CLV(i)
1 That which has been the word of Yahweh unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths:
2 Mourned has Judah, and her gates have languished, They have mourned to the earth, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up."
3 And their honorable ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come unto ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back--their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head."
4 Because the ground has been broken, For there has been no rain in the land, Ashamed have been husbandmen, They have covered their head."
5 For even the hind in the field has brought forth--to forsake [it!] For there has been no grass.
6 And wild asses have stood on high places, They have swallowed up wind like dragons, Consumed have been their eyes, for there is no herb."
7 Surely our iniquities have testified against us, O Yahweh, work for Your name's sake, For many have been our backslidings, Against You we have sinned."
8 O Hope of Israel--its saviour in time of trouble, Why are You as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveller turned aside to lodge?
9 Why are You as one dumb? As a mighty one not able to save? And You [are] in our midst, O Yahweh, And Your name over us is called, leave us not."
10 Thus said Yahweh concerning this people:Well they have loved to wander, Their feet they have not restrained, And Yahweh has not accepted them, Now does He remember their iniquity, And inspect their sin."
11 And Yahweh said unto me:You do not pray for this people for good,
12 When they fast, I hearken not unto their cry, And when they cause to ascend burnt-offering and present, I accept them not, For by sword, and by famine, And by pestilence, I am consuming them."
13 And I say, `Ah, Lord Yahweh, Lo, the prophets are saying to them:You do not see a sword, yea, famine is not to you, For true peace I give to you in this place.'"
14 And Yahweh said unto me:Falsehood the prophets are prophesying in My name, I did not send them, nor command them, Nor have I spoken unto them:A false vision, and divination, and vanity, And the deceit of their own heart, they are prophesying to you."
15 Therefore, thus said Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, and I have not sent them, and they are saying, Sword and famine is not in this land:By sword and by famine are these prophets consumed."
16 And the people to whom they are prophesying, Are cast into out-places of Jerusalem, Because of the famine, and of the sword, And they have none burying them, Them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, And I have poured out upon them this evil."
17 And you have said unto them this word:Tears come down mine eyes night and day, And they do not cease, For, [with] a great breach, Broken has been the virgin daughter of my people, A very grievous stroke."
18 If I have gone forth to the field, Then, lo, the pierced of the sword! And if I have entered the city, Then, lo, the diseased of famine! For both prophet and priest have gone up and down Unto a land that they knew not."