Jeremiah 14
14
1 THE WORD of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 Judah mourns and her gates languish; [her people] sit in black [mourning garb] upon the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3 And their nobles send their little ones and their inferiors for water; they come to the cisterns and find no water. They return with empty vessels; they are put to shame and confounded and cover their heads.
4 Because the ground is cracked and the tillers are dismayed, since there has been no rain on the land, the plowmen are put to shame, and they cover their heads.
5 Yes, even the hind gives birth to her calf in the field and forsakes it, because there is no grass or herbage.
6 And the wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals or crocodiles; their eyesight fails because there is no grass.
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us [prays Jeremiah], deal and work with us for Your own name's sake [that the heathen may witness Your might and faithfulness]! For our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.
8 O Hope of Israel, her Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a sojourner in the land and like a wayfaring man who turns aside and spreads his tent to tarry [only] for a night?
9 Why should You be [hesitant and inactive] like a man stunned and confused, like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by Your name; do not leave us!
10 [And the Lord replied to Jeremiah] Thus says the Lord to this people [Judah]: In the manner and to the degree already pointed out have they loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now [seriously] remember their iniquity and punish them for their sins.
11 The Lord said to me, Do not pray for this people for their good.
12 Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offering and cereal offering [without heartfelt surrender to Me, or by offering it too late], I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
13 Then said I, Alas, Lord God! Behold, the [false] prophets say to them, You will not see the sword, nor will you have famine; but I [the Lord] will give you assured peace (peace that lasts, the peace of truth) in this place.
14 Then the Lord said to me, The [false] prophets prophesy lies in My name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false or pretended vision, a worthless divination [conjuring or practicing magic, trying to call forth the responses supposed to be given by idols], and the deceit of their own minds.
15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the [false] prophets who prophesy in My name–although I did not send them–and who say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they shall have none to bury them–them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon them [and not on their false teachers only, for the people could not have been deceived except by their own consent].
17 Therefore [Jeremiah] you shall say to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people has been smitten with a great wound, with a very grievous blow.
18 If I go out into the field, then behold, those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, then behold, those tormented with the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest go about not knowing what to do or as beggars [exiled] in a land that they know not, and they have no knowledge.
19 [O Lord] have You utterly rejected Judah? Do You loathe Zion? Why have You smitten us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace and completeness, but no good came, and for a time of healing, but behold, dismay, disaster, and terror!
20 We know and acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor, condemn, and spurn us, for Your name's sake; do not dishonor, debase, and lightly esteem Your glorious throne; [earnestly] remember, break not Your covenant or solemn pledge with us.
22 Are there any among the false gods of the nations who can cause rain? Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers? Are You [alone] not He, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait [expectantly] for You, for You have made all these things [the heavens and the rain].
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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 with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. 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.