Jeremiah 14–15

14TH CHAPTER

The Lord Sends a Drought

¹The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah about the drought. 

²Judah mourns; its gates fall apart. 

The people of Judah sit in mourning on the ground. 

Their cry goes up from Jerusalem. 

³Important people send their assistants out for water. 

They go to the cisterns, but they don’t find any water. 

They come back with their containers empty. 

They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced. 

⁴The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land. 

The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads. 

⁵Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young 

because there’s no grass. 

⁶Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills. 

They sniff the air like jackals. 

Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants. 

⁷Do something, Lord, for the sake of your name, 

even though our sins testify against us. 

We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you. 

⁸You are Israel’s hope, 

the one who saves it in times of trouble. 

Why should you be like a stranger in the land, 

like a traveler who stays only one night? 

⁹Why should you be like someone taken by surprise, 

like a strong man who cannot help? 

You, O Lord, are among us. 

We are called by your name. 

Don’t leave us! 

¹⁰This is what the Lord says about these people: They love to wander. They don’t keep their feet where they belong. So the Lord isn’t happy with them. He will remember their crimes and punish their sins. 

¹¹The Lord said to me, “Don’t pray for the good of these people. ¹²Even if they go without food, I won’t listen to their cries for help. Even if they sacrifice burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won’t be pleased with them. But I will destroy these people with wars, famines, and plagues.” 

¹³Then I said, “Almighty Lord, prophets are saying to them, ‘You won’t see wars or famines, because I, the Lord, will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ” 

¹⁴Then the Lord told me, “These are the lies that the prophets are telling in my name: They claim that I sent them, commanded them, and spoke to them. They dreamed up the visions they tell you. Their predictions are worthless. They are the products of their own imagination. 

¹⁵“I didn’t send these prophets. Yet, they prophesy in my name that there will be no wars or famines in this land. So this is what I, the Lord, say about them: Wars and famines will bring an end to these prophets. ¹⁶The people they prophesy to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem. They will be victims of famines and wars. No one will bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour on them the destruction that they deserve. 

¹⁷“Say this to them: 

‘My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping 

because my dear people will suffer massive destruction. 

It will be a very serious blow.’ ” 

¹⁸If I go to the field, I see those killed because of war. 

If I go to the city, I see those sick because of famine. 

Prophets and priests wander through a land they haven’t heard of. 

¹⁹Have you completely rejected Judah? 

Do you despise Zion? 

Why have you struck us so hard that we cannot heal? 

We hope for peace, but no good comes from it. 

We hope for a time of healing, but there’s only terror. 

²⁰O Lord, we realize our wickedness 

and the wrongs done by our ancestors. 

We have sinned against you. 

²¹For the sake of your name, don’t despise us. 

Don’t dishonor your glorious throne. 

Remember your promise^ato us; don’t break it. 

²²The worthless gods of the nations can’t make it rain. 

By themselves, the skies can’t give showers. 

But you can, O Lord our God. 

We have hope in you because you do all these things. 

15TH CHAPTER

¹Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing in front of me, I would not feel sorry for these people. Send them away from me, and let them go. ²When they ask you where they should go, say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: 

Those who are destined to die will die. 

Those who are destined to die in wars will die in wars. 

Those who are destined to die in famines will die in famines. 

Those who are destined to die in captivity will die in captivity.’ 

³“I will devise four ways to punish them,” declares the Lord. “I will send swords to kill, dogs to drag away, and birds and animals to devour and destroy. ⁴I will make these people a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms on the earth. This will happen because of what Judah’s King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, did in Jerusalem. 

⁵No one will take pity on you, Jerusalem. 

No one will mourn for you. 

No one will bother to ask how you are doing. 

⁶You have left me,” declares the Lord. 

“You have turned your back on me. 

So I will use my power against you and destroy you. 

I’m tired of showing compassion to you. 

⁷“I will separate them with a winnowing^ashovel at the city gates. 

I will make them childless. 

I will destroy my people because they will not change their ways. 

⁸Their widows will be more numerous 

than the grains of sand on the seashore. 

At noontime I will send a destroyer against the mothers of young men. 

I will suddenly bring anguish and terror to them. 

⁹A mother who gives birth to seven sons will grow faint 

and breathe her last. 

She will die, ashamed and humiliated, 

while it is still daylight. 

I will put survivors from these people to death 

in the presence of their enemies,” declares the Lord. 

Jeremiah Complains Bitterly

¹⁰I’m so miserable! Why did my mother give birth to me? 

I am a man who argues and quarrels with the whole earth. 

I have never lent or borrowed anything. 

Yet, everyone curses me. 

¹¹The Lord said, 

“I will certainly rescue you for a good reason. 

I will certainly make your enemies plead with you 

in times of disaster and in times of distress. 

¹²(No one can break iron, iron from the north, or bronze.) 

¹³I will give away your wealth and treasures as loot 

as the price for all the sins that you have committed 

throughout your territory. 

¹⁴I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of, 

because my anger has started a fire. 

It will burn you.” 

¹⁵O Lord, you understand. 

Remember me, take care of me, 

and take revenge on those who persecute me. 

Be patient, and don’t take me away. 

You should know that I’ve been insulted because of you. 

¹⁶Your words were found, and I devoured them. 

Your words are my joy and my heart’s delight, 

because I am called by your name, O Lord God of Armies. 

¹⁷I didn’t keep company with those who laugh and have fun. 

I sat alone because your hand was on me. 

You filled me with outrage. 

¹⁸Why is my pain unending 

and my wound incurable, refusing to heal? 

Will you disappoint me like a stream 

that dries up in summertime? 

¹⁹This is what the Lord says: 

If you will return, I will take you back. 

If you will speak what is worthwhile and not what is worthless, 

you will stand in my presence. 

The people will return to you, but you will not return to them. 

²⁰I will make you like a solid bronze wall in front of these people. 

They will fight you, but they will not defeat you. 

I am with you, and I will save you and rescue you, 

declares the Lord. 

²¹I will rescue you from the power of wicked people 

and free you from the power of tyrants.