Jeremiah 14

¹The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought :

²Judah mourns , and her gates languish ; her people lament on the ground , and the cry of Jerusalem goes up .

³Her 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 .

⁴Because of the ground that is dismayed , since there is no rain on the land , the farmers are ashamed ; they cover their heads .

⁵Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn because there is no grass .

⁶The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights ; they pant for air like jackals ; their eyes fail because there is no vegetation .

⁷Though our iniquities testify against us, act , O Lord, for your name’s sake ; for our backslidings are many ; we have sinned against you.

⁸O you hope of Israel , its savior in time of trouble , why should you be like a stranger in the land , like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night ?

⁹Why should you be like a man confused , like a mighty warrior who cannot save ? Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name ; do not leave us.

¹⁰Thus says the Lord concerning this people : They have loved to wander thus ; they have not restrained their feet ; therefore the Lord does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins .

¹¹The Lord said to me: Do not pray for the welfare of this people .

¹²Though they fast , I will not hear their cry , and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering , I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword , by famine , and by pestilence .

¹³Then I said : Ah , Lord God, behold , the prophets say to them, You shall not see the sword , nor shall you have famine , but I will give you assured peace in this place .

¹⁴And the Lord said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name . I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision , worthless divination , and the deceit of their own minds .

¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say , Sword and famine shall not come upon this land : By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed .

¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem , victims of famine and sword , with none to bury them — them , their wives , their sons , and their daughters . For I will pour out their evil upon them.

¹⁷You shall say to them this word : Let my eyes run down with tears night and day , and let them not cease , for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound , with a very grievous blow .

¹⁸If I go out into the field , behold , those pierced by the sword ! And if I enter the city , behold , the diseases of famine ! For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge .

¹⁹Have you utterly rejected Judah ? Does your soul loathe Zion ? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace , but no good came; for a time of healing , but behold , terror .

²⁰We acknowledge our wickedness , O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers , for we have sinned against you.

²¹Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake ; do not dishonor your glorious throne ; remember and do not break your covenant with us.

²²Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain ? Or can the heavens give showers ? Are you not he, O Lord our God ? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things .