Jeremiah 14
14
The Terrible Drought
1The LORD said to me concerning the drought,
2“Judah is in mourning;
its cities are dying,
its people lie on the ground in sorrow,
and Jerusalem cries out for help.
3The rich people send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns,
but find no water;
they come back with their jars empty.
Discouraged and confused,
they hide their faces.
4Because there is no rain
and the ground is dried up,
the farmers are sick at heart;
they hide their faces.
5In the field the mother deer
abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6The wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals;
their eyesight fails them
because they have no food.
7My people cry out to me,
‘Even though our sins accuse us,
help us, LORD, as you have promised.
We have turned away from you many times;
we have sinned against you.
8You are Israel's only hope;
you are the one who saves us from disaster.
Why are you like a stranger in our land,
like a traveller who stays for only one night?
9Why are you like someone taken by surprise,
like a soldier powerless to help?
Surely, LORD, you are with us!
We are your people;
do not abandon us.’ ”
10The LORD says about these people, “They love to run away from me, and they will not control themselves. So I am not pleased with them. I will remember the wrongs they have done and punish them because of their sins.”
11The LORD said to me, “Do not ask me to help these people. 12Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cry for help; and even if they offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not be pleased with them. Instead, I will kill them in war and by starvation and disease.”
13Then I said, “Sovereign LORD, you know that the prophets are telling the people that there will be no war or starvation, because you have promised, they say, that there will be only peace in our land.”
14But the LORD replied, “The prophets are telling lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I give them any orders or speak one word to them. The visions they talk about have not come from me; their predictions are worthless things that they have imagined. 15I, the LORD, tell you what I am going to do to those prophets whom I did not send but who speak in my name and say war and starvation will not strike this land — I will kill them in war and by starvation. 16The people to whom they have said these things will be killed in the same way. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to all of them — including their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will make them pay for their wickedness.”
17The LORD commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say:
“May my eyes flow with tears day and night,
may I never stop weeping,
for my people are deeply wounded
and are badly hurt.
18When I go out into the fields,
I see the bodies of men killed in war;
when I go into the towns,
I see people starving to death.
Prophets and priests carry on their work,
but they don't know what they are doing.”#14.18 Prophets… doing; or Prophets and priests have been dragged away to a land they know nothing about.
The People Plead with the LORD
19 LORD, have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you hate the people of Zion?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be healed?
We looked for peace, but nothing good happened;
we hoped for healing, but terror came instead.
20We have sinned against you, LORD;
we confess our own sins
and the sins of our ancestors.
21Remember your promises and do not despise us;
do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem,
the place of your glorious throne.
Do not break the covenant you made with us.
22None of the idols of the nations can send rain;
the sky by itself cannot make showers fall.
We have put our hope in you, O LORD our God,
because you are the one who does these things.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 14
14
A Time Without Rain
1These are the words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah about the time when there was no rain:
2“The nation of Judah cries.
Her cities are dying.
They cry out for the land.
A cry goes up to God from Jerusalem.
3The important men send their servants to get water.
The servants go to the wells,
but they find no water.
So they return with empty jars.
They are ashamed and embarrassed.
They cover their heads in shame.
4The ground is dry and cracked open
because no rain falls on the land.
The farmers are upset and sad.
So they cover their heads in shame.
5Even the mother deer in the field
leaves her fawn.
She does this because there is no grass.
6Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills.
They sniff the wind like wild dogs.
But their eyes are dull because
there is no food.”
7We know that we suffer because of our sins.
Lord, do something to help us for the good of your name.
We have left you many times.
We have sinned against you.
8God, you are the Hope of Israel.
You have saved Israel in times of trouble.
But now you are like a stranger in the land.
You are like a traveler who only stays one night.
9You seem like a man who has been attacked by surprise.
You seem like a warrior who is not able to save anyone.
But you are among us, Lord.
And we are called by your name.
So don’t leave us without help!
10This is what the Lord says about the people of Judah:
“They really love to wander from me.
They don’t stop themselves from leaving me.
So now I, the Lord, will not accept them.
I will now remember the evil they do.
I will punish them for their sins.”
11Then the Lord said this to me: “Don’t pray for good things to happen to the people of Judah. 12Even if they give up eating, I will not listen to their prayers. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. I will destroy the people of Judah with war, hunger and terrible diseases.”
13But I said, “Oh! Lord God, the false prophets keep telling the people something different! They are saying, ‘You will not suffer from an enemy’s sword. You will never suffer from hunger. The Lord will give you peace in this land.’”
14Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them. I did not appoint them or speak to them. They have been prophesying false visions, idolatries and worthless magic. And they have been prophesying their own wishful thinking. 15So this is what I say about the prophets who are prophesying in my name. I did not send them. They said, ‘No enemy with swords will ever attack this country. There will never be hunger in this land.’ Those prophets will die from hunger. And an enemy’s sword will kill them. 16And the people the prophets spoke to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem. They will die from hunger and from an enemy’s sword. No one will be there to bury them. And no one will bury their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will punish them.
17“Speak this message to the people of Judah:
‘Let my eyes be filled with tears.
I will cry night and day, without stopping.
I will cry for my people.
They have received a terrible blow.
They have been hurt very badly.
18If I go into the country,
I see people killed by swords.
If I go into the city,
I see much sickness because the people have no food.
Both the priests and the prophets
have been taken to a foreign land.’”
19Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?
Do you hate Jerusalem?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be made well again?
We hoped for peace,
but nothing good has come.
We looked for a time of healing,
but only terror came.
20Lord, we admit that we are very wicked.
We admit that our ancestors did evil things.
We have sinned against you.
21For your sake, do not hate us.
Do not take away the honor from your glorious throne.
Remember your agreement with us.
Do not break it.
22Do foreign idols have the power to bring rain?
Does the sky itself have the power to send down showers of rain?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
You are our only hope.
You are the one who made all these things.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.