The big picture
Judah, the southern kingdom, suffers a drought that reaches homes, fields, and wild animals. Jerusalem, its capital, cries out as water fails. Jeremiah, God's prophet, pleads for the people while acknowledging their sin. God refuses the appeal because they continue to wander from him. Other prophets promise safety, but he says those assurances are lies. The chapter moves between dry ground, coming death, and renewed lament. Only the Lord can send the rain, yet the people's plea does not cancel his announced judgement.
In this chapter
- Empty Vessels Return from Dry Water Pits Jeremiah 14:1-6
God speaks to Jeremiah about the drought.
- The Plea for Presence Meets Refusal Jeremiah 14:7-12
A prayer admits repeated sin and asks God to act for the sake of his name.
- Unsent Prophets Promise an Unfounded Peace Jeremiah 14:13-16
Jeremiah objects that prophets have assured the people they will face neither war nor famine.
- Tears and Confession Return to the Rainmaker Jeremiah 14:17-22
Unending tears give voice to the deep wound of Jeremiah's people, as God directs.
Central truth
Drought exposes the people's helplessness, false prophets offer peace God has not promised, and Jeremiah pleads amid an unanswered wound.
Scripture beside the summary
Jeremiah · King James Version · 22Jeremiah 14:1-6
Empty Vessels Return from Dry Water Pits
God speaks to Jeremiah about the drought. The kingdom mourns, and cries rise from its capital. Wealthy households send people to fetch water, but the pits are empty. They return with unfilled vessels and cover their heads in distress. Farmers do the same as the ground cracks without rain. The suffering reaches animals too. A deer leaves her newborn because there is no grass, while wild donkeys pant on bare heights and lose their strength. Status, labour, and natural care cannot supply what the dried land no longer gives.
In everyday life
A hilltop resident carries two empty containers back from a dry communal tank. The trip has used the morning, but her household still has nothing to pour into the kettle. On the path she passes plots split by heat. Jeremiah's drought is addressed by God within a wider judgement, not treated only as a water shortage.
Notice
Jeremiah 14:3 The people return carrying the same vessels they took out, still empty. Their unused capacity makes the shortage visible even before the cracked fields are described.
Jeremiah 14:1-6
King James Version1The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
2Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
4Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
6And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
Jeremiah 14:7-12
The Plea for Presence Meets Refusal
A prayer admits repeated sin and asks God to act for the sake of his name. Why does the people's rescuer seem like a visitor staying only one night, or a strong man unable to help? They belong to him and beg him not to leave. God answers that they have loved to wander and refused restraint. He will call their sins to account. Jeremiah must not pray for their welfare. Fasting and offerings will not win a hearing; war, hunger, and disease will consume them instead.
In everyday life
The tenants' representative places an urgent appeal on a housing officer's desk while admitting repeated breaches by the group. She asks the officer to remain involved rather than disappear after one visit. The admitted failures do not make the need less urgent. God here refuses worship and prayer because of persistent sin; the officer applies housing rules.
Notice
Jeremiah 14:8 The prayer compares God to a traveller who stays briefly. The fear is that the people's own rescuer seems present without remaining to save them.
Jeremiah 14:7-12
King James Version7O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
8O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
9Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
10Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
11Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
Jeremiah 14:13-16
Unsent Prophets Promise an Unfounded Peace
Jeremiah objects that prophets have assured the people they will face neither war nor famine. God replies that these speakers are lying in his name. He did not send or command them, and their visions come from deceit rather than his word. The very war and hunger they deny will kill them. Their hearers will also die, along with their families, and bodies will lie unburied in the streets. False reassurance does not shield either those who give it or those who receive it from the judgement announced.
In everyday life
A safety trainer examines a forged inspection certificate after families have been displaced by a building failure. The confident seal helped residents dismiss earlier warnings, but it came from no authorised inspection. She preserves it as evidence of the deception. Jeremiah identifies a false claim to speak for God and announces death, not merely failed certification.
Notice
Jeremiah 14:14 God denies sending, commanding, or speaking to these prophets. Their use of his name therefore gives their assurances no authority, despite how confident they sound.
Jeremiah 14:13-16
King James Version13Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
14Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
15Therefore thus saith 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.
16And 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 wickedness upon them.
Jeremiah 14:17-22
Tears and Confession Return to the Rainmaker
Unending tears give voice to the deep wound of Jeremiah's people, as God directs. Fields hold those killed in war, and the city holds those starving. Priests and prophets move into unfamiliar territory. The prayer asks whether God has wholly rejected his people, since expected peace and healing have brought trouble. It admits both present sin and the ancestors' guilt. It appeals to God's name, throne, and covenant rather than claiming innocence. Finally it asks who can send rain: idols cannot, and the heavens do not act alone. Hope waits upon the Maker.
In everyday life
A reservoir engineer stands with exhausted residents beside a dry intake and hears their appeal for water. They acknowledge wasted supplies, yet admitting failure cannot produce rain or end their thirst. She stays with them as they wait for a source she cannot create. Jeremiah addresses the Maker himself and appeals to his covenant.
Notice
Jeremiah 14:22 The final question returns from national grief to rain. Only the God who made these things can give what the idols and empty sky cannot supply on their own.
Jeremiah 14:17-22
King James Version17Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine 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.
18If 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! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
19Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
20We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Jeremiah 14:1 begins with “The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.”
Where the chapter turns
Jeremiah 14:11 forms a natural hinge: “Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.”
The final note
Jeremiah 14:22 leaves the reader with “Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, famine, sword, people, prophesy, prophets help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- dearth
- A severe shortage, here caused by drought.
- chapt
- Cracked open, describing ground dried by lack of rain.
- oblation
- A gift brought before God in an act of worship.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
