Jeremiah 14
1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when there was no water.
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.
2 Judah is weeping and its doors are dark with sorrow, and people are seated on the earth clothed in black; and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
Judah mourneth, and her gates languish; they lie grieved on the ground; and the distressed cry of Jerusalem ascendeth upward.
3 Their great men have sent their servants for water: they come to the holes and there is no water to be seen; they come back with nothing in their vessels; they are overcome with shame and fear, covering their heads.
And their nobles have sent out their subordinates for water: they come to the pits, they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded, and cover their head.
4 Those who do work on the land are in fear, for there has been no rain on the land, and the farmers are shamed, covering their heads.
Because of the ground which is cracked open, since there hath been no rain in the land, are the ploughmen ashamed, they cover their head.
5 And the roe, giving birth in the field, lets her young one be uncared for, because there is no grass.
Yea, the hind also bringeth forth her young in the field, and forsaketh [them], because there is no grass.
6 And the asses of the field on the open hilltops are opening their mouths wide like jackals to get air; their eyes are hollow because there is no grass.
And the wild asses stand on the mountain-tops, they snuff up the wind like serpents: their eyes fail, because there are no herbs.
7 Though our sins give witness against us, do something, O Lord, for the honour of your name: for again and again we have been turned away from you, we have done evil against you.
If our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, do thou act for the sake of thy name; for our backslidings are many; against thee have we sinned.
8 O you hope of Israel, its saviour in time of trouble, why are you like one who is strange in the land, and like a traveller putting up his tent for a night?
O thou hope of Israel, his saviour in time of trouble, why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfarer that turneth aside to lodge for a night?
9 Why are you like a man surprised, like a man of war who is not able to give help? but you, O Lord, are with us, and we are named by your name; do not go away from us.
Why shouldst thou be as a man that is surprised, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou art in the midst of us, O Lord, and we are called by thy name: abandon us not.
10 This is what the Lord has said about this people: Even so they have been glad to go from the right way; they have not kept their feet from wandering, so the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep their wrongdoing in mind and send punishment for their sins.
Thus hath said the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander about, their feet have they not restrained: therefore the Lord doth not receive them in favor; now will he remember their iniquity, and will punish their sins.
11 And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good.
Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not in behalf of this people for their good.
12 When they go without food, I will not give ear to their cry; when they give burned offerings and meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: but I will put an end to them by the sword and by need of food and by disease.
When they fast, I will not hear their entreaty: and when they offer burnt-offering and meat-offering, I will not receive them in favor; but by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence, will I make an end of them.
13 Then I said, Ah, Lord God! see, the prophets say to them, You will not see the sword or be short of food; but I will give you certain peace in this place.
Then said I, Ah, Lord Eternal! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but a permanent peace will I give you in this place.
14 Then the Lord said to me, The prophets say false words in my name, and I gave them no orders, and I said nothing to them: what they say to you is a false vision and wonder-working words without substance, the deceit of their hearts.
Then said the Lord unto me, Falsehood do the prophets prophesy in my name; I have not sent them, neither have I commanded them, neither have I spoken unto them: a vision of falsehood, and divination, and idolatrous folly, and the deceit of their heart do they prophesy unto you.
15 So this is what the Lord has said about the prophets who make use of my name, though I sent them not, and say, The sword and need of food will not be in this land: the sword and need of food will put an end to those prophets.
Therefore thus hath said the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, when I have not sent them, while they say, Sword and famine shall not come in this land: By the sword and by the famine shall these prophets come to their end.
16 And the people to whom they are prophets will be pushed out dead into the streets of Jerusalem, because there is no food, and because of the sword; and they will have no one to put their bodies into the earth, them or their wives or their sons or their daughters: for I will let loose their evil-doing on them.
And the people to whom they prophesy shall lie cast down in the streets of Jerusalem by means of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters; for I will pour out their wickedness over them.
17 And you are to say this word to them, Let my eyes be streaming with water night and day, and let it not be stopped; for the virgin daughter of my people is wounded with a great wound, with a very bitter blow.
But thou shalt say unto them this word. My eyes shall run down with tears night and day, and they shall not cease; for with a great breach is the virgin-daughter of my people broken, with a very painful blow.
18 If I go out into the open country, there are those put to death by the sword! and if I go into the town, there are those who are diseased from need of food! for the prophet and the priest go about in the land and have no knowledge.
If I go forth into the field, behold, there are the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, behold, there are those that are sick with famine! for both the prophet and the priest travel round into a land that they know not.
19 Have you completely given up Judah? is your soul turned in disgust from Zion? why have you given us blows from which there is no one to make us well? we were looking for peace, but no good came; and for a time of well-being, but there was only a great fear.
Hast thou entirely rejected Judah? or hath thy soul loathing on Zion? why hast thou smitten us, so that there is no healing for us? we hoped for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold, there is terror!
20 We are conscious, O Lord, of our sin and of the wrongdoing of our fathers: we have done evil against you.
We know, O Lord, our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against thee.
21 Do not be turned from us in disgust, because of your name; do not put shame on the seat of your glory: keep us in mind, let not your agreement with us be broken.
Do not cast us off, for the sake of thy name, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22 Are any of the false gods of the nations able to make rain come? are the heavens able to give showers? are you not he, O Lord our God? so we will go on waiting for you, for you have done all these things.
Are there any among the vanities of the nations those that bestow rain? or can the heavens give forth showers? Behold, thou art this, O Lord our God, and we will hope in thee; for thou hast done all these things.
