Jeremiah 14:12-15:16

English Standard Version

¹²Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, ^(A)and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them ^(B)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Lying Prophets

¹³Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^(C)say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” ¹⁴And the Lord said to me: “The ^(D)prophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^(E)I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^(F)worthless divination, and ^(G)the deceit of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^(H)I did not send them, and who say, ^(I)‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^(J)By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. ¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, ^(K)with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

¹⁷“You shall say to them this word:
^(L)‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
    and let them not cease,
for the virgin ^(M)daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
    ^(N)with a very grievous blow.
¹⁸^(O)If I go out into the field,
    behold, those pierced by the sword!
^(P)And if I enter the city,
    behold, the diseases of famine!
^(Q)For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
    and have no knowledge.’”

¹⁹^(R)Have you utterly rejected Judah?
    Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
    ^(S)so that there is no healing for us?
^(T)We looked for peace, but no good came;
    ^(U)for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
²⁰^(V)We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
    and the iniquity of our fathers,
    ^(W)for we have sinned against you.
²¹Do not spurn us, ^(X)for your name's sake;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne;
    ^(Y)remember and do not break your covenant with us.
²²Are there any among ^(Z)the false gods of the nations ^(AA)that can bring rain?
    Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
    We set our hope on you,
    ^(AB)for you do all these things.

The Lord Will Not Relent

15 Then the Lord said to me, ^(AC)“Though ^(AD)Moses ^(AE)and Samuel ^(AF)stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! ²And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^(AG)“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

³^(AH)I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and ^(AI)the birds of the air ^(AJ)and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴^(AK)And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what ^(AL)Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

⁵^(AM)“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
    ^(AN)or who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
    to ask about your welfare?
⁶^(AO)You have rejected me, declares the Lord;
    ^(AP)you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
    ^(AQ)I am weary of relenting.
⁷^(AR)I have winnowed them with ^(AS)a winnowing fork
    in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
    ^(AT)they did not turn from their ways.
⁸I have made their widows more in number
    than ^(AU)the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
    a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
    fall upon them suddenly.
⁹^(AV)She who bore seven has grown feeble;
    ^(AW)she has fainted away;
^(AX)her sun went down while it was yet day;
    she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
    before their enemies,
declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah's Complaint

¹⁰^(AY)Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! ^(AZ)I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. ¹¹The Lord said, “Have I not^[a] set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? ¹²Can one break iron, iron ^(BA)from the north, and bronze?

¹³^(BB)“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as ^(BC)spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. ¹⁴I will make you serve your enemies ^(BD)in a land that you do not know, ^(BE)for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

¹⁵^(BF)O Lord, you know;
    ^(BG)remember me and visit me,
    ^(BH)^(BI)and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
    ^(BJ)know that ^(BK)for your sake I bear reproach.
¹⁶Your words were found, ^(BL)and I ate them,
    and ^(BM)your words became to me a joy
    and the delight of my heart,
^(BN)for I am called by your name,
    O Lord, God of hosts.