< Jeremiah 13 >
1 Thus sayth the Lord vnto mee, Goe, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it vpon thy loynes, and put it not in water.
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.
2 So I bought the girdle according to the commandement of the Lord, and put it vpon my loynes.
So I went and bought a loincloth as the Lord had instructed me, and I put it on.
3 And the worde of the Lord came vnto me the second time, saying,
Then the Lord gave me another message:
4 Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is vpon thy loynes, and arise, goe towarde Perath, and hide it there in the cleft of the rocke.
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.
5 So I went, and hid it by Perath, as the Lord had commanded me.
So I went and hid it at the River Perath, as the Lord had told me.
6 And after many dayes, the Lord sayde vnto mee, Arise, goe towarde Perath, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
A long time later the Lord told me, Go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I ordered you to hide there.
7 Then went I to Perath, and digged, and tooke the girdle from the place where I had hid it, and behold, the girdle was corrupt, and was profitable for nothing.
I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and removed it from where I'd hidden it. Obviously it was ruined—completely useless.
8 Then the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying,
Then a message from the Lord came to me:
9 Thus sayth the Lord, After this maner will I destroy the pride of Iudah, and the great pride of Ierusalem.
This is what the Lord says: I will ruin the arrogance of Judah and the great arrogance of Jerusalem in exactly the same way.
10 This wicked people haue refused to heare my word, and walke after ye stubbernesse of their owne heart, and walke after other gods to serue them, and to worship them: therefore they shalbe as this girdle, which is profitable to nothing.
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.
11 For as the girdle cleaueth to the loynes of a man, so haue I tied to me the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Iudah, saith the Lord, that they might bee my people: that they might haue a name and prayse, and glory, but they would not heare.
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.
12 Therefore thou shalt saye vnto them this word, Thus sayth the Lord God of Israel, Euery bottell shalbe filled with wine, and they shall say vnto thee, Doe we not knowe that euery bottell shalbe filled with wine?
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!”
13 Then shalt thou say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, euen the Kings that sit vpon the throne of Dauid, and the Priestes and the Prophets and all the inhabitantes of Ierusalem with drunkennesse.
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.
14 And I wil dash them one against another, euen the fathers and the sonnes together, sayeth the Lord: I will not spare, I will not pitie nor haue compassion, but destroy them.
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.
15 Heare and giue eare, be not proude: for the Lord hath spoken it.
Listen and pay attention. Don't be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
16 Giue glory to the Lord your God before he bring darknes, and or euer your feete stumble in the darke mountaines, and whiles you look for light, he turne it into the shadowe of death and make it as darkenesse.
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.
17 But if ye will not heare this, my soule shall weepe in secrete for your pride, and mine eye shall weepe and drop downe teares, because the Lords flocke is caried away captiue.
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.
18 Say vnto the King and to the Queene, Humble yourselues, sit downe, for the crowne of your glory shall come downe from your heads.
Tell the king and the queen mother: Get down from your thrones, because your splendid crowns have fallen from your heads.
19 The cities of the South shall be shut vp, and no man shall open them: all Iudah shall be caried away captiue: it shall be wholy caried away captiue.
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.
20 Lift vp your eyes and beholde them that come from the North: where is the flocke that was giuen thee, euen thy beautifull flocke?
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?
21 What wilt thou saye, when hee shall visite thee? (for thou hast taught them to be captaines and as chiefe ouer thee) shall not sorow take thee as a woman in trauaile?
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?
22 And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things vpon me? For the multitude of thine iniquities are thy skirts discouered and thy heeles made bare.
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.
23 Can the blacke More change his skin? or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do euill.
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.
24 Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that is taken away with the South winde.
I'm going to scatter you like chaff blown away by the desert wind.
25 This is thy portion, and ye part of thy measures from me, sayth the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me and trusted in lyes.
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.
26 Therefore I haue also discouered thy skirts vpon thy face, that thy shame may appeare.
I will pull your skirts up over your face, so you will be seen naked and ashamed.
27 I haue seene thine adulteries, and thy neiings, the filthinesse of thy whoredome on the hils in the fieldes, and thine abominations. Wo vnto thee, O Ierusalem: wilt thou not bee made cleane? when shall it once be?
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?