lack of rain

¹And Elijah the Tishbite, from the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord lives, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew or rain during these years, except by the words of my mouth.”

¹⁷And the Lord, becoming angry, might close up heaven, so that the rain would not descend, nor would the earth produce her seedlings, and then you would quickly perish from the excellent land, which the Lord will give to you.

⁷Therefore, I have withheld the rains from you, when there were still three months left until the harvest. And I rained on one city, and I did not rain on another city; one part was rained on, and the part on which I did not rain, dried out.

¹⁷And this shall be: whoever will not go up, from the families of the earth to Jerusalem, so as to adore the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no showers upon them.

¹⁷Elijah was a mortal man like us, and in prayer he prayed that it would not rain upon the earth. And it did not rain for three years and six months. ¹⁸And he prayed again. And the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

¹The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the words of the drought. ²“Judea has mourned. And its gates have fallen and become hard to discern on the ground. And the outcry of Jerusalem has ascended. ³The greater ones have sent their lesser ones to the water. They went to draw water; they did not find water; they carried their vessels back empty. They were confounded and afflicted, and so they covered their heads. ⁴Because of the devastation of the earth, because rain did not fall upon the earth, the farmers were confounded; they covered their heads. ⁵For even the doe has given birth in the field, and then left it behind. For there was no grass. ⁶And the wild donkeys stood upon the rocks; like dragons, they drew in the wind, but their eyes failed. For there was no grass.”

¹⁹And I will crush the pride in your hardness, and I will give to you heaven above like iron, and the earth below like brass.

¹⁰Because of this, the heavens over you have been prohibited from giving dew, and the earth has been prohibited from giving her sprouts. ¹¹And I called a drought over the land, and over the mountains, and over the wheat, and over the wine, and over the oil, and whatever the soil would bring forth, and over men, and over beasts of burden, and over all the labor of hands.

³For this reason, the rain showers were withheld, and there were no late season rains. You made your face like that of a promiscuous woman; you were not willing to blush.

¹¹And I called a drought over the land, and over the mountains, and over the wheat, and over the wine, and over the oil, and whatever the soil would bring forth, and over men, and over beasts of burden, and over all the labor of hands.

¹³If I close up heaven, so that no rain will fall, or if I order and instruct the locust to devour the land, or if I send a pestilence among my people,

¹⁹And I will crush the pride in your hardness, and I will give to you heaven above like iron, and the earth below like brass. ²⁰Your labor will be consumed to no purpose; the land will not bring forth seedlings, nor will the trees provide their fruit.

²⁶If the heavens have been closed, so that rain does not fall, because of the sin of the people, and if they will petition you in this place, and confess to your name, and be converted from their sins when you will afflict them, ²⁷heed them from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel, and teach them the good way, by which they may advance, and give rain to the land that you gave to your people as a possession.

¹³If I close up heaven, so that no rain will fall, or if I order and instruct the locust to devour the land, or if I send a pestilence among my people, ¹⁴and if my people, over whom my name has been invoked, being converted, will have petitioned me and sought my face, and will have done penance for their wicked ways, then I will heed them from heaven, and I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.

⁶And I will make it desolate. It will not be pruned, and it will not be dug. And briers and thorns will rise up. And I will command the clouds not to rain upon it.

²⁴May the Lord give you dust instead of rain upon your land, and may ashes descend from heaven over you, until you have been wiped away.

³⁵And if the heavens have closed, so that there is no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to your name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions, ³⁶hear them from heaven, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel. And reveal to them the good way, along which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as a possession.

³⁵And if the heavens have closed, so that there is no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to your name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions,

⁶These have the power to close up the heavens, so that it may not rain during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters, to convert them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of affliction as often as they will.