Jeremiah 14–15

¹That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths: ²Mourned hath Judah, and her gates have languished, They have mourned to the earth, And the cry of Jerusalem hath gone up. ³And their honourable ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come unto ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back—their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head. ⁴Because the ground hath been broken, For there hath been no rain in the land, Ashamed have been husbandmen, They have covered their head. ⁵For even the hind in the field hath brought forth—to forsake it! For there hath been no grass. ⁶And wild asses have stood on high places, They have swallowed up wind like dragons, Consumed have been their eyes, for there is no herb. ⁷Surely our iniquities have testified against us, O Jehovah, work for Thy name’s sake, For many have been our backslidings, Against Thee we have sinned. ⁸O Hope of Israel—its saviour in time of trouble, Why art Thou as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveller turned aside to lodge? ⁹Why art Thou as one dumb? As a mighty one not able to save? And Thou art in our midst, O Jehovah, And Thy name over us is called, leave us not.

¹⁰Thus said Jehovah concerning this people: Well they have loved to wander, Their feet they have not restrained, And Jehovah hath not accepted them, Now doth He remember their iniquity, And inspect their sin. ¹¹And Jehovah saith unto me: Thou dost not pray for this people for good, ¹²When they fast, I hearken not unto their cry, And when they cause to ascend burnt-offering and present, I accept them not, For by sword, and by famine, And by pestilence, I am consuming them. ¹³And I say, ‘Ah, Lord Jehovah, Lo, the prophets are saying to them: Ye do not see a sword, yea, famine is not to you, For true peace I give to you in this place.’ ¹⁴And Jehovah saith unto me: Falsehood the prophets are prophesying in My name, I did not send them, nor command them, Nor have I spoken unto them: A false vision, and divination, and vanity, And the deceit of their own heart, they are prophesying to you. ¹⁵Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, and I have not sent them, and they are saying, Sword and famine is not in this land: By sword and by famine are these prophets consumed. ¹⁶And the people to whom they are prophesying, Are cast into out-places of Jerusalem, Because of the famine, and of the sword, And they have none burying them, Them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, And I have poured out upon them this evil.

¹⁷And thou hast said unto them this word: Tears come down mine eyes night and day, And they do not cease, For, with a great breach, Broken hath been the virgin daughter of my people, A very grievous stroke. ¹⁸If I have gone forth to the field, Then, lo, the pierced of the sword! And if I have entered the city, Then, lo, the diseased of famine! For both prophet and priest have gone up and down Unto a land that they knew not. ¹⁹Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah? Zion hath Thy soul loathed? Wherefore hast Thou smitten us, And there is no healing to us? Looking for peace, and there is no good, And for a time of healing, and lo, terror. ²⁰We have known, O Jehovah, our wickedness, The iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against Thee. ²¹Do not despise, for Thy name’s sake, Dishonour not the throne of Thine honour, Remember, break not Thy covenant with us. ²²Are there among the vanities of the nations any causing rain? And do the heavens give showers? Art not Thou He, O Jehovah our God? And we wait for thee, for Thou—Thou hast done all these!

Chapter 15

¹And Jehovah saith unto me: Though Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My soul is not toward this people, Send from before My face, and they go out. ²And it hath come to pass, when they say to thee, Whither do we go out? that thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah: Those who are for death—to death, And those who are for the sword, to the sword, And those who are for famine, to famine, And those who are for captivity, to captivity. ³And I have appointed over them four kinds, an affirmation of Jehovah, The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the earth, to consume and to devour. ⁴And I have given them for a trembling To all kingdoms of the earth, Because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, For that which he did in Jerusalem. ⁵For who hath pity on thee, O Jerusalem? And who doth bemoan for thee? And who turneth aside to ask of thy welfare? ⁶Thou—thou hast left Me—an affirmation of Jehovah, Backward thou goest, And I stretch out My hand against thee, And I destroy thee, I have been weary of repenting, ⁷And I scatter them with a fan, in the gates the land, I bereaved, I have destroyed My people, From their ways they turned not back. ⁸Its widows have been more to Me than the sand of the seas, I brought in to them—against the mother—A young man—a spoiler—at noon. I caused to fall upon her suddenly, wrath and trouble. ⁹Languished hath the bearer of seven, She hath breathed out her spirit, Gone in hath her sun while yet day, It hath been ashamed and confounded, And their residue to the sword I give up before their enemies, An affirmation of Jehovah.

¹⁰Woe to me, my mother, For thou hast borne me a man of strife, And a man of contention to all the land, I have not lent on usury, Nor have they lent on usury to me—All of them are reviling me. ¹¹Jehovah said, Did I not direct thee for good? Did not I intercede for thee in a time of evil, And in a time of adversity, with the enemy? ¹²Doth one break iron—northern iron, and brass? ¹³Thy strength and thy treasures For a prey I do give—not for price, Even for all thy sins, and in all thy borders. ¹⁴And I have caused thine enemies To pass over into the land—Thou hast not known, For a fire hath been kindled in Mine anger, Against you it doth burn.

¹⁵Thou, Thou hast known, O Jehovah, Remember me, and inspect me, And take vengeance for me of my pursuers, In Thy long-suffering take me not away, Know—I have borne for Thee reproach. ¹⁶Thy words have been found, and I eat them, And Thy word is to me for a joy, And for the rejoicing of my heart, For Thy name is called on me, O Jehovah, God of Hosts. ¹⁷I have not sat in an assembly of deriders, Nor do I exult, because of thy hand,—Alone I have sat, For with indignation Thou hast filled me. ¹⁸Why hath my pain been perpetual? And my wound incurable? It hath refused to be healed, Thou art surely to me as a failing stream, Waters not stedfast. ¹⁹Therefore, thus said Jehovah: If thou turnest back, then I bring thee back, Before Me thou dost stand, And if thou bringest out the precious from the vile, As My mouth thou art! They—they turn back unto thee, And thou dost not turn back unto them. ²⁰And I have made thee to this people For a wall—brazen—fenced, And they have fought against thee, And they do not prevail against thee, For with thee am I to save thee, And to deliver thee—an affirmation of Jehovah, ²¹And I have delivered thee from the hand of evil doers, And I have ransomed thee From the hand of the terrible!

Chapter 16