King James Version

Jeremiah 16:4

They 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.

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Hebrew

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מְמוֹתֵ֨יmemotedeathמָמוֹתnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct — “death”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH4463a mortal disease; concretely, a corpsedeath.תַחֲלֻאִ֜יםtachaluimdiseaseתַּחֲלוּאnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “disease”, the ordinary formH8463a maladydisease, [idiom] grievous, (that are) sick(-ness).יָמֻ֗תוּyamutvdieמוּתverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “die”, an unfinished actionH4191to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill[idiom] at all, [idiom] crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy(-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro(-mancer), [idiom] must needs, slay, [idiom] surely, [idiom] very suddenly, [idiom] in (no) w…לֹ֤אlono , -r,לֹאparticle, negative — “no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…יִסָּֽפְדוּ֙yisafedvlamentסָפַדverb, niphal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “lament”, an unfinished actionH5594properly, to tear the hair and beat the breasts (as Orientals do in grief); generally to lament; by implication, to waillament, mourn(-er), wail.וְלֹ֣אveloand no , -r,לֹאconjunction, particle, negative — “and no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…יִקָּבֵ֔רוּyiqavervburyקָבַרverb, niphal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “bury”, an unfinished actionH6912to inter[idiom] in any wise, bury(-ier).לְדֹ֛מֶןledomento dungדֹּמֶןpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “to dung”, the ordinary formH1828manuredung.עַלalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…פְּנֵ֥יpenea- foreפָּנִיםnoun, common, both genders, plural, construct — “a- fore”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6440the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)[phrase] accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, [idiom] as (long as), at, [phrase] battle, [phrase] because (of), [phrase] beseech, countenance, edge, [phrase] employ, endure, [phrase] enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-…הָאֲדָמָ֖הhaadamahthe countryאֲדָמָהdefinite article, noun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “the country”, the ordinary formH127soil (from its general redness)country, earth, ground, husband(-man) (-ry), land.יִֽהְי֑וּyihyvbeהָיָהverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “be”, an unfinished actionH1961to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.וּבַחֶ֤רֶבuvacherevand in knifeחֶרֶבconjunction, preposition, with the article, noun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “and in knife”, the ordinary formH2719drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implementaxe, dagger, knife, mattock, sword, tool.וּבָֽרָעָב֙uvaraavand in hungerרָעָבconjunction, preposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “and in hunger”, the ordinary formH7458hunger (more or less extensive)dearth, famine, [phrase] famished, hunger.יִכְל֔וּyikhlvceaseכָּלָהverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “cease”, an unfinished actionH3615to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitived (to complete, prepare, consume)accomplish, cease, consume (away), determine, destroy (utterly), be (when... were) done, (be an) end (of), expire, (cause to) fail, faint, finish, fulfil, [idiom] fully, [idiom] have, leave (off), long, bring to pass, wholly reap, make cle…וְהָיְתָ֤הvehayetahand beהָיָהconjunction, verb, qal, sequential perfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “and be”, a completed action in a sequenceH1961to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.נִבְלָתָם֙nivlatamcarcaseנְבֵלָהnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “carcase”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5038a flabby thing, i.e. a carcase or carrion (human or bestial, often collectively); figuratively, an idol(dead) body, (dead) carcase, dead of itself, which died, (beast) that (which) dieth of itself.לְמַאֲכָ֔לlemaakhalto fruitמַאֲכָלpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “to fruit”, the ordinary formH3978an eatable (includ. provender, flesh and fruit)food, fruit, (bake-)meat(-s), victual.לְע֥וֹףleofto birdעוֹףpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “to bird”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5775a bird (as covered with feathers, or rather as covering with wings), often collectivelybird, that flieth, flying, fowl.הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםhashamayimthe heavenשָׁמַיִםdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “the heaven”, the ordinary formH8064the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve)air, [idiom] astrologer, heaven(-s).וּלְבֶהֱמַ֥תulevehematand to beastבְּהֵמָהconjunction, preposition, noun, common, feminine, singular, construct — “and to beast”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH929properly, a dumb beast; especially any large quadruped or animal (often collective)beast, cattle.הָאָֽרֶץhaaretsthe earthאֶרֶץdefinite article, noun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “the earth”, the ordinary formH776the earth (at large, or partitively a land)[idiom] common, country, earth, field, ground, land, [idiom] natins, way, [phrase] wilderness, world.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

They shall die of 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 carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Young’s Literal Translation

Of painful deaths they die, They are not lamented, nor are they buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are, And by sword and by famine are consumed, And their carcase hath been for food To the fowl of the heavens, And to the beast of the earth.

World English Bible

“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground. They will be consumed by the sword and by famine. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.”

Darby Translation

They shall die of painful 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 carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.

Douay-Rheims

They shall die by the death of grievous illnesses: they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be buried, they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed with the sword, and with famine: and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

They shall die of grievous death; they shall not be lamented, nor buried; they shall be for an example on the face of the earth; and they shall be for the wild beasts of the land, and for the birds of the sky: they shall fall by the sword, and shall be consumed with famine.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

ἐν θανάτῳ νοσερῷ ἀποθανοῦνται, οὐ κοπήσονται, καὶ οὐ ταφήσονται· εἰς παράδειγμα ἐπὶ προσώπου τῆς γῆς ἔσονται· καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς ἔσονται καὶ τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· ἐν μαχαίρᾳ πεσοῦνται, καὶ ἐν λιμῷ συντελεσθήσονται.