耶利米书 14
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
预言旱灾
14 耶和华告诉耶利米有关旱灾的事：
2 “犹大充满悲泣，
她的城邑衰败，
人人坐在地上痛哭，
耶路撒冷哀鸣四起。
3 贵族派仆人去水池打水，
仆人去那里发现没有水，
就带着空瓶垂头丧气、
羞愧难当地回去了。
4 天不下雨，
土地干裂，
农夫沮丧地抱着头。
5 因为没有草，
田野的母鹿抛弃了刚生下来的小鹿；
6 因为没有草，
野驴站在光秃的山头上像豺狼一样喘气，双目无神。”
7 耶和华啊，虽然我们的罪控告我们，
我们屡屡叛逆得罪你，
求你为了自己的尊名而拯救我们。
8 以色列的盼望和患难时的救主啊，
你为什么在这里像一个异乡人，
像一个只住一夜的旅客呢？
9 你为什么像一个受惊的人，
像一个无力救人的勇士呢？
耶和华啊，你一直都在我们中间，
我们属于你的名下，
求你不要抛弃我们。
10 论到这些百姓，耶和华这样说：
“他们喜欢流浪，
不约束自己的脚步，
因此耶和华不喜欢他们。
现在祂要清算他们的罪恶，
追讨他们的罪。”
11 耶和华对我说：“你不要为这百姓祷告。 12 他们禁食，我也不会听他们的呼求；他们献上燔祭和素祭，我也不会悦纳。我要用战争、饥荒和瘟疫灭绝他们。” 13 我说：“主耶和华啊！众先知不停地告诉他们不会有战争，也不会遭遇饥荒，说耶和华必在这地方赐给他们永久的平安。”
14 耶和华对我说：“那些先知奉我的名说假预言，我并没有差派他们，没有委任他们，也没有对他们说话。他们对你们说的预言是假异象，是占卜，是凭空捏造。 15 我没有差派他们，他们却奉我的名说这地方必没有战争和饥荒。他们必死于战争和饥荒。这是耶和华说的。 16 至于听他们说预言的人以及那些人的妻子儿女，必因饥荒和战争而暴尸耶路撒冷街头。因为我要使他们受到应得的报应。
17 “耶利米，你要对他们说，
‘让我昼夜泪眼汪汪吧，
因为我的同胞遭受重创，
遍体鳞伤。
18 我走到田间，
眼前是具具被杀的尸体；
我进入城里，
见饥荒肆虐，
祭司和先知也流亡异乡[a]。’”
19 耶和华啊，你完全丢弃犹大了吗？
你厌恶锡安吗？
你为什么把我们打得伤痕累累，以致无法医治？
我们期待平安，却没有平安；
渴望得到医治，却饱受惊吓。
20 耶和华啊，我们承认自己和我们祖先的罪，
我们都得罪了你。
21 为了你的尊名，
求你不要厌恶我们，
不要让你荣耀的宝座蒙羞。
求你顾念你与我们立的约，
不要废除它。
22 在列国供奉的偶像中，
谁能赐下雨水呢？
天能自降甘霖吗？
我们的上帝耶和华啊，
难道不是只有你能行这些事吗？
是你赐雨水降甘霖，
所以我们仰望你。
Footnotes
- 14:18 “祭司和先知也流亡异乡”或译“连祭司和先知也浑浑噩噩，不知道自己做什么”。
Jeremiah 14
International Children’s Bible
A Time Without Rain
14 These are the words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah about the time when there was no rain:
2 “The nation of Judah cries.
Her cities are dying.
They cry out for the land.
A cry goes up to God from Jerusalem.
3 The important men send their servants to get water.
The servants go to the wells,
but they find no water.
So they return with empty jars.
They are ashamed and embarrassed.
They cover their heads in shame.
4 The ground is dry and cracked open
because no rain falls on the land.
The farmers are upset and sad.
So they cover their heads in shame.
5 Even the mother deer in the field
leaves her fawn.
She does this because there is no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills.
They sniff the wind like wild dogs.
But their eyes are dull because
there is no food.”
7 We know that we suffer because of our sins.
Lord, do something to help us for the good of your name.
We have left you many times.
We have sinned against you.
8 God, you are the Hope of Israel.
You have saved Israel in times of trouble.
But now you are like a stranger in the land.
You are like a traveler who only stays one night.
9 You seem like a man who has been attacked by surprise.
You seem like a warrior who is not able to save anyone.
But you are among us, Lord.
And we are called by your name.
So don’t leave us without help!
10 This is what the Lord says about the people of Judah:
“They really love to wander from me.
They don’t stop themselves from leaving me.
So now I, the Lord, will not accept them.
I will now remember the evil they do.
I will punish them for their sins.”
11 Then the Lord said this to me: “Don’t pray for good things to happen to the people of Judah. 12 Even if they give up eating, I will not listen to their prayers. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. I will destroy the people of Judah with war, hunger and terrible diseases.”
13 But I said, “Oh! Lord God, the false prophets keep telling the people something different! They are saying, ‘You will not suffer from an enemy’s sword. You will never suffer from hunger. The Lord will give you peace in this land.’”
