Jeremiah 14:1-10

The Drought

1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

2 Judah mourns; her gates languish. [Her people] are on the ground in mourning; Jerusalem's cry rises up.

3 Their nobles send their servants^[a] for water. They go to the cisterns; they find no water; their containers return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.^[b]

4 The ground is cracked since no rain [has fallen] on the land. The farmers are ashamed;^[c] they cover their heads.

5 Even the doe in the field gives birth and abandons [her fawn] since there is no grass.

6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights panting for air like jackals. Their eyes fail because there are no green plants.

7 Though our guilt testifies against us, Lord, act for Your name's sake. Indeed, our rebellions^[d] are many; we have sinned against You.

8 Hope of Israel,^[e] its Savior in time of distress, why are You like an alien in the land, like a traveler stopping only for the night?

9 Why are You like a helpless man, like a warrior unable to save? Yet You are among us, Lord, and we are called by Your name. Don't leave us!

10 This is what the Lord says concerning these people: Truly they love to wander;^[f] they never rest their feet. So the Lord does not accept them. Now He will remember their guilt and punish their sins.^[g]

Jeremiah 14:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 14

This chapter contains prophecy of a drought, which produced a famine, Jer 14:1, and is described by the dismal effects of it; and general distress in the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 14:2, even the nobles were affected with it, whose servants returned without water ashamed, when sent for it, Jer 14:3, the ploughmen could not use their plough, their ground was so hard, Jer 14:4 and the very beasts of the field suffered much, because there was no grass, Jer 14:5,6, upon this follows a prayer of the prophet to the Lord, that he would give rain for his name's sake; he confesses the sins of the people, that they were many, and against the Lord; and testified against them, that they deserved to be used as they were; and he addresses the Lord as the hope and Saviour of his people in time past, when it was a time of trouble with them; and expostulates with him, why he should be as a stranger and traveller, and like a mighty man astonished, that either had no regard to their land any more than a foreigner and a traveller; or no heart to help them, or exert his power, than a man at his wits' end, though he was among them, and they were called by his name; and therefore he begs he would not leave them, Jer 14:7-9, but he is told that it was for the sins of the people that all this was, which the Lord was determined to remember and visit; and therefore he is bid not to pray for them; if he did, it would not be regarded, nor the people's fasting and prayers also; for they should be consumed by the sword, famine, and pestilence, Jer 14:10-12, and though the prophet pleads, in excuse of the people, that the false prophets had deceived them; yet not only the vanity and falsehood of their prophecies are exposed, and they are threatened with destruction, but the people also, for hearkening unto them, Jer 14:13-16, wherefore the prophet, instead of putting up a prayer for them, has a lamentation dictated to him by the Lord, which he is ordered to express, Jer 14:17,18, and yet, notwithstanding this, he goes on to pray for them in a very pathetic manner; he expostulates with God, and pleads for help and healing; confesses the iniquities of the people; entreats the Lord, for the sake of his name, glory, and covenant, that he would not reject them and his petition; and observes, that the thing asked for (rain) was what none of the gods of the Heathens could give, or even the heavens themselves, only the Lord; and therefore determines to wait upon him for it, who made the heavens, the earth, and rain, Jer 14:19-22.

Footnotes

• [a] Lit little ones
• [b] Est 6:12; 7:8
• [c] Jl 1:11
• [d] Jr 2:19; 3:6,22; 5:6
• [e] Jr 17:13; 50:7
• [f] Jr 5:31; Am 8:12
• [g] Hs 8:13