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 said YHWH to me: “Go, and you have acquired a girdle of linen for yourself, and have placed it on your loins, and you do not cause it to enter into water.”
2 So I went and bought a loincloth as the Lord had instructed me, and I put it on.
And I get the girdle, according to the word of YHWH, and I place [it] on my loins.
3 Then the Lord gave me another message:
And there is a word of YHWH to me a second time, 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 you have acquired, that [is] on your loins, and rise, 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.
and I go and hide it by the Euphrates, as YHWH 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 comes to pass, at the end of many days, that YHWH says to me, “Rise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle there, that 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.
and I go to the Euphrates, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and behold, the girdle has been marred, it is not profitable for anything.
8 Then a message from the Lord came to me:
And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Thus said YHWH:
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 I mar the excellence of Judah, And the great excellence 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.
This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Indeed it is—as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything.
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 the girdle cleaves to the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave to Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah,” A declaration of YHWH, “To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not listened.
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 have said this word to them, Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Every bottle is full of wine, And they have said to you: Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine?
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.
And you have said to them, Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings who sit for David on his throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [With] drunkenness,
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 have dashed them against one another, And the fathers and the sons together,” A declaration of YHWH, “I do not pity, nor spare, nor do I have mercy, So as not to destroy them.”
15 Listen and pay attention. Don't be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
Hear, and give ear—do not be haughty, For YHWH 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 your God YHWH, Before He causes darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And you have waited for light, And He has made it for death-shade, And has appointed [it] for thick 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.
And if you do not hear it, My soul weeps in secret places, because of pride, Indeed, it weeps and wails, And the tear comes down my eyes, For the flock of YHWH has been taken captive.
18 Tell the king and the queen mother: Get down from your thrones, because your splendid crowns have fallen from your heads.
Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low—sit still, For your principalities have come down, The crown of your beauty.
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 of the south have been shut up, And there is none opening, Judah has been removed—all of her, She has been completely removed—
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, and see those coming in from the north, Where [is] the drove given to you, your beautiful flock?
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 do you say when He looks after you? And you have taught them [to be] over you—leaders for head? Do pangs not seize you as a travailing woman?
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 when you say in your heart, “Why have these met me?” For the abundance of your iniquity Have your skirts been uncovered, Have your heels suffered violence.
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.
“Does a Cushite change his skin? And a leopard his spots? Can you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil?
24 I'm going to scatter you like chaff blown away by the desert wind.
And I scatter them as stubble, Passing away, by a wind of 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.
This [is] your lot, the portion of your measures from Me,” A declaration of YHWH, “Because you have forgotten Me, And trust in falsehood.
26 I will pull your skirts up over your face, so you will be seen naked and ashamed.
I have also made your skirts bare before your face, And your shame has been 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 adulteries, and your neighings, The wickedness of your whoredom, on heights in a field, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem, You are not [yet] made clean—after when [will you be] again?”
