14:1  THE WORD of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

14:2  Judah mourns and her gates languish; [her people] sit in black [mourning garb] upon the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.

14:3  And their nobles send their little ones {and} their inferiors for water; they come to the cisterns and find no water. They return with empty vessels; they are put to shame and confounded and cover their heads.

14:4  Because the ground is cracked {and} the tillers are dismayed, since there has been no rain on the land, the plowmen are put to shame, and they cover their heads.

14:5  Yes, even the hind gives birth to her calf in the field and forsakes it, because there is no grass {or} herbage.

14:6  And the wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals {or} crocodiles; their eyesight fails because there is no grass.

14:7  O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us [prays Jeremiah], deal {and} work with us for Your own name's sake [that the heathen may witness Your might and faithfulness]! For our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.

14:8  O Hope of Israel, her Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a sojourner in the land and like a wayfaring man who turns aside {and} spreads his tent to tarry [only] for a night?

14:9  Why should You be [hesitant and inactive] like a man stunned {and} confused, like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by Your name; do not leave us!

14:10  [And the Lord replied to Jeremiah] Thus says the Lord to this people [Judah]: In the manner {and} to the degree already pointed out have they loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now [seriously] remember their iniquity and punish them for their sins.

14:11  The Lord said to me, Do not pray for this people for their good.

14:12  Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offering and cereal offering [without heartfelt surrender to Me, or by offering it too late], I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.

14:13  Then said I, Alas, Lord God! Behold, the [false] prophets say to them, You will not see the sword, nor will you have famine; but I [the Lord] will give you assured peace (peace that lasts, the peace of truth) in this place.

14:14  Then the Lord said to me, The [false] prophets prophesy lies in My name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false {or} pretended vision, a worthless divination [conjuring or practicing magic, trying to call forth the responses supposed to be given by idols], and the deceit of their own minds.

14:15  Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the [false] prophets who prophesy in My name--although I did not send them--and who say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

14:16  And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they shall have none to bury them--them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon them [and not on their false teachers only, for the people could not have been deceived except by their own consent].

14:17  Therefore [Jeremiah] you shall say to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people has been smitten with a great wound, with a very grievous blow.

14:18  If I go out into the field, then behold, those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, then behold, those tormented with the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest go about not knowing what to do {or} as beggars [exiled] in a land that they know not, and they have no knowledge.

14:19  [O Lord] have You utterly rejected Judah? Do You loathe Zion? Why have You smitten us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace {and} completeness, but no good came, and for a time of healing, but behold, dismay, disaster, {and} terror!

14:20  We know {and} acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.

14:21  Do not abhor, condemn, {and} spurn us, for Your name's sake; do not dishonor, debase, {and} lightly esteem Your glorious throne; [earnestly] remember, break not Your covenant {or} solemn pledge with us.

14:22  Are there any among the false gods of the nations who can cause rain? Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers? Are You [alone] not He, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait [expectantly] for You, for You have made all these things [the heavens and the rain].