Jeremiah 14

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

1The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning ^athe drought:

2 ^b“Judah mourns,
and ^cher gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
and ^dthe cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
they return with their vessels empty;
they are ^eashamed and confounded
and ^fcover their heads.
4Because of the ground that is dismayed,
since there is ^gno rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
5Even ^hthe doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 ⁱThe wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no vegetation.
7 “Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, ^jfor your name’s sake;
^kfor our backslidings are many;
^lwe have sinned against you.
8 ^mO you hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9Why should you be like a man confused,
ⁿlike a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet ^oyou, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and ^pwe are called by your name;
^qdo not leave us.”
10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
they have not restrained their feet;
^rtherefore the Lord does not accept them;
^snow he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”
11The Lord said to me: ^t“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, ^uand though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them ^vby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Lying Prophets

13Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^wsay 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 ^xprophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^yI did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^zworthless divination, and ^aathe deceit of their own minds. 15Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^abI did not send them, and who say, ^ac‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^adBy 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, ^aewith 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:
^af‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin ^agdaughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
^ahwith a very grievous blow.
18 ^aiIf I go out into the field,
behold, those pierced by the sword!
^ajAnd if I enter the city,
behold, the diseases of famine!
^akFor both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
and have no knowledge.’”
19 ^alHave you utterly rejected Judah?
Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
^amso that there is no healing for us?
^anWe looked for peace, but no good came;
^aofor a time of healing, but behold, terror.
20 ^apWe acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
and the iniquity of our fathers,
^aqfor we have sinned against you.
21Do not spurn us, ^arfor your name’s sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
^asremember and do not break your covenant with us.
22Are there any among ^atthe false gods of the nations ^authat can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
^avfor you do all these things.

Jeremiah 19

The Broken Flask

1Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy ^awa potter’s earthenware ^axflask, and take some of ^aythe elders of the people and some of ^azthe elders of the priests, 2and go out ^bato the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3You shall say, ^bb‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^bcO kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that ^bdthe ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 ^beBecause the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; ^bfand because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 ^bgand have built the high places of Baal ^bhto burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, ^biwhich I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6therefore, ^bjbehold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or ^bkthe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7And in this place ^blI will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, ^bmand will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. ^bnI will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8And I will make this city ^boa horror, ^bpa thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 ^bqAnd I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor ^brin the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’

10“Then ^bsyou shall break ^btthe flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, ^buas one breaks a potter’s vessel, ^bvso that it can never be mended. ^bwMen shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city ^bxlike Topheth. 13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah— ^byall the houses on whose ^bzroofs offerings have been offered ^cato all the host of heaven, and ^cbdrink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled ^cclike the place of Topheth.’”

14Then Jeremiah came from ^cdTopheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, ^ceand he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people: 15“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, ^cfbecause they have stiffened their neck, ^cgrefusing to hear my words.”