Jeremiah 16:11-21

11 thou shalt say to them, For your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord, and went after alien gods, and served them, and worshipped them, and they forsook me, and kept not my law. (thou shalt say to them, For your forefathers deserted me, saith the Lord, and went after strange, or foreign, gods, and served them, and worshipped them, yea, they deserted me, and did not keep, or obey, my law.)
12 But also ye wrought worse than your fathers; for lo! each man goeth after the shrewdness of his evil heart, that he hear not me. (And ye have wrought worse than your forefathers; for lo! each person goeth after the depravity of his own evil heart, so that they do not listen to, or obey, me.)
13 And I shall cast you out of this land, into the land which ye and your fathers know not; and ye shall serve there to alien gods day and night, which shall not give rest to you. (And I shall throw you out of this land, into the land which ye and your forefathers know not; and there ye shall serve strange, or foreign, gods day and night, and I shall not show you any mercy/and I shall not show you any favour.)
14 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that led the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; (And so lo! days come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be said, As the Lord liveth, who led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt;)
15 but, The Lord liveth, that led [out] the sons of Israel from the land of the north, and from all lands to which I casted them out; and I shall lead them again into their land which I gave to the fathers of them. (but, As the Lord liveth, who led out the Israelites from the land of the north, and from all the lands to which I threw them out; and I shall lead them again into their land which I gave to their forefathers.)
16 Lo! I shall send many fishers to them, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after these things I shall send many hunters to them, and they shall hunt them from each mountain, and from each little hill, and from the caves of stones.
17 For mine eyes be on all the ways of them; those ways be not hid from my face, and the wickedness of them was not privy from mine eyes.
18 And I shall yield first the double wickednesses and [the] sins of them, for they defouled my land in the slain beasts of their idols, and filled mine heritage with their abominations. (And first I shall make them yield double for their wickednesses and their sins, for they defiled my land with the slain beasts for their idols, and filled my inheritance with their abominations.)
19 Lord, my strength, and my stalworthness, and my refuge in the day of tribulation, heathen men shall come to thee from the farthest places of (the) earth, and shall say, Verily our fathers held a leasing in possession, vanity that profited not to them. (Lord, my strength, and my stalwartness, and my refuge in the day of trouble, the heathen shall come to thee from the farthest places of the earth, and shall say, Truly our forefathers inherited only lies, yea, vain, or useless, idols that profited them nothing.)
20 Whether a man shall make gods to himself? (Can a man make gods for himself?) and those be no gods.
21 Therefore lo! I shall show to them by this while, I shall show to them mine hand, and my strength; and they shall know, that the name to me is [the] Lord (and they shall know, that my name is the Lord).

Jeremiah 16:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 16

In this chapter the ruin and destruction of the Jews is set forth, and confirmed by the prophet's being forbid to be merry, or to go into the house of feasting or mourning, with the reasons thereof; also the sins of the people, the cause of it, are pointed at; and afterwards a promise of their restoration is made; and the chapter is concluded with a prayer of the prophet, pressing his faith in the divine protection, and in the calling of the Gentiles. After the preface or introduction, Jer 16:1, the prophet is forbid to take a wife, or have any children, with the reason of it; because that parents and children would die of grievous deaths unlamented, and not be buried, Jer 16:2-4 and he is also forbid to go into the house of mourning, because peace, lovingkindness, and mercy, were taken from the people, and both great and small would die, and no lamentation be made for them, nor have any burial also, Jer 16:5-7, nor might he go into the house of feasting, because the voice of joy and gladness would cease out of the land, Jer 16:8,9, and upon the people's inquiring the reason of all this, the prophet is bid to tell them, that it was for their forsaking the Lord and his worship, and for their idolatrous practices; of which they were more guilty than their forefathers, and therefore would be cast out of the land, and carried captive into a strange country, Jer 16:10-13 but, after all this, they should be restored again to their own land, and have a greater deliverance than that out of Egypt, as they themselves would own, Jer 16:14,15 but before this would be, fishers and hunters should be sent to distress them, and all because of their iniquities, which God's eye was upon, and would recompense, Jer 16:16-18, and the chapter is closed with the prophet's prayer, in which he expresses his faith in the Lord, and in the conversion of the Gentiles, who would be convinced of their idolatry, and made to know the power and name of the Lord, Jer 16:19,20.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.