Jeremías 14:1-8

1 La terrible sequía en Judá
Jeremías recibió este mensaje del Señor
que explica por qué detuvo la lluvia:

2 «Judá desfallece;
el comercio a las puertas de la ciudad se estanca.
Todo el pueblo se sienta en el suelo porque está de luto,
y surge un gran clamor de Jerusalén.

3 Los nobles envían a sus sirvientes a buscar agua
pero los pozos están secos.
Confundidos y desesperados, los siervos regresan
con sus cántaros vacíos,
y con sus cabezas cubiertas en señal de dolor.

4 El suelo está reseco
y agrietado por falta de lluvia.
Los agricultores están profundamente angustiados;
ellos también se cubren la cabeza.

5 Aun la cierva abandona su cría
porque no hay pasto en el campo.

6 Los burros salvajes se paran sobre las lomas desiertas
jadeando como chacales sedientos.
Fuerzan la vista en busca de hierba,
pero no la hay por ninguna parte».

7 La gente dice: «Nuestra maldad nos alcanzó, Señor
,
pero ayúdanos por el honor de tu propia fama.
Nos alejamos de ti
y pecamos contra ti una y otra vez.

8 Oh, Esperanza de Israel, nuestro Salvador en tiempos de aflicción,
¿por qué eres como un desconocido?
¿Por qué eres como un viajero que pasa por la tierra
y se detiene sólo para pasar la noche?

Jeremías 14:1-8 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.