Jeremiah 14:7-15:1

New King James Version

⁷O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,
Do it ^(A)for Your name’s sake;
For our backslidings are many,
We have sinned against You.
⁸^(B)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?
⁹Why should You be like a man astonished,
Like a mighty one ^(C)who cannot save?
Yet You, O Lord, ^(D)are in our midst,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us!

¹⁰Thus says the Lord to this people:

^(E)“Thus they have loved to wander;
They have not restrained their feet.
Therefore the Lord does not accept them;
^(F)He will remember their iniquity now,
And punish their sins.”

¹¹Then the Lord said to me, ^(G)“Do not pray for this people, for their good. ¹²^(H)When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and ^(I)when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But ^(J)I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.”

¹³^(K)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 ^[a]assured ^(L)peace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴And the Lord said to me, ^(M)“The prophets prophesy lies in My name. ^(N)I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, ^[b]divination, a worthless thing, and the ^(O)deceit of their heart. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, ^(P)and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’—‘By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! ¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; ^(Q)they will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.’

¹⁷“Therefore you shall say this word to them:

^(R)‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,
And let them not cease;
^(S)For the virgin daughter of my people
Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
¹⁸If I go out to ^(T)the field,
Then behold, those slain with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
Then behold, those sick from famine!
Yes, both prophet and ^(U)priest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”

The People Plead for Mercy

¹⁹^(V)Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that ^(W)there is no healing for us?
^(X)We looked for peace, but there was no good;
And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.
²⁰We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness
And the iniquity of our ^(Y)fathers,
For ^(Z)we have sinned against You.
²¹Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake;
Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.
^(AA)Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.
²²^(AB)Are there any among ^(AC)the idols of the nations that can cause ^(AD)rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
^(AE)Are You not He, O Lord our God?
Therefore we will wait for You,
Since You have made all these.

The Lord Will Not Relent

15 Then the Lord said to me, ^(AF)“Even if ^(AG)Moses and ^(AH)Samuel stood before Me, My ^[c]mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.