Online Bible

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the ^adrought:

2 “Judah mournsAnd ^aher gates languish;Her people sit on the ground ^bin mourning clothesAnd the ^ccry of Jerusalem has gone up.3 “Their nobles ^ahave sent their servants for water;They have come to the ^bcisterns and found no water.They have returned with empty vessels;They have been ^cshamed and humiliated,And they ^dcover their heads.4 “The ^aground is crackedBecause there has been ^bno rain on the land;The ^cfarmers are distressed,And they have covered their heads in shame.5 “The doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her youngBecause there is ^ano grass.6 “And the ^awild donkeys stand on the barren heights;They pant for air like jackals,Their eyesight failsBecause there is ^bno grass.7 “O LORD, though our ^amany sins testify against us” prays Jeremiah,“Act now for us and ^bfor Your name’s sake so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness!For our ^cbackslidings are countless;We have ^dsinned against You.8 “O ^aHope of Israel,Her ^bSavior in ^ctime of distress and trouble,Why should You be like a sojourner (temporary resident) in the landOr like a traveler who turns aside and spreads his tent to linger only for a night?9 “Why should You be hesitant and inactive like a man astounded and perplexed,Like a mighty man ^aunable to save?Yet ^bYou, O LORD, are among us,And we are ^ccalled by Your name;Do not leave us!”

10 Thus says the LORD to this people Judah, “In the manner and to the degree already pointed out they have ^aloved to wander; they have not ^brestrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does ^cnot accept them; He will now ^dremember in detail their wickedness and punish them for their sins.” 11 So the LORD said to me, “^aDo not pray for good things for this people. 12 Though they fast, I will ^anot hear their cry; and though they offer ^bburnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them because they are done as obligations, and not as acts of loving obedience. Instead I will ^cconsume them by the ^dsword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

False Prophets

13 But I said, “Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, the false prophets are telling them, ‘You ^awill not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I the LORD will give you lasting ^bpeace in this place.’” 14 Then the LORD said to me, “The counterfeit ^aprophets are prophesying lies in My Name. ^bI have neither sent them nor authorized them nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you ^cmade-up visions pretending to call forth responses from handmade gods, a worthless divination and the deceit of their own mind. 15 Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the false prophets who are prophesying in My Name, although I did not send them—yet they keep saying, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’: ^aby sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end and be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they are prophesying will be ^athrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they will have no one to ^bbury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will ^cpour out their own wickedness on them and not only on the imposters posing as prophets, for the people could not have been deceived without their own consent.

17 “Therefore Jeremiah you will say this word to them,‘^aLet my eyes flow with tears night and day,And let them never cease;For the virgin ^bdaughter of my people has been crushed with a ^cgreat blow,With a very serious and severely infected wound.18 ‘If I ^ago out into the field,Then I gaze on those slaughtered with the sword!And if I enter the city,Then I gaze on those tormented with the diseases of famine!For ^bboth prophet and priest who should have guided the peopleGo about bewildered and exiled in a land (Babylon) that they do not know or understand.’”

19 Have You O LORD completely ^arejected Judah?Do You loathe Zion?Why have You stricken us so that there ^bis no healing for us?We ^clooked for peace and completeness, but nothing good came;And we hoped for a time of healing, but behold, terror!20 We ^aknow and acknowledge, O LORD,Our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for ^bwe have sinned against You.21 Do not treat us with contempt and condemn us, ^afor Your own name’s sake;Do not disgrace Your ¹glorious ^bthrone;Remember with consideration and do not break Your solemn covenant with us.22 Are there any among the ^aidols of the nations who can ^bsend rain?Or can the heavens of their own will give showers?Is it not You, O LORD our God?Therefore we will wait and ^chope confidently in You,For You are the one who has made all these things the heavens and the rain.