Jeremiah 14

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.