Jeremiah 14
1 So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah, concerning the matter of the drought: —
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when there was no water.
2 Judah mourneth, And the gates thereof, pine They lie in gloom on the ground, —And, the outcry of Jerusalem, hath ascended;
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 nobles have sent their menials to the waters, —They have been to the pits, They have found no water They have returned, their vessels empty, They are pale and ashamed and have covered their heads.
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, is cracked, For there hath been no rain in the land, The plowmen are pale They have covered their heads.
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 hind of the field hath calved and forsaken, Because there is no young herbage;
And the roe, giving birth in the field, lets her young one be uncared for, because there is no grass.
6 Yea, wild asses stand still on the bare heights, They pant for air like jackals, —Dimmed are their eyes Because there is no grass.
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 Though, our iniquities, have testified against us, O Yahweh, effectually work thou for the sake of thy Name, —For our apostasies have abounded Against thee, have we sinned.
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 Thou Hope of Israel, His Saviour in the time of distress, —Wherefore shouldst thou be as a sojourner in the and? Or as a wayfarer, who hath turned aside to lodge for the night?
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 Wherefore, shouldst thou be as a man astounded, As a mighty man who cannot save? Yet, thou, art in our midst—O Yahweh And, thy Name, on us, hath been called Do not abandon 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, saith Yahweh To this people In this way, have they loved to wander, Their feet, have they not restrained, —Yahweh, therefore hath not accepted them, Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, —That he may punish their sins.
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 Yahweh said unto me, —Do not pray for this people for blessing;
And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good.
12 Though they fast, I am not going to hearken unto their loud cry, and Though they offer ascending-sacrifice and meal-offering, I am not going to accept them, —For with sword and with famine and with pestilence, am, I, about to consume them.
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 Then said I, Ah, My Lord Yahweh! Lo! the prophets, are saying to them—Ye shall not see the sword And famine, shall ye not have, —For prosperity in truth, will I give 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 So then Yahweh said unto me, Falsehood, are the prophets prophesying in my name, I have not sent them Neither have I commanded them, Neither have I spoken unto them, —A vision of falsehood, and A divination of worthlessness and A fraud of their own hearts, They, are prophesying unto 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, saith Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my Name though, I, sent them not, and yet, they have been, saying, Neither sword nor famine, shall there be in this land, —By sword or by famine, shall, those prophets, be 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 have been prophesying shall be getting cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and of there being none to give burial unto them, them, their wives, nor their sons nor their daughters, —So will I pour out upon them their own wickedness.
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 Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word, Let mine eyes, run down with tears night and day, And let them not rest, —For with a grievous injury, hath been injured the virgin the daughter of my people, With a wound, severe indeed!
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 out into the field, Then lo! the slain of the sword! And, if I have entered the city, Then lo! the diseases of famine! For, both prophet and priest, have trafficked against the land unnoticed.
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 Hast thou, utterly rejected, Judah? Zion itself, hath thy soul loathed? Why, hast thou smitten us so that there is for us no healing? A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, and For a time of healing, but lo! 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 acknowledge O Yahweh Our own lawlessness The iniquity of our fathers, —For we have sinned against thee.
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 the sake of thy Name, Do not treat with contempt—the throne of thy glory, —Remember!—do not break thy 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, among the vanities of the nations senders of rain? Or can, the heavens themselves, give myriad drops? Art not, thou, he, O Yahweh our God? Therefore will we wait for thee, For, thou, hast made 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.
