Jeremiah 16

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Jeremiah 16:1-21 (KJV) 

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

We are leaving chapter 15 where Jerimiah was not feeling good; apparently, now he is feeling better and the Lord is talking to him. 

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

During the time of God's anger with Judah, God instructed Jeremiah not to marry or have children in this place or this area.

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; 

God said as it relates to the people in this area, those that have daughters sons, those who are mothers of those sons and daughters and fathers of these children born here;

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. 

Those sons, daughters, and parents shall die and not be buried; they should be as waste on the ground; they shall die by the sword and by a lack of food and water; and the dead body should be me for the birds and the beast of the earth.

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.

God told Jeremiah not to go to their funerals or even feel bad because they have died: because I took my peace from these people, and I also took my love and kindness and my mercies.   It is the Lord that gives us peace and when we ignore God, we have nothing to warn or guide us.

 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: 

The young and the old, the rich and the poor, shall die in this land: they will not have a funeral; nobody will cry for them, they will not do the normal things that the Jewish people do during the time of death.

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. 

The normal routine to comfort each other during a time of death will be seen on this land. This is God's direction and showing us that when we do wrong we will get what we deserve and nobody will show emotions concerning our death. 

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

There will be no repast.

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. 

During this time there would be nobody happy, nobody got it, there would be no weddings; God will cause i'll have the times to see us.

0 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? 

God tells Jeremiah again,  the people will ask why is this happening to us? The people will ask what kind of sins did we commit to to deserve this? What did we do so wrong? What kind of sin deserves this?

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; 

God told Jeremiah to tell the people because you have sinned against my word by being religious and worshiping gods that are not gods.

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: 

God told Jeremiah to tell the people your parents sinned, but your behavior is worse than your parent's. You used your imagination and committed the evil that was in your hearts and you refused to obey my word.

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. 

Some of you will live but you were not live in this land that I gave you freely; you will live in a foreign land and you will have the opportunity to serve their god since you would not listen to me.

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; 

The day will come when people will not talk about what I did when I brought you out of 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 they will talk about how I will bring you back to this land.  Out of anger God removed all of his people from the land of Canaan and place them in exile for 70 years because they would not listen to his laws or obey them. But God promised Jeremiah that there will be a return after the 70 years of being exiled, by then, Israel will know that I am Cod.

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. 

God said the fishermen will search the waters for you, the hunters will search the mountains for you, and they will look around every hill; and they will also look in the holes of rocks trying to find you or some remains of you.

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

These people will search for you because you were living in sin in the water, on top of the mountain, around the hills,  under the rock, or even near a rock. I saw you in every place and I also saw what you were doing in the places you were found.

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.

To begin with I will pay you for your continuous sins twice; because you have treated my land badly, and filled my land with dead bodies with things that are too evil to name.

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. 

The Gentiles, people who do not know me, will say about you that you got a payment for your lies, your evil work, and doing things that have no profit.

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

Can a man make his own god which will never be a god?

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.

After this, my people will know that I am the Lord and the Lord is my name.