Jeremiah 13

¹Thus the Lord

²So I got a sash according to the word of the Lord

³And the word of the Lord

⁴“Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.”

⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord

⁶Now it came to pass after many days that the Lord

⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord

⁹“Thus says the Lord

¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.

¹¹For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord

¹²“Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord “And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?’

¹³“Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord

¹⁴And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord

¹⁵Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the Lord

¹⁶Give glory to the Lord Before He causes darkness, And before your feet stumble On the dark mountains, And while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the Lord

¹⁸Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves; Sit down, For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory.”

¹⁹The cities of the South shall be shut up, And no one shall open them; Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it; It shall be wholly carried away captive.

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

²¹What will you say when He punishes you? For you have taught them To be chieftains, to be head over you. Will not pangs seize you, Like a woman in labor?

²²And if you say in your heart, “Why have these things come upon me?” For the greatness of your iniquity Your skirts have been uncovered, Your heels made bare.

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

²⁴“Therefore I will scatter them like stubble That passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

²⁵This is your lot, The portion of your measures from Me,” says the Lord “Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood.

²⁶Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, That your shame may appear.

²⁷I have seen your adulteries And your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your harlotry, Your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?”