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The
word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the
drought:
Judah mourns
and her gates languish;
they lie in gloom
on the ground,
and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
Her nobles send
their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns,
they find no water,
they return with their vessels empty.
They are ashamed
and dismayed
and cover their heads,
because the ground
is cracked.
Because there has been no rain on the land
the farmers are
dismayed;
they cover their heads.
Even the doe in
the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
The wild asses
stand on the bare heights,
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no herbage.
Although our iniquities
testify against us,
act, O LORD, for your name's sake;
our apostasies
indeed are many,
and we have sinned against you.
O hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you
be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler turning aside for the night?
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Why
should you be like someone confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O LORD,
are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not forsake us!
Thus says the LORD
concerning this people:
Truly they have loved
to wander,
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the LORD
does not accept them,
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
Have you completely
rejected Judah?
Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck
us down
so that there is no healing for us?
We look for peace,
but find no good;
for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.
We acknowledge our
wickedness, O LORD,
the iniquity of our ancestors,
for we have sinned against you.
Do not spurn us,
for your name's sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with us.
Can any idols of
the nations bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not you, O
LORD our God?
We set our hope on you,
for it is you who do all this. |
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