1 This is a message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought: 2 Judah is in mourning; her towns are wasting away. Her people are weeping for the land, and a cry for help comes from Jerusalem. 3 Rich people send their servants to get water. They go to the cisterns, but don't find any water. They return with empty jars, disappointed and ashamed, covering their heads.

4 The ground has dried up because there hasn't been any rain in the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads. 5 Even the deer abandons her newborn fawn because there's no grass. 6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills, panting like jackals. Their eyesight fails because they have nothing to eat. 7 Even though our sins give evidence against us, Lord, please do something for us because of your good nature. Yes, we have rebelled against you so often; we have sinned against you.

8 You are the hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble. Why do you act like a foreigner in our country, like a traveler who only stays a night? 9 Why do you act like someone caught unawares, like a powerful warrior who can't help? You are here among us, Lord, and we are known as your people. Please don't give up on us!

10 This is what the Lord says about his people: They really love to wander away from me—they don't even try to stop themselves. So the Lord refuses to accept them. Now he'll remember their guilty actions and punish them for their sins.

11 The Lord told me, Don't pray for the welfare of this people. 12 Even if they fast, I won't listen to their cry. Even though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. On the contrary I will wipe them out by sword and famine and plague.

13 “Oh Lord God!” I answered, “Look what prophets are telling them, claiming to be speaking for you:* “Claiming to be speaking for you”: supplied for clarity. ‘You won't see war or suffer from famine, but I will give you peace that lasts here in this place.’ ”

14 The prophets are prophesying lies in my name, replied the Lord. I didn't send them or choose them or speak to them. It's a lying vision, an empty prediction, a deluded, deceitful product of their own minds that they are prophesying to you.

15 So this is what the Lord says about such prophets who prophesy in my name: I didn't send them, but even so they say, “This country won't suffer war or famine.” These same prophets will die from war or famine! 16 The bodies of the people they prophesied to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and war. There won't be anyone to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.

17 This is what you are to tell them: Tears flow from my eyes without stopping day or night, because my people have been crushed by a heavy blow, a really serious wound.

18 If I go out to the countryside, I see those killed by the sword; if I go into the city, I see those dying by famine. Both prophets and priests wander around the country—they don't know what they're doing.

19 Have you really rejected Judah? Do you hate Zion so much? Why have you wounded us so badly that we can't be healed? We hoped for peace, but instead nothing good has come; we hoped for a time of healing, but instead there was only sudden terror. 20 Lord, we admit our wickedness, the guilt of our forefathers as well as our own sins against you. 21 Because of your own reputation please don't hate us; don't bring dishonor on your glorious throne. Please remember your agreement with us; don't break it. 22 Can the false gods of the other nations bring rain? Can the skies themselves send showers? No, it's you, Lord our God. So we put our hope in you, because only you can do all this.