Jeremiah 14
14
Judah’s Terrible Drought
1This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord, explaining why he was holding back the rain:
2“Judah wilts;
commerce at the city gates grinds to a halt.
All the people sit on the ground in mourning,
and a great cry rises from Jerusalem.
3The nobles send servants to get water,
but all the wells are dry.
The servants return with empty pitchers,
confused and desperate,
covering their heads in grief.
4The ground is parched
and cracked for lack of rain.
The farmers are deeply troubled;
they, too, cover their heads.
5Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass in the field.
6The wild donkeys stand on the bare hills
panting like thirsty jackals.
They strain their eyes looking for grass,
but there is none to be found.”
7The people say, “Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord,
but help us for the sake of your own reputation.
We have turned away from you
and sinned against you again and again.
8O Hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble,
why are you like a stranger to us?
Why are you like a traveler passing through the land,
stopping only for the night?
9Are you also confused?
Is our champion helpless to save us?
You are right here among us, Lord.
We are known as your people.
Please don’t abandon us now!”
10So this is what the Lord says to his people:
“You love to wander far from me
and do not restrain yourselves.
Therefore, I will no longer accept you as my people.
Now I will remember all your wickedness
and will punish you for your sins.”
The Lord Forbids Jeremiah to Intercede
11Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for these people anymore. 12When they fast, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.”
13Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, their prophets are telling them, ‘All is well—no war or famine will come. The Lord will surely send you peace.’”
14Then the Lord said, “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts. 15Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come, but they themselves will die by war and famine! 16As for the people to whom they prophesy—their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one left to bury them. Husbands, wives, sons, and daughters—all will be gone. For I will pour out their own wickedness on them. 17Now, Jeremiah, say this to them:
“Night and day my eyes overflow with tears.
I cannot stop weeping,
for my virgin daughter—my precious people—
has been struck down
and lies mortally wounded.
18If I go out into the fields,
I see the bodies of people slaughtered by the enemy.
If I walk the city streets,
I see people who have died of starvation.
The prophets and priests continue with their work,
but they don’t know what they’re doing.”
A Prayer for Healing
19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you really hate Jerusalem?#14:19 Hebrew Zion?
Why have you wounded us past all hope of healing?
We hoped for peace, but no peace came.
We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.
20 Lord, we confess our wickedness
and that of our ancestors, too.
We all have sinned against you.
21For the sake of your reputation, Lord, do not abandon us.
Do not disgrace your own glorious throne.
Please remember us,
and do not break your covenant with us.
22Can any of the worthless foreign gods send us rain?
Does it fall from the sky by itself?
No, you are the one, O Lord our God!
Only you can do such things.
So we will wait for you to help us.
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Jeremiah 14
14
Jeremiah 14
1¶ The word of the Lord that was given to Jeremiah concerning the famine.
2Judah mourns, and its gates languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads.
4Because the ground is chapped, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5Even the hind calved in the field and forsook it, because there was no grass.
6And the wild asses stood in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes failed because there was no grass.
7O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do it for thy name’s sake; for our rebellions have multiplied; we have sinned against thee.
8O the hope of Israel, the Keeper thereof in time of trouble, why should thou be as a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night?
9Why should thou be as a speechless man as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; do not leave us.
10¶ Thus hath the Lord said unto this people, Thus have they loved to move, nor have they refrained their feet; therefore the Lord does not have them in his will; he will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins.
11Then the Lord said unto me, Do not pray for this people for their good.
12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by sword and by famine and by pestilence.
13Then I said, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you true peace in this place.
14Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither did I speak unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision, divination, vanity, and the deceit of their heart.
15Therefore thus hath the Lord said concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name which I did not send and that say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have no one to bury them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters; for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
17¶ Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
18If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold those that are sick with famine! for both the prophet and the priest walked around in circles in the land, and they did not know it.
19Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? Hath thy soul loathed Zion? Why didst thou cause us to be smitten when no healing remains for us? We waited for peace, and there was no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
20We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against thee.
21Do not cast us away; for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory; remember, do not break thy covenant with us.
22Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause it to rain? or can the heavens give rain? art not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee, for thou hast made all these things.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International