You will look for light, but Yahweh will turn it into the shadow of death and change it into deep darkness.
17 If you won't listen, I will cry secretly over your arrogance.
I will cry bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears because Yahweh's flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king and his mother, "Come down from your thrones, because your crowns have fallen off your heads."
19 The cities in the Negev will be locked up, and there will be no one to reopen them.
All the people of Judah will be taken away into captivity.
20 Look up, and see those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you-your beautiful sheep?
21 What will you say when Yahweh makes the people you thought were your friends your new masters?
Won't pain grip you like a woman in labor?
22 If you ask yourself, "Why do these things happen to me?"
it's because you have so many sins.
Your clothes have been torn off and your limbs are bare.
23 Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin or leopards change their spots?
Can you do good when you're taught to do wrong?
24 "I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by a desert wind.
25 This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you,"
declares Yahweh .
"You have forgotten me and trusted false gods.
26 I will also tear off your clothes, and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen you commit adultery and squeal with delight.
I have seen you act like a shameless prostitute on the hills and in the fields.
How horrible it will be for you, Jerusalem!
Will you ever be clean?"a The LORD Sends a Drought 14 1 Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah about the drought.
2 Judah mourns; its gates fall apart.
The people of Judah sit in mourning on the ground.
Their cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 Important people send their assistants out for water.
They go to the cisterns, but they don't find any water.
They come back with their containers empty.
They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.
4 The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads.
5 Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young because there's no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills.
They sniff the air like jackals.
Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants.
7 Do something, Yahweh, for the sake of your name, even though our sins testify against us.
We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel's hope, the one who saves it in times of trouble.
Why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only one night?
9 Why should you be like someone taken by surprise, like a strong man who cannot help?
You, O Yahweh, are among us.
We are called by your name.
Don't leave us!
10 This is what Yahweh says about these people: They love to wander. They don't keep their feet where they belong. So Yahweh isn't happy with them. He will remember their crimes and punish their sins.
11 Yahweh said to me, "Don't pray for the good of these people. 12 Even if they go without food, I won't listen to their cries for help. Even if they sacrifice burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't be pleased with them. But I will destroy these people with wars, famines, and plagues." 13 Then I said, "Adonay Yahweh , prophets are saying to them, 'You won't see wars or famines, because I, the LORD, will give you lasting peace in this place.'"
14 Then Yahweh told me, "These are the lies that the prophets are telling in my name: They claim that I sent them, commanded them, and spoke to them. They dreamed up the visions they tell you. Their predictions are worthless. They are the products of their own imagination.
15 "I didn't send these prophets. Yet, they prophesy in my name that there will be no wars or famines in this land. So this is what I, Yahweh, say about them: Wars and famines will bring an end to these prophets. 16 The people they prophesy to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem. They will be victims of famines and wars. No one will bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour on them the destruction that they deserve.
17 "Say this to them: 'My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping because my dear people will suffer massive destruction.
It will be a very serious blow.'"
18 If I go to the field, I see those killed because of war.
If I go to the city, I see those sick because of famine.
Prophets and priests wander through a land they haven't heard of.
19 Have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you struck us so hard that we cannot heal?
We hope for peace, but no good comes from it.
We hope for a time of healing, but there's only terror.
20 O Yahweh, we realize our wickedness and the wrongs done by our ancestors.
We have sinned against you.
21 For the sake of your name, don't despise us.
Don't dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your promisea to us; don't break it.
22 The worthless gods of the nations can't make it rain.
By themselves, the skies can't give showers.
But you can, O Yahweh our Elohim .
We have hope in you because you do all these things.
15 1 Then Yahweh said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing in front of me, I would not feel sorry for these people. Send them away from me, and let them go. 2 When they ask you where they should go, say to them, 'This is what Yahweh says: Those who are destined to die will die.
Those who are destined to die in wars will die in wars.
Those who are destined to die in famines will die in famines.
Those who are destined to die in captivity will die in captivity.'
3 "I will devise four ways to punish them," declares Yahweh. "I will send swords to kill, dogs to drag away, and birds and animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make these people a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms on the earth. This will happen because of what Judah's King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, did in Jerusalem.
5 No one will take pity on you, Jerusalem.
No one will mourn for you.
No one will bother to ask how you are doing.
6 You have left me," declares Yahweh.
"You have turned your back on me.
So I will use my power against you and destroy you.
I'm tired of showing compassion to you.
7 "I will separate them with a winnowingb shovel at the city gates.
I will make them childless.
I will destroy my people because they will not change their ways.
8 Their widows will be more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashore.
At noontime I will send a destroyer against the mothers of young men.
I will suddenly bring anguish and terror to them.
9 A mother who gives birth to seven sons will grow faint and breathe her last.
She will die, ashamed and humiliated, while it is still daylight.
I will put survivors from these people to death in the presence of their enemies," declares Yahweh.
Jeremiah Complains Bitterly 10 I'm so miserable! Why did my mother give birth to me?
I am a man who argues and quarrels with the whole earth.
I have never lent or borrowed anything.
Yet, everyone curses me.
11 Yahweh said, "I will certainly rescue you for a good reason.
I will certainly make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and in times of distress.
12 (No one can break iron, iron from the north, or bronze.) 13 I will give away your wealth and treasures as loot as the price for all the sins that you have committed throughout your territory.
14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven't heard of, because my anger has started a fire.
It will burn you."
15 O Yahweh, you understand.
Remember me, take care of me, and take revenge on those who persecute me.