Online Bible

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah in regard to the ^adrought:

2 “Judah mournsAnd ^aher gates languish;They sit on the ground ^bin mourning,And the ^ccry of Jerusalem has ascended.3 “Their nobles have ^asent their ¹servants for water;They have come to the ^bcisterns and found no water.They have returned with their vessels empty;They have been ^cput to shame and humiliated,And they ^dcover their heads.4 “Because the ^aground is ¹cracked,For there has been ^bno rain on the land;The ^cfarmers have been put to shame,They have covered their heads.5 “For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young,Because there is ^ano grass.6 “The ^awild donkeys stand on the bare heights;They pant for air like jackals,Their eyes failFor there is ^bno vegetation.7 “Although our ^ainiquities testify against us,O LORD, act ^bfor Your name’s sake!Truly our ^capostasies have been many,We have ^dsinned against You.8 “O ^aHope of Israel,Its ^bSavior in ^ctime of distress,Why are You like a stranger in the landOr like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?9 “Why are You like a man dismayed,Like a mighty man who ^acannot save?Yet ^bYou are in our midst, O LORD,And we are ^ccalled by Your name;Do not forsake us!”

10 Thus says the LORD to this people, “Even so they have ^aloved to wander; they have not ^bkept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does ^cnot accept them; now He will ^dremember their iniquity and call their sins to account.” 11 So the LORD said to me, “^aDo not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 When they fast, I am ^anot going to listen to their cry; and when they offer ^bburnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to ^cmake an end of them by the ^dsword, famine and pestilence.”

False Prophets

13 But, “Ah, Lord ¹GOD!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You ^awill not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you ²lasting ^bpeace in this place.’” 14 Then the LORD said to me, “The ^aprophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. ^bI have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a ^cfalse vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own ¹minds. 15 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—^aby sword and famine those prophets shall ¹meet their end! 16 The people also to whom they are prophesying will be ^athrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be 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.

17 “You will say this word to them,‘^aLet my eyes flow down with tears night and day,And let them not cease;For the virgin ^bdaughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow,With a sorely ^cinfected wound.18 ‘If I ^ago out to the country,Behold, those ¹slain with the sword!Or if I enter the city,Behold, diseases of famine!For ^bboth prophet and priestHave ²gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’”

19 Have You completely ^arejected Judah?Or have ¹You loathed Zion?Why have You stricken us so that we ^bare beyond healing?We ^cwaited for peace, but nothing good came;And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!20 We ^aknow our wickedness, O LORD,The iniquity of our fathers, for ^bwe have sinned against You.21 Do not despise us, ^afor Your own name’s sake;Do not disgrace the ^bthrone of Your glory;Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.22 Are there any among the ¹^aidols of the nations who ^bgive rain?Or can the heavens grant showers?Is it not You, O LORD our God?Therefore we ²^chope in You,For You are the one who has done all these things.