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]. |