Jeremiah 14
14
The Land Dries Up
1When there had been no rain for a long time, the Lord told me to say to the people:
2Judah and Jerusalem weep
as the land dries up.
3Rulers send their servants
to the storage pits for water.#14.3 storage pits for water: Since water was scarce, pits were dug into solid rock for collecting and storing rainwater. These pits were called “cisterns.”
But there's none to be found;
they return in despair
with their jars still empty.
4There has been no rain,
and farmers feel sick
as they watch cracks appear
in the dry ground.#14.4 cracks … ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
5A deer gives birth in a field,
then abandons her newborn fawn
and leaves in search of grass.
6Wild donkeys go blind
from starvation.
So they stand on barren hilltops
and sniff the air,#14.6 sniff the air: The Hebrew text has “sniff the air, like jackals” (see the note at 9.11).
hoping to smell green grass.
The Lord's People Pray
7We rejected you and did evil,
so we deserve to be punished.
But if you rescue us, Lord,
everyone will see
how great you are.
8You're our only hope;
you alone can save us now.
You help us one day,
but you're gone the next.
9Did this disaster
take you by surprise?
Are you a warrior
with your hands tied?
You have chosen us,
and your temple is here.
Don't abandon us!
The Lord's Answer
10My people,
you love to wander away;
you don't even try
to stay close to me.
So now I will reject you
and punish you for your sins.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
Lying Prophets
11The Lord said, “Jeremiah, don't ask me to help these people. 12They may even go without eating#14.12 go without eating: The people of Israel sometimes went without eating to show sorrow for their sins. and offer sacrifices to please me#14.12 sacrifices to please me: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “whole burnt offerings” because the whole animal was burned on the altar. A main purpose of such sacrifices was to please the Lord with the smell of the sacrifice, and so in the CEV they are sometimes called “sacrifices to please the Lord.” and to give thanks.#14.12 sacrifices … to give thanks: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “grain offerings.” A main purpose of such sacrifices was to thank the Lord with a gift of grain, and so in the CEV they are sometimes called “sacrifices to give thanks to the Lord.” But when they cry out for my help, I won't listen, and I won't accept their sacrifices. Instead, I'll send war, starvation, and disease to wipe them out.”
13I replied, “The other prophets keep telling everyone that you won't send starvation or war, and that you're going to give us peace.”
14The Lord answered:
They claim to speak for me, but they're lying! I didn't even speak to them, much less choose them to be my prophets. Their messages come from worthless dreams, useless fortunetelling, and their own imaginations.
15Those lying prophets say there will be peace and plenty of food. But I say that those same prophets will die from war and hunger. 16And everyone who listens to them will be killed, just as they deserve. Their dead bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, because their families will also be dead, and no one will be left to bury them.#14.16 dead bodies … bury them: A proper burial was considered very important.
17Jeremiah, go and tell the people how you feel about all this.
So I told them:
“Tears will flood my eyes
both day and night,
because my nation suffers
from a deadly wound.
18In the fields I see the bodies
of those killed in battle.
And in the towns I see crowds
dying of hunger.
But the prophets and priests
go about their business,
without understanding
what has happened.”#14.18 go about … has happened: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Jeremiah Prays to the Lord
19Have you rejected Judah, Lord?
Do you hate Jerusalem?
Why did you strike down Judah
with a fatal wound?
We had hoped for peace
and a time of healing,
but all we got was terror.
20We and our ancestors are guilty
of rebelling against you.
21If you save us, it will show
how great you are.
Don't let our enemies
disgrace your temple,
your beautiful throne.
Don't forget that you promised
to rescue us.
22Idols can't send rain,
and showers don't fall
by themselves.
Only you control the rain,
so we put our trust in you,
the Lord our God.
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Jeremiah 14: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 14
14
Famine, Sword, and Pestilence
1The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning #ch. 17:8the drought:
2 #
Lam. 1:4 “Judah mourns,
and #Isa. 3:26; [Lam. 2:8] her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
and #[1 Sam. 5:12]the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
they return with their vessels empty;
they are #Ps. 40:14 ashamed and confounded
and #[2 Sam. 15:30]cover their heads.
4Because of the ground that is dismayed,
since there is #ch. 3:3no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
5Even #Job 39:1; Ps. 29:9the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 # ch. 2:24 The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no vegetation.
7“Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, #ver. 21; Ps. 25:11 for your name’s sake;
# ch. 2:19 for our backslidings are many;
# ver. 20 we have sinned against you.
8 # ch. 17:13; 50:7; Ps. 71:5 O you hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9Why should you be like a man confused,
# [Isa. 59:1] like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet #[Ex. 29:45] you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and #Dan. 9:18; [Eph. 3:15] we are called by your name;
#
Ps. 119:121
do not leave us.”
10Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
they have not restrained their feet;
#
Hos. 8:13 therefore the Lord does not accept them;
#
Hos. 9:9
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”
11The Lord said to me: #See ch. 7:16“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, #Prov. 1:28; Isa. 1:15; Ezek. 8:18; Mic. 3:4; See ch. 6:20 and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them #ch. 16:4; 24:10; 32:24; Ezek. 14:21by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
Lying Prophets
13Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets #[ch. 4:10; 6:14]say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” 14And the Lord said to me: “The #See ch. 5:31 prophets are prophesying lies in my name. #ch. 23:21; 27:15; Deut. 18:20; [Matt. 7:15; Mark 13:22] I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, #Ezek. 13:6; [ch. 27:9; 29:8] worthless divination, and #ch. 23:26the deceit of their own minds. 15Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although #[See ver. 14 above] I did not send them, and who say, #[See ver. 12 above] ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: #[ch. 23:34]By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, #Ps. 79:3with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.
17“You shall say to them this word:
# See ch. 13:17 ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin #See ch. 8:21 daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
# ch. 10:19; 30:12 with a very grievous blow.
18 #
Ezek. 7:15 If I go out into the field,
behold, those pierced by the sword!
#
Ezek. 7:15 And if I enter the city,
behold, the diseases of famine!
# [ch. 5:31] For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
and have no knowledge.’”
19 #
Lam. 5:22 Have you utterly rejected Judah?
Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
# [ch. 15:18] so that there is no healing for us?
# ch. 8:15 We looked for peace, but no good came;
# ch. 8:15 for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
20 # [Ps. 106:6; Dan. 9:5, 8] We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
and the iniquity of our fathers,
# [Ps. 106:6; Dan. 9:5, 8] for we have sinned against you.
21Do not spurn us, #ver. 7 for your name’s sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
#
Lev. 26:42; Ps. 106:45 remember and do not break your covenant with us.
22Are there any among #ch. 10:15; [Deut. 32:21] the false gods of the nations #Job 28:26; 38:26, 28; Zech. 10:1, 2 that can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
#
Job 12:9; Isa. 66:2 for you do all these things.
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