Jeremiah 14:1-16 ▼

1 The word of YHWH that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts:

2 “Judah mourns, and her gates languish; they mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

3 And their nobles have sent their young for water; they went to the cisterns, they did not find water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and humiliated, and they covered their heads.

4 Because the ground is parched, for there was no rain in the land, the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their heads.

5 Indeed, even the doe in the field has brought forth—to forsake it because there is no grass.

6 And the wild donkeys stand on the barren heights; they pant for the wind like jackals, and their eyes fail because there is no grass.”

7 Though our iniquities testify against us, O YHWH, may You act for the sake of Your name! For many are our backslidings; we have sinned against You.

8 O Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of distress, why should You be like a sojourner in the land, and like a traveler who stretches aside to spend the night.

9 Why should You be like a man astonished, like a mighty one not able to save? And You are among us, O YHWH, and we are called by Your name; do not leave us.

10 Thus says YHWH to this people: “Thus have they loved to wander, they have not held back their feet, and YHWH has not accepted them; now He will remember their iniquity and punish them for their sins.”

11 And YHWH said to me: “Do not pray for this people for the good.

12 When they fast, I will not hear to their cry; and when they bring up a burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them—but by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence I will put an end to them!

13 And I said “Ah, Lord YHWH!” Behold, the prophets are saying to them, ‘You⁺ will not see the sword, and there shall be no famine for you⁺; but I will give to you⁺ assured peace in this place.’”

14 And YHWH said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name.” I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and not I have spoken to them. They are prophesying to you⁺ a false vision and divination, and worthlessness, and the deceit of their heart.

15 Therefore, thus says YHWH concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, “When I did not send them, and they say, ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ By sword and by famine those prophets will meet their end!

16 And the people whom they prophesy to them will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and no one will bury them—they and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters; and I will pour their wickedness on them.