1. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah about the drought.
2. “The people of Judah are in mourning.The people in her cities are pining away.They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow.Cries of distress come up to me from Jerusalem.
3. The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.They go to the cisterns, but they do not find any water there.They return with their containers empty.Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands.
4. They are dismayed because the ground is crackedbecause there has been no rain in the land.The farmers, too, are dismayed and bury their faces in their hands.
5. Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn in the fieldbecause there is no grass.
6. Wild donkeys stand on the hilltopsand pant for breath like jackals.Their eyes are strained looking for food,because there is none to be found.”
7. Then I said, “O Lord, intervene for the honor of your nameeven though our sins speak out against us.Indeed, we have turned away from you many times.We have sinned against you.
8. You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.You have saved them when they were in trouble.Why have you become like a resident foreigner in the land?Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?
9. Why should you be like someone who is helpless,like a champion who cannot save anyone?You are indeed with us,and we belong to you.Do not abandon us!”
10. Then the Lord spoke about these people. “They truly love to go astray.They cannot keep from running away from me.So I am not pleased with them.I will now call to mind the wrongs they have doneand punish them for their sins.”
11. Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people!
12. Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.”
13. Then I said, “Oh, Lord God, look! The prophets are telling them that you said, ‘You will not experience war or suffer famine. I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.’”