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Yahweh Will Not Listen to Their Cry

¹ That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah in regard to the ^(C1)drought:

² "Judah mourns,
And ^(C1)her gates languish;
They sit on the ground ^(C2)in mourning,
And the ^(C3)outcry of Jerusalem has gone up.

³ "Their mighty ones have ^(C1)sent their ^(F1)underlings for water;
They have come to the ^(C2)trenches and found no water.
They have returned with their vessels empty;
They have been ^(C3)put to shame and dishonored,
And they ^(C4)cover their heads.

⁴ "Because the ^(C1)ground is ^(F1)dismayed,
For there has been ^(C2)no rain on the land,
The ^(C3)farmers have been put to shame;
They have covered their heads.

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

⁶ "The ^(C1)wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
They pant for air like jackals;
Their eyes fail
For there is ^(C2)no vegetation.

⁷ "Although our ^(C1)iniquities answer against us,
O Yahweh, act ^(C2)for Your name's sake!
Truly our ^(C3)acts of faithlessness have been many;
We have ^(C4)sinned against You.

⁸ "O ^(C1)Hope of Israel,
Its ^(C2)Savior in ^(C3)time of distress,
Why are You like a sojourner in the land
Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent to lodge for the night?

⁹ "Why are You like a man confused,
Like a mighty man who ^(C1)cannot save?
Yet ^(C2)You are in our midst, O Yahweh,
And we are ^(C3)called by Your name;
Do not leave us!"

¹⁰ Thus says Yahweh to this people, "Even so they have ^(C1)loved to wander; they have not ^(C2)kept their feet in check. Therefore Yahweh does ^(C3)not accept them; now He will ^(C4)remember their iniquity and punish their sins."¹¹ So Yahweh said to me, "^(C1)Do not pray for the good of this people.¹² "When they fast, I am ^(C1)not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer ^(C2)burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to ^(C3)make an end of them by the ^(C4)sword, famine, and pestilence."

Lying Prophets

¹³ But, "Ah, Lord Yahweh!" I said, "Behold, the prophets are saying to them, 'You ^(C1)will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you true ^(C2)peace in this place.'"¹⁴ Then Yahweh said to me, "The ^(C1)prophets are prophesying lies in My name. ^(C2)I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a ^(C3)vision of lies, divination, futility, and the deception of their own hearts.¹⁵ "Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, 'There will be no sword or famine in this land'—^(C1)by that sword and famine those prophets shall ^(F1)meet their end!¹⁶ "The people also to whom they are prophesying will be ^(C1)thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be 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 evil on them.

¹⁷ "And you will say this word to them,
'^(C1)Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day,
And let them not cease,
For the virgin ^(C2)daughter of my people has been shattered with a mighty shattering,
With a sorely ^(C3)sick wound.

¹⁸ 'If I ^(C1)go out to the field,
Behold, those ^(F1)slain with the sword!
Or if I enter the city,
Behold, diseases of famine!
For ^(C2)both prophet and priest
Have gone around as merchants in the land that they do not know.'"

¹⁹ Have You completely ^(C1)rejected Judah?
Or ^(F1)have You loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that ^(C2)there is no healing for us?
We ^(C3)hoped for peace, but there was no good;
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

²⁰ We ^(C1)know our wickedness, O Yahweh,
The iniquity of our fathers, for ^(C2)we have sinned against You.

²¹ Do not ^(F1)despise us, ^(C1)for Your own name's sake;
Do not disgrace the ^(C2)throne of Your glory;
Remember and do not break Your covenant with us.

²² Are there any among the ^(F1)(C1)idols of the nations who ^(C2)give rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not You, O Yahweh our God?
Therefore we ^(F2)(C3)hope in You,
For You are the one who has done all these things.