en_tn_condensed/jer/16/19.md

Yahweh, you are my stronghold

Here Jeremiah begins speaking to Yahweh. The ULB sets poetry (16:19-21) farther to the right to show that it is poetry. The poem continues in chapter 17, and should be seen as one section.

my stronghold and my refuge, my place of safety

Jeremiah speaks of Yahweh as a place where enemies cannot attack him.

The nations will go to you

"The people from the nations will go to you" or "The people of the nations will come to you"

the ends of the earth

"the farthest places on the earth" or "everywhere on earth"

our ancestors inherited deceit

"our ancestors inherited nothing but false gods"

They are empty; there is no profit in them

The words "They" and "them" refer to the false gods that the ancestors taught them to believe in.