Jeremiah 16

¹And the word of the Lord was maad to me,

²and seide, Thou schalt not take a wijf, and sones and douytris schulen not be to thee in this place.

³For the Lord seith these thingis on sones and douytris, that ben gendrid in this place, and on the modris of hem, that gendride hem, and on the fadris of hem, of whos generacioun thei ben borun in this lond.

⁴Thei schulen die bi dethis of sikenessis, thei schulen not be biweilid, and thei schulen not be biried; thei schulen be in to a dunghil on the face of erthe, and thei schulen be wastid bi swerd and hungur; and the careyn of hem schal be in to mete to the volatilis of heuene, and to beestis of erthe.

⁵For the Lord seith these thingis, Entre thou not in to an hous of feeste, nethir go thou to biweile, nether comfourte thou hem; for Y haue take awei my pees fro this puple, seith the Lord, `Y haue take awei merci and merciful doyngis.

⁶And greete and smalle schulen die in this lond; thei schulen not be biried, nethir schulen be biweilid; and thei schulen not kitte hem silf, nethir ballidnesse schal be maad for hem.

⁷And thei schulen not breke breed among hem to hym that mourneth, to coumforte on a deed man, and thei schulen not yyue to hem drynk of a cuppe, to coumforte on her fadir and modir.

⁸And thou schalt not entre in to the hous of feeste, that thou sitte with hem, and ete, and drynke.

⁹For whi the Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal take awei fro this place, bifore youre iyen and in youre daies, the vois of ioie, and the vois of gladnesse, and the vois of spouse, and the vois of spousesse.

¹⁰And whanne thou schalt telle alle these wordis to this puple, and thei schulen seie to thee, Whi spak the Lord al this greet yuel on vs? what is oure wickidnesse, ether what is oure synne which we synneden to oure Lord God?

¹¹thou schalt seie to hem, For youre fadris forsoken me, seith the Lord, and yeden aftir alien goddis, and seruyden hem, and worschipiden hem, and thei forsoken me, and kepten not my lawe.

¹²But also ye wrouyten worse than youre fadris; for lo! ech man goith aftir the schrewidnesse of his yuel herte, that he here not me.

¹³And Y schal caste you out of this lond, in to the lond which ye and youre fadris knowen not; and ye schulen serue there to alien goddis dai and niyt, whiche schulen not yiue reste to you.

¹⁴Therfor lo! daies comen, seith the Lord, and it schal no more be seid, The Lord lyueth, that ledde the sones of Israel out of the lond of Egipt;

¹⁵but the Lord lyueth, that ledde the sones of Israel fro the lond of the north, and fro alle londis to whiche Y castide hem out; and Y schal lede hem ayen in to her lond which Y yaf to the fadris of hem.

¹⁶Lo! Y schal sende many fischeris to hem, seith the Lord, and thei schulen fische hem; and aftir these thingis Y schal sende many hunteris to hem, and thei schulen hunte hem fro ech mounteyn, and fro ech litil hil, and fro the caues of stoonys.

¹⁷For myn iyen ben on alle the weies of hem; tho weies ben not hid fro my face, and the wickidnesse of hem was not priuy fro myn iyen.

¹⁸And Y schal yelde first the double wickidnessis and synnes of hem, for thei defouliden my lond in the slayn beestis of her idols, and filliden myn eritage with her abhomynaciouns.

¹⁹Lord, my strengthe, and my stalworthnesse, and my refuyt in the dai of tribulacioun, hethene men schulen come to thee fro the fertheste places of erthe, and schulen seie, Verili oure fadris helden a leesyng in possessioun, vanyte that profitide not to hem.

²⁰Whether a man schal make goddis to hym silf? and tho ben no goddis.

²¹Therfor lo! Y schal schewe to hem bi this while, Y schal schewe to hem myn hond, and my vertu; and thei schulen wite, that the name to me is Lord.

Jeremiah 16

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

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

³For 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;

⁴They 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.

⁵For 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.

⁶Both 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:

⁷Neither 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.

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

⁹For 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.

¹⁰And 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?

¹¹Then 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;

¹²And 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:

¹³Therefore 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.

¹⁴Therefore, 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;

¹⁵But, 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.

¹⁶Behold, 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.

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

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹O 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.

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

²¹Therefore, 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.