Jeremiah 13

1 This is what the Lord said to me: Go and get yourself a linen band and put it round you and do not put it in water.

Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and thou shalt put it about thy loins, and shalt not put it into water.

2 So, as the Lord said, I got a band for a price and put it round my body.

And I got a girdle accoding to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins.

3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying:

4 Take the band which you got for a price, which is round your body, and go to Parah and put it in a secret place there in a hole of the rock.

Take the girdle which thou hast got, which is about thy loins, and arise, and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

5 So I went and put it in a secret place by Parah, as the Lord had said to me.

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

6 Then after a long time, the Lord said to me, Up! go to Parah and get the band which I gave you orders to put there.

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

7 So I went to Parah and, uncovering the hole, took the band from the place where I had put it away: and the band was damaged and of no use for anything.

And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle out of the place where I had hid it: and behold the girdle was rotten, so that it was fit for no use.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

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

9 The Lord has said, In this way I will do damage to the pride of Judah and to the great pride of Jerusalem.

Thus saith the Lord: after this manner will I make the pride of Juda, and the great pride of Jerusalem to rot.

10 These evil people who say they will not give ear to my words, who go on in the pride of their hearts and have become servants and worshippers of other gods, will become like this band which is of no use for anything.

This wicked people, that will not hear my words, and that walk in the perverseness of their heart, and have gone after strange gods to serve them, and to adore them: and they shall be as this girdle which is fit for no use.

11 For as a band goes tightly round a man's body, so I made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah tightly united to me; so that they might be a people for me and a name and a praise and a glory: but they would not give ear.

For as the girdle sticketh close to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me all of the house of Israel, and all the house of Juda, saith the Lord: that they might be my people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

12 So you are to say this word to them: This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Every skin bottle will be full of wine; and they will say to you, Is it not quite clear to us that every skin bottle will be full of wine?

Thou shalt speak therefore to them this word: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine, and they shall say to thee: Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?

13 Then you are to say to them, The Lord has said, I will make all the people of this land, even the kings seated on David's seat, and the priests and the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem, overcome with strong drink.

And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the race of David that sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. with drunkenness.

14 I will have them smashed against one another, fathers and sons together, says the Lord: I will have no pity or mercy, I will have no feeling for them to keep me from giving them to destruction.

And I will scatter them every man from his brother, and fathers and sons in like manner, saith the Lord: I will not spare, and I will not pardon: nor will I have mercy, but to destroy them.

15 Give ear and let your ears be open; be not lifted up: for these are the words of the Lord.

Hear ye, and give ear: Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken.

16 Give glory to the Lord your God, before he makes it dark, and before your feet are slipping on the dark mountains, and, while you are looking for a light, he makes it into deep dark, into black night.

Give ye glory to the Lord your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains: you shall look for light, and he will turn it into the shadow of death, and into darkness.

17 But if you do not give ear to it, my soul will be weeping in secret for your pride; my eye will be weeping bitterly, streaming with water, because the Lord's flock has been taken away as prisoners.

But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride: weeping it shall weep, and my eyes shall run down the tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive.

18 Say to the king and to the queen-mother, Make yourselves low, be seated on the earth: for the crown of your glory has come down from your heads.

Say to the king, and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down: for the crown of your glory is come down from your head.

19 The towns of the south are shut up, and there is no one to make them open: Judah is taken away as prisoners; all Judah is taken away as prisoners.

The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Juda is carried away captive with an entire captivity.

20 Let your eyes be lifted up (O Jerusalem), and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock which was given to you, your beautiful flock?

Lift up your eyes, and see, you that come from the north: where is the flock that is given thee, thy beautiful cattle?

21 What will you say when he puts over you those whom you yourself have made your friends? will not pains take you like a woman in childbirth?

What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee? for thou hast taught them against thee, and instructed them against thy own head: shall not sorrows lay hold on thee, as a woman in labour?

22 And if you say in your heart, Why have these things come on me? because of the number of your sins, your skirts have been uncovered and violent punishment overtakes you.

And if thou shalt say in thy heart: Why are these things come upon me? For the greatness of thy iniquity, thy nakedness is discovered, the soles of thy feet are defiled.

23 Is it possible for the skin of the Ethiopian to be changed, or the markings on the leopard? Then it might be possible for you to do good, who have been trained to do evil.

If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots: you may also do well, when you have learned evil.

24 So I will send them in all directions, as dry grass is taken away by the wind of the waste land.

And I will scatter them as stubble, which is carried away by the wind in the desert.

25 This is your fate, the part measured out to you by me, says the Lord, because you have put me out of your memory and put your faith in what is false.

This is thy lot, and the portion of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me, and hast trusted in falsehood.

26 So I will have your skirts uncovered before your face, in order that your shame may be seen.

Wherefore I have also bared my thighs against thy face, and thy shame hath appeared.

27 I have seen your disgusting acts, even your false behaviour and your cries of desire and your loose ways on the hills in the field. Unhappy are you, O Jerusalem, you have no desire to be made clean; how long will you be in turning back to me?

I have seen thy adulteries, and thy neighing, the wickedness of thy fornication: and thy abominations, upon the hills in the field. Woe to thee, Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean after me: how long yet?