14:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah
14:2 “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
14:3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.
They go to the cisterns,
They return with their containers
Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands.
14:4 They are dismayed because the ground is cracked
because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers, too, are dismayed
and bury their faces in their hands.
14:5 Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals.
Their eyes are strained looking for food,
because there is none to be found.”
14:7 Then I said,
“O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name
even though our sins speak out against us.
Indeed,
We have sinned against you.
14:8 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
Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?
14:9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless,
like a champion
You are indeed with us,
and we belong to you.
Do not abandon us!”
14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people.
“They truly
They cannot keep from running away from me.
So I am not pleased with them.
I will now call to mind
and punish them for their sins.”