Jeremiah

The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.

1This is the message the LORD gave to Jeremiah about the drought.

Note"Dearth" is an old word for a time when something runs out. Here it means a long stretch with no rain, which then leaves people without food.

2Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

2Judah is in mourning. Her city gates droop. Her people sink to the ground in grief, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

3And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

3The rich men send their young servants for water. They come to the wells and find none. They bring the jars back empty. Ashamed and confused, they cover their heads.

4Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

4The ground is cracked and hard, because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed, and they cover their heads.

5Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.

5Even the deer in the field walks away from her newborn fawn, because there is no grass.

6And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

6Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills. They gasp for air like jackals. Their eyes grow dim because there is nothing to eat.

NoteThe KJV says "dragons," but the Hebrew word means jackals, wild dogs of the desert. "Snuffed up the wind" means they panted for air like an animal about to collapse.

7O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.

7Our sins speak against us, LORD. Even so, act for the sake of your own name. We have turned away again and again. We have sinned against you.

8O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

8You are Israel's hope, the one who saves them in hard times. Why act like a stranger here, like a traveler who stays only one night?

9Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

9Why be like a man caught off guard, like a soldier too weak to help? Yet you are here among us, LORD, and we carry your name. Do not leave us.

Note"Astonied" is an old spelling of "astonished." It pictures a man so stunned that he stands there and does nothing.

10Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.

10This is what the LORD says about these people: They love to wander off, and they will not keep their feet still. So the LORD does not accept them. Now he will remember their guilt and punish their sins.

11Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.

11Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for good things to come to these people."

12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

12Even when they fast and go hungry to beg me, I will not listen to their cry. When they burn offerings and bring grain gifts, I will not accept them. Instead I will finish them off with war, hunger, and disease.

13Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

13Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Look, the prophets keep telling them, 'You will not see war or go hungry. I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

14Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

14Then the LORD said to me: These prophets tell lies and use my name to do it. I did not send them or give them orders or speak to them. What they tell you is a made-up vision, useless fortune-telling, and a lie from their own minds.

15Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

15So this is what the LORD says about the prophets who speak in my name: I did not send them, yet they say, "No war or hunger will come to this land." War and hunger will destroy those very prophets.

16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

16And the people they speak to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, dead from hunger and war. No one will bury them, or their wives, or their sons and daughters. I will pour their own evil back on them.

17Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.

17Tell them this: My eyes overflow with tears night and day and never stop. My people, like a young girl, have been broken by a crushing blow, a terrible wound.

18If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.

18If I go out to the fields, I see people killed by the sword. If I go into the city, I see people starving. Both prophet and priest are carried off to a land they do not know.

19Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!

19Have you turned away from Judah for good? Do you hate Zion? Why have you struck us so hard that we cannot heal? We hoped for peace, but nothing good came. We looked for healing, and got terror instead.

20We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.

20LORD, we admit our wickedness, and the guilt of our fathers too. We have sinned against you.

21Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.

21For the sake of your own name, do not turn away from us in disgust. Do not shame your glorious throne. Remember your promise to us, and do not break it.

22Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

22Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Can the sky send showers on its own? Only you can do it, LORD our God. So we will wait and hope in you, because you made all these things.

Note"The vanities of the Gentiles" means the worthless idols worshipped by the other nations.