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Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

¹ That which came as the word of the LORD 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)cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

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

⁴ "Because the ^(C1)ground is ^(F1)cracked,
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 abandon 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 testify against us,
O LORD, act ^(C2)for Your name's sake!
Truly our ^(C3)apostasies 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 stranger in the land
Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

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

¹⁰ Thus says the LORD to this people, "Even so they have ^(C1)loved to wander; they have not ^(C2)kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does ^(C3)not accept them; now He will ^(C4)remember their iniquity and call their sins to account."¹¹ So the LORD said to me, "^(C1)Do not pray for the welfare 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."

False Prophets

¹³ But, "Ah, Lord ^(F1)GOD!" I said, "Look, the prophets are telling them, 'You ^(C1)will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you ^(F2)lasting ^(C2)peace in this place.'"¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, "The ^(C1)prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. ^(C2)I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a ^(C3)false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own ^(F1)minds.¹⁵ "Therefore thus says the LORD 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 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 wickedness on them.

¹⁷ "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 crushed with a mighty blow,
With a sorely ^(C3)infected wound.

¹⁸ 'If I ^(C1)go out to the country,
Behold, those ^(F1)slain with the sword!
Or if I enter the city,
Behold, diseases of famine!
For ^(C2)both prophet and priest
Have ^(F2)gone roving about in the land that they do not know.'"

¹⁹ Have You completely ^(C1)rejected Judah?
Or have ^(F1)You loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that we ^(C2)are beyond healing?
We ^(C3)waited for peace, but nothing good came;
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

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

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

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