Jeremiah 14

⁸He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

²⁶And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

²¹For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.

¹²Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

⁸But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.

⁹Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.

¹³And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the Lord of Hosts.

¹¹Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.

³⁰But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

¹⁴May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.

³¹Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

¹³“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

⁸People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the Lord.

⁴The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.

¹¹Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

¹⁹To You, O Lord, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.

²⁰Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.

³Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.

²³All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His fierce anger.

¹⁷The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods; the storehouses are in ruins; the granaries are broken down, for the grain has withered away.

¹⁹I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,

²⁰and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

⁹The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”

⁶The waters of Nimrim are dried up, and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone, and the greenery is no more.

¹“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?

²Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth?

²⁴a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her.

⁵Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?

⁶I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.

¹⁸How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

²⁹“My father has brought trouble to the land,” Jonathan replied. “Just look at how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.

¹⁷All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.

¹⁷Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—

¹¹For the sake of Your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.

⁵Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.

²⁰We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.

²¹For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.

⁶Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.

¹²For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities:

⁵we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.

⁶We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.

¹³O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.

⁷All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

³For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their stronghold in time of trouble.

⁴⁰The Lord helps and delivers them; He rescues and saves them from the wicked, because they take refuge in Him.

²¹Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.

¹Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.

¹⁹We have become like those You never ruled, like those not called by Your name.

¹⁵If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,

¹⁶‘Because the Lord was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

²³The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”

⁵God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O Lord God of Hosts.

⁹They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins.

¹³Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the Lord does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.

¹⁰¹I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.

²⁰What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”

²²Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.

³⁴No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

¹⁶As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.

¹⁴As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster.

³²Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

³³The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.

¹⁰Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

¹Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!

¹¹Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.

¹⁸Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

²⁸Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

²¹For this is what the Lord God says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?

²⁰What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”

⁴Then they will cry out to the Lord, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.

¹⁴They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.

¹⁷They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’

¹⁰Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the Lord, saying, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

¹Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

¹²They have lied about the Lord and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.

⁶They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the Lord,’ when the Lord did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.

⁷Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the Lord,’ even though I have not spoken?

⁸For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.

⁹For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the Lord.”

¹⁰They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.

¹¹Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”

²⁴For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel,

³¹“Send a message telling all the exiles what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,

¹⁴The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.

¹²They have lied about the Lord and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.

¹³The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”

¹⁰They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer will be the same as that of the prophet—

¹⁵Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the Lord.

¹⁴Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

¹⁵They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

⁶And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried—you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied these lies.’”

¹Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

²Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.

²They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.

³They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.

³¹So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

³³The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.

²If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’

³I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

²¹Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

²²And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.

²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.

²¹For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.

¹⁷But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

¹⁵The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.

¹⁶For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed.

¹Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.

¹³What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can ever heal you?

¹³Therefore I am striking you severely, to ruin you because of your sins.

¹⁵The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.

²⁰See, O Lord, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.

¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

⁷Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,

¹³“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

³⁶The Lord will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.

²²unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.

¹⁵We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.

³While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

³⁰They are called rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them.”

¹⁹and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.

²⁰So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.

⁵⁹On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

¹⁸I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

⁷But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

¹³Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the Lord your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the Lord.

³For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

⁴Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.

⁷Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.

⁴⁵And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

³⁹You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have broken down all his walls; You have reduced his strongholds to rubble.

¹⁵Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly.

¹⁶O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us.

²²Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went.

²³I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.

²³Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

²⁴They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’

⁷He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

²³Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.

²¹They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

²⁶It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.