Jeremiah

14 So much of the word of Yahweh as came unto Jeremiah, concerning the matter of the drought:—

2 Judah mourneth, And the gates thereof pine They lie in gloom on the ground,—And the outcry of Jerusalem hath ascended;

3 And their nobles have sent their menials to the waters,—They have been to the pits, They have found no water, They have returned their vessels empty, They are pale and ashamed and have covered their heads.

4 Because the ground is cracked, For there hath been no rain in the land The plowmen are pale, They have covered their heads.

5 For even the hind of the field hath calved and forsaken, Because there is no young herbage;

6 Yea wild asses stand still on the bare heights, They pant for air like jackals,—Dimmed are their eyes Because there is no grass.

7 Though our iniquities have testified against us O Yahweh, effectually work thou for the sake of thy Name,—For our apostacies have abounded, Against thee have we sinned.

8 Thou Hope of Israel, His Saviour in the time of distress,—Wherefore shouldst thou be as a sojourner in the land? Or as a wayfarer who hath turned aside to lodge for the night?

9 Wherefore shouldst thou be as a man astounded, As a mighty man who cannot save? Yet thou art in our midst—O Yahweh, And thy Name on us hath been called, Do not abandon us!

10 Thus saith Yahweh To this people, In this way have they loved to wander, Their feet have they not restrained,—Yahweh therefore hath not accepted them, Now will he call to mind their iniquity,—That he may punish their sins.

11 And Yahweh said unto me,—Do not pray for this people for blessing;

12 Though they fast I am not going to hearken unto their loud cry, and Though they offer ascending-sacrifice and meal-offering I am not going to accept them,—For with sword and with famine and with pestilence am I about to consume them.

13 Then said I, Ah, My Lord Yahweh! Lo! the prophets are saying to them—Ye shall not see the sword And famine shall ye not have,—For prosperity in truth will I give you, in this place.

14 So then Yahweh said unto me, Falsehood are the prophets prophesying in my name, I have not sent them Neither have I commanded them, Neither have I spoken unto them,—A vision of falsehood and A divination of worthlessness and A fraud of their own hearts They are prophesying unto you.

15 Therefore Thus saith Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my Name though I sent them not, and yet they have been saying, Neither sword nor famine shall there be in this land,—By sword or by famine shall those prophets be consumed;

16 And the people to whom they have been prophesying shall be getting cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and of there being none to give burial unto them, them, their wives nor their sons nor their daughters,—So will I pour out upon them their own wickedness.

17 Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word, Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day And let them not rest,—For with a grievous injury hath been injured the virgin, the daughter of my people, With a wound severe indeed!

18 If I have gone out into the field Then lo! the slain of the sword! And if I have entered the city Then lo! the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest have trafficked against the land unnoticed.

19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? Zion itself hath thy soul loathed? Why hast thou smitten us so that there is for us no healing? A waiting For prosperity, but no welfare, and For a time of healing but lo! terror!

20 We acknowledge, O Yahweh, Our own lawlessness, The iniquity of our fathers,—For we have sinned against thee.

21 Do not despise—for the sake of thy Name, Do not treat with contempt—the throne of thy glory,—Remember!—do not break thy covenant with us.

22 Are there among the vanities of the nations senders of rain? Or can the heavens themselves give myriad drops? Art not thou he, O Yahweh our God? Therefore will we wait for thee, For thou hast made all these.