Pride Precedes Captivity

15 Hear and give ear:

Do not be proud,

For the Lord has spoken.

16 kGive glory to the Lord your God

Before He causes ldarkness,

And before your feet stumble

On the dark mountains,

And while you are mlooking for light,

He turns it into nthe shadow of death

And makes it dense darkness.

17 But if you will not hear it,

My soul will oweep in secret for your pride;

My eyes will weep bitterly

And run down with tears,

Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

18 Say to pthe king and to the queen mother,

“Humble yourselves;

Sit down,

For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”

19 The cities of the South shall be shut up,

And no one shall open them;

Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it;

It shall be wholly carried away captive.

20 Lift up your eyes and see

Those who come from the qnorth.

Where is the flock that was given to you,

Your beautiful sheep?

21 What will you say when He punishes you?

For you have taught them

To be chieftains, to be head over you.

Will not rpangs seize you,

Like a woman in 9labor?

22 And if you say in your heart,

s“Why have these things come upon me?”

For the greatness of your iniquity

tYour skirts have been uncovered,

Your heels 1made bare.

23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?

Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

24 “Therefore I will uscatter them vlike stubble

That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

25 wThis is your lot,

The portion of your measures from Me,” says the Lord,

“Because you have forgotten Me

And trusted in xfalsehood.

26 Therefore yI will uncover your skirts over your face,

That your shame may appear.

27 I have seen your adulteries

And your lustful zneighings,

The lewdness of your harlotry,

Your abominations aon the hills in the fields.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

Will you still not be made clean?”

Sword, Famine, and Pestilence

14 The 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.

3 Their 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.

4 Because the ground is parched,

For there was fno rain in the land,

The plowmen were ashamed;

They covered their heads.

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

But 1left because there was no grass.

6 And gthe wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights;

They sniffed at the wind like jackals;

Their eyes failed because there was no grass.”

7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,

Do it hfor Your name’s sake;

For our backslidings are many,

We have sinned against You.

8 iO 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?

9 Why 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!

10 Thus 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.”

11 Then the Lord said to me, n“Do not pray for this people, for their good. 12 oWhen 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.”

13 rThen 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.’ ”

14 And 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. 15 Therefore 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! 16 And 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.

18 If 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

19 cHave 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.

20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness

And the iniquity of our ffathers,

For gwe have sinned against You.

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

Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.

hRemember, do not break Your covenant with us.

22 iAre 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.