3. The Lord says this about the sons and daughters born in this land and their mothers and fathers:
4. “They will die of terrible diseases, and no one will cry for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie on the ground like dung. They will die in war, or they will starve to death. Their bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals.”
5. So this is what the Lord says: “Jeremiah, do not go into a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go there to cry for the dead or to show your sorrow for them, because I have taken back my blessing, my love, and my pity from these people,” says the Lord.
6. “Important people and common people will die in the land of Judah. No one will bury them or cry for them or cut himself or shave his head to show sorrow for them.
7. No one will bring food to comfort those who are crying for the dead. No one will offer a drink to comfort someone whose mother or father has died.
8. “Do not go into a house where the people are having a feast to sit down to eat and drink,
9. because this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I will soon stop the sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms in this place. This will happen during your lifetime.
10. “When you tell the people of Judah these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the Lord said these terrible things to us? What have we done wrong? What sin have we done against the Lord our God?’
11. “Then say to them: ‘This is because your ancestors quit following me,’ says the Lord. ‘And they followed other gods and served and worshiped them. Your ancestors left me and quit obeying my teaching.
12. But you have done even more evil than your ancestors. You are very stubborn and do only what you want to do; you have not obeyed me.
13. So I will throw you out of this country and send you into a land that you and your ancestors never knew. There you can serve other gods day and night, because I will not help you or show you any favors.’
14. “People say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt . . . ’ But the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not say this anymore.