Jeremias 13

1 Thus saith the Lord, Go and procure for thyself a linen girdle, and put it about thy loins, and let it not be put in water.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

6 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 thee to hide there.

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.

7 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.

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.

8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord,

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

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

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

10 [even] this great pride [of the men] that will not hearken 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.

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.

11 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 hearken to me.

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.

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

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?

13 Thus saith 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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

19 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.

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.

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

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?

21 What wilt thou say when they shall visit thee, for thou didst teach them lessons for rule against thyself; shall not pangs seize thee as a woman in travail?

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?

22 And if thou shouldest say in thine heart, Wherefore have these things happened to me? Because of the abundance of thine iniquity have thy skirts been discovered, that thine heels might be exposed.

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.

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

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.

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

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

25 Thus is thy lot, and the reward of your disobedience to me, saith the Lord; as thou didst forget me, and trust in lies,

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.

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

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

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

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?