Jeremiah 14–15

Sword, Famine, and Pestilence

14The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.

²“Judah mourns,

And ^aher gates languish;

They ^bmourn for the land,

And ^cthe cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

³Their nobles have sent their lads for water;

They went to the cisterns and found no water.

They returned with their vessels empty;

They were ^dashamed and confounded

^eAnd covered their heads.

⁴Because the ground is parched,

For there was ^fno rain in the land,

The plowmen were ashamed;

They covered their heads.

⁵Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field,

But ¹left because there was no grass.

⁶And ^gthe wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights;

They sniffed at the wind like jackals;

Their eyes failed because there was no grass.”

⁷O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,

Do it ^hfor Your name’s sake;

For our backslidings are many,

We have sinned against You.

⁸ⁱO the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble,

Why should You be like a stranger in the land,

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

⁹Why should You be like a man astonished,

Like a mighty one ^jwho cannot save?

Yet You, O Lord, ^kare in our midst,

And we are called by Your name;

Do not leave us!

¹⁰Thus says the Lord to this people:

^l“Thus they have loved to wander;

They have not restrained their feet.

Therefore the Lord does not accept them;

^mHe will remember their iniquity now,

And punish their sins.”

¹¹Then the Lord said to me, ⁿ“Do not pray for this people, for their good. ^12oWhen they fast, I will not hear their cry; and ^pwhen they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But ^qI will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.”

^13rThen I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you ²assured ^speace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴And the Lord said to me, ^t“The prophets prophesy lies in My name. ^uI have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, ³divination, a worthless thing, and the ^vdeceit of their heart. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, ^wand who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’—‘By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! ¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; ^xthey will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.’

¹⁷“Therefore you shall say this word to them:

^y‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,

And let them not cease;

^zFor the virgin daughter of my people

Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.

¹⁸If I go out to ^athe field,

Then behold, those slain with the sword!

And if I enter the city,

Then behold, those sick from famine!

Yes, both prophet and ^bpriest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”

The People Plead for Mercy

^19cHave You utterly rejected Judah?

Has Your soul loathed Zion?

Why have You stricken us so that ^dthere is no healing for us?

^eWe looked for peace, but there was no good;

And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.

²⁰We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness

And the iniquity of our ^ffathers,

For ^gwe have sinned against You.

²¹Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake;

Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.

^hRemember, do not break Your covenant with us.

²²ⁱAre there any among ^jthe idols of the nations that can cause ^krain?

Or can the heavens give showers?

^lAre You not He, O Lord our God?

Therefore we will wait for You,

Since You have made all these.

The Lord Will Not Relent

15Then the Lord said to me, ^a“Even if ^bMoses and ^cSamuel stood before Me, My ¹mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. ²And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^d“Such 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 ^ecaptivity, to the captivity.” ’

³“And I will ^fappoint over them four forms of destruction,” says the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, ^gthe birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴I will hand them over to ^htrouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of ⁱManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

⁵“For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?

Or who will bemoan you?

Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?

^6jYou have forsaken Me,” says the Lord,

“You have ^kgone backward.

Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;

^lI am ²weary of relenting!

⁷And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;

I will ^mbereave them of children;

I will destroy My people,

Since they ⁿdo not return from their ways.

⁸Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;

I will bring against them,

Against the mother of the young men,

A plunderer at noonday;

I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them ^osuddenly.

⁹“She ^planguishes who has borne seven;

She has breathed her last;

^qHer sun has gone down

While it was yet day;

She has been ashamed and confounded.

And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword

Before their enemies,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah’s Dejection

^10rWoe is me, my mother,

That you have borne me,

A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole ³earth!

I have neither lent for interest,

Nor have men lent to me for interest.

Every one of them curses me.

¹¹The Lord said:

“Surely it will be well with your remnant;

Surely I will cause ^sthe enemy to intercede with you

In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.

¹²Can anyone break iron,

The northern iron and the bronze?

¹³Your wealth and your treasures

I will give as ^tplunder without price,

Because of all your sins,

Throughout your territories.

¹⁴And I will ⁴make you cross over with your enemies

^uInto a land which you do not know;

For a ^vfire is kindled in My anger,

Which shall burn upon you.”

¹⁵O Lord, ^wYou know;

Remember me and ⁵visit me,

And ^xtake vengeance for me on my persecutors.

In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.

Know that ^yfor Your sake I have suffered rebuke.

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ^zate them,

And ^aYour word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;

For I am called by Your name,

O Lord God of hosts.

^17bI did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,

Nor did I rejoice;

I sat alone because of Your hand,

For You have filled me with indignation.

¹⁸Why is my ^cpain perpetual

And my wound incurable,

Which refuses to be healed?

Will You surely be to me ^dlike an unreliable stream,

As waters that ⁶fail?

The Lord Reassures Jeremiah

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord:

^e“If you return,

Then I will bring you back;

You shall ^fstand before Me;

If you ^gtake out the precious from the vile,

You shall be as My mouth.

Let them return to you,

But you must not return to them.

²⁰And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze ^hwall;

And they will fight against you,

But ⁱthey shall not prevail against you;

For I am with you to save you

And deliver you,” says the Lord.

²¹“I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,

And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”