Drought, Famine, Sword, and Plague

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

2“Judea has mourned. And its gates have fallen and become hard to discern on the ground. And the outcry of Jerusalem has ascended.

3The greater ones have sent their lesser ones to the water. They went to draw water; they did not find water; they carried their vessels back empty. They were confounded and afflicted, and so they covered their heads.

4Because of the devastation of the earth, because rain did not fall upon the earth, the farmers were confounded; they covered their heads.

5For even the doe has given birth in the field, and then left it behind. For there was no grass.

6And the wild donkeys stood upon the rocks; like dragons, they drew in the wind, but their eyes failed. For there was no grass.”

7“O Lord, if our iniquities have responded against us, let it be for the sake of your name. For our rebellions are many; we have sinned against you.

8O Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of tribulation, why would you be like a sojourner in the land, and like a traveler turning aside for lodging?

9Why would you be like a wandering man, like a strong man who is unable to save? But you, O Lord, are with us, and your name is invoked over us, so do not abandon us!”

10Thus says the Lord to this people, who have loved to move their feet, and who have not rested, but who have not pleased the Lord: “Now he will remember their iniquities, and now he will visit against their sins.” 11And the Lord said to me: “Do not choose to pray for this people for good. 12When they will fast, I will not heed their petitions. And if they offer holocausts and victims, I will not accept them. For I will consume them by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence.”

13And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! The prophets are saying to them: ‘You will not see the sword, and there will be no famine among you. Instead, he will give you true peace in this place.’ ” 14And the Lord said to me: “The prophets prophesy falsely in my name. I did not send them, and I did not instruct them, and I have not spoken to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, and a divination, and a fraud, and a seduction from their own heart. 15For this reason, thus says the Lord about the prophets who prophesy in my name, whom I have not sent, who say: ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ By sword and famine those prophets will be consumed. 16And the people, to whom they prophesy, will be cast into the streets of Jerusalem, due to famine and the sword, and there will be no one who may bury them, they and their wives, their sons and daughters, and I will pour out their own evil upon them.

17And you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes shed tears throughout the night and day, and let them not cease. For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed by a great affliction, by a very grievous wound.”

18“If I go out into the fields: behold, those slain by the sword. And if I enter into the city: behold, those weakened by famine. Likewise, the prophet, too, and the priest, have gone into a land that they did not know.

A Prayer for Mercy
(Isaiah 63:15–19)

19Could you have utterly cast out Judah? Or has your soul abhorred Zion? Then why have you struck us, so much so that there is no health for us? We have waited for peace, but there is nothing good, and for the time of healing, and behold, trouble.

20O Lord, we acknowledge our impieties, the iniquities of our fathers, that we have sinned against you.

21For the sake of your name, do not give us over into disgrace. And do not dishonor in us the throne of your glory. Remember, do not make void, your covenant with us.

22Could any of the graven images of the Gentiles send rain? Or are the heavens able to give showers? Have we not hoped in you, the Lord our God? For you have made all these things.”