Jeremiah 14:11

Lying Prophets

11 So Yahweh said to me, "You must not pray for this people, for [their] happiness.

Jeremiah 14:11 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 14:11

Then said the Lord unto me
To the prophet; now the Lord gives a more direct answer to him, and to his prayers and intercession for the people; which he forbids, saying, pray not for this people for their good;
or "for good things", as the Septuagint; for rain, that the famine might cease; and for deliverance from their enemies, that they might not go into captivity; for these things were determined upon by the Lord: he does not forbid him praying at all for them, or for their repentance and reformation; or for spiritual good things for them, for eternal life and salvation for the remnant of his own people among them; but not for external good things for the bulk of them.

Jeremiah 14:11 In-Context

9 Why should you be like a confused man, like a warrior [who] is not able to help? Yet you [are] in our midst, [O] Yahweh, and your name is called upon us. You must not leave us!

10 Thus says Yahweh concerning this people: "They have loved so much to wander, they have not spared their feet. Therefore Yahweh is not favorable to them, now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins."

11 So Yahweh said to me, "You must not pray for this people, for [their] happiness.

12 Although they fast, I [am] not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I [am] not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I [am] about to destroy them."

13 Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets [are] saying to them, 'You will not see [the] sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.'"

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "good"