< Jeremiah 13 >
1 Thus says Jehovah to me, Go, and buy thee a linen sash, and put it upon thy loins, and do not put it in water.
2 So I bought a sash according to the word of Jehovah, and put it upon my loins.
3 And the word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying,
4 Take the sash that thou have bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
5 So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that Jehovah said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the sash from there, which I commanded thee to hide there.
7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the sash from the place where I had hid it. And, behold, the sash was rotten. It was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
9 Thus says Jehovah, After this manner I will mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this sash, which is good for nothing.
11 For as the sash clings to the loins of a man, so I have caused to cling to me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says Jehovah, that they may be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, but they would not hear.
12 Therefore thou shall speak to them this word. Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13 Then thou shall say to them, Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who 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, says Jehovah. 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 Jehovah has spoken.
16 Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains. And, while ye look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it gross darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride. And my eye shall weep greatly, and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock is taken captive.
18 Say thou to the king and to the queen-mother: Humble yourselves. Sit down, for your coronets have come down, even the crown of your glory.
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 those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What will thou say when he shall set over thee as head those whom thou thyself have taught to be friends to thee? Shall not sorrows take hold of thee as of a woman in travail?
22 And if thou say in thy heart, Why have these things come upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity thy skirts are uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then ye also may do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore I will scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion measured to thee from me, says Jehovah, because thou have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore I will also uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.
27 I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills, in the field. Woe to thee, O Jerusalem! Thou will not be made clean. How long shall it yet be?
