Jeremiah 14

1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JEREMIAS CONCERNING THE DROUGHT.

2 “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

Judea has mourned, and her gates are emptied, and are darkened upon the earth; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

And her nobles have sent their little ones to the water: they came to the wells, and found no water: and brought back their vessels empty.

4 The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.

And the labours of the land failed, because there was no rain: the husbandmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.

And hinds calved in the field, and forsook [it], because there was no grass.

6 Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”

The wild asses stood by the forests, and snuffed up the wind; their eyes failed, because there was no grass.

7 Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.

Our sins have risen up against us: O Lord, do thou for us for thine own sake; for our sins are many before thee; for we have sinned against thee.

8 O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night?

O Lord, [thou art] the hope of Israel, and deliverest [us] in time of troubles; why art thou become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting-place?

9 Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? Yet You are among us, O LORD, and we are called by Your name. Do not forsake us!

Wilt thou be as a man asleep, or as a [strong] man that cannot save? yet thou art among us, O Lord, and thy name is called upon us; forget us not.

10 This is what the LORD says about this people: “Truly they love to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember their guilt and call their sins to account.”

Thus saith the Lord to this people, They have loved to wander, and they have not spared, therefore God has not prospered them; now will he remember their iniquity.

11 Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.

And the Lord said to me, Pray not for this people for [their] good:

12 Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”

for though they fast, I will not hear their supplication; and though they offer whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, I will take no pleasure in them: for I will consume them with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence.

13 “Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”

And I said, O [ever] living Lord! behold, their prophets prophesy, and say, Ye shall not see a sword, nor shall famine be among you; for I will give truth and peace on the land, and in this place.

14 “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.

Then the Lord said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, and I commanded them not, and I spoke not to them: for they prophesy to you false visions, and divinations, and auguries, and devices of their own heart.

15 Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end!

Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy lies in my name, and I sent them not, who say, Sword and famine shall not be upon this land; they shall die by a grievous death, and the prophets shall be consumed by famine.

16 And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them.

And the people to whom they prophesy, they also shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the sword and famine; and there shall be none to bury them: their wives also, and their sons, and their daughters [shall die thus]; and I will pour out their wickedness upon them.

17 You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.

And thou shalt speak this word to them; Let your eyes shed tears day and night, and let them not cease: for the daughter of my people has been sorely bruised, and her plague is very grievous.

18 If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”

If I go forth into the plain, then behold the slain by the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold the distress of famine! for priest and prophet have gone to a land which they knew not.

19 Have You rejected Judah completely? Do You despise Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We hoped for peace, but no good has come, and for the time of healing, but there was only terror.

Hast thou utterly rejected Juda? and has thy soul departed from Sion? wherefore has thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we waited for peace, but there was no prosperity; for a time of healing, and behold trouble!

20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.

We know, O Lord, our sins, [and] the iniquities of our fathers: for we have sinned before thee.

21 For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.

Refrain for thy name's sake, destroy not the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.

22 Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

Is there any one among the idols of the Gentiles that can give rain? and will the sky yield his fulness [at their bidding]? Art not thou he? we will even wait on thee, O Lord: for thou hast made all these things.