Jeremiah 14
14
The LORD Sends a Drought
1The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah about the drought.
2Judah mourns; its gates fall apart.
The people of Judah sit in mourning on the ground.
Their cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3Important people send their assistants out for water.
They go to the cisterns, but they don’t find any water.
They come back with their containers empty.
They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.
4The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads.
5Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young
because there’s no grass.
6Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills.
They sniff the air like jackals.
Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants.
7Do something, Lord, for the sake of your name,
even though our sins testify against us.
We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you.
8You are Israel’s hope,
the one who saves it in times of trouble.
Why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only one night?
9Why should you be like someone taken by surprise,
like a strong man who cannot help?
You, O Lord, are among us.
We are called by your name.
Don’t leave us!
10This is what the Lord says about these people: They love to wander. They don’t keep their feet where they belong. So the Lord isn’t happy with them. He will remember their crimes and punish their sins.
11The Lord said to me, “Don’t pray for the good of these people. 12Even if they go without food, I won’t listen to their cries for help. Even if they sacrifice burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won’t be pleased with them. But I will destroy these people with wars, famines, and plagues.”
13Then I said, “Almighty Lord, prophets are saying to them, ‘You won’t see wars or famines, because I, the Lord, will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”
14Then the Lord told me, “These are the lies that the prophets are telling in my name: They claim that I sent them, commanded them, and spoke to them. They dreamed up the visions they tell you. Their predictions are worthless. They are the products of their own imagination.
15“I didn’t send these prophets. Yet, they prophesy in my name that there will be no wars or famines in this land. So this is what I, the Lord, say about them: Wars and famines will bring an end to these prophets. 16The people they prophesy to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem. They will be victims of famines and wars. No one will bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour on them the destruction that they deserve.
17“Say this to them:
‘My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping
because my dear people will suffer massive destruction.
It will be a very serious blow.’ ”
18If I go to the field, I see those killed because of war.
If I go to the city, I see those sick because of famine.
Prophets and priests wander through a land they haven’t heard of.
19Have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you struck us so hard that we cannot heal?
We hope for peace, but no good comes from it.
We hope for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
20O Lord, we realize our wickedness
and the wrongs done by our ancestors.
We have sinned against you.
21For the sake of your name, don’t despise us.
Don’t dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your promise #14:21 Or “covenant.” to us; don’t break it.
22The worthless gods of the nations can’t make it rain.
By themselves, the skies can’t give showers.
But you can, O Lord our God.
We have hope in you because you do all these things.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 14
14
1The word of the Lord that came to Jeremias, concerning the words of the drought.
2Judea hath mourned, and the gates thereof are fallen and are become obscure on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3The great ones sent their inferiors to the water: they came to draw, they found no water, they carried back their vessels empty: they were confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads.
4For the destruction of the land, because there came no rain upon the earth, the husbandmen were confounded: they covered their heads.
5Yea, the hind also brought forth in the field, and left it, because there was no grass.
6And the wild asses stood upon the rocks, they snuffed up the wind like dragons: their eyes failed, because there was no grass.
7If our iniquities have testified against us, O Lord, do thou it for thy name's sake, for our rebellions are many: we have sinned against thee.
8O expectation of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble: Why wilt thou be a stranger in the land and as a wayfaring man turning in to lodge?
9Why wilt thou be as a wandering man, as a mighty man that cannot save? But thou, O Lord, art among us, and thy name is called upon by us: forsake us not.
10Thus saith the Lord to his people that have loved to move their feet and have not rested and have not pleased the Lord: He will now remember their iniquities and visit their sins.
11And the Lord said to me: Pray not for this people for their good.
12When they fast, I will not hear their prayers: and if they offer holocausts and victims, I will not receive them: for I will consume them by the sword and by famine and by the pestilence.
13And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, the prophets say to them: You shall not see the sword, and there shall be no famine among you, but he will give you true peace in this place.
14And the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy falsely in my name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them: they prophesy unto you a lying vision and divination and deceit and the seduction of their own heart.
15Therefore, thus saith the Lord, concerning the prophets that prophecy in my name, whom I did not send, 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 prophecy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them, they and their wives, their sons and their daughters. And I will pour out their wickedness upon them.
17And thou shalt speak this word to them: Let my eyes shed down tears night and day and let them not cease, because the virgin daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction, with an exceeding grievous evil.
18If I go forth into the fields behold the slain with the sword: and if I enter into the city, behold them that are consumed with famine. The prophet also and the priest are gone into a land which they knew not.
19Hast thou utterly cast away Juda, or hath thy soul abhorred Sion? Why then hast thou struck us, so that there is no healing for us? We have looked for peace, and there is no good: and for the time of healing, and, behold, trouble.
20We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, the iniquities of our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
21Give us not to be a reproach, for thy name's sake, and do not disgrace in us the throne of thy glory. Remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22Are there any among the graven things of the Gentiles that can send rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou the Lord our God, whom we have looked for? For thou hast made all these things.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.