A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 14:17-22
Let my eyes stream with tears/ day and night, without rest,/ Over the great destruction which overwhelms/ the virgin daughter of my people,/ over her incurable wound./ If I walk out into the field,/ look! those slain by the sword;/ If I enter the city,/ look! those consumed by hunger./ Even the prophet and the priest/ forage in a land they know not.
Have you cast Judah off completely?/ Is Zion loathsome to you?/ Why have you struck us a blow/ that cannot be healed?/ We wait for peace, to no avail;/ for a time of healing, but terror comes instead./ We recognize, O Lord, our wickedness,/ the guilt of our fathers;/ that we have sinned against you./ For your name’s sake spurn us not,/ disgrace not the throne of your glory;/ remember your covenant with us, and break it not./ Among the nations’ idols is there any that gives rain?/ Or can the mere heavens send showers?/ Is it not you alone, O Lord,/ our God, to whom we look?/ You alone have done all these things.
The word of the Lord.
