Jeremiah 13

1 This is what the Lord told me to do: Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it on, but don't wash it.

Thus says the Lord, Go and procure for yourself a linen girdle, and put it about your loins, and let it not be put in water.

2 So I went and bought a loincloth as the Lord had instructed me, and I put it on.

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

3 Then the Lord gave me another message:

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

4 Take the loincloth that you bought and put on, and go immediately to the River Perath and hide it there in a hole among the rocks.

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

5 So I went and hid it at the River Perath, as the Lord had told me.

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

6 A long time later the Lord told me, Go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I ordered you to hide there.

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 you to hide there.

7 I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and removed it from where I'd hidden it. Obviously it was ruined—completely useless.

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.

8 Then a message from the Lord came to me:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus says the Lord,

9 This is what the Lord says: I will ruin the arrogance of Judah and the great arrogance of Jerusalem in exactly the same way.

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

10 These evil people refuse to listen to what I tell them. They follow their own stubborn and evil thinking and run off to worship other gods—they will be like this loincloth, completely useless.

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

11 In the same way that a loincloth holds tightly to the body, so I made all the people of Israel and Judah hold tightly to me, declares the Lord. Then they could have been my people, representing me, giving me honor and praise. But they refused to listen.

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 listen to me.

12 So tell them this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wine jar shall be filled with wine. When they reply, “Don't we know that already? Of course every wine jar should be filled with wine!”

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

13 then tell them that this is what the Lord says: I'm going to make everyone who lives in this land drunk—the kings sitting on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.

Thus says 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.

14 I'm going to smash them against each other like wine jars, both parents and children, declares the Lord. I won't let any mercy or pity or compassion stop me from destroying them.

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

15 Listen and pay attention. Don't be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.

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

16 Honor the Lord your God before he brings the darkness, before you trip and fall in the twilight on the mountains. You long for light to come, but he send only gloom and complete darkness.

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

17 But if you refuse to listen, I will weep secretly inside because of your pride. My tears pouring down because the Lord's flock has been captured.

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

18 Tell the king and the queen mother: Get down from your thrones, because your splendid crowns have fallen from your heads.

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

19 The towns in the Negev are surrounded; no one can get through to them. The whole of Judah has been taken away into exile, everyone has been exiled.

The cities towards the south were shut, and there was none to open [them]: Juda is removed [into captivity, ]they have suffered a complete removal.

20 Look up and you'll see the invaders coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you to look after? Where are the sheep you were so proud of?

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

21 What are you going to say when he puts your enemies in charge of you, people you once counted as your friends? Won't you suffer pains like a woman in labor?

What will you say when they shall visit you, for you did teach them lessons for rule against yourself; shall not pangs seize you as a woman in travail?

22 If you say to yourself, Why has this happened to me? it's because you have been so wicked. That's why your skirts were stripped off and you were raped.

And if you should say in your heart, Therefore have these things happened to me? Because of the abundance of your iniquity have your skirts been discovered, that your heels might be exposed.

23 Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin? Can a leopard change its spots? In the same way you can't change and do good because you're so used to doing evil.

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

24 I'm going to scatter you like chaff blown away by the desert wind.

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

25 This is what's going to happen to you; this is what I have decided to do to you, declares the Lord, because you have forgotten me and believed in lies.

Thus is your lot, and the reward of your disobedience to me, says the Lord; as you did forget me, and trust in lies,

26 I will pull your skirts up over your face, so you will be seen naked and ashamed.

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

27 I watched your acts of adultery and lust, how you prostituted yourselves shamelessly, worshiping idols on the hills and in the fields. Yes, I saw the disgusting things you did. Disaster is coming to you, Jerusalem! How long are you going to remain unclean?

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