Jeremiah 14

1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.

2 Judah has mourned; her gates stand empty and darkened to the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

3 Her great men sent their young servants for water; they came to the wells and found no water, and they carried their jars back empty.

4 And the work of the land failed, because there was no rain. The farmers were ashamed; they covered their heads.

5 Even the deer gave birth in the field and abandoned their young, because there was nothing green.

6 Wild donkeys stood in the ravines and gulped at the wind; their eyes failed, because there was no grass — because of the wrongdoing of the people.

7 “Though our sins stand against us, Lord, act for us for your own sake, for our sins before you are many; we have sinned against you.”

8 “Hope of Israel, Lord, you who rescue in the time of trouble — why have you become like a foreigner living in the land, like a native-born man who turns aside to an inn?”

9 “Will you be like a man asleep, like a man who cannot rescue? Yet you are among us, Lord, and your name has been called over us. Do not forget us.”

10 “This is what the Lord says to this people: They loved to keep their feet moving; they did not hold back, and God has taken no pleasure in them. Now he will remember their wrongdoings.”

11 The Lord said to me:

“Do not pray for this people’s welfare.”

12 “For though they fast, I will not hear their plea; though they bring whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, I will take no pleasure in them — for by sword and by famine and by plague I will finish them.”

13 I said,

“Lord, look — their prophets prophesy and say, ‘You will not see a sword, and famine will not come to you, for I will give truth and peace in the land and in this place.’”

14 Then the Lord said to me:

“The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I did not send them, I did not command them, and I did not speak to them. They prophesy to you false visions and divinations and omen-readings and the designs of their own hearts.”

15 “Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who prophesy lies in my name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine will not come on this land’: By a death of disease they will die, and by famine those prophets will be finished.”

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

17 “And you will tell them this word: Let your eyes run down with tears night and day, and do not let them stop, for the daughter of my people has been shattered — utterly shattered — a very painful blow.”

18 “If I go out into the open country — look, men slain by the sword; if I go into the city — look, the agony of famine. For priest and prophet have gone off to a land they did not know.”

19 “Have you completely rejected Judah? Has your soul pulled away from Zion? Why have you struck us, so that there is no healing for us? We waited for peace, but nothing good came; for a time of healing — and look, turmoil.”

20 “We know our sins, Lord, and the wrongdoings of our fathers: we have sinned before you.”

21 “Hold back, for your name’s sake. Do not destroy the throne of your glory; remember — do not shatter your covenant with us.”

22 “Is there any rain-giver among the idols of the nations? Or will the sky give its downpour by itself? Is it not you? We will wait for you, for you made all these things.”