Jeremiah 16:20 - Prayer Tents

The Lord’s Will for Jeremiah’s Life

16Again the LORD spoke to me and said,H1697H3068H559

2"Do not marry or have children in a place like this.H3947H802H1121H1323H4725

3I will tell you what is going to happen to the children who are born here and to their parents.H559H3068H1121H1323H3205H4725H517H3205H1H3209H776

4They will die of terrible diseases, and no one will mourn for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie like piles of manure on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation, and their bodies will be food for the birds and the wild animals.H4191H8463H4463H5594H6912H1828H6440H127H3615H2719H7458H5038H3978H5775H8064H929H776

5"You must not enter a house where there is mourning. Do not grieve for anyone. I will no longer bless my people with peace or show them love and mercy.H559H3068H935H1004H4798H3212H5594H5110H622H7965H5971H5002H3068H2617H7356

6The rich and the poor will die in this land, but no one will bury them or mourn for them. Not one of you will gash yourself or shave your head to show your grief.H1419H6996H4191H776H6912H5594H1413H7139

7No one will eat or drink with anyone to offer comfort when a loved one dies. No one will show sympathy, not even for someone who has lost a father or mother.H6536H60H5162H4191H3563H8575H8248H1H517

8"Do not enter a house where people are feasting. Do not sit down with them to eat and drink.H935H1004H4960H3427H398H8354

9Listen to what I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I will silence the sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. The people here will live to see this happen.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H7673H4725H5869H3117H6963H8342H6963H8057H6963H2860H6963H3618

10"When you tell them all this, they will ask you why I have decided to punish them so harshly. They will ask what crime they are guilty of and what sin they have committed against the LORD their God.H5046H5971H1697H559H3068H1696H1419H7451H5771H2403H2398H3068H430

11Then tell them that the LORD has said, 'Your ancestors turned away from me and worshiped and served other gods. They abandoned me and did not obey my teachings.H559H1H5800H5002H3068H3212H310H312H430H5647H7812H5800H8104H8451

12But you have done even worse than your ancestors. All of you are stubborn and evil, and you do not obey me.H6213H7489H1H2009H1980H376H310H8307H7451H3820H8085

13So then, I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. And there you will serve other gods day and night, and I will show you no mercy.' "H2904H776H776H3045H1H5647H312H430H3119H3915H5414H2594

The Return from Exile

14The LORD says, "The time is coming when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.H3117H935H5002H3068H559H3068H2416H5927H1121H3478H776H4714

15Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. I will bring them back to their own country, to the land that I gave their ancestors. I, the LORD, have spoken."H3068H2416H5927H1121H3478H776H6828H776H5080H7725H127H5414H1

The Coming Punishment

16The LORD says, "I am sending for many fishermen to come and catch these people. Then I will send for many hunters to hunt them down on every mountain and hill and in the caves among the rocks.H7971H7227H1771H1728H5002H3068H1770H310H7971H7227H6719H6679H2022H1389H5357H5553

17I see everything they do. Nothing is hidden from me; their sins do not escape my sight.H5869H1870H5641H6440H5771H6845H5048H5869

18I will make them pay double for their sin and wickedness, because they have defiled my land with idols that are as lifeless as corpses, and have filled it with their false gods."H7223H7999H5771H2403H4932H2490H776H4390H5159H5038H8251H8441

Jeremiah’s Prayer of Confidence in the Lord

19LORD, you are the one who protects me and gives me strength; you help me in times of trouble. Nations will come to you from the ends of the earth and say, "Our ancestors had nothing but false gods, nothing but useless idols.H3068H5797H4581H4498H3117H6869H1471H935H657H776H559H1H5157H8267H1892H3276

20Can people make their own gods? No, if they did, those would not really be gods."H120H6213H430H430

21"So then," says the LORD, "once and for all I will make the nations know my power and my might; they will know that I am the LORD."H6471H3045H3045H3027H1369H3045H8034H3068