Jeremias 14

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

This is a message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah regarding 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.

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 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.

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 And the labors of the land failed, because there was no rain: the husbandmen were ashamed, 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 And hinds calved in the field, and forsook [it], because there was no grass.

Even the deer abandons her newborn fawn because there's no grass.

6 The wild asses stood by the forests, and snuffed up the wind; 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 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.

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 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?

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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, 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.

“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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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!

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

Lord, we admit our wickedness, the guilt of our forefathers as well as our own sins against you.

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

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.