Following the typical form of a lament, the Lord now responds in Jeremiah 14:10–12 to the confessions and pleas placed on the lips of the people by Jeremiah. However, unlike the normal response to a lament, the Lord offers neither hope nor salvation, but rather judgment.
In the first part of his response to the plea for help the Lord does not speak directly to the people of Judah, but rather concerning
them and they are addressed as this people.
The Lord is alienated from his people, he even refers to himself in the third person.1 These are a people, says the Lord, who loved to wander from one god to another and from one political alliance to another; they have not restrained their feet.
They have absolutely no faithfulness to the Lord that guides their actions. Therefore, the Lord does not accept them.
The Hebrew verb rasa means to be pleased, delight in,
and is the same word used when a priest either accepts or rejects a sacrifice (Leviticus 1:4). The Lord is officially rejecting his covenant people.2 The Lord will remember their iniquity and punish their sin.
In his response the Lord rejects their words of repentance in Jeremiah 14:7 and will not forgive. He also rejects their accusation in Jeremiah 14:8 that he is the one who has been a stranger in the land; they have in fact wandered from him. The Lord is a mighty warrior, only he will not use his power to save, but rather to judge.3 This whole lament, including the Lord’s response, seems to express Jeremiah’s conviction that judgment was inevitable.4 This was in total contradiction to what the false prophets were saying and what the people were convinced of.
10 Voici ce que l'Eternel dit de ce peuple: Ils aiment à courir çà et là, Ils ne savent retenir leurs pieds; L'Eternel n'a point d'attachement pour eux, Il se souvient maintenant de leurs crimes, Et il châtie leurs péchés.