Jeremiah 14:1–6

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

“Judah mourns,

and her gates languish;

her people lament on the ground,

and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.

Her nobles send their servants for water;

they come to the cisterns;

they find no water;

they return with their vessels empty;

they are ashamed and confounded

and cover their heads.

Because of the ground that is dismayed,

since there is no rain on the land,

the farmers are ashamed;

they cover their heads.

Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.

The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;

they pant for air like jackals;

their eyes fail

because there is no vegetation.

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

“Judah mourns,

her cities languish;

they wail for the land,

and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

The nobles send their servants for water;

they go to the cisterns

but find no water.

They return with their jars unfilled;

dismayed and despairing,

they cover their heads.

The ground is cracked

because there is no rain in the land;

the farmers are dismayed

and cover their heads.

Even the doe in the field

deserts her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.

Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights

and pant like jackals;

their eyes fail

for lack of food.”

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

Judah mourns;

her city gates languish.

Her people are on the ground in mourning;

Jerusalem’s cry rises up.

Their nobles send their servants for water.

They go to the cisterns;

they find no water;

their containers return empty.

They are ashamed and humiliated;

they cover their heads.

The ground is cracked

since no rain has fallen on the land.

The farmers are ashamed;

they cover their heads.

Even the doe in the field

gives birth and abandons her fawn

since there is no grass.

Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights

panting for air like jackals.

Their eyes fail

because there are no green plants.

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord, explaining why he was holding back the rain:

“Judah wilts;

commerce at the city gates grinds to a halt.

All the people sit on the ground in mourning,

and a great cry rises from Jerusalem.

The nobles send servants to get water,

but all the wells are dry.

The servants return with empty pitchers,

confused and desperate,

covering their heads in grief.

The ground is parched

and cracked for lack of rain.

The farmers are deeply troubled;

they, too, cover their heads.

Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn

because there is no grass in the field.

The wild donkeys stand on the bare hills

panting like thirsty jackals.

They strain their eyes looking for grass,

but there is none to be found.”

That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah concerning the matter of the severe drought.

“Judah mourns, and her gates languish,

they are in mourning on the ground,

and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.

And their nobles send their servants for water.

They come to the pits, they find no water.

They return with their vessels empty.

They are ashamed, and they are confounded,

and they cover their heads.

Because of the ground, which is cracked

because there was no rain on the ground.

The farmers are ashamed,

they cover their heads.

For even the doe in the field gives birth and forsakes her young,

because there is no green growth.

And wild asses stand on the barren heights,

they gasp for breath like the jackals.

Their eyes fail

because there is no vegetation.”

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish;

They are black unto the ground;

And the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

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

They came to the pits, and found no water;

They returned with their vessels empty;

They were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

Because the ground is chapt,

For there was no rain in the earth,

The plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

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

Because there was no grass.

And the wild asses did stand in the high places,

They snuffed up the wind like dragons;

Their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.