< Jeremiah 13 >

1 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.
Thus said the LORD unto me, Go, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 And I got a girdle accoding to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins.
So I bought a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it upon my loins.
3 And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying:
And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 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.
Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 And I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.
So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6 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.
And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 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.
Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the Lord: after this manner will I make the pride of Juda, and the great pride of Jerusalem to rot.
Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 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.
This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.
11 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.
For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
12 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?
Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13 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.
Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 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.
And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear: Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken.
Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
16 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.
Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains; and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 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.
But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for [your] pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is taken captive.
18 Say to the king, and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down: for the crown of your glory is come down from your head.
Say thou unto the king and to the queen-mother, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your headtires are come down, even the crown of your glory.
19 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.
The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes, and see, you that come from the north: where is the flock that is given thee, thy beautiful cattle?
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 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?
What wilt thou say, when he shall set [thy] friends over thee as head, seeing thou thyself hast instructed them against thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?
22 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.
And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore are these things come upon me? for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels suffer violence.
23 If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots: you may also do well, when you have learned 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 And I will scatter them as stubble, which is carried away by the wind in the desert.
Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away, by the wind of the wilderness.
25 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.
This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Wherefore I have also bared my thighs against thy face, and thy shame hath appeared.
Therefore will I also discover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.
27 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?
I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?

< Jeremiah 13 >