New King James Version
Jeremiah 14:3
3Their 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.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- 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 droughts. 2“Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 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. 4Because the ground is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads. 5Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was 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 had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.”
- Jeremiah 2:13“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.
- 1 Kings 17:7And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
- 2 Kings 18:31Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;
- Joel 1:20The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures.
- Amos 4:8So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 2:26“As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, So is the house of Israel ashamed; They and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their prophets,
- Jeremiah 20:11But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
- Psalms 40:14Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor Who wish me evil.
- Psalms 109:29Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.
- Isaiah 45:16They shall be ashamed And also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, Who are makers of idols.
- Jeremiah 14:4Because the ground is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads.
- 2 Samuel 15:30So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up.
- 2 Samuel 19:4But the king covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
- Esther 6:12Afterward Mordecai went back 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries