1. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.
2. “Judah mourns,And her gates languish;They mourn for the land,And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3. Their nobles have sent their lads for water;They went to the cisterns and found no water.They returned with their vessels empty;They were ashamed and confoundedAnd covered their heads.
4. Because the ground is parched,For there was no rain in the land,The plowmen were ashamed;They covered their heads.
5. Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field,But left because there was no grass.
6. And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights;They sniffed at the wind like jackals;Their eyes failed because there was no grass.”
7. O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,Do it for Your name’s sake;For our backslidings are many,We have sinned against You.
8. O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble,Why should You be like a stranger in the land,And like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9. Why should You be like a man astonished,Like a mighty one who cannot save?Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst,And we are called by Your name;Do not leave us!
10. Thus says the Lord to this people:“Thus they have loved to wander;They have not restrained their feet.Therefore the Lord does not accept them;He will remember their iniquity now,And punish their sins.”
11. Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good.
12. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.”
13. Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”