Jeremiah 13

1 This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”

Thus says the Lord, Go and procure for yourself a linen girdle, and put it about your loins, and let it not be put in water.

2 So I bought a loincloth as the LORD had instructed me, and I put it around my waist.

So I procured the girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins.

3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

4 “Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.”

Take the girdle that is upon your loins, and arise, and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD had commanded me.

So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6 Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”

And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take thence the girdle, which I commanded you to hide there.

7 So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.

So I went to the river Euphrates, and dug, and took the girdle out of the place where I [had] buried it: and, behold, it was rotten, utterly good for nothing.

8 Then the word of the LORD came to me:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus says the Lord,

9 “This is what the LORD says: In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

Thus will I mar the pride of Juda, and the pride of Jerusalem;

10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.

[even] this great pride [of the men] that will not listen to my words, and have gone after strange gods, to serve them, and to worship them: and they shall be as this girdle, which can be used for nothing.

11 For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I have made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the LORD, so that they might be My people for My renown and praise and glory. But they did not listen.

For as a girdle cleaves about the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to myself the house of Israel, and the whole house of Juda; that they might be to me a famous people, and a praise, and a glory: but they did not listen to me.

12 Therefore you are to tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every wineskin shall be filled with wine.’ And when they reply, ‘Don’t we surely know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’

And you shall say to this people, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and it shall come to pass, if they shall say to you, Shall we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? that you shall say to them,

13 then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.

Thus says the Lord, Behold, I [will] fill the inhabitants of this land, and their kings the sons of David that sit upon their throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and Juda and all the dwellers in Jerusalem, with strong drink.

14 I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”

And I will scatter them a man and his brother, and their fathers and their sons together: I will not have compassion, says the Lord, and I will not spare, neither will I pity [to save them] from destruction.

15 Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.

Hear you, and give ear, and be not proud: for the Lord has spoken.

16 Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and you shall wait for light, and behold the shadow of death, and they shall be brought into darkness.

17 But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

But if you will not listen, your soul shall weep in secret because of pride, and your eyes shall pour down tears, because the Lord's flock is sorely bruised.

18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”

Say you to the king and the princes, Humble yourselves, and sit down; for your crown of glory is removed from your head.

19 The cities of the Negev have been shut tight, and no one can open them. All Judah has been carried into exile, wholly taken captive.

The cities toward the south were shut, and there was none to open [them]: Juda is removed [into captivity, ]they have suffered a complete removal.

20 Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?

Lift up your eyes, O Jerusalem, and behold them that come from the north; where is the flock that was given you, the sheep of your glory?

21 What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?

What will you say when they shall visit you, for you did teach them lessons for rule against yourself; shall not pangs seize you as a woman in travail?

22 And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.

And if you should say in your heart, Therefore have these things happened to me? Because of the abundance of your iniquity have your skirts been discovered, that your heels might be exposed.

23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good— you who are accustomed to doing evil.

If the Ethiopian shall change his skin, or the leopardess her spots, then shall you be able to do good, having learned evil.

24 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.

So I scattered them as sticks carried by the wind into the wilderness.

25 This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.

Thus is your lot, and the reward of your disobedience to me, says the Lord; as you did forget me, and trust in lies,

26 So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen.

I also will expose your skirts upon your face, and your shame shall be seen;

27 Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields— I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”

your adultery also, and your neighing, and the looseness of your fornication: on the hills and in the fields I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem, for you have not been purified so as to follow me; how long yet [shall it be]?