Jeremiah 14

Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

1 That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah in regard to the ¹drought:

2 "Judah mourns And ²her gates languish; They sit on the ground ³in mourning, And the ⁴cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

3 "Their nobles have ⁵sent their servants for water; They have come to the ⁶cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their vessels empty; They have been ⁷put to shame and humiliated, And they ⁸cover their heads.

4 "Because the ⁹ground is cracked, For there has been ¹⁰no rain on the land; The ¹¹farmers 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 ¹²no grass.

6 "The ¹³wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail For there is ¹⁴no vegetation.

7 "Although our ¹⁵iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act ¹⁶for Your name's sake! Truly our ¹⁷apostasies have been many, We have ¹⁸sinned against You.

8 "O ¹⁹Hope of Israel, Its ²⁰Savior in ²¹time 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 ²²cannot * save? Yet ²³You are in our midst, O LORD, And we are ²⁴called by Your name; Do not forsake us!"

10 Thus says the LORD to this people, "Even so they have ²⁵loved to wander; they have not ²⁶kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does ²⁷not accept them; now He will ²⁸remember their iniquity and call their sins to account."

11 So the LORD said to me, "²⁹Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

12 "When they fast, I am ³⁰not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer ³¹burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to ³²make an end of them by the ³³sword, famine and pestilence."

False Prophets

13 But, "Ah, Lord GOD!" I said, "Look, the prophets are telling them, 'You ³⁴will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting ³⁵peace in this place.' "

14 Then the LORD said to me, "The ³⁶prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. ³⁷I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a ³⁸false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own 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 '-³⁹by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!

16 "The people also to whom they are prophesying will be ⁴⁰thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because * of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to ⁴¹bury them-neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters -for I will ⁴²pour out their own wickedness on them.

17 "You will say this word to them, '⁴³Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin ⁴⁴daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely ⁴⁵infected wound.

18 'If I ⁴⁶go out to the country, Behold, those slain with the sword! Or if I enter the city, Behold, diseases of famine! For ⁴⁷both prophet and priest Have gone roving about in the land that they do not know.' "

19 Have You completely ⁴⁸rejected Judah? Or have You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we ⁴⁹are beyond healing? We ⁵⁰waited for peace, but nothing good came; And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

20 We ⁵¹know our wickedness, O LORD, The iniquity of our fathers, for ⁵²we have sinned against You.

21 Do not despise us, ⁵³for Your own name's sake; Do not disgrace the ⁵⁴throne of Your glory; Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

22 Are there any among the ⁵⁵idols of the nations who ⁵⁶give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore we ⁵⁷hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.

PREVIOUS Jeremiah 13 NEXT Jeremiah 15

Jeremiah 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

A drought upon the land of Judah. (1-7) A confession of sin in the name of the people. (8-9) The Divine purpose to punish is declared. (10-16) The people supplicate. (17-22)

Verses 1-9 The people were in tears. But it was rather the cry of their trouble, and of their sin, than of their prayer. Let us be thankful for the mercy of water, that we may not be taught to value it by feeling the want of it. See what dependence husbandmen have upon the Divine providence. They cannot plough nor sow in hope, unless God water their furrows. The case even of the wild beasts was very pitiable. The people are not forward to pray, but the prophet prays for them. Sin is humbly confessed. Our sins not only accuse us, but answer against us. Our best pleas in prayer are those fetched from the glory of God's own name. We should dread God's departure, more than the removal of our creature-comforts. He has given Israel his word to hope in. It becomes us in prayer to show ourselves more concerned for God's glory than for our own comfort. And if we now return to the Lord, he will save us to the glory of his grace.

Verses 10-16 The Lord calls the Jews "this people," not "his people." They had forsaken his service, therefore he would punish them according to their sins. He forbade Jeremiah to plead for them. The false prophets were the most criminal. The Lord pronounces condemnation on them; but as the people loved to have it so, they were not to escape judgments. False teachers encourage men to expect peace and salvation, without repentance, faith, conversion, and holiness of life. But those who believe a lie must not plead if for an excuse. They shall feel what they say they will not fear.

