Jeremiah 14
1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when there was no water.
The word of Jehovah, which came to Jeremiah concerning a 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 the gates thereof languish; They are in deep mourning upon the ground. And the cry of Jerusalem goeth up.
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.
The nobles send their younger ones for water; They come to the wells, they find none; They return with their vessels empty; They are ashamed and confounded; They cover their heads.
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 in consternation, No rain falling upon the earth, The husbandmen are ashamed, They hide their heads.
5 And the roe, giving birth in the field, lets her young one be uncared for, because there is no grass.
Even the hind in the field is delivered, And deserteth her young, 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.
The wild asses stand upon the hills, They snuff up the wind like jackals; Their eyes fail, Because there is no grass.
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.
Though our iniquities testify against us, Yet do thou, O Jehovah, act from a regard to thine own name. For our transgressions have been many; We have sinned against thee.
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 the time of trouble, Why wilt thou be as a stranger in the land, As a traveller who spreadeth his tent to pass the 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 wilt thou be as a man that is amazed, As a hero that cannot save? Thou art in the midst of us, O Jehovah, And we are called by thy name; Do not forsake us!
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 saith Jehovah concerning this people: Thus they love to wander, They restrain not their feet; Therefore Jehovah doth not accept them; Now will he remember their iniquities, And punish their sins.
11 And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good.
Then said Jehovah to me: Pray not for 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.
Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; Though they offer burnt-offerings and flour-offerings, I will not accept them; But by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, I will 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, Alas! O Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets say to them, “Ye shall not see the sword, Nor shall famine come upon you; But Jehovah will give you lasting peace 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 Jehovah to me: The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I have not sent them, nor commissioned them, nor spoken to them; A false vision, and divination, and vanity, And the fraud of their hearts, do they prophesy to 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 saith Jehovah concerning the prophets Who prophesy in my name, though I sent them not, But who themselves say, “The sword and famine shall not be in this land”: By the sword and by famine shall those prophets be consumed.
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 be cast forth in the streets of Jerusalem By means of famine and the sword; And they shall have none to bury them, —They, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters; For I will pour their wickedness upon 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.
Thus also shalt thou speak to them: My eyes shall run down with tears night and day; They shall not cease; For a deep wound hath she received, The virgin daughter of my people, A deadly 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 fields, Then behold them that are slain by the sword! And if I enter the city, Then behold them that pine with famine! Both prophet and priest wander about the land, they know not whither.
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 utterly rejected Judah? Doth thy soul abhor Zion? Why hast thou smitten us, so that there is no healing for us! We look for peace, and there is no good, For a time of healing, and behold, terror!
20 We are conscious, O Lord, of our sin and of the wrongdoing of our fathers: we have done evil against you.
We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness, And 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 spurn us, for thy name's sake! Do not dishonor thy glorious throne! Call to mind, 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 among the vanities of the nations any that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Jehovah, our God? Therefore in thee will we trust, For thou hast made all these things!
