Jeremiah 14

1 This is a message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought:

So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah, concerning the matter of the drought: —

2 Judah is in mourning; her towns are wasting away. Her people are weeping for the land, and a cry for help comes from Jerusalem.

Judah mourneth, And the gates thereof, pine They lie in gloom on the ground, —And, the outcry of Jerusalem, hath ascended;

3 Rich people send their servants to get water. They go to the cisterns, but don't find any water. They return with empty jars, disappointed and ashamed, covering their heads.

And, their nobles have sent their menials to the waters, —They have been to the pits, They have found no water They have returned, their vessels empty, They are pale and ashamed and have covered their heads.

4 The ground has dried up because there hasn't been any rain in the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.

Because the ground, is cracked, For there hath been no rain in the land, The plowmen are pale They have covered their heads.

5 Even the deer abandons her newborn fawn because there's no grass.

For, even the hind of the field hath calved and forsaken, Because there is no young herbage;

6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills, panting like jackals. Their eyesight fails because they have nothing to eat.

Yea, wild asses stand still on the bare heights, They pant for air like jackals, —Dimmed are their eyes Because there is no grass.

7 Even though our sins give evidence against us, Lord, please do something for us because of your good nature. Yes, we have rebelled against you so often; we have sinned against you.

Though, our iniquities, have testified against us, O Yahweh, effectually work thou for the sake of thy Name, —For our apostasies have abounded Against thee, have we sinned.

8 You are the hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble. Why do you act like a foreigner in our country, like a traveler who only stays a night?

Thou Hope of Israel, His Saviour in the time of distress, —Wherefore shouldst thou be as a sojourner in the and? Or as a wayfarer, who hath turned aside to lodge for the night?

9 Why do you act like someone caught unawares, like a powerful warrior who can't help? You are here among us, Lord, and we are known as your people. Please don't give up on us!

Wherefore, shouldst thou be as a man astounded, As a mighty man who cannot save? Yet, thou, art in our midst—O Yahweh And, thy Name, on us, hath been called Do not abandon us!

10 This is what the Lord says about his people: They really love to wander away from me—they don't even try to stop themselves. So the Lord refuses to accept them. Now he'll remember their guilty actions and punish them for their sins.

Thus, saith Yahweh To this people In this way, have they loved to wander, Their feet, have they not restrained, —Yahweh, therefore hath not accepted them, Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, —That he may punish their sins.

11 The Lord told me, Don't pray for the welfare of this people.

And Yahweh said unto me, —Do not pray for this people for blessing;

12 Even if they fast, I won't listen to their cry. Even though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. On the contrary I will wipe them out by sword and famine and plague.

Though they fast, I am not going to hearken unto their loud cry, and Though they offer ascending-sacrifice and meal-offering, I am not going to accept them, —For with sword and with famine and with pestilence, am, I, about to consume them.

13 “Oh Lord God!” I answered, “Look what prophets are telling them, claiming to be speaking for you: ‘You won't see war or suffer from famine, but I will give you peace that lasts here in this place.’”

Then said I, Ah, My Lord Yahweh! Lo! the prophets, are saying to them—Ye shall not see the sword And famine, shall ye not have, —For prosperity in truth, will I give you, in this place.

14 The prophets are prophesying lies in my name, replied the Lord. I didn't send them or choose them or speak to them. It's a lying vision, an empty prediction, a deluded, deceitful product of their own minds that they are prophesying to you.

So then Yahweh said unto me, Falsehood, are the prophets prophesying in my name, I have not sent them Neither have I commanded them, Neither have I spoken unto them, —A vision of falsehood, and A divination of worthlessness and A fraud of their own hearts, They, are prophesying unto you.

15 So this is what the Lord says about such prophets who prophesy in my name: I didn't send them, but even so they say, “This country won't suffer war or famine.” These same prophets will die from war or famine!

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my Name though, I, sent them not, and yet, they have been, saying, Neither sword nor famine, shall there be in this land, —By sword or by famine, shall, those prophets, be consumed;

16 The bodies of the people they prophesied to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and war. There won't be anyone to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.

And the people to whom they have been prophesying shall be getting cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and of there being none to give burial unto them, them, their wives, nor their sons nor their daughters, —So will I pour out upon them their own wickedness.

17 This is what you are to tell them: Tears flow from my eyes without stopping day or night, because my people have been crushed by a heavy blow, a really serious wound.

Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word, Let mine eyes, run down with tears night and day, And let them not rest, —For with a grievous injury, hath been injured the virgin the daughter of my people, With a wound, severe indeed!

18 If I go out to the countryside, I see those killed by the sword; if I go into the city, I see those dying by famine. Both prophets and priests wander around the country—they don't know what they're doing.

If I have gone out into the field, Then lo! the slain of the sword! And, if I have entered the city, Then lo! the diseases of famine! For, both prophet and priest, have trafficked against the land unnoticed.

19 Have you really rejected Judah? Do you hate Zion so much? Why have you wounded us so badly that we can't be healed? We hoped for peace, but instead nothing good has come; we hoped for a time of healing, but instead there was only sudden terror.

Hast thou, utterly rejected, Judah? Zion itself, hath thy soul loathed? Why, hast thou smitten us so that there is for us no healing? A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, and For a time of healing, but lo! terror!

20 Lord, we admit our wickedness, the guilt of our forefathers as well as our own sins against you.

We acknowledge O Yahweh Our own lawlessness The iniquity of our fathers, —For we have sinned against thee.

21 Because of your own reputation please don't hate us; don't bring dishonor on your glorious throne. Please remember your agreement with us; don't break it.

Do not despise—for the sake of thy Name, Do not treat with contempt—the throne of thy glory, —Remember!—do not break thy covenant with us.

22 Can the false gods of the other nations bring rain? Can the skies themselves send showers? No, it's you, Lord our God. So we put our hope in you, because only you can do all this.

Are there, among the vanities of the nations senders of rain? Or can, the heavens themselves, give myriad drops? Art not, thou, he, O Yahweh our God? Therefore will we wait for thee, For, thou, hast made all these.