1 The Word of Jehovah that came unto Jeremiah concerning the droughts.

2 Judah mourns, and its gates languish. They mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

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

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

5 Yea, the doe also gave birth in the field and abandoned it, because there was no grass.

6 And the wild asses stood in the high places; they sniffed at the wind like dragons; their eyes failed because there was no grass.

7 O Jehovah, though our iniquities testify against us, work for Your name’s sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.

8 O the Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a sojourner in the land, and like a traveler who turns aside to lodge for the night?

9 Why should You be like a man astonished, as a mighty one who cannot save? Yet You, O Jehovah, are in our midst, and we are called by Your name. Do not leave us!

10 Thus says Jehovah to this people: Thus they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet; therefore Jehovah does not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and punish their sins.

11 Then Jehovah 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, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

13 Then I said, Ah, O Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets are saying to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine; but I will give you sure peace in this place.

14 And Jehovah said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and a worthless divination, and a thing of no value, and the deceit of their heart.

15 Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, when I did not send them (yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land): by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.

16 And 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 no one to bury them; either them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour their evil upon them.

17 Therefore you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and do not let them cease. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great break, with a sickening blow.

18 If I go out into the field, then I see those killed with the sword! And if I enter into the city, then, behold, those that are sick from famine! Yes, both the prophet and the priest have gone up into a land that they do not know.

19 Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us such that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for the time of healing, and behold, terror!

20 We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.

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

22 Are there any among the vain idols of the nations who can make it rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, O Jehovah our God. Therefore we will wait upon You; for You have made all these things.