Jeremiah 14–15

The Great Drought

¹⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:^*

²Judah mourns,

and her gates languish;

they lie in gloom on the ground,

and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.^*

³Her^b 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 dismayed

and cover their heads,^*

⁴because the ground is cracked.

Because there has been no rain on the land,

the farmers are dismayed;

they cover their heads.^*

⁵Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.

⁶The wild asses stand on the bare heights;^c

they pant for air like jackals;

their eyes fail

because there is no herbage.^*

⁷Although our iniquities testify against us,

act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;

our rebellions indeed are many,

and we have sinned against you.^*

⁸O hope of Israel,

its savior in time of trouble,

why should you be like a stranger in the land,

like a traveler turning aside for the night?^*

⁹Why should you be like someone confused,

like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?

Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,

and we are called by your name;

do not forsake us!^*

¹⁰Thus says the Lord concerning this people:

Truly they have loved to wander;

they have not restrained their feet;

therefore the Lord does not accept them;

now he will remember their iniquity

and punish their sins.^*

¹¹The Lord said to me: Do not pray for the welfare of this people.^{* 12}Although they fast, I do not hear their cry, and although they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I do not accept them, but by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I consume them.^*

Denunciation of Lying Prophets

¹³Then I said: “Ah, Lord God! Here are the prophets saying to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’ ”^{* 14}And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.^{* 15}Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come on this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.^{* 16}And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them—themselves, their wives, their sons, and their daughters—for I will pour out their wickedness upon them.”^*

¹⁷You shall say to them this word:

Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,

and let them not cease,

for the virgin daughter of my people is struck down with a crushing blow,

with a very grievous wound.^*

¹⁸If I go out into the field,

look—those killed by the sword!

And if I enter the city,

look—those sick with^d famine!

For both prophet and priest ply their trade throughout the land

and have no knowledge.^*

The People Plead for Mercy

¹⁹Have you completely rejected Judah?

Does your heart loathe Zion?

Why have you struck us down

so that there is no healing for us?

We look for peace but find no good,

for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.^*

²⁰We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,

the iniquity of our ancestors,

for we have sinned against you.^*

²¹Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;

do not dishonor your glorious throne;

remember and do not break your covenant with us.^*

²²Can any idols of the nations bring rain,

or can the heavens give showers?

Is it not you, O Lord our God?

We set our hope on you,

for it is you who do all this.^*

Punishment Is Inevitable

¹⁵Then the Lord said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!^{* 2}And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord:

Those destined for pestilence, to pestilence,

and those destined for the sword, to the sword;

those destined for famine, to famine,

and those destined for captivity, to captivity.^*

³And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy.^{* 4}I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem.^*

⁵Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,

or who will bemoan you?

Who will turn aside

to ask about your welfare?

⁶You have rejected me, says the Lord;

you are going backward,

so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—

I am weary of relenting.^*

⁷I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork

in the gates of the land;

I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;

they did not turn from their ways.^*

⁸Their widows became more numerous

than the sand of the seas;

I have brought against the mothers of youths

a destroyer at noonday;

I have made anguish and terror

fall upon her suddenly.

⁹She who bore seven has languished;

she has swooned away;

her sun went down while it was yet day;

she has been shamed and disgraced.

And the rest of them I will give to the sword

before their enemies,

says the Lord.^*

Jeremiah Complains Again and Is Reassured

¹⁰Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.^{* 11}The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life^e for good; surely I have brought enemies upon you^f in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.^{* 12}Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?

¹³Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory.^{* 14}I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn against you.^*

¹⁵O Lord, you know;

remember me and visit me,

and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.

In your forbearance do not take me away;

know that on your account I suffer insult.^*

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them,

and your words became to me a joy

and the delight of my heart,

for I am called by your name,

O Lord, God of hosts.^*

¹⁷I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,

nor did I rejoice;

under the weight of your hand I sat alone,

for you had filled me with indignation.^*

¹⁸Why is my pain unceasing,

my wound incurable,

refusing to be healed?

Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,

like waters that fail.^*

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord:

If you turn back, I will take you back,

and you shall stand before me.

If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless,

you shall serve as my mouth.

It is they who will turn to you,

not you who will turn to them.^*

²⁰And I will make you to this people

a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you,

but they shall not prevail over you,

for I am with you

to save you and deliver you,

says the Lord.^*

²¹I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked

and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.^*