Jeremiah 14:16-22

16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, ¹with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

17 “You shall say to them this word: ²‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin ³daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound, ⁴with a very grievous blow.

18 ⁵If I go out into the field, behold, those pierced by the sword! ⁶And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! ⁷For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge. ’”

19 ⁸Have you utterly rejected Judah? Does your soul loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down ⁹so that there is no healing for us? ¹⁰We looked for peace, but no good came; ¹¹for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

20 ¹²We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, ¹³for we have sinned against you.

21 Do not spurn us, ¹⁴for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; ¹⁵remember and do not break your covenant with us.

22 Are there any among ¹⁶the false gods of the nations ¹⁷that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, ¹⁸for you do all these things.

Jeremiah 14:16-22 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.

Cross References

• 1. 14:16 Ps. 79:3
• 2. 14:17 See ch. 13:17
• 3. 14:17 See ch. 8:21
• 4. 14:17 ch. 10:19; 30:12
• 5. 14:18 Ezek. 7:15
• 6. 14:18 Ezek. 7:15
• 7. 14:18 [ch. 5:31]
• 8. 14:19 Lam. 5:22
• 9. 14:19 [ch. 15:18]
• 10. 14:19 ch. 8:15
• 11. 14:19 ch. 8:15
• 12. 14:20 [Ps. 106:6; Dan. 9:5, 8]
• 13. 14:20 [Ps. 106:6; Dan. 9:5, 8]
• 14. 14:21 ver. 7
• 15. 14:21 Lev. 26:42; Ps. 106:45
• 16. 14:22 ch. 10:15; [Deut. 32:21]
• 17. 14:22 Job 28:26; 38:26, 28; Zech. 10:1, 2
• 18. 14:22 Job 12:9; Isa. 66:2