Jeremiah 14
1 The Word of the Lord that came to Jeremias concerning the words of the drought.
This is a message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought:
2 Judea hath mourned, and the gates thereof are fallen, and are become obscure on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Judah is in mourning; her towns are wasting away. Her people are weeping for the land, and a cry for help comes from Jerusalem.
3 The great ones sent their inferiors to the water: they came to draw, they found no water, they carried back their vessels empty: they were confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads.
Rich people send their servants to get water. They go to the cisterns, but don't find any water. They return with empty jars, disappointed and ashamed, covering their heads.
4 For the destruction of the land, because there came no rain upon the earth, the husbandmen were confounded, they covered their heads.
The ground has dried up because there hasn't been any rain in the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.
5 Yea, the hind also brought forth in the field, and left it, because there was no grass.
Even the deer abandons her newborn fawn because there's no grass.
6 And the wild asses stood upon the rocks, they snuffed up the wind like dragons, their eyes failed, because there was no grass.
Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills, panting like jackals. Their eyesight fails because they have nothing to eat.
7 If our iniquities have testified against us, O Lord, do thou it for thy name’s sake, for our rebellions are many, we have sinned against thee.
Even though our sins give evidence against us, Lord, please do something for us because of your good nature. Yes, we have rebelled against you so often; we have sinned against you.
8 O expectation of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble: why wilt thou be a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man turning in to lodge?
You are the hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble. Why do you act like a foreigner in our country, like a traveler who only stays a night?
9 Why wilt thou be as a wandering man, as a mighty man that cannot save? but thou, O Lord, art among us, and thy name is called upon by us, forsake us not.
Why do you act like someone caught unawares, like a powerful warrior who can't help? You are here among us, Lord, and we are known as your people. Please don't give up on us!
10 Thus saith the Lord to his people, that have loved to move their feet, and have not rested, and have not pleased the Lord: He will now remember their iniquities, and visit their sins.
This is what the Lord says about his people: They really love to wander away from me—they don't even try to stop themselves. So the Lord refuses to accept them. Now he'll remember their guilty actions and punish them for their sins.
11 And the Lord said to me: Pray not for this people for their good.
The Lord told me, Don't pray for the welfare of this people.
12 When they fast I will not hear their prayers: and if they offer holocausts and victims, I will not receive them: for I will consume them by the sword, and by famine, and by the pestilence.
Even if they fast, I won't listen to their cry. Even though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. On the contrary I will wipe them out by sword and famine and plague.
13 And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, the prophets say to them: You shall not see the sword, and there shall be no famine among you, but he will give you true peace in this place.
“Oh Lord God!” I answered, “Look what prophets are telling them, claiming to be speaking for you: ‘You won't see war or suffer from famine, but I will give you peace that lasts here in this place.’”
14 And the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy falsely in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them: they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and divination and deceit, and the seduction of their own heart.
The prophets are prophesying lies in my name, replied the Lord. I didn't send them or choose them or speak to them. It's a lying vision, an empty prediction, a deluded, deceitful product of their own minds that they are prophesying to you.
15 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophecy in my name, whom I did not send, that say: Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
So this is what the Lord says about such prophets who prophesy in my name: I didn't send them, but even so they say, “This country won't suffer war or famine.” These same prophets will die from war or famine!
16 And the people to whom they prophecy, shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them: they and their wives, their sons and their daughters, and I will pour out their wickedness upon them.
The bodies of the people they prophesied to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and war. There won't be anyone to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.
17 And thou shalt speak this word to them: Let my eyes shed down tears night and day, and let them not cease, because the virgin daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction, with an exceeding grievous evil.
This is what you are to tell them: Tears flow from my eyes without stopping day or night, because my people have been crushed by a heavy blow, a really serious wound.
18 If I go forth into the fields, behold the slain with the sword: and if I enter into the city, behold them that are consumed with famine. The prophet also and the priest are gone into a land which they knew not.
If I go out to the countryside, I see those killed by the sword; if I go into the city, I see those dying by famine. Both prophets and priests wander around the country—they don't know what they're doing.
19 Hast thou utterly cast away Juda, or hath thy soul abhorred Sion? why then hast thou struck us, so that there is no healing for us? we have looked for peace, and there is no good: and for the time of healing, and behold trouble.
Have you really rejected Judah? Do you hate Zion so much? Why have you wounded us so badly that we can't be healed? We hoped for peace, but instead nothing good has come; we hoped for a time of healing, but instead there was only sudden terror.
20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, the iniquities of our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
Lord, we admit our wickedness, the guilt of our forefathers as well as our own sins against you.
21 Give us not to be a reproach, for thy name’s sake, and do not disgrace in us the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
Because of your own reputation please don't hate us; don't bring dishonor on your glorious throne. Please remember your agreement with us; don't break it.
22 Are there any among the graven things of the Gentiles that can send rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou the Lord our God, whom we have looked for? for thou hast made all these things.
Can the false gods of the other nations bring rain? Can the skies themselves send showers? No, it's you, Lord our God. So we put our hope in you, because only you can do all this.
