Bible Study Jeremiah 14
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Jeremiah 14 · WEB

The Drought and Rejected Prayers

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Yahweh's word that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2"Judah mourns, and its gates languish. They sit in black on the ground. The cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.
4Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the plowmen are disappointed. They cover their heads.
5Yes, the doe in the field also calves and forsakes her young, because there is no grass.
6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyes fail, because there is no vegetation."
7Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name's sake, Yahweh; for our backslidings are many. We have sinned against you.
8You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?
9Why should you be like a scared man, as a mighty man who can't save? Yet you, Yahweh, are in our midst, and we are called by your name. Don't leave us.
10Yahweh says to this people, "Even so they have loved to wander. They have not restrained their feet. Therefore Yahweh does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins."
11Yahweh said to me, "Don't pray for this people for their good.
12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence."
13Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, 'You won't see the sword, and you won't have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"
14Then Yahweh said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I didn't send them. I didn't command them. I didn't speak to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, divination, a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.
15Therefore Yahweh says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, and I didn't send them, yet they say, 'Sword and famine will not be in this land.' Those prophets will be consumed by sword and famine.
16The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them — them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness on them."
17"You shall say this word to them: 'Let my 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 wound.
18If I go out into the field, then behold, the slain with the sword! If I enter into the city, then, behold, those who are sick with famine! For both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.'"
19Have you utterly rejected Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!
20We acknowledge, Yahweh, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against you.
21Do not abhor us, for your name's sake. Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, and don't break your covenant with us.
22Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the sky give showers? Aren't you he, Yahweh our God? Therefore we will wait for you; for you have made all these things.
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Summary

Jeremiah 14 opens with a devastating drought — the land is cracked, cisterns are empty, even mother deer abandon their fawns, and wild donkeys gasp on the barren hilltops. Jeremiah intercedes for the people, but God three times refuses the prayer: the people's feet have wandered too far, their fasting is hollow, and the false prophets who promised peace will themselves be consumed by sword and famine. God tells Jeremiah not to pray for this people. The chapter oscillates between communal lament (confessing sin, appealing to God's name and covenant) and divine rejection, creating a painful liturgy of unanswered prayer. The chapter closes with a final plea grounded in the one thing the idols cannot do — send rain.

Themes

  • Drought as covenant curse — creation itself responds to Israel's covenant breaking
  • Unanswered prayer — God's refusal to accept intercession when repentance is absent
  • False prophecy — prophets who promise peace when judgment is certain
  • The tension between lament and divine silence

Key verses

  • Jer 14:11-12 — “Don't pray for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry.”
  • Jer 14:14 — “The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I didn't send them.”
  • Jer 14:22 — “Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? ... Aren't you he, Yahweh our God?”
  • Jer 14:9 — “Yet you, Yahweh, are in our midst, and we are called by your name. Don't leave us.”

Context & background

Drought was one of the covenant curses threatened in Deuteronomy 28:23-24 for disobedience — the sky becoming bronze and the ground iron. In the ancient Near East, the Canaanite god Baal was worshiped specifically as the storm and rain deity; the irony is devastating: Judah chased Baal for rain, and now Yahweh withholds it. The command not to pray for the people (v. 11; also 7:16, 11:14) is extraordinary — prophetic intercession was a core duty (cf. Abraham for Sodom, Moses for Israel). The false prophets (v. 14) represent the institutional religious establishment in Jerusalem (modern Jerusalem, Israel) that consistently contradicted Jeremiah, promising *shalom* (peace/wholeness) when destruction was imminent. The phrase "virgin daughter of my people" (v. 17) is a personification of Judah as a young woman — the grief is intimate and familial.

Cross-references

  • 1 Kings 18:1-45 — Elijah's drought contest with Baal prophets over who sends rain
  • Amos 4:7-8 — God withholds rain as a disciplinary measure, and the people still don't return
  • Deuteronomy 28:23-24 — Bronze sky and iron ground as covenant curses for disobedience
  • Ezekiel 13:10-16 — False prophets whitewashing walls, promising peace where there is none
  • Jeremiah 7:16 — First time God tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    How does the drought affect the land and its creatures in verses 2-6?

  2. Observe

    What does God say about the prophets in verse 14?

  3. Interpret

    Why does God forbid Jeremiah to pray for the people's good (v. 11)?

  4. Interpret

    Why is the people's seemingly orthodox prayer in verses 19-22 insufficient?

  5. Apply

    How should believers discern voices that promise comfort while ignoring hard truths?

  6. Apply

    What should one do about areas of life where prayer is offered but obedience is withheld?

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