Lord, please do not leave us
1The Lord talked to Jeremiah about the drought. 2He said:
‘The people of Judah
are crying at the gates of the city.
They mourn and wear sack-cloth
and sit on the ground.
The people of Jerusalem shout
and ask anyone to help them.
3The important people send their workers
to get water for them,
but when they come to the water-wells,
they find no water,
and they come back with empty jars.
They do not know what to say or do,
and they are discouraged.
4The ground is dry and the plants die
because it has not rained.
The farmers do not know what to do,
and they are discouraged.
5The mother deer in the field
leaves her baby and goes away
because there is no more grass to eat.
6The wild donkeys stand on the hills
where there are no plants,
and they smell the air like foxes.
Their eyes go blind because there is no grass.’
7We say:
‘Lord, our sins are witnesses against us.
You can do what You have decided,
because You are the Lord.
We have turned away from You
a lot of times,
and we have sinned_against You.
8You are our Saviour,
and we hope that You will save Israel
when we have trouble.
Why are You like a stranger in the land?
Why are You like someone
who visits the land,
someone who stays only for one night?
9Why are You like a man who can do nothing,
like a soldier who can not save us?
Lord, You are with us and
we belong to You. Please don't leave us.’
10The Lord says to these people: ‘What you say is true. You love to run away from Me, and your feet do not get tired of walking away. That is why I will not accept you anymore. I will remember the things that you have done wrong and I will punish you for your sins.’
11The Lord said to me: ‘Do not pray for these people, and do not ask Me to make good things happen to them. 12Even if they fast, I will not listen to their prayers, and if they bring Me burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them. No, I will cause them to die in war and from diseases and because they will not have food to eat.’
13I, Jeremiah, said: ‘O Lord my God, listen to what the other prophets told the people. They told them that You have said: “Do not be afraid of war or famine. It will not happen to you. I will always make things go well with you in this land.” ’
14Then the Lord said to me: ‘Those prophets are telling lies when they say I sent them. I did not send them, I did not tell them what to do, and I did not talk to them. They are false_prophets who say they saw visions. It is worthless magic and stories that they think of. 15This is what I say about these false_prophets: I did not send them. They say there will not be war and famine in this land, but they will be killed in war or die because they won't have food to eat. 16They want to be prophets for the people, but those people will die and their dead bodies will lie on the streets of Jerusalem. The men and their wives and their children will die in war or because they do not have food to eat, and no one will bury them. I will punish them for the wrong they have done. 17And you, Jeremiah, you must tell them that the Lord says:
“I will keep on crying day and night,
because my people are hurt,
and they are suffering a lot.
18If I go out into the field,
I see the dead bodies lying there.
They are the bodies of people
who have died in war.
And if I go into the city,
I see how people are dying
because they have no food to eat.
Yes, the prophets and priests
will have to go away
to a land that they don't know.” ’
The people beg the Lord for mercy
19‘Lord, have You left Judah completely?
Do You hate Zion? Why did you hurt us
so much that we can not be healed?
We hoped that we would have peace,
but nothing good has come.
We hoped that we would be healed,
but only bad things have happened
that made us more afraid.
20Lord, we know we are guilty,
and our forefathers were also guilty,
because we have all sinned_against You.
21Please do not leave us,
because You are the Lord.
You are our King.
Do not take away the honour
and glory from your throne.
Remember that You
have made a covenant with us.
Please do not break your covenant.
22Not one of the gods of the nations
can make it rain.
Those gods are worthless
and the sky can not make rain fall down.
Only You can do it, Lord, our God,
and we wait for You to send rain.’
