Jeremiah 14
The Great Drought
1This is the LORD’s word that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2“Judah mourns, and its gates languish. They sit in black on the ground. The cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.
4Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are disappointed. They cover their heads.
5Yes, the doe in the field also calves and forsakes her young, because there is no grass.
6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyes fail, because there is no vegetation.
Prayer and Divine Response
7Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name’s sake, LORD; for our rebellions are many. We have sinned against you.
8You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?
9Why should you be like a scared man, as a mighty man who can’t save? Yet you, LORD, are in the middle of us, and we are called by your name. Don’t leave us.
10The LORD says to this people: “Even so they have loved to wander. They have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish them for their sins.”
11The LORD said to me, “Don’t pray for this people for their good.
12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
False Prophets and Their Fate
13Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, neither will you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’”
14Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I didn’t send them. I didn’t command them. I didn’t speak to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.
15Therefore the LORD says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, but I didn’t send them, yet they say, ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ Those prophets will be consumed by sword and famine.
16The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness on them.
17“You shall say this word to them: “‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
18If I go out into the field, then behold, the slain with the sword! If I enter into the city, then behold, those who are sick with famine! For both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.’”
Plea for Mercy
19Have you utterly rejected Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!
20We acknowledge, LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against you.
21Do not abhor us, for your name’s sake. Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, and don’t break your covenant with us.
22Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren’t you he, the LORD our God? Therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these things.
Jeremiah 14 presents a devastating drought as God's judgment upon Judah, with vivid imagery of empty cisterns, dying animals, and desperate people. The prophet intercedes for his people, but God rejects their prayers and sacrifices, commanding Jeremiah not to pray for them. The chapter condemns false prophets who promise peace while God declares coming judgment through sword, famine, and pestilence, culminating in Jeremiah's anguished lament over the nation's suffering.
Context
This chapter follows Jeremiah 13's warnings of exile and precedes chapter 15's continued theme of divine rejection, marking a turning point where intercession becomes futile.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-6The Devastating DroughtVivid description of the severe drought affecting all levels of society and nature itself.
- 7-9Jeremiah's IntercessionThe prophet pleads with God on behalf of the people, acknowledging their sins while appealing to God's covenant relationship.
- 10-12God's Rejection of PrayerThe Lord refuses to accept the people's repentance and forbids Jeremiah from interceding for them.
- 13-16Condemnation of False ProphetsGod denounces the lying prophets who promise peace and declares both they and their followers will perish.
- 17-22Lament and Final PleaJeremiah weeps over the coming destruction and makes one last appeal to God's covenant faithfulness.
The Great Drought
14:1–14:6A severe drought afflicts the land as divine judgment, causing widespread mourning and desperation as both people and animals suffer from lack of water and vegetation.
person_contrast
Jeremiah, typically God's mouthpiece for judgment, here becomes the conduit for describing collective suffering, reversing his usual role from prosecutor to witness of divine consequence.
Prayer and Divine Response
14:7–14:12The people confess their sins and plead for God's mercy, but God responds by rejecting their prayers and declaring judgment through sword, famine, and pestilence.
theme_rarity
God's stark rejection of Israel's prayer despite their confession creates one of Scripture's most jarring reversals, where acknowledged sin paradoxically disqualifies rather than enables divine mercy.
False Prophets and Their Fate
14:13–14:18God condemns false prophets who speak lies in His name, declaring that both they and those who follow them will perish by sword and famine.
person_contrast
Jeremiah's protest "Ah, Lord GOD!" uniquely positions him as both accuser of false prophets and defender of deceived people, creating rare prophetic empathy.
Plea for Mercy
14:19–14:22A plea for God's mercy acknowledging sin and appealing to His covenant faithfulness and sovereignty over creation.
theme_rarity
Jeremiah uniquely pairs "healing" with covenant language, creating one of only two biblical passages where physical restoration and divine faithfulness intertwine as inseparable theological concepts.
Jeremiah 14:8
Nehemiah 9:27lexicalTherefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. In the time of their trouble, when…
Jeremiah 30:7lexicalAlas, for that day is great, so that none is like it! It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he will be saved out o…
Judges 10:14lexicalGo and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!”
Jeremiah 14:10
Hosea 8:13lexicalAs for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the LORD doesn’t accept them. Now he will rem…
Hosea 9:9lexicalThey have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them fo…
Isaiah 40:2lexical“Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, th…
Jeremiah 14:12
Ezekiel 6:12lexicalHe who is far off will die of the pestilence. He who is near will fall by the sword. He who remains and is besieged will…
Ezekiel 5:12lexicalA third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fa…
Ezekiel 7:15lexical“‘The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within. He who is in the field will die by the sword. He who i…
Ezekiel 5:17lexicalI will send on you famine and evil animals, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood will pass through you. I wil…
Jeremiah 29:18lexicalI will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed ba…
Jeremiah 14:13
Jeremiah 4:10lexicalThen I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace;’ w…
Ezekiel 14:21lexicalFor the Lord GOD says: “How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword, the famine, the evil…
Ezekiel 6:11lexical“The Lord GOD says: ‘Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, “Alas!”, because of all the evil abominat…
Ezekiel 13:16lexicalto wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no…
Judges 6:22lexicalGideon saw that he was the LORD’s angel; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord GOD! Because I have seen the LORD’s angel face to…
Jeremiah 14:14
Jeremiah 23:16lexicalThe LORD of Armies says, “Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity. They spe…
Ezekiel 13:16lexicalto wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no…
Jeremiah 27:14lexicalDon’t listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon;’ for they…
Jeremiah 27:16lexicalAlso I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, the LORD says, “Don’t listen to the words of your prophets w…
Jeremiah 27:15lexicalFor I have not sent them,” says the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you…
Jeremiah 14:15
Jeremiah 24:10lexicalI will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, until they are consumed from off the land that I gave…
Jeremiah 27:8lexical“‘“‘It will happen that I will punish the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Ba…
Jeremiah 44:12lexicalI will take the remnant of Judah that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all…
Jeremiah 44:18lexicalBut since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all…
Jeremiah 44:27lexicalBehold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be cons…
Jeremiah 14:16
Lamentations 2:19lexicalArise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord…
Jeremiah 16:4lexical“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surf…
Ezekiel 7:15lexical“‘The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within. He who is in the field will die by the sword. He who i…
Jeremiah 14:17
Lamentations 2:18lexicalTheir heart cried to the Lord. O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night. Give yours…
Jeremiah 10:19lexicalWoe is me because of my injury! My wound is serious; but I said, “Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.”
Jeremiah 30:12lexicalFor the LORD says, “Your hurt is incurable. Your wound is grievous.
Nahum 3:19lexicalThere is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you, for…
2 Chronicles 22:6lexicalHe returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king…
Jeremiah 14:18
Lamentations 4:9lexicalThose who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; for these pine away, stricken thro…
Jeremiah 16:4lexical“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surf…
Jeremiah 14:19
Jeremiah 8:15lexicalWe looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!
Jeremiah 14:21
Deuteronomy 31:20lexicalFor when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have ea…
Jeremiah 33:21lexicalthen my covenant could also be broken with David my servant, that he won’t have a son to reign on his throne; and with t…
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