Jeremias 14

1 AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JEREMIAS CONCERNING THE DROUGHT.

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when there was no water.

2 Judea has mourned, and her gates are emptied, and are darkened upon the earth; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

Judah is weeping and its doors are dark with sorrow, and people are seated on the earth clothed in black; and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

3 And her nobles have sent their little ones to the water: they came to the wells, and found no water: and brought back their vessels empty.

Their great men have sent their servants for water: they come to the holes and there is no water to be seen; they come back with nothing in their vessels; they are overcome with shame and fear, covering their heads.

4 And the labors of the land failed, because there was no rain: the husbandmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

Those who do work on the land are in fear, for there has been no rain on the land, and the farmers are shamed, covering their heads.

5 And hinds calved in the field, and forsook [it], because there was no grass.

And the roe, giving birth in the field, lets her young one be uncared for, because there is no grass.

6 The wild asses stood by the forests, and snuffed up the wind; their eyes failed, because there was no grass.

And the asses of the field on the open hilltops are opening their mouths wide like jackals to get air; their eyes are hollow because there is no grass.

7 Our sins have risen up against us: O Lord, do you for us for your own sake; for our sins are many before you; for we have sinned against you.

Though our sins give witness against us, do something, O Lord, for the honour of your name: for again and again we have been turned away from you, we have done evil against you.

8 O Lord, [you are] the hope of Israel, and deliver [us] in time of troubles; why are you become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting-place?

O you hope of Israel, its saviour in time of trouble, why are you like one who is strange in the land, and like a traveller putting up his tent for a night?

9 Will you be as a man asleep, or as a [strong] man that can’t save? yet you are among us, O Lord, and your name is called upon us; forget us not.

Why are you like a man surprised, like a man of war who is not able to give help? but you, O Lord, are with us, and we are named by your name; do not go away from us.

10 Thus says the Lord to this people, They have loved to wander, and they have not spared, therefore God has not prospered them; now will he remember their iniquity.

This is what the Lord has said about this people: Even so they have been glad to go from the right way; they have not kept their feet from wandering, so the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep their wrongdoing in mind and send punishment for their sins.

11 And the Lord said to me, Pray not for this people for [their] good:

And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good.

12 for though they fast, I will not hear their supplication; and though they offer whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, I will take no pleasure in them: for I will consume them with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence.

When they go without food, I will not give ear to their cry; when they give burned offerings and meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: but I will put an end to them by the sword and by need of food and by disease.

13 And I said, O [ever] living Lord! behold, their prophets prophesy, and say, You shall not see a sword, nor shall famine be among you; for I will give truth and peace on the land, and in this place.

Then I said, Ah, Lord God! see, the prophets say to them, You will not see the sword or be short of food; but I will give you certain peace in this place.

14 Then the Lord said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, and I commanded them not, and I spoke not to them: for they prophesy to you false visions, and divinations, and auguries, and devices of their own heart.

Then the Lord said to me, The prophets say false words in my name, and I gave them no orders, and I said nothing to them: what they say to you is a false vision and wonder-working words without substance, the deceit of their hearts.

15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy lies in my name, and I sent them not, who say, Sword and famine shall not be upon this land; they shall die by a grievous death, and the prophets shall be consumed by famine.

So this is what the Lord has said about the prophets who make use of my name, though I sent them not, and say, The sword and need of food will not be in this land: the sword and need of food will put an end to those prophets.

16 And the people to whom they prophesy, they also shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the sword and famine; and there shall be none to bury them: their wives also, and their sons, and their daughters [shall die thus]; and I will pour out their wickedness upon them.

And the people to whom they are prophets will be pushed out dead into the streets of Jerusalem, because there is no food, and because of the sword; and they will have no one to put their bodies into the earth, them or their wives or their sons or their daughters: for I will let loose their evil-doing on them.

17 And you shall speak this word to them; Let your eyes shed tears day and night, and let them not cease: for the daughter of my people has been sorely bruised, and her plague is very grievous.

And you are to say this word to them, Let my eyes be streaming with water night and day, and let it not be stopped; for the virgin daughter of my people is wounded with a great wound, with a very bitter blow.

18 If I go forth into the plain, then behold the slain by the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold the distress of famine! for priest and prophet have gone to a land which they knew not.

If I go out into the open country, there are those put to death by the sword! and if I go into the town, there are those who are diseased from need of food! for the prophet and the priest go about in the land and have no knowledge.

19 Hast you utterly rejected Juda? and has your soul departed from Sion? therefore has you struck us, and there is no healing for us? we waited for peace, but there was no prosperity; for a time of healing, and behold trouble!

Have you completely given up Judah? is your soul turned in disgust from Zion? why have you given us blows from which there is no one to make us well? we were looking for peace, but no good came; and for a time of well-being, but there was only a great fear.

20 We know, O Lord, our sins, [and] the iniquities of our fathers: for we have sinned before you.

We are conscious, O Lord, of our sin and of the wrongdoing of our fathers: we have done evil against you.

21 Refrain for your name's sake, destroy not the throne of your glory: remember, break not your covenant with us.

Do not be turned from us in disgust, because of your name; do not put shame on the seat of your glory: keep us in mind, let not your agreement with us be broken.

22 Is there any one among the idols of the Gentiles that can give rain? and will the sky yield his fulness [at their bidding]? Are not you he? we will even wait on you, O Lord: for you have made all these things.

Are any of the false gods of the nations able to make rain come? are the heavens able to give showers? are you not he, O Lord our God? so we will go on waiting for you, for you have done all these things.