< Jeremiah 13 >
1 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.”
This is what the Lord said to me: Go and get yourself a linen band and put it round you and do not put it in water.
2 And I get the girdle, according to the word of YHWH, and I place [it] on my loins.
So, as the Lord said, I got a band for a price and put it round my body.
3 And there is a word of YHWH to me a second time, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,
4 “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”;
Take the band which you got for a price, which is round your body, and go to Parah and put it in a secret place there in a hole of the rock.
5 and I go and hide it by the Euphrates, as YHWH commanded me.
So I went and put it in a secret place by Parah, as the Lord had said to me.
6 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”;
Then after a long time, the Lord said to me, Up! go to Parah and get the band which I gave you orders to put there.
7 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.
So I went to Parah and, uncovering the hole, took the band from the place where I had put it away: and the band was damaged and of no use for anything.
8 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Thus said YHWH:
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
9 Thus I mar the excellence of Judah, And the great excellence of Jerusalem.
The Lord has said, In this way I will do damage to the pride of Judah and to the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 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.
These evil people who say they will not give ear to my words, who go on in the pride of their hearts and have become servants and worshippers of other gods, will become like this band which is of no use for anything.
11 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.
For as a band goes tightly round a man's body, so I made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah tightly united to me; so that they might be a people for me and a name and a praise and a glory: but they would not give ear.
12 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?
So you are to say this word to them: This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Every skin bottle will be full of wine; and they will say to you, Is it not quite clear to us that every skin bottle will be full of wine?
13 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,
Then you are to say to them, The Lord has said, I will make all the people of this land, even the kings seated on David's seat, and the priests and the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem, overcome with strong drink.
14 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.”
I will have them smashed against one another, fathers and sons together, says the Lord: I will have no pity or mercy, I will have no feeling for them to keep me from giving them to destruction.
15 Hear, and give ear—do not be haughty, For YHWH has spoken.
Give ear and let your ears be open; be not lifted up: for these are the words of the Lord.
16 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.
Give glory to the Lord your God, before he makes it dark, and before your feet are slipping on the dark mountains, and, while you are looking for a light, he makes it into deep dark, into black night.
17 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.
But if you do not give ear to it, my soul will be weeping in secret for your pride; my eye will be weeping bitterly, streaming with water, because the Lord's flock has been taken away as prisoners.
18 Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low—sit still, For your principalities have come down, The crown of your beauty.
Say to the king and to the queen-mother, Make yourselves low, be seated on the earth: for the crown of your glory has come down from your heads.
19 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—
The towns of the south are shut up, and there is no one to make them open: Judah is taken away as prisoners; all Judah is taken away as prisoners.
20 Lift up your eyes, and see those coming in from the north, Where [is] the drove given to you, your beautiful flock?
Let your eyes be lifted up (O Jerusalem), and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock which was given to you, your beautiful flock?
21 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?
What will you say when he puts over you those whom you yourself have made your friends? will not pains take you like a woman in childbirth?
22 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.
And if you say in your heart, Why have these things come on me? because of the number of your sins, your skirts have been uncovered and violent punishment overtakes you.
23 “Does a Cushite change his skin? And a leopard his spots? Can you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil?
Is it possible for the skin of the Ethiopian to be changed, or the markings on the leopard? Then it might be possible for you to do good, who have been trained to do evil.
24 And I scatter them as stubble, Passing away, by a wind of the wilderness.
So I will send them in all directions, as dry grass is taken away by the wind of the waste land.
25 This [is] your lot, the portion of your measures from Me,” A declaration of YHWH, “Because you have forgotten Me, And trust in falsehood.
This is your fate, the part measured out to you by me, says the Lord, because you have put me out of your memory and put your faith in what is false.
26 I have also made your skirts bare before your face, And your shame has been seen.
So I will have your skirts uncovered before your face, in order that your shame may be seen.
27 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?”
I have seen your disgusting acts, even your false behaviour and your cries of desire and your loose ways on the hills in the field. Unhappy are you, O Jerusalem, you have no desire to be made clean; how long will you be in turning back to me?