Jeremiah 14

1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the words of the drought.

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

2 “Judea has mourned. And its gates have fallen and become hard to discern on the ground. And the outcry of Jerusalem has ascended.

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

3 The greater ones have sent their lesser ones to the water. They went to draw water; they did not find water; they carried their vessels back empty. They were confounded and afflicted, and so they covered 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 Because of the devastation of the earth, because rain did not fall upon the earth, the farmers were confounded; they covered their heads.

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

5 For even the doe has given birth in the field, and then left it behind. For there was no grass.

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

6 And the wild donkeys stood upon the rocks; like dragons, they drew in the wind, but their eyes failed. For there was no grass.”

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

7 “O Lord, if our iniquities have responded against us, let it be for the sake of your name. For our rebellions are many; we have sinned against you.

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 Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of tribulation, why would you be like a sojourner in the land, and like a traveler turning aside for lodging?

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 Why would you be like a wandering man, like a strong man who is unable to save? But you, O Lord, are with us, and your name is invoked over us, so do not abandon us!”

Will you be as a man asleep, or as a [strong] man that can’t save? yet you are among us, O Lord, and your name is called upon us; forget us not.

10 Thus says the Lord to this people, who have loved to move their feet, and who have not rested, but who have not pleased the Lord: “Now he will remember their iniquities, and now he will visit against their sins.”

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: “Do not choose to pray for this people for good.

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

12 When they will fast, I will not heed their petitions. And if they offer holocausts and victims, I will not accept them. For I will consume them by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence.”

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: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! The prophets are saying to them: ‘You will not see the sword, and there will be no famine among you. Instead, he will give you true peace in this place.’”

And I said, O [ever] living Lord! behold, their prophets prophesy, and say, You 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 And the Lord said to me: “The prophets prophesy falsely in my name. I did not send them, and I did not instruct them, and I have not spoken to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, and a divination, and a fraud, and a seduction from their own heart.

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 For this reason, thus says the Lord about the prophets who prophesy in my name, whom I have not sent, who say: ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ By sword and famine those prophets will be consumed.

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, will be cast into the streets of Jerusalem, due to famine and the sword, and there will be no one who may bury them, they and their wives, their sons and daughters, and 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 And you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes shed tears throughout the night and day, and let them not cease. For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed by a great affliction, by a very grievous wound.”

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 out into the fields: behold, those slain by the sword. And if I enter into the city: behold, those weakened by famine. Likewise, the prophet, too, and the priest, have gone into a land that they did 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 Could you have utterly cast out Judah? Or has your soul abhorred Zion? Then why have you struck us, so much so that there is no health for us? We have waited for peace, but there is nothing good, and for the time of healing, and behold, trouble.

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 O Lord, we acknowledge our impieties, the iniquities of our fathers, that we have sinned against you.

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

21 For the sake of your name, do not give us over into disgrace. And do not dishonor in us the throne of your glory. Remember, do not make void, your covenant with us.

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

22 Could any of the graven images of the Gentiles send rain? Or are the heavens able to give showers? Have we not hoped in you, the Lord our God? For you have made 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]? Are not you he? we will even wait on you, O Lord: for you have made all these things.