1 The word of the LORD {YHWH, Message Giver} that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts {ha-batzarot: hardship of scarcity}.
2 Judah {Yehudah: tribal kingdom} mourns, and her gates {she'arim: city entryways} droop; her people sink down in darkness to the ground, and Jerusalem’s cry rises.
3 Their nobles sent their junior attendants {tse'irehem: junior attendants} for water; they came to the cisterns {gevim: underground water reservoirs} and found none. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and humiliated, and they covered their heads.
4 Because the ground {adamah: cultivated soil} is cracked and dismayed, since there was no rain in the land, the farmers {ikkarim: tillers of soil} were ashamed; they covered their heads.
5 For even the hind {ayelet: female deer} in the field gave birth and forsook her young, because there was no grass {deshe: tender shoots}.
6 And the wild donkeys {pera'im: untamed asses} stood on the heights; they snuffed {sha'afu: inhaled desperately} the wind like jackals; their eyes failed because there was no grass.
7 Even though our iniquities {avon: twisted guilt} testify against us, LORD {YHWH, Merciful Redeemer}, act for the sake of Your name; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You.
8 Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble, why should You {YHWH, Sovereign Protector} be like a stranger in the land, and like a traveler {ore’ach: temporary sojourner} who turns aside to lodge?
9 Why would You be like a man bewildered {nidham: astonished/confused}, like a mighty warrior who cannot save? Yet You are in our midst, LORD {YHWH, Present Deliverer}, and Your name is called upon us; do not forsake us.
10 “Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} to this people: They love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity {avonam: moral guilt} and attend to their sins.”
11 And the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker} said to me, “Do not pray for this people for their good {tovah: material or spiritual benefit}.”
12 For when they fast, I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} do not listen to their cry; and when they offer a burnt offering and grain offering {minchah: tribute gift}, I do not accept them. For by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, I consume them.
13 And I said, “Ah, Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Sovereign Master}, behold, the prophets are saying to them, ‘You will not see the sword, and famine will not be for you, but assured peace {shalom: holistic well-being} I will give you in this place.’”
14 And the LORD {YHWH, Truth-Defender} said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name; I did not send them or command them or speak to them. They are giving you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing {elil: idol, meaningless}, and the deceit of their own heart.”
15 Therefore, thus says the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Judge} concerning the prophets {hannevi’im: false spokesmen} who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them: they say, “Sword and famine shall not be in this land.” By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, with none to bury them—their wives, their sons, or their daughters. And I {YHWH, Just Judge} will pour out upon them their evil {ra'atam: their own wickedness}.
17 And you shall say to them this word: "Let my eyes run down with tears {dim'ah: outpouring of grief} night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter {betulat: symbol of innocence} of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow."
18 If I go out into the field, behold the slain by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold the diseases of famine! For both the prophet {navi: spokesperson} and the priest roam through the land and have no understanding {yada'u: perceive or know}.
19 Have You {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} utterly rejected Judah, or has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You struck us so that there is no healing {marpe: restoration} for us? We hoped for peace, but there is no good; and for a time of healing, but behold, terror!
20 We acknowledge, O LORD {YHWH, Covenant Lord}, our wickedness {rishenu: Active Wrongdoing}, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not reject us for the sake of Your name, do not disgrace the throne {kisse: seat of authority} of Your glory; remember, do not break Your covenant {britkha: binding agreement} with us.
22 Is there anyone among the vanities {havlei: powerless idols} of the nations who causes rain, or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, LORD our God {YHWH Eloheinu, Sovereign Provider}? Therefore we hope in You, for You are the One who made all these things.