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 said Jehovah unto me, 'Go, and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen, and hast placed it on thy loins, and into water thou dost not cause it to enter:'
2 So I bought a loincloth as the LORD had instructed me, and I put it around my waist.
and I get the girdle, according to the word of Jehovah, and I place [it] on my loins.
3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time:
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, 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 thou hast got, that [is] on thy loins, and rise, go to Phrat, 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.
and I go and hide it by Phrat, as Jehovah 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 cometh to pass, at the end of many days, that Jehovah saith unto me, 'Rise, go to Phrat, and take thence the girdle, that I commanded thee 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.
and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything.
8 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah:
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 do I mar the excellency of Judah, And the great excellency 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.
This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Yea it is — as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything.
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 the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened.
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 thou hast said unto them this word, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, 'Every bottle is full of wine,' And they have said unto thee: 'Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine?'
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.
And thou hast said unto them, 'Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings who sit for David on his throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [With] drunkenness,
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 have dashed them one against another, And the fathers and the sons together, An affirmation of Jehovah, I do not pity, nor spare, nor have I mercy, So as not to destroy them.
15 Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.
Hear, and give ear — be not haughty, For Jehovah hath 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 ye to Jehovah your God honour, Before He doth cause darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And ye have waited for light, And He hath made it for death-shade, And hath appointed [it] for thick 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.
And if ye do not hear it, In secret places doth my soul weep, because of pride, Yea, it weepeth sore, And the tear cometh down mine eyes, For the flock of Jehovah hath been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low — sit still, For come down have your principalities, The crown of your beauty.
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 of the south have been shut up, And there is none opening, Judah hath been removed — all of her, She hath been removed completely —
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, and see those coming in from the north, Where [is] the drove given to thee, thy beautiful flock?
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 dost thou say, when He looketh after thee? And thou — thou hast taught them [to be] over thee — leaders for head? Do not pangs seize thee as a travailing woman?
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 when thou dost say in thy heart, 'Wherefore have these met me?' For the abundance of thine iniquity Have thy skirts been uncovered, Have thy heels suffered violence.
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.
Doth a Cushite change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Ye also are able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
24 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind.
And I scatter them as stubble, Passing away, by a wind of 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.
This [is] thy lot, the portion of thy measures from Me — an affirmation of Jehovah, Because thou hast forgotten me, And dost trust in falsehood.
26 So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen.
I also have made bare thy skirts before thy face, And thy shame hath been 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?”
Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, The wickedness of thy whoredom, on heights in a field, I have seen thine abominations. Woe to thee, O Jerusalem, Thou art not cleansed, after when [is it] again?
