The Land Cries out in Drought
Drought empties the cisterns, farmers cover their heads, and a doe abandons her fawn for lack of grass. The people plead on the strength of the Father's own name; he tells Jeremiah not to pray for them. The prophets promising safety were never sent. The chapter closes still asking.
14 1This is the word of our Father that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts: 2Judah mourns, and her gates are deserted; her people sit in mourning on the ground, and a cry rises up from Jerusalem.
3"The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns and find no water. They return with their jars empty; they are ashamed and disgraced, and they cover their heads. 4Because the ground is cracked open, for there has been no rain on the land, the farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads. 5Even the doe in the field abandons her newborn fawn because there is no grass. 6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes grow dim because there is no grass. 7'Though our sins testify against us, act, our Father, for the sake of your name; for we have turned away from you again and again—we have sinned against you. 8Hope of Israel, Israel's Savior in time of trouble, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stops only for the night? 9Why are you like someone taken by surprise, like a warrior who cannot save? Yet you, our Father, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not abandon us!'
10"This is what our Father says about this people: 'They so loved to wander; they did not restrain their feet. So I take no delight in them; now I will remember their guilt and punish their sins.'
11"Then our Father said to me, 'Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12When they fast, I won't hear their cry; when they offer burnt and grain offerings, I won't accept them. I will end them by sword, famine, and plague.'"
Prophets Who Lie in Our Father's Name
13Then I said, "Ah, Sovereign Father, look—the prophets tell them, 'You will not face the sword, and famine will not come upon you, but I'll give you lasting peace here.'"
14Then our Father told me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I didn't send, command, or speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision, worthless fortune-telling, and the deceit of their own minds. 15This is what our Father says about the prophets prophesying in my name, though I didn't send them, who say, 'No sword or famine will touch this land': By sword and famine those prophets will die. 16The people they prophesy to will be thrown into Jerusalem's streets by famine and sword, no one to bury them—them, their wives, sons, and daughters. I will pour their own evil on them.
17Tell them this: 'Let my eyes stream tears night and day without stopping, for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered by a crushing blow, a wound beyond healing. a a v17 Here our Father gives Jeremiah words that carry his own tears — the grief of a Father over children wounded beyond healing, weeping night and day for them.
18If I go out into the field, there lie those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, there are the ravages of famine. For both prophet and priest ply their trade in a land they do not even know.'"
19Have you utterly rejected Judah? Does your heart loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but instead there is terror. 20We acknowledge our wickedness, our Father, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have sinned against you. 21For the sake of your name, do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us, and do not break it. 22Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Can the skies themselves send showers? Are you not the one, our Father? We put our hope in you, for you are the one who does all these things.
