Jeremiah 14

New International Version

Drought, Famine, Sword

14 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:^(A)

²“Judah mourns,^(B)
    her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
    and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
³The nobles send their servants for water;
    they go to the cisterns
    but find no water.^(C)
They return with their jars unfilled;
    dismayed and despairing,
    they cover their heads.^(D)
⁴The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;^(E)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.
⁵Even the doe in the field
    deserts her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.^(F)
⁶Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights^(G)
    and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
    for lack of food.”^(H)

⁷Although our sins testify^(I) against us,
    do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.^(J)
For we have often rebelled;^(K)
    we have sinned^(L) against you.
⁸You who are the hope^(M) of Israel,
    its Savior^(N) in times of distress,^(O)
why are you like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who stays only a night?
⁹Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
    like a warrior powerless to save?^(P)
You are among^(Q) us, Lord,
    and we bear your name;^(R)
    do not forsake^(S) us!

¹⁰This is what the Lord says about this people:

“They greatly love to wander;
    they do not restrain their feet.^(T)
So the Lord does not accept^(U) them;
    he will now remember^(V) their wickedness
    and punish them for their sins.”^(W)

¹¹Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray^(X) for the well-being of this people. ¹²Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry;^(Y) though they offer burnt offerings^(Z) and grain offerings,^(AA) I will not accept^(AB) them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword,^(AC) famine^(AD) and plague.”^(AE)

¹³But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets^(AF) keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine.^(AG) Indeed, I will give you lasting peace^(AH) in this place.’”

¹⁴Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies^(AI) in my name. I have not sent^(AJ) them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions,^(AK) divinations,^(AL) idolatries^[a] and the delusions of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish^(AM) by sword and famine.^(AN) ¹⁶And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury^(AO) them, their wives, their sons and their daughters.^(AP) I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.^(AQ)

¹⁷“Speak this word to them:

“‘Let my eyes overflow with tears^(AR)
    night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin^(AS) Daughter, my people,
    has suffered a grievous wound,
    a crushing blow.^(AT)
¹⁸If I go into the country,
    I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
    I see the ravages of famine.^(AU)
Both prophet and priest
    have gone to a land they know not.^(AV)’”

¹⁹Have you rejected Judah completely?^(AW)
    Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
    so that we cannot be healed?^(AX)
We hoped for peace
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.^(AY)
²⁰We acknowledge^(AZ) our wickedness, Lord,
    and the guilt of our ancestors;^(BA)
    we have indeed sinned^(BB) against you.
²¹For the sake of your name^(BC) do not despise us;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne.^(BD)
Remember your covenant^(BE) with us
    and do not break it.
²²Do any of the worthless idols^(BF) of the nations bring rain?^(BG)
    Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
    Therefore our hope is in you,
    for you are the one who does all this.^(BH)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 14:14 Or visions, worthless divinations

Jeremiah 23

New International Version

The Righteous Branch

23 “Woe to the shepherds^(A) who are destroying and scattering^(B) the sheep of my pasture!”^(C) declares the Lord. ²Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds^(D) who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock^(E) and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil^(F) you have done,” declares the Lord. ³“I myself will gather the remnant^(G) of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture,^(H) where they will be fruitful and increase in number. ⁴I will place shepherds^(I) over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid^(J) or terrified, nor will any be missing,^(K)” declares the Lord.

⁵“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David^[a] a righteous Branch,^(L)
a King^(M) who will reign^(N) wisely
    and do what is just and right^(O) in the land.
⁶In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.^(P)
This is the name^(Q) by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.^(R)

⁷“So then, the days are coming,”^(S) declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’^(T) ⁸but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”^(U)

Lying Prophets

⁹Concerning the prophets:

My heart^(V) is broken within me;
    all my bones tremble.^(W)
I am like a drunken man,
    like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
    and his holy words.^(X)
¹⁰The land is full of adulterers;^(Y)
    because of the curse^[b]^(Z) the land lies parched
    and the pastures^(AA) in the wilderness are withered.^(AB)
The prophets follow an evil course
    and use their power unjustly.

¹¹“Both prophet and priest are godless;^(AC)
    even in my temple^(AD) I find their wickedness,”
declares the Lord.
¹²“Therefore their path will become slippery;^(AE)
    they will be banished to darkness
    and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
    in the year they are punished,^(AF)”
declares the Lord.

¹³“Among the prophets of Samaria
    I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal^(AG)
    and led my people Israel astray.^(AH)
¹⁴And among the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen something horrible:^(AI)
    They commit adultery and live a lie.^(AJ)
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,^(AK)
    so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.^(AL)
They are all like Sodom^(AM) to me;
    the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”^(AN)

¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets:

“I will make them eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,^(AO)
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness^(AP) has spread throughout the land.”

¹⁶This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Do not listen^(AQ) to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
    they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions^(AR) from their own minds,
    not from the mouth^(AS) of the Lord.
¹⁷They keep saying^(AT) to those who despise me,
    ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’^(AU)
And to all who follow the stubbornness^(AV) of their hearts
    they say, ‘No harm^(AW) will come to you.’
¹⁸But which of them has stood in the council^(AX) of the Lord
    to see or to hear his word?
    Who has listened and heard his word?
¹⁹See, the storm^(AY) of the Lord
    will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind^(AZ) swirling down
    on the heads of the wicked.
²⁰The anger^(BA) of the Lord will not turn back^(BB)
    until he fully accomplishes
    the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
    you will understand it clearly.
²¹I did not send^(BC) these prophets,
    yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
    yet they have prophesied.
²²But if they had stood in my council,^(BD)
    they would have proclaimed^(BE) my words to my people
and would have turned^(BF) them from their evil ways
    and from their evil deeds.^(BG)

²³“Am I only a God nearby,^(BH)”
declares the Lord,
    “and not a God far away?
²⁴Who can hide^(BI) in secret places
    so that I cannot see them?”
declares the Lord.
    “Do not I fill heaven and earth?”^(BJ)
declares the Lord.

²⁵“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies^(BK) in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream!^(BL) I had a dream!’ ²⁶How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions^(BM) of their own minds?^(BN) ²⁷They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget^(BO) my name, just as their ancestors forgot^(BP) my name through Baal worship.^(BQ) ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream^(BR) recount the dream, but let the one who has my word^(BS) speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. ²⁹“Is not my word like fire,”^(BT) declares the Lord, “and like a hammer^(BU) that breaks a rock in pieces?

³⁰“Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against^(BV) the prophets^(BW) who steal from one another words supposedly from me. ³¹Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’^(BX) ³²Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,^(BY)” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray^(BZ) with their reckless lies,^(CA) yet I did not send^(CB) or appoint them. They do not benefit^(CC) these people in the least,” declares the Lord.

False Prophecy

³³“When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message^(CD) from the Lord?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake^(CE) you, declares the Lord.’ ³⁴If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message^(CF) from the Lord,’ I will punish^(CG) them and their household. ³⁵This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’^(CH) or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort^(CI) the words of the living God,^(CJ) the Lord Almighty, our God. ³⁷This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ ³⁹Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast^(CK) you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. ⁴⁰I will bring on you everlasting disgrace^(CL)—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”