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Judah’s Terrible Drought

14 This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord, explaining why he was holding back the rain:

“Judah wilts;
    commerce at the city gates grinds to a halt.
All the people sit on the ground in mourning,
    and a great cry rises from Jerusalem.
The nobles send servants to get water,
    but all the wells are dry.
The servants return with empty pitchers,
    confused and desperate,
    covering their heads in grief.
The ground is parched
    and cracked for lack of rain.
The farmers are deeply troubled;
    they, too, cover their heads.
Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass in the field.
The wild donkeys stand on the bare hills
    panting like thirsty jackals.
They strain their eyes looking for grass,
    but there is none to be found.”

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The Severe Drought

14 That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah concerning the matter[a] of the severe drought.

“Judah mourns, and her gates languish,
    they are in mourning on the ground,
    and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.
And their nobles send their servants for water.
    They come to the pits, they find no water.
They return with their vessels empty.[b]
    They are ashamed, and they are confounded,
    and they cover their heads.[c]
Because of the ground, which is cracked
    because there was no rain on the ground.
The farmers are ashamed,
    they cover their heads.[d]
For even the doe in the field gives birth and forsakes her young,[e]
    because there is no green growth.
And wild asses stand on the barren heights,
    they gasp for breath like the jackals.
Their eyes fail
    because there is no vegetation.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 14:1 Hebrew “matters”
  2. Jeremiah 14:3 Literally “without success”
  3. Jeremiah 14:3 Hebrew “head”
  4. Jeremiah 14:4 Hebrew “head”
  5. Jeremiah 14:5 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation