Jeremiah 14

¹Jeremiah 14:1. This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:²Jeremiah 14:2. “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.³Jeremiah 14:3. The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.⁴Jeremiah 14:4. The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.⁵Jeremiah 14:5. Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.⁶Jeremiah 14:6. Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”⁷Jeremiah 14:7. Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.⁸Jeremiah 14:8. O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night?⁹Jeremiah 14:9. Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? Yet You are among us, O LORD, and we are called by Your name. Do not forsake us!¹⁰Jeremiah 14:10. This is what the LORD says about this people: “Truly they love to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember their iniquity and punish them for their sins.”

¹¹Jeremiah 14:11. Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.¹²Jeremiah 14:12. Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”¹³Jeremiah 14:13. “Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”¹⁴Jeremiah 14:14. “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.¹⁵Jeremiah 14:15. Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end!¹⁶Jeremiah 14:16. And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them.

¹⁷Jeremiah 14:17. You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.¹⁸Jeremiah 14:18. If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”¹⁹Jeremiah 14:19. Have You rejected Judah completely? Do You despise Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We hoped for peace, but no good has come, and for the time of healing, but there was only terror.²⁰Jeremiah 14:20. We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.²¹Jeremiah 14:21. For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.²²Jeremiah 14:22. Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.