2-4. “Jeremiah, don’t get married. Don’t raise a family here. I have signed the death warrant on all the children born in this country, the mothers who bear them and the fathers who beget them—an epidemic of death. Death unlamented, the dead unburied, dead bodies decomposing and stinking like dung, all the killed and starved corpses served up as meals for carrion crows and mongrel dogs!”
8. “And if there happens to be a feast celebrated, don’t go there either to enjoy the festivities.”
9. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Watch this! I’m about to banish smiles and laughter from this place. No more brides and bridegrooms celebrating. And I’m doing it in your lifetime, before your very eyes.
19-20. God, my strength, my stronghold,my safe retreat when trouble descends:The godless nations will comefrom earth’s four corners, saying,“Our ancestors lived on lies,useless illusions, all smoke.”Can mortals manufacture gods?Their factories turn out no-gods!
21. “Watch closely now. I’m going to teach these wrongheaded people.Starting right now, I’m going to teach themWho I am and what I do,teach them the meaning of my name, God—‘I Am.’”