Jeremiah 13
1 [One day] Yahweh said to me, “Go and buy a linen waistcloth. Put it on, but do not wash it.”
Thus saith Jehovah to me: Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it on thy loins, and put it not into water!
2 So I bought a [very nice] waistcloth, which is what Yahweh told me to do, and I put it on.
So I got a girdle according to the word of Jehovah, and put it on my loins.
3 Then [later] Yahweh gave me another message.
Then the word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying,
4 He said, “Go to the small Perath Stream [near Jerusalem] and hide your waistcloth in a crevice/hole in the rocks.”
Take the girdle which thou hast gotten, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
5 So I went to the stream and did what Yahweh told me to do.
So I went and hid it near the Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.
6 A long time later, Yahweh said to me, “Go [back] to that stream and get the waistcloth that I told you to hide there.”
And after many days Jehovah said to me. Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take thence the girdle which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 So I went to the Perath Stream and dug out the waistcloth from the crevice/hole in which I had hidden it. But it was ruined, and useless.
Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hidden it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, so that it was good for nothing.
8 Then Yahweh gave me this message:
Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying: —
9 “[What happened to your waistcloth] shows that I will destroy the things that [the people of] Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah are very proud of.
Thus saith Jehovah: After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, And the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 Those wicked people refuse to pay attention to what I say. They stubbornly do just what they desire to do; they worship other gods. Therefore, they will become completely useless, like your waistcloth.
This evil people, Who refuse to hearken to my words, Who walk after the obstinacy of their heart, And walk after strange gods, To serve them and to worship them, Shall be like this girdle, Which is good for nothing.
11 Just like a waistcloth clings closely/tightly to a man’s waist, I wanted the people [MTY] of Israel and Judah to cling closely to me. I wanted them to be my people, people who would praise me and honor me. But they would not pay attention [to me]. “
For as a girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, So have I caused to cleave to me the whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah, That they might be to me a people, And a name, and a praise, and a glory; But they hearkened not to me.
12 “[So], tell this to them: ‘Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli [people worship], says that every leather wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And [when you tell that to them], they will reply, ‘(Of course/Certainly) we know [RHQ] that all wineskins should be filled with wine!’
Then shalt thou speak to them in this manner. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Every flagon shall be filled with wine. And they will say to thee, “Do we not know that every flagon shall be filled with wine?”
13 And then you must tell them, ‘No, that is not what Yahweh means. What he said means that he will cause this land to be filled with people who are drunk. [That will include all of you]—the king who sits on the throne that King David previously sat on, the priests and the prophets, and even the common people of Jerusalem.’
Then shalt thou say to them, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings that sit upon David's throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 [He is saying], ‘I will cause you to bash each other. [Even] parents will bash their children. I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you at all; pitying you will not prevent me from getting rid of you.’”
And I will dash them one against another, Even fathers and children together, saith Jehovah; I will not pity, nor spare, Nor show mercy, so as not to destroy them.
15 [You people of Judah], pay very careful attention [DOU]. Do not be proud, because Yahweh has spoken to you.
Hear ye, and attend! be not lifted up! For Jehovah speaketh.
16 [It is as though] he is ready to bring darkness on you and to cause you to stumble and fall [as you walk] on the hills when it is becoming dark. [So] praise/honor Yahweh your God before that happens. If you do not do that, you will look for light, but all you will see is darkness and gloom.
Give glory to Jehovah, your God, Before he bring darkness, And your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, And, while ye look for light, He turn it into deathlike shade, And make it gross darkness.
17 And if you [still] refuse to heed what he says, [what will happen to you because of] your being proud will cause me to cry when I am alone. My eyes will be filled with tears because [you], Yahweh’s people, [whom he takes care of like a shepherd takes care of] [MET] his flock, will [all] be [captured by your enemies and] taken to other countries.
But if ye will not hear, I will mourn in secret places for your pride, I will weep continually, And my eyes shall run down with tears, Because the flock of Jehovah is carried away captive.
18 [You people of Judah], say to the king and to his mother, “Come down from sitting on your thrones and [humbly] sit in the dust, because [your enemies] will soon snatch from your heads your glorious crowns.”
Say to the king and to the queen, Sit ye down upon the ground, For your beautiful crown shall fall from your heads.
19 The towns in the southern part of Judah will be surrounded by your enemies, and no one will be able to get through their lines [to rescue the people in those towns]. [You people of] Judah will be captured and taken away; you will all be (exiled/taken [to foreign countries)].
The cities of the South are shut up, and none openeth them; Judah is carried away captive, all of it, Every man of it is carried away captive.
20 [You leaders of Jerusalem], open your eyes and look: [The enemy armies are ready to] march down from the north. [When that happens], what will happen to [RHQ] the [people of Judah who are like] a beautiful flock of sheep, people that he gave to you to take care of?
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 will you say [RHQ] when Yahweh appoints people from other countries to rule over you, people who you [mistakenly] thought were your friends? You will [RHQ] suffer very much pain, like a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.
What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? For thou thyself hast taught them to be lords over thee. Shall not sorrows seize thee, as a woman in travail?
22 You will ask yourselves, “Why is this happening to us?” [I will reply that] it is because of your many sins. That is why [soldiers of the invading armies] will lift up the skirts [of your women] and rape them.
And if thou say in thine heart, “Wherefore are these things coming upon me?” For the greatness of thy iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, And thy heels made bare.
23 A man from Ethiopia certainly cannot [RHQ] change the color of his [black] skin, and a leopard certainly cannot [RHQ] change its spots. Similarly, you cannot start doing what is good, because you have always done what is evil.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, Or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, Who have been accustomed to do evil.
24 [Yahweh says], “I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the wind from the desert.
Therefore will I scatter you like stubble, Which passeth away before the wind of the desert.
25 That is what is certainly going to happen to you; the things that I have determined will happen to you, because you have forgotten me, and you are trusting in false [gods].
This is thy lot, The portion measured out for thee by me, saith Jehovah, Because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 [It is as though] I myself will pull your skirts up over your faces and cause you to be very ashamed because everyone will be able to see your sex organs.
Therefore will I lift up thy skirts over thy head, So that thy shame shall be seen.
27 I have seen that you [act like men who are eager to commit adultery]; you are like male horses that whinny when they desire [to have sex with] a female horse. I have seen that you worship disgusting idols in the fields and on the hills. [You people of] Jerusalem, terrible things will happen to you! How long will it be [RHQ] until you are acceptable to me [again]?”
Thine adulteries, thy neighings, The lewdness of thy whoredom on the hills, in the fields, All thy abominations, have I seen. Woe to thee, O Jerusalem! How long ere thou wilt become pure!
