Jeremiah 14

1 That which has been the word of YHWH to Jeremiah concerning the matters of the scarcities:

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when there was no water.

2 “Judah has mourned, and her gates have languished, They have mourned to the earth, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

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.

3 And their majestic ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come to ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back—their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head.

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.

4 Because the ground has been broken, For there has been no rain in the land, Farmers have been ashamed, They have covered their head.

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.

5 For even the doe in the field has brought forth—to forsake [it!] For there has been no grass.

And the roe, giving birth in the field, lets her young one be uncared for, because there is no grass.

6 And wild donkeys have stood on high places, They have swallowed up wind like dragons, Their eyes have been consumed, for there is no herb.”

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.

7 Surely our iniquities have testified against us, O YHWH, work for Your Name’s sake, For our backslidings have been many, We have sinned against You.

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.

8 O Hope of Israel—its Savior in time of trouble, Why are You as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveler turned aside to lodge?

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?

9 Why are You as one mute? As a mighty one not able to save? And You [are] in our midst, O YHWH, And Your Name is called over us, Do not leave us.

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.

10 Thus said YHWH concerning this people: “They have loved to wander well, They have not restrained their feet, And YHWH has not accepted them, Now He remembers their iniquity, And inspects their sin.”

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.

11 And YHWH says to me: “You do not pray for this people for good.

And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good.

12 When they fast, I do not listen to their cry, and when they cause burnt-offering and present to ascend, I do not accept them; for I am consuming them by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence.”

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.

13 And I say, “Aah! Lord YHWH, behold, the prophets are saying to them: You do not see a sword, indeed, famine is not [on] you, for I give true peace to you in this place.”

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.

14 And YHWH says to me: “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My Name. I did not send them, nor command them, nor have I spoken to them. A false vision, and divination, and vanity—indeed, they are prophesying the deceit of their own heart to you.

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.

15 Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My Name and I have not sent them, and they are saying, Sword and famine is not in this land: By sword and by famine are these prophets consumed.

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.

16 And the people to whom they are prophesying are cast into out-places of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword, and they have none burying them—them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters—and I have poured out their evil on them.

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.

17 And you have said this word to them: Tears come down my eyes night and day, And they do not cease, For [with] a great breach, The virgin daughter of my people has been broken, A very grievous stroke.

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.

18 If I have gone forth to the field, Then, behold, the pierced of the sword! And if I have entered the city, Then, behold, the diseased of famine! For both prophet and priest have gone up and down To a land that they did not know.”

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.

19 Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You struck us, And there is no healing to us? Looking for peace, and there is no good, And for a time of healing, and behold, terror.

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.

20 We have known, O YHWH, our wickedness, The iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against You.

We are conscious, O Lord, of our sin and of the wrongdoing of our fathers: we have done evil against you.

21 Do not despise, for Your Name’s sake, Do not dishonor the throne of Your glory, Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.

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.

22 Are there any among the vanities of the nations causing rain? And do the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O our God YHWH? And we wait for you, for You have done all these!

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.