Jeremiah 14:1–15:9

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

14The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning ^ythe drought:

^2z“Judah mourns,

and ^aher gates languish;

her people lament on the ground,

and ^bthe cry of Jerusalem goes up.

³Her nobles send their servants for water;

they come to the cisterns;

they find no water;

they return with their vessels empty;

they are ^cashamed and confounded

and ^dcover their heads.

⁴Because of the ground that is dismayed,

since there is ^eno rain on the land,

the farmers are ashamed;

they cover their heads.

⁵Even ^fthe doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.

^6gThe wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;

they pant for air like jackals;

their eyes fail

because there is no vegetation.

⁷“Though our iniquities testify against us,

act, O Lord, ^hfor your name’s sake;

ⁱfor our backslidings are many;

^jwe have sinned against you.

^8kO you hope of Israel,

its savior in time of trouble,

why should you be like a stranger in the land,

like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?

⁹Why should you be like a man confused,

^llike a mighty warrior who cannot save?

Yet ^myou, O Lord, are in the midst of us,

and ⁿwe are called by your name;

^odo not leave us.”

¹⁰Thus says the Lord concerning this people:

“They have loved to wander thus;

they have not restrained their feet;

^ptherefore the Lord does not accept them;

^qnow he will remember their iniquity

and punish their sins.”

¹¹The Lord said to me: ^r“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. ¹²Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, ^sand though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them ^tby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Lying Prophets

¹³Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^usay to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ” ¹⁴And the Lord said to me: “The ^vprophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^wI did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^xworthless divination, and ^ythe deceit of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^wI did not send them, and who say, ^t‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^zBy sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. ¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, ^awith none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

¹⁷“You shall say to them this word:

^b‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,

and let them not cease,

for the virgin ^cdaughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,

^dwith a very grievous blow.

^18eIf I go out into the field,

behold, those pierced by the sword!

^eAnd if I enter the city,

behold, the diseases of famine!

^fFor both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land

and have no knowledge.’ ”

^19gHave you utterly rejected Judah?

Does your soul loathe Zion?

Why have you struck us down

^hso that there is no healing for us?

ⁱWe looked for peace, but no good came;

ⁱfor a time of healing, but behold, terror.

^20jWe acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,

and the iniquity of our fathers,

^jfor we have sinned against you.

²¹Do not spurn us, ^kfor your name’s sake;

do not dishonor your glorious throne;

^lremember and do not break your covenant with us.

²²Are there any among ^mthe false gods of the nations ⁿthat can bring rain?

Or can the heavens give showers?

Are you not he, O Lord our God?

We set our hope on you,

^ofor you do all these things.

The Lord Will Not Relent

15Then the Lord said to me, ^p“Though ^qMoses ^rand Samuel ^sstood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! ²And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^t“ ‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,

and those who are for the sword, to the sword;

those who are for famine, to famine,

and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

^3uI will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and ^vthe birds of the air ^wand the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ^4xAnd I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what ^yManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

^5z“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,

^zor who will grieve for you?

Who will turn aside

to ask about your welfare?

^6aYou have rejected me, declares the Lord;

^byou keep going backward,

so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—

^cI am weary of relenting.

^7dI have winnowed them with ^ea winnowing fork

in the gates of the land;

I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;

^fthey did not turn from their ways.

⁸I have made their widows more in number

than ^gthe sand of the seas;

I have brought against the mothers of young men

a destroyer at noonday;

I have made anguish and terror

fall upon them suddenly.

^9hShe who bore seven has grown feeble;

ⁱshe has fainted away;

^jher sun went down while it was yet day;

she has been shamed and disgraced.

And the rest of them I will give to the sword

before their enemies,

declares the Lord.”