14 Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them. I did not appoint them or speak to them. They have been prophesying false visions, idolatries and worthless magic. And they have been prophesying their own wishful thinking. 15 So this is what I say about the prophets who are prophesying in my name. I did not send them. They said, ‘No enemy with swords will ever attack this country. There will never be hunger in this land.’ Those prophets will die from hunger. And an enemy’s sword will kill them. 16 And the people the prophets spoke to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem. They will die from hunger and from an enemy’s sword. No one will be there to bury them. And no one will bury their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will punish them.
17 “Speak this message to the people of Judah:
‘Let my eyes be filled with tears.
I will cry night and day, without stopping.
I will cry for my people.
They have received a terrible blow.
They have been hurt very badly.
18 If I go into the country,
I see people killed by swords.
If I go into the city,
I see much sickness because the people have no food.
Both the priests and the prophets
have been taken to a foreign land.’”
19 Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?
Do you hate Jerusalem?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be made well again?
We hoped for peace,
but nothing good has come.
We looked for a time of healing,
but only terror came.
20 Lord, we admit that we are very wicked.
We admit that our ancestors did evil things.
We have sinned against you.
21 For your sake, do not hate us.
Do not take away the honor from your glorious throne.
Remember your agreement with us.
Do not break it.
22 Do foreign idols have the power to bring rain?
Does the sky itself have the power to send down showers of rain?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
You are our only hope.
You are the one who made all these things.
Jeremiah 14
Contemporary English Version
The Land Dries Up
14 When there had been no rain for a long time, the Lord told me to say to the people:
2 Judah and Jerusalem weep
as the land dries up.
3 Rulers send their servants
to the storage pits for water.[a]
But there's none to be found;
they return in despair
with their jars still empty.
4 There has been no rain,
and farmers feel sick
as they watch cracks appear
in the dry ground.[b]
5 A deer gives birth in a field,
then abandons her newborn fawn
and leaves in search of grass.
6 Wild donkeys go blind
from starvation.
So they stand on barren hilltops
and sniff the air,[c]
hoping to smell green grass.
The Lord's People Pray
7 We rejected you and did evil,
so we deserve to be punished.
But if you rescue us, Lord,
everyone will see
how great you are.
8 You're our only hope;
you alone can save us now.
You help us one day,
but you're gone the next.
9 Did this disaster
take you by surprise?
Are you a warrior
with your hands tied?
You have chosen us,
and your temple is here.
Don't abandon us!
The Lord's Answer
10 My people,
you love to wander away;
you don't even try
to stay close to me.
So now I will reject you
and punish you for your sins.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
Lying Prophets
11 The Lord said, “Jeremiah, don't ask me to help these people. 12 They may even go without eating[d] and offer sacrifices to please me[e] and to give thanks.[f] But when they cry out for my help, I won't listen, and I won't accept their sacrifices. Instead, I'll send war, starvation, and disease to wipe them out.”
13 I replied, “The other prophets keep telling everyone that you won't send starvation or war, and that you're going to give us peace.”
14 The Lord answered:
They claim to speak for me, but they're lying! I didn't even speak to them, much less choose them to be my prophets. Their messages come from worthless dreams, useless fortunetelling, and their own imaginations.
15 Those lying prophets say there will be peace and plenty of food. But I say that those same prophets will die from war and hunger. 16 And everyone who listens to them will be killed, just as they deserve. Their dead bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, because their families will also be dead, and no one will be left to bury them.[g]
17 Jeremiah, go and tell the people how you feel about all this.
So I told them:
“Tears will flood my eyes
both day and night,
because my nation suffers
from a deadly wound.
18 In the fields I see the bodies
of those killed in battle.
And in the towns I see crowds
dying of hunger.
But the prophets and priests
go about their business,
without understanding
what has happened.”[h]
Jeremiah Prays to the Lord
19 Have you rejected Judah, Lord?
Do you hate Jerusalem?
Why did you strike down Judah
with a fatal wound?
We had hoped for peace
and a time of healing,
but all we got was terror.
20 We and our ancestors are guilty
of rebelling against you.
21 If you save us, it will show
how great you are.
Don't let our enemies
disgrace your temple,
your beautiful throne.
Don't forget that you promised
to rescue us.
22 Idols can't send rain,
and showers don't fall
by themselves.
Only you control the rain,
so we put our trust in you,
the Lord our God.
Footnotes
- 14.3 storage pits for water: Since water was scarce, pits were dug into solid rock for collecting and storing rainwater. These pits were called “cisterns.”
- 14.4 cracks … ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 14.6 sniff the air: The Hebrew text has “sniff the air, like jackals” (see the note at 9.11).
- 14.12 go without eating: The people of Israel sometimes went without eating to show sorrow for their sins.
- 14.12 sacrifices to please me: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “whole burnt offerings” because the whole animal was burned on the altar. A main purpose of such sacrifices was to please the Lord with the smell of the sacrifice, and so in the CEV they are sometimes called “sacrifices to please the Lord.”
- 14.12 sacrifices … to give thanks: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “grain offerings.” A main purpose of such sacrifices was to thank the Lord with a gift of grain, and so in the CEV they are sometimes called “sacrifices to give thanks to the Lord.”
- 14.16 dead bodies … bury them: A proper burial was considered very important.
- 14.18 go about … has happened: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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