Jeremiah 14:3
New International Version
The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

New Living Translation
The nobles send servants to get water, but all the wells are dry. The servants return with empty pitchers, confused and desperate, covering their heads in grief.

English Standard Version
Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns; they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads.

Berean Standard Bible
The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

King James Bible
And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

New King James Version
Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.

New American Standard Bible
“Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their containers empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads,

NASB 1995
“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.

NASB 1977
“And 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.

Legacy Standard Bible
Their mighty ones have sent their underlings for water; They have come to the trenches and found no water. They have returned with their vessels empty; They have been put to shame and dishonored, And they cover their heads.

Amplified Bible
“Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with empty vessels; They have been shamed and humiliated, And they cover their heads.

Christian Standard Bible
Their nobles send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns; they find no water; their containers return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Their nobles send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns; they find no water; their containers return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

American Standard Version
And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Their Princes sent their wanting ones for water. They came to the pit and they did not find water. They returned their vessels empty; they were ashamed and they were stricken and they covered their heads

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And her nobles have sent their little ones to the water: they came to the wells, and found no water: and brought back their vessels empty.

Contemporary English Version
Rulers send their servants to the storage pits for water. But there's none to be found; they return in despair with their jars still empty.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The great ones sent their inferiors to the water: they came to draw, they found no water, they carried back their vessels empty: they were confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads.

English Revised Version
And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the pits, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty: they are ashamed and confounded, and cover their heads.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Important people send their assistants out for water. They go to the cisterns, but they don't find any water. They come back with their containers empty. They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.

Good News Translation
The rich people send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; they come back with their jars empty. Discouraged and confused, they hide their faces.

International Standard Version
Their nobles send their young people for water. They go to the cisterns, but they find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They're disappointed and dismayed, and they cover their heads in shame.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And their nobles send their lads for water: They come to the pits, and find no water; Their vessels return empty; They are ashamed and confounded, and cover their heads.

Literal Standard Version
And their majestic ones have sent their little ones to the water, | They have come to ditches, | They have not found water, | They have turned back—their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, | And have blushed and covered their head.

Majority Standard Bible
The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

New American Bible
The nobles send their servants for water, but when they come to the cisterns They find no water and return with empty jars. Confounded, despairing, they cover their heads

NET Bible
The leading men of the cities send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns, but they do not find any water there. They return with their containers empty. Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands.

New Revised Standard Version
Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns, they find no water, they return with their vessels empty. They are ashamed and dismayed and cover their heads,

New Heart English Bible
Their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.

Webster's Bible Translation
And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

World English Bible
Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.

Young's Literal Translation
And their honourable ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come unto ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back -- their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Drought, Famine, Sword, Pestilence
2“Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. 3The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads. 4The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.…

Cross References
2 Samuel 15:30
But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

1 Kings 18:5
Then Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to destroy any livestock."

2 Kings 18:31
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,

Job 6:20
They are confounded because they had hoped; their arrival brings disappointment.

Psalm 40:14
May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.

Jeremiah 2:13
"For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns--broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2:37
Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help."


Treasury of Scripture

And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

their nobles.

1 Kings 18:5,6
And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts…

pits.

Jeremiah 2:13
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

1 Kings 17:7
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

2 Kings 18:31
Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:

they were.

Jeremiah 2:26,27
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, …

Jeremiah 20:11
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

Psalm 40:14
Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

covered.

Jeremiah 14:4
Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

2 Samuel 15:30
And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

2 Samuel 19:4
But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

Jump to Previous
Ashamed Cisterns Confounded Cover Covered Covering Disappointed Empty Fear Find Found Great Heads Holes Honourable Humiliated Jars Little Nobles Ones Overcome Pits Servants Shame Turned Vessels Water Waters
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Ashamed Cisterns Confounded Cover Covered Covering Disappointed Empty Fear Find Found Great Heads Holes Honourable Humiliated Jars Little Nobles Ones Overcome Pits Servants Shame Turned Vessels Water Waters
Jeremiah 14
1. The grievous famine,
7. causes Jeremiah to pray.
10. The Lord will not be entreated for the people.
13. false prophets are no excuse for them.
17. Jeremiah is moved to complain for them.














(3) Their little ones.--Not their children, but their menial servants. The word is peculiar to Jeremiah, and occurs only here and in Jeremiah 48:4. The vivid picture of the messengers running hither and thither to all wells, and springs, and tanks, reminds us of Ahab's search for wells or springs in the time of the great drought of his reign (1Kings 18:5), of the "two or three cities wandering" to the one city that was yet supplied with water of Amos 4:8.

The pits.--The tanks or reservoirs where, if anywhere, water might be looked for.

Covered their heads.--The extremest sign of a grief too great to utter itself to others, craving to be alone in its wretchedness (2Samuel 15:30; 2Samuel 19:4). The student will recollect it as occurring also in the account of the painting of Agamemnon at the Sacrifice of Iphigenia, ascribed to Timanthes. . . .

Verse 3. - Their nobles - i.e. the upper classes of Judah and Jerusalem - have sent their little ones; rather, their mean ones; i.e. their servants, or perhaps (as Naegelsbach and Payne Smith) simply, "the common people;" it was not a matter concerning the rich alone. To the pits; i.e. to the cisterns. Covered their heads; a sign of the deepest mourning (2 Samuel 15:30; 2 Samuel 19:4; Esther 6:12).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The nobles
וְאַדִּ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם (wə·’ad·di·rê·hem)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 117: Wide, large, powerful

send
שָׁלְח֥וּ (šā·lə·ḥū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7971: To send away, for, out

their servants
צְעִירֵיהֶ֖ם (ṣə·‘î·rê·hem)
Adjective - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 6810: Little, insignificant, young

for water;
לַמָּ֑יִם (lam·mā·yim)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

they go
בָּ֣אוּ (bā·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the cisterns,
גֵּבִ֞ים (gê·ḇîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1356: A log, well, cistern

but find
מָ֣צְאוּ (mā·ṣə·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

no
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

water
מַ֗יִם (ma·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

their jars
כְלֵיהֶם֙ (ḵə·lê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3627: Something prepared, any apparatus

return
שָׁ֤בוּ (šā·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

empty.
רֵיקָ֔ם (rê·qām)
Adverb
Strong's 7387: Emptily, ineffectually, undeservedly

They are ashamed
בֹּ֥שׁוּ (bō·šū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 954: To pale, to be ashamed, to be disappointed, delayed

and humiliated;
וְהָכְלְמ֖וּ (wə·hā·ḵə·lə·mū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hofal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3637: To wound, to taunt, insult

they cover
וְחָפ֥וּ (wə·ḥā·p̄ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 2645: To cover, to veil, to encase, protect

their heads.
רֹאשָֽׁם׃ (rō·šām)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 7218: The head


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 14:3 Their nobles send their little ones (Jer.)
Jeremiah 14:2
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