On Drought and Military Defeat

Chapter 14

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

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.

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!”