Verses 17-22 Jeremiah acknowledged his own sins, and those of the people, but pleaded with the Lord to remember his covenant. In their distress none of the idols of the Gentiles could help them, nor could the heavens give rain of themselves. The Lord will always have a people to plead with him at his mercy-seat. He will heal every truly repenting sinner. Should he not see fit to hear our prayers on behalf of our guilty land, he will certainly bless with salvation all who confess their sins and seek his mercy.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 57

1. Jeremiah 17:8
2. Isaiah 3:26
3. Jeremiah 8:21
4. 1 Samuel 5:12; Jeremiah 11:11; Jeremiah 46:12; Zechariah 7:13
5. 1 Kings 18:5
6. 2 Kings 18:31; Jeremiah 2:13
7. Job 6:20; Psalms 40:14
8. 2 Samuel 15:30
9. Joel 1:19, 20
10. Jeremiah 3:3
11. Joel 1:11
12. Isaiah 15:6
13. Job 39:5, 6; Jeremiah 2:24
14. Joel 1:18
15. Isaiah 59:12; Hosea 5:5
16. Psalms 25:11; Jeremiah 14:21
17. Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 8:5
18. Jeremiah 3:25; Jeremiah 8:14; Jeremiah 14:20
19. Jeremiah 17:13
20. Isaiah 43:3; Isaiah 63:8
21. Psalms 9:9; Psalms 50:15
22. Numbers 11:23; Isaiah 50:2; Isaiah 59:1
23. Exodus 29:45; Psalms 46:5; Jeremiah 8:19
24. Isaiah 63:19; Jeremiah 15:16
25. Jeremiah 2:25; Jeremiah 3:13
26. Psalms 119:101
27. Jeremiah 6:20; Amos 5:22
28. Jeremiah 44:21-23; Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:9
29. Exodus 32:10; Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 11:14
30. Proverbs 1:28; Isaiah 1:15; Jeremiah 11:11; Ezekiel 8:18; Micah 3:4; Zechariah 7:13
31. Jeremiah 6:20; Jeremiah 7:21
32. Jeremiah 8:13
33. Jeremiah 21:9
34. Jeremiah 5:12; Jeremiah 23:17
35. Jeremiah 6:14; Jeremiah 8:11
36. Jeremiah 5:31; Jeremiah 23:25
37. Jeremiah 23:21
38. Jeremiah 23:16, 26; Jeremiah 27:9, 10; Ezekiel 12:24
39. Jeremiah 23:15; Ezekiel 14:10
40. Psalms 79:2, 3; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 15:2, 3
41. Jeremiah 8:1, 2
42. Proverbs 1:31; Jeremiah 13:22-25
43. Jeremiah 9:1; Jeremiah 13:17; Lamentations 1:16
44. Isaiah 37:22; Jeremiah 8:21; Lamentations 1:15; Lamentations 2:13
45. Jeremiah 10:19; Jeremiah 30:14
46. Jeremiah 6:25; Lamentations 1:20; Ezekiel 7:15
47. Jeremiah 6:13; Jeremiah 8:10
48. Jeremiah 6:30; Jeremiah 7:29; Jeremiah 12:7; Lamentations 5:22
49. Jeremiah 30:13
50. Job 30:26; Jeremiah 8:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:3
51. Nehemiah 9:2; Psalms 32:5; Jeremiah 3:25
52. Jeremiah 8:14; Jeremiah 14:7; Daniel 9:8
53. Psalms 25:11; Jeremiah 14:7
54. Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 17:12
55. Isaiah 41:29; Jeremiah 10:3
56. 1 Kings 17:1; Jeremiah 5:24
57. Lamentations 3:26

Footnotes 11

[a]. Lit "little ones"
[b]. Lit "shattered"
[c]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
[d]. Lit "peace of truth"
[e]. Lit "hearts"
[f]. Lit "be finished"
[g]. Lit "pierced"
[h]. Or "gone around trading"
[i]. Lit "Your soul"
[j]. Lit "vanities"
[k]. Or "wait for"

Chapter Summary

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.