Study Desk

Drought, Famine, Sword

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:^(a)

"Judah mourns,^(b) her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water.^(c) They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.^(d)

The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land;^(e) the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.

Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.^(f)

Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights^(g) and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food."^(h)

Although our sins testify⁽ⁱ⁾ against us, do something, Lord , for the sake of your name.^(j) For we have often rebelled;^(k) we have sinned^(l) against you.

You who are the hope^(m) of Israel, its Savior⁽ⁿ⁾ in times of distress,^(o) why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?

Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save?^(p) You are among^(q) us, Lord , and we bear your name;^(r) do not forsake^(s) us!

This is what the Lord says about this people: "They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet.^(t) So the Lord does not accept^(u) them; he will now remember^(v) their wickedness and punish them for their sins."^(w)

Then the Lord said to me, "Do not pray^(x) for the well-being of this people.

Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry;^(y) though they offer burnt offerings^(z) and grain offerings,^(aa) I will not accept^(ab) them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword,^(ac) famine^(ad) and plague."^(ae)

But I said, "Alas, Sovereign Lord ! The prophets^(af) keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine.^(ag) Indeed, I will give you lasting peace^(ah) in this place.'"

Then the Lord said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies^(ai) in my name. I have not sent^(aj) them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions,^(ak) divinations,^(al) idolatries^[a] and the delusions of their own minds.

Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those same prophets will perish^(am) by sword and famine.^(an)

And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury^(ao) them, their wives, their sons and their daughters.^(ap) I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.^(aq)

"Speak this word to them: "‘Let my eyes overflow with tears^(ar) night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin^(as) Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.^(at)

If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I go into the city, I see the ravages of famine.^(au) Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not.^(av)'"

Have you rejected Judah completely?^(aw) Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed?^(ax) We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.^(ay)

We acknowledge^(az) our wickedness, Lord , and the guilt of our ancestors;^(ba) we have indeed sinned^(bb) against you.

For the sake of your name^(bc) do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne.^(bd) Remember your covenant^(be) with us and do not break it.

Do any of the worthless idols^(bf) of the nations bring rain?^(bg) Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.^(bh)

Then the Lord said to me: "Even if Moses^(a) and Samuel^(b) were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.^(c) Send them away from my presence!^(d) Let them go!

And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?' tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: "‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword;^(e) those for starvation, to starvation;^(f) those for captivity, to captivity.'^(g)

"I will send four kinds of destroyers^(h) against them," declares the Lord , "the sword⁽ⁱ⁾ to kill and the dogs^(j) to drag away and the birds^(k) and the wild animals to devour and destroy.^(l)

I will make them abhorrent^(m) to all the kingdoms of the earth⁽ⁿ⁾ because of what Manasseh^(o) son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

"Who will have pity^(p) on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask how you are?

You have rejected^(q) me," declares the Lord . "You keep on backsliding. So I will reach out^(r) and destroy you; I am tired of holding back.^(s)

I will winnow^(t) them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land. I will bring bereavement^(u) and destruction on my people,^(v) for they have not changed their ways.^(w)

I will make their widows^(x) more numerous than the sand of the sea. At midday I will bring a destroyer^(y) against the mothers of their young men; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror.^(z)

The mother of seven will grow faint^(aa) and breathe her last.^(ab) Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced^(ac) and humiliated. I will put the survivors to the sword^(ad) before their enemies,"^(ae) declares the Lord .

Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,^(af) a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!^(ag) I have neither lent^(ah) nor borrowed, yet everyone curses^(ai) me.

The Lord said, "Surely I will deliver you^(aj) for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead^(ak) with you in times of disaster and times of distress.

"Can a man break iron— iron from the north^(al)—or bronze?

"Your wealth^(am) and your treasures I will give as plunder,^(an) without charge,^(ao) because of all your sins throughout your country.^(ap)

I will enslave you to your enemies in^[a] a land you do not know,^(aq) for my anger will kindle a fire^(ar) that will burn against you."

Lord , you understand; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors.^(as) You are long-suffering^(at)—do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.^(au)

When your words came, I ate^(av) them; they were my joy and my heart's delight,^(aw) for I bear your name,^(ax) Lord God Almighty.

I never sat^(ay) in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand^(az) was on me and you had filled me with indignation.

Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable?^(ba) You are to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails.^(bb)

Therefore this is what the Lord says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve^(bc) me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.^(bd) Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

I will make you a wall^(be) to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome^(bf) you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,"^(bg) declares the Lord .

"I will save^(bh) you from the hands of the wicked^(bi) and deliver^(bj) you from the grasp of the cruel."^(bk)

Day of Disaster

Then the word of the Lord came to me:

"You must not marry^(a) and have sons or daughters in this place."

For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:^(b)

"They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried^(c) but will be like dung lying on the ground.^(d) They will perish by sword and famine,^(e) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals."^(f)

For this is what the Lord says: "Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity^(g) from this people," declares the Lord .

"Both high and low will die in this land.^(h) They will not be buried or mourned,⁽ⁱ⁾ and no one will cut^(j) themselves or shave^(k) their head for the dead.

No one will offer food^(l) to comfort those who mourn^(m) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console⁽ⁿ⁾ them.

"And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.^(o)

For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds^(p) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride^(q) and bridegroom in this place.^(r)

"When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?'^(s)

then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,' declares the Lord , ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped^(t) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.^(u)

But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.^(v) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts^(w) instead of obeying me.

So I will throw you out of this land^(x) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,^(y) and there you will serve other gods^(z) day and night, for I will show you no favor.'^(aa)

"However, the days are coming,"^(ab) declares the Lord , "when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,'^(ac)

but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north^(ad) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.'^(ae) For I will restore^(af) them to the land I gave their ancestors.^(ag)

"But now I will send for many fishermen," declares the Lord , "and they will catch them.^(ah) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt^(ai) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.^(aj)

My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden^(ak) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.^(al)

I will repay^(am) them double^(an) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land^(ao) with the lifeless forms of their vile images^(ap) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.^(aq)"^(ar)

Lord , my strength and my fortress, my refuge^(as) in time of distress, to you the nations will come^(at) from the ends of the earth and say, "Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,^(au) worthless idols^(av) that did them no good.^(aw)

Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!"^(ax)

"Therefore I will teach them— this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name^(ay) is the Lord .

"Judah's sin is engraved with an iron tool,^(a) inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts^(b) and on the horns^(c) of their altars.

Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles^[a](d) beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.^(e)

My mountain in the land and your^[b] wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder,^(f) together with your high places,^(g) because of sin throughout your country.^(h)

Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance⁽ⁱ⁾ I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies^(j) in a land^(k) you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn^(l) forever."

This is what the Lord says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(m) who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord .⁽ⁿ⁾

That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places^(o) of the desert, in a salt^(p) land where no one lives.

"But blessed^(q) is the one who trusts^(r) in the Lord , whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.^(s) It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought^(t) and never fails to bear fruit."^(u)

The heart^(v) is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

"I the Lord search the heart^(w) and examine the mind,^(x) to reward^(y) each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve."^(z)

Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools.^(aa)

A glorious throne,^(ab) exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.

Lord , you are the hope^(ac) of Israel; all who forsake^(ad) you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust^(ae) because they have forsaken the Lord , the spring of living water.^(af)

Heal me, Lord , and I will be healed;^(ag) save^(ah) me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.^(ai)

They keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the Lord ? Let it now be fulfilled!"^(aj)

I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my lips^(ak) is open before you.

Do not be a terror^(al) to me; you are my refuge^(am) in the day of disaster.^(an)

Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.^(ao)

This is what the Lord said to me: "Go and stand at the Gate of the People,^[c] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.^(ap)

Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord , you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem^(aq) who come through these gates.^(ar)

This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath^(as) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.

Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.^(at)

Yet they did not listen or pay attention;^(au) they were stiff-necked^(av) and would not listen or respond to discipline.^(aw)

But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord , and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy^(ax) by not doing any work on it,

then kings who sit on David's throne^(ay) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.^(az)

People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,^(ba) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord .

But if you do not obey^(bb) me to keep the Sabbath^(bc) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire^(bd) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.'"^(be)