Jeremiah Chapter 14 verse 3 Holy Bible
And 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 put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads.
read chapter 14 in ASV
Their great men have sent their servants for water: they come to the holes and there is no water to be seen; they come back with nothing in their vessels; they are overcome with shame and fear, covering their heads.
read chapter 14 in BBE
And their nobles send their little ones for water: they come to the pits, they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed, they are confounded, and have covered their heads.
read chapter 14 in DARBY
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.
read chapter 14 in KJV
read chapter 14 in WBT
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.
read chapter 14 in WEB
And their honourable ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come unto ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back -- their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head.
read chapter 14 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - Their nobles - i.e. the upper classes of Judah and Jerusalem - have sent their little ones; rather, their mean ones; i.e. their servants, or perhaps (as Naegelsbach and Payne Smith) simply, "the common people;" it was not a matter concerning the rich alone. To the pits; i.e. to the cisterns. Covered their heads; a sign of the deepest mourning (2 Samuel 15:30; 2 Samuel 19:4; Esther 6:12).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(3) Their little ones.--Not their children, but their menial servants. The word is peculiar to Jeremiah, and occurs only here and in Jeremiah 48:4. The vivid picture of the messengers running hither and thither to all wells, and springs, and tanks, reminds us of Ahab's search for wells or springs in the time of the great drought of his reign (1Kings 18:5), of the "two or three cities wandering" to the one city that was yet supplied with water of Amos 4:8.The pits.--The tanks or reservoirs where, if anywhere, water might be looked for.Covered their heads.--The extremest sign of a grief too great to utter itself to others, craving to be alone in its wretchedness (2Samuel 15:30; 2Samuel 19:4). The student will recollect it as occurring also in the account of the painting of Agamemnon at the Sacrifice of Iphigenia, ascribed to Timanthes. . . .