14:1  That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah in regard to the drought:

14:2  "Judah mourns And her gates languish; They sit on the ground in mourning, And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

14:3  "Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their vessels empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads.

14:4  "Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land; The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads.

14:5  "For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon {her young,} Because there is no grass.

14:6  "The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail For there is no vegetation.

14:7  "Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for Your name's sake! Truly our apostasies have been many, We have sinned against You.

14:8  "O Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, Why are You like a stranger in the land Or like a traveler who has pitched his {tent} for the night?

14:9  "Why are You like a man dismayed, Like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You are in our midst, O LORD, And we are called by Your name; Do not forsake us!"

14:10  Thus says the LORD to this people, "Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account."

14:11  So the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

14:12  "When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence."

14:13  But, "Ah, Lord GOD! I said, "Look, the prophets are telling them, `You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.'""

14:14  Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.

14:15  "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them--yet they keep saying, `There will be no sword or famine in this land'--by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!

14:16  "The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them--{neither} them, {nor} their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters--for I will pour out their {own} wickedness on them.

14:17  "You will say this word to them, `Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.

14:18  `If I go out to the country, Behold, those slain with the sword! Or if I enter the city, Behold, diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest Have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.'"

14:19  Have You completely rejected Judah? Or have You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? {We} waited for peace, but nothing good {came;} And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

14:20  We know our wickedness, O LORD, The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

14:21  Do not despise {us,} for Your own name's sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; Remember {and} do not annul Your covenant with us.

14:22  Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore we hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.