< Jeremias 14 >
1 AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JEREMIAS CONCERNING THE DROUGHT.
2 Judea has mourned, and her gates are emptied, and are darkened upon the earth; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3 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 And the labours of the land failed, because there was no rain: the husbandmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5 And hinds calved in the field, and forsook [it], because there was no grass.
6 The wild asses stood by the forests, and snuffed up the wind; their eyes failed, because there was no grass.
7 Our sins have risen up against us: O Lord, do you for us for your own sake; for our sins are many before you; for we have sinned against you.
8 O Lord, [you are] the hope of Israel, and deliver [us] in time of troubles; why are you become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting-place?
9 Will you be as a man asleep, or as a [strong] man that can’t save? yet you are amongst us, O Lord, and your name is called upon us; forget us not.
10 Thus says 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 And the Lord said to me, Pray not for this people for [their] good:
12 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 And I said, O [ever] living Lord! behold, their prophets prophesy, and say, You shall not see a sword, nor shall famine be amongst you; for I will give truth and peace on the land, and in this place.
14 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 thus says 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, 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 And you shall 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 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 Hast you utterly rejected Juda? and has your soul departed from Sion? therefore has you struck 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 know, O Lord, our sins, [and] the iniquities of our fathers: for we have sinned before you.
21 Refrain for your name's sake, destroy not the throne of your glory: remember, break not your covenant with us.
22 Is there any one amongst the idols of the Gentiles that can give rain? and will the sky yield his fulness [at their bidding]? Are not you he? we will even wait on you, O Lord: for you have made all these things.
