A Lament over the Ravages of Drought75

14:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah1 about the drought.2

14:2 “The people of Judah are in mourning.

The people in her cities are pining away.

They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow.3

Cries of distress come up to me4 from Jerusalem.5

14:3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.

They go to the cisterns,6 but they do not find any water there.

They return with their containers7 empty.

Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands.8

14:4 They are dismayed because the ground is cracked9

because there has been no rain in the land.

The farmers, too, are dismayed

and bury their faces in their hands.

14:5 Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn10 in the field

because there is no grass.

14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops

and pant for breath like jackals.

Their eyes are strained looking for food,

because there is none to be found.”11

14:7 Then I said,12

“O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name13

even though our sins speak out against us.14

Indeed,15 we have turned away from you many times.

We have sinned against you.

14:8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.

You have saved them when they were in trouble.

Why have you become like a resident foreigner16 in the land?

Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

14:9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless,17

like a champion18 who cannot save anyone?

You are indeed with us,19

and we belong to you.20

Do not abandon us!”

14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people.21

“They truly22 love to go astray.

They cannot keep from running away from me.23

So I am not pleased with them.

I will now call to mind24 the wrongs they have done25

and punish them for their sins.”