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 said the Lord unto me, Go and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it around thy loins, and lay it not in water.

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

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

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

And the word of the Lord came unto 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 that thou hast bought, which is around thy loins; and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.

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

So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord has 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 at the end of many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there 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 dug, and took the girdle from the place where I had hidden it: and, behold, the girdle was spoiled, it was useful for nothing.

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

Then came the word of the Lord unto 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 hath said the Lord, After this manner will I destroy the pride of Judah, and the pride of Jerusalem, which is great.

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.

And this bad people, who refuse to hearken to my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have followed other gods, to serve them, and to bow down to them, shall even be as this girdle which is useful for nothing.

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 cleaveth to the loins of a man, so had I caused to cleave unto me all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah, saith the Lord, —to become unto me a people, and [to be] for a name, and for praise, and for honor; 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?

Therefore shalt thou say unto them this word, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and when they will say unto thee, Do we not know full well 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.

Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit after David 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 dash them one against the other, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, so as not 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 bend your 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 unto the Lord your God glory, before he cause darkness, and before your feet strike upon the mountains of twilight, and [where], while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and change it into gross 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 ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places because of [your] pride; and my eye shall weep sorely, and run down with tears, because the flock of the Lord is driven 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 unto the king and to the queen-mother, Sit down very lowly; for sunk down are your head-attires, the crown of your ornament.

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 no one to open them: Judah is carried away into exile altogether, it is carried into exile completely.

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 those that are coming from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy splendid flock?

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 will punish thee? since thou hast accustomed them to be over thee captains, and chiefs? shall not pangs seize upon thee, as on a woman in travail?

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 wilt say in thy heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thy iniquity are thy skirts laid open, thy heels are made bare violently.

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.

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? [then] may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

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

Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away before the wind of the wilderness.

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, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

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

Therefore do I also strip up thy skirts over thy face, that thy shame may be seen.

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?

Thy adulteries and thy loud shoutings, the lewdness of thy incest, thy abominations on the hills in the fields have I seen. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean after ever so long a time.