Jeremiah 14 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

This is the word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah about the drought:

Judah is in mourning, her city gates are collapsing. Her people slump to the ground in grief, and the cry of Jerusalem rises up.

The wealthy send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns but find nothing. They come back with empty jars, humiliated and devastated, covering their heads in shame.

The ground is cracked open because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are humiliated, covering their heads.

Even the doe in the field abandons her newborn fawn because there is no grass.

Wild donkeys stand on the bare hilltops, gasping for air like jackals. Their eyes grow dim because there is nothing to eat.

Even though our failures testify against us, act for the sake of your name, Yahweh. We have turned away so many times. We have failed you.

Hope of Israel, its rescuer in times of trouble — why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who only stops for the night?

Why are you like someone caught off guard, like a warrior who can't save anyone? Yet you are right here among us, Yahweh. We carry your name. Don't abandon us.

This is what Yahweh says about this people: "They love to wander. They never rest their feet. So Yahweh takes no pleasure in them. Now he will remember their corruption and hold them accountable for their failures."

Then Yahweh said to me, "Don't pray for the well-being of this people."

"When they fast, I won't listen to their cry. When they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I will finish them off with war, famine, and disease."

Then I said, "But Yahweh, my master — look, the prophets keep telling them, 'You won't see war, and famine will never touch you. Yahweh will give you real, lasting peace in this place.'"

Yahweh said to me, "Those prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I never sent them. I never commanded them. I never spoke to them. They are feeding you made-up visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own minds."

So this is what Yahweh says about the prophets who speak in my name, even though I never sent them — the ones saying, 'War and famine will never touch this land': Those very prophets will die by war and famine.

And the people they prophesied to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one to bury them — not them, not their wives, not their sons, not their daughters. I will pour out on them the consequences they deserve.

"Say this word to them: 'Let my eyes run with tears night and day, without stopping. The young daughter of my people has been shattered with a devastating blow, a wound that will not heal.'

If I go out to the fields — look, those killed by the sword. If I walk into the city — look, the ravages of famine. Even the prophet and the priest wander through a land they no longer recognize."

Have you completely rejected Judah? Does your whole being despise Zion? Why have you struck us down so there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace — but nothing good came. We hoped for a time of healing — but there is only terror.

We know how wrong we've been, Yahweh. We know the corruption of our ancestors. We have failed you.

Don't despise us, for the sake of your name. Don't dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us — don't break it.

Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send showers? No — it's you, Yahweh our God. So we put our hope in you, because you are the one who does all this.