U A¹ 14:1-6. Mourning of Judah. A² 14:7- 15:21. Intercession.
497 or 480 B.C.
Jeremiah 14)
1: That which proved to be the word of the Lord (Yehovah) that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. (Heb. "the restraints": the holding back of rain, put for the famine caused by it. 1 of 13 recorded famines. See Gen.12:10. Deut.28:23,24. Before the 1st siege, 497 B.C., or before the 3rd siege)
2: Judah mourns (country), and the gates thereof languish (put for the people assembling there); they sit in black to the ground (Cp. 8:21; 13:18. Job 2:8,13. Isa.326; 15:3. Ps.35:14); and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. (city)
3: And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters (i.e. to fetch water): they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. (the symbol of mourning, 2 Sam. 15:30; 19:4. Ezek.6:12)
4: Because the ground is cleft (cracked, open in slits. Heb. = to be broken), for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed (absence of rain causes today great anxiety. Job 29:23), they covered their heads.
5: For, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
6: And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind (ruach) like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
A² B 14:7-9. Deprecation. Jeremiah.
C 14:10-12. Rejection. Yahaveh.
D 14:13-18. Prophets. (False).
B 14:19-22. Deprecation. Jeremiah.
C 15:1-9. Rejection. Yahaveh.
D 15:10-21. Prophets. (True).
7: O Lord, though our iniquities testify (or, answer) against us, You it for Your name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.
8: O the Hope of Israel (fig., put for the Lord, Who was, or should have been Israel's hope. See 17:13; 50:7; and cp. Gen. 49:18. 1 Tim. 1:1), the Savior thereof in time of trouble, why should You be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night?
9: Why should You be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet You, O Lord, are in the midst of us (see Ex. 29:45. Lev. 26:11,12), and Your name was called upon us; leave us not.
10: Thus says the Lord to this People, “Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.”
11: Then said the Lord to me, “Pray not for this People for their good. (See Ex. 32:10. Cp. 7:16; 11:14)
12: When they fast, I will not hear their cry (see 7:16; 11:14; Ezek. 8:18. Amos 5:23. Mic. 3:4); and when they offer up burnt offering and a gift offering, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.” (often thus conjoined. See Lev. 26 and Deut. 28. Cp. 21:6,7,9; 24:10, &c.)
D E¹ 13. Jeremiah's complaint. E² 14-18. Yehovah's answer. Threatening.
13: Then said I, “Ah, the Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You all shall not see the sword, neither shall you all have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”
14: Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke to them (cp. 7:22; 23:21): they prophesy to them a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
15: Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in My name, and I sent them not, yet they say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land;’ By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16: And the People to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their calamity upon them.
17: Therefore you shall say this word to them; ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of My people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
18: If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yes, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.’ ”
19: Have You utterly rejected Judah? have You Yourself loathed Zion? why have You smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace (cp. 8:15; 15:1, where it has a stronger refusal), and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold terror!
20: We acknowledge (these are the prophet's words), O Lord, our lawlessness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against You.
21: Do not abhor us, for Your name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of Your glory (see 3:17): remember, break not Your covenant with us.
22: Exist there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? are not You He [that gives rain], O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon You (see Gen.49:18, the first occ. in this sense): for You have made all these things.