Jeremiah 14

New International Version

Drought, Famine, Sword

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

²“Judah mourns,^(B)
    her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
    and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
³The 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)
⁴The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;^(E)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.
⁵Even the doe in the field
    deserts her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.^(F)
⁶Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights^(G)
    and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
    for lack of food.”^(H)

⁷Although 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.
⁸You 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?
⁹Why 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!

¹⁰This 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)

¹¹Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray^(X) for the well-being of this people. ¹²Although 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)

¹³But 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.’”

¹⁴Then 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. ¹⁵Therefore 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) ¹⁶And 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)

¹⁷“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)
¹⁸If 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)’”

¹⁹Have 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)
²⁰We acknowledge^(AZ) our wickedness, Lord,
    and the guilt of our ancestors;^(BA)
    we have indeed sinned^(BB) against you.
²¹For 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.
²²Do 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)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 14:14 Or visions, worthless divinations

Deuteronomy 11

New International Version

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love^(A) the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.^(B) ²Remember today that your children^(C) were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God:^(D) his majesty,^(E) his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;^(F) ³the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;^(G) ⁴what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots,^(H) how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea^[a]^(I) as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. ⁵It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, ⁶and what he did^(J) to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened^(K) its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.^(L)

⁸Observe therefore all the commands^(M) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,^(N) ⁹and so that you may live long^(O) in the land the Lord swore^(P) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^(Q) ¹⁰The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,^(R) from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys^(S) that drinks rain from heaven.^(T) ¹²It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes^(U) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³So if you faithfully obey^(V) the commands I am giving you today—to love^(W) the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul^(X)— ¹⁴then I will send rain^(Y) on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,^(Z) so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. ¹⁵I will provide grass^(AA) in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.^(AB)

¹⁶Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.^(AC) ¹⁷Then the Lord’s anger^(AD) will burn against you, and he will shut up^(AE) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,^(AF) and you will soon perish^(AG) from the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.^(AH) ¹⁹Teach them to your children,^(AI) talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.^(AJ) ²⁰Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,^(AK) ²¹so that your days and the days of your children may be many^(AL) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.^(AM)

²²If you carefully observe^(AN) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love^(AO) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast^(AP) to him— ²³then the Lord will drive out^(AQ) all these nations^(AR) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.^(AS) ²⁴Every place where you set your foot will be yours:^(AT) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River^(AU) to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror^(AV) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.^(AW)

²⁶See, I am setting before you today a blessing^(AX) and a curse^(AY)— ²⁷the blessing^(AZ) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸the curse if you disobey^(BA) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,^(BB) which you have not known. ²⁹When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim^(BC) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal^(BD) the curses.^(BE) ³⁰As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,^(BF) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.^(BG) ³¹You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession^(BH) of the land the Lord your God is giving^(BI) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, ³²be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.