Jeremiah 14

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

So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah, concerning the matter of the drought: —

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

Judah mourneth, And the gates thereof, pine They lie in gloom on the ground, —And, the outcry of Jerusalem, hath ascended;

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, their nobles have sent their menials to the waters, —They have been to the pits, They have found no water They have returned, their vessels empty, They are pale and ashamed and have covered their heads.

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

Because the ground, is cracked, For there hath been no rain in the land, The plowmen are pale They have covered their heads.

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

For, even the hind of the field hath calved and forsaken, Because there is no young herbage;

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

Yea, wild asses stand still on the bare heights, They pant for air like jackals, —Dimmed are their eyes Because there is 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.

Though, our iniquities, have testified against us, O Yahweh, effectually work thou for the sake of thy Name, —For our apostasies have abounded Against thee, have we sinned.

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?

Thou Hope of Israel, His Saviour in the time of distress, —Wherefore shouldst thou be as a sojourner in the and? Or as a wayfarer, who hath turned aside to lodge for the night?

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!

Wherefore, shouldst thou be as a man astounded, As a mighty man who cannot save? Yet, thou, art in our midst—O Yahweh And, thy Name, on us, hath been called Do not abandon us!

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 Yahweh To this people In this way, have they loved to wander, Their feet, have they not restrained, —Yahweh, therefore hath not accepted them, Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, —That he may punish their sins.

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

And Yahweh said unto me, —Do not pray for this people for blessing;

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.”

Though they fast, I am not going to hearken unto their loud cry, and Though they offer ascending-sacrifice and meal-offering, I am not going to accept them, —For with sword and with famine and with pestilence, am, I, about to consume them.

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.’”

Then said I, Ah, My Lord Yahweh! Lo! the prophets, are saying to them—Ye shall not see the sword And famine, shall ye not have, —For prosperity in truth, will I give you, 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.

So then Yahweh said unto me, Falsehood, are the prophets prophesying in my name, I have not sent them Neither have I commanded them, Neither have I spoken unto them, —A vision of falsehood, and A divination of worthlessness and A fraud of their own hearts, They, are prophesying unto you.

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 Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my Name though, I, sent them not, and yet, they have been, saying, Neither sword nor famine, shall there be in this land, —By sword or by famine, shall, those prophets, be consumed;

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 have been prophesying shall be getting cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and of there being none to give burial unto them, them, their wives, nor their sons nor their daughters, —So will I pour out upon them their own wickedness.

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.

Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word, Let mine eyes, run down with tears night and day, And let them not rest, —For with a grievous injury, hath been injured the virgin the daughter of my people, With a wound, severe indeed!

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 have gone out into the field, Then lo! the slain of the sword! And, if I have entered the city, Then lo! the diseases of famine! For, both prophet and priest, have trafficked against the land unnoticed.

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, Judah? Zion itself, hath thy soul loathed? Why, hast thou smitten us so that there is for us no healing? A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, and For a time of healing, but lo! terror!

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

We acknowledge O Yahweh Our own lawlessness The iniquity of our fathers, —For we have sinned against 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.

Do not despise—for the sake of thy Name, Do not treat with contempt—the throne of thy glory, —Remember!—do not break 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.

Are there, among the vanities of the nations senders of rain? Or can, the heavens themselves, give myriad drops? Art not, thou, he, O Yahweh our God? Therefore will we wait for thee, For, thou, hast made all these.