< Jeremiah 13 >
1 Thus said the LORD unto me: 'Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.'
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it upon my loins.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying:
4 'Take the girdle that thou hast gotten, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Perath, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.'
5 So I went, and hid it in Perath, as the LORD commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me: 'Arise, go to Perath, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.'
7 Then I went to Perath, 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 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:
9 Thus saith the LORD: After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem,
10 even this evil people, that refuse to hear My words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, that it be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.
11 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 hearken.
12 Moreover thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Every bottle is filled with wine'; and when they shall say unto thee: 'Do we not know that every bottle is filled with wine?'
13 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 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.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before it grow dark, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight, and, while ye look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and mine eyes shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.
18 Say thou unto the king and to the queen-mother: 'Sit ye down low; for your headtires are come down, even your beautiful crown.'
19 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 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 set the friends over thee as head, whom thou thyself hast trained against thee? Shall not pangs take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?
22 And if thou say in thy heart: 'Wherefore are these things befallen me?' — for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from Me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten Me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore will I also uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.
27 Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy harlotry, on the hills in the field have I seen thy detestable acts. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean! When shall it ever be?
