer 3:18; 23:8; 24:6land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

16 “Behold, I am going to send for many AAmos 4:2; Hab 1:14, 15fishermen,” declares the Loʀᴅ, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will B1 Sam 26:20; Mic 7:2hunt them CIs 2:21; Amos 9:3from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 17  “A2 Chr 16:9; Job 34:21; Ps 90:8; Prov 5:21; 15:3; Jer 23:24; 32:19; Zech 4:10; Luke 12:2; 1 Cor 4:5; Heb 4:13For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, BJer 2:22nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18  “I will first AJer 17:18; Rev 18:6doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have BNum 35:33, 34; Jer 2:7; 3:9polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their CJer 7:30; Ezek 11:18, 21detestable idols and with their abominations.”