Jeremiah 13

1 Yahweh said this to me, “Go and buy a linen undergarment and put it on around your waist, but do not put it in water first.”

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 So I bought an undergarment as Yahweh directed, and I put in on around my waist.

So, as the Lord said, I got a band for a price and put it round my body.

3 Then the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,

4 “Take the undergarment that you purchased that is around your waist, get up and go now to Perath. Hide it there in a rock crevice.”

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 So I went and hid it in Perath, just as Yahweh had commanded me.

So I went and put it in a secret place by Parah, as the Lord had said to me.

6 After many days, Yahweh said to me, “Get up and go back to Perath. Take from there the undergarment that I had told you to hide.”

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 So I went back to Perath and dug out the undergarment where I had hid it, and behold, it was destroyed and completely useless.

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 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

9 “Yahweh says this: In the same way I will destroy the great arrogance of Judah and 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 wicked people who refuses to listen to my word, who walk in the hardness of their heart, who go after other gods to worship them and bow down to them—they will be like this undergarment that is good for nothing.

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 just as an undergarment clings to someone's hips, so I have made all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah cling to me—this is Yahweh's declaration—to be my people, to bring me fame, praise, and honor. But they would not listen to me.

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 So you must speak this word to them, 'Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: Every jar will be filled with wine.' They will say to you, 'Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with 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 So say to them, 'Yahweh says this: See, I am about to fill with drunkenness every inhabitant of this land, the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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 Then I will smash each man against the other, fathers and children together—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will not pity them or have compassion, and I will not spare them from destruction.'”

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 Listen and pay attention. Do not be arrogant, for Yahweh had spoken.

Give ear and let your ears be open; be not lifted up: for these are the words of the Lord.

16 Give honor to Yahweh your God before he brings darkness, and before he causes your feet to stumble on the mountains at twilight. For you are hoping for light, but he will turn the place into a deep darkness, into a dark cloud.

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 So if you will not listen, I will weep alone because of your arrogance. My eyes will certainly weep and flow with tears, for Yahweh's flock 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 queen mother, 'Come down from your thrones, for your splendid crowns have fallen from your heads.'

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 in the Negev will be shut up, with no one to open them. All Judah will be taken captive, completely taken captive.

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 look at the ones coming from the north. Where is the flock he gave to you, the flock that was so beautiful to you?

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 will you say when God sets over you those you had trained to be your special allies? Are these not the beginnings of the labor pains that will seize you just like a woman in childbirth?

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 Then you might say in your heart, 'Why are these things happening to me?' It will be for the multitude of your iniquities that your skirts are raised up and you have been violated.

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 Can the people of Cush change their skin color, or a leopard change its spots? If so, then you yourself, although accustomed to wickedness, would be able to do good.

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 So I will scatter them like chaff that perishes in the desert wind.

So I will send them in all directions, as dry grass is taken away by the wind of the waste land.

25 This is what I have given to you, the portion I have decreed for you—this is Yahweh's declaration— because you have forgotten me and trusted in deceit.

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 So also I myself will strip your skirts off you, and your private parts will be seen.

So I will have your skirts uncovered before your face, in order that your shame may be seen.

27 I have seen your adultery and neighing, the wickedness of your prostitution on the hills and in the fields, and I have seen these detestable things! Woe to you, Jerusalem! How long until you are made clean 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?