The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.
- 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.
- 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.
- NASB “Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their containers empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads,
- 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The nobles send servants for water, but they return ashamed with empty vessels.
Overview
The drought spares no one; even the wealthy cannot secure water, and their servants return in shame. Covered heads signify dismay and humiliation at the failure to find life-sustaining water. The picture of empty vessels and unquenched thirst points to the deeper thirst only God can satisfy, fulfilled in Christ the living water (John 4:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 2 Sam 15:30But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
- Ps 40:14May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
- Jer 2:13“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- 2 Kgs 18:31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,
- Amos 4:8People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
- Jer 2:26–27As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets
- Jer 14:4The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.
- 2 Sam 19:4But the king covered his face and cried out at the top of his voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
- Isa 45:16–17They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.
- 1 Kgs 18:5–6Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to destroy any livestock.”
- 1 Kgs 17:7Some time later, however, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
- Ps 109:29May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
- Joel 1:20Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.
- Jer 20:11But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten.
- Esth 6:12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
- Job 6:20They are confounded because they had hoped; their arrival brings disappointment.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 14:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.