JeremiahChapter 14

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¹This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah about the drought: ²"Judah mourns.
Her city gates grow weak.
Her people wail for the land.
A cry goes up from Jerusalem. ³The rich men send their servants for water.
They go to the cisterns but find no water.
They come back with empty jars.
They are ashamed and embarrassed.
They cover their heads. ⁴The ground is cracked
because no rain has fallen on the land.
The farmers are ashamed.
They cover their heads. ⁵Even the deer in the field
leaves her newborn fawn,
because there is no grass. ⁶Wild donkeys stand on the bare hilltops.
They pant for air like jackals.
Their eyes grow weak
because there is no grass to eat." ⁷Our sins speak against us, LORD.
But please act for the sake of your name.
We have rebelled many times.
We have sinned against you. ⁸You are the Hope of Israel.
You save her in times of trouble.
So why are you like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only one night? ⁹Why are you like a man who is caught by surprise,
like a warrior who has no power to save?
Yet you are among us, LORD.
We are called by your name.
Do not forsake us! ¹⁰This is what the LORD says about these people:
"They truly love to wander.
They do not keep their feet from straying.
So the LORD does not accept them.
Now he will remember their sin
and punish them for their sins." ¹¹Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for good things for these people. ¹²They may fast, but I will not listen to their cry. They may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, but I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with war, famine, and disease." ¹³"Oh, Lord GOD!" I answered. "Look, the prophets keep telling them, 'You will not see war. You will not suffer famine. I will give you lasting peace in this place.'" ¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them. I did not choose them or speak to them. They are telling you about false visions. They tell you worthless fortunes. Their message is empty, and it comes from their own made-up ideas. ¹⁵So this is what the LORD says about the prophets who speak in my name. I did not send them. Yet they say, 'No war or famine will come to this land.' Those same prophets will die by war and famine! ¹⁶And the people they speak to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem. They will die because of famine and war. No one will be there to bury them, or their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. I will pour out on them the evil they have done. ¹⁷Speak this word to them:
'My eyes overflow with tears
day and night without stopping.
For my people, my dear virgin daughter,
has been struck with a crushing blow,
a very terrible wound. ¹⁸If I go out into the country,
I see people killed by the sword.
If I go into the city,
I see people sick from hunger!
Both prophet and priest
go off to a land they do not know.'" ¹⁹Have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you hate Zion?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be healed?
We hoped for peace,
but nothing good has come.
We hoped for a time of healing,
but there was only terror. ²⁰LORD, we admit our evil
and the guilt of our fathers.
Yes, we have sinned against you. ²¹For the sake of your name, do not reject us.
Do not bring shame on your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us.
Do not break it. ²²Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Can the sky send showers by itself?
No, it is you, LORD our God!
So we put our hope in you,
for you are the one who does all these things.