Jeremiah 16 records a series of striking commands the Lord gave the prophet, including a ban on marriage, a prohibition on attending funerals and feasts, and a warning that exile is coming to Judah. These questions are designed for a small group, a Sunday school class, or personal study. Each set moves from what the text says, to what it means, to how it shapes daily life.
Jeremiah 16 at a Glance
The chapter opens with God forbidding Jeremiah to marry or to mourn publicly, a sign that the coming disaster will be so severe that ordinary family life and customary grief will be suspended. God then explains why judgment is coming: the people have turned to other gods and refused to listen. The tone shifts in the final verses, where the Lord speaks of His own strength and refuge and promises that the nations will one day recognize who He is.
As you lead through the questions, you may find it helpful to trace this movement from silence and loss, to accusation, to a surprising turn toward knowledge of the Lord. Keep the sign-acts in view, because they carry much of the chapter’s meaning.
Observation Questions
Begin here with the text itself. Ask the group to read the chapter aloud once before answering, and resist the urge to explain too quickly. Observation questions build a shared foundation that the later sets depend on.
Jeremiah 16:5
For the LORD says, “Don’t enter into the house of mourning. Don’t go to lament. Don’t bemoan them, for I have taken away my peace from this people,” says the LORD, “even loving kindness and tender mercies.
(WEB)
This verse names the Lord’s withdrawal of peace and loving kindness, which is the heart of the judgment. Reading it aloud early in the session helps the group feel the weight of what is being lost before discussing its causes.
Jeremiah 16:11-12
11 Then you shall tell them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me,’ says the LORD, ‘and have walked after other gods, have served them, have worshiped them, have forsaken me, and have not kept my law. 12 You have done evil more than your fathers, for behold, you each walk after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don’t listen to me.
(WEB)
These verses give the Lord’s answer to the people’s question about their iniquity. Reading them together makes the connection between inherited sin and the present heart plain to everyone in the room.
Jeremiah 16:17
For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from my face. Their iniquity isn’t concealed from my eyes.
(WEB)
This verse reminds the group that the Lord sees all their ways and nothing is hidden from Him. Hearing it read aloud can prompt honest reflection without sounding like a scolding, since it is a statement about God’s knowledge rather than a command.
Jeremiah 16:19-20
19 The LORD, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and will say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit. 20 Should a man make to himself gods, which yet are no gods?”
(WEB)
These verses contrast the Lord as strength and refuge with the emptiness of gods that are no gods. Reading them aloud near the end of the study allows the group to hear the chapter’s turn toward hope.
Jeremiah 16:21
“Therefore behold, I will cause them to know, this once I will cause them to know my hand and my might. Then they will know that my name is the LORD.”
(WEB)
This final verse speaks of the Lord making Himself known through His hand and might. Ending the reading here gives the group a clear focus for the closing prayer and for their discussion of knowing God by name.
Memory Verse for Jeremiah 16
Jeremiah 16:19
The LORD, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and will say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit.
(WEB)
This verse gives a steady picture of the Lord as strength, stronghold and refuge in the day of trouble. It is a useful memory verse because it can be repeated during hard days as a reminder of where to turn.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come before you having read a hard chapter, one that speaks of silence, judgment and the turning away of a people who forgot you. We confess that our own hearts can be stubborn, and that our ears can close to your voice when we are busy or afraid. Thank you that you see everything and that nothing is hidden from you, yet you also speak of restoration and of coming to know you as the Lord. Be our strength and our refuge in the days ahead, and help us to listen when you speak. Keep our hearts soft, and bring us home to you. Amen.
