Jeremiah 16:1-21
Times of Trouble Are Coming
A message from the Lord came to me. He said, “Jeremiah, you must not get married. You must not have any sons or daughters in this land.” Here is the Lord’s message about the children born in this place. He says about them and their parents, “Some of them will die of deadly sicknesses. No one will mourn for them. Their bodies will not be buried. Instead, they will be like human waste lying there on the ground. Others will die because of war and hunger. Their bodies will not be buried. Instead, they will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”
The Lord says, “Jeremiah, suppose a meal is being served because someone has died. Do not enter any house where that is happening. Do not go there to mourn or to comfort the family. I will not bless these people anymore. I have taken my love and pity away from them,” announces the Lord. “Important and unimportant people alike will die in this land. Their bodies will not be buried. No one will mourn for them. No one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. No one will offer food or drink to comfort those who mourn for the dead. No one will do this even if someone’s father or mother has died.
“Do not enter a house where a feast is being held. Do not sit down there to eat and drink. I am the Lord who rules over all. I am the God of Israel. I am telling you, ‘In your days I will judge your people. You will see it with your own eyes. I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness here in Jerusalem. The voices of brides and grooms will not be heard anymore.’
“Tell these people all these things. They will ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decided to send so much trouble on us? We haven’t done anything wrong. We haven’t committed any sins against the Lord our God.’ When they say this, here is what you should tell them. ‘I did it because your people of long ago deserted me,’ announces the Lord. ‘They followed other gods. They served them and worshiped them. They deserted me. They did not obey my law. But you have done more evil things than they did. All of you are doing what your stubborn and evil hearts want you to do. You are not obeying me. So I will throw you out of this land. I will send you away to another land. Neither you nor your people of long ago have known about it. There you will serve other gods day and night. And I will not give you any help.’
“But a new day is coming,” announces the Lord. “At that time here is what people will no longer say. ‘As sure as he is alive, the Lord brought the Israelites up out of Egypt.’ Instead, they will say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north. He gathered them out of all the countries where he had forced them to go. And that’s just as sure as he is alive.’ I will bring them back to the land I gave their people of long ago.
“But now I will send for many fishermen,” announces the Lord. “They will catch some of these people. After that, I will send for many hunters. They will hunt down the others on every mountain and hill. They will bring them out of the cracks in the rocks. My eyes see everything these people do. What they do is not hidden from me. I always see their sin. I will pay them back double for their sin and the evil things they have done. They have made my land ‘unclean.’ They have set up lifeless statues of their evil gods. They have filled my land with them. I hate those gods.”
Lord, you give me strength.
You are like a fort to me.
When I’m in trouble,
I go to you for safety.
The nations will come to you
from one end of the earth to the other.
They will gather together and say,
“Our people of long ago didn’t own anything
except statues of gods.
The statues were worthless.
They didn’t do them any good.
Do human beings really make their own gods?
Yes. But they aren’t really gods at all!”
The Lord says, “So I will teach them about myself.
This time I will show them
how powerful and mighty I am.
Then they will know
that I am the Lord.
Jeremiah 17:1-27
“Judah’s sin is carved with an iron tool.
It is written with the flint point of the tool.
It is carved on the tablets of their hearts.
It is written on the horns that stick out
from the corners of their altars.
Even their children offer sacrifices
to other gods on those altars.
They use the poles that were made
to worship the female god named Asherah.
They worship strange gods beside the green trees
and on the high hills.
I will give away my holy Mount Zion to the Babylonians.
Your enemies will carry off your wealth
and all your treasures.
I will give away your high places.
That will happen because you have sinned.
You have done it throughout your country.
You will lose the land I gave you.
And it will be your own fault.
I will make you slaves to your enemies.
You will serve them in a land you didn’t know about before.
You have set my anger on fire.
It will burn forever.”
The Lord says,
“Those who trust in human beings are under my curse.
They depend on human strength.
Their hearts turn away from me.
They will be like a bush in a dry and empty land.
They will not enjoy success when it comes.
They will live in dry places in the desert.
It is a land of salt where no one else lives.
“But I will bless anyone who trusts in me.
I will do good things for the person who depends on me.
They will be like a tree planted near water.
It sends out its roots beside a stream.
It is not afraid when heat comes.
Its leaves are always green.
It does not worry when there is no rain.
It always bears fruit.”
A human heart is more dishonest than anything else.
It can’t be healed.
Who can understand it?
The Lord says, “I look deep down inside human hearts.
I see what is in people’s minds.
I reward each person in keeping with their conduct.
I bless them based on what they have done.”
Some people get rich by doing sinful things.
They are like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.
When their lives are half over, their riches will desert them.
In the end they will prove how foolish they have been.
Our temple is where the Lord’s glorious throne is.
From the beginning it has been high and lifted up.
Lord, you are Israel’s only hope.
Everyone who deserts you will be put to shame.
The names of those who turn away from you will be listed among the dead.
Lord, they have deserted you.
You are the spring of water that gives life.
Lord, heal me. Then I will be healed.
Save me from my enemies. Then I will be saved.
You are the one I praise.
They keep saying to me,
“What has happened to the message the Lord gave you?
Let it come true right now!”
I haven’t run away from being the shepherd of your people.
You know I haven’t wanted the day of Jerusalem’s fall to come.
You are aware of every word that comes from my lips.
Don’t be a terror to me.
When I’m in trouble, I go to you for safety.
Let those who attack me be put to shame.
But keep me from shame.
Let them be terrified.
But keep me from terror.
Bring the day of trouble on them.
Destroy them once and for all.
Keep the Sabbath Day Holy
The Lord said to me, “Go. Stand at the city gate called the Gate of the People. That is where the kings of Judah go in and out. Then stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem. Say, ‘Listen to the Lord’s message, you kings of Judah and all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. You always come through these gates. The Lord says, “Make sure you do not carry a load on the Sabbath day. Do not bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Do not do any work on that day. Instead, keep the Sabbath day holy. Do as I commanded your people of long ago. But they did not listen. They did not pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They would not listen or pay attention when I corrected them. Be careful to obey me,” announces the Lord. “Do not bring a load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day. Instead, keep the Sabbath day holy. Do not do any work on it. Then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses. The people of Judah and Jerusalem will come along with them. And this city will always have people living in it. Some will come from the towns of Judah. And some will come in from the villages around Jerusalem. Others will come from the territory of Benjamin. And others will come in from the western hills. Still others will come from the central hill country and the Negev Desert. All of them will bring burnt offerings and sacrifices. They will come bringing grain offerings, incense and thank offerings. They will take all these offerings to my house. But what if you do not obey me? Suppose you do not keep the Sabbath day holy. And suppose you carry a load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. Then I will start a fire that can’t be put out. It will begin at the gates of Jerusalem. It will destroy its mighty towers.” ’ ”
