The Land Cries out in Drought
14 1 This is the word of our Father that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts: 2 Judah mourns, and her gates are deserted; her people sit in mourning on the ground, and a cry rises up from Jerusalem. 3 The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns and find no water. They return with their jars empty; they are ashamed and disgraced, and they cover their heads. a a v3 Covering the head was a gesture of grief and shame in the ancient world. 4 Because the ground is cracked open, for there has been no rain on the land, the farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads. 5 Even the doe in the field abandons her newborn fawn because there is no grass. 6 The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes grow dim because there is no grass. 7 Though our sins testify against us, act, our Father, for the sake of your name; for we have turned away from you again and again — we have sinned against you. 8 Hope of Israel, Israel's Savior in time of trouble, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stops only for the night? 9 Why are you like someone taken by surprise, like a warrior who cannot save? Yet you, our Father, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not abandon us!
10 This is what our Father says concerning this people: "They have so loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So I take no delight in them; now I will call their guilt to mind and punish their sins."
11 Then our Father said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Even when they fast, I will not listen to their cry; even when they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by plague."
Prophets Who Lie in Our Father's Name
13 Then I said, "Ah, Sovereign Father, look — the prophets are telling them, 'You will not face the sword, and famine will not come upon you, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"
14 Then our Father said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them; I did not command them; I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. 15 Therefore this is what our Father says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them, and who say, 'No sword or famine will touch this land': By sword and famine those very prophets will meet their end. 16 And the people they prophesy to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, with no one to bury them — them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil upon them.
17 Speak this word to them: 'Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day, and never cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a wound beyond healing. b b v17 Here our Father gives Jeremiah words that carry his own tears — the grief of a Father over children wounded beyond healing, weeping night and day for them. 18 If I go out into the field, there lie those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, there are the ravages of famine. For both prophet and priest ply their trade in a land they do not even know.'" c c v18 Prophets and priests will carry on their work even in exile — a land entirely foreign to them.
19 Have you utterly rejected Judah? Does your heart loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but instead there is terror. 20 We acknowledge our wickedness, our Father, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have sinned against you. 21 For the sake of your name, do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us, and do not break it. 22 Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Can the skies themselves send showers? Are you not the one, our Father? We put our hope in you, for you are the one who does all these things.