CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Jeremiah 14
Chapter 14 of 52
Chapter Overview
What happens in Jeremiah 14
A terrible drought strikes the land of Judah. Jeremiah prays for the people, but God tells him not to pray for them. The false prophets promise peace, but God says they are lying. Jeremiah weeps over the suffering that is coming.
Scripture
Jeremiah 14
The Drought
Study note
A severe drought devastates Judah. The land mourns, the nobles send servants for water but find none. Farmers cover their heads in shame. Even the wild animals suffer from lack of food and water.
1 This is the message the Lord gave Jeremiah about the terrible drought. The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
2 Judah is in mourning. The towns are weak and fading. The people sit on the ground, overcome with grief. Cries from Jerusalem rise up toward heaven. Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3 The wealthy send their servants to find water. They go to the wells but come back with nothing. Their jars are empty. They are ashamed and hang their heads. And 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.
4 The ground is cracking apart because there has been no rain. The farmers are ashamed and cover their faces. Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5 Even the mother deer gives birth in the field and walks away from her baby because there is no grass to eat. Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hilltops, gasping for air like jackals. Their eyes are failing because there is no food at all. And 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.
Jeremiah's First Prayer
Study note
Jeremiah prays to God on behalf of the people. He confesses their sins and asks God to act for the sake of his own name. He asks why God seems like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who only stays one night.
7 Lord, even though our sins testify against us, please do something for the honor of your name. We have turned away from you so many times. We have sinned against you. O 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.
8 You are Israel's only hope, the one who rescues in times of trouble. Why do you act like a stranger passing through, like a traveler who stays only one night? O 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?
9 Why do you seem as confused as someone caught off guard, like a warrior who can't save anyone? But you are right here among us, Lord, and we carry your name. Please don't walk away from us! Why 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.
God Rejects the People's Prayers
Study note
God tells Jeremiah that the people love to wander from him. He will not accept their fasting or their offerings. Instead, he will destroy them with war, famine, and disease.
10 The Lord says about these people: "They love wandering away from me. They can't keep their feet still. So the Lord does not accept them. He will now remember their guilt and punish their sins." Thus 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.
11 Then the Lord said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people." Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
12 "Even if they go without food, I won't listen to their prayers. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I will finish them off with war, starvation, and disease." When 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.
The False Prophets Condemned
Study note
Jeremiah tells God that the prophets are promising peace and safety. But God says he never sent those prophets. They are speaking lies from their own imagination. Both the false prophets and the people who listen to them will be destroyed.
13 I said, "Oh Lord God! But the prophets keep telling the people, 'You won't see any war, and you won't go hungry. God is going to give you lasting peace right here.'" Then 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.
14 The Lord replied, "Those prophets are telling lies and claiming I sent them. I never sent them, never appointed them, and never spoke a word to them. They are making up fake visions, useless predictions, and lies from their own imaginations." Then 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.
15 So the Lord speaks about these prophets. They use his name but he never sent them. They promise no war and no famine in this land. "Those prophets will die by war and famine." Therefore 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.
16 "And the people they gave those false promises to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, dead from starvation and violence. There will be no one left to bury them — not their wives, sons, or daughters. I will pour their own wickedness back on them." 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 none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
Jeremiah Weeps for the People
Study note
God tells Jeremiah to weep night and day for the people. Jeremiah asks God if he has completely rejected Judah. He confesses the sins of the people and asks God to remember his covenant and not break it.
17 "Tell the people: 'Let my eyes pour out tears night and day without stopping. My beloved people have been dealt a devastating blow — a wound that will not heal.'" Therefore 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.
18 "If I walk into the countryside, I see people killed by swords. If I go into the city, I see people dying from starvation. Both prophets and priests wander around in a land they no longer recognize." If 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.
19 Have you completely given up on Judah, Lord? Do you hate Zion? Why have you struck us so hard that we can't recover? We waited for peace, but nothing good came. We hoped for healing, but found only terror. Hast 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!
20 Lord, we confess our wickedness and the sins of our ancestors. We have truly sinned against you. We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21 For the sake of your own reputation, don't reject us. Don't dishonor your glorious throne. Remember the covenant you made with us and don't break it. Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22 Can any of the useless idols of other nations make it rain? Can the sky send down showers all by itself? No! Only you can do that, Lord our God. So we place all our hope in you, because you are the one who does all these things. Are 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.
Key Themes
Themes in Jeremiah 14
Drought as divine judgmentThe danger of false prophetsIntercession and its limitsNational suffering for collective sinThe pain of unanswered prayer
Apply This Today
Living Jeremiah 14
There are times when God asks us not to pray for a particular outcome because judgment is already determined. False comfort from those who tell us what we want to hear is far more dangerous than painful truth. Genuine intercession must be grounded in honesty about sin.
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