Jeremiah 14
Modern English Version
Drought, Famine, and Sword
14 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 Judah mourns,
and the gates languish;
they sit on the ground while mourning,
and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3 Their nobles have sent their servants for water;
they came to the cisterns and found no water.
They returned with their vessels empty;
they were ashamed and humiliated,
and covered their heads.
4 Because the ground is chapped,
for there was no rain in the earth,
the plowmen were ashamed;
they have covered their heads.
5 Indeed, the hind also calved in the field
and abandoned her young
because there was no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand in the high places;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no grass.
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,
do it for Your name’s sake.
Indeed, our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against You.
8 O the Hope of Israel,
its Savior in time of trouble,
why should You be as a stranger in the land,
and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to pitch his tent for a night?
9 Why should You be as a man dismayed,
as a mighty man who cannot save?
Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst,
and we are called by Your name.
Do not forsake us!
10 Thus says the Lord to this people:
Even so they have loved to wander;
they have not restrained their feet.
Therefore, the Lord does not accept them;
He will now remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
11 Then the Lord said to me: Do not pray for the good of this people. 12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry. And when they offer a burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
False Prophets
13 Yet I said, “Ah, Lord God! Here the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”
14 Then the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them nor have I commanded them nor have I spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and divination, and emptiness, and the deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name though I did not send them, yet they say, “Sword and famine will not be in this land.” By sword and famine those prophets will be consumed. 16 The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. And they will have no one to bury them, not them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon them.
17 Therefore you will say this word to them:
Let my eyes run down with tears
night and day, and let them not cease;
for the virgin daughter of my people
has been broken with a great blow,
with a very infected wound.
18 If I go out into the field,
I see those slain with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
I see those who are sick with famine!
Indeed, both the prophet and the priest
go about into a land that they do not know.
The People Ask for Mercy
19 Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us
so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace,
but there was nothing good;
and for the time of healing,
but there is trouble!
20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness
and the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor us. For Your name’s sake,
do not disgrace Your glorious throne.
Remember and do not break
Your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not You, O Lord our God?
Therefore, we will wait upon You,
for You have done all these things.
Jeremiah 14
EasyEnglish Bible
Famine and wars
14 This is the Lord's message that he gave to Jeremiah about the famine:
2 ‘Judah's people are very sad and upset.
The people in Judah's cities are becoming weak.
They are sitting on the ground and they are weeping.
Jerusalem's people call to me for help.
3 Rich people send their servants to get water.
They go to the wells, but they do not find any water.
They return home with empty water jars.
They are ashamed and upset.
They hide their faces in their hands.
4 There has been no rain anywhere.
The ground is breaking apart.
The farmers too are very upset.
They hide their faces in their hands.
5 There is no grass in the fields for the deer to eat.
So the mother deer runs away from her new baby.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the empty hills.
They breathe very fast, like thirsty jackals.
Their eyes hurt as they look for grass,
but there is no food for them to eat.’
7 ‘Lord, our many sins show that we are guilty.[a]
But please help us, to show that you are our God.
We have turned away from you many times.
We have done bad things against you.
8 You are the one that we Israelites hope to give us help.
You are the one who saves us when we are in trouble.
But now you live among us like a foreigner.
You are like a visitor who stays for only one night.
9 You seem to be like a helpless person.
You are like a brave fighter who has lost his strength to save anyone.
But surely you are among us, Lord.
We belong to you as your own people.
Do not leave us alone!’
10 The Lord says this about his people:
‘These people love to go wherever they want.
They do not try to stay near to me.
So they do not please me.
Now I will remember the wrong things that they have done.
I will punish them for their sins.’
The lies of the false prophets
11 The Lord said to me, ‘Do not pray that I will do any more good things for these people. 12 Even if they fast, I will not listen when they ask me for help. I will not accept the burnt offerings or grain offerings that they offer to me. Instead, I will use war, famine and disease to destroy them.’
13 I said, ‘Lord God, the prophets are deceiving the people. They say that there will not be any war or famine or disease that will hurt the people. Instead, they say that you have promised peace in our land.’
14 The Lord said to me, ‘Those prophets say that they speak my messages, but they are telling lies. I did not send them. I did not give them my authority. I did not give them any messages. They are deceiving people with the visions that they talk about. When they prophesy about things, it means nothing. They only speak about their own foolish ideas. 15 They claim to speak with my authority, but I did not send them. They say that there will be no war or famine. So I tell you, this is what will happen to those prophets: War and famine will kill them. 16 And the people that they are speaking their messages to will also die because of war and famine. Their bodies will lie in Jerusalem's streets. Nobody will be there to bury them. This will happen to the men, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will punish them as they deserve, because they are so wicked.
17 Say this to the people, Jeremiah:
“Tears pour from my eyes all the time.
I weep through each day and each night.
I am sad about my own dear people.
A great trouble has knocked them to the ground.
They have received a very bad wound.
18 When I go out into the fields,
I see the bodies of people who have died in war.
When I look in the city,
I see people who are dying from famine.
The prophets and the priests are busy with their work.
But they do not understand what is happening.” ’
A prayer that the Lord would save his people[b]
19 ‘Lord, have you completely turned away from the people of Judah?
Do you really hate the people of Zion?
You have knocked us down
so that we will never get better.
We hoped to live in peace,
but nothing good happened to us.
We hoped to have rest from our troubles,
but instead we live in fear.
20 Lord, we agree that we are wicked people.
Our ancestors also did bad things.
We have turned against you.
21 But please do not refuse to help us.
Show that you are a faithful God.
Jerusalem is the place where you have your beautiful throne.
So do not go away and leave us.
Remember the covenant that you made with us.
Please do what you promised to do for us.
22 The idols of other nations are useless.
None of them can cause rain to fall.
And the sky itself does not make rain.
No, it is you, Lord, our God, who sends rain.
You alone do all these things,
so we trust you to help us.’
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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