English Standard Version
Jeremiah 14:3
3Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns; they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads.
Jeremiah 14:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And 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.
- New International Version (NIV)The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The nobles send servants to get water, but all the wells are dry. The servants return with empty pitchers, confused and desperate, covering their heads in grief.
Context of Jeremiah 14:3
1The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 2"Judah mourns, and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up. Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns; they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads. 4Because of the ground that is dismayed, since there is no rain on the land, the farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads. 5Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
Read all of Jeremiah 14Jeremiah 14:3 word by word
וְאַדִּ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם שָׁלְח֥וּ צְעִירֵיהֶ֖ם לַמָּ֑יִם בָּ֣אוּ עַל־גֵּבִ֞ים לֹא־מָ֣צְאוּ מַ֗יִם שָׁ֤בוּ כְלֵיהֶם֙ רֵיקָ֔ם בֹּ֥שׁוּ וְהָכְלְמ֖וּ וְחָפ֥וּ רֹאשָֽׁם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And their noblesאַדִּיר'addîyr · greatH117
- have sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- their little onesצָעִירtsâ‛îyr tsâ‛ôr · littleH6810
- to the watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
- they cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- to the pitsגֶּ֫בֶאgebe' · cisternH1360
- to the pitsגֵּבgêb · cisternH1356
- foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
- they returnedשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- with their vesselsכְּלִיkelîy · article/utensilH3627
- emptyרֵיקָםrêyqâm · emptilyH7387
- they were ashamedבּוֹשׁbûsh · be ashamedH954
- and confoundedכָּלַםkâlam · be humiliatedH3637
- and coveredחָפָהchâphâh · to coverH2645
- their headsרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
Cross-references for Jeremiah 14:3
- 1 Kings 18:5And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals."
- Jeremiah 2:13for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
- 1 Kings 17:7And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
- 2 Kings 18:31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern,
- Joel 1:20Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
- Amos 4:8so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me," declares the Lord.
- Jeremiah 2:26"As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed: they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets,
- Jeremiah 20:11But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
- Psalms 40:14Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
- Psalms 109:29May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
- Isaiah 45:16All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together.
- Jeremiah 14:4Because of the ground that is dismayed, since there is no rain on the land, the farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.
- 2 Samuel 15:30But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.
- 2 Samuel 19:4The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, "O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!"
- Esther 6:12Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 14:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Their nobles have sent their little ones - So general was this calamity, that the servants no longer attended to their lords, but every one was interested alone for himself; and the nobles of the land were obliged to employ their own children to scour the land, to see if any water could be found in the tanks or the pits. In the dearth in the time of Elijah, Ahab the king, and Obadiah his counselor, were obliged to traverse the land themselves, in order to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Little ones - mean ones, the common people. The word is unique to Jeremiah Jeremiah 48:4. The pits - i. e., tanks for holding water. Covered their heads - The sign of grief.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3During a drought, no crops were sold in the markets at the Jerusalem gates. People could not store previous harvests for long, so starvation threatened them. Cisterns built to collect water dried up, and without rain, no water was available for drinking or cooking meals. As a result, a great cry rose from Jerusalem.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. little ones--rather, "their inferiors," that is, domestics. pits--cisterns for collecting rain water, often met with in the East where there are no springs. covered ... heads--(2Sa 15:30). A sign of humiliation and mourning.Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 14:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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