Jeremiah 14:1–17:18

*The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah aconcerning †bthe dearth.

2  Judah mourneth, and cthe gates thereof dlanguish;

eThey are black unto the ground;

And fthe cry of Jerusalem gis gone up.

3  And their nobles have sent htheir little ones to the waters:

They came to the pits, and found no water;

They returned with their vessels empty;

iThey were ashamed and confounded, and kcovered their heads.

4  Because the ground is chapt,

For lthere was no rain in the earth,

The plowmen were ashamed, kthey covered their heads.

5  Yea, mthe hind also calved in the field, and forsook it,

Because there was no grass.

6  And nthe wild asses did stand in the high places,

nThey snuffed up the wind like odragons;

Their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it pfor thy name’s sake: for qour backslidings are many; rwe have sinned against thee. 8 sO the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as ta wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? 9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man uthat cannot save? yet vthou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and †wwe are called by thy name; xleave us not. 10 Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore ythe Lord doth not accept them; yzhe will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. 11 Then said the Lord unto me, aPray not for this people bfor their good. 12 cWhen they fast, I will not hear their cry; and dwhen they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but eI will consume them by fthe sword, and by fthe famine, and by fthe pestilence.

13 gThen said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you †assured hpeace in this place. 14 Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets iprophesy lies in my name: jI sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and kdivination, and a thing of nought, and lthe deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and jI sent them not, myet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; nBy sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and othey shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them;

pLet mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and qlet them not cease:

For the virgin rdaughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very sgrievous blow.

18  If I go forth into tthe field, then behold the slain with the sword!

And if I enter tinto the city, then behold them that are sick with famine!

Yea, uboth the prophet and the priest ||vgo about vvinto a land that they know not.

19  wHast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion?

Why hast thou smitten us, and xthere is no healing for us?

yWe looked for peace, and there is no good;

And yfor the time of healing, and behold trouble!

20  We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers:

zFor we have sinned against thee.

21  Do not abhor us, afor thy name’s sake,

Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory:

bRemember, break not thy covenant with us.

22  cAre there any among dthe vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain?

Or can the heavens give eshowers?

fArt not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee:

For thou hast made gall these things.

15 Then said the Lord unto me, aThough bcMoses and bdSamuel astood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord; eSuch as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. 3 And fI will appoint over them four †kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and gthe fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 4 And †I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of hManasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or iwho shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside †to ask how thou doest? 6 kThou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art lgone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; mI am weary with repenting. 7 And I will nfan them with oa fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them pof ||children, I will destroy my people, since qthey return not from their ways. 8 Their widows are increased to me rabove the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them ||against the mother of the young men a spoiler sat noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and tterrors upon the city. 9 uShe that hath borne seven languisheth: vshe hath given up the ghost; wher sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord.

10 xWoe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither ylent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. 11 The Lord said, Verily zit shall be well with thy remnant; verily ||aI will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. 12 Shall iron break bthe northern iron and cthe steel? 13 dThy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil ewithout price, and that for all thy sins, deven in all thy borders. 14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into fa land which thou knowest not: gfor a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.

15 hO Lord, thou knowest: iremember me, and visit me, and ikrevenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: kkknow that lfor thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 16 Thy words were found, and mI did eat them; and nthy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for †I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. 17 oI sat not in pthe assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; ppI sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. 18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound qincurable, which rrefuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me sas a liar, and sas waters that †fail?

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord, tIf thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt tustand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. 20 And I vwill make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but wthey shall not prevail against thee: xfor I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 21 And wI will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of ythe terrible.

16 The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying, 2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land; 4 They shall die of grievous adeaths; bthey shall not be lamented; bneither shall they be buried; but cthey shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and dthey shall be consumed aby the sword, and aby famine; and etheir carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 5 For thus saith the Lord, fEnter not into the house of ||mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lovingkindness and mercies. 6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: bthey shall not be buried, bneither shall men lament for them, nor gcut themselves, nor hmake themselves bald for them: 7 Neither shall men ||tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. 8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink. 9 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, iI will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. 10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, kWherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God? 11 lThen shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and mhave walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; 12 And ye have done nworse than your fathers; for, behold, mye walk every one after the ||imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me: 13 oTherefore will I pcast you out of this land qinto a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.

14 rTherefore, behold, sthe days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, tThe Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 15 But, tThe Lord liveth, that …