Jeremiah 14:7-21

Our guilty sins cry out against us; in our rebellion, time and time again, we have sinned against you. YAHWEH, do something to help us, for the sake of your honor. O Hope of Israel, Our only deliverer in time of trouble, why do you act like some stranger in the land, like an uninterested traveler who stops only for the night? You are a mighty warrior! Why are you acting like a man overcome with weakness, like someone who can’t save us? Yet here you are, dwelling among us, YAHWEH. You’ve attached your name to us. Don’t leave us now! Then YAHWEH spoke to me concerning these people: “They love to go astray, and they find such pleasure in their wandering. Therefore, I no longer find pleasure in them. Now I will remember all the evil they have done and punish their sins.” And YAHWEH said to me, “Don’t intercede on behalf of these people! They can fast and pray all they want, but I still won’t listen to their cry. Neither will I accept their burnt offerings and meal offerings that they present to me. I will destroy them by war, food shortages, and plague.” I said, “But Lord YAHWEH! The prophets are prophesying: ‘You won’t experience war; neither will food shortages come upon you. God will protect you securely in this place.’ ” Then YAHWEH replied: “The prophets are using my name to lie to the people. I’ve not sent them or commissioned them. I’ve not spoken a word to them. They prophesy false promises and speak of an imaginary future—things they have made up in their minds. This is what I, YAHWEH, am going to do to those lying prophets. They claim to speak in my name although I did not send them, and they say that there will be no war or food shortages in this land. Therefore, it is by war and food shortages that I will kill them. And those who foolishly believed these prophecies will meet the same end. They will all die from war and food shortages, along with their wives and sons and daughters. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, with no one to bury them. For I will bring evil to them as they have been evil.” “So, Jeremiah, speak your message of sorrow over them: “ ‘My eyes gush with tears day and night. I can’t stop weeping over all that my people have suffered. For my beloved people have suffered a great wound and are left grievously injured. They are as precious to me as a young daughter. If I go into the countryside— there they lie, slain by the sword. If I enter the city— there they lie, sick and starving. Both prophet and priest wander throughout the land, with no revelation to share.’ ” Lord, have you completely rejected Judah? Does your soul really despise Zion? Why have you crushed us so that we can’t be healed? We longed for peace and happiness, but nothing good ever came. We longed for a time of healing, and we find a time of terror instead. YAHWEH, we acknowledge our wickedness before you— we have sinned against you, just like our fathers did. For the sake of your great name, do not disown us; do not dishonor Jerusalem, that glorious place from which you rule. Don’t break your promise; remember your covenant with us.