Jeremiah 14

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

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

2 bJudah 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, acSword 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 themthem, 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 15:1-9

The Lord Will Not Relent

1Then the Lord said to me, aw“Though axMoses ayand Samuel azstood 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:

ba“‘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 bbI will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and bcthe birds of the air bdand the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 beAnd I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what bfManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

5 bgWho will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
bhor who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 biYou have rejected me, declares the Lord;
bjyou keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
bkI am weary of relenting.
7 blI have winnowed them with bma winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
bnthey did not turn from their ways.
8I have made their widows more in number
than bothe 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 bpShe who bore seven has grown feeble;
bqshe has fainted away;
brher 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.”
Copyright information for ESV