Jeremiah, 13

1. Yahweh said this to me, 'Go and buy a linen waistcloth and put it round your waist. But do not dip it in water.'

1. Thus said the LORD to me, "Go and buy a linen waistcloth, and put it on your loins, and do not dip it in water."

2. And so, as Yahweh had ordered, I bought a waistcloth and put it round my waist.

2. So I bought a waistcloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.

3. A second time the word of Yahweh came to me,

3. And the word of the LORD came to me a second time,

4. 'Take the waistcloth that you have bought and are wearing round your waist. Up, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole in the rock.'

4. "Take the waistcloth which you have bought, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphra'tes, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock."

5. So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as Yahweh had ordered me.

5. So I went, and hid it by the Euphra'tes, as the LORD commanded me.

6. A long time later, Yahweh said to me, 'Up, go to the Euphrates and fetch the waistcloth I ordered you to hide there.'

6. And after many days the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphra'tes, and take from there the waistcloth which I commanded you to hide there."

7. So I went to the Euphrates, and I searched, and I took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And there was the waistcloth ruined, no use for anything.

7. Then I went to the Euphra'tes, and dug, and I took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistcloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

8. Then the word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

8. Then the word of the LORD came to me:

9. 'Yahweh says this, "In the same way I shall ruin the pride of Judah, the immense pride of Jerusalem.

9. "Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10. This evil people, these people who refuse to listen to my words, who follow their own stubborn inclinations and run after other gods, serving and worshipping them -- this people will become like this waistcloth, no good for anything.

10. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this waistcloth, which is good for nothing.

11. For just as a waistcloth clings to a man's waist, so I made the whole House of Israel and the whole House of Judah cling to me, Yahweh declares, to be my people, my glory, my honour and my pride. But they have not listened."

11. For as the waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

12. 'You will also say this to them, "Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: Any jug can be filled with wine." And if they answer you, "Do you think we do not know that any jug can be filled with wine?"

12. "You shall speak to them this word: `Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Every jar shall be filled with wine."' And they will say to you, `Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?'

13. you are to say, "Yahweh says this: Look, I shall fill all the inhabitants of this country, the kings who occupy the throne of David, the priests, the prophets and all the citizens of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

13. Then you shall say to them, `Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

14. Then I shall smash them one against the other, parents and children all together, Yahweh declares. Mercilessly, relentlessly, pitilessly, I shall destroy them." '

14. And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, says the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.'"

15. Listen and pay attention, do not be proud: Yahweh is speaking!

15. Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken.

16. Give glory to Yahweh your God before the darkness comes, before your feet stumble on the darkened mountains. You hope for light, but he will turn it to shadow dark as death, will change it to blackness.

16. Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.

17. If you do not listen to this warning, I shall weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and stream with tears, for Yahweh's flock is being led into captivity.

17. But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

18. Tell the king and the queen mother, 'Sit in a lower place, since your glorious crown has fallen from your head.

18. Say to the king and the queen mother: "Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head."

19. The towns of the Negeb are shut off with no one to give access to them. All Judah has been deported, deported wholesale.'

19. The cities of the Negeb are shut up, with none to open them; all Judah is taken into exile, wholly taken into exile.

20. Raise your eyes and look at these now coming from the north. Where is the flock once entrusted to you, the flock which was your pride?

20. "Lift up your eyes and see those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?

21. What will you say when they come and punish you, you yourself having taught them? Against you, in the lead, will come your friends. Then will not anguish grip you as it grips a woman in labour?

21. What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you, like those of a woman in travail?

22. And should you ask yourself, 'Why is all this happening to me?' it is because of your great guilt that your skirts have been pulled up and you have been manhandled.

22. And if you say in your heart, `Why have these things come upon me?' it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up, and you suffer violence.

23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? And you, can you do right, being so accustomed to wrong?

23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.

24. 'I shall scatter you like chaff on the desert wind.

24. I will scatter you like chaff driven by the wind from the desert.

25. This is your share, the part allotted you, from me, Yahweh declares, because you have forgotten me and put your trust in Delusion.

25. This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, says the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

26. I am the one who pulls your skirts up over your face to let your shame be seen.

26. I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen.

27. Oh! Your adulteries, your shrieks of pleasure, your vile prostitution! On the hills, in the fields, I have seen your Horrors. Jerusalem, disaster is coming for you! How much longer till you are made clean?'

27. I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your lewd harlotries, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?"