Jeremiah 14:7–22

⁷We know that we suffer because of our sins.

Lord, do something to help us for the good of your name.

We have left you many times;

we have sinned against you.

⁸God, the Hope of Israel,

you have saved Israel in times of trouble.

Why are you like a stranger in the land,

or like a traveler who only stays one night?

⁹Why are you like someone who has been attacked by surprise,

like a warrior who is not able to save anyone?

But you are among us, Lord,

and we are called by your name

so don’t leave us without help!

¹⁰This is what the Lord says about the people of Judah:

“They really love to wander from me;

they don’t stop themselves from leaving me.

So now the Lord will not accept them.

He will now remember the evil they do

and will punish them for their sins.”

¹¹Then the Lord said, “Don’t pray for good things to happen to the people of Judah. ¹²Even if they fast, I will not listen to their prayers. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy the people of Judah with war, hunger, and terrible diseases.”

¹³But I said, “Oh, Lord God, the prophets keep telling the people, ‘You will not suffer from an enemy’s sword or from hunger. I, the Lord, will give you peace in this land.’ ”

¹⁴Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They have been prophesying false visions, idolatries, worthless magic, and their own wishful thinking. ¹⁵So this is what I say about the prophets who are prophesying in my name. I did not send them. They say, ‘No enemy will attack this country with swords. There will never be hunger in this land.’ So those prophets will die from hunger and from an enemy’s sword. ¹⁶And the people to whom the prophets speak will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem. There they will die from hunger and from an enemy’s sword. And no one will be there to bury them, or their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. I will punish them.

¹⁷“Jeremiah, speak this message to the people of Judah:

‘Let my eyes be filled with tears

night and day, without stopping.

My people have received a terrible blow;

they have been hurt badly.

¹⁸If I go into the country,

I see people killed by swords.

If I go into the city,

I see much sickness, because the people have no food.

Both the priests and the prophets

have been taken to a foreign land.’ ”

¹⁹Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?

Do you hate Jerusalem?

Why have you hurt us so badly

that we cannot be made well again?

We hoped for peace,

but nothing good has come.

We looked for a time of healing,

but only terror came.

²⁰Lord, we admit that we are wicked

and that our ancestors did evil things.

We have sinned against you.

²¹For your sake, do not hate us.

Do not take away the honor from your glorious throne.

Remember your agreement with us,

and do not break it.

²²Do foreign idols have the power to bring rain?

Does the sky itself have the power to send down showers?

No, it is you, Lord our God.

You are our only hope,

because you are the one who made all these things.