Jeremiah 16

Jeremiah · Chapter 16

Jeremiah 16:4

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.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
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.“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
deaths ofמְמוֹתֵ֨יme-mo-TEIH4463
death

מָמוֹת (ma.mot) death

diseasesתַחֲלֻאִ֜יםta-cha-lu-'IMH8463
disease

תַּחֲלֻאִים (ta.cha.lu) diseases

they will dieיָמֻ֗תוּya-MU-tuH4191
to die

מוּת (mut) 1) to die, kill, have one executed 1a)(Qal) 1a1) to die 1a2) to die (as penalty), be put to death 1a3) to die, perish (of a nation) 1a4) to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct) 1b) (Polel) to kill, put to death, dispatch 1c) (Hiphil) to kill, put to death 1d) (Hophal) 1d1) to be killed, be put to death 1d1a) to die prematurely

notלֹ֤אlo'H3808
not

לֹא (lo) 1) not, no 1a) not (with verb-absolute prohibition) 1b) not (with modifier-negation) 1c) nothing (subst) 1d) without (with particle) 1e) before (of time) Aramaic equivalent: la (לָא "not" H3809)

they will be mournedיִסָּֽפְדוּ֙yi-sa-fe-DUH5594
to mourn

סָפַד (sa.phad) 1) to wail, lament, mourn 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to wail, lament 1a2) wailers (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be lamented, be bewailed

and notוְלֹ֣אve-LO'H3808
not

לֹא (lo) 1) not, no 1a) not (with verb-absolute prohibition) 1b) not (with modifier-negation) 1c) nothing (subst) 1d) without (with particle) 1e) before (of time) Aramaic equivalent: la (לָא "not" H3809)

they will be buriedיִקָּבֵ֔רוּyi-ka-VE-ruH6912
to bury

קָבַר (qa.var) 1) to bury 1a) (Qal) to bury 1b) (Niphal) to be buried 1c) (Piel) to bury, bury (in masses) 1d) (Pual) to be buried

into dungלְדֹ֛מֶןle-DO-menH1828
dung

דֹּ֫מֶן (do.men) dung (always of corpses) (fig.)

onעַל־'al-H5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

[the] surface ofפְּנֵ֥יpe-NEIH6440J
face: before

פָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of

the groundהָאֲדָמָ֖הha-'a-da-MAHH0127G
land: soil

אֲדָמָה (a.da.mah) : soil 1) ground, land 1a) ground (as general, tilled, yielding sustenance) 1b) piece of ground, a specific plot of land 1c) earth substance (for building or constructing) 1d) ground as earth's visible surface 1e) land, territory, country 1f) whole inhabited earth 1g) city in Naphtali

they will becomeיִֽהְי֑וּyih-YUH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

and by the swordוּבַחֶ֤רֶבu-va-CHE-revH2719
sword

חֶ֫רֶב (che.rev) 1) sword, knife 1a) sword 1b) knife 1c) tools for cutting stone

and by the famineוּבָֽרָעָב֙u-va-ra-'AVH7458
famine

רָעָב (ra.av) 1) famine, hunger 1a) famine (in land, nation) 1a1) of Jehovah's word (fig) 1b) hunger (of individuals)

they will come to an endיִכְל֔וּyikh-LUH3615H
to end: finish

כָּלָה (ka.lah) : finish 1) to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be complete, be at an end 1a2) to be completed, be finished 1a3) to be accomplished, be fulfilled 1a4) to be determined, be plotted (bad sense) 1a5) to be spent, be used up 1a6) to waste away, be exhausted, fail 1a7) to come to an end, vanish, perish, be destroyed 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to complete, bring to an end, finish 1b2) to complete (a period of time) 1b3) to finish (doing a thing) 1b4) to make an end, end …

and it will becomeוְהָיְתָ֤הve-ha-ye-TAHH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

corpse[s] theirנִבְלָתָם֙niv-la-TAMH5038
carcass

נְבֵלָה (ne.ve.lah) 1) carcass, corpse 1a) of humans, idols, animals

into foodלְמַאֲכָ֔לle-ma-'a-KHALH3978
food

מַאֲכָל (ma.a.khal) food, fruit, meat

for [the] bird[s] ofלְע֥וֹףle-'ofH5775
bird

עוֹף (oph) 1) flying creatures, fowl, insects, birds 1a) fowl, birds 1b) winged insects Aramaic equivalent: oph (עוֹף "bird" H5776)

the heavensהַשָּׁמַ֖יִםha-sha-MA-yimH8064
heaven

שָׁמַיִם (sha.ma.yim) 1) heaven, heavens, sky 1a) visible heavens, sky 1a1) as abode of the stars 1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc 1b) Heaven (as the abode of God) Aramaic equivalent: sha.ma.yin (שָׁמַ֫יִן "heaven" H8065)

and for [the] animal[s] ofוּלְבֶהֱמַ֥תu-le-ve-he-MATH0929
animal

בְּהֵמָה (be.he.mah) 1) beast, cattle, animal 1a) beasts (coll of all animals) 1b) cattle, livestock (of domestic animals) 1c) wild beasts

the earthהָאָֽרֶץ׃ סha-'A-retzH0776H
earth: soil

אֲרַע (a.ra) : soil earth, world, ground Aramaic of e.rets (אֶ֫רֶץ ": soil" H0776H)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.