Jeremiah 14
1 That which has been the word of YHWH to Jeremiah concerning the matters of the scarcities:
This is a message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought:
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 in mourning; her towns are wasting away. Her people are weeping for the land, and a cry for help comes from Jerusalem.
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.
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 Because the ground has been broken, For there has been no rain in the land, Farmers have been ashamed, They have covered their head.
The ground has dried up because there hasn't been any rain in the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.
5 For even the doe in the field has brought forth—to forsake [it!] For there has been no grass.
Even the deer abandons her newborn fawn because there's 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.”
Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills, panting like jackals. Their eyesight fails because they have nothing to eat.
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.
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 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?
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 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 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 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 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 YHWH says to me: “You do not pray for this people for good.
The Lord told me, Don't pray for the welfare of this people.
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.”
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 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.”
“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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 have known, O YHWH, our wickedness, The iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against You.
Lord, we admit our wickedness, the guilt of our forefathers as well as our own sins 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.
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 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!
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.
