On Drought and Military Defeat

Jeremiah 14:1–15:1

Biblical Period

Chapter 14

1The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.

2Judah is in mourning,
Her settlements languish.
Men are bowed to the ground,
And the outcry of Jerusalem rises.
3Their nobles sent their servants for water;
They came to the cisterns, they found no water.
They returned, their vessels empty.
They are shamed and humiliated,
They cover their heads.
4Because of the ground there is dismay,
For there has been no rain on the earth.
The plowmen are shamed,
They cover their heads.
5Even the hind in the field
Forsakes her new-born fawn,
Because there is no grass.
6And the wild asses stand on the bare heights,
Snuffing the air like jackals;
Their eyes pine,
Because there is no herbage.
7Though our iniquities testify against us,
Act, O Lord, for the sake of Your name;
Though our rebellions are many
And we have sinned against You.
8O Hope of Israel,
Its deliverer in time of trouble,
Why are You like a stranger in the land,
Like a traveler who stops only for the night?
9Why are You like a man who is stunned,
Like a warrior who cannot give victory?
Yet You are in our midst, O Lord,
And Your name is attached to us—
Do not forsake us!

10Thus said the Lord concerning this people: “Truly, they love to stray, they have not restrained their feet; so the Lord has no pleasure in them. Now He will recall their iniquity and punish their sin.”

11And the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the benefit of this people. 12When they fast, I will not listen to their outcry; and when they present burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them. I will exterminate them by war, famine, and disease.”

13I said, “Ah, Lord God! The prophets are saying to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, famine shall not come upon you, but I will give you unfailing security in this place.’”

14The Lord replied: It is a lie that the prophets utter in My name. I have not sent them or commanded them. I have not spoken to them. A lying vision, an empty divination, the deceit of their own contriving—that is what they prophesy to you! 15Assuredly, thus said the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name though I have not sent them, and who say, “Sword and famine shall not befall this land”; those very prophets shall perish by sword and famine. 16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be left lying in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, with none to bury them—they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out upon them [the requital of] their wickedness.

17And do you speak to them thus:
Let my eyes run with tears,
Day and night let them not cease,
For my hapless people has suffered
A grievous injury, a very painful wound.
18If I go out to the country—
Lo, the slain of the sword.
If I enter the city—
Lo, those who are sick with famine.
Both priest and prophet roam the land,
They know not where.
19Have You, then, rejected Judah?
Have You spurned Zion?
Why have You smitten us
So that there is no cure?
Why do we hope for happiness,
But find no good;
For a time of healing,
And meet terror instead?
20We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord—
The iniquity of our fathers—
For we have sinned against You.
21For Your name’s sake, do not disown us;
Do not dishonor Your glorious throne.
Remember, do not annul Your covenant with us.
22Can any of the false gods of the nations give rain?
Can the skies of themselves give showers?
Only You can, O Lord our God!
So we hope in You,
For only You made all these things.

Chapter 15

1The Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were to intercede with Me, I would not be won over to that people. Dismiss them from My presence, and let them go forth!”

Credits

Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

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Jeremiah and the Destruction of the First Temple

Jeremiah engaged in debates with royal officials and with other prophets in Jerusalem, urged submission to Babylonia, and was repeatedly imprisoned as a traitor. 

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