5. “This is what the Lord says: Don’t go into a house where people are grieving. Don’t go to mourn or to grieve for them. I’m taking my peace, love, and compassion away from these people,” declares the Lord.
6. “Old and young alike will die in this land. No one will mourn for them or bury them. No one will cut his own body or shave his own head for them.
7. No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn the dead. No one will give a consoling drink to those who have lost their fathers or mothers.
8. “Don’t even go into a home where there is a banquet. Don’t sit with them to eat and drink.
9. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to put a stop to the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms in this place. This will happen in your lifetime, while you watch.
10. “When you tell the people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why does the Lord threaten us with all these disasters? What have we done wrong? How have we sinned against the Lord our God?’
11. Then say to them, ‘It’s because your ancestors abandoned me, declares the Lord. They followed other gods, served them, worshiped them, and abandoned me. They didn’t obey my teachings.
12. You have done worse than your ancestors. All of you are following your own stubborn, evil ways that keep you from obeying me.
13. So I will throw you out of this land into a land that you and your ancestors haven’t heard of. There you will serve other gods day and night because I will no longer have pity on you.’