Jeremiah 13

1Thus Yahweh said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband, and put it on your waist, but do not put it in water.”

2So I bought the loincloth according to the word of Yahweh, and put it on my waist.

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

4Take the waistband that you bought, which is on your waist, and arise, go to Perath, and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.

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

6And it happened after many days that Yahweh said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and take from there the waistband that I commanded you to hide there.”

7So I went to Perath, and dug, and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistband was ruined; it was good for nothing.

8Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

9Thus says Yahweh: In this way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and who go after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, will become like this waistband, which is good for nothing.

11For as the waistband clings to a man's waist, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares Yahweh, to be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they did not listen.

12So you shall say to them this word: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Every jar will be filled with wine.’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every jar will be filled with wine?’

13Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—and the kings who sit on David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.’

14And I will smash them against each other, man against his brother, fathers and sons together, declares Yahweh. I will not spare, nor will I pity, nor will I have compassion, from destroying them.

15Hear and listen; do not be proud, for Yahweh has spoken.

16Give glory to Yahweh your God before he brings darkness, and before your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. Then you will hope for light, but he will make it deep darkness; he will turn it into gloom.

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

18Say to the king and to the queen mother, ‘Humble yourselves; sit down, for your glorious crown has come down from your heads.’

19The cities of the Negev are shut up, with no one to open them; all Judah has been carried away into exile, wholly carried away into exile.

20Lift up your eyes and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, your beautiful sheep?

21What will you say when he appoints over you those whom you yourself taught to be leaders over you? Will not labor pains seize you like a woman giving birth?

22And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?’—because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your heels have been violated.

23Can a Cushite change his skin, or a leopard its spots? Then you also can do good—you who are trained in evil.

24So I will scatter them like chaff passing away before the desert wind.

25This is your lot, the portion measured out to you from me, declares Yahweh, because you have forgotten me and trusted in falsehood.

26So I myself have also lifted up your skirts over your face, and your shame has been seen.

27Your adulteries, your lustful neighings, the depravity of your prostitution on the hills in the field—I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, Jerusalem! Will you not be made clean? How long will it still be?