Jeremiah 13-14

Jeremiah 13

¹Thus said Jehovah unto me, ‘Go, and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen, and hast placed it on thy loins, and into water thou dost not cause it to enter:'

²and I get the girdle, according to the word of Jehovah, and I place it on my loins.

³And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying,

⁴‘Take the girdle that thou hast got, that is on thy loins, and rise, go to Phrat, and hide it there in a hole of the rock;

⁵and I go and hide it by Phrat, as Jehovah commanded me.

⁶And it cometh to pass, at the end of many days, that Jehovah saith unto me, ‘Rise, go to Phrat, and take thence the girdle, that I commanded thee to hide there;'

⁷and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything.

⁸And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ‘Thus said Jehovah:

⁹Thus do I mar the excellency of Judah, And the great excellency of Jerusalem.

¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Yea it is -- as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything.

¹¹For, as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened.

¹²And thou hast said unto them this word, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, ‘Every bottle is full of wine,' And they have said unto thee: ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine?'

¹³And thou hast said unto them, ‘Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings who sit for David on his throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, With drunkenness,

¹⁴And have dashed them one against another, And the fathers and the sons together, An affirmation of Jehovah, I do not pity, nor spare, nor have I mercy, So as not to destroy them.

¹⁵Hear, and give ear -- be not haughty, For Jehovah hath spoken.

¹⁶Give ye to Jehovah your God honour, Before He doth cause darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And ye have waited for light, And He hath made it for death-shade, And hath appointed it for thick darkness.

¹⁷And if ye do not hear it, In secret places doth my soul weep, because of pride, Yea, it weepeth sore, And the tear cometh down mine eyes, For the flock of Jehovah hath been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low -- sit still, For come down have your principalities, The crown of your beauty.

¹⁹The cities of the south have been shut up, And there is none opening, Judah hath been removed -- all of her, She hath been removed completely --

²⁰Lift up your eyes, and see those coming in from the north, Where is the drove given to thee, thy beautiful flock?

²¹What dost thou say, when He looketh after thee? And thou -- thou hast taught them to be over thee -- leaders for head? Do not pangs seize thee as a travailing woman?

²²And when thou dost say in thy heart, ‘Wherefore have these met me?' For the abundance of thine iniquity Have thy skirts been uncovered, Have thy heels suffered violence.

²³Doth a Cushite change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Ye also are able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴And I scatter them as stubble, Passing away, by a wind of the wilderness.

²⁵This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Because thou hast forgotten me, And dost trust in falsehood.

²⁶I also have made bare thy skirts before thy face, And thy shame hath been seen.

²⁷Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, The wickedness of thy whoredom, on heights in a field, I have seen thine abominations. Wo to thee, O Jerusalem, Thou art not cleansed, after when is it again?

Jeremiah 14

¹That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths:

²Mourned hath Judah, and her gates have languished, They have mourned to the earth, And the cry of Jerusalem hath gone up.

³And their honourable ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come unto ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back -- their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head.

⁴Because the ground hath been broken, For there hath been no rain in the land, Ashamed have been husbandmen, They have covered their head.

⁵For even the hind in the field hath brought forth -- to forsake it! For there hath been no grass.

⁶And wild asses have stood on high places, They have swallowed up wind like dragons, Consumed have been their eyes, for there is no herb.

⁷Surely our iniquities have testified against us, O Jehovah, work for Thy name's sake, For many have been our backslidings, Against Thee we have sinned.

⁸O Hope of Israel -- its saviour in time of trouble, Why art Thou as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveller turned aside to lodge?

⁹Why art Thou as one dumb? As a mighty one not able to save? And Thou art in our midst, O Jehovah, And Thy name over us is called, leave us not.

¹⁰Thus said Jehovah concerning this people: Well they have loved to wander, Their feet they have not restrained, And Jehovah hath not accepted them, Now doth He remember their iniquity, And inspect their sin.

¹¹And Jehovah saith unto me: Thou dost not pray for this people for good,

¹²When they fast, I hearken not unto their cry, And when they cause to ascend burnt-offering and present, I accept them not, For by sword, and by famine, And by pestilence, I am consuming them.

¹³And I say, ‘Ah, Lord Jehovah, Lo, the prophets are saying to them: Ye do not see a sword, yea, famine is not to you, For true peace I give to you in this place.'

¹⁴And Jehovah saith unto me: Falsehood the prophets are prophesying in My name, I did not send them, nor command them, Nor have I spoken unto them: A false vision, and divination, and vanity, And the deceit of their own heart, they are prophesying to you.

¹⁵Therefore, thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, and I have not sent them, and they are saying, Sword and famine is not in this land: By sword and by famine are these prophets consumed.

¹⁶And the people to whom they are prophesying, Are cast into out-places of Jerusalem, Because of the famine, and of the sword, And they have none burying them, Them, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, And I have poured out upon them this evil.

¹⁷And thou hast said unto them this word: Tears come down mine eyes night and day, And they do not cease, For, with a great breach, Broken hath been the virgin daughter of my people, A very grievous stroke.

¹⁸If I have gone forth to the field, Then, lo, the pierced of the sword! And if I have entered the city, Then, lo, the diseased of famine! For both prophet and priest have gone up and down Unto a land that they knew not.

¹⁹Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah? Zion hath Thy soul loathed? Wherefore hast Thou smitten us, And there is no healing to us? Looking for peace, and there is no good, And for a time of healing, and lo, terror.

²⁰We have known, O Jehovah, our wickedness, The iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against Thee.

²¹Do not despise, for Thy name's sake, Dishonour not the throne of Thine honour, Remember, break not Thy covenant with us.

²²Are there among the vanities of the nations any causing rain? And do the heavens give showers? Art not Thou He, O Jehovah our God? And we wait for thee, for Thou -- Thou hast done all these!