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Jeremias 14

BLIVRE · Chapter 14/52

1Palavra do SENHOR que veio a Jeremias, quanto à seca:

2Judá está de luto, e suas portas se enfraqueceram; lamentam até o chão, e o clamor de Jerusalém está a subir.

3E os mais ilustres deles enviaram seus inferiores à água; eles vêm aos tanques, [e] não acham água; voltam com seus vasos vazios; eles se envergonham, se sentem humilhados, e cobrem suas cabeças.

4Pois o chão se rachou, por não haver chuva na terra; envergonhados estão os trabalhadores, [e] cobrem suas cabeças.

5E até as cervas nos campos geram filhotes, e os abandonam, pois não há erva.

6E os asnos monteses se põem nos lugares altos, aspiram o vento como os chacais; seus olhos se enfraquecem, pois não há erva.

7Ainda nossas maldades dão testemunho contra nós, SENHOR, age por amor de teu nome; pois nossas rebeldias se multiplicaram, contra ti pecamos.

8Ó tu, esperança de Israel, Redentor seu em tempo de angústia! Por que serias tu como um peregrino na terra, e como um caminhante que [apenas] se recolhe para passar a noite?

9Por que serias tu como um homem atônito, e como um guerreiro que não pode salvar? Tu porém estás no meio de nós nós, ó SENHOR, e nós somos chamados pelo teu nome! Não nos desampares.

10Assim diz o SENHOR quanto a este povo: Já que amaram tanto se moverem, e detiveram seus pés, por isso o SENHOR não se agrada deles; agora se lembrará da maldade deles, e punirá por causa de seus pecados.

11Disse-me mais o SENHOR: Não rogues pelo bem deste povo.

12Quando jejuam, não ouvirei seu clamor, e quando oferecem sacrifícios de queima e ofertas de cereais, não os aceitarei; em vez disso, eu os consumirei por meio da espada, da fome, e da pestilência.

13Então eu disse: Ah, Senhor DEUS! Eis que os profetas lhes dizem: Não vereis espada, nem tereis fome; eu, porém, vos darei uma paz verdadeira neste lugar.

14Então o SENHOR me disse: Os profetas profetizam falsidade em meu nome; eu não os enviei, nem lhes mandei, nem lhes falei; eles vos profetizam visão falsa, adivinhação, inutilidade, e engano de seus [próprios] corações.

15Portanto assim diz o SENHOR quanto aos profetas que profetizam em meu nome, sem que eu tenha lhes enviado, que dizem “não haverá nem espada nem fome nesta terra”: Com espada e com fome tais profetas serão consumidos;

16E o povo a quem eles profetizam será lançado fora nas ruas de Jerusalém, por causa da fome e da espada; e não haverá quem os enterre, eles, suas mulheres, seus filhos, e suas filhas; e sobre eles derramarei sua maldade.

17Portanto tu lhes dirás esta palavra: Corram meus olhos em lágrimas noite e dia, e não cessem; porque a virgem filha de meu povo está quebrada de grande quebrantamento, [de] praga muito dolorosa.

18Se saio ao campo, eis os mortos a espada; e se entro na cidade, eis os doentes de fome; e até os profetas e os sacerdotes andam rodeando na terra, e nada sabem.

19Rejeitaste a Judá por completo? Tua alma detesta a Sião? Por que nos feriste [de modo] que não haja cura para nós? Esperávamos paz, mas nada há de bom; [esperávamos] tempo de cura, e eis o terror!

20Ó SENHOR, reconhecemos nossa perversidade, a maldade de nossos pais; pois pecamos contra ti.

21Não [nos] rejeites por amor de teu nome, nem desonres ao trono de tua glória; lembra-te, não invalides o teu pacto conosco.

22Por acaso há entre as futilidades das nações alguém que faz chover? Ou podem os céus dar chuvas? Não és [somente] tu, SENHOR, nosso Deus? Por isso em ti esperamos, pois tu fazes todas estas coisas.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A severe drought strikes Judah, and the people cry out to God, but He reveals that He will not hear their prayers as long as they keep following false prophets who promise a false peace.

Explanation

The drought described here was a very real and concrete threat to the region's rain-dependent agriculture, which relied on seasonal rains — its absence meant widespread famine, pictured in the image of the deer abandoning their fawns for lack of pasture. The harshest point in the chapter is God's command that Jeremiah not even pray for the people anymore, showing the severity of the situation. At the same time, God denounces the false prophets who promise 'true peace' without divine authorization — a warning about the danger of comforting but dishonest religious messages, even in the face of real crises.

Fun facts

  • Agriculture in Judah depended almost entirely on the autumn and spring rains; their absence, as described here, was catastrophic and well documented in other texts from the ancient Near East.
  • The tension between true and false prophets, central to this chapter, is dealt with more extensively in chapter 23 and in Deuteronomy 18, which sets out criteria for telling them apart.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 14:1Drought was seen in Judah’s agricultural culture as a direct sign of God’s wrath or favor (see Deuteronomy 28). This whole chapter grows out of a real crisis caused by a lack of rain, used as a starting point to speak of a greater spiritual crisis.
  2. Jeremias 14:2Opens the description of the great drought mentioned in verse 1: the whole nation is in mourning, including the very gates of the cities, personified as weakened by the crisis.
  3. Jeremias 14:3Even the richest and most important people in society send their servants to fetch water and they come back empty-handed — the drought hits every level of society, with no exception.
  4. Jeremias 14:4The ground cracked by drought is a concrete, visible image of the agricultural disaster — covering one’s head was a traditional gesture of shame and mourning.
  5. Jeremias 14:5Even wild animals like the doe, known for caring well for their young, abandon their fawns for lack of food — the crisis reaches even the most instinctive parts of nature.
  6. Jeremias 14:6Describes wild animals desperate for water and food, practically gasping for breath in high places — it reinforces the scale of the environmental crisis caused by the drought.
  7. Jeremias 14:7It is the voice of the people, or of Jeremiah on their behalf, acknowledging guilt but asking God to act anyway — not for their own merit, but for the honor of His own name.
  8. Jeremias 14:8The people ask, almost hurt, why God seems to be acting like a stranger just passing through, not truly caring about their anguish.
  9. Jeremias 14:9Continues the desperate appeal: the people ask God not to abandon them, arguing that they bear His name — an appeal based on shared identity, not merit.
  10. Jeremias 14:10God responds to the people’s appeal by saying that they themselves repeatedly chose to wander away — so now He will finally hold them accountable for that constant unfaithfulness.
  11. Jeremias 14:11God actually forbids Jeremiah from interceding for the people — something rare and shocking, since intercession was one of a prophet’s central roles. It is a sign that the judgment had already been decided and would not be reversed by pleading.
  12. Jeremias 14:12Even religious rituals like fasting and sacrifices will not move God this time — He has already decided that judgment will come through war, famine, and disease.
  13. Jeremias 14:13Jeremiah intervenes, mentioning that other prophets are promising peace and security, directly contradicting what God has just announced.
  14. Jeremias 14:14God denies these prophets: they were never sent by Him, and the messages of peace they announce come from their own imagination, not from a real revelation.
  15. Jeremias 14:15As a consequence of lying in God’s name, these false prophets will themselves die by the very things they promised would not happen: sword and famine.
  16. Jeremias 14:16The people who believed these false prophets will also suffer the consequences, dying without even receiving a proper burial — the leaders’ lie costs dearly for those who trusted it.
  17. Jeremias 14:17Jeremiah is ordered to weep continually over the destruction drawing near, calling the people “the virgin daughter of my people,” an affectionate expression that makes the sorrow more personal.
  18. Jeremias 14:18Describes a scene with no escape: death by war outside the walls, death by famine inside them, and even the religious leaders lost, not knowing what to do.
  19. Jeremias 14:19A new outcry from the people, desperately asking whether God has truly abandoned Judah for good, since every hope for peace and healing has only brought more confusion.
  20. Jeremias 14:20The people finally openly acknowledge their own guilt and that of their ancestors — a direct confession in the midst of the despair of drought and the threat of war.
  21. Jeremias 14:21The people appeal to the honor of God’s own name and to the ancient covenant, asking Him not to abandon for good the commitment made with their ancestors.
  22. Jeremias 14:22Closes the chapter with an important acknowledgment: only the true God has real power over the rain — the idols of the other nations cannot do anything like it.

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