Jeremiah 14:1-12

English Standard Version

^2 (B)“Judah mourns,
    and ^(C)her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
    and ^(D)the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
³ Her nobles send their servants for water;
    they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
    they return with their vessels empty;
they are ^(E)ashamed and confounded
    and ^(F)cover their heads.
⁴ Because of the ground that is dismayed,
    since there is ^(G)no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
    they cover their heads.
⁵ Even ^(H)the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.
^6 (I)The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
    they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
    because there is no vegetation.

⁷ “Though our iniquities testify against us,
    act, O Lord, ^(J)for your name's sake;
^(K)for our backslidings are many;
    ^(L)we have sinned against you.
^8 (M)O 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?
⁹ Why should you be like a man confused,
    ^(N)like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet ^(O)you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
    and ^(P)we are called by your name;
    ^(Q)do not leave us.”

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