Jeremiah 16:1-21 CEV

[1] The LORD said to me: [2] Jeremiah, don't get married and have children-Judah is no place to raise a family. [3] I'll tell you what's going to happen to children and their parents here. [4] They will die of horrible diseases and of war and starvation. No one will give them a funeral or bury them, and their bodies will be food for the birds and wild animals. And what's left will lie on the ground like manure. [5] When someone dies, don't visit the family or show any sorrow. I will no longer love or bless or have any pity on the people of Judah. [6] Rich and poor alike will die and be left unburied. No one will mourn and show their sorrow by cutting themselves or shaving their heads. [7] No one will bring food and wine to help comfort those who are mourning the death of their father or mother. [8] Don't even set foot in a house where there is eating and drinking and celebrating. [9] Warn the people of Judah that I, the LORD All-Powerful, will put an end to all their parties and wedding celebrations. [10] They will ask, "Why has the LORD our God threatened us with so many disasters? Have we done something wrong or sinned against him?" [11] Then tell them I have said: People of Judah, your ancestors turned away from me; they rejected my laws and teachings and started worshiping other gods. [12] And you have done even worse! You are stubborn, and instead of obeying me, you do whatever evil comes to your mind. [13] So I will throw you into a land that you and your ancestors know nothing about, a place where you will have to worship other gods both day and night. And I won't feel the least bit sorry for you. [14] A time will come when you will again worship me. But you will no longer call me the Living God who rescued Israel from Egypt. [15] Instead, you will call me the Living God who rescued you from that country in the north and from the other countries where I had forced you to go. Someday I will bring you back to this land that I gave your ancestors. [16] But for now, I am sending enemies who will catch you like fish and hunt you down like wild animals in the hills and the caves. [17] I can see everything you are doing, even if you try to hide your sins from me. [18] I will punish you double for your sins, because you have made my own land disgusting. You have filled it with lifeless idols that remind me of dead bodies. [19] I prayed to the LORD: Our LORD, you are the one who gives me strength and protects me like a fortress when I am in trouble. People will come to you from distant nations and say, "Our ancestors worshiped false and useless gods, [20] worthless idols made by human hands." [21] Then the LORD replied, "That's why I will teach them about my power, and they will know that I am the true God."