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Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

¹ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the ^(C1)drought:

² "Judah mourns
And ^(C1)her gates languish;
Her people sit on the ground ^(C2)in mourning clothes
And the ^(C3)cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

³ "Their nobles ^(C1)have sent their servants for water;
They have come to the ^(C2)cisterns and found no water.
They have returned with empty vessels;
They have been ^(C3)shamed and humiliated,
And they ^(C4)cover their heads.

⁴ "The ^(C1)ground is cracked
Because there has been ^(C2)no rain on the land;
The ^(C3)farmers are distressed,
And they have covered their heads in shame.

⁵ "The doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young
Because there is ^(C1)no grass.

⁶ "And the ^(C1)wild donkeys stand on the barren heights;
They pant for air like jackals,
Their eyesight fails
Because there is ^(C2)no grass.

⁷ "O LORD, though our ^(C1)many sins testify against us" prays Jeremiah,
"Act now for us and ^(C2)for Your name's sake so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness!
For our ^(C3)backslidings are countless;
We have ^(C4)sinned against You.

⁸ "O ^(C1)Hope of Israel,
Her ^(C2)Savior in ^(C3)time of distress and trouble,
Why should You be like a sojourner (temporary resident) in the land
Or like a traveler who turns aside and spreads his tent to linger only for a night?

⁹ "Why should You be hesitant and inactive like a man astounded and perplexed,
Like a mighty man ^(C1)unable to save?
Yet ^(C2)You, O LORD, are among us,
And we are ^(C3)called by Your name;
Do not leave us!"

¹⁰ Thus says the LORD to this people Judah, "In the manner and to the degree already pointed out they have ^(C1)loved to wander; they have not ^(C2)restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does ^(C3)not accept them; He will now ^(C4)remember in detail their wickedness and punish them for their sins."¹¹ So the LORD said to me, "^(C1)Do not pray for good things for this people.¹² "Though they fast, I will ^(C1)not hear their cry; and though they offer ^(C2)burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them because they are done as obligations, and not as acts of loving obedience. Instead I will ^(C3)consume them by the ^(C4)sword, by famine, and by pestilence."

False Prophets

¹³ But I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, the false prophets are telling them, 'You ^(C1)will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I the LORD will give you lasting ^(C2)peace in this place.'"¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, "The counterfeit ^(C1)prophets are prophesying lies in My Name. ^(C2)I have neither sent them nor authorized them nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you ^(C3)made-up visions pretending to call forth responses from handmade gods, a worthless divination and the deceit of their own mind.¹⁵ "Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the false prophets who are prophesying in My Name, although I did not send them—yet they keep saying, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land': ^(C1)by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end and be consumed.¹⁶ "And the people to whom they are prophesying will be ^(C1)thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they will have no one to ^(C2)bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will ^(C3)pour out their own wickedness on them and not only on the imposters posing as prophets, for the people could not have been deceived without their own consent.

¹⁷ "Therefore Jeremiah you will say this word to them,
'^(C1)Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,
And let them never cease;
For the virgin ^(C2)daughter of my people has been crushed with a ^(C3)great blow,
With a very serious and severely infected wound.

¹⁸ 'If I ^(C1)go out into the field,
Then I gaze on those slaughtered with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
Then I gaze on those tormented with the diseases of famine!
For ^(C2)both prophet and priest who should have guided the people
Go about bewildered and exiled in a land (Babylon) that they do not know or understand.'"

¹⁹ Have You O LORD completely ^(C1)rejected Judah?
Do You loathe Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that there ^(C2)is no healing for us?
We ^(C3)looked for peace and completeness, but nothing good came;
And we hoped for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

²⁰ We ^(C1)know and acknowledge, O LORD,
Our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for ^(C2)we have sinned against You.

²¹ Do not treat us with contempt and condemn us, ^(C1)for Your own name's sake;
Do not disgrace Your ^(F1)glorious ^(C2)throne;
Remember with consideration and do not break Your solemn covenant with us.

²² Are there any among the ^(C1)idols of the nations who can ^(C2)send rain?
Or can the heavens of their own will give showers?
Is it not You, O LORD our God?
Therefore we will wait and ^(C3)hope confidently in You,
For You are the one who has made all these things the heavens and the rain.