Jeremiah 14
1 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.
2 Judah mourns, and its gates languish; they sink, darkened to the ground, and Jerusalem’s cry rises.
3 The nobles sent their young men to fetch water. They came to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with empty jars, ashamed and humiliated, and covered their heads.
4 The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers are ashamed and cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in the field gives birth and abandons her young, because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and gasp for air like jackals; their eyes grow dim, because there is no vegetation.
7 Though our guilt testifies against us, LORD, act for the sake of your name. For our rebellions are many, and we have sinned against you.
8 Hope of Israel, its savior in times of trouble, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who pitches a tent for just one night?
9 Why are you like a man caught off guard, like a warrior unable to save? Yet you are among us, LORD, and your name has been invoked over us. Do not abandon us.
10 This is what the LORD says about this people: “They have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD has not been pleased with them. Now he will remember their guilt and punish their sins.”
11 The LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people.”
12 “Even if they fast, I will not hear their cry. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. I will consume them with sword, famine, and plague.”
13 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! The prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, and famine will not come upon you; I will give you true peace in this place.’”
14 The LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, give them orders, or speak to them. Lying visions, divination, nothingness, and the deceit of their own hearts—that is what they prophesy to you.”
15 So this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’: those very prophets will be consumed by sword and famine.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and sword. No one will bury them—the people, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour their wickedness back upon them.”
17 “You will say this to them: ‘My eyes pour out tears night and day without stopping, because the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered with a great wound, a very painful blow.
18 If I go out to the field, there lie those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, there are those wasting away from famine. Even prophet and priest wander through a land they do not know.’”
19 Have you utterly rejected Judah? Do you loathe Zion? Why have you struck us, with no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came; we hoped for a time of healing, but terror came.
20 We acknowledge, LORD, our wickedness and the guilt of our ancestors, for we have sinned against you.
21 For the sake of your name, do not reject us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember us; do not break your covenant with us.
22 Can any of the nations’ worthless idols bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? Are you not the LORD our God? We hope in you, for you made all these things.
